Hawaii home loan fees 10th highest in U.S.

Interest rates for home mortgages are near historic lows, but fees for loans have risen significantly from last year.

Average origination and title fees are up 8.8 percent from last year, according to a Bankrate Inc. survey released Monday.

A $200,000 single-family home mortgage cost $4,070 on average, the survey said. Origination fees lenders charged rose 10.3 percent to $1,614 and represented most of the gain.

In Hawaii the average cost included a $1,795 origination fee and $2,726 in other costs for a total of $4,521. That was the 10th most expensive rate among states. Last year Hawaii had the 36th most expensive rate.

Hawaii’s ranking in recent years has sometimes fluctuated dramatically, coming in sixth highest in 2007 and 20th in 2008.

Bankrate surveyed up to 10 lenders online in each state in June to obtain good-faith estimates for a $200,000 single-family home mortgage with a 20 percent down payment. Costs include lender fees and third-party fees for services such as appraisals and title insurance.

The survey excludes taxes, property insurance, association fees, interest and other prepaid items.

Cisco to lay off 6,500 employees in August

SAN FRANCISCO » Networking equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. is cutting 6,500 employees — about 9 percent of its work force — as it follows up on a plan announced in May to eliminate thousands of jobs to reduce costs and raise profits.

Cisco, which has about 73,400 employees worldwide, said Monday that it will lay off 4,400 people. Another 2,100 employees chose to leave as part of an early retirement program.

The company said the cuts include elimination of 15 percent of its employees at and above the level of vice president.

Cisco said the cuts will cost $1.3 billion in severance and termination benefits. The company plans to take the charge over several quarters. The company will take $750 million of that, including $500 million for the retirement program, in the current quarter.

Cisco will inform employees who have been cut in the U.S., Canada and other countries during the first week of August.

IBM raises guidance after strong earnings

SAN FRANCISCO » IBM Corp. raised its income guidance for the year on Monday as earnings in the latest quarter increased 8 percent because of growth in all three of its major product categories.

The results show the strength of the 100-year-old company’s efforts to link its mainframes and other computing hardware with its newer businesses, software and services. Those two categories bring in the bulk of IBM’s income.

Net income was $3.66 billion, or $3 a share, in the second quarter compared with $3.39 billion, or $2.61 a share, a year ago. Excluding special items, IBM earned $3.09 a share. Analysts expected $3.02 per share.

Revenue increased 12 percent to $26.7 billion, which was above the $25.4 billion that analysts forecast.

U.S. hiring to rise, growth slow, poll shows

NEW YORK » Economists increasingly expect hiring to pick up in the second half of the year even as overall growth is likely to slow.

In a quarterly survey by the National Association for Business Economists released Monday, 43 percent of respondents said their firms are likely to increase employment in the next six months, up 3 percentage points from a similar survey done in April and the highest number in a year.

What’s more, none of the 73 survey participants said their firms planned significant layoffs, although 8 percent said they expected staff reductions through attrition, an uptick from 4 percent in the April survey. The manufacturing sector had the strongest outlook for more hiring, with transportation, utilities, information and communications next.

Gannett Co. earnings decline 22 percent

NEW YORK » Increases in digital and broadcast revenue were not enough to make up for the continuing decline in Gannett Co.’s newspaper business, leading the publisher of USA Today to report a more than 22 percent drop in its second-quarter net income.

Still, the nation’s largest newspaper publisher with more than 80 dailies said its results are showing improvement.

To show confidence in its business prospects, Gannett, former owner of The Honolulu Advertiser, said it is resuming share buybacks and doubled its quarterly dividend.

Gannett said Monday that its net income fell to $151.5 million, or 62 cents a share, in the quarter that ended June 26. That’s down from $195.5 million, or 81 cents a share, at the same time last year.

Excluding one-time items, Gannett earned 58 cents per share. On this basis, analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 57 cents a share.

Revenue slipped 2 percent to $1.33 billion, close to the $1.34 billion that analysts were expecting.

ON THE MOVE

ProjectFocus Hawaii has announced the addition of Cheryl DeAngelo to its board of directors. DeAngelo previously launched Real World, a magazine that provides a venue for Hawaii chefs, writers, musicians, poets, artists and photographers to showcase their original work and have it published.

Bank of Hawaii promoted the following people:

» Kelly Fong to vice president and senior portfolio manager in the investment management services portfolio management department from assistant vice president and portfolio manager.

» Stacie Funai to vice president and product manager in the business-commercial products department from assistant vice president and product manager.

» Andrea R. Gruber to vice president and compliance training administrator in corporate compliance from assistant vice president and compliance training administrator.

» Mayumi L. Krystoff-Fletcher to vice president and international banking officer in international client banking from assistant vice president and international banking officer.

» Shengri “Sonny” Zhang to vice president and international banking officer in international client banking from international banking officer.

Hoakalei Charities and Haseko recently presented a $16,814.80 check to the Consul General of Japan, which are proceeds that were generated from two Friendship Golf Tournaments. The award supported the Japanese Red Cross Society’s disaster relief efforts in Japan.