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Car registrations rev up 17.6%

New vehicle registrations in Hawaii increased by 17.6 percent to 67,712 new vehicles last year from 2002, the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association said yesterday.

Nationally, new registrations declined by 2.1 percent for the same period.

The Toyota Corolla was the best selling model in Hawaii among new cars in 2003 with 3,133 registrations. The Corolla was followed by the Toyota Camry with 2,176 registrations.

In the light truck category, the Toyota Tacoma was the best seller with 3,804 registrations. The runner up was the Nissan Frontier with 1,858 registrations.

Analyst downgrades Longs

Longs Drug Stores Corp., whose stock is down 15.6 percent for the first two months of this year but up 60.3 percent in the past 52 weeks, was downgraded yesterday to "underperform" from "neutral" by analyst John Murphy of Chicago-based Credit Suisse First Boston.

The stock closed down 68 cents yesterday to $20.89. Murphy's 12-month price target is $17 a share.

Longs, which has 32 stores in Hawaii, now has two "holds" and three "sells" from the five analysts who cover the company, according to Bloomberg News.

HEI to sell $200 million securities

Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. notified the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that it will sell $200 million of debt securities, preferred and common stock, and stock purchase contracts and units over time for general corporate purposes.

The company said it will use the capital to repay debt, make investments and to add to working capital.