The Last Sugar Mill in Hawaii HC&S Puunene Maui CLICK HERE for larger imageAlexander & Baldwin, Inc. (ALEX)
Q1 2010 Earnings Call Transcript
May 4, 2010 5:00 pm ET
Executives
Suzy Hollinger – Director, IR
Stan Kuriyama – President & CEO
Matt Cox – President, Matson Navigation Company, Inc.
Norb Buelsing – President, A&B Properties, Inc.
Chris Benjamin – SVP, CFO & Treasurer; General Manager, HC&S
Analysts
William Horner – Stephens Incorporated
Sloan Bohlen – Goldman Sachs
Sheila McGrath – KBW
Brendan Maiorana – Wells Fargo
Tom Wilson – Wilson Capital Management
Tom Spiro – Spiro Capital Management
Presentation
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the first quarter Alexander & Baldwin earnings conference call. My name is O'Meara and I will be your operator for today. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes.
I would now like to turn this conference over to your host for today’s call, Ms. Suzy Hollinger, Director of Investor Relations. Please proceed.
Suzy Hollinger
Thank you, operator. Aloha and welcome to Alexander & Baldwin's first quarter 2010 earnings call. On the call with me today are Stan Kuriyama, A&B's President and CEO; Chris Benjamin, A&B's CFO and also General Manager of HC&S; Norb Buelsing, President of A&B Properties; and joining us from Matson's headquarters in Oakland is Matt Cox, President of Matson Navigation Company.
Before we commence, please note that statements in this call and presentation that set forth expectations or predictions are based on facts and situations that are known to us as of today, May 04, 2010. Actual results may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties such as those described on pages 17 through 26 of our 2009 Form 10-K and our other subsequent filings with the SEC. Statements in this call and presentation are not guarantees of future performance.
Slides from this presentation are available for download at our website www.alexanderbaldwin.com. You will see an icon at the top of the website to direct you to the appropriate section for download.
This slide provides an agenda for our presentation, after which we will take your questions. We will start with Stan who will comment on the performance for the quarter.
Stan Kuriyama
Thank you, Suzy. I'm pleased to report that A&B posted a solid first quarter and a positive start to 2010. Net income was significantly higher in the first quarter at $17 million or $0.42 per share compared to earnings in the first quarter of 2009 of $3 million or $0.07 a share.
As you'll note from this chart, operating results for all segments improved in the first quarter of 2010 with the exception of real estate leasing. Consolidated operating profit was $42 million in the quarter compared to $17 million a year ago. However, our first quarter '09 operating profit was impacted by a $6 million workforce reduction charge that did not recur in the first quarter of 2010.
Let me now brief you on the quarter highlights from each of our business units. In ocean transportation, our China service is benefitting from the recovery in both volume and rates. Volumes in particular were significantly higher than a year ago and rates are higher on a sequential basis. Matt will have more details for you later in the presentation.
Hawaii container volumes and rates were relatively flat in the quarter compared to last year. While we believe that material increases in volumes and rates are unlikely for the rest of the year, we are pleased that the Hawaii trade seems to have bottomed. Guam's performance was also stable for the quarter. Overall, operating profits in our ocean transportation business continue to benefit from the vessel deployment changes, workforce reduction, and other cost cutting and operating efficiencies implemented over the past two years.
First quarter operating results for MIL benefitted from a large movement for the Department of Defense, as well as from prior year's cost cutting measures. Some stabilization in MIL's intermodal business also occurred in the quarter. In real estate, we continue to observe demand and favorable pricing for quality commercial properties as evidenced by our sales of Mililani Shopping Center in January. This sale drove quarter results for this segment, as well as for the overall company.
Leasing, however, was challenged by several factors; the downward reset of market rents, lower occupancies in our Mainland portfolio, and the time lag between sales and acquisitions of properties in our 1031 exchange program. Norbert would be addressing this further in our presentation.
Agribusiness results improved in the quarter with losses declining by $800,000. However, we didn’t plan on harvesting any sugar in the first quarter, meaningful performance comparisons can't be made until the second quarter. As Chris will describe later, we continue to expect significant improvement for the full year and we recently learned federal grant monies will be made available to help us accelerate our bioenergy research at HC&S.
Funds Will Help Increase Production and Use of Renewable Energy, Create Jobs, and Protect Natural Resources
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2010 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is seeking applications to increase the production and use of renewable energy sources. Funding is available from four USDA Rural Development renewable energy programs authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill).
"This funding will help spur investments in technologies that will reduce reliance on fossil fuels, conserve natural resources and help build a sustained renewable energy industry in rural America," Vilsack said. "Support provided by USDA through these programs will not only benefit the environment, it will create green jobs and help America become more energy self-sufficient."
USDA is accepting applications for grants and loan guarantees in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) until June 30, 2010.
This is the sweetest, best tasting, Pineapple in the world.
Grown on Maui by Hali'imaile Pineapple Co.
Please buy this product!!! PRIDE IN ISLAND!!! I am very proud to be a part of the group that is working to maintain pineapple as a part of our economy and our community.
Our goal at Haliimaile Pineapple Co. is to perpetuate pineapple production and grow a new industry here on Maui. We can only this if there is a reliable water source for us to utilize in our business.
Haliimaile, and the entire Upcountry region, depends upon water delivered by East Maui Irrigation through its extensive ditch system. Without that water, Haliimaile Pineapple Co. and, for that matter, all agricultural enterprises Upcountry would be in jeopardy.
I certainly hope that the state water commission understands that in making its determination to take water from the ditch system in order to provide more water to the streams.
DYERSBURG, Tenn. — For 15 years, Eddie Anderson, a farmer, has been a strict adherent of no-till agriculture, an environmentally friendly technique that all but eliminates plowing to curb erosion and the harmful runoff of fertilizers and pesticides.
But not this year.
On a recent afternoon here, Mr. Anderson watched as tractors crisscrossed a rolling field — plowing and mixing herbicides into the soil to kill weeds where soybeans will soon be planted.
Just as the heavy use of antibiotics contributed to the rise of drug-resistant supergerms, American farmers’ near-ubiquitous use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of tenacious new superweeds.
To fight them, Mr. Anderson and farmers throughout the East, Midwest and South are being forced to spray fields with more toxic herbicides, pull weeds by hand and return to more labor-intensive methods like regular plowing.
The Hawaii Venture Capital Association presented the 2009 Deal of the Year Award to Pacific Biodiesel Inc. at a luncheon in Honolulu recently. This award is given to the company that raises the most equity investment capital during the calendar year, an especially challenging business proposition last year because of the combination of a tough economy and cutbacks to Hawaii tax credits for investing in innovation companies. This is Pacific Biodiesel’s 12th refinery, nearly one a year since the first at the Central Maui Landfill in 1996. The latest, Big Island Biodiesel, will start production next year. The project will create over 100 jobs between building and operating the plant, growing and collecting feedstock and distributing finished product. All the investors are Hawaii residents or businesses, including the state through the Hydrogen Fund. First Hawaiian Bank lent $5 million, guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The feedstock may eventually be jatropha, a drought-resistant tree that produces oily fruit. HVCA and Pacific Biodiesel will contribute a total of $1,500 in money for prizes to be given to Career Pathways High School Business Plan Competition, a statewide competition that gives Hawaii high school students a real world opportunity.
