Big photovoltaic project gets under way
Work has started on a photovoltaic project that will supply power to a 600-home military community on the Pearl City peninsula.
The 1.2-megawatt project is being developed under a partnership that includes the Department of the Navy, Forest City Sustainable Resources and Forest City Military Communities.
Hoku Solar was chosen by Forest City to build the facility, which will have more than 4,300 PV panels in a ground-based array. The project will create 25 jobs and is expected to be completed by the end of 2012, according to a news release from Hoku. A blessing of the project was held last week.
The facility will be the second utility-scale PV project on Oahu. The first such project was developed last year by Forest City Sustainable Resources on a former industrial waste site in Campbell Industrial Park.
Retail sales rose 0.8 percent in March
WASHINGTON » A healthier job market and warmer weather encouraged Americans to shop more in March.
U.S. retail sales rose 0.8 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Monday. That’s below February’s 1 percent increase but above January’s pace.
Some of the increase went to pay higher gas prices. Still, steeper gas hasn’t deterred Americans from spending more on other goods.
Consumers spent more on building materials, cars, electronics, furniture and clothing. Excluding auto and gasoline sales, retail sales increased 0.7 percent. And excluding autos, gas and home supplies, so-called "core" sales rose 0.5 percent in March, matching February’s gain.
Citigroup marks $2.9B first-quarter profit
NEW YORK » Citigroup, which has 4,600 branches in 40 countries, boasts that it is the most global American bank. That reach paid off big time in the first three months of the year. Citigroup pulled in record revenue from processing transactions for its international corporate clients, and its loans to customers in Asia and Latin America also grew.
The bank said Monday that it made $2.9 billion in the first three months of the year, or 95 cents per share, which includes a $1.3 billion accounting charge that Citi took because the value of its debt increased.
Without that charge, its earnings per share would have been $1.11, which beat estimates of $1.01 among analysts surveyed by FactSet, a provider of financial data.
Lower Barbie sales hurt Mattel’s quarter
NEW YORK » Mattel Inc. said Monday that its first-quarter profit dropped 53 percent, pulled down by costs tied to an acquisition and lower sales for Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars.
Results for the largest U.S. toy maker were below expectations, and its shares fell more than 9 percent in trading. But the disappointing results came during what is typically a slow time for toy sales, so Mattel executives say they remain optimistic.
Mattel’s toy brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels and American Girl have been perennial best-sellers in the toy aisle. But during the period — the smallest quarter of the year for toy makers — cautious reordering by retailers coupled with the timing related to shipping "Cars 2"-related toys last year, hurt results. That was particularly true in North America, where revenue slid 9 percent.
Walmart’s CEO took pay cut in 2011
NEW YORK » Mike Duke, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., received a pay package in 2011 worth $18.1 million, a 3 percent dip from the year before, according to an Associated Press calculation, mainly because his performance-based cash bonus shrank.
The dip in compensation came even as Walmart reversed a more than two-year sales slump in its namesake business as it emphasized low prices across the store and restored thousands of items that it had culled during its campaign three years ago to de-clutter its stores.
Duke, 62, who has been Walmart’s CEO since February 2009, received a base salary of $1.3 million, up almost 3 percent, and stock awards worth $13.1 million, up 3 percent from fiscal 2010. But Duke’s cash-based performance bonus fell 25 percent to $2.88 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31 because the company’s operating income fell short of goals established in the compensation plan, according to documents filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Argentine leader moves to nationalize oil
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina » Argentine President Cristina Fernandez proposed Monday a bill to expropriate 51 percent of the shares of the YPF oil company that is controlled by Spain’s Repsol, moving ahead with the plan despite fierce opposition from Madrid.
Fernandez said in an address to the country that the measure sent to congress Monday is aimed at recovering the nation’s sovereignty over its hydrocarbon resources. She said the shares being expropriated will be split between the national and provincial governments.
The president complained that Argentina had a deficit of $3 billion last year as a net importer of gas and petroleum.
ON THE MOVE
Hoku Corp. has hired:
» Benett Bolek as director of construction and chief estimator. He had been a senior construction manager for Honolulu Builders and Taisei Construction Corp.
» Sharon Higa as an executive assistant. She was previously with Title Guaranty Escrow Services.
» Jason Valentine as a project developer. He had been working at Allana, Buick & Bers Inc.
Howard Hughes Corp. has hired Layne Yoshida as controller for Ward Centers in Honolulu. He has 17 years of accounting and finance experience, including in senior-level finance positions at Sopogy Inc., Central Pacific Financial Corp., Coherent Inc. and Ernst & Young LLP.
