WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. >> Dole Food Co., the largest producer of fresh fruit and vegetables, had fourth-quarter profit of $173.5 million, including a gain from the sale of its Honduran beverage business. Dole earnings helped
by sale of Honduran
beverage unitStar-Bulletin staff and wire
Net income of $3.07 a share compared with a loss of $6.5 million, or 12 cents, in the year-ago period, Dole said.
Revenue for the period ended Dec. 29 fell 1.9 percent to $982.5 million from $1 billion.
Dole sold Cerveceria Hondurena SA, a beer maker, to South African Breweries Plc in November for $537 million.
Excluding the $168.6 million gain from the sale, the company said it would have earned $4.1 million, or 7 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates by 3 cents.
This year's earnings per share "should reflect significant improvement," the company said. It didn't provide further details.
The shares of Westlake Village, Calif.-based Dole rose 89 cents to $28 today.
Dole was founded in Hawaii in 1851 and for nearly 150 years was one of the most prominent companies in the islands.
In recent years it has spun off or closed most of its Hawaii operations, but the company still owns 8,000 acres of land on Oahu where it grows fresh pineapple.
The Dole name is still prominent in Hawaii, mostly in operations owned by Castle & Cooke Inc., a real estate company that used to be part of Dole but was spun off in 1993 and is now wholly owned by Dole Food Chairman David H. Murdock.