Hawaii’s credit card debt down 11% in December

Hawaii’s credit card debt fell nearly 11 percent to $7,527 per person in December compared with $8,456 in December 2010, according to CreditKarma.com, a California-based credit scoring website.

Nationally, credit card debt also dropped 11 percent to $6,576.

The average Hawaii consumer with an account had a credit score of 673 compared with 660 nationally.

Mortgage debt rose slightly by 1.4 percent to $307,508 from $303,197 in December 2010, while auto loan debt climbed 2.9 percent to $15,552 from $15,116. Student loan debt fell 9.9 percent to $24,418 from $27,103.

The research was based on a sample size of 2,666 CreditKarma users in Hawaii.

Maui hotel union workers ratify contract

More than 200 union hotel workers at the Kaanapali Beach Club on Maui, operated by Diamond Resorts International, have ratified a new three-year contract. The agreement between Unite Here Local 5 and hotel management includes improved job security for food and beverage workers, a 401(k) retirement savings plan with contributions made by the employer, and hourly wage increases retroactive to April. It will expire in 2014.

Local 5 represents more than 10,500 workers throughout Hawaii who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries. It is an affiliate of Unite Here, an international union that represents more than 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Jack donates $15,000 to Boys & Girls Club

The Hawaii franchisee of Jack in the Box restaurants made a $15,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii on Tuesday. The donation was partly funded by the sale of Star-Advertiser newspapers at Jack in the Box restaurants. The check was presented to the Boys & Girls Club at the new Jack in the Box restaurant in Waianae.

Donna Yano, vice president of Scanlan Management/Jack in the Box Hawaii, and David Kennedy, senior vice president for marketing at the Star-Advertiser, were on hand for the presentation.

The Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii operates nine sites on Oahu and Kauai. The nonprofit provides guidance-oriented character development programs for children 7-17 years old. Jack in the Box has 27 restaurants in Hawaii.

Home Helpers opens franchise on Oahu

Hiroko Nakasone, a former day care provider and schoolteacher, has launched an in-home senior care agency to help meet the growing needs of Oahu’s aging population.

Home Helpers of Oahu opened this month as part of a national franchise specializing in nonmedical in-home and companion care for seniors, new mothers and others needing recuperative and continuing care.

The Oahu franchise is the first Home Helpers in the state and is part of an aggressive strategy to open an additional 100 offices nationwide in 2012. Services offered include companionship, bathing, meal preparation, dressing assistance, medication reminders, local transportation and light housekeeping.

The franchise is in more than 500 North American markets.

Airbus takes record orders in 2011

HAMBURG, Germany » Airbus took in a record number of orders for new commercial aircraft last year as strong demand for its revamped single-aisle plane helped it best U.S. rival Boeing Co. in the race for orders for the fourth year.

The European jet maker said Tuesday it took in 1,419 net new orders in 2011, worth $140 billion, well above Boeing’s total of 805 aircraft. That topped the previous record of 1,413 net orders recorded by Boeing in 2007.

Airbus also delivered 534 aircraft last year, up from 510 a year earlier and keeping the title of world’s biggest jet maker, which it has held since 2003. Boeing delivered 477 aircraft in 2011.

Yahoo co-founder Yang leaving company

SAN FRANCISCO » Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang is leaving the struggling company’s board.

The departure, announced Tuesday, comes just two weeks after Yahoo Inc. hired former PayPal executive Scott Thompson as its CEO. Yang expressed his support of Thompson in his resignation. He had been on Yahoo’s board of directors since the company’s 1995 inception.

Yang also is stepping down from the boards of China’s Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan. Yahoo is negotiating to sell its stakes in both companies.

Citi profit slips as it misses projections

NEW YORK » Citigroup’s loan portfolio improved late last year, partly because Americans were better about paying down credit card debt. But choppy financial markets hurt its investment banking profits, and the bank missed Wall Street expectations.

The bank said Tuesday that profit fell 11 percent in the last three months of last year. Besides making less money on investment banking, the bank lost money because of a quirky accounting rule related to the value of its corporate bonds.

Citi made $1.16 billion, or 38 cents per share, on revenue of $17.2 billion. The results fell short of the 54 cents per share estimated by analysts surveyed by FactSet, a provider of financial data.

A year earlier, in the fourth quarter of 2010, Citigroup made $1.3 billion on revenue of $18.4 billion.

ON THE MOVE

ABC Stores Hawaii, Guam, Saipan and Las Vegas has announced the following promotions:

» Terri Min to director of human resources from human resources manager. Min was an assistant store manager.

» Russell Jeremiah to director of merchandising from merchandising manager. Jeremiah was a store manager.

Leadership Works has named Teri Uyehara as director of client services. She worked for Hawaiian Electric Co. for the past 20 years.

Hawaii State Federal Credit Union has announced the following:

» Floralyn "Flo" Wassum has been named branch manager of Hawaii State FCU’s branch in Kapolei Shopping Center.

» Maria Pacupac has been named teller services supervisor of Hawaii State FCU’s Kapolei branch.