Kaua‘i Athletic Center to host meeting about potential Kapa‘a location • Kaua‘i Beach Resort to get solar in $55M Aqua Hospitality renovations • Xtreme Power celebrates best quarter yet with KIUC project • Matson announces 15-cent quarterly dividend • American
Kaua‘i Athletic Center to host meeting about potential Kapa‘a location • Kaua‘i Beach Resort to get solar in $55M Aqua Hospitality renovations • Xtreme Power celebrates best quarter yet with KIUC project • Matson announces 15-cent quarterly dividend • American Savings Bank reports $59M in 2012 net earnings
Kaua‘i Athletic Center to host meeting about potential Kapa‘a location
KAPA‘A — The Kaua‘i Athletic Club is hosting a community meeting to discuss a potential second location in Kapa‘a’s Cannery Building.
The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. Feb. 24, at the Cannery Building, located at 5633 Kawaihau Road in Kapa‘a.
The meeting will be hosted by the KAC team and the Smith family, who own the building.
KAC owner Scott MacFarland said in an email that both parties, “want to share their vision with the neighborhood and allow the community to ask questions and share any concerns about the new possible fitness center venue.”
MacFarland praised the Smith family, saying they have been instrumental in helping advance this potential community fitness center forward.
“We look forward to hearing from our neighbors,” said MacFarland.
Kaua‘i Beach Resort to get solar in $55M Aqua Hospitality renovations
HONOLULU — Aqua Hospitality announced it is undergoing $55 million in enhancement projects across a number of its 24 hotels in response to the strength of Hawai‘i’s recovery from the recession.
As part of the upgrades, Kaua‘i Beach Resort will be installing a huge array of solar panels over their parking lot to reduce its carbon footprint and utility costs.
“We currently have many properties upgrading, with an approximate total of over $55 million being spent collectively,” said Ben Rafter, president and CEO of Aqua Hospitality of the comprehensive improvements ranging from lobbies to rooms to meeting space.
Aqua, which recently unveiled three new brands for its diversified collection, is the only hotel management company in Hawai‘i with properties on all six major islands including Kaua‘i.
“It’s no surprise Hawai‘i recovered quickly from the recession,” said Rafter. “The state has a collaborative effort involving the government, visitors bureaus and the private sector and the increasing tourism spending is filtering through the entire Hawaiian economy. Now is the time to work with our owners to reinvest.”
Aqua’s successful strategy of marketing its wide range of accommodations to travelers from all over the world has resulted in dramatically increased business from strong economies like China, Korea and Australia.
The improving United States and Canadian economies are also pushing Aqua’s occupancy and revenue numbers to new company highs.
“Aqua experienced strong growth during the recession because our hotels have appeal across all economic and geographic segments,” said Rafter. “With global economies recovering, Aqua is upgrading our hotels to ensure we continue to expand our market share in Hawai‘i.”
Xtreme Power celebrates best quarter yet with KIUC project
AUSTIN, Texas — Xtreme Power, a world leader in real-time power management and energy storage solutions, boasted its most successful quarter since its founding in 2004 with the completion of several new projects.
In the fourth quarter of 2012, the company reached ~77 MW commissioned and launched a new product line including the installation of two 1.5 MW systems for Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative.
The new systems for KIUC are able to communicate with an existing system via a shared fiber optic cable.
XP’s total installed capacity on Kaua‘i’s grid is now 4.5 MW.
The fourth quarter projects amount to more than 43 MW alone.
“The strong growth we experienced in the past few months can be credited to Xtreme Power’s team of top notch, experienced professionals,” said Alan Gotcher, CEO of Xtreme Power.
He said the company entered three new, critical markets, illustrating that the need for reliable and cost-efficient energy storage solutions continues to increase.
Gotcher said Xtreme Power remains dedicated to offering new services, expanding our product offerings, and capturing a full spectrum of energy storage benefits.
Matson announces 15-cent quarterly dividend
HONOLULU — Matson, Inc. declared a first quarter cash dividend of $0.15 per share.
“The strong cash flows generated from our core businesses allow us to support a solid dividend to our shareholders,” said Matt Cox, Matson’s president and CEO. “At the same time, we have the financial capacity to maintain a strong investment grade metric balance sheet while also providing for growth investments and any future vessel replacement needs.”
The dividend is payable March 7 to Matson shareholders of record as of the close of business on Feb. 14.
American Savings Bank reports $59M in 2012 net earnings
HONOLULU — American Savings Bank, reported net income for 2012 of $58.6 million compared with $59.8 million in 2011.
American Savings Bank has branches on Kaua‘i.
Net income for the fourth quarter of 2012 was $14.4 million, compared with $14.2 million in the third, or linked, quarter of 2012 and $15.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.
“American delivered solid financial performance in 2012 and continued to execute well on our strategic plan to safely grow the bank in the low interest rate environment,” said Richard Wacker, president and chief executive officer of American.
He said American maintained good profitability levels with return on average equity of 11.7 percent and continued to provide reliable dividends. Residential mortgage teams originated nearly $1 billion of new long-term residential mortgages, nearly double the level of the prior year, bringing new customer relationships to the bank.
To control interest rate risk, Wacker said American sold the investment associated with more than half of those loans and generated gains on sale that helped fund spending on the bank’s strategic priorities.
