Maui Land & Pineapple books first quarterly profit in two years
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. booked its first quarterly profit in two years, during the three months ended Sept. 30, though the achievement was due to recognizing a previously deferred gain from the sale of a golf course last year.
The owner of Kapalua Resort earned $20 million in the third quarter, which contrasted with a $25.5 million net loss in the same period last year.
The gain ended a string of losses that amounted to $210 million over the previous eight quarters for the Lahaina-based company.
But the turnaround in earnings was the result of Maui Land booking a $25.7 million gain from the March 2009 sale of its Plantation Golf Course.
Fundamental operations — running Kapalua Resort and developing and selling real estate around the West Maui resort — continued to be a drag on earnings.
Tim Esaki, Maui Land’s chief financial officer, said in a statement that the company continues to make progress streamlining operations and strengthening its financial position.
"While we still need to work through a number of challenges, we have a sound business plan and a solid team that is focused on building shareholder value," he said.
Excluding the contribution from the golf course sale, Maui Land’s resort division had an operating loss of $2.2 million in the third quarter, which was an improvement from a $3.4 million operating loss in the same period a year earlier. The company’s real estate development division had an operating loss of $499,000 in the third quarter, an improvement from a $16.2 million operating loss a year earlier.
