Sale boosts Maui Land's earnings to $13.8 million
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. said yesterday its net income jumped more than tenfold in the first quarter, primarily due to a pretax gain of $21.5 million from the March sale of about 1,800 acres in Upcountry Maui.
Net income was $13.8 million, or $1.88 a share, compared with $1.3 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue jumped 54.6 percent to $59 million from $38.1 million.
"The proceeds from our real estate transactions continued to be directed toward the modernization of our two principal operating subsidiaries, the Kapalua Land Co. and Maui Pineapple Co.," said David Cole, chairman, president and chief executive of MLP. The company also is adding planning, sales and marketing to its real estate division.
That unit, bolstered by the land sale that was considered noncore to the company's strategic plan, had an operating profit of $23.4 million compared with $3.9 million in the year-earlier period. Revenue more than tripled to $30.1 million from $9.4 million.
The company's agriculture division saw its operating loss widen to $2.3 million from $2.1 million as MLP took $975,000 in depreciation charges related to the planned replacement of its fresh fruit packing facility and cannery, as well as its accounting system. Revenue upticked to $15.9 million from $15.8 million as fresh pineapple sales more than offset sales of canned pineapple.
MLP said its new fresh fruit grading facility will be in service this summer, but the replacement of the cannery facility has been postponed until next year.
Most of the new accounting systems are expected to be in place in the second and third quarters of this year, MLP said.
Lower travel agent commission expenses for Kapalua Villas helped MLP's resort segment post an operating profit of $430,000 that was 58 percent higher than the $272,000 a year earlier. Revenue, though, was virtually flat at $12.9 million, despite a 3 percent increase in hotel and condominium room occupancies at the Kapalua Resort. Offsetting that were higher Villas staffing costs and increases in other operating expenses.