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[HAWAII INC.]

Promotions

>>Dean K. Hirata has been promoted to executive vice president at City Bank. He has been with the bank for three years as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

>> Peter Watabayashi has been promoted to branch manager of Vector Marketing's Pearl City office. He joined Vector in May 2001 as a sales representative, was promoted to field sales manager, certified trainer and then assistant district manager.

On the board

>> The Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce named Ronald K. Migita chairman of the board. He is the vice chairman and chief executive officer of City Bank. Other officers installed include Arnold S. Hirotsu, chairman-elect; Gregg E. Mueller, first vice-chairman; Glenn S. Yamada, second vice chairman; Yuri Giga, secretary; Raymond S. Ono, treasurer; and Milton T. Hiura, Wayne H. Kirihara and Brian H. Suzuki as auditors.

>> Peter S. Ho, Sandy Rogin and Lori Thomas has joined Manoa Valley Theatre's board of directors. Ho is executive vice president of Bank of Hawaii. Rogin is a grant writer for the City and County of Honolulu. Thomas is a community volunteer. Continuing board officers are: Scott Higashi, president; Janis Akuna, vice president; Neil Field, secretary; and John Maughan, treasurer. Continuing board members are Jack Bates, Kit Beuret, Sharon Billingsley, Brian A. Blevins, John Candon, Marcus Boland, Merilyn Gray, Al Hoffman, Keith Ito, Bill Lindemann, George Mason, Timothy E.D. Moulson, Jim Myers, Barbara Nickerson, Jeff Portnoy, Lyssa Reese, Mike Rosenberg, Ramona Sayre, Donn Takaki, Mark Taylor and Alice Tucker.

>> Mari Y. Naito of Janell A. Israel and Associates has been elected to the board of directors of Comfort Security Independence Inc. Also elected were: Gloria Zane, vice president; Alice Vinton, secretary; and Rebecca Parker, treasurer. Directors are Sue Cornish, Claus Z. Hansen, Kari Jo Hawkinson, Lorraine Kunita, Sandra Pohl, Laura Steelquist, Ruth Stepulis, Sara Tompkison, Lori Wells, Suzanne White and Shelley Wilson.


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ASIA

Japan supplants U.S. for fastest computer

LIVERMORE, Calif. >> The United States is no longer home to the world's most powerful supercomputer.

A Japanese supercomputer runs five times faster than the previous record holder, a machine that simulates nuclear tests at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Researchers say more than national pride is at issue. Supercomputers are built with thousands of processors that work in tandem to analyze the most complex issues -- including nuclear test simulations, aircraft designs, drug creation and others -- for governments, research centers and corporations.

The high-performance title isn't expected to stay in Japan forever. IBM, which built ASCI White, Hewlett-Packard Co. and other U.S. supercomputer makers say they are working on even more powerful machines.

Koizumi enjoys climb in approval rating

TOKYO >> Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's approval rating has climbed above 40 percent for the first time in three months, according to an Asahi newspaper poll.

The reversal of the decline in Koizumi's popularity came after he made progress in his bid to privatize the postal system and the arrest of legislator Muneo Suzuki appeased voter anger over a series of political scandals, the paper said.

His approval rating rose 10 points to 47 percent, the Asahi poll found. His disapproval rating declined to 38 percent from June's 46 percent, according to the weekend poll.

Koizumi's support rate hit a record 84 percent in May 2001, a month after he swept to office pledging to change the way Japan is governed and pull the economy out of a 12-year slump.

MAINLAND

Kmart posted loss in June of $137 million

TROY, Mich. >> Kmart Corp.'s losses increased in June, with a net loss of $137 million, according to the discount retailer's monthly operating statement. Kmart's loss includes $12 million attributable to its restructuring under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

For the four-week period ended June 26, Kmart posted sales of $2.3 billion. Comparable-store sales for the five-week period ended July 3 were 8.7 percent lower than the same period last year, excluding the 283 stores the company has closed. A monetary figure was not given. In May, Kmart posted a loss of $96 million. For the four-week period ended May 29, Kmart had sales of $2.6 billion. Same-store sales were down 11.4 percent from the year-ago period.

Kmart filed for Chapter 11 on Jan. 22, following disappointing holiday sales and a stock dive.

IBM to unveil product for database market

NEW YORK >> International Business Machines Corp., taking aim at rival database giant Oracle Corp., is unveiling a new version of its DB2 database soft- ware today that it says will make it easier for firms to manage large amounts of information.

IBM has been trying to beef up its software offerings in recent years as software products often sell at higher margins than its hardware products, which are increasingly approaching commodity status. Offering software along with IBM computers enables Big Blue to sell customers entire systems.

EUROPE

Rolls-Royce optimistic on jet parts sales

LONDON >> Rolls-Royce Plc., the world's second-largest civil jet engine maker, said yesterday it expects to increase sales in its lucrative maintenance and spare parts business to 50 percent of total sales.

"We have 40 percent of our sales in the aftermarket, and I guess we can get to 50 percent," Chairman Ralph Robins said.

Robins said a driving force of its aftermarket sales would be that Rolls Royce engines make up only 12 percent of more than 2,000 jets parked since the Sept. 11 attacks and its average engine age was much younger than its competitors.





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