CVS earnings up 11 percent

NEW YORK » CVS Caremark Corp., one of the nation's biggest drugstore operators and the owner of Longs, said yesterday its profit rose 11 percent in the fourth quarter as results improved for its pharmacy benefits management business.

The Woonsocket, R.I., company said it earned $1.05 billion, or 74 cents a share, in the last three months of 2009, up from $949 million, or 65 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue grew 7 percent to $25.82 billion from $24.14 billion.

The company did not disclose any new contract losses for its Caremark pharmacy benefits management business and sought to reassure analysts that the some $4.8 billions in contract revenue for 2010 it had lost were a one-time problem.

Hawaiian offers special fares

Hawaiian Airlines is offering introductory fares to mark the launch of its two new previously announced daily, nonstop flights this summer connecting Maui with Oakland, Calif., and San Diego.

Round-trip fares of $428 can be purchased through Feb. 19 and are good for travel from June 17 through Sept. 6 between Maui and Oakland, and from June 17 through Aug. 24 between Maui and San Diego.

The new flight between Oakland and Maui is a first for Hawaiian, while the San Diego-Maui flight is the carrier's first service on that route since summer 2008.

Tickets at the special rates must be booked online at HawaiianAirlines.com and are based on round-trip travel during weekdays.

First Insurance retains 'A' rating

First Insurance Co. of Hawaii Ltd. has retained its “;A”; rating from A.M. Best Co., a global credit rating agency covering the financial and health care industries.

The company has been so rated each year since 1997.

A.M. Best's Capital Adequacy Rating for First Insurance also rose 36 points last year, reflecting the company's balance sheet's strength despite the economy and market conditions. First Insurance ended the year with $587 million in assets and liabilities of more than $375 million.

747-8 freighter takes test flight

EVERETT, Wash. » Boeing Co.'s giant 747-8 freighter—the biggest plane the company has ever built—successfully completed its first flight yesterday, a year later than originally planned.

The flight came just one day short of the 41st anniversary of the first flight of the original 747 model.

At 250 feet long—more than twice the length of the Wright Brothers' first flight—the plane is about 18 feet longer than the existing 747-400 jumbo jet.

Boeing also is developing a passenger version of the plane. It lists 76 orders for the freighter and 32 for the 747-8 passenger jet, with the vast majority from international customers.

The company says the jets will be much quieter, more fuel-efficient and have lower emissions than current 747-400 models.

Magazine sales improve slightly

NEW YORK » Purchases of U.S. magazines at newsstands and other retail outlets fell 9 percent in the second half of 2009, a slight improvement from the 12 percent year-over-year decline in the first half of the year.

Those figures released yesterday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations show how the weak economy continues to batter the magazine industry at a time when consumers have plenty of free reading alternatives available online.

Newsstand and other single-copy retail sales are important for publishers because they charge more per copy than they do for subscriptions, which fell 1.1 percent in last year's second half. The number of ad pages sold by U.S. magazines tumbled nearly 26 percent last year from 2008 levels, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

Territorial to pay initial dividend

The parent of Territorial Savings Bank has declared its first dividend since becoming a public company in July.

Territorial Bancorp Inc. will distribute a dividend of 5 cents a share on March 5 for stockholders of record as of Feb. 19.

The Honolulu-based bank reported last week that its fourth-quarter earnings rose more than 347 percent to $3 million from $673,000 a year ago and that its full-year net income increased 20.3 percent to $8.7 million from $7.2 million.

ON THE MOVE

» PacRim Marketing Group has promoted Akiko Mori to chief editor and content manager of its commercial online Japanese Web portal site. She had been a writer/editor and previously served as an outside consultant.

» Kahi Mohala Behavioral Health, an affiliate of Sutter Health, has received $1,000 from Central Pacific Bank in support of its education program.