‘Five-0’ is No. 2 in Nielsen ratings

“Hawaii Five-0” placed a distant second in the Nielsen ratings Monday night in a time slot getting crowded with cops and crime.

“Five-0,” facing off against the latest “Law and Order” spinoff, attracted 9.54 million viewers. Among viewers age 18-49, it drew 2.5 percent of all homes with TVs and 7 percent of those watching TV at the time. “Law and Order Los Angeles,” which premiered two episodes Monday, drew 6.1 million viewers for the same 10 p.m. time slot (9 p.m. in Hawaii) as “Five-0.”

ABC’s “Castle” was watched by 12.33 million viewers, but those numbers have often had to be adjusted downward if lead-in show “Dancing with the Stars” runs into overtime. “DWTS” has helped “Castle” viewership jump about 18 percent since it premiered last month.

Monday’s “Five-0,” which helped answer questions about Chin Ho Kelly’s troubles with the police department, was only the show’s second new episode in six weeks.

Biz travelers to spend more

NEW YORK >> Business travelers are forecast to spend $245.8 billion this year, up nearly 7 percent from 2010, thanks to improving economic conditions and increasing corporate confidence, the Global Business Travel Association said yesterday. That prediction is $6.5 billion better than an outlook released in January, and growth is expected to continue at least through 2012. Half of this year’s spending growth will come from more expensive airfare, hotels, car rentals and meals.

Aloha Automotive closing with auction

Parts supplier Aloha Automotive will close at the end of this month after doing business for more than 20 years in the state. The company said it will consolidate its inventory and hold a no-minimums auction beginning at 10 a.m. Friday.

The auction preview will be at 8 a.m. Friday. The company said everything must be sold.

Aloha Automotive said one of its most valuable products in the auction is its mezzanine shelving of more than 5,000 square feet. Other items listed at the auction will include security systems with remote control, GE air conditioners, filing cabinets, desks, pallet jacks, ladders, Dell PC computers, retail modular units and two-way cell phones with chargers.

For more information, call 538-1961 or go to www.joe­teipel.com.

Nanopoint agrees to be sold for $2.3M

A California technology company has signed an agreement to buy Hono­lulu-based Nano­point Inc. in an all-stock transaction.

Nanopoint would be operated as a wholly owned subidary of Shrink Nanotechnologies Inc., and all five Nanopoint employees would keep their jobs, the two companies announced Monday. The deal is expected to close May 31.

Nanopoint shareholders will received 25.75 million Shrink shares in the transaction. At Monday’s closing price of 9 cents a share, the deal would be valued at $2.32 million. Nanopoint will receive an additional 40 million Shrink shares contingent upon Nanopoint meeting sales and earning targets by June 30, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2013, respectively.

Nanopoint has spent more than $6 million in the past six years building live cell imaging technology for medical uses. Shrink licenses, owns and develops proprietary nanotechnologies for various markets.

Central Pacific stock could be pressured

Central Pacific Financial Corp.’s stock might decline today after the bank said that 18.5 million common shares issued predominantly to private investors at $10 a share were declared effective yesterday by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The parent of Central Pacific Bank, the state’s fourth-largest bank in terms of assets, said yesterday the new registered shares are tradable today.

Stock of Central Pacific Bank’s parent slipped 36 cents, or 1.9 percent, yesterday to $19.07. But the additional shares could put downward pressure on Central Pacific’s stock today if the owners of the new shares decide to take profits.

In the meantime, Central Pacific is conducting a $20 million rights offering in which shareholders of rec­ord as of Feb. 17 are eligible to purchase up to 1.3 new shares at $10 a share for every share they own. The period to exercise the rights expires at the end of trading on May 6. The shares also can be transfered to another party or sold on the open market.

Honolulu Airport gets OK for freighter

NEW YORK » The biggest version yet of Boeing’s iconic 747 could soon be flying into airports that have never seen aircraft that large.

Honolulu Airport is among those airports that have received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to receive the massive 747-8 freighter. Boeing expects to deliver the first planes to customers later this year.

The airports are eager to grab a share of the air cargo market, which is growing faster than passenger traffic as the economy recovers.

Credit card debt in isles falls 16.7%

Hawaii’s average credit card debt plunged 16.7 percent last month to $7,666 from $9,200 a year earlier, according to a report due out today by Credit Karma Inc., a California-based credit scoring website.

Hawaii ranked 44th for highest credit card debt among the states, with a credit score of 674, down one point from 675 in March 2010.

In addition, mortgage debt declined 2.1 percent to $301,058 from $307,619 the year before, while auto loan debt rose 6.4 percent to $15,811 from $14,862.

Student loan debt also increased to $27,377, a 9.1 percent increase from $25,093 at the same time last year.

On the Move

>> ‘Ohana Health Plan has announced Dr. Richard O. Banner as the plan’s state medical director.

His responsibilities includes overseeing the clinical direction of medical services and the quality improvement functions for ‘Ohana.

Banner has been practicing medicine since 1970 and was previously a medical director for Aloha­Care, where he become one of the founding leaders since the inception of the QUEST Program in 1994.