Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Tuesday, September 15, 1998
Duty Free, state reach deal on late payments
The state and Duty Free Shoppers have reached a tentative agreement on the nearly $50 million owed the state.Duty Free President Ed Brennan and the state Department of Transportation say the deal isn't signed yet. Under the agreement, Duty Free will resume its $25.5 million quarterly payments next March. It has been paying about half of that.
The company will pay off the balance of its debt by July 1, with interest. Duty Free will have to put up collateral either in the form of a bond or a letter of credit.
Duty Free is the state's largest retailer. It operates stores at the airport and in Waikiki as the state's only duty-free retailer.
The company fell behind on its payments in January blaming poor sales due to the Japanese economy.
Two isle credit unions plan $29 million merger
The Castle Medical Center Federal Credit Union will merge into the Windward Community Federal Credit Union this month.Organized in 1953, the Windward Community FCU is open to anyone living in Windward Oahu, from Makapuu Point to Chinaman's Hat.
The merger will create a financial institution with assets of $29 million and more than 9,500 members, the credit unions said.
Central Pacific's parent again buys back shares
For the second time this year CPB Inc., parent of Central Pacific Bank, will launch a program to buy back CPB stock in open-market purchases.The bank's board of directors yesterday approved the repurchase of up to 5 percent of the company's stock, or about 525,000 shares, over the next 12 months.
The recent decline in market prices has created an opportunity to improve the bank's capital position and enhance value for shareholders, said Joichi Saito, CPB chairman and chief executive officer. Earlier this year CPB, which has assets of $1.5 billion, bought more than 500,000 of its shares.
In other news . . .
WASHINGTON -- WorldCom Inc. completed its takeover of MCI Communications Corp., creating a colossus that will serve 22 million customers worldwide. The companies promptly completed the deal -- originally valued at $37 billion -- after the Federal Communications Commission gave its approval yesterday. The new company is MCI WorldCom.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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