Maui Land shares gain
49% before stock split

The price move started
the day after the 4-for-1 split
was announced

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The price of Maui Land & Pineapple Co. shares has soared 49 percent since the company's announcement Thursday of a pending four-for-one stock split.

The stock backed off a little today after a three-day climb, dropping $2.371/2, but at closing price of $67 it was still $22 above the price before the announcement.

Gary L. Gifford, president and chief executive of the Kahului-based company, said that other than the stock split he knows of no other reason for the activity.

The shares had closed at just above $45 Thursday, before the announcement of the stock split, which will apply to shares held as of tomorrow.

Action started Friday morning in the stock, which trades over the counter. It closed at $54 Friday, went up another 10 points Monday to close at $64 and climbed another $5.37-1/2 yesterday to close at $69.37-1/2.

Gifford said the only reason for the stock split was to get more shares on the market so that the normally high-priced, thinly traded issue would trade more freely.

Stock splits usually mean a lower price that increases trading activity.

"We're trying to improve liquidity and the ability of our stockholders to trade their shares," Gifford said today.

He said new employment benefits covering himself and other top executives -- giving them three years of pay if control of the company should go into new hands -- had no relationship to the upcoming stock split.

"It was a result of a review of our overall compensation structure" conducted by an outside firm, and the benefits are not uncommon among corporations, Gifford said.

Analyst Randy Havre, of Honolulu Venture Capital, said the stock has long been under-performing in comparison to the assets the company has, including 28,000 acres of land on Maui.

The company is closely held, however, and there hasn't been much opportunity for action in the stock, he said. "We call it a 'Roach Motel' stock. It's easy to get into but hard to get out of," Havre said.

Of the 1.8 million outstanding shares, only about 20 percent are in the general public's hands.

The rest are owned by the Weinberg Foundation, the Cameron family of Maui, and the company's employee stock option plan.