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Kauai economy on track

Kauai's economy has "largely recovered" from the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and "is back on a firm growth path," according a University of Hawaii study released yesterday.

Tourism is still below peak 1999 levels but that is offset by strength in real estate, construction and non-tourism services, according to a University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization in a report prepared for the Kauai County Office of Economic Development.

Overall visitor arrivals are forecast to increase 1 percent this year over 2002 figures. Next year, arrivals will expand by more than 6 percent, the report predicted.

Job growth was forecast to be 3.6 percent higher on Kauai this year compared to 3 percent for Hawaii as a whole.

$437 million state bond sale finished

The state yesterday sold $437.4 million in general obligation bonds at an interest cost of 4.4 percent. The sale followed meetings Gov. Linda Lingle and other state officials held recently with independent rating organizations, which gave Hawaii's credit good marks.

Lingle's office said the 4.4 percent rate, one of the lowest bond costs the state has experienced in the past decade, reflects increased confidence in the state's economic recovery.

Some of the proceeds from the sale will go to refinancing existing bonds, saving Hawaii $6.7 million in interest costs, the state said. The proceeds will also be used to improve public buildings, including schools and libraries.

The bonds were underwritten by a syndicate of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and UBS Financial Services Inc.

A&B picks up analyst coverage

Analyst Nicholas Aberle of Caris & Co. has initiated research coverage of Alexander & Baldwin Inc. with an "above average" rating. Caris & Co. is an investment bank with offices in New York, Chicago, San Diego and San Francisco.

A&B, which trades on the Nasdaq National Market, also is covered by analyst Jamelah Leddy of Seattle-based brokerage firm McAdams Wright Ragen Inc. Leddy has a "buy" rating on the stock with a $29 target price.

TriWest gets Defense health deal

PHOENIX >> The U.S. Department of Defense yesterday awarded three companies contracts valued at as much as $32 billion for health care services.

Phoenix-based TriWest Healthcare Alliance; Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based Health Net Federal Services; and Louisville, Ky.-based Humana Military Healthcare Services were awarded the contracts to administer the TRICARE nationwide managed care plan serving military retirees and eligible family members of active duty personnel.

For TriWest, the $2.12 billion annual contract renewable for five years will allow the company to double in size.

The contract will expand the company's coverage area giving it much of the West coast, adding Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska.

TriWest already serves Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and western Texas.

The contract affects about 2.6 million eligible beneficiaries.

Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna Inc. and Las Vegas-based Sierra Health Services Inc. had bid unsuccessfully for the contracts.

Safeway contersues over Dominick's sale

LOS ANGELES >> Safeway Inc. is countersuing a California investment firm that sought to buy one of its subsidiaries, alleging the firm is trying to interfere with the completion of the sale to another buyer.

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway seeks unspecified damages and accuses Los Angeles-based The Yucaipa Companies LLC of fraud, breach of contract and intentional interference in the grocery operator's auction of the Dominick's Finer Foods chain in Chicago.

The counterclaim was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Yucaipa sued Safeway on Aug. 4, alleging the supermarket operator did not seriously consider its bid to buy back Dominick's.

Yucaipa seeks monetary damages and a judgment ordering Safeway to reopen bidding for Dominick's. Yucaipa bought Dominick's in 1995 for $693 million and sold it to Safeway for $1.8 billion in 1998.

In other news ...

>> Once it was the sweetest place in Brooklyn. Now the vintage Domino Sugar plant, a fixture on the East River for 147 years, will close its refinery operation and lay off about 200 bitter workers.

>> Troubled optical networking equipment maker JDS Uniphase Corp. announced yesterday that Chief Executive Jozef Strausis retiring after more than 20 years at the company as part of a corporate shakeup.

>> Boeing Co. plans to issue layoff notices today to 1,440 employees, as part of continuing employment reductions amid the commercial aviation industry's prolonged downturn.

>> Northrop Grumman Corp. agreed to pay $80 million to settle separate allegations of overbilling the government and selling defective equipment to the Navy through its Newport News Shipbuilding, the Justice Department announced.

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[Hawaii Inc.]

New jobs

>> Central Pacific Bank has hired Cheryl Yeh as an assistant vice president and east team financial services commercial banking officer. She will underwrite commercial loans and service the financial needs of East Honolulu business clients. And Wayne Arakaki was hired as a dealer center loan officer. He will facilitate loans for auto purchases.

>> Advertising agency Milici Valenti Ng Pack has added Dy Phung as an account coordinator. She works on the First Hawaiian Bank and Princeville accounts. She most recently worked at Oerther Foods Inc. as marketing coordinator for McDonald's restaurants.

Promotions

>> Richard Okazaki has been named president of Diagnostic Laboratory Services. He has served as general manager since 1995. Okazaki started with the company in 1988 as chief financial officer. He succeeds Dr. John Edwards, who is retiring.

>> Outrigger Hotels & Resorts has named Kris Nickelsen general manager of the Outrigger Fairway Villas, a resort condominium at the Waikoloa Beach Resort. Nickelsen is responsible for overseeing the growth and development of the rental program. He most recently spent three years in Australia managing Outrigger properties there.

>> Ticketmaster has appointed Shirley Alexander to general manager of Hawaii. She will oversee Ticketmaster's day-to-day operations throughout the state while working to develop new business. Alexander has been with the company for 20 years, most recently as general manager of Indiana.