Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Thursday, March 23, 2000

GST restates results; executive steps down

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- GST Telecommunications Inc., which sells telephone and Internet services to businesses in California and Hawaii, restated its 1999 results and said its chief financial officer will step down.

The company decided on the restatement based on Securities & Exchange Commission guidance and consultation with independent auditors, it said. Without being more specific, GST said the restatement is related to the construction business. The company said it's already found a replacement for CFO Dan Trampush. It said it will make an announcement Tuesday.

Vancouver, Wash.-based GST entered the Hawaii in late 1995 when it joined with Hawaii OnLine as an Internet service provider. Later, GST spent tens of millions to develop a statewide fiber-optic network to compete in telecommunications.

In July of last year, however, the company said it had begun looking for a buyer for its Hawaii assets.

The company said that it hired Salomon Smith Barney Inc. to explore financing options and that it will disclose a five-year strategy likely in the second quarter.

GST also said its loss in the fourth quarter widened to $66.9 million, or $1.88 per share, from $65.3 million, or $1.90 a year earlier. It was expected to have a loss of $1.30, the average estimate of six analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Revenue increased 38 percent to $69 million from $49.9 million. The company restated its results for the first three quarters of 1999 to show a higher loss than previously reported.

30-year mortgages slip to 8.23 percent

WASHINGTON -- The average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell slightly to 8.23 percent this week vs. 8.24 percent last, according to a survey released today by mortgage broker Freddie Mac.

Fifteen-year mortgages, however, ticked up this week with an average rate of 7.84 percent, compared with 7.83 percent last week. One-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged an initial rate of 6.78 percent this week, up from 6.68 percent last week.