The Honolulu Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • 15

(CWftjH AWA I I i APPLE PROFIT UP 47 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2009 HonoluluAdvertiser.combusiness 'Dole expands plain to sell 0alrai land. "in I i mi I mmmmtmmr HMrt i mnmmrTrtt mm lhMfaa RUSSEL A. DANIELS Associaiea Press Apple Inc. increased its net income 47 percent in the most recent quarter as more people bought iPhones and other devices, the company said yesterday. The results sent Apple shares surging in extended trading.

Company would still own 15,000 acres if effort to sell 11,000 acres succeeds BY ANDREW GOMES Advertiser Staff Writer Dole Food Co. has expanded its effort to sell land it owns in Hawai'i, according to a recent securities filing in which the California-based firm said it is planning or contemplating the sale of 11,000 acres on O'ahu. The initiative by the business founded in Hawai'i more than 150 years ago aims to pay down debt, and follows the sale of 2440 acres in Waialua last year. Dole last year said that it was trying to sell 5,000 acres on the North Shore between Wahiawa and Haleiwa, but since then has more than doubled the amount of land it is holding for sale. If Dole were to sell 11,000 acres, the company would still retain considerable real estate holdings on O'ahu and remain one of Hawaii's largest private landowners.

Still, such a disposition of land would further diminish the company's connection to a place deeply rooted in its history. In the filing earlier this month, Dole said it expects to sell $94 million of assets primarily Hawai'i land in the next 12 months. The company said that as of Jaa 3 it classified 9,000 acres in Hawai'i as assets for sale. Dole also said other Hawai'i parcels are currently under evaluation for potential sale. In all, Dole said it could sell 11,000 acres, or less than half the 26,000 acres it owns on O'ahu.

Dole wouldn't identify the land held for sale, but said the property excludes 2,700 acres on which it grows pineapples and 195 acres on which it farms coffee and cacao. "Dole is committed to continuing our pineapple and related crops in SEE DOLE, B8 i HAWAI'I REPORT Fewer use opiates, Isle testing firm says The number of workers and job candidates testing positive for use of opiates and prescription drugs with opiates fell significandy over the past year, according to the latest data from Diagnostic Laboratory Services the state's largest locally owned drug testing company. Diagnostic's third-quarter test results show the number of people using either legal or illegal opiate drugs fell to under 025 percent from more than 05 percent a year ago. Carl Linden, Diagnostic Laboratories scientific director, said he was unsure why opiate use had declined over the past year, but that it followed an increase in usage of opiates over the past several years. Other test results for marijuana, amphetamine and cocaine remained relatively unchanged compared to a year earlier.

The laboratory tests 5,000 to 10,000 people each quarter, most of whom are job candidates. Workshops offer small businesses help The Small Business Administration has scheduled two workshops in November to help business owners and entrepreneurs survive the economic slowdown by securing contracts with government agencies. The first session is set from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Nov.

3, at Central Pacific Plaza, Suite 1110, 220 S. King St. A second session is scheduled for the morning of Nov. 18 at the Hapa Grill in KapoleL Call 544-5159 or e-mail ron.samianocentralpacific bank.com to register. Apparel company has grants for Islands Outdoor apparel company Patagonia is giving $5,000 to three Hawai'i nonprofits, but is seeking help from the public to determine how the grant money should be divided.

Employees of Patagonia's Hale'iwa store decided to distribute the $5,000 between Halawa Valley Land Trust, the O'ahu chapter of the Surfrider Foundation and genetic engineering watchdog Hawaii Seed. The company is accepting votes at its store through Saturday as to which nonprofit will receive $2,500, $L500 and $1,000. The store is among 25 U.S. Patagonia stores participating in the "Voice Your Choice" campaign now in its second year. Last year, the campaign through 23 stores distributed $100,000 to environmental groups, including the North Shore Community Land Trust Advertiser staff -'-in nun Bloomberg News Service file photo Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd has sponsored legislation that would force banks to obtain customer consent before paying for overdrawn transactions and charging customers steep fees.

Bill limits fees on overdrafts STOCK WATCH A96.28 A 1952 Close: 10,092.19 Close: 2,176.32 Dow Jones NASDAQ, Nikkei A 100.33 Close: 10,336.84 draft charges as their financial conditions have deteriorated. USA Today has reported that major banks, including Wachovia, now part of Wells Fargo, have put in place tools that See Market Trends, Page B9 Dollar 0.46 yen Late Tokyo 90.13 yen as of Tuesday (last night, Hawai'i time) Dodd is nearly double the $20.5 billion the industry will collect in credit card penalties. Banks are expected to collect a record amount from overdraft income despite recently backing away from practices such as charging consumers steep fees for overdrawing by a few dollars. Dodd says moves by Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo represent only "moderate changes" to overdraft policies. Yet, the industry's changes are an acknowledgement that "banks have a serious legitimacy problem," says Simon Johnson, a former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund who now teaches at MITs Sloan School of Management.

