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Central Pacific declares dividend

Central Pacific Financial Corp., owner of Central Pacific Bank and City Bank, is maintaining its dividend at 16 cents a share.

The quarterly dividend will be paid March 18 to shareholders as of Feb. 18.

The company said this week that its fourth-quarter profit jumped 44 percent to $13.1 million from $9.1 million a year earlier.

Newspaper profit gains driven by political ads

Two major newspaper publishers reported higher fourth-quarter earnings yesterday, but industry leader Gannett Co., owner of the Honolulu Advertiser, noted that the gain was driven by election-season advertising at its broadcast properties, and Knight Ridder Inc. cautioned that its first quarter would be "challenging."

The results underscore the continuing laggardly state of the newspaper business, which has yet to pull out of an extended slow patch despite signs of strength in the economy. The industry is also plagued by concerns over declining circulation and a lack of major catalysts for growth.

Investors were disappointed in the reports, and drove down the shares of both companies as well as most of the newspaper sector. Knight Ridder's shares fell 68 cents to close at $65.74 in trading yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, while Gannett's slipped 19 cents to close at $80.

Amazon adds photos to business directory

Online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. is trying to become a bigger player in the Internet's crowded search engine market with a local business directory that supplements address and phone number listings with a photographic tour covering 10 major U.S. cities.

The free service, expected to be available today from Amazon subsidiary A9.com, consists of 20 million street-level photographs that will be displayed alongside local search results. Palo Alto-based A9 said it compiled the index by covering tens of thousands of miles in trucks equipped with digital cameras and global positioning system, or GPS, receivers.