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Dole disputes charge of earnings manipulation

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. >> Fresh fruit producer Dole Food Co., shopping for a new buyer after rejecting one takeover bid, yesterday disputed a shareholder's accusation that a recent accounting decision held back operating earnings, according to a Reuters report.

Hedge fund Atlantic Investment Management said Dole's $10.2 million increase in legal reserves should have been treated as a non-recurring charge in third-quarter earnings released last week. Dole counted them as a recurring corporate expense. The fund, based in Roseland, N.J., owns about 6 percent of Dole. It criticized Dole in a securities filing on Friday, saying Dole's earnings were held back by the accounting decision.

Dole, based in Westlake Village, Calif., said the reserves were for 842 lawsuits in the United States, Latin America and the Philippines.

Dole last month rejected Chairman David Murdock's $1.26 billion cash offer to buy the approximate 76 percent of the company he does not already own. Instead, Dole hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to help it find other buyers.

Dole shares closed up 22 cents at $29.27 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Capellas quits HP, eyes WorldCom

Palo Alto, Calif. >> Hewlett-Packard Co. President Michael Capellas resigned amid speculation that he is the top candidate to be chief executive officer at bankrupt WorldCom Inc.

Capellas, 48, won't be replaced, and managers who reported to him at the world's second-biggest computer maker will answer to Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard said. WorldCom has agreed informally to hire Capellas, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing people familiar with the talks.

Capellas cut costs and improved inventory management as CEO of Compaq Computer Corp. before he sold the company to rival Hewlett- Packard in May, having failed to stem losses in personal computers. Compaq shares fell 56 percent during his tenure. He has been reducing expenses as the companies integrate, and investors say Hewlett-Packard is losing one of its leading operations executives.

Americans claim good health despite habits

NEW YORK >> Nearly one in five U.S. workers claims to be in excellent health -- despite being overweight, smoking, drinking too much or never exercising, according to a survey released today.

In the nationwide study of 1,450 employed adults released by Oxford Health Plans Inc., 17 percent described their health as excellent but displayed not-so-excellent habits.

Of those people, 55 percent said they were at least 25 pounds overweight, 31 percent smoked, 21 percent drank at least three glasses of alcohol a day, 29 percent drank at least four cups of coffee or tea, and 36 percent never exercised, it said. The study also showed people with healthier habits such as frequent exercise and good diet are most motivated at work, ranking 8.9 on a 10-point scale, and most useful on the job, scoring 9 on a 10-point scale.

The telephone survey, conducted by Central Marketing Inc., had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

Kmart asks court to approve deal with IRS

NEW YORK >> Kmart Corp. has asked the court handling its 9-month-old bankruptcy case to approve a deal with the Internal Revenue Service.

Under the deal, the IRS agreed to pay Kmart a net tax refund of at least $6.5 million by Nov. 27, with a possible increase of up to $1.5 million, according to court papers obtained today.

The deal resolves any claims the government has against the discount retailer for corporate income taxes for the years up to January 1999 and for excise taxes for periods up to Dec. 31, 1998. The parties still are trying to agree on interest.

The IRS calculated the refund by offsetting claims it holds against Kmart against amounts it owes the company. The IRS has claims against Kmart for income tax deficiencies for periods ended before the company's Chapter 11 protection, but also owes Kmart money for income tax overpayments.

ASIA

Slow exports erode Japan surplus

TOKYO >> The surplus on Japan's current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, fell for the first time in a year in September as slowing exports threatened to remove the main prop from an economic recovery.

Data released today showed that the current account surplus fell 6.8 percent in September from a year earlier to &YEN1.1705 trillion ($9.76 billion), ending 11 straight months of growth and falling short of market forecasts.

Gross domestic product figures for July-September, to be released on Wednesday, are likely to show slight growth for the quarter, but some economists expect that to be the last growth for some time as Japan feels the chill from a global slowdown and particularly from a stuttering U.S. economy.

Most economists expect net exports to make a negative contribution to GDP for the first time in a year.


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[ HAWAII INC. ]

ON THE BOARD

>> Steven K. Baker was elected to Hawaii Pacific University's board of trustee. The Honolulu resident's global entrepreneurial experience includes 22 years as a Citibank executive. He was also founder and chairman of Lanka Bell Ltd. in Sri Lanka.

>> Aha Punana Leo has added three new members to its board of directors: Gladys A. Brandt, former chairwoman of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents; Randie Fong, project director of Kamehameha Schools Performing Arts and Hawaiian Cultural Center; and Alohilani Rogers, teacher in the Kauai Hawaiian Language Immersion Program. Brandt and Rogers were elected treasurer and secretary respectively. Aha Punana Leo runs 12 Hawaiian pre-schools and provides program support to the state Department of Education's K-12 Hawaiian immersion program, which grew out of the Punana Leo preschools.

>> Daniel K. Robie and Dennis Okazaki have joined the board of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii. The 15-member volunteer board governs the organization, which operates facilities to assist seriously ill children and their families. Robie is pediatric surgeon at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children and also is affiliated with Tripler Army Medical Center where he formerly served as chief of pediatric surgery. Okazaki is vice president of administration for Koga Engineering and Construction Inc.

RECOGNITION

>> Salomon Smith Barney's Karen Yasukawa of Honolulu has earned the certified investment management analyst designation following coursework and an examination at The Wharton School. Recertification every two years from the Investment Management Consultants Association requires rigorous ongoing education.



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