A&B earnings
fell in quarter

Stock sale a year ago
skews comparisons

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By Dave Segal
dsegal@starbulletin.com

Alexander & Baldwin Inc., whose purchase of two diesel-powered container ships punctuated a busy second quarter, said yesterday earnings fell 46.2 percent as a $9.4 million gain from the 2001 sale of Pacific Century Financial Corp. stock skewed the comparisons.

The company, which derived 80 percent of its revenue in the quarter from its Matson Navigation Co. division, posted net income of $13.2 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with $24.5 million, or 61 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenues slipped 4.7 percent to $279.2 million from $293 million a year earlier. In last year's second quarter, A&B realized a one-time gain of 23 cents a share by selling 749,000 shares of stock in Bank of Hawaii's parent.

Without the stock sale, A&B's 2002 second-quarter net income would have declined 12.7 percent.

A&B, which has been trying to recover from the Sept. 11 fallout that dragged down the mainland and Hawaii economies, has been keeping close tabs on the ongoing dockworker labor talks.

"Challenges to earnings growth include the present contract negotiations with longshore labor now taking place on the West Coast and in Hawaii, our continuing efforts to reach target levels of productivity at our (Sand Island) container terminal in Hawaii, as well as broader concerns over the effects on consumer spending and travel that might result from the recent slump in the U.S. financial markets," said Allen Doane, president and chief executive of A&B.

Matson, which in May signed a contract with Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard Inc. to have two container ships built for a combined $220 million, saw its operating profit fall 20.8 percent to $14.8 million from $18.7 million a year ago.

A&B cited lower stevedoring productivity due to a new container-handling method.

A&B also posted lower operating profit in its real estate and food divisions.