Honolulu Star-Bulletin Business Briefs /2005/07/27/

[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

HAWAII
Telephone customers to get $21.95 credit

Hawaiian Telcom's residential and business phone customers will receive a $21.95 credit in their September or October bill as part of the recent acquisition of the former Verizon Hawaii by the investment company Carlyle Group.

About $12 million will be given to Hawaiian Telcom's customers as one of the conditions of the sale, Hawaiian Telcom said. The "customer appreciation credit" was agreed to by Verizon Communications Inc., the Carlyle Group and the state consumer advocate. Customers will see the credit applied to their bills by Oct. 31, Hawaiian Telcom said.

The credit applies to customers in service at the time of the sale closing in May and who remain active until the processing of the credit in the September or October bills.

For questions, residential customers can call 643-3343 and business customers can call 643-3377. On the neighbor islands, residential customers can call toll free at 808-643-3343 and business customers can call 808-643-3377.

Mandarin Oriental's profit jumps

HONG KONG » Luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental says its first-half earnings were nearly 17 times higher than a year ago at $54 million due to a large one-time gain from its Hawaii property and a rebound in tourist and business travel in core markets.

A major contributor was the $47.9 million earned from the sale of a 40 percent interest in the Kahala Mandarin Oriental in East Oahu, the company said.

Excluding the gain, profit would have been $19.2 million. Revenue rose to $192.7 million in the half from $151.2 million a year earlier.

Mandarin Oriental International Ltd. runs the hotel by the same name in Hong Kong. It also runs hotels in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, New York City, Singapore, Paris and London.

Analyst downgrades Bankoh

Analyst Jacqueline Reeves of Boca Raton, Fla.-based Ryan Beck & Co. lowered her rating on Bank of Hawaii Corp.'s stock to "market perform" from "outperform" after the company yesterday posted a 5 percent increase in second-quarter earnings and beat analysts' estimates by 3 cents.

Reeves, who cut her rating based on the expectation of lower net income in the second half of this year, maintained her price target at $52.

IN OTHER NEWS ...

Northwest Airlines Corp., which operates the nation's fourth largest airline, reported yesterday its second-quarter loss widened to $225 million and warned that it needs pension reform and labor cost cuts to stay out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

[ HAWAII INC. ]

NEW JOBS

» Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa has appointed Stephen Hinck restaurant and banquet operations director. He will be responsible for all food and beverage operations, banquets and event management. He brings over 20 years of hotel catering and restaurant operations experience to the company.

» Parsons Construction Group Inc. has appointed Jack Anderson as Pacific Division outer islands estimator. He has over 30 years of site-work construction experience in Hawaii and the Northwestern United States. He most recently has been working on Maui in direct site-work construction and project management.

» Castle & Cooke has hired Randy Lacuesta as a project engineer. He most recently served as an Actus Lend Lease project engineer/component estimator.

» Prudential Advantage Realty has appointed Natalie Dudley residential sales professional. She will be responsible for providing quality service to clients to help them achieve their real estate goals. She previously worked for Computer Associates International in San Diego.

» CTA Solutions has appointed Michael J. Hulser president. He will be responsible for overseeing all operations and support functions of the company. He has over 25 years of experience in financial and operating management.

» SMG Hawaii has hired Noelle Liew as the Hawaii Convention Center's finance director. She will be responsible for overseeing all accounting functions. She previously served as controller for the Arc in Hawaii.

» Global One Lending LLC -- Hawaii has appointed Charles Degala branch manager. He will be responsible for overseeing the company's Hawaii operations and managing more than 60 full- and part-time loan officers and processors. He previously served as a loan manager for Summit Lending of Hawaii.

>> American Savings Bank has hired Glenn Arakawa as a financial consultant. He will be responsible for assisting customers in downtown Honolulu with investments, insurance, estate planning and college savings.

» Island Title Corp. has hired Dianne Bosworth as a sales and marketing specialist. She will be responsible for establishing and maintaining good relationships between the company and its clients, organizing and coordinating company and employee functions and promoting the company's title and escrow services. She previously worked for the Hyatt Regency Waikiki.