The world's largest producer of fresh fruit and vegetables said net income rose to $42.0 million, or 70 cents a share, from $30.0 million, or 50 cents, a year earlier.

The company's earnings matched the expectations of three analysts surveyed by IBES International Inc.

Revenue rose 19 percent to $964.9 million from $814.4 million.

The Westlake Village, Calif.-based company attributed the rise in earnings to improved sales and higher prices for its bananas in North America and Asia, plus strong sales of its packaged salads.

The company will build another plant, in Springfield, Ohio, to produce more of those salads, said spokesman Thomas Pernice. The 130,000-square-foot factory will employ 275 people, he said.

Pernice said the company's shipments of bananas to China, which began in the second half of 1996, have eased because of tighter supply and higher prices. In October, the company said it was shipping 200,000 26-pound boxes, or 10 percent of its total shipments, to China each week.

A World Trade Organization report recently said some European nations are taxing Latin American bananas at a higher rate than for Caribbean bananas. Dole grows most of its bananas in Latin America. A WTO panel said the European nations shouldn't give the Caribbean bananas an advantage.

Pernice said any rise in shipments from the WTO report won't occur for at least 18 months.

Dole is a major producer of Hawaii pineapple and has other agricultural operations in the islands.