Land sale boosts Maui Land & Pine profit
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. today reported a profit of $15.7 million for the first quarter of 2007, up 14 percent from the same period a year ago.
The company attributed the increased net income mainly to taking a minority ownership stake in the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua hotel in March, in a deal that also reaped $24.8 million for the company in return for the fee interest on the land under the hotel.
Revenues for the latest quarter were $61.0 million, up from $59.0 million in the year-earlier quarter.
However, MLP said it lost $2.4 milion for the quarter in its agriculture subsidiary, slightly greater than its $2.3 million loss the year before, as sales sank 14 percent to $13.7 million.
Chief Executive Officer David Cole said the agriculture unitís lower revenues came from sagging sales of processed pineapple. Last week the company announced it would close its Kahului pineapple cannery in June to focus on selling fresh pineapple.
The company said in a filing Thursday that it expects to have $1.6 million in expenses for severance payments as part of its layoffs of 120 workers from the Kahului plant.