HAWAII

A&B completes Houston buyout

Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin Inc. said yesterday it has completed the acquisition of the Republic Distribution Center, a 313,000-square-foot industrial facility near the Port of Houston's two major container terminals.

“;Coupled with recent acquisitions of industrial facilities in Savannah (Ga.) and Dallas, and a warehousing and distribution company in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have added well over 3 million square feet of warehouse capacity to our national portfolio within the last year,”; A&B Chairman and Chief Executive Allen Doane said in a statement.

With the acquisition, the commercial property/investment portfolio of A&B's real estate subsidiary, A&B Properties Inc., is comprised of 7.2 million square feet of retail, office and industrial space in Hawaii with 22 properties, and eight mainland states with 23 properties.

Doane said the company used tax-deferred proceeds from recent property dispositions in the acquisition.

Ameron's isle earnings slump

Ameron International Corp., a Pasadena, Calif.-based manufacturer of products for the industrial and transportation markets, said yesterday that net income in its Hawaii division declined by a third, or $3 million, in the third quarter from last year. The decrease was spurred by lower sales and also to margin pressures from competitive pricing, higher energy and fuel costs and a product mix shift.

“;Although the construction sector in Hawaii was generally solid in the third quarter, there are indications of a slowdown due to the weakening economy, less tourism and project financing constraints,”; the company said in a statement.

Overall net income dropped to $15 million, or $1.63 a share, from $21.1 million, or $2.32, a year earlier, with Ameron citing difficult economic conditions.

Lex Brodie's promotes recycling

Lex Brodie's has recognized Kaimuki Middle School as the top-performing school in the city's community recycling bin program with a $1,000 award. The school's bin collected more than 1 million pounds of recyclables during 2007.

The tire company's foundation also is kicking off its Hi-5 Learn and Earn Recycling Program through March 15, where Lex Brodie's will make a matching donation to top schools of up to $1,000 for first place and $500 for second place. Visit http://www.lexbrodies.com for more information.

The city's Discover Recycling Fair runs today from 8 a.m.-2 p.m., and tomorrow from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena.

Mitsubishi chooses First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian Bank said yesterday it has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp., one of Japan's largest trust banks, to provide corporate trustee and successor trustee service for the living trusts of Japanese citizens.

This follows an earlier agreement between the companies signed in May allowing First Hawaiian to provide estate settlement services for Japanese citizens.

NATION

Delta-Northwest merger gets OK

NEW YORK » Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. shareholders backed a merger of the companies yesterday, leaving a federal antitrust review as the final hurdle to creating the world's largest carrier.

The votes came at Northwest's annual meeting in New York and at a special session convened by Delta in its hometown of Atlanta. Delta's all-stock acquisition of Eagan, Minn.- based Northwest is valued at $2.65 billion.

It's a “;reasonable expectation”; that antitrust regulators at the U.S. Justice Department will issue a decision by mid-November, Delta CEO Richard Anderson said. The deal will probably close by year end, he said. 

Promotions / new hires

» American Savings Bank has announced the following new hires and promotion: * Catherine Barnes as an applications support manager in its technology applications service department. She has more than 20 years of information technology experience including Servco Pacific and Verizon Hawaii, now known as Hawaiian Telcom. * Jason Lippert as Queen-Ward branch manager. He has more than five years of financial industry experience including credit manager and Waipahu branch manager at Wells Fargo Financial.

* Bruce Corman as a financial advisor. His 30 years of banking experience include financial advisor for LPL Financial.

* Nathan Chang to vice president, business banking loan approval and portfolio manager from commercial real estate loan officer. He has 15 years of banking experience.

» Bank of Hawaii has announced the following promotions:

* Edward C.S. Kim to executive vice president of the consumer lending department from senior vice president. He joined the bank in 1990 as a management associate and has also served as credit analyst, business banking officer, assistant branch manager and loan administrator, collection and recovery manager and consumer lending manager.

* Kamani B. Kuala'au to vice president of institutional client services from assistant vice president. He joined the bank in 2003 as a securities analyst and was previously an analyst at Public Financial Management in Harrisburg, Pa.

* Chad S. Shimonishi to vice president and senior portfolio management officer at the Corporate Hawaii Commercial Banking Center from assistant vice president. He joined the bank in 2002 and was previously at Wells Fargo Bank in Los Angeles and Prudential Financial in Honolulu.

» Atlantis Submarines has named Matthew Morgan as cruise manager for its Atlantis Cruises operations. He has more than 20 years of food and beverage management experience including general manager of the Kingsboro Golf Club in Gloversville, New York and as a training manager for Ruth's Chris Steak House Corp. from 1986 to 2001.