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Weak euro,
fuel costs sink
Dole earnings

The firm, which earlier
warned of problems,
loses $7.4 million

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From staff and wire reports

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -- Dole Food Co., the world's biggest seller of fresh fruit, reported a loss in its fiscal third quarter because of the euro's decline against the dollar and higher fuel costs.

The company said today it had a net loss of $7.4 million, or 13 cents a share, in the latest quarter, compared to a net loss of $8 million, or 14 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

The loss from operations narrowed to $1.3 million, or 2 cents a share, from $1.9 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier. Sales in the quarter ended Oct. 7 rose 1.8 percent to $1.44 billion from $1.41 billion, the company said in a release distributed by Business Wire.

Dole said in September that earnings would be hurt by the euro, which has fallen 15 percent this year, reducing the amount Dole gets when sales of bananas and other fruits in Europe are converted into dollars.

Coupled with increased fuel costs, the weaker euro offset cost savings from the closing of banana operations in Nicaragua and Venezuela.

In the most recent quarter, Dole had a gain of $42.5 million from insurance proceeds related to damage from 1998's Hurricane Mitch, and a pretax gain of $8.1 million on the sale of its California and Arizona citrus assets. It also had a pretax gain of $45.8 million for the Latin American restructuring.

A year ago, a pretax charge of $7.8 million for Hurricane Mitch rehabilitation costs resulted in a loss of $8 million, or 14 cents, the company said.

Shares of Westlake Village, Calif.-based Dole closed up 6 cents at $12.13 today. They've fallen 25 percent since the start of the year.

Dole was founded in Hawaii's sugar and pineapple business in the mid-1800s and grew to become the world's biggest producer and shipper of fresh fruits and vegetables. The company still has agricultural operations in Hawaii.

Its chairman and CEO is David H. Murdock, who recently completed a buyout of major Hawaii landowner Castle & Cooke Inc.