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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Thursday, July 13, 2000

Insurance veteran joins Bankoh unit

Insurance industry veteran Ron Tsukamaki will join Bank of Hawaii as the new president of its Bankoh Insurance Agency subsidiary.

As president, Tsukamaki oversees all of Bankoh's retail insurance sales to consumers and businesses in Hawaii. Tsukamaki was the head of Hawaii office and senior vice president at insurance firm J&H Marsh & McLennan from Dec. 1997 to May 1999. His other previous positions include interim president and CEO of the Oahu Economic Development Board, and executive vice president at Johnson & Higgins, one of Hawaii's largest commercial insurance agencies.

Festival to feature Hawaii products

Hundreds of Hawaii products -- including apparel, jewelry, books, novelties, collectibles, toiletries, Hawaiian crafts and fine foods -- will be showcased at the Fifth Annual Made in Hawaii Festival on Aug. 18-20 at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.

All featured products are made or grown in Hawaii by about 400 festival exhibitors. Island entertainers and musicians will perform during the three-day event.

The festival is sponsored by First Hawaiian Bank and produced by the Hawaii Food Industry Association. Hours are noon-to-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18; 10 a.m.-to-9 p.m. Aug. 19; and 10 a.m.-to-5 p.m. Aug. 20. Admission is $2 and free for children under six. For more information, call 533-1292 or visit the Web site at http://www.madeinhawaiifestival.com.

WorldCom, Sprint call off merger

NEW YORK -- WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. called off their planned $129 billion telecommunications merger today, an expected move in the face of extreme opposition from regulators in the United States and Europe. In a statement, the companies said that "the set of conditions ultimately demanded by the U.S. Department of Justice would compromise the customer and financial benefits of the merger." Late last month, Attorney General Janet Reno announced the department was suing to block the deal. WorldCom and Sprint then pulled their merger application in Europe, although it too was ultimately rejected.

The Justice Department contended that the merger of the second- and third-largest U.S. long-distance carriers would leave millions of Americans paying more for less service.

Mortgage rates slip to 8.09 percent

WASHINGTON -- Mortgage rates fell this week with rates on 30-year mortgages dipping to their lowest level since the end of last year. The average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages slipped to 8.09 percent this week, down from 8.16 percent last week, according to a survey released today by Freddie Mac. The 8.09 percent rate was the lowest since Dec. 31, 1999, when the average rate on 30-year mortgages stood at 8.06 percent. In mid-May, rates on 30-year mortgages hit a five-year high of 8.64 percent. Fifteen-year mortgages ticked down to 7.80 percent this week, down from 7.88 percent last week. One-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged an initial rate of 7.22 percent this week, down from 7.27 percent.

In other news . . .

SAN DIEGO -- Gateway Inc., the No. 2 direct-seller of personal computers, said today that second-quarter earnings rose 36 percent as more sales came from higher-profit businesses. Its net income of $121.6 million, or 37 cents a share, beat analysts forecasts by a penny.