Disney profits decline

LOS ANGELES >> The Walt Disney Co. says its second-quarter net income slipped 1 percent to fall below analyst expectations as its amusement parks were hurt by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the shift in the Easter holiday. Studio profit also was hit by the poor box office performance of “Mars Needs Moms.” Net income fell to $942 million from $953 million a year earlier. Revenue grew 6 percent, to $9.08 billion from $8.58 billion.

‘Hawaii Five-0’ hits low in viewership

Monday’s penultimate episode of “Hawaii Five-0” drew its smallest audience of the season, but CBS attributed that to televised coverage of the NBA playoffs and is banking on a bump from fans who recorded the episode for future viewing.

“Five-0” attracted 9.4 million viewers to finish second in the hour, according to Nielsen ratings released yesterday by CBS. The show drew 9.83 million viewers last week.

ABC’s “Castle” won the hour Monday with 12.6 million viewers. NBC’s “Law & Order: L.A.” finished third with 5 million viewers. Both shows actually saw small increases over the previous week.

On Monday among adults 18-49, a key target audience, “Five-0” attracted 2.3 percent of the total viewing audience and 6 percent of those who were watching TV at the time.

“Five-0” is one of the most heavily recorded shows on television, and the last time the network measured its use — in the April 18 episode featuring Sean Combs — the show gained 3.27 million viewers, CBS said. The Combs episode actually won its hour when the initial ratings were released, drawing 11.4 million viewers.

“Five-0” will air the final episode of its freshman season at 9 p.m. Monday on KGMB.

Hawaiian Air still tops in punctuality

Hawaiian Airlines maintained its stranglehold as the nation’s most punctual domestic carrier with 88.4 percent of its flights arriving on time in March, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s monthly Air Travel Consumer Report, released yesterday.

The airline also ranked third overall among 16 domestic airlines in fewest canceled flights with 0.4 percent, or 23 cancellations out of 5,617 flights; eighth for consumer complaints with 1.09 per 100,000 enplanements; and ninth for mishandled bags with 3.33 reports per 1,000 passengers.

Hawaiian ranked second for fewest oversales, or passengers denied boarding, at 0.12 percent for every 10,000 passengers carried, for the first quarter. Oversales are listed only on a quarterly basis.

Japanese firm buys isle box company

Japan-based Rengo Co. has established a presence in the islands by acquiring Hawaii Box & Packaging Inc.

The new company will be known as Rengo Packaging and will hire all the employees of Hawaii Box & Packaging, the leading supplier of corrugated boxes and other packing materials in Hawaii, according to a news release from Rengo. HBP President Robert Cundiff will retain his position as president in the new company, which is expected to begin operations June 1.

Hawaii Box & Packaging was formed in Aiea in 2008 to continue providing a supply of corrugated packaging in Hawaii following the closure of the Weyerhaeuser factory in Iwilei.  

HECO says no to wind bid reopening

Hawaiian Electric Co. is asking state regulators to reject a request by a community group seeking to reopen the bidding for proposed large-scale wind farms on Lanai and Molokai.

HECO said the request by Friends of Lanai should be denied for several reasons, including the fact that it was filed too late in the regulatory process. HECO also said the Public Utilities Commission is not required to consider the request from Friends of Lanai because the community group is not an official party in the proceeding.

Friends of Lanai petitioned the PUC on April 26 to reopen the bidding for the projects, saying the original agreement was voided after one of the developers dropped out.

Boston-based First Wind withdrew from the project after missing a key March 18 deadline set by the PUC to show that it was making progress on its plans for 200 megawatts of wind power on Molokai. Castle & Cooke Resorts, which is pursuing a 200-megawatt wind project on Lanai, met the deadline.

On the Move

Outrigger Enterprises Group has named Sheila Bernardo project manager for interactive commerce. Prior to joining Outrigger, Bernardo was an interactive project manager for MasterCard and senior Web producer for Sony Electronics.

Alan S. Fujimoto was appointed secretary general of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association at a conference in Kyoto, Japan, in April. He is a partner at Goodsill Anderson Quinn and Stifel and will serve a two-year term.

The Kahala Hotel & Resort has announced the following appointments: 

>> Stuart Kotake has been promoted to food and beverage director from catering and conference service director.

>> Charles Keegan has been promoted to director of catering and conference services from manager of catering and conference services.

American Savings Bank and Hawaii Electric Light Co. have donated $10,000 to the Hawaii Council on Economic Education. The funds are to support the council’s Economics & Leadership Cadre program.