Scott Talbott, who represents large banks, says the industry has taken steps "to address consumer concerns." Banks have "serious concerns" about the effect Dodd's bill will have on consumers and merchants if signed into law, he adds. Legislation would check bank practice of boosting profit at customer expense BY KATHY CHU USA Today Leading Democrats introduced legislation yesterday to rein in banks' widespread practice of automatically paying overdrawn transactions, then charging customers a steep fee. The bill sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, will require banks to get customers' consent before paying ATM and debit card transactions, limit the number of overdraft fees charged and tie the fees to banks' processing costs. Dodd said he and other Democrats introduced the bill because "banks should not be trying to bolster their profits at the expense of their customers." The legislation follows reports that banks have gotten more aggressive about fee income including Over Earnings reports bolster Wall Street Associated Press NEW YORK Investors are seeing the kind of earnings numbers that make them feel confident about stocks. The market stepped to new highs for the year yesterday after a handful of earnings reports bolstered hopes that the economy is coming back sooner than many analysts had thought.

That is helping some investors move past a bout of nerves about whether expectations for the economy are stretched too far. Industrial equipment maker Eaton Corp. said it was seeing improvement in key markets and raised its full-year profit forecast. Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. managed to post a profit despite a sharp fall in revenue.

make it harder for employees to refund overdraft fees. Wachovia has told employees in an e-mail these fees "make up a big percentage of our revenue and is a HOT button among leadership." Banks have also sought out the advice of consultants on how to boost overdraft fees, implementing such policies as allowing customers to overdraw at the ATM up to a bank-imposed limit, USA Today has revealed. The result: In 2009, banks are expected to earn $38.5 billion in overdraft fees, up 42 percent from 2003, says Moebs Services, an economic research firm. Banks' overdraft income DAILY CHART VISITOR ARRIVALS DOMESTIC ARRIVALS INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS KHNL-KGMB unveils new lineup 20oe October 2009 October 13-October 19 2006 20O9 October 13- October 12-October 19 October 18 Percent Change Percent Change 5.1 31,818 33,438 108,755106,907 Comparable weeks from year to year; excluding Canada Source: state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism ONLINE AND MOBILE Joaquin Loe Lum Tucker Media Council Hawai'i, which is asking the Federal Communications Commission to nix the merger of three of the state's five largest television stations. The media council is also asking the U.S.

Justice Department's antitrust division to investigate. Raycom Media of Alabama, which owns KHNL and K5, has said that the deal was needed to prevent one or two of the stations from going under. The shared services agreement also doesn't require FCC approval because there's no change of ownership, Raycom has said. Reach Rick Daysog at 525-8064 or rdaysoghono luluadvertiser.com. BY RICK DAYSOG Advertiser Staff Writer KGMB9's Keahi Tucker and Stacy Loe and KHNL's Stephanie Lum will anchor a joint 10 p.m.

newscast when the stations' newsroom merger launches on Monday, according to promotional materials sent out by the stations yesterday. Lum also will co-anchor a joint 5 p.m newscast with KGMB9's Tannya Joaquin under the stations' new talent lineup and news schedule, which was unveiled to major advertisers. The stations' on-air lineup won't be finalized until later this week and could change, according to a newsroom source. Under the new format, KHNL will move its 6 p.m. local newscast to 530 p.m.

SI BLOG: BIZ BITES Rick Daysog is an award-winning Advertiser business writer who covers aviation and blogs about local business and transactions. Join the discussion. SPECIAL FEATURE Get tips on ways to stretch your dollar in our ongoing series at honoluluadvertiser.com sectionfrugalliving BREAKING BUSINESS NEWS NOW ON YOUR CELL PHONE Text HIBIZ to 44636 (4INFO) to get local business news alerts. For quotes, text stock ticker (e.g. MSFT) or fund ticker (e.g.

AGTHX) to 44636. and both KHNL and KGMB will simulcast its 5 o'clock and 10 o'clock weekday shows. KGMB9 will have its own 6 p.m. newscast anchored by Tucker and Joaquin. KGMB, KHNL and K5 announced in August that they plan to merge newsrooms, simulcast some news programs and cut about a third of their staff.

The so-called shared services agreement will result in the terminations of all but four of KHNL's on-air staff. The surviving KHNL staffers include Lum, reporters Minna Sugimoto and Duane Shimogawa, and Mari-Ela David, who will be a weekend anchor. Anchors Howard Dashef-sky and Diane Ako are among the better-known KHNL staffers who were given layoff notices. The newsroom merger has raised criticism from community groups such as Lid SPONSORED BY tatda-l I.