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HAWAII

Downtown offices see vacancies steady

The downtown Honolulu office vacancy rate was 14 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to a new report from CB Richard Ellis. That was a slight decline from 14.2 percent a year earlier. However, the trend was up from the 13.6 percent level of mid-2002 and well above the 11 percent rate of mid-2001.

The Honolulu commercial real estate firm said that office space elsewhere on the island was performing better than the central business district. Suburban Oahu had a 13.5 percent vacancy level in the latest quarter, the same as in the first quarter of last year but well down from 14.8 percent in the second and fourth quarters of 2002.

The islandwide office vacancy level in the first quarter was 13.7 percent, down slightly from 13.8 percent year earlier. Downtown office rents ranged from $2.15 to $2.36 a square foot in the latest quarter, CB Richard Ellis said.

Lanai attracts big spenders

The typical out-of-state Maui visitor spent an average $160.99 a day in 2002, while Kauai visitors spent $142.68 a day, Big Island visitors shelled out $140.73, and Molokai visitors spent $83.28, the state reported today. The state began collecting this data in 2002, so year-over-year comparisons were not available.

The island that had the most daily spending was Lanai, with an average $247.37 a day, but visitors to that island are relatively few and tend to be hotel guests. Lanai is mostly owned by David Murdock's Castle & Cooke.

The state's survey is based on 42,705 questionnaire forms filled out by out-of-state visitors and Hawaii residents last year.

The largest visitor expense was lodging, followed by food.

Orthodontists visit neighbor isles

Some 4,000 orthodontists and their staff will be visiting Maui, Kauai and the Big Island today, tomorrow and Friday for programs that follow their completed annual session at the Hawaii Convention Center.

The American Association of Orthodontists is holding extended Neighbor Island Scientific Programs. Attendees will go to Wailea and Kaanapali on Maui, Waikoloa Village on the Big Island and Poipu on the Garden Isle.

The annual session, held from Friday to yesterday at the convention center, brought a total of 17,000 attendees.

MAINLAND

Former Enron exec surrenders

HOUSTON >> A former Enron Corp. executive surrendered today to the FBI on charges he sold large amounts of company stock when he knew his telecommunications unit was failing.

Rex T. Shelby, 51, a former vice president of engineering operations for Enron Broadband Services, is charged with fraud, money laundering, insider trading and conspiracy. Shelby's attorney called the charges "far-fetched."

Online sales deliver profit for Playboy

CHICAGO >> Playboy Enterprises Inc., publisher of the most widely read men's magazine, earned $632,000 after 16 straight quarterly losses. The company's online unit, which sells sexually oriented material, reported its first profit and the shares posted their biggest rise in more than 20 years.

Net income for the quarter was 2 cents a share, compared with a net loss of 38 cents, or $9.4 million, a year earlier, the Chicago-based company said in a statement. Sales rose 12 percent to $74.3 million.

A 45 percent jump in Internet sales to $9.24 million bolstered results at Playboy, whose flagship magazine is being revamped to fend off competition. The company, started 50 years ago by Hugh Hefner, pared costs at the Web division by cutting about 40 jobs.

Starwood credit rating cut to junk grade

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. >> Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., owner of the Sheraton and Westin hotel chains, had its credit rating cut one level to below investment grade by Standard & Poor's because demand for hotel rooms is weaker than forecast.

S&P cut Starwood's corporate credit rating to BB+ from BBB-, a level considered "junk." The company had $5.5 billion in debt at the end of the first quarter. The lower rating may make it more expensive for Starwood to raise capital. Moody's Investors Service rates Starwood Ba2, two levels below investment grade.

In other news ...

>> U.S. consumer borrowing through credit cards and auto loans rose in March as retail sales rebounded, Federal Reserve statistics showed. Consumers took out $931 million more in loans during the month, an increase of 0.6 percent, following a revised increase of $1.3 billion in February, the Fed said.

>> The children of Muppets creator Jim Henson will pay $78 million to buy back a part of the puppet franchise they sold three years ago to EM.TV, a Germany media company that's been under pressure to reduce debt. EM.TV bought Jim Henson Co. for $680 million in February 2000.

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[Hawaii Inc.]

Promotions

>> Matthew Papania has been named president of Oils of Aloha. He joined the company in 1991 as production manager and was eventually promoted to operations vice president. He has dealt with all aspects of the business, including machine maintenance and repair, operations improvement, sales and personnel, and product development. Papania replaced founder Dana G. Gray, who had served as president since 1988.

>> City Bank has promoted Douglas Weld to executive vice president. He joined the bank a year ago and helped clarify its corporate lending culture and stabilized credit operations as chief lending officer and credit division senior vice president.

>> The Legal Aid Society of Hawaii has promoted Greg Meyers to managing attorney for its Kauai office. He will develop community projects on the island. Meyers was most recently an AmeriCorps attorney in Legal Aid's Hilo office, specializing in public benefits law.

>> Alexander & Baldwin Inc. has promoted Alyson J. Nakamura to assistant general counsel. She will continue to serve as corporate secretary, a position she assumed in February 1999.

Recognition

>> Chassidy C. Shinno has been named the 2003 American Business Women's Association Woman of the Year for the Na Kilohana O Wahine Chapter. She is student services specialist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The award recognizes outstanding achievements and contributions. Shinno is the chapter's president.

>> Malama Na Keiki Foundation Secretary and Treasurer Robin R. Johnson has received her certificate in nonprofit management from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has completed five-week courses in strategic, marketing and fundraising management. The foundation is a nonprofit organization formed in 1998 to assist in Hawaii's child abuse and neglect prevention programs.