Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Tuesday, December 9, 1997
Barnwell posts lower profits for quarter, '97
Barnwell Industries Inc., a Honolulu-based oil and gas exploration company, today reported a profit of $110,000, or 8 cents a share, for its fourth quarter ending Sept. 30, down from a profit of $390,000, or 29 cents a share, in 1996 final quarter. Revenues were $3.72 million, up from $3.68 million.For the full fiscal year, Barnwell had a profit of $1.05 million, or 79 cents a share, down from a profit of $1.23 million, or 93 cents a share, the previous year. Annual revenues were $14.8 million, down from $14.2 million.
Morton H. Kinzler, chairman and chief executive, said oil and gas prices were higher but a Canadian tax benefit in 1996 resulted in a negative year-to-year comparison.
Survey: Isle stores see rise in spending
The first 10 days of the holiday shopping season brought a 1 percent increase in consumer spending in Hawaii from last year, at least by writers of checks, according to figures from TeleCheck Services, a big check-acceptance company.TeleCheck reported statistics on the dollar value of checks written for the period starting the day after Thanksgiving and running through last weekend. The company says one-third of all consumer purchases are by check. Its figures do not include buying by cash or credit card.
Nationwide, retailers reported just an 0.1 percent gain in the first 10 shopping days, the Houston-based company said.
Oracle shares tumble on disappointing net
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -- Oracle Corp. reported lower-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings as sales in Asia and the U.S. telecommunications market fell below expectations and rising costs trimmed profit margins.The largest maker of database software said net income for the period ended Nov. 30 was $187 million, or 19 cents a share, up 4.5 percent from $179 million, or 18 cents, a year earlier. The results were less than the expected 23 cents a share, the average estimate of 25 analysts polled by IBES International Inc.
Shares in the Redwood Shores, Calif., company were hit hard today by the news, which was released late yesterday. Oracle closed down $9.44 at $22.94 as the Nasdaq market's most active issue.
In other news . . .
NEW YORK -- Gold fell 2 percent, approaching its lowest price since 1979, amid persistent expectations for further sales by central banks. Gold for February delivery fell as much as $6.70, or more than 2 percent, to $283.25 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.