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Barnwell Industries
earnings skyrocket

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Barnwell Industries Inc. said today its quarterly profit soared, thanks to income from its stake in a Big Island luxury resort development and to significantly higher prices in its traditional oil and gas business.

The Honolulu-based company reported a profit of $2.7 million, or $1.93 a share, for its fiscal second quarter, which ended March 31, compared with a profit of $30,000, or 2 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Most of the income in the latest fiscal quarter came from a $3.2 million pre-tax profit to Barnwell from Kaupulehu Developments, a partnership 50.1 percent owned by the company and 49.9 percent owned by Cambridge Hawaii.

The profit was Barnwell's share after Kaupulehu Makai Joint Venture, the owner of the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, exercised its option to take over land within the resort property for the development of luxury homes.

Morton H. Kinzler, Barnwell chairman and chief executive officer, said second-quarter revenues totaled $11.4 million, four times the $2.8 million reported for the year-earlier quarter.

The company's figures show that oil prices averaged $26.68 a barrel in the latest quarter, up from $11.04 a barrel in the year-earlier quarter, helping to boost Barnwell's revenues.

Kinzler said the company has increased its investment in the Canadian oil and gas business, making capital expenditures of $2.1 million in the first half of the current fiscal year, compared with $500,000 in the first half of last year.

That should result in a production increase and prices are expected to remain strong, he said.