Territorial plans second buy-back program
The holding company of Territorial Savings Bank is planning a second stock repurchase program in which it may repurchase up to 581,265 shares of its common stock, or about 5 percent of the current outstanding shares.
Territorial Bancorp Inc.’s announcement Friday came just more than a week after the state’s fifth-largest bank said it had completed its first repurchase program by buying 733,988 shares at an average price of $19.61 a share.
"The board of directors believes this repurchase plan should enhance the long-term value of the company’s shares," said Allan Kitagawa, chairman, president and CEO of Territorial.
Territorial said repurchases will be made at management’s discretion at prices management considers to be attractive and in the best interests of both the company and its stockholders, subject to the availability of stock, general market conditions, the trading price of the stock, alternative uses for capital, and the company’s financial performance.
Territorial’s stock slipped 2 cents to $19.79 on Friday.
Tiffany boosts outlook after profit soars
NEW YORK » Tiffany & Co.’s net income jumped 30 percent in the second quarter, propelled by strong growth across all regions as high-income shoppers continued to be drawn to its jewelry and other goods.
The New York company’s results handily beat Wall Street’s expectations, and it raised its full-year profit forecast again due to the better-than-expected performance.
Tiffany’s stock rose $5.90, or 9.3 percent, to $69.01.
Tiffany, known for its turquoise boxes, has a customer base that leans heavily toward high-income consumers. Such shoppers tend to gravitate toward luxury goods. Spending on luxury items has rebounded faster than other segments since the recession as wealthier consumers feel more confident in making purchases, boosting earnings for companies like Tiffany.
For the period ended July 31, Tiffany earned $90 million, or 69 cents a share. That’s up considerably from the $67.7 million, or 53 cents a share, it earned a year earlier.
Revenue rose 30 percent to $872.7 million.
Apple eliminates television show rentals
Nearly a year after Apple persuaded the television networks to try out a television episode rental service through its iTunes store, it has quietly taken the service down. Customers, it seems, did not want to rent TV episodes through an online store.
"iTunes customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows," an Apple spokesman said Friday.
The slight retreat by Apple comes two days after Tim Cook was named the chief executive of Apple, replacing Steve Jobs, who was named chairman. And it comes at a time when the company is widely believed to have its industry-disrupting sights set on the television industry.
The company has sold episodes of TV shows through iTunes for years for $1.99 to $2.99. The sales have been beneficial for Apple and for television networks, but have not had major effects on consumer behavior. The rental service, announced last fall, was an experiment of sorts to see whether a lower price and a short viewing window would entice consumers and encourage sales of the Apple TV product, but rentals did not take off.
Bank of America close on China bank sale
Bank of America is finalizing plans to sell more than half of its stake in the China Construction Bank in a deal that could raise nearly $10 billion, just a day after Warren Buffett invested $5 billion in the beleaguered U.S. financial giant.
A consortium of sovereign wealth funds in Asia and the Middle East as well as several private equity firms are in negotiations with bankers and could close a deal by early next week, two officials briefed on the talks said Friday.
Gold rises again to shrink week’s loss
Gold rose in New York for a second straight day after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered no plan to provide further stimulus for the economy.
Futures for gold slumped as much as 11 percent in the three days through Wednesday after touching a record $1,917.90 an ounce on Tuesday.
Gold futures for December delivery gained $34.10, or 1.9 percent, to settle at $1,797.30 on the Comex in New York. Prices are down 3 percent the past five days, the first weekly loss in eight weeks. In after-hours electronic trading, prices jumped as much as 3.7 percent to $1,828.90.
Gold is in the 11th year of a bull market, the longest winning streak since at least 1920 in London, as investors seek to diversify away from equities and some currencies. Before this week, gold climbed for seven consecutive weeks, the longest rally since April 2007. Prices are up 26 percent this year.
ON THE MOVE
Retina Institute of Hawaii has hired Dr. Kellen Kashiwa as a low vision specialist. He previously served as an intern in Japan and China, and saw more than 3,000 patients while doing optometric humanitarian work in the Philippines, Peru and Nicaragua.
Chaminade University has announced the following:
» The Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation has awarded an $83,000 grant to the university to support the Castle Colleagues Pre-School Directors Management Training Program.
» The Joseph & Vera Long Foundation awarded a $50,000 grant to Chaminade University to support improvements of Eiben Hall.
Travel + Leisure magazine has selected two Hawaii travel agents, Carolyne Brandon and Darlene Mulkewich, to be in their "2011 A-List of 137 Top Travel Agents," which will be featured in the September issue. The magazine’s editors evaluated thousands of agents to come up with the selective list.
Bruce A. Fink graduated from the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies’ Comprehensive Crisis Management Course and received his diploma from APCSS acting director Retired Brig. Gen. James Hirai. Fink is a deputy engineer for the U.S. Pacific Command and joined 59 other senior military and civilian leaders from 25 countries and territories, who attended the four-week course.
