BUSINESS BRIEFS
go! offers $1 fare, but there's catch
Advertiser Staff and News Reports
Interisland carrier go! has announced a $1 one-way Web fare for travel on Monday, while competitor Hawaiian Airlines said it is offering a $20 one-way fare for interisland flights beginning Monday and running through Aug. 13.
To qualify for the $1 fare, go! said travelers must buy the fare with a return ticket for another date.
Purchases must be made online at www.iflygo.com starting today at 7 a.m. through midnight Sunday. Other restrictions may apply.
Hawaiian also is requiring its special fare be purchased through its www.hawaiianairlines.com site tomorrow. Customers aren't required to make a roundtrip purchase at a higher rate or stay overnight to take advantage of the fare.
Hawaiian also announced a special one-day interisland fare of $29 that is good for travel on Saturday. It must be purchased today.
W. COAST DOCK PACT REACHED
Port clerks and their employers at the nation's largest port complex tentatively agreed on a new contract yesterday, preventing a strike that could have crippled shipping and cost billions of dollars, a negotiator said. A strike could have disrupted cargo flow to Hawai'i.
The Office Clerical Unit, Local 63, of the ILWU represents workers for 17 shipping companies and other cargo firms at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, a complex that accounts for more than 40 percent of all the cargo container traffic coming into the United States.
HELCO SIGNS DEAL FOR 'GREEN' ENERGY
The Big Island's Hawaii Electric Light Co. said it has signed an agreement to purchase biomass-produced electricity that will push Hawai'i island renewable energy use past 35 percent.
The utility said it will buy as much as 3.6 megawatts of electricity produced by a biomass-powered generation facility being developed by Tradewinds Forest Products LLC and Rockland Capital Energy Investments. The purchase power agreement requires state Public Utilities Commission approval.
Tradewinds' cogeneration facility will be part of a veneer mill project that will harvest timber and replant forests in a sustainable fashion.
ELEVEN STORES CITED FOR CIGARETTE SALES
Sales of cigarettes to minors in June yielded citations for 11 stores and possible fines of $500 to $2,000, the state Department of Health said.
The stores where clerks sold tobacco to persons under age 18 ranged from a snack shop at the state Capitol to three stores on Kaua'i. The Health Department, which conducts monthly checks of stores, said 77 stores passed the inspections.
GRACE PACIFIC GETS $25M CONTRACT
Grace Pacific Corp. in Honolulu has received a maximum $25 million contract for pavement work at various facilities serviced by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Hawai'i.
The areas include Navy, Marine Corps, and miscellaneous federal facilities and others. Work will be performed on O'ahu and is expected to be completed by July 2008.
STATE OKS WATER UTILITY'S TRANSITION
The state has given its approval for the planned spinoff of American Water from its parent company, RWE AG, a German utility company.
American Water is the largest U.S. water services company and provides wastewater service for about 35,000 people in Hawai'i Kai and on the Kona Coast.
The company has received approval from 13 states, including Hawai'i, for a transition to new ownership.
KAMAKURA DEBUTS NEW RISK MANAGER
Kamakura Corp., a Honolulu software company, said it had released a new version of its risk manager application that helps clients with the simulation of asset and liability management, market risk, credit portfolio management and capital allocation.
The newest version of the software includes advancements in speed because of its ability to run multiple processes concurrently, the company said in a news release.
HOMELESS KIDS GET 300 BACKPACKS
Homeless children at shelters in the Wai'anae area have received 300 backpacks filled with school supplies courtesy of the Locations Foundation and real estate agents at Prudential Locations.
The backpacks were distributed earlier this week.
It was the sixth year the Locations Foundation has provided homeless children with educational supplies.
NATION AND WORLD
EXXON MOBIL SEES OUTSTANDING PROFIT
Don't let Exxon Mobil Corp.'s 1 percent drop in second-quarter profit fool you. It was still the fourth-best quarterly result for an American company — ever. And analysts say the company's massive global footprint points to more big quarters.
Exxon Mobil's net income of $10.26 billion was still eye-popping and off only slightly from the $10.36 billion it earned in the second quarter of 2006 — the third-best U.S. quarterly result. It already holds the record for the No. 1 quarterly and annual profits.
HOME-SALES DIVE INCITES FRESH FEARS
Sales of new homes tumbled in June by the largest amount in five months, provoking new worries on Wall Street about just how much the overall economy will be harmed by a prolonged housing slump.
The Commerce Department reported yesterday that sales of new single-family homes dropped by 6.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 834,000 units. The decline was more than triple what had been expected and was the largest percentage drop since sales fell by 12.7 percent in January.
FORD POSTS PROFIT BUT GIVES WARNING
Ford surprised Wall Street yesterday by posting its first quarterly profit in two years. Then it spoiled the party by warning investors that it still expects big losses in the next two quarters and no return to full-year profitability until 2009.
Ford squeezed most of the gains out through cost cutting, mainly with a roughly 30 percent decline in jobs, and good sales overseas.
Now Ford needs its North American division to start turning a profit. That could be difficult with the company's U.S. rivals and Japanese automakers breathing down its neck.
SONY REPORTS DOUBLED PROFIT
Sony Corp., the maker of Cyber-shot cameras and PlayStation 3 consoles, said first-quarter profit doubled after the dollar's increase against the yen boosted overseas sales.
Net income rose to 66.5 billion yen ($552 million), or 63.14 yen a share, in the three months ended June 30, from 32.3 billion yen, or 30.75 yen, a year earlier, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement today. Sales gained 13 percent to 1.98 trillion yen, beating analysts' estimates.
Sony, the world's second-largest maker of consumer electronics, kept its full-year earnings forecasts unchanged.
