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Matson helps
boost A&B
profits 67%

The earnings beat
analysts' estimates

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Alexander & Baldwin Inc. today reported a 67 percent increase in first-quarter net earnings, to $26.4 million from $15.8 million in the 1999 quarter, but the company said the rise was due to a one-time, noncash gain of $12.3 million from a change in the way it accounts for expenses for drydocking its Matson Navigation Co. ships.

Without the change, first-quarter earnings would have been down 10.1 percent at $14.2 million.

The full net, including the accounting change, was equal to 63 cents a share in the latest quarter, up 75 percent from 36 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter. Without the change, the per-share net was down 5.5 percent to 34 cents a share, beating the average estimate of 32 cents from four analysts who follow the company.

The company's shares rose 44 cents to close at $21 in light trading on the Nasdaq market today. The stock is down about 8 percent for the year to date.

W. Allen Doane, president and chief executive officer, said the first-quarter results, aside from the accounting change, were slightly above A&B's expectations. First-quarter revenues of $219.9 million were up 11.4 percent from $197.4 million in the 1999 quarter.

Breaking down its results by segment, A&B said Matson had an operating profit of $19.9 million in the first quarter of this year, up 8.7 percent from $18.3 million in the year-earlier quarter. The improvement came mainly from higher cargo volume in mainland-Hawaii shipping.

Matson's Hawaii container volume in the latest quarter was up five percent over the 1999 quarter and Hawaii automobile volume was up 72 percent. However, costs for fuel, container handling and container repositioning were all higher, the company said.

A&B's operating profit from real estate was $7.9 million in the latest quarter, down 39.7 percent from $13.1 million in the 1999 quarter. Most of the dip was from a drop in real estate sales but greater sales volume is expected later in the year, the company said.

The company's total operating profit from its food segment was $2.1 million in the latest quarter, an increase of 40 percent from $1.5 million in the 1999 period. Because of the lower prices for raw sugar, food results for the rest of the year are expected to lag behind those of 1999, the company said.

A&B's total operating profit was $30.6 million in the first quarter of this year, down 8.7 percent from an operating profit of $33.5 million in the 1999 quarter.