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Banana bounce
helps Dole
narrow losses
The company actually earns
By Russ Lynch
$2.1 million after one-time items
Star-Bulletin
Dole Food Co. today reported a net loss of $28.5 million, or 51 cents a share, for the fourth quarter of 1999, an improvement from a loss of $108.3 million, or $1.82 a share, in the year-earlier quarter.
The net figures aren't directly comparable, however, because of one-time charges and payments.
From its ongoing operations without special charges or unusual income items, Dole had a fourth-quarter profit of $2.1 million, or 4 cents a share, compared to a loss from operations of $7.8 million, or 13 cents a share, in the 1998 quarter.
The company's stock closed up $1 to $15.06 today on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came 302,900 shares.
On average, Wall Street analysts who follow the company had expected Dole to report a profit before charges of 3 cents a share, according to research firm First Call/Thomson Financial.
Revenues in the latest quarter were $1.14 million, up 9.6 percent from $1.04 million in the 1998 period.
Dole said its banana business, which has been plagued by low prices in Europe, finally turned around and showed an increased operating profit in the latest quarter, mainly because the company sold more bananas in Asia.
Improved earnings in the company's fresh fruit and processed foods segments were partially offset by consolidation costs and lower shipped volumes in its fresh-cut flowers business.
In the latest quarter the company received a payment of $9.2 million in insurance proceeds related to damage to its Central American orchards caused by Hurricane Mitch.
Dole also took a fourth-quarter charge of $39 million after taxes from the downsizing of some of its business and the early retirement of an unspecified number of employees.
In the 1998 quarter, Dole had a $100 million insurance charge related to Hurricane Mitch and a $20 million charge for citrus crop damage in a freeze in California.
For all of 1999, Dole had a net profit of $48.5 million, four times the $12.1 million profit of the previous year, including all charges and special income items.
The full-year profit grew to 85 cents a share, from 20 cents a share in 1998, and annual revenues of $5.06 billion were up 15 percent from $4.4 billion in the previous year.
David H. Murdock, Dole's chairman and chief executive officer, called 1999 a year of difficult recovery and expense for Dole, but said the company expects improvements in earnings and cash flow this year and beyond as it continues a cost-reduction program.
Dole, based in Westlake Village, Calif., was founded in Hawaii in the mid-1800s and still has substantial land and agricultural operations in the state.
With about 122,000 acres, the company is Hawaii's third-largest private landowner. It has grown to be the world's largest producer, packager and shipper of fresh fruits and vegetables.
