Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Wednesday, March 21, 2001
Sumitomo reduces stake in CPB Inc.
Japan-based Sumitomo Bank,a significant stockholder in CPB Inc. since Central Pacific Bank was formed in 1954, has sold more CPB shares back to the company, as part of the isle bank's ongoing stock repurchase program. The sales price was not disclosed.The latest sale of 250,000 shares leaves Sumitomo with 211,587 common shares of CPB, or 2.6 percent of CPB's outstanding common shares. At its peak, Sumitomo owned more than 13 percent of CPB, but the Japanese bank has been selling shares since 1998.
State economic index forecasts slower growth
The state's index of leading economic indicators has declined for the seventh straight month, signaling slower growth in the state's economy."Concerns about the mainland economy and the continuing struggles in Japan may start to affect Hawaii in the second half of the year," said Seiji Naya, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. "The declines in the Hawaii com- ponents of the (index) may be showing early signs of these future impacts," he said in the December report released today.