A&B joins Ko Olina townhouse project

Honolulu holding company Alexander & Baldwin Inc. said it has joined Armstrong Builders Ltd.'s plans to build 116 townhouse condominiums at Ko Olina.

Armstrong bought 11 acres of agriculture land for the proposed development for $9 million in May from a partnership affiliated with Ko Olina developers Jeff Stone and Kevin Showe. Construction is scheduled to start next year.

A&B said this marks its 11th investment in newly-purchased Hawaii real estate in the past three years. In February, A&B announced a plan to develop a 140-room hotel for business travelers near Kahului Airport on Maui.

One store closes, one gets new owner

Food Pantry Ltd. will close its Whalers General Store No. 57 in Dickenson Square in Lahaina, according to a notice filed with the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The tentative closure date, Oct. 31, will leave four workers unemployed. They have been invited to apply for positions elsewhere in the company.

Meanwhile, eight workers at Pretzelmaker at the Navy Exchange Pearl Harbor will likely be retained by the store's new owner when it takes over operations Nov. 6, according to a filing with the department.

Aquasearch steps up marketing campaign

Kona-based biopharmaceutical company Aquasearch Inc. has hired a national financial public relations company, Florida-based Madison & Wall Worldwide Inc., to increase awareness of its existence among individual investors, stockbrokers, institutional investors, research analysts and the media.

Aquasearch already had increased its product marketing. It launched a campaign in Hawaii, on KGMB-TV and in the Star-Bulletin, in June to sell its AstaFactor nutritional supplement and a month earlier the company hired an experienced high-technology marketing executive, Edward B.T. Sun, as its director of global sales and marketing.

In a financial report filed this week at the Securities & Exchange Commission, Aquasearch said it increased its second-quarter marketing and administrative expenses by 6 percent to $599,135 in the three months through July 31, from $565,106 in the year-earlier quarter. It had product sales of $335,538 in the quarter, compared to zero sales a year earlier.

AIG joins ranks of auto insurers hit with suits

A class action suit filed yesterday accuses auto insurer AIG Hawaii Insurance Co. of illegally overcharging customers by basing premiums on age. The suit was filed in state Circuit Court by attorneys Tom Grande, Margery Bronster and Jim Bickerton.

The lawsuit, which alleges that AIG engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices, seeks to force AIG to notify customers it overcharged and refund excessive charges. Grande said AIG had been targeting senior citizens and possibly young customers in setting rates. While AIG has the right to charge a higher rate for people with poor driving records, the company is lumping all older Hawaii residents into one pool and charging more, Grande said.

The suit against AIG is the fourth in the past two weeks to be filed against a Hawaii auto insurer, including two others by these attorneys. Other targets are State Farm Insurance Co., Progressive Insurance Co. and Allstate Insurance Co.

Hilton Hotels to miss earnings estimates

Beverly Hills, Calif. >> Hilton Hotels Corp. will miss its third and fourth-quarter earnings estimates because of the terrorist attacks on the United States, executives of the nation's No. 3 hotel company said on a conference call.

Hilton didn't give specifics on how much earnings would lag estimates. The company was expected to earn 15 cents a share in the third quarter and 16 cents in the fourth, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call.

Host Marriott Corp., an owner of 125 hotels, also said today its profits for the fourth-quarter and full year would be less than expected.

Charge takes a bite out of bakery earnings

KANSAS CITY, Mo. >> Interstate Bakeries Corp., the maker of Hostess Twinkies, said yesterday its fiscal first-quarter net earnings fell 63 percent after charges for closing a Detroit cake factory and settling a lawsuit.

Interstate, the largest U.S. wholesale baker, reported net income of $9.8 million, or 19 cents a diluted common share, for the quarter ended Aug. 25, compared with $26.9 million, or 41 cents, a year ago.

Operating income before charges was $50.95 million in the quarter compared with $50.1 million a year ago. After charges, operating income was $25.25 million.