BUSINESS BRIEFS
Maui will sweeten L.A. school milk
Advertiser Staff
Maui Brand Natural Evaporated Cane Juice, made from sugar cane grown on Maui, has been selected to sweeten the flavored milk supplied to Los Angeles public schools starting this fall.
The cane juice will replace the high fructose corn syrup in milk products served to 1 million children each school day.
Maui Brand Evaporated Cane Juice is the latest in a line of natural sugar cane products from Hawai'i's largest sugar company, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., a division of Alexander & Baldwin Inc.
"Securing this key West Coast customer for Maui Brand is evidence that HC&S's diversification into specialty sugars is both timely and on target," said HC&S general manager Frank E. Kiger.
HC&S cultivates more than 35,000 acres in Maui's central valley to produce 80 percent of the state's raw sugar. Most of its raw sugar is shipped to Crockett, Calif., for further refining by C&H Sugar.
ML MACADAMIA REPORTS NET LOSS
ML Macadamia Orchards LP said it posted a loss in the first quarter, amid higher sales costs, lower production and lower nut prices.
The Hilo-based company said it swung to a net loss of $264,000, or 4 cents per Class A Unit, in the three months ended March 31.
A year earlier, ML Macadamia had reported a profit of $346,000, or 5 cents a share.
The company said the average nut price paid to it was 67 cents, versus 70 cents a year earlier, as the cost of goods and services sold rose by 32 percent to $3.39 million.
Total revenues were $3.64 million, compared with $3.37 million in the 2007 period.
TESORO SHARES FALL ON ANALYST'S CALL
Shares of Tesoro Corp., which operates Hawai'i's largest refinery, fell to their lowest level in almost three years after Oppenheimer & Co. cut its profit forecast on the company, Bloomberg News reported.
Oppenheimer analyst Fadel Gheit wrote that Tesoro's refining margins are being squeezed by high crude oil and feedstock costs and weak demand. He lowered his profit estimate by 47 percent to $2.07 for 2008.
Tesoro on Tuesday reported that lower production at its Hawai'i refinery contributed to a first-quarter loss at Tesoro Corp., the San Antonio company that operates seven refineries nationwide.
Tesoro said it swung to a first-quarter loss of $82 million from a $116 million profit a year earlier as gross refining margins fell and product prices failed to keep up with swelling crude oil prices.
Shares of the company fell 5.5 percent to $21.95, the lowest since May 2005.
CENTRAL PACIFIC FINANCIAL RATING
Fitch Ratings affirmed its rating on Honolulu-based Central Pacific Financial Corp. but has changed its ratings outlook on the bank holding company to "negative" from "stable."
The agency maintained its long-term issuer default rating of BBB for the company. It said it revised the rating outlook because of the potential for additional financial stress from exposure to California's residential real estate market. The company noted that Central Pacific has been taking actions to limit exposure to the market and that the company's Hawai'i-based portfolio continues to perform well.
