Calavo says 3Q profit jumps on higher sales – Yahoo! Finance

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SANTA PAULA, Calif. (AP) — Avocado distributor Calavo Growers Inc. said Thursday its third-quarter profit jumped 77 percent as sales rose by a double-digit percentage and gross margins improved.

The Santa Paula, Calif.-based company earned $2.5 million, or 17 cents per share, in the three months that ended July 31, up from $1.4 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 10 percent to $106.3 million from $96.9 million.

Calavo said its total gross margin as a percentage of net sales rose to 9.3 percent from 7.9 percent a year ago.

Its shares rose 83 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $18.02 in morning trading Thursday.

Calavo says 3Q profit jumps on higher sales – Yahoo! Finance

Maui Land and Pineapple Looks Interesting Despite Its Share of Issues — Seeking Alpha

If there’s anything we like to cover besides net/nets here at Cheap Stocks, it’s real estate, more specifically, companies that own relatively large amounts of raw land, commercial property, or a combination of the two. My portfolio is chock full of these companies, from retailers such as Cabela’s, to restaurants (Cracker Barrell, Denny’s) to shipping companies (Alexander and Baldwin) to agriculture (JG Boswell and Limoneira), to name just a few.

Over the years, I’ve also sold out of some names as well. Maui Land and Pineapple (MLP) is a great example. I continue to follow the company, however, looking for a re-entry point, or making a determination of whether I want to take a new position.
MLP, which owns 24,500 acres primarily in Maui, Hawaii, including 10.6 miles of ocean frontage with 3300 of lineal feet along sandy beaches, has fallen on hard times during the recession. The company recently reported a $54 million loss for the second quarter, which included more than $37 million in writedowns, $21.3 million of which represented a decrease in value of the Company’s investment in the Kapalua Bay resort. Clearly, the downturns in real estate prices and resort visitors has been a double whammy for MLP. The stock now trades at $6.22, down 79% from its 52 week high of $29.69.

CALAVO fails marketing goals

Calavo Growers (CVGW) has been added to the Hawaii Agriculture Blog “Hawaii Agriculture and Related Stocks Annual Charts” page to show the contrast of their lack of success in marketing fresh pineapple in California with the success of their stock performance.

Calavo Chairman, President and CEO Lee E. Cole on the favorable implications of the sales marketing and distribution agreement of Maui Gold Pineapple for Calavo

First, we anticipate that sales of Maui Gold fresh pineapples will contribute $25-30 million in revenues to Calavo’s top line in fiscal 2008, as well as become immediately accretive to earnings.

calavao-vs-mlp
As opposed to Maui Land and Pineapple Company’s Inc (MLP) filed Quarterly Report (10-Q) for the period ended 2009-06-30.

Revenues for the Agriculture segment decreased by 14%, or $749,000, from $5.3 million for the second quarter of 2008 to $4.5 million for the second quarter of 2009, primarily due to a reduction in pineapple juice sales volume and lower average prices for fresh pineapple. Pineapple juice sales represented approximately 5% of the Agriculture segment revenues in the second quarter of 2009 compared to approximately 13% of Agriculture segment revenues in the second quarter of 2008. The Agriculture segment reported an operating loss of $5.0 million for the second quarter of 2009 compared to an operating loss of $4.6 million for the second quarter of 2008. The operating loss for the second quarter of 2009 includes a charge of $1.9 million representing an adjustment to the fair value less selling costs of our property in Kahului that includes our fresh fruit processing plant. The Kahului property is currently held for sale.

Maui Land and Pineapple Company Inc Reports Operating Results (10-Q)

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    I Hope there is Pineapple in                Haiku Hawaii Forever!            Click for Larger Image
Maui Land and Pineapple Company Inc (MLP) filed Quarterly Report for the period ended 2009-06-30.

MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE CO Inc. is committed to the integration of agriculture natural resource management and eco-effective design principles to create and manage holistic communities. MLP’s vision of holistic communities is based on the traditional Hawaiian model of ahupua’a a system of self-reliance based on the artful use of land and water resources to sustain island life indefinitely. MLP is a Hawai’i corporation and successor to a business organized in 1909. Its principal operating subsidiaries are Maui Pineapple Company Ltd. a producer and marketer of Maui-grown pineapple and Kapalua Land Company Ltd. operator of Kapalua Resort a master-planned resort community in West Maui. Maui Land and Pineapple Company Inc has a market cap of $59.1 million; its shares were traded at around $7.25 with and P/S ratio of 0.8. Maui Land and Pineapple Company Inc had an annual average earning growth of 23.6% over the past 5 years.

Weekly Hawaii and Related Ag Stock Report

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