BUSINESS BRIEFS
Dryness shrivels papaya crop
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i's fresh papaya production fell to 28.5 million pounds in 2005, down 17 percent from 2004, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service's Hawai'i Field Office.
December fresh papaya output fell 29 percent from the same month a year earlier, largely reflecting an unseasonably dry summer. Harvested area totaled 1,780 acres in December, up 27 percent from a year year earlier.
Large areas are being cleared for replanting in the Puna District on the Big Island, the agency said. Also, growers sprayed orchards to control the papaya ringspot virus. Dry weather helped reduce fungal diseases. A heavier harvest is expected for January, the agency said.
L'OCCITANE TO OPEN IN WAIKIKI
France-based beauty products retailer L'Occitane plans to open its first Hawai'i store at Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in the fall.
The company, with about 280 stores in nearly 40 countries, is one of numerous new tenants joining the Waikiki mall as it undergoes an $84 million renovation by owner Kamehameha Schools.
GUIDANT ACCEPTS J&J BUYOUT OFFER
BOSTON — Medical device maker Guidant Corp. yesterday accepted an increased $24.2 billion buyout offer from Johnson & Johnson, turning aside a larger $24.9 billion bid from Boston Scientific Corp. in favor of a deal that Guidant said could be concluded more quickly. The announcement of J&J's bid and Guidant's acceptance came about 24 hours after Boston Scientific increased its offer, and about three hours after passage of a deadline Boston Scientific had set for Guidant to respond.
TYCO TO SPLIT INTO THREE COMPANIES
TRENTON, N.J. — Tyco International Ltd., still recovering from scandals that saw its longtime former chief executive sentenced to prison, said yesterday it plans to split into three public companies.
Carving Tyco's electronics and healthcare businesses from its remaining operations was expected, but Wall Street still punished the company on news the breakup would reduce profits, cost $1 billion and take a year to complete.
Tyco, best known for its ADT home alarm systems, warned its first quarter and full-year 2006 earnings from continuing operations would be lower than expected. Its shares tumbled $3.19, or 10.5 percent, to close at $27.12 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
GM EXPECTS PLAN TO SAVE $4 BILLION
DETROIT — General Motors Corp. expects to save about $4 billion this year as it implements its North American turnaround plan, Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said yesterday. But he declined to give earnings guidance, saying there are too many outstanding issues facing the struggling automaker.
Wagoner also refused to speculate on whether the board of the world's biggest automaker will consider cutting dividends to shareholders. Earlier this week, Jerome York, an aide to billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, said GM should consider halving its annual $2 per share dividend, which he estimated would save $566 million a year.
