Business Briefs for Monday, Feb. 18, 2013

Business Briefs for Monday, Feb. 18, 2013

Young Brothers: Kaua‘i cargo volume down

HONOLULU — Young Brothers Limited reported a 2.1 percent decrease in cargo volume for Nawiliwili Harbor on Kaua‘i this week.

Young Brothers said its overall intrastate cargo volume for 2012 was relatively flat compared to 2011, inching up 0.4 percent, but ended 2012 with a modest uptick in the fourth quarter, according to the Young Brothers Quarterly Shipping Report.

For the 3-month period from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, intrastate volume rose 2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2011.

Young Brothers’ Quarterly Report — a key barometer of Neighbor Island economic activity — zig-zagged its way through 2012 in its year-ago comparisons, showing a 2.6-percent jump in the first quarter, followed by a 2.7-percent drop in the second quarter, and 1.1-percent drop in the third quarter, before ending the year with a 2 percent increase.

“The year was a bit of a seesaw, but it’s always good to carry positive momentum into the new year,” said Glenn Hong, president of Young Brothers.

“We’d like to see the volume trend line sustain a modest positive direction for a change. We have some optimism, but clearly cargo volumes have a ways to go to demonstrate a continued growth trend,” Hong added.

On an annual basis, three ports of call experienced increases: Kahului, Maui, the largest neighbor island port in terms of cargo, up 3.3 percent; Hilo, just barely increasing by 0.1 percent; and Kaumalapau, Lana‘i, jumping 28.5 percent.

These increases were offset by decreases at Kawaihae, down 3.7 percent and Kaunakakai, Moloka‘i, down 6.7 percent.

With respect to the fourth quarter of 2012, three ports finished on a positive note with an increase in cargo volumes (compared to the same quarter in 2012).

Kahului rose 4.8 percent, while volumes at the ports on Moloka‘i and Lana‘i, the two smallest ports within the Young Brothers system, increased 0.9 percent and 49.9 percent, respectively.

Two ports finished the quarter with slight negative comparisons: Hilo, down 0.4 percent; Kawaihae, down 0.9 percent; and Nawiliwili, off 2.3 percent.

During the fourth quarter, agricultural cargo volume statewide continued its positive trend, climbing by 13.7 percent over the year-ago quarter.

For the year, agricultural volume rose 11.6 percent over 2011’s annual volume.

Agricultural volume includes only cargo that qualifies for the company’s island product discount of 30 to 35 percent, which applies to locally grown agricultural products.

Carnival Corporation reports impact

MIAMI — Carnival Corporation estimates that the total impact from voyage disruptions and related repair costs will result in an $0.08 to $0.10 earnings per share reduction in the company’s 2013 first half.     

Carnival Corporation is the largest cruise company in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises in Australia and P&O Cruises in the U.K.  

Together, their brands operate 100 ships totaling 203,000 lower berths with nine new ships scheduled to be delivered between March, 2013 and March, 2016.

Carnival Corporation also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon.

Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.