BUSINESS BRIEFS
Hawaii stocks follow market slide
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i stocks weren't immune from the stock market's slide today, with all 11 issues in The Honolulu Advertiser-Bloomberg Hawai'i Index losing ground.
The stocks followed the broader market in suffering a steep decline during trading before regaining some of the loss by the close of regular trading. The index fell as much as 9.3 percent during the day before recapturing some of the loss and closing down 6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down about 370 points at 9,955.50.
Among the notable losses among Hawai'i stocks were a 12 percent tumble taken by Barnwell Industries shares, which fell $1.09 to $7.91. Maui Land & Pineapple was off 9.8 percent as its shares declined $2.58 to $23.67. Alexander & Baldwin fell 6.1 percent to close at a 52-week low of $39.23.
The index, which had a 52-week high of 104.80 on Sept. 19, fell 5.38 points to 84.00.
PUNAHOU TO INSTALL SOLAR SYSTEM
Punahou School said it will install photovoltaic solar systems on seven buildings, in what will be the largest photovoltaic in the state of Hawai'i by a nonprofit group.The 460-kilowatt system will be installed by the middle of next month by Island Pacific Energy. When operable, students will be able to monitor online how much power each of the systems generates.
Punahou said the partnership with Islands Pacific Energy allows the school to adopt solar technology without an initial capital outlay while giving a savings on electricity.
OCEANIC ADDING 4 HD CHANNELS
Oceanic Time Warner Cable, the state's largest cable television system, said it's added four premium HD channels to its offerings, bringing to 42 the number of HD channels available.The new channels will be available on O'ahu and Kaua'i and include the Hallmark Movie Channel HD, Fox Business HD, Big Ten HD and the Travel Channel HD.
Oceanic said it now has about 80,000 HD subscribers, or about one-fifth of the more than 400,000 subscribers it serves.
ALOHA EXECUTIVE MOVES TO GAS CO.
Former Aloha Airlines executive Stephanie Ackerman has been named vice president of public policy and communications at The Gas Co. LLC., the state's largest seller of synthetic natural gas.Ackerman had been senior vice president at Aloha Airlines before its shutdown earlier this year.
The Gas Co. supplies synthetic natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas to 67,000 commercial and residential customers statewide. It produces synthetic natural gas from byproducts of petroleum that's been imported for the production of gasoline and diesel.
BNP PARIBAS BUYS PARTS OF FORTIS
First Hawaiian Bank's Paris-based parent company has agreed to buy control of Belgium's biggest bank, a move that will make it Europe's largest bank when ranked by deposits.BNP Paribas is buying parts of the struggling lender Fortis, for about $19.3 billion, according to The Associated Press. The deal was announced late Sunday by the Belgian and Luxembourg governments.
BNP Paribas took a 75 percent stake in Fortis' operations in Belgium and Luxembourg — and avoided taking on most of Fortis' troubled credit derivatives portfolio.
First Hawaiian Bank is Hawai'i's largest financial institution by assets.
