Los Angeles-based Castle & Cooke, a major Hawaii home builder and resort owner, earned $2.7 million, or 8 cents a share, on revenues of $76.8 million in the quarter ending March 31. In the 1995 quarter, the company had a profit of $1.4 million, or 7 cents a share, on revenues of $81.7 million.
That showed improvements of 92.9 percent in net profit and 14.3 percent in per-share earnings, despite a 6 percent drop in revenues.
Income per common share was affected by a $1.1 million dividend payout to preferred shareholders.
It was the company's first full quarter since spinning off from parent Dole Food Co. in December
Like other Hawaii home builders, Castle & Cooke said the soft economy cut into home sales.
Aggressive marketing and sales incentives programs were needed to keep Central Oahu sales going. They did stimulate activity, said David H. Murdock, chairman and chief executive, but they meant some lower income when compared with a similar number of closings in first quarter 1995.
In Hawaii, the company delivered 129 homes in the latest quarter for a total of $38.1 million, compared with 136 homes for $39.2 million in the 1995 quarter.
However, as of March 31 there were new orders for 195 homes compared with 102 a year earlier.
The company's two hotels on Lanai showed improved occupancy and higher room rates, Murdock said. That helped to reduce the first-quarter loss in the resort business to $300,000, compared with $2.1 million in the year-earlier quarter.