Subway is sorry ‘Footlong’ came up short
NEW YORK >> Subway is apologizing that its “Footlong” sandwiches fell short of expectations. The world’s largest fast-food chain faced widespread criticism last week after a man posted a photo online showing a “Footlong” next to a tape measure that showed it to be just 11 inches. Subway said Friday that it’s redoubling efforts to “ensure consistency and correct length” in all its sandwiches.
In a statement Friday, Subway expressed “regret” for “any instance where we did not fully deliver on our promise to our customers.” It declined to comment on a lawsuit filed this week by two New Jersey men over the subs.
Junior Achievement names business honorees
The three laureates to be inducted into the 2013 Business Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement of Hawaii Inc. will be feted by the organization in March.
This year’s laureates are Ralph S. Inouye, chairman of the general contracting company bearing his name; Randal M. Hiraki, president, Commercial Plumbing Inc.; and S. Russell Oda, founder of the now-dissolved Oda McCarty Architects Ltd. and now a consultant with Fleming & Associates LLC in Hilo.
The JA Business Hall of Fame was founded in 1990 to honor the state’s most distinguished business leaders for their contributions to free enterprise and the promise of a stronger society.
The awards dinner will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. March 8 at the Hale Koa Hotel. Tickets start at $150 for past laureates or $200 for the general public and can be purchased from Junior Achievement of Hawaii. Contact 545-1777 for more information.
Lower costs, new products lift P&G’s net
NEW YORK » Procter & Gamble is turning a corner.
The world’s largest consumer goods company, whose products like Tide detergent and Gillette razors are in 98 percent of U.S. households, in recent years has lost business to competitors as it grew too fast overseas and kept prices high. But on Friday P&G reported that its fiscal second-quarter profit more than doubled as the plan the company launched last year to lower costs and roll out new products boosted its bottom line. It is the second quarter in a row that P&G beat Wall Street estimates.
During the fiscal second quarter, P&G earned $4.06 billion, or $1.39 a share, up from $1.69 billion, or 57 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Excluding special items, it earned $1.22 per share. Revenue increased 2 percent to $22.18 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.11 a share on $21.86 billion in revenue.
New-home sales off in December, up for year
WASHINGTON » Sales of new U.S. homes cooled off in December compared with November, but for the entire year they were the best since 2009.
The Commerce Department said Friday that new-home sales fell 7.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 369,000. That’s down from November’s rate of 398,000, which was the fastest in 2 1/2 years.
For the year, sales rose nearly 20 percent to 367,000. That’s the most since 2009, although the increase is coming off the worst year for new-home sales since the government began keeping records in 1963. Sales are still below the 700,000 level that economists consider healthy.
Netflix’s stock still wins fans, rises 15%
SAN FRANCISCO » Netflix remains a hot ticket on Wall Street. The Internet video service’s stock climbed another 15 percent Friday to reach its highest level in 16 months. The latest surge followed a 42 percent leap on Thursday that marked the stock’s biggest single-day gain since Netflix Inc. went public in May 2002.
Netflix’s fourth-quarter earnings spurred the stampede to buy the company’s stock. The results released Wednesday were highlighted by an unexpected profit and accelerated customer growth that gave Netflix 33 million worldwide subscribers to its service that streams movies and TV shows to Internet-connected devices.
The stock gained $22.70 to close at $169.56. Earlier in the session, Netflix reached $172.68, the highest it has been since September 2011.
Despite the recent rally, the stock is still well below its peak of nearly $305, hit 18 months ago. The shares plunged after Netflix irked customers by raising prices as much as 60 percent for subscribers who wanted access to the Internet video library and DVD rentals by mail.
Gatorade to remove controversial ingredient
NEW YORK » PepsiCo Inc. is removing a controversial ingredient from its Gatorade sports drink in response to customer complaints.
Molly Carter, a spokeswoman for the company, said Friday that the removal of brominated vegetable oil was in the works over the past year after the company began "hearing rumblings" from consumers about the ingredient. She said it wasn’t a reaction to a recent petition on Change.org by a Mississippi teenager.
The ingredient is also used in other drinks, including some flavors of Powerade made by rival Coca-Cola Co. The Atlanta-based company did not say whether it would remove the ingredient from Powerade, but noted that it takes customer concerns into account when looking for ways to improve its drinks.
On the Move
First Insurance Co. of Hawaii’s board of directors has appointed:
>> Derek Kanehira to assistant vice president of human resources. He has more than 25 years of human resources experience, including serving in HR positions at Zippy’s, Pihana Pacific, Japan Airlines and a recruitment and staffing company.
>> Jeffrey Grimmer to assistant vice president of strategic and financial analytics. He joined FICOH as an actuary in 2006.
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has appointed Jeffrey M. Kissel to serve as a member of the National Petroleum Council during the 2012-2013 membership term. Kissel is president and chief executive officer of Hawaii Gas.
University of Hawaii at Manoa Shidler College of Business has named Allen Doane as executive in residence for the spring 2013 semester. He is a former Alexander & Baldwin chairman and chief executive officer. Doane will continue to serve as director of A&B as well as serve on the boards of First Hawaiian Bank, BancWest Corp. and Pacific Guardian Life Insurance Co.
