IN HAWAII

Hawaii continues to lose Japanese tourists

Hawaii has slipped to fifth place among overseas destinations for Japanese travelers this summer, according to a new survey made by Japan's biggest travel agency, JTB Corp. JTB said Hawaii should get 216,000 visitors from Japan in the period July 15 through Aug. 31, a decrease of 18.8 percent from 266,000 last summer.

The change was mostly due to the increasing popularity of Asian destinations, which started more than a year ago and accelerated after Sept. 11. South Korea and Europe tied for first place this year, each expecting 337,000 visitors, JTB said.

The U.S. mainland is in third place, with 289,000 Japanese visitors, a decline of 15 percent from 340,000 last summer.

Fast-growing China pushed Hawaii out of fourth place. JTB's survey shows 252,000 Japanese going to China this summer, up 12 percent from 225,000 last summer. China has the biggest growth this year and Hawaii has the biggest decline, according to JTB. The agency based its report on bookings at 200 of its offices throughout Japan.

HEI and CPB stocks post strong rebound

Central Pacific Bank parent CPB Inc. and Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., which both posted strong second-quarter earnings Monday, saw their stocks surge more than 6 percent each today in a rebound from weakness earlier in the week.

CPB continued to snap back from a one-day, 13.7 percent selloff Monday when one of its institutional holders unloaded a block of shares in the process of converting the investment style of its fund to match a stock index of which CPB was not a member.

CPB's stock jumped 6.9 percent, or $2.20, to $34.25. The shares, which began this month at $45.95 and up 56.2 percent for the year, fell $5.01 to $31.50 Monday before recouping 55 cents of that loss yesterday after releasing its second-quarter earnings report a day early. Net income for the quarter was up 33 percent. CPB's shares are now up 16.5 percent this year.

Meanwhile, HEI, which reported a 21 percent increase in earnings and received an analyst upgrade to "market outperform" yesterday, surged 6.3 percent, or $2.22, to $37.67.

The company, which yesterday also declared a quarterly 62-cents-a-share dividend, bounced off its 52-week low of $35.45. The yield on the dividend payout, which will be distributed Sept. 10 to stockholders of record at the close of business Aug. 12, is currently 6.6 percent. The yield started today at 7 percent.

Dole to pay dividend of 15 cents for quarter

Dole Food Co. Inc. will pay a regular quarterly dividend of 15 cents a share, the company announced. The dividend is payable Sept. 19 to shareholders of record Aug. 29. The dividend is unchanged from previous payments in 2002.

The Westlake Village, Calif.-based company last week reported a second-quarter profit of $66.8 million, an 80.5 percent increase from the same quarter in 2001.

IN JAPAN

Japan exports grow, but outlook cloudy

TOKYO >> Japan's exports, the main driver of a tentative economic recovery, grew for a third month in June although falling U.S. stocks and their fallout on global economies dimmed the outlook.

Japan's customs-cleared trade surplus widened for the fourth straight month, rising by 71.4 percent in June from a year earlier to &YEN1.3 trillion ($11 billion) as exports rose 8.9 percent and imports fell 5.1 percent, the Finance Ministry said. The surplus was slightly bigger than a median forecast for &YEN1.06 trillion by economists polled by Reuters last week.

But economists said the yen's recent rise to 17-month peaks against the dollar could set back exporters.