ML&P reports doubts about its ability to continue

KAPALUA – Financial challenges facing Maui Land & Pineapple Co. are raising a “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the company reports in its latest filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.

Among a number of disclosures in the filing, a group of lenders has declared that a $280.5 million loan for the Kapalua Bay Holdings’ construction of the The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Kapalua Bay is in default. ML&P has invested more than $50 million in cash and $25 million in land for the development project and has 51 percent ownership in the Bay Holdings company.

“The company’s cash outlook for the next 12 months and its ability to continue to meet its financial covenants is highly dependent on selling certain real estate assets in a difficult market,” the filing says. “If the company is unable to meet its financial covenants resulting in the borrowings becoming immediately due, the company would not have sufficient liquidity to repay such outstanding borrowings.”

While the company’s future appears ominous in its SEC filing, Tim Esaki, the company’s financial officer, said Friday that company officials “remain optimistic.”

Carmaker Stocks In Cruise Control

U.S. Equities
In Friday trade, vehicle manufacturers among leaders.

In trading on Friday, vehicle manufacturers shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.6%. Leading the group were shares of Tata Motors, up about 9.5% and shares of Ford Motor up about 2.8% on the day.

Also showing relative strength are real estate shares, up on the day by about 1.6% as a group, led by China Housing & Land Development , trading higher by about 9.4% and Maui Land & Pineapple , trading higher by about 9% on Friday.

Carmaker Stocks In Cruise Control – Forbes.com

4 Real Estate Stocks Outpacing Rivals

An exotic sounding play lumped in with the usually, urban-centric commercial real estate managers, is Maui Land & Pineapple(MLP), the holding company of subsidiaries that engage in agriculture, community development and resort operations in Hawaii. Its shares are up 10% so far this year.

The company, founded in 1909, operates through two segments: an agricultural unit, Maui Pineapple Co. with extensive land holdings; and the developer of the exclusive destination resort property, the Kapalua Resort in Maui, Hawaii.

According to TheStreet’s ratings summary, the one analyst who follows it has a “strong sell.”

After disclosing severe financial constraints at the end of 2009, the company has been in turnaround mode. In the first nine months of 2010, it reported net income of $1.23 per share, compared with a net loss of $92.9 million, or a loss of $11.57 per share, for the first nine months of 2009.

4 Real Estate Stocks Outpacing Rivals – TheStreet

ML&P issues layoff notices

Unknown number of workers at Kapalua golf courses to lose jobs under a new manager

KAPALUA – A number of Maui Land & Pineapple employees will lose their jobs when an independent firm takes over management of the Kapalua Plantation Golf Course and Bay Golf Course at the end of March, the company announced Monday.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, ML&P said the total number of employees affected by the turnover is still uncertain, but that it had sent a 60-day layoff notice to workers, in compliance with U.S. labor laws.

There are about 100 ML&P employees working at the two courses, approximately half of the company’s total work force of 200, said Chief Financial Officer Tim Esaki.

Troon Golf, of Scottsdale, Ariz., will take over management of the courses on April 1, the company said.

Esaki said golf course employees were sure to be involved in the change, but “it may affect other employees as well.”

“Troon Golf, assuming the management of the golf course, will have an impact on other areas of our operations, but we’re currently in the process of evaluating what that is,” he said.

ML&P sold its Bay Course last year to TY Management Corp. for $23.6 million, with an agreement to lease back and continue to operate the links until March 31.

TY also purchased the Plantation Course from money-losing ML&P for $50 million cash in 2009, also with a lease-back contract.

ML&P issues layoff notices – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News

Planet News World – Top 5 weekly winners of NYSE (MLP, PULS, FBP, AMBO, CBC)

(NYSE:MLP) Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. belonging to Real Estate Development industry is currently trading at a price of $4.98, a dramatic change of 9.69% from its previous day’s close. MLP is currently trading at a volume of 55377 shares compared to its daily average volume of 16.79K shares. The stock is trading with a gain of 10.67% from its open . Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. has done quite well being up more than 19.14% since the beginning of the week and has a market capital of approximately 93.42M. Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. engages in the resort and community development businesses. The company’s Community Development segment provides real estate entitlement, development, construction, sales, leasing, real estate brokerage, and water and sewage transmission services. It leases commercial and residential properties; and provides license and lease arrangements for the use of buildings, facilities, land, and trade names. Maui Land & Pineapple Company’s Resort segment operates 2 championship golf courses, a tennis facility, a spa, retail outlets, a hotel, residences and clubs, a bay, 8 residential neighborhoods, a commercial space, and restaurants, as well as approximately 700 single-family residential lots, condominiums, and homes. The company was founded in 1909 and is based in Maui, Hawaii

Planet News World – Top 5 weekly winners of NYSE (MLP, PULS, FBP, AMBO, CBC)

Top 10 Leisure Services Stocks of the Week: MLP, PRXI, LONG, STNR, FUN, RDI, TZOO, BWL.A, ISCA, LTM – China Analyst

Below are the top 10 best-performing Leisure Services stocks for the past week. One Chinese company (LONG) is on the list.

Maui Land & Pineapple Co. (NYSE:MLP) is the 1st best-performing stock last week in this segment of the market. It was up 19.14% for the past week. Its price percentage change is -10.27% year-to-date.

Top
10 Leisure Services Stocks of the Week: MLP, PRXI, LONG, STNR, FUN,
RDI, TZOO, BWL.A, ISCA, LTM (Jan 01, 2011) – China Analyst

SHARES OF MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE RANK THE LOWEST IN TERMS OF RPE IN THE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRY (MLP, AVTR, STRS, HOFD, FOR)

SmarTrend(R) News Watch via COMTEX) — Below are the bottom five companies in the Real Estate Development industry ranked by Revenue Per Employee (RPE). Analysts use RPE as a measure to compare the productivity of companies in the same industry.

Maui Land & Pineapple (NYSE:MLP) ranks first with an RPE of $152K; Avatar Holdings (NASDAQ:AVTR) ranks second with an RPE of $245K; and Stratus Properties (NASDAQ:STRS) ranks third with an RPE of $336K.

Homefed (NASDAQ:HOFD) follows with an RPE of $990K and Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) rounds out the top five with an RPE of $1182K.

SmarTrend currently has shares of Forestar Group in an Uptrend and issued the Uptrend alert on September 02, 2010 at $15.71. The stock has risen 16.4% since the Uptrend alert was issued.

Write to Chip Brian at cbrian@tradethetrend.com

SmarTrend is a registered trademark of Comtex News Network, Inc.

Investment Research – Zacks.com

MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE CO INC – 10-Q – 20101102 – FORM

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Overview of the Company

MAUI LAND &amp 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.

Maui Nei – Hali’imaile Pineapple Co.

BY RON YOUNGBLOOD

Doug Schenk met the visitors with the kind of smile that radiates from a father showing off his newborn. In the background, Hali’imaile Pineapple Co. employees ate lunch after polishing off the morning’s work two hours ahead of schedule.

At the door of the old parts warehouse, two men who look younger than their years stood in dirty boots and T-shirts.

“These are the guys who run the operation,” Schenk said with affection. The company president is Darren Strand. Rudy Balala is the vice president. They are also partners in the farm, along with Schenk and Doug MacCluer. All are Maui Land & Pineapple Co. veterans. The other partners are Pardee Erdman and Ed Chenchin.

The aroma of plate lunches wafted out of the tin-sided warehouse. In the back of the picnic tables there’s a conference table.

“We meet every Monday to decide that week’s goals,” Strand said.

“All of our employees asked to come to work for Hali’imaile,” Schenk said. All were part of the work force when Maui Pine closed down Dec. 31, 2009. “We were still working out the details (of leasing ML&P equipment and fields) on the last day of the year. We took New Year’s Day off and were on the job the next day.”

“We’ve got the greatest people in the world,” Schenk said. “There’s no division of labor. Everyone does everything.”