ANA’s earnings jump

All Nippon Airways Co., which flies daily to Honolulu from Narita and Haneda airports in Japan, posted its highest quarterly profit since June 2007 as demand for international travel rose. Net income was ¥24.2 billion ($296 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31 compared with a ¥9.8 billion ($120 million) loss a year earlier. ANA is taking advantage of a rebound in global growth by adding flights while Japan Airlines Corp. cuts services and restructures in bankruptcy.

Familiar face returning to TV news

Television anchor-turned-attorney Shawn Ching will return to TV on Monday as an anchor-reporter for Hawaii News Now to co-anchor the 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. newscasts with Stephanie Lum. Hawaii News Now comprises KGMB-TV, KHNL-TV and KFVE-TV, which share a common news department.

Ching had recently served at King, Nakamura & Chun-Hoon, specializing in labor and employment law, personal injury and commercial litigation, while his first post-TV job was with Kobayashi, Sugita & Goda, a firm specializing in commercial and construction litigation.

Ching passed the bar in 2003 but continued in TV for five more years, leaving a 13-year career at KITV after the November Nielsen ratings in 2008. At KITV, he had been an anchor, reporter and sports director, but also served as a color commentator for University of Hawaii football games on radio and television, and for high school football games on OC16. Ching also had been a University of Hawaii football player.

Building show attendance up 13%

The just-concluded Building Industry Association of Hawaii’s Home Building & Remodeling Show provided some hope that Hawaii’s construction industry may not be stuck in a slump much longer.

Organizers of the event that ran Friday through Sunday said attendance rose from last year to the third-highest level in the exhibition’s 17-year history. About 22,655 people visited the event at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, up 13 percent from 2010.

"We are thrilled with the tremendous public response, and our exhibitors are very excited to start 2011 with this level of interest," said Karen Nakamura, chief executive officer of the 500-member trade association.

BIA-Hawaii said the most popular exhibitors featured photovoltaic solar panels, sustainable materials, kitchen and bathroom renovations, and windows.

Isle construction lag hurts Ameron

Ameron International Corp., a major supplier of cement in Hawaii, said yesterday that sales in its infrastructure products group declined in the fourth quarter and full year due to the weak demand for aggregates and concrete on both Oahu and Maui. Most markets in Hawaii declined, except those related to government and military spending. Hawaii’s profits were lower due to declining sales, Ameron added.

"The infrastructure products group is expected to continue to be affected by the slowdown in construction spending in Hawaii and the low level of residential construction spending throughout the U.S.," Ameron said.

For the year, Ameron’s earnings rose to $46.3 million from $33.3 million. Sales fell to $503.3 million from $546.9 million.

Super Bowl OT will score free pizza

LOUISVILLE, Ky. >> Here’s one Super Bowl bet you might want to lay down.

It’s a long shot, but Papa John’s is offering a free pizza to anyone* if the Super Bowl goes into overtime.

The asterisk is because you have to sign up on Papa John’s website, www.papajohns.com, before midnight Eastern time Saturday. You have to give them an e-mail address, phone number and street address.

Then you have to hope Super Bowl XLV does what the previous 44 games did not — go into overtime.

KGU-AM flips format to biz radio

The Wall Street Business Network has come to Honolulu via KGU-AM 760.

The station, now branded Money Radio AM 760, carries national financial and investing-oriented programs including "The Ray Lucia Show," Bloomberg radio news, CNBC’s "Market Wrap" and "Phil’s Gang," hosted by Phil Grande.

The station also sells blocks of time for local programming, which will include "Eco Effect Radio" from 4 to 5 p.m. weekdays, hosted by Lookin’ Green magazine publisher Charlene Brown, and "A Perfect Sip," a show about wine, spirits and related topics. Hosted by Patrick Okubo, certified advanced sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers, and Elton Nichols, certified sommelier and certified specialist of wine, the show will air Saturdays at 11 a.m.

The station for years carried a Christian teaching and talk format, a core format of California-based owner Salem Communications Corp. The programming moved to KGU-FM on Dec. 26 but continued on the AM side until yesterday morning.

Gannett net up but print revenue falls

NEW YORK >> Gannett Co., the country’s biggest newspaper publisher and the former owner of The Honolulu Advertiser, said fourth-quarter earnings grew by 30 percent because of aggressive cost-cutting and a boost from political advertising.

The publisher of USA Today and 80 other newspapers cut staff, closed plants and got a timely bump from its TV division, which benefited from advertising tied to the November elections. However, Gannett’s print news business, which accounts for more than two-thirds of revenue, continues to suffer. Print advertising revenue declined by nearly 6 percent in the final three months of 2010, and the fourth quarter capped four straight years of revenue reductions at Gannett’s publishing division.

Gannett earned $174 million, or 72 cents a share, up from $134 million, or 56 cents a share, in the same quarter of 2009. Stripping out one-time items, Gannett said earnings per share climbed to 83 cents from 70 cents — two cents better than analysts expected, according to FactSet Research.

Revenue came in essentially flat at $1.46 billion, roughly in line with the average forecast of $1.47 billion.

On the Move

Inman News has recognized Hawaii real estate broker Earl Lee in its "Inman 100: Most Influential Real Estate Leaders" list honoring the United States real estate industry’s most influential people. Lee is president of Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services in Phoenix.

Energy Star, a joint program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy, has awarded Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa with the "Energy Star" label for the third year in a row. The resort was given the honor because it made significant energy modifications to a building and to its operations.

RevoluSun, a provider of commercial and residential solar systems, has hired Rene Julian as an independent project developer. Julian will be responsible for educating and working with residential and commercial customers to achieve energy independence. Before joining RevoluSun, Julian was an energy consultant at Alternate Energy Inc., where he worked to evaluate residential customers’ energy consumption.

Royal Hawaiian Center has announced Trollbeads as their newest jewelry kiosk, on the ground level of building B. The customizable jewelry store started in Denmark in 1976, and the location at Royal Hawaiian Center will be the first in Hawaii.