Pineapple, resort
By Russ Lynch
units help Maui Land
triple its profit
Star-Bulletin
Maui Land & Pineapple Co.more than tripled its third-quarter profit, reporting a net of $1.27 million, or 18 cents a share, for the three months through Sept. 30, up from $401,000, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier.
The company said income was up in both its pineapple and resort operations and it had lower costs for interest, pensions and other post-retirement expenses.
Revenues of $39.66 million in the latest quarter were up 5.2 percent from $37.7 million in 1998 quarter.
Pineapple produced an operating profit of $2.03 million in the latest period, up 24.5 percent from a year-earlier profit of $1.63 million. The company's Kapalua Resort had a third-quarter operating profit of $799,000, up 510 percent from $131,000 in the year-earlier quarter.
However, the company had operating losses of $345,000 in the 1999 quarter from its other businesses, such as property management. That was 9.2 percent worse than the operating losses of $316,000 in the 1998 period.
In its pineapple business, the company said it had received higher prices for its canned product and sold more fresh fruit this year.
At Kapalua, the company had better results from its golf, retail and villa rental businesses and received more income from its hotel ground lease.
During the latest quarter, America Online Inc. Chairman Stephen Case bought a 41.2 percent stake in the company for $39.2 million. Last month his father, Honolulu attorney Daniel H. Case, and Campbell Estate trustee David A. Heenan were elected to the Maui Land & Pineapple board to represent that holding, which formerly was owned by entities set up by the late Harry Weinberg.
