MAINLAND

Safeway earnings rise less than 1 percent

Pleasanton, Calif. >> Safeway Inc., the third-largest U.S. supermarket chain, said second-quarter profit rose less than 1 percent, meeting a reduced forecast that sparked its largest share decline in at least two decades.

Net income increased to $309.3 million, or 63 cents a share, from $307.3 million, or 59 cents a share, the company said. Sales in the quarter ended June 15 rose 1.2 percent to $8.08 billion.

Chief Executive Steve Burd, on a conference call with investors, said third-quarter profit will be at the "low end" of a 60 cents-to-62 cents range predicted last month. Safeway is cutting jobs, closing stores and reducing prices as part of Burd's plan to compete with discounters including Costco Wholesale Corp. and larger rivals Kroger Co. and Albertson's Inc.

"The warehouse chains are putting tremendous price pressure on the grocery store chains," said David Dietze, president of Point View Financial Services, whose $100 million in assets includes about 10,000 Safeway shares.

US Airways nears deal with pilots on cost cuts

NEW YORK >> US Airways and its pilots' union were in

the final stages yesterday of reaching a tentative agreement on cost cuts, a union spokesman said.

The agreement would give a crucial lift to an application that US Airways filed last month seeking a $900 million federal loan guarantee.

The airline, the country's sixth largest, has been trying

to wring $595 million of cost cuts from its pilots. The union recently offered $410 million and agreed over the weekend to give more.

Negotiators held conference calls over the weekend. The union spokesman said the issues that still required the most work related to job security and financial paybacks like stock options and profit sharing that would be given to the pilots in exchange for the immediate cuts.

Intel begins shipping new microprocessor

SANTA CLARA, Calif. >> Intel Corp. today will begin shipping its second-generation Itanium microprocessor, which represents the company's effort to take its technology into the heart of corporate data centers.

The course of the Intel campaign will be particularly important for two other companies - Hewlett-Packard, which jointly developed the Itanium chip with Intel, and Sun Microsystems, the company with the most to lose if the Itanium technology prevails.

IN CHINA

39 miners die as China ups safety efforts

BEIJING >> One month. More than 200 dead. An embarrassed Chinese government that keeps promising things will get better.

A string of industrial deaths - mostly in the country's notoriously perilous mines, including a gas explosion today that killed at least 39 miners and another last month that killed 115 people - has forced China to promise more attention to its safety campaign and prod officials at all levels into helping.

On Sunday, the central government convened a national teleconference of provincial and local officials to weigh in on the problem and discuss mine safety strategies. What's more, it reported the meeting in the state media.

Zhao Tiechui, deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety Supervision, blamed mine owners and companies for the disasters, saying they had turned "a deaf ear to safety regulations and management processes."

A gas explosion Monday in a northeastern Chinese coal mine killed at least 39 miners, state media reported. Rescuers held out little hope of finding alive four other miners who were inside the pit when the explosion hit the Dingsheng mine, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

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[HAWAII INC.]

NEW JOBS

>> Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has hired Rosemary R. Wong to manage its Kahala Office. She will be responsible for the management of personnel and agents, marketing coordination and all day-to-day operations of the office. Wong was most recently a loan compliance officer with City Bank for nine years. She has been a real estate broker for 20 years.

PROMOTIONS

>> Ron H. Kawano has been named vice president and assistant manager of Hawaii Central Credit Union. He will be responsible for the operation of all credit union departments and serve as the compliance officer. He previously served HCCU as director of marketing for 10 years.

>> Phil Carollo has been named general manager of Dixie Grill Bar-b-que & Crab Shack on Ward Avenue. He formerly managed the Dixie Grill in Aiea and worked at the Rodeo Cantina.

>> The Limitiaco Co. has promoted Gina Baurile, Sheri Park and Danielle Schermann to assistant account executive. They will research and draft communications pieces and assist with general client or media related activities. Limitiaco also hired Allison Boston as an account coordinator.

RECOGNITION

>> Worth magazine has named Harry Kasanow of Honolulu-based Kasanow & Associates one of the 250 Best Financial Advisers for the fifth consecutive year. Kasanow was particularly commended for his ability to ask the right questions, understand client's personal goals for their wealth, and provide them with sound advice to help them make the best choices.