Condominium developer gets $120M loan
The developer of the 388-unit Symphony Honolulu condominium tower slated to break ground next week at 888 Kapiolani Blvd. is financing the project with a $120 million loan.
San Diego-based OliverMcMillan announced the financing deal Monday and said the syndicated construction loan is being led by First Hawaiian Bank.
Central Pacific Bank, American Savings Bank and Washington Capital Joint Master Trust Mortgage income fund also are participating in the loan.
Cyanotech earnings sink 68.4 percent
Cyanotech Corp.’s net income declined 68.4 percent in the July-through-September quarter as a higher tax rate and an increase in expenses more than offset stronger sales of the company’s microalgae products.
Cyanotech earned $106,000, or 2 cents a share, in its fiscal 2014 second quarter, down from $476,000, or 8 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter, according to financial results released Thursday. An increase in the company’s effective tax rate resulted in pretax income dropping to $335,000 in the most recent quarter from $486,000 in the same period a year earlier.
Operating expenses rose to $2.63 million from $2.26 million in the year-earlier quarter due to the planned marketing costs and infrastructure investments.
The company increased its sales of spirulina and astaxanthin to $7.30 million in the quarter, up 5.2 percent from $6.94 million a year earlier. The biggest gains came in Cyanotech’s consumer products business, which grew by 47 percent. The increase would have been even larger if not for a shortage in its supply of astaxanthin, said Brent Bailey, company president and chief executive officer.
State OKs $9B in tax breaks for Boeing
SEATTLE » Gov. Jay Inslee gave final approval Monday to a package of tax breaks for Boeing Co. in hopes of landing the company’s new 777X, signing legislation at Seattle’s Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. Now attention is focused on a contract vote later this week by the Machinists union.
Boeing has sought the tax benefits — valued at $9 billion through 2040 — and a broad new contract with the machinists as part of a long-term deal to build the 777X in Puget Sound. In unusual swiftness, lawmakers returned to Olympia last week for a special session dedicated to Boeing, approving the legislation ahead of the union vote.
Some machinists have indicated opposition to the contract because it includes concessions — and a large crowd of workers gathered Monday afternoon in Everett to rally against the proposal. Political leaders, including many Democrats who are closely aligned with unionized workers, have declined to encourage machinists how to vote but have asked them to consider the broader impact on jobs and future generations.
Single Chinese men set online sales record
Unmarried men across China used to spend Nov. 11 lamenting their single status with a drink.
Now that unofficial holiday has become the world’s largest online shopping event.
On Monday China’s biggest online shopping company processed more than $5.75 billion in its online payments system — a record for a single day anywhere in the world, surpassing by 250 percent times the total for American retailers last year on so-called Cyber Monday.
The company, Alibaba, which owns Tmall and other e-commerce sites, first latched on to so-called Singles’ Day, symbolized by the four lonely 1s of 11/11, five years ago.
Singles’ Day was invented by students in the 1990s, according to the Communist Party-owned People’s Daily, which said the date (11-11) is reminiscent of the Chinese phrase "bare branches — for bachelors and spinsters."
As a red-letter day for shoppers, Singles’ Day has spread beyond lonely hearts to Chinese consumers of all kinds — single or married. Alibaba reported Monday that it had 402 million unique visitors to its sites — more than a third of the adult population in China — and prepared 152 million parcels for shipping. Tmall.com, one of Alibaba’s shopping sites, said Chinese bought 1.6 million bras and 2 million pairs of underpants, all before the lunch hour.
Knish factory fire leads to shortage in U.S.
COPIAGUE, N.Y. » A fire at a factory billed as the world’s biggest maker of knishes has created nationwide shock and oy for those who can’t find the Jewish treats anywhere.
Kvetching has been going on at delis, diners, food carts and groceries since the six-week-long shortage began, but lovers of the square, fried, doughy pillows of pureed potatoes may not have to go without much longer. The factory promises an end to the knish crunch by Thanksgiving, which coincides with the start of Hanukkah.
A fire Sept. 24 at the Gabila’s plant in Copiague, on Long Island, damaged the machinery that makes the company’s biggest seller: "The Original Coney Island Square Knish," which also comes filled with kasha or spinach.
Hawaiian boosts seats
Hawaiian Airlines has expedited plans to increase seat capacity for service between Hawaii and Seattle by two weeks. The switch to a 294-seat Airbus 330-200 aircraft from a 264-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft will now occur Nov. 26 for Honolulu-Seattle service and Dec. 2 for Maui-Seattle service.
ON THE MOVE
The Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors has named Jonathan Parrish the HSO’s new executive director. He is an assistant principal horn player with HSO as well as general manager of Chamber Music Hawaii and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Hawaii.
Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort & Spa, has appointed Ryan Loo as the resort’s executive chef. He has 14 years of experience in the culinary industry, including serving as executive chef of W Seattle’s Earth and Ocean restaurant. He was also executive chef of Sheraton Waikiki’s former Twist at Hanohano and senior executive sous-chef for Sheraton Waikiki’s restaurants and banquet services.
Hawaiian Airlines has appointed Bret Ranoa senior director of customer service initiatives. He has 20 years of sales and contract negotiation experience and joined Hawaiian Airlines as a category manager for strategic procurement in 2008.