Creative entrepreneurial efforts deliver Maui Agricultural products directly into the hands of the neighborhood community and also tourists traveling to Hana. In addition to traditional items such as Maui Gold Pineapple, banana, and avocado the Hana Highway Fruit Market provides exotic fare such as loquat and lychee.
Maui Land & Pineapple Reports 2009 1st Quarter Results
Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. (MLP) reported a net loss of $13.2 million or $1.65 per share for the first quarter of 2009 compared to a net loss of $414,000, or $0.05 per share for the first quarter of 2008. Consolidated revenues were $15.6 million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to $25.4 million for the first quarter of 2008, a decrease of 39%. Results in the first quarter of 2009 largely reflect the continuing impact of the national and worldwide economic uncertainty that has resulted in reduced visitor counts to Maui and the State of Hawaii and slower sales of real estate. Approximately $10.5 million of the increase in the net loss resulted from the year-over-year decrease in profit from the Company’s equity investment in Kapalua Bay Holdings LLC. The Company’s $50 million cash sale of the Plantation Golf Course in March 2009 was accounted for as a financing transaction and, accordingly, no gain was recognized in the first quarter of 2009.
The Community Development segment reported an operating loss of $3.2 million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to operating income of $8.1 million for the first quarter of 2008. Revenues from this operating segment were $2.0 million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to $4.6 million for the first quarter of 2008. The Company recorded a loss from Kapalua Bay Holdings, LLC of $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to income of $9.4 million in the first quarter of 2008. Lower results in 2009 from the Kapalua Bay equity investment reflect reduced sales for the first quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter of 2008. Lower results from the Community Development segment in the first quarter of 2009 were also due to no land sales in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the sale of two non-core land parcels in the first quarter