Hilton Hawaiian's Schall promoted to senior VP

Peter H. Schall, who took his first Hilton job in 1965 in Washington, D.C, and moved to Hawaii in 1986 as general manager of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, has been named senior vice president-Hawaii region for Hilton Hotels Corp. Schall has been area vice president of Hilton Hotels Hawaii since 1994 and will continue as general manager of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa, which now has 2,998 rooms. His responsibilities also include the 1,240-room Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island and the 485-room Hilton Turtle Bay Golf & Tennis Resort on the North Shore of Oahu. During his tenure at the Hawaiian Village, Schall supervised the property's $100 million renovation and, more recently, development of the $95 million, 430-room Kalia Tower, due to open next month.

Ad declines affect Gannett earnings

NEW YORK >> Gannett Co. reported a 14 percent decline in first-quarter earnings from continuing operations today, blaming an advertising slowdown and higher newsprint costs.

For the three months ended April 1, Gannett earned $174.5 million, or 66 cents per share, compared with $950.2 million, or $3.44 per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call were expecting 67 cents per share. The year-ago figures include a one-time gain of $744.7 million from the sale of a cable TV business. Excluding those results, Gannett earned $203 million, or 74 cents per share. Gannett, which publishes USA Today and 98 other daily newspapers in the United States, including the Honolulu Advertiser, said its ad revenues were impacted by an overall slowdown in ad spending

In other news . . .

SAN JOSE, Calif. >> Networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. warned yesterday that third-quarter earnings and revenue will fall far short of forecasts amid decreasing demand and increasing inventory backlogs. It also said it will cut 8,500 jobs.