Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Overview of the Company
MAUI LAND & Pineapple Company, Inc. is a Hawaii corporation and the successor to a business organized in 1909. We are a landholding company. Our principal subsidiary is Kapalua Land Company, Ltd., the operator and developer of Kapalua Resort, a master-planned community in West Maui. Our reportable operating segments are Resort and Community Development. In December 2009, all of our Agriculture segment operations were ceased and the segment is reported as discontinued operations.
Resort
The Kapalua Resort is part of approximately 21,800 acres owned by us in West Maui, most of which remains as open space. The Kapalua Resort borders the ocean with five white sand beaches and includes The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua hotel, the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay, the Kapalua Spa, eight residential subdivisions, two championship golf courses (The Bay and The Plantation), a ten-court tennis facility, several restaurants, and over 800 condominiums, single-family homes and residential lots. We operate Kapalua Resort’s two golf courses, the tennis facility, and several retail shops. Prior to mid-December 2009, our Resort operations also included a vacation rental program (The Kapalua Villas) and Kapalua Adventures, which is comprised of zip-lines stretching over scenic ravines in the West Maui mountains, a high ropes challenge course, a climbing wall and other activities. In December 2009, we entered into agreements to transfer the operations of The Kapalua Villas and Kapalua Adventures operations to third parties, from which we receive lease and license income. In March 2009 we sold The Plantation and in September 2010 we sold The Bay golf courses. We currently operate both courses under leaseback agreements with terms that expire at the end of March 2011.
Community Development
The Community Development segment includes our real estate entitlement, development, construction, sales, leasing, and conservation activities. Our projects are focused primarily on the luxury real estate market in and surrounding the Kapalua Resort and affordable and moderately priced residential and mixed use projects in West Maui and Upcountry Maui. This segment also includes the operations of Kapalua Realty Company, our general brokerage real estate company located within the Resort, and Kapalua Water Company and Kapalua Waste Treatment Company, our Public Utilities Commission-regulated water and sewage operations that service the Kapalua Resort and adjacent communities.
The Community Development segment also includes our 51% equity interest in Bay Holdings, the limited liability company that purchased the Kapalua Bay Hotel in August 2004 (Note 11 to condensed consolidated financial statements). Bay Holdings demolished the Kapalua Bay Hotel and the adjacent shops in order to develop new whole and fractional residential units, an ocean-side spa, and a beach club at that location. Construction was substantially complete in June 2009 and includes 84 whole ownership units and 744 fractional units of which 24 whole ownership and 144 fractional units closed escrow through the end of the third quarter of 2010.
We have approximately 1,600 acres of land in Maui that are at various stages in the land entitlement process. We must obtain appropriate entitlements for land that we intend to develop or use for construction. Securing proper land entitlements is a process that requires obtaining county, state and federal approvals, which can take several years to complete, if completed at all, and entails a variety of risks.
At the end of 2008, we postponed the start of construction of new development projects until economic conditions improve. However, we expect to continue engaging in planning, permitting and entitlement activities for our development projects, and we intend to proceed with construction and sales of the following projects, among others, when internal and external factors permit:
· Kapalua Mauka: As presently planned, this project is comprised of 640 single and multi-family residential units and commercial components, five acres of commercial space and up to 27 holes of golf on a total of 800 acres.
· The Village at Kapalua: This is the commercial component of the central area of the Kapalua Resort. It is planned to be built in two phases and will add approximately 30,000 square feet of new commercial/retail space to the Kapalua Resort. The Village will also include apartments, condominiums and other resort-related facilities. The first phase of the commercial component opened in 2006, which included approximately 12,000 square feet of commercial/retail space.
· Pulelehua: This project is designed to be a new traditional community for working families in West Maui. It encompasses 312 acres and is currently planned to include 13 acres for an elementary school, 882 dwelling units, 91 acres of usable open space, and a traditional village center with a mix of residential and neighborhood-serving commercial uses. We are currently in the process of securing a hearing for the project with the Maui County Council Land Use Committee.
· Hali`imaile Town: This project is contemplated to be a new town in Upcountry Maui, a holistic traditional community with agriculture, education, and sustainability as core design elements. Community design workshops were held to involve the Maui community in determining the vision for this community. The public approval process for any plan to develop this area is expected to take several years and will be subject to urban growth boundary determination by the County of Maui as it updates the County General Plan over the next year.
Discontinued Operations
The Agriculture segment primarily included growing, packing, and marketing of fresh pineapple. Our pineapple was sold under the brand names Maui Gold ® and Hawaiian Gold ™. We also grew and marketed fresh organic pineapple. On December 31, 2009, we ceased all agriculture operations and we entered into agreements with an unrelated party that began to grow and market Maui Gold® pineapple as of January 1, 2010. We receive royalty payments based upon sales volume from such third party.
Current Developments
In the third quarter of 2010, our debt was reduced by $60 million as we accomplished the key initiatives that are further described below. For the third quarter of 2010, we reported net income of $20.0 million and for the first nine months of 2010, we reported net income of $12.7 million; compared to net losses of $25.5 million and $92.9 million, for the same periods in 2009. Cash used in operating activities for the first nine months of 2010 was $5.8 million. In addition, these results reflect improved operating performance and overhead cost reductions, and $3.3 million of gains due to the termination of certain post-retirement benefits.
· In July 2010, our rights offering concluded and we received $40 million in gross subscription proceeds and issued 10,389,610 shares of common stock.
· In August 2010, we purchased all $40 million of our outstanding senior secured convertible notes for $35.2 million utilizing proceeds from the rights offering.
· In August 2010, our obligation to complete the irrigation system on the Plantation Golf Course was substantially complete and we recognized $25.7 million of the deferred gain from the March 2009 sale of this asset (Note 10 to condensed consolidated financial statements).
· In September 2010, we sold the Bay Course and adjacent maintenance facility for $24.1 million in cash. In connection with this transaction we repaid $20 million on our revolving line of credit agreement.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires the use of accounting estimates. Changes in these estimates and assumptions are considered reasonably possible and may have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements and thus actual results could differ from the amounts reported and disclosed herein. Our critical accounting policies that require the use of estimates and assumptions were discussed in detail in our most recently filed Form 10-K. There have been no significant changes in our critical accounting policies during the first nine months of 2010.
There are no accounting pronouncements or interpretations that have been issued but not yet applied by us that we believe will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
