Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Wednesday, September 30, 1998
Aquasearch receives patent in Hong Kong
Kona-based Aquasearch Inc. has obtained a Hong Kong patent for a process it uses to grow microalgae to make a natural additive for fish food.The company said its distributor Finland-based Cultor Ltd. is planning to market its fish-food additive in China in a few months and the company needed to protect its "photobioreactor" process from competition.
Called the Aquasearch Growth Module, it uses a closed but sunlit chamber to produce microalgae under controlled conditions.
The microalgae are used as the basis to make astaxanthin, an additive fed to fish in fish farms to add color to their flesh. The Aquasearch version of the product is sold under the trade mark Aquaxan.
Hawaiian bottled water to flow in Thailand
One of Thailand's largest consumer products distributors, Saha Pathanapibul Public Co., has signed an agreement making it the exclusive distributor in Thailand of Hawaiian Springs Natural Water, bottled by Honolulu-based Hawaiian Natural Water Co.Thailand has 60 million people and ranks sixth in the world in consumption of bottled water, ahead of Japan and even China, according to Hawaiian Natural Water. The Hawaii company collects pure water from a well at the base of Mauna Loa volcano on the Big Island and bottles it for sale in the United States and overseas.
AES Corp. added to list of S&P 500 stock index
ARLINGTON, Va. -- AES Corp. shares rose 14 percent yesterday after the company was included in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which prompted increased fund buying of the stock.AES, an international power-plant developer which operates a coal-burning electricity plant on Oahu, rose $4.75 to $38.25 in trading of 2.22 million, about twice its three-month daily average. But the stock gave back some of its gains today, falling $1.19 to close at $37.06 on the New York Stock Exchange.
AES's shares soared yesterday because managers of some funds must purchase the stock as they make sure their funds exactly match the composition of the S&P 500 index.
AES replaced U.S. Surgical Corp., which is being bought by Tyco International Ltd., on the index.
Ala Moana Center owner forecasts a half-year loss
TOKYO -- Daiei Inc., Japan's biggest supermarket chain by sales and the owner of Ala Moana Center, has reversed its forecast for the fiscal 1998 first half to a loss, saying it will take a one time charge of 1.9 billion yen to close a popular discount store.Daiei said it will post a parent net loss of 983 million yen ($7.3 million) for the six months ended August 31, compared with its previous forecast of 500 million yen profit, according to Bloomberg News. Sales will be 1.20 trillion yen, down from its earlier expectation of 1.24 trillion yen. The company suspended its half year dividend of five yen a share.
Declining sales has forced Daiei to pull out of a joint venture to build an office complex and shopping center at Shinagawa station in Tokyo.
Leading indicators show to healthy U.S. economy
NEW YORK -- A key gauge of future economic activity held steady in August in a sign the nation's economy remains healthy and should continue expanding through early next year.The Conference Board, a private research group, reported today that its Index of Leading Economic Indicators was unchanged last month. It had rebounded 0.5 percent in July after two months of declines. The index, which stood at 105.5, was in line with economists' expectations.
Michael Boldin, a Conference Board economist, said the index held steady in August despite a sharp decline in one of its components -- stock prices.
"The overall economy remains healthy," he said, adding that a majority of the other nine economic measures making up the index were in positive territory.
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