BUSINESS BRIEFS
Nasdaq may delist go! parent Mesa
Advertiser Staff
The Nasdaq Stock Market said it could delist Mesa Air Group due to the airline's slumping stock price.
Nasdaq recently gave notice of a potential delisting after shares of go! airline's parent traded below $1 for 30 straight sessions. Nasdaq officials said the airline can avoid delisting if its stock trades above $1 for 10 consecutive days anytime between now and Dec. 15.
Mesa shares closed at 56 cents yesterday, down 3 cents.
HECO NAMES ATTORNEY TO BOARD
Hawaiian Electric Co. Inc. has appointed local attorney Alan Oshima to its board of directors.
Oshima is currently senior vice president and general counsel for Hawaiian Telcom and will transition to the position of director and senior adviser for Hawaiian Telcom after June 30.
He was founding partner of the law firm Oshima Chun Fong & Chung, LLP. where in addition to his work in telecommunications, he served as the regulatory attorney for the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, The Gas Company, various water and sewer companies and other utility-related businesses.
"Alan is an exceptional individual who brings important regulatory expertise and a deep passion and understanding of the communities we serve," said Constance H. Lau, Hawaiian Electric Co. board chair and president & CEO of its parent company, HEI.
Oshima replaces David Cole, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Maui Land & Pineapple Co., Inc., who recently resigned his seat on the board.
DROP IN GUAVA PRODUCTION REVISED
The state's guava production in 2007 did not fall as much as originally reported, according to revised figures released by the local office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Guava production totaled 3.8 million pounds last year, down 49 percent from 2006, the NASS reported. The office originally had reported guava production fell 81 percent to 1.4 million pounds between 2006 and 2007.
Officials at the NASS office in Honolulu blamed the miscalculation on "an internal computer glitch."
The decline in guava production was largely due to the closure of Kilauea Agronomics guava plantation on former sugar cane lands on Kaua'i's north shore.
Statewide acreage devoted to guava production totaled 465 acres in 2007, down 19 percent from the previous year.
The average farm price for guava was 15.7 cents a pound, up 11 percent from 2006. The total value of the guava crop was $597,000 in 2007, down 43 percent from the prior year.
NEW CAPTIVE INSURANCE LAW PRAISED
A new law that streamlines Hawai'i's captive insurance industry may be prove to be beneficial for local banks, professionals and consultants.
That's the word from state Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt, who said the new law that provides a clear and efficient process for securitization of insurance products. His office said securitization allows certain insurance risks to be packaged with shares being sold as investments.
The new law helps streamline the industry in keeping with cutting-edge business strategies on securitization, Schmidt said in a news release.
Local professionals could benefit from this by lending support to the securitization transactions, he said.
Captive insurance is a form of self-insurance. Hawai'i's laws allow a company to set up here to obtain a special license from the Insurance Commissioner to insure the risks of its owner and affiliates.
