IN HAWAII

A&B to pay quarterly dividend of 22.5 cents

Alexander & Baldwin Inc., which posted a third-quarter earnings increase of 3 percent, yesterday declared a 22.5 cents a share dividend in the fourth quarter to be payable Dec. 5 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Nov. 7. At its current rate, A&B's stock yields 3.84 percent.

The company has now maintained its dividend at 22.5 cents for 20 straight quarters.

Tesoro upgraded by Johnson Rice analyst

Tesoro Petroleum Corp., which has been seeking to sell off assets in a bid to reduce its debt by $500 million before the end of 2003, had its stock raised to "accumulate" from "hold" yesterday by analyst John M. Selser at Johnson Rice & Co. Selser also set a target price of $4 a share.

The company's stock, which closed yesterday at $2.20, has fallen 83.2 percent this year .

Tesoro's Hawaii refinery, the largest in the state, recently began laying off 5 percent of its 700-member work force in a cost-cutting move. Tesoro has 35 namesake retail gas stations in the state.

The company plans to announce its earnings Nov. 7.

Aston to celebrate grand opening Nov. 2

The 717-room Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel, looking to show off its recent $30 million renovation, will hold a grand opening Nov. 2. The 6 p.m. show will include a ceremony on Kalakaua Avenue in front of the property, Hawaiian entertainment and fireworks, the hotel said.

ON THE MAINLAND

Dole worth more than bid, investors say

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. >> David Murdock, the billionaire chief executive of Dole Food Co., will have to sweeten his takeover bid for the world's largest fruit and vegetable producer to at least $35 a share, investors said.

Murdock's $29.50-a-share proposal was rejected Wednesday by Dole's board, which authorized Goldman, Sachs & Co. to seek other potential buyers. Negotiations for a higher price were extended for a week until Nov. 13, the company said.

"Obviously we'd prefer a higher price," said Steve Laveson, an analyst at Becker Capital Management, which oversees $1.5 billion in assets, including 919,500 Dole shares. "If we didn't think (Dole) was worth the higher price, we would've sold the shares on the open market."

"The Dole brand is very valuable," said Alexander Roepers, president of Atlantic Investment Management Inc., which owns 6 percent of Dole's shares and is the second-largest investor after Murdock. "The restructuring plan is throwing off huge profits."

United Air attendants offer to take 3.6% cut

CHICAGO >> United Airlines flight attendants' union offered to cut pay 3.6 percent as part of a plan to save parent UAL Corp. $5.8 billion over 5 1/2 years and keep the world's second-biggest airline out of bankruptcy court.

United's Association of Flight Attendants made the offer in negotiations this week with the carrier and told members in a summary of the proposal that attendants with six or more years of service, about 85 percent of 24,000 active attendants, would take the cut. The opening offer is subject to talks that are likely to keep up this weekend, said union spokeswoman Sara Dela Cruz.

UAL has said it must reduce costs to be viable, win approval for a federal loan guarantee that would help the company raise $2 billion in private loans and avoid a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. UAL said it won't be able to pay $875 million of debt due by year- end unless it can raise the money.

"It's in the unions' best interest to avoid a bankruptcy," said Goldman Sachs analyst Glenn Engel, who has a "buy" rating on UAL.