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HAWAII

Hawaii loses more Japan flights

Japan Airlines plans to suspend six weekly flights between Sapporo and Honolulu beginning Oct. 1 as the airline continues to suffer from the effects of the Iraq war and severe acute respiratory syndrome

JAL hopes to resume Sapporo-Honolulu flights when the airline's business picks up, according to Katsuo Haneda, company president.

In mid-June the airline had said it might stop Hawaii service from four regional airports: Sapporo, Sendai, Niigata and Hiroshima.

On Monday Northwest Airlines Corp. said it would suspend flights between Kansai airport and Honolulu because of a slump in demand. That service also will halt Oct. 1.

Macadamia shareholder ups stake

Farhad Fred Ebrahimi, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Quark Inc., has increased his family's stake in ML Macadamia Orchards LP to 10.1 percent.

Ebrahimi, the Big Island company's largest shareholder, now owns 757,000 shares of the company's total 7.5 million outstanding shares.

Ebrahimi, who has been gradually increasing his holdings over the last several years, purchased 26,100 shares last Friday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Ebrahimi's company, Quark, makes the desktop publishing software QuarkXPress.

As of Aug. 1, Ebrahimi and his wife, Mary Wilkie Ebrahimi, jointly owned 507,700 shares; Farhad Fred Ebrahimi and Farhad Alexander Ebrahimi jointly owned 238,800 shares; and Farhad Fred Ebrahimi and Crescent River LLC jointly owned 10,500 shares.

The Hawaii Control Share Acquisitions statute, which requires a company or individual to get shareholder approval when acquiring more than 10 percent of a target company, doesn't apply in this case since Ebrahimi isn't proposing a takeover.

ML Macadamia Orchards, which is scheduled to report earnings next week, closed yesterday at $3.58. It currently offers a dividend yield of 5.6 percent.

Tax extensions are nearly up

The federal tax deadline is fast approaching for approximately 38,000 Hawaii taxpayers who filed for extensions with the Internal Revenue Service.

The deadline for those who filed for a four-month extension is Aug. 15. Failure to make the deadline will result in a late filing penalty of 5 percent per month of unpaid taxes.

To seek another two months' extension to file, taxpayers must submit Form 2688, available on www.IRS.gov, by Aug. 15. The IRS expects 3 million Form 2688 extension requests this year.

Ag conference set for September

The third biennial Ag-Tourism conference will take place Sept. 4 at the Big Island's Kahua Ranch in Kamuela.

The focus of the conference will be on how to develop profitable links between Hawaii agriculture and the changing visitor market. This year's keynote speaker will be Deborah Madison, chef and founder of Greens Restaurant in San Francisco and best selling author of "Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers Markets."

Four panel discussions are scheduled with experts on farming, economics, tourism and natural resources. Topics include ranch tourism, the farmer-chef connection, farmers markets and the slow food movement.

Registration is $75 postmarked by Sept. 1 and $100 thereafter. For more information, call (808) 324-0520 or register online at www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/agtourism.

ELSEWHERE

Cisco profit rises in fiscal fourth quarter

Cisco Systems Inc. said yesterday its fiscal fourth-quarter profits grew 27 percent, despite a decrease in revenues, as the networking equipment giant continued to control costs in the challenging economy.

Executives, however, said there are some early stirrings of economic recovery and estimated fiscal first-quarter revenues would grow as much as 4 percent in the fiscal first quarter.

"We are starting to see some very early signs that could be interpreted -- with the appropriate caveats -- as cautiously optimistic," said John Chambers, Cisco's chief executive.

For the three months ended July 26, Cisco earned $982 million, or 14 cents per share, compared with $772 million, or 10 cents per share, in the same period last year. Sales declined 2.6 percent, to $4.7 billion from $4.83 billion last year.

Dial-up Internet users would prefer DSL

Dial-up Internet users who want to upgrade to high-speed connections prefer digital subscriber lines instead of cable, a survey found.

Fifty-two percent of respondents to the J.D. Power & Associates survey said they would choose DSL if both services were available in their areas, compared with 38 percent who said they prefer cable. Still, the survey found that 17 percent of Internet users have cable modems and only 9 percent use DSL, which is offered by telephone companies.

Subscriptions to high-speed service climbed 8 percent, now accounting for 26 percent of households that use the Internet, according to the survey.

In other news ...

>> Two former Dynegy Inc. executives each pleaded guilty yesterday to a conspiracy charge related to a scheme to disguise a $300 million debt as cash flow, which helped burnish the energy trader's books.

>> Gannett Co., the publisher of USA Today and the Honolulu Advertiser, said it increased its dividend by 1 cent. A quarterly dividend of 25 cents will be paid Oct. 1 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 13.

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[ HAWAII INC. ]

Promotions

>> Aston Hawaii has appointed six new general managers: David Hadrick at Waikiki Joy Hotel, Hakim Ouansafi at Aston Aloha Surf Hotel, Mike Sands at Aston at the Maui Banyan, Loren Shim at The Whaler on Kaanapali Beach, Jasmine Lopez-Silva at Aston Islander on the Beach and Carol Hanna at Waikoloa Colony Villas. Hadrick was previously general manager of Aston Islander on the Beach. Ouansafi was hired by the company in 1999 and has served as general manager of several properties including Aston Islander on the Beach. Sands joined the company in 1990 and has been general manager of the Whaler on Kaanapali Beach, The Shores at Waikoloa and Maui Kaanapali Villas. Shim's first position at Aston Hawaii was director of international sales in 1989. He was most recently assistant vice president of sales. Lopez-Silva was previously front office manager at Aston Islander on the Beach. She has been employed at the company since 1994. Prior to her new position, Hanna was resort manager of Aston Waikiki Beachside Hotel.

>> First Hawaiian Bank has promoted Michael T. Nishida to vice president, administrative PCs and networks; and Shirley M. Durham to assistant vice president, items processing. Nishida joined the bank in 1988 as a programmer. He has been an assistant vice president since 1999. Durham joined the bank as a document processing clerk.

On the Board

>> International Association of Administrative Professionals, Oahu Chapter, has named Barbara Van Dine of Topa Management Co. to president of the board of directors for 2003-04. Other officers are Vice-President Georgette Ching, New England Financials, Secretary Celeste Dzigas, Kamehameha Schools; and Treasurer Donna Ching of Hawaii Family Dental.