Survey: Isle
business outlook
improving

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

An increasing number of Hawaii business owners and top managers say their revenues are up compared to last year, according to a business survey released today.

There are also negatives in the survey, conducted for the Business Banking Council and sponsored by American Savings Bank. But adding those who don't expect changes to those who see things getting better, the results overall are edging into the positive, the survey indicated.

The latest survey -- which contacted 411 executives by telephone between late June and early July -- shows 40 percent of the respondents reporting higher gross revenues than they were getting last year.

That was an increase from 31 percent in a similar survey in the second quarter of 1998, which was the first of the council's quarterly surveys.

Declining revenues were reported by 39 percent this year, an improvement from the 48 percent a year earlier.

"For the very first time since we've conducted this survey, there are more people saying their gross revenues are going up," than there are seeing a downturn, said Barbara Ankersmit, president of QMark Research & Polling, the Honolulu firm that conducted the survey.

There was also a slight increase in the number of people saying their pre-tax profits were up -- 31 percent vs 30 percent in the year-earlier survey.

Fewer saw profits getting smaller -- 38 percent compared with 46 percent a year earlier.