Alexander &Baldwin Inc. reported its fourth consecutive quarterly loss Thursday as costs to close Hawaii’s last sugar cane plantation ate up profits from other business operations.
The Honolulu-based company said it lost $1.9 million in the July-September quarter, compared with a $6.7 million profit in the third quarter last year.
Revenue was down 4 percent to $139 million in the quarter from $145 million a year earlier.
A&B produced operating profits from real estate investments, real estate sales and a quarry and paving subsidiary that it said produced “solid” financial results. However, winding down Hawaiian Commercial &Sugar Co. on Maui took another toll on the company’s bottom line.
A&B announced in January that it would shut HC&S by December, ending 146 years of sugar cane farming by the company.
At the time, A&B expected to incur $90 million to
$110 million in shutdown costs that include severance benefits for 645 employees. But after better-than-expected early results, the range was reduced to $75 million to $90 million. On Thursday, A&B said the impact should be at the lower end of the range.
“The final sugar harvest is progressing better than expected,” Chris Benjamin, A&B president and CEO, said in a conference call with stock analysts. “It’s a remarkable indicator of the hard work and dedication of our employees who are giving it their all in this, the final year of sugar production in Hawaii.”
Expenses in the recent quarter tied to winding down HC&S totaled $17.6 million, the company reported.
Operating profit from commercial real estate investments that include shopping centers and industrial parks totaled $13.7 million in the quarter, up 10 percent from $12.5 million a year earlier.
Real estate sales that included a residential lot on Kahala Avenue for $3 million, 268 acres of Maui agricultural land for $9.5 million and some resort housing units on the neighbor islands helped produce a $6.6 million operating profit, though that was down 41 percent from
$11.2 million a year ago.
A&B’s rock quarry and road paving subsidiary, Grace Pacific, generated a $5.6 million operating profit that was down 25 percent from $7.5 million in the comparable period.
For the first nine months of the year, A&B’s net loss was $10.1 million, compared with a $41.8 million profit in the same period last year. In the fourth quarter last year, the company lost $12.2 million.
Shares of A&B stock closed Thursday before the earnings announcement at $37.79. A&B shares over the last 52 weeks have closed between $29.30 on Feb. 2 and $42.07 on Aug. 23.
