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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Monday, May 15, 2000

Maui builders plan 73 luxury homes

Terra Pacific Development Co., which is developing a 17-acre project of 73 single-family condominium homes at Kaanapali, Maui, has hired Hawaiian Dredging & Construction Co. as general contractor for the project. Called The Vintage at Kaanapali, the $40 million development is within Kaanapali Golf Estates and bordered by the seventh through eleventh fairways of the Kaanapali South Course. Ground work by Goodfellow Brothers began in January. Terra Pacific said the one-and two-story stand-alone homes range from 1,782 square feet to 2,184 square feet. Prices begin at $475,000. The principal broker is Whalers Realty of Kaanapali and Terra Pacific's principals are G. Robert Johnston, Howard S. Kihune Sr. and Ted Taylor.

Hawaiian's traffic rises 16.9 percent

Hawaiian Airlines Inc. said it carried 534,922 passengers in April, a 16.9 percent increase from 457,618 in April 1999. The airline said today that 83.3 percent of its available seats were occupied by paying passengers last month, an increase of 6.3 points from a 77 percent load factor in April 1999. The load factor went up because revenue passenger miles, the number of passengers multiplied by the number of miles they traveled, were up 23.6 percent while available seat miles, the number of seats times the miles the aircraft flew, were up 14.3 percent. Hawaiian's monthly figures combine its interisland traffic, mainland-Hawaii and Hawaii-South Pacific loads.

Fed gets more data on strong economy

WASHINGTON -- Industrial production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities shot up in April at its strongest pace in 20 months, the latest testimony to the booming economy.

Economists said today's report by the Federal Reserve suggests that the economy -- in its longest ever streak of uninterrupted growth -- is growing at a too-rapid pace that probably can't be sustained without sparking inflation down the road.

Some economists said this latest snapshot of the industrial sector would justify a more aggressive half-point increase in interest rates in an effort to slow the economy and keep inflation at bay.

Federal Reserve policy makers are scheduled to meet tomorrow.

"Soaring production just about cinches" a half-point increase, said economist Joel Naroff. "Clearly this economy is on the move."

Industrial production jumped by 0.9 percent in April, right on target with many analysts' expectations. It was the largest increase since August 1998.

In other news . . .

NEW YORK -- Cheesecake Factory Inc. said today it will split its stock three shares for two.

The new shares will be issued June 8. Cheesecake Factory, based in Calabasas Hills, Calif., owns and operates 34 restaurants.