Honolulu Star-Bulletin Business Briefs /2005/06/17/

[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

Oil prices rise to 10-week high

WASHINGTON » Oil prices climbed by $1 a barrel to a 10-week high yesterday as concerns about strong demand for gasoline dominated the market's psychology.

Traders dismissed OPEC's decision on Wednesday to increase its output quota by 500,000 barrels a day, saying the higher production target was already being exceeded. Producing nations are eager to profit from high prices.

Light sweet crude for July delivery rose $1.01 to settle at $56.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

While oil prices are roughly $35 below the inflation-adjusted high set in 1980, they are up more than 50 percent from a year ago and at their highest level since early April.

Carnival profit jumps 23 percent

Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator, said second-quarter profit rose 23 percent as demand for trips allowed it to boost prices. Earnings topped analysts' estimates, sending the shares to their biggest gain since 2003.

Net income climbed to $409 million, or 49 cents a share, from $332 million, or 40 cents, a year earlier. Revenue in the three months ended May 31 rose 12 percent to $2.5 billion, Miami-based Carnival said yesterday.

Seibu Railway leader pleads guilty

TOKYO » Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the Japanese tycoon, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of insider trading and filing false financial statements, completing a humiliating downfall for a man once listed as the world's richest.

Tsutsumi, whose companies run luxury hotels, train lines and golf and ski resorts, entered the guilty plea on the first day of his trial in Tokyo District Court, a court official said.

NHK television of Japan reported that Tsutsumi apologized for what he had done and acknowledged that he had hurt shareholders.

"There is no mistake" to the charges, he was quoted by the network as saying.

The charges against Tsutsumi, 71, stemmed from an investigation into financial fraud at Seibu Railway and Kokudo, the core companies in the business group he once controlled.

Prosecutors accused Tsutsumi of falsifying financial reports to hide the extent of his ownership in Seibu Railway and then quickly selling shares before the discrepancies were widely known. Seibu Railway owns the four Prince hotels in Hawaii.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange delisted the stock in December after the company corrected its financial statements to show that Tsutsumi and Kokudo, a privately held company that he controlled, owned most of Seibu. An earlier financial report stated that Tsutsumi and his company had a minority stake.

[Hawaii Inc.]

PROMOTIONS

>> CB Richard Ellis Hawaii Inc. has promoted Scott B. Gomes to executive vice president. He has over 20 years in commercial real estate. Frances N. Okazaki has been promoted to executive vice president. She will be responsible for overseeing the office properties department. Kalani Schrader has been promoted to executive vice president. He joined the company in 1989. Kevin Aucello has been promoted to senior vice president. He is a partner in the firm and the hotel division director. David B. Dolman has been promoted to industrial group vice president. He has over 20 years of Hawaii real estate expertise.

» Wailea Golf Club has promoted Rusty Hathaway to head golf professional and Eliot Gouveia to golf operations manager. Hathaway previously served as the Wailea Blue Course head golf professional. He replaces Rick Castillo, who moves to the King Kamehameha Golf Club in Waikapu, Maui. Gouveia will be responsible for overseeing the Wailea Blue Course. He joined the company in 1993.

» Sam Choy's Diamond Head has promoted Aaron Fukuda to executive chef. He will be responsible for overseeing the kitchen staff, developing menus and managing culinary operations. He previously served as sous chef at the restaurant for the past seven years.

» Hawaii Medical Service Association has promoted two senior executives. Gwen Miyasato has been promoted to executive vice president. She will be responsible for internal operations and benefit services management. Steve Van Ribbink has been promoted to executive vice president. He will be responsible for financial services and reporting, rating and reimbursement systems, administrative services and facilities management.

» Hilton Waikoloa Village has appointed Rick Kerstine national sales manager. He will be responsible for generating East Coast group sales for the company. He has over 30 years of marketing and sales experience.

» Helping Hands Hawaii has promoted Donald S. Gedeon, Stanley Luke and Susan Furuta to vice president. Gedeon will be responsible for providing overall direction and control of agency operations. Luke will be responsible for the behavioral health department. Furuta will be responsible for the human resources department.

RECOGNITION

» The American Association for Cancer Research has awarded Patricia Lorenzo the Minority Scholar Award for Scientific Research. She serves as the assistant professor in the Natural Products and Cancer Biology Program at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii.

ON THE BOARD

» The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education has appointed Randy Hitz, dean of the University of Hawaii-Manoa's College of Education, to serve on its board of directors. He has 30 years of experience in the field with primary emphasis on early childhood education and teacher education.