The parent company of Territorial Savings Bank said Friday it has adopted its eighth repurchase program and might buy back up to $5 million of its outstanding shares.

Territorial Bancorp Inc. said the proposed buyback represents about 1.7 percent of the company’s total outstanding shares as of Thursday.

Shares of the company fell 28 cents Friday to $30.94. The stock is up 0.2 percent this year.

Kia recalls over 500K cars due to air bags

DETROIT >> Kia is recalling over a half-million vehicles in the U.S. because the air bags might not work in a crash.

Combined with a previous recall expansion by Hyundai, the affiliated automakers are recalling nearly 1.1 million vehicles due to the problem, which has been linked to four deaths.

The moves by both Korean automakers came after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the problems in March. The safety agency said at the time it had reports of six front-end crashes with significant damage to the cars. Four people died and six were injured.

Vehicles covered by the Kia recall include 2010 through 2013 Forte compact cars and 2011 through 2013 Optima midsize cars. Also covered are Optima Hybrid and Sedona minivans from 2011 and 2012.

In April, Hyundai expanded a recall from earlier in the year to 580,000 vehicles. Those include the 2011 through 2013 Sonata midsize car and the 2011 and 2012 Sonata Hybrid. Hyundai says the recall now includes all vehicles with the same air bag computers. Both automakers say they’re working on a fix. Kia said it would notify owners by July 27, while Hyundai said its notification began April 20 and runs through Friday.

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ON THE MOVE

>> Hilton Hawaii has announced that Thomas Casademont has been hired as its senior sales manager. Casademont has more than 20 years of hospitality experience, and he recently worked for El Conquistador, a Waldorf-Astoria property in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Before this, Casademont helped open Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate in Florida while having served as a director of sales.

>> Hawaii State Federal Credit Union (Hawaii State FCU) has announced that Lloyd Sugano has been hired as a financial adviser for the Hawaii State Investment Services. He has more that 25 years of financial services experience, including having served as a financial adviser at Allstate Financial Services and American Express Financial. Sugano also worked for First Hawaiian Bank for 10 years, serving as an assistant vice president as well as an insurance adviser.

>> G70, a leading design firm in Hawaii, has hired Jule Lucero as a senior interior designer. Before joining G70, Lucero served as a senior designer and project manager for 10 years at architectural and interior firms in California, including M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Inc. (Gensler).

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