IN HAWAII

Chamber of Commerce meets with Pentagon

A Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii delegation met yesterday with Pentagon officials about Hawaii defense commitments.

The delegation, made up of business and government representatives included Michael O'Neill, president and CEO, Bank of Hawaii; Lily Yao, vice president, First Hawaiian Bank; Jim Tollefson, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce; and state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa. Later this week the delegation will meet with House and Senate Armed Services Committees and the Hawaii Congressional delegation.

More that $3.5 billion is spent by the Defense Department on payroll and contracts in Hawaii. The chamber group's discussions will include Hawaii's military needs and plans.

The annual trip to Washington is organized by the Military Affairs Council of the chamber to strengthen relationships between the business community and the Department of Defense and to encourage continued financial commitments.

Hawaiian Airlines traffic falls in May

Hawaiian Airlines said it carried 441,426 passengers on its scheduled flights last month, a decrease of 1.3 percent from 447,425 in May of last year.

Charter passenger numbers fell more sharply, by 22.7 percent from the year-earlier month, but the airline's charter business is much smaller than its scheduled service, with only 23,755 flying on charters last month compared to 30,739 in the year-earlier month.

Hawaiian's charter business has not recovered from the loss of Tahiti cruise-ship operations after Sept. 11.

For the first five months of this year, Hawaiian carried 2.2 million people in its scheduled interisland, mainland-Hawaii and Hawaii-South Pacific services. That was 4.2 percent fewer than the 2.3 million carried in the first five months of 2001, which ended about four months before the terrorist hijackings.

CPB ups 2nd-quarter dividend to 20 cents

CPB Inc., parent of Central Pacific Bank, said yesterday it will boost its second-quarter dividend 11.1 percent to 20 cents a share. The increase, which is a gain from its 18-cent payout in the first quarter, will be payable on July 26 to shareholders of record as of June 28. CPB's stock, which is up 34.9 percent this year at $39.66, currently offers a 1.8 percent dividend yield.

ON THE MAINLAND

Peregrine to eliminate half of work force

SAN DIEGO >> Peregrine Systems Inc. is cutting 1,400 jobs, or nearly its half work force, and closing some of its offices to cut costs amid an investigation by federal securites regulators.

Peregrine officials said today the company will reduce the number of employees from 2,900 to 1,500 -- or about 48 percent -- in its U.S. offices. It was not immediately known how many locations would be closed.

Peregrine, a business-software company, admitted it may have overstated as much as $100 million in revenue. The company is under formal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and said it will restate three years of earnings.

Peregrine fired Arthur Andersen as its auditor April 2 and fired its replacement auditor, KPMG, at the end of May. KPMG then sent the SEC a letter, alleging possible fraud at the company.

Tyco International sues former officials

CONCORD, N.H. >> Tyco International Ltd. sued two former top company officials yesterday, claiming they received payments totaling $55 million that were never approved by the conglomerate's board.

Tyco said former director Frank Walsh received $20 million as a finder's fee after the company bought its CIT lending unit last year. The company also said its former legal counsel, Mark Belnick, received $35 million in compensation not approved by Tyco's board.

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[Hawaii Inc.]

New Jobs

>> Castle & Cooke Realty Inc. has hired Alejandra "Alex" Soares as a real estate sales representative. The 20-year residential real estate veteran most recently operated her own real estate brokerage, Soares Properties.

>> Aston Hotels and Resorts Hawaii recently hired Wes Murasaki, Rose Kemna and Sue Osborne. Murasaki is group sales manger, Kemna is kamaaina sales manager and Osborne is online hospitality service representative. Murasaki comes from Kauai Coconut Beach Resorts, Kemna recently worked at American Express Travel as sales manager and Osborne was an Aston group sales manager.

>> Russell Kimbel Jr. has joined the Hilton Waikoloa Village as national sales manager. He will be responsible for sales in California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Kimbel was most recently at The Westin Cincinnati as senior sales manager.

On the board

>> Keven Matsuura was elected president of the Kaimuki Business & Professional Association for 2002-03 at the organization's 56th annual installation and fellowship banquet Friday. He is general manager of Mutual Publishing. Other new officers are Cyrus Robinson, Kaimuki Branch Manager of Territorial Savings & Loan, as first vice president; Philip Keat, Kaimuki Branch Manager of First Hawaiian Bank, as second vice president; attorney Eric Wong as third vice president; David Chinaka of Chinaka, Siu & Co. as secretary; and Chris Yuen of Ohata Chun Yuen CPAs as treasurer. Board directors include Lisa Baptista, Edna Hussey, Elizabeth Schwartz, John Steelquist, Mark Watase, Ryan Yamauchi, Nicki Thompson, Andrew Glatzel, Jim Carter, Rene Tam Ho, Andy Kano, Randall Ikawa, Jeffrey Niebling and Elissa Josephsohn.

Promotions

>> Eric Fujimoto, a financial advisor with Honolulu's American Express, has been appointed a member of the company's advanced adviser group of senior financial advisors. As a member of this group, Fujimoto can provide an expanded scope of personal, comprehensive financial planning to clients.