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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Wednesday, February 14, 2001

Damon Estate sells chunk of BancWest

Damon Estate, the largest shareholder of BancWest Corp., has filed to sell 600,000 shares in the bank-holding company, worth $15.82 million as of yesterday's closing price of $26.37.

After the sale, the estate will still own 15.2 million shares, or 22.14 percent, of BancWest's stock, down from a 23 percent stake. The estate, one of Hawaii's top private landowners, still remains the top shareholder in the Honolulu-based parent of First Hawaiian Bank.

The estate's stock sale was disclosed last week in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Hawaiian reports increased business

Hawaiian Airlines Inc. said it carried 477,743 passengers in January, a 6.6 percent increase from 447,996 in January 2000. The airline said yesterday its load factor, the percentage of available seats occupied by paying passengers, rose 5.1 percentage points to 71.8 percent from 66.7 percent a year earlier. Available seat miles, or the number of available seats multiplied by total miles flown, rose 3 percent.

Goodyear to cut 10 percent of jobs

AKRON, Ohio -- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the world's biggest tiremaker, said it will eliminate 10,700 jobs over two years because raw material costs are rising and carmakers are producing fewer vehicles.

The 10 percent work-force reduction is expected to cut costs by about $150 million this year and up to $500 million annually by 2005. Goodyear took a fourth-quarter charge of $93.7 million, or 59 cents a share, for the jobs cuts and facility consolidations, resulting in a loss of $102 million, or 65 cents. Goodyear has been restructuring operations in the past three years in an attempt to cut expenses and boost sales in the face of rising costs.

In other news . . .

Shares of Big Island-based biotech firm Cyanotech Corp. rose 13 cents, or 14.3 percent, to $1 in heavy trading today after the company reported that human clinical trials in Japan found that its microalgae product Spirulina may aid the body's natural ability to fight cancer.