Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Friday, April 25, 1997
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. today reported an 83 percent decline in profit for the first quarter, compared with the 1996 quarter, partly due to a land sale that brought in extra income last year. Maui Land & Pine's
net plummets 83 percentThe company said its pineapple and resort operations did not do as well as they did a year earlier.
Maui Land earned $104,000, or 6 cents a share, in the three months through March 31, compared with a profit of $620,000, or 34 cents a share, in the 1996 quarter.
Revenues of $28.9 million in the latest quarter were down 3 percent from $29.8 million in the year-earlier period.
The company said sales of canned pineapple products were up but a change in the mix of products sold, combined with lower sales of fresh pineapples, resulted in reduced pineapple profits.
Revenues and profits at its Kapalua Resort unit were down as increased resort occupancy and higher revenues from rental villas were offset by lower merchandise sales, fewer golf rounds and lower ground-lease income from the Kapalua Bay Hotel.
Maui Land lowered the lease rent to accommodate the restoration of the hotel, which closed April 1 and will reopen in the fall.
The Kahului-based company said it lost money in commercial property operations in the latest quarter and had received a net boost of $320,000 in the year-earlier quarter from a land sale.
The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau has been named recipient of a "Gold Award" for its "Hawaii's Value Season" promotion. Travel group awards
HVCB for ad campaignThe Pacific Asia Travel Association recognized the HVCB for its marketing promotion in partnership with American Express Travel Related Services. Last year, the bureau contributed $800,000 and American Express and other companies $2.7 million toward the program.
As part of the "Hawaii's Value Season" program, the partnership distributed 1.7 million copies of a 32-page, travel planner as well as newspaper advertising and direct marketing aimed at American Express members.
A impact study of a previous campaign indicated travel from the mainland increased by 5 percent, spending by 9 percent and the amount of money charged to American Express cards by 15 percent.
PATA presented the "Gold Award" to the HVCB earlier this week at its 46th annual conference in Beijing.
GTE Corp. said today it plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to Dallas, from Stamford, Conn. GTE Corp. to relocate
headquarters to DallasThe parent of GTE Hawaiian Tel and telephone companies in 28 other states said it needs to integrate and centralize to meet industry changes brought on by the federal Telecommunications Act.
The Hawaii operation already reports to Dallas where GTE's telephone operations and directories businesses are located.
GTE said it has some 650 employees at the Stamford headquarters and a training facility in nearby Norwalk. Transfers will begin in the next few months and continue through 1998, a spokesman said.
The company did not say if there would be layoffs due to the move and said that the number of employees to be relocated has not been determined.
LOS ANGELES -- Hilton Hotels Corp. has extended its $6.5 billion hostile bid for rival ITT Corp., marking the third time Hilton has been forced to extend the offer in its now-simmering takeover attempt for the parent of the Sheraton hotel chain. Hilton again extends
tender offer for ITTMeanwhile, ITT said yesterday it would slash its New York headquarters staff to 75 from 200 as part of a strategy to raise shareholder value and improve profitability.
Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Hilton has extended the bid twice since proposing the deal Jan. 27. Yesterday's move put a final date of May 30 on the offer. Only 1.5 million of about 122.7 million outstanding ITT shares have been tendered, unchanged from the last extension March 28.
Early in February, ITT, based in New York, rejected Hilton's bid as inadequate and set about refocusing its business on core hotel and gaming assets and selling non-core assets.