[EARNINGS ROUNDUP]

Maui Land earnings tumble 59 percent

Maui Land & Pineapple Co. saw its first-quarter net income drop 59 percent to $779,000 from $1.9 million in the year-earlier period, despite an 11.2 percent increase in revenue.

Per-share earnings for the Kahului, Maui-based company fell to 11 cents a share from 27 cents in the first quarter of last year, Maui Land reported yesterday.

The company's loss from pineapple operations widened to $967,000 from $266,000, despite a 25.6 percent increase in revenues. Profits at its resort segment in Kapalua fell 17.5 percent to $3.4 million from $4.1 million. Overall revenues rose to $38.7 million from $34.8 million last year, the company said. But because of increased debt, its interest expense rose 86 percent to $872,000 from $468,000 in the year earlier.

The company's stock reached a 52-week low of $17 on April 4. It closed down 5 cents today at $17.45.

AOL Time Warner Inc. Chairman Steve Case owns 41.4 percent of the company.

Higher gas prices boost Chevron profits

San Francisco >> Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company, said first-quarter earnings rose 44 percent, boosted by higher natural-gas prices and gains from oil refining. Net income increased to $1.6 billion, or $2.49 a share, from profit from operations of $1.11 billion, or $1.68, a year earlier, the San Francisco-based company said in a statement. Revenue rose 5.1 percent to $12.3 billion from $11.7 billion.

Operating profit from oil and gas production rose 38 percent to $1.4 billion. The average price Chevron got for gas more than tripled to $7.57 per thousand cubic feet. Higher profit margins worldwide for refining oil and selling products such as gasoline and heating oil also boosted earnings, the company said.

Disney beats forecasts

LOS ANGELES >> Media giant Walt Disney Co. yesterday reported a loss of $567 million in its second quarter, reflecting $1 billion in one-time costs from closing its Go.com portal and shuttering 70 Disney stores.

Despite the restructuring charges, results easily beat analysts expectations. The loss of 26 cents per share compares with income of $77 million, or 8 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Excluding the one-time charges, the company said it earned $391 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with $294 million, or 14 cents per share in the same period last year. Analysts had expected earnings of 13 cents per share.

AT&T loses $373 million

NEW YORK >> AT&T Corp. lost $373 million in the first quarter as the cable TV unit's stake in the ExciteAtHome high-speed Web service plunged in value. Without the impact of ExciteAtHome, AT&T actually posted a small operating profit that edged most Wall Street forecasts. Yesterday's report also showed strong growth for the wireless business that AT&T is preparing to spin off as an independent company this summer. Revenues surged 46 percent at AT&T Wireless as the customer base grew by 585,000 mobile phone users to a total of 15.7 million.

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[TAKING NOTICE]

NEW JOBS

>> Keith "Bud" Koehler has been named food and beverage director at the Ala Moana Hotel. Previously, Koehler was assistant food and beverage director at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa.

>> Hospice Hawaii has hired Terri O'Rouke as a registered nurse case manager, Susan Kouchi as a medical records clerk and Barbara Nowak as a patient care coordinator. O'Rouke has more than 30 years of nursing experience with background in home health. Kouchi joins Hospice Hawaii with five years of administrative and clerical experience in the health care industry. Nowak is new to hospice care, but has more than 26 years of experience as a registered nurse, much of it in home care.

PROMOTIONS

>> Architect Tracy S. Nagata has been named senior associate at KY International Inc. She will be responsible for personnel management, office administration and promotion and professional design. Nagata has been with KY International since 1997.