Territorial Bancorp Inc. has adopted a seventh stock repurchase program that will allow it to buy back up to 275,000 shares, or about 3 percent, of its current outstanding shares.
The repurchase program permits shares of Territorial Savings Bank’s parent to be repurchased in open market or private transactions at prices management considers to be attractive and in the best interests of both the company and its stockholders.
Territorial’s stock closed down 2 cents Monday at $25.72. The announcement was made after the stock market closed.
Damon may boost China’s movie ambitions
LOS ANGELES >> China has a new ally in its campaign to become a global cultural superpower: Matt Damon.
Chinese leaders have long sought international cultural influence, aka “soft power,” commensurate with the nation’s economic might. But China’s own film industry remains a mere flicker on the global screen.
That is where Damon comes in — next year he will star in “The Great Wall,” a historical epic filmed in China. If all goes according to plan, the film could be China’s first international blockbuster — one that might presage a wave of similar films intended to present a new face of China to the world.
Wall Street bonuses down amid profit slide
ALBANY, N.Y. >> Average Wall Street bonuses were down 9 percent last year to $146,200 as industry profits declined, New York’s comptroller reported Monday.
Industrywide profits decreased by 10.5 percent, according to the annual estimate from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The comptroller said revenue was weak, especially from trading and underwriting. Profits were at their lowest reported level since 2011.
“This was the third consecutive year of lower profit,” DiNapoli told reporters Monday. “You do have a very volatile market.”
Consumer borrowing growth slows
WASHINGTON >> U.S. consumers bumped up their borrowing in January at the slowest rate pace in nearly three years, as outstanding revolving debt — such as credit cards — slipped from December.
The Federal Reserve said Monday that borrowing rose $10.5 billion in January, an annual increase of just 3.58 percent. That marks the smallest annual percentage gain since February 2013. Total borrowing was $3.54 trillion. Borrowing in the revolving category that covers credit cards slipped $1.1 billion. Borrowing in the category that covers auto and student loans increased $11.6 billion last month.
Investor pushes Shutterfly to seek sale
SAN FRANCISCO >> Activist investor Ancora Advisors is stepping up the pressure on photo sharing service Shutterfly to negotiate a sale of the company or reshuffle its board of directors if a deal can’t be quickly worked out.
Ancora outlined its demands in a letter sent Monday to Shutterfly’s interim CEO, Philip Marineau.
The Cleveland investment fund wants Shutterfly Inc. to reach out to potential bidders following the company’s disclosure last month that it had received an unsolicited offer from an unnamed private equity firm.
Ancora’s letter identified the suitor as Thomas H. Lee Partners, a private equity firm in Boston.
State, Wells Fargo accused of fraud
PROVIDENCE, R.I. >> The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged Rhode Island’s economic development agency and Wells Fargo with defrauding investors in the state’s disastrous $75 million deal with 38 Studios, the video game company started by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.
The civil complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Providence, accuses the Rhode Island Commerce Corp. and Wells Fargo Securities of making materially misleading statements when they sold the bonds used to fund the deal.
Schilling moved his company from Massachusetts to Rhode Island in 2010, after the agency agreed to give it a $75 million loan guarantee. The deal was financed through bonds offered to investors. Less than two years later, 38 Studios closed its doors, filing for bankruptcy.
On the Move
First Hawaiian Bank has announced the following appointment and promotions:
>> Christopher Dods has been appointed to First Hawaiian Bank’s senior management committee. He is the executive vice president and marketing communications division manager.
>> Shirley M. Durham has been promoted to senior vice president from vice president of operation services division, Hawaii item processing. Durham joined FHB as a documentation process clerk in 1991 and has more than 28 years of bank operations experience.
>> James S. Kaneshiro has been promoted to senior vice president and manager from vice president and manager of operations services division, money processing and ATM management.
