BUSINESS BRIEFS
Watts receives $10.8 million contract
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Watts Constructors LLC in Honolulu recently received a $10.8 million contract to build a Mobile User Objective System at Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific in Wahiawa.
The contract contains two options that can be exercised within 360 calendar days that could bring the total contract value to $11.8 million.
The work includes site preparation for a new antenna compound, concrete foundations, equipment shelter, battery room renovations and conference room renovations.
Work on the contract with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command is expected to be completed by November 2008.
PRODUCTION OF MILK, EGGS FALLS
Hawai'i's dairy cows produced 4.4 million pounds of milk in January 2007, which was down 17 percent from a year ago, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Association.
Hawai'i egg production also fell 17 percent from a year ago to 7.3 million in January. The average number of layers on hand during January was estimated at 404,000, which was down 15 percent from January 2006.
Hawai'i's cow herd, both dry and milking, numbered 3,800 head in January, which was down 17 percent from January 2006.
CAR 'LEMON LAW' COMPLAINTS DROP
Consumer complaints under the state's "lemon law" covering new autos dropped to 71 last year compared with 80 in 2005, according to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
At the same time, the value of refunds rose to $1 million in 2006, versus $919,000 the prior year. The law helps consumers who buy or lease new motor vehicles and have repeated problems getting them repaired under warranty.
QUIKSILVER HURT BY LOUSY WINTER
Quiksilver Inc., the world's largest surf wear company, wiped out last quarter on the ski slopes. Shares of the Huntington Beach, Calif., company fell almost 10 percent yesterday, a day after it announced that profit for the quarter ending Jan. 31 plummeted 87 percent from a year earlier.
The parent of the Quiksilver, Roxy and Rossignol brands blamed the earnings plunge on a miserable winter sports season that has worsened in the past several weeks.
HEDGE FUNDS TOLD TO DISCLOSE
MINNEAPOLIS — A bankruptcy judge ordered several hedge funds to disclose their stock and debt holdings in Northwest Airlines, in a closely watched decision that some have said could chill trading in the claims of bankrupt companies.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper rejected a request by the hedge funds to file the information under seal. He ordered them to file it publicly within three business days.
