Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Friday, December 19, 1997
Mauna Loa, C. Brewer finalize merger details
Mauna Loa Macadamia Partners and C. Brewer Homes Inc. said they have finalized details of the merger in which the home-building company will merge into the macadamia nut partnership.Brewer Homes shareholders will receive two-thirds of a Macadamia Partners share (technically a partnership unit) for each of their C. Brewer Homes common shares.
The combined company, to be based in Honolulu, will be called Hawaii Land & Farming Co. The companies said they expect the merger to be concluded in the second quarter of 1998.
Mauna Loa, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol NUT, is the world's largest grower of macadamia nuts, farming more than 4,000 acres on the Big Island. C. Brewer Homes, which trades on the Nasdaq market with the symbol CBHI, owns 2,700 acres and is building homes on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. Each was once part of the historic "Big Five" company C. Brewer & Co. Ltd., now privately held.
Hawaiian Airlines sees more business this year
Hawaiian Airlines Inc. carried 4.8 million passengers in the first 11 months of this year, up 1.7 percent from 4.7 million in the equivalent period of 1996.The airline also increased its average load factor, the percentage of the available seats that were occupied, by 1.8 points to 77.2 percent from 75.4 percent in the first 11 months of 1996. Hawaiian, which has mainland-Hawaii and Hawaii-South Pacific routes in addition to interisland service, today reported it flew 3.8 billion revenue passenger miles in the 11 months of 1997, up 9.4 percent from 3.5 billion in the 1996 period. A revenue passenger mile is one paying passenger flown one mile.
FAA alleges Dole Food broke shipping rules
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing about $1.2 million in fines against 13 companies, including Dole Food Co., on charges of improperly shipping hazardous materials aboard aircraft.In all 13 cases, the agency alleged that improperly packed materials leaked while being handled by aircraft loading employees, Bloomberg News reported. An Atlanta-based FAA spokeswoman said the companies will all have the opportunity to meet with agency officials to appeal the fines. All the violations occurred between September and December of 1995, the FAA said.
The largest of the fines, $300,000, was levied against Westlake Village, Calif.-based Dole for shipment of hazardous material on six separate flights between the United States, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, the FAA said. Dole Food representatives didn't return calls for comments.
Nike's earnings fall 20% on Asian financial fallout
BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Sports marketing giant Nike Inc. says profits fell 20 percent in the latest quarter and warned that sales will be slower than expected over the next six months due to economic weakness in Asia.Nike said it earned $141 million, or 48 cents a share, in its fiscal second quarter ending Nov. 30, down from $176.9 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenues rose 7 percent to $2.26 billion from $2.11 billion.
The earnings were well below the Wall Street consensus of 55 cents a share, and Nike predicted at least two more quarters of declining earnings resulting in net income of $2 to $2.15 a share for the fiscal year ending May 31, compared with a consensus estimate of $2.60 and compared with earnings of $796 million, or $2.68 a share, in the last full fiscal year.
In other news . . .
NEW YORK -- Investors and more than two dozen Nasdaq dealers are negotiating a $900 million settlement to a class-action lawsuit that claims firms rigged prices on the Nasdaq stock market, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The lawsuit was filed by investors in 1994 against 37 firms, including Merrill Lynch & Co. and Goldman, Sachs & Co., claiming they conspired to keep trading spreads of Nasdaq stocks overly wide from 1989 to 1994.