BUSINESS BRIEFS
Printer installs $10M press
Advertiser Staff
Hagadone Printing Company, Hawai'i's largest commercial printer, has installed a new $10 million printing press at its 100,000-square-foot Kalihi plant.
The company will hold an open house Friday to demonstrate the Goss M-600, a 150-foot-long web heat set press. The Goss M-600 combines the efficiency of a web press with the quality of a sheet-fed press, according to Hagadone. The new 5-color web press is the only one of its kind in Hawai'i and one of very few in the world.
HOSPITAL'S NURSES RATIFY CONTRACT
Nurses at St. Francis hospital have ratified a one-year contract that includes a 12 percent increase in hourly wages, shift differentials and on-call pay, according to the St. Francis Hawaii Nurses Association.
The contract, which covers about 350 nurses at St. Francis, was the first of the "big five" negotiations to be settled between local hospitals and the Hawaii Nurses Association.
The Hawaii Nurses Association is the Hawai'i affiliate of the American Nurses Association and the United American Nurses, AFL-CIO.
CITY BONDS GET AA RATING
Fitch Ratings noted Hono-lulu's strong economy, low debt load and strong fiscal management in awarding an AA rating to $400 million of general obligation bonds being issued by the city.
Fitch also affirmed the AA rating on the city's $1.7 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds. The rating outlook for the bonds is stable.
"Honolulu's credit strength rests in the sound fundamentals of its tourism-based economy, good financial operations and reserves, low debt burden, and strong fiscal management," the ratings agency said in a news release.
COST CUTS BOOST MERCK PROFIT
NEW YORK — Merck & Co. said its third-quarter profit rose 7 percent as lower costs offset a revenue dip stemming from the loss of sales from Vioxx, the pain reliever the company withdrew last year.
Meanwhile, Schering Plough Corp. said its profit more than tripled on strong sales as the company continues to march toward a turnaround. And Berlin-based Schering AG said its third quarter profits grew 29 percent on stronger sales of its birth control drug and lowered costs.
