Pacific Century's O'Neill earned $2.4 million in '01

Pacific Century Financial Corp., parent company of Bank of Hawaii, paid Chairman and Chief Executive Michael E. O'Neill $2.4 million in 2001, according to a preliminary proxy filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

O'Neill received $232,585 in compensation for the year plus options to purchase 2.2 million shares. In 2001, O'Neill received a $900,000 salary, plus a $600,000 bonus. He received $887,053 in other compensation, but wasn't granted options in 2001.

Last month, O'Neill said he will forgo his 2002 salary to help the bank rein in expenses and avoid layoffs.

In its proxy statement, the company said it is asking holders to approve a name change to Bank of Hawaii Corp. The company had previously announced the plan.

The filing said the new name will more clearly reflect the company's strategic plan to divest its holding in Pacific Rim regions and California and to focus on building its strength in the Hawaii market.

The company will hold its annual meeting April 26 .

California asks Japan to intervene with Kawamoto

SACRAMENTO, Calif. >> The California Legislature's Sacramento delegation wants Japanese officials to intervene with a billionaire who created a frenzy with plans to quickly sell hundreds of rental houses.

Two Assembly members and a pair of senators have written Japanese Ambassador Ryozo Kato and acting San Francisco-based Consul General Koichi Morita, asking them to avert a "local housing crisis of epic proportions." The group made a similar request to Shinsuke Tanaka, chief of the Japanese External Trade Organization in San Francisco.

Japanese billionaire and developer Gensiro Kawamoto is selling hundreds of houses in Sacramento, Santa Rosa and Hawaii, giving many residents 30-day eviction notices. Residents, government officials and activists are asking Kawamoto to give renters more time.

The letter asks Japanese officials to appeal to Kawamoto "to reconsider this brash and drastic action that threatens entire neighborhoods of families, disrupts children's lives and education and destroys the local housing market."

Tesoro says loss may be wider than forecasts

SAN ANTONIO >> Tesoro Petroleum Corp. said its loss this quarter may be greater than the 9-cent-a-share loss forecast by analysts because of lower profit margins at its oil refineries and a maintenance shutdown at a Washington plant. The estimates of six analysts ranged from a profit of 8 cents to a loss of 39 cents. San Antonio-based Tesoro also owns refineries in Hawaii, Utah North Dakota and Alaska.

Tesoro's average refining margins this year have been $2.75 a barrel below last quarter's average, Chief Executive Officer Bruce Smith said.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, a measure that estimates a refiner's profit from buying crude and selling gasoline and heating oil has fallen 37 percent so far this year from the year-ago period. Profit this year is projected to be above the $2.10 a share earned last year, partly because of acquisitions, Tesoro said. The company earlier this month forecast earnings of $2.35 to $2.50 in 2002.

Daiei asks founder's relatives to step down

KOBE, Japan > Daiei Inc., Japan's No. 2 retailer, said it wants the son and son-in-law of the company's founder to step down from their roles at Daiei subsidiaries to take responsibility for the company's financial problems, according to Bloomberg News.

The company, which is trying to trim &YEN2.3 trillion in debt as part of a recovery effort, asked Tadashi Nakauchi, a son of founder Isao Nakauchi, to turn over his 40 percent stake in its Fukuoka Daiei Hawks baseball team and give up his role in management. The company will also ask Masahide Asano, the founder's son-in-law, to resign as president of Daiei's real estate unit, Ichiken Co.