Matson plans to increase freight charge by 2.75%

Matson Navigation Co. said today it will raise its West Coast-Hawaii freight charge by 2.75 percent beginning April 14.

The shipping line had announced earlier that it would not make its usual first-quarter rate increase, but would hold off for a time. Despite a 90 percent drop in Matson's fourth-quarter operating profit, the line posted a lower rate increase than the 3.5 percent hike in February 2001 or the 3.9 percent rise in February 2000.

Matson said it has introduced some cost-saving measures, in particular taking one ship out of service to reduce the fleet size to seven. Matson is a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin Inc.

The other major mainland-Hawaii containership company, CSX Lines, had not posted new rates late this morning.

Outrigger to use Web cams in Hawaii, other hotels

Outrigger Hotels & Resorts has made an arrangement with XS Network, a global camera networking firm, to install live digital Web cams at Outrigger resorts throughout Hawaii, Australia, Micronesia and the Fiji Islands.

The entire Web cam network, consisting of up to 20 Outrigger beachfront resorts throughout the Pacific and Australia, is projected for completion by June 2003 at a total cost of more than $1 million.

The first phase, with camera systems at Outrigger properties on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island, should be in operation by the end of this year, Outrigger said. The scenes will be viewable from the hotel company's Web site, www.outrigger.com and through www.XSCity.com.

Hawaiian Airlines traffic increased in January

Hawaiian Airlines passenger traffic in January increased 1.6 percent over a year earlier, the company said.

The airline, currently planning a merger with rival Aloha Airlines, saw revenue passenger miles -- the number of passengers carried times the miles flown -- rise to 324.9 million.

The airline's scheduled flights ran 74 percent full during the month, up from 67.1 percent in January 2001.

Hawaiian carried 411,118 passengers last month, down 7 percent. Fewer seats were also available during January, with available seat miles dropping 7.7 percent.

First Hawaiian Bank parent's net up 19%

Paris >> BNP Paribas SA's fourth-quarter earnings rose 19 percent, making the French lender the only one of Europe's eight biggest banks to post higher profit in the period.

Net income climbed to 866 million euros ($752 million), or 1 euro a share, from 726 million euros, or 84 cents, in the year-ago period, Chairman Michel Pebereau said at a press conference.

BNP benefited from a sixfold increase in investment gains and cost cuts from the 1999 takeover of Paribas SA.

The bank's earnings have nearly tripled since it bought Paribas in 1999. Since then, the bank has been looking abroad for growth. In December, it became California's fourth-biggest lender after buying United California Bank from Japan's UFJ Holdings Inc. for $2.4 billion. It plans to combine the company with First Hawaiian Bank parent BancWest Corp., which it bought for $2.45 billion last year.

"They did well, but don't expect a dazzling 2002," said Jacques-Antoine Bretteil, who manages about $700 million at International Capital Gestion, including BNP shares.

Pebereau said the start of the year showed "an unfavorable and unstable economic and market context making it difficult to forecast results." The company's shares, which closed at a 52- week high yesterday, fell 1.7 percent today to 55.10 euros.