Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Monday, June 29, 1998
Construction contracts in Hawaii down 11%
Contracts for future construction in Hawaii were down 11 percent in the first five months of 1998 compared with the same period last year, according to a monthly report.The total dollar value for this year's period was $610.2 million, compared with $687.9 million in the 1997 period, according to a survey by the F.W. Dodge division of the McGraw Hill Companies.
Nonresidential construction, such as business buildings, was down 12 percent at $257.9 million. Residential permits were down 26 percent at $270.4 million, but nonbuilding contracts, for highways and other infrastructure, were up 25 percent at $153.4 million, the report said.
Burger King franchisee shuts four isle outlets
Hawaii Cimm's Inc., owner of 30 Burger King restaurants in the islands, has closed four of its smaller outlets but recently opened a new one and announced plans for two others.Larry Cimmarusti, one of the company's owners, said those being closed have no drive-through service.
They were at 515 Ward Avenue, 1810 University Avenue, 2919 Kapiolani Blvd. and at the Lahaina Cannery on Maui. He said the company wants to concentrate on bigger restaurants with drive-through.
Japan-owned Mos Burgers has said it will take over the three closed Oahu outlets.
Hawaii Cimm's opened a Burger King recently in Beeman Center, Pearl Harbor, and will open others at Kapolei and on Maui.
Japanese executives see eventual recovery
TOKYO -- Japan's top company executives are more pessimistic than at any time since the July-September quarter of 1994, the Bank of Japan's widely watched survey of corporate sentiment showed.Yet the "tankan" poll of 10,000 businesses also showed managers expect conditions to improve by the next survey in September as the government spends as much as 16.65 trillion yen ($117 billion) to help pull the economy out of recession.
The expectation of a recovery in three months helped send stocks higher and the dollar and government bonds lower, Bloomberg News reported.
"It looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it may be a very long tunnel," said Chris Calderwood, an economist at Jardine Fleming Securities Ltd.
In other news . . .
COSTA MESA, Calif. -- In a move to improve competitiveness, Rockwell International Corp. said today it will spin off its Semiconductor Systems unit to shareholders, take a special $625 million charge for restructuring and eliminate 3,800 jobs worldwide. The transaction was expected to be completed at the end of the year.
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