Tesoro earns fourth straight profit

Tesoro Corp., the largest independent refiner on the West Coast and the operator of Hawaii’s largest refinery, reported its fourth consecutive quarterly profit as the average margin between oil costs and fuel prices more than doubled.

First-quarter net income was $107 million, or 74 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of a $155 million, or $1.11, San Antonio-based Tesoro said yesterday.

The crack spread, a measure of the difference between the cost of crude and the price at which refiners can sell the processed fuel, averaged $20.312 during the first quarter, more than double the average for the same period a year ago, according to Bloomberg data.

Tesoro operates seven North American refineries that can process about 694,000 barrels of oil daily, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In Hawaii, Tesoro’s refining margin at its Campbell Industrial Park plant was a negative $3.05 a barrel compared with a positive 5 cents a barrel in the year-earlier period. The refining margin is the spread between the cost of crude oil and the price of refined products. The yield, or the total number of barrels of refined products of gas, jet fuel, diesel fuel and heavy oils, rose to 70,000 barrels a day from 68,000 barrels a day a year earlier. The total throughput in Hawaii rose to 69,000 barrels a day from 66,000 barrels a day.

Kauai utility hydro meeting sought

Kauai Island Utility Cooperative said it has received a petition from some of its members to hold a special meeting to discuss its decision to pursue the development of hydroelectric projects on the island.

The KIUC board of directors on March 29 approved an agreement to partner with Massachusetts-based Free Flow Power Corp. on up to six hydroelectric projects.

The KIUC said it is working with its outside legal counsel to review the petitions, verify signatures and certify the results. Utility officials said they have begun planning for a special meeting in the event the petitions are certified.

"Regardless of the outcome of the petition verification process, KIUC welcomes every opportunity it is afforded to meet with members of the cooperative to discuss the potential development of small hydroelectric projects on Kauai," said David Bissell, KIUC chief executive officer.

KIUC is pursuing six hydroelectric projects: Wailua River Hydroelectric Project, Wailua Reservoir Water Power Project, Hanalei River Hydroelectric Project, Kitano Water Power Project, Makaweli River Power Project and Kekaha Waimea Water Power Project.

Whole Foods earnings jump 33%

PORTLAND, Ore. » Whole Foods Market Inc., which has a growing presence in Hawaii, says shoppers bought more organic foods and name-brand products to help boost its second-quarter net income 33 percent.

The Austin, Texas-based company earned $89.9 million, or 51 cents a share, from $67.5 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 12 percent to $2.35 billion.

The company also announced that it is changing its stock symbol to "WFM" from "WFMI" tomorrow.

ON THE MOVE

» Central Pacific Financial Corp., a parent company of Central Pacific Bank, has appointed David Hudson executive vice president of community banking for Central Pacific Financial Corp. and Central Pacific Bank. He was a senior vice president of community banking for CPB. Hudson has more than 25 years of experience in the finance industry.

» RevoluSun has announced that Iolani Lewis has earned the "Certified Green Professional Designation," awarded by the National Association of Home Builders and BIA Hawaii. Lewis is an independent project developer for RevoluSun.

» Hawaiian Airlines has appointed Avi Mannis vice president of marketing. He was vice president of revenue management and schedule planning for three years as well as senior director of transformation for Hawaiian Airlines. Before joining the company in 2007, Mannis was a principal at the Boston Consulting Group in New York City and Paris, where he worked on new revenue growth, cost reduction and market opportunities for global technology companies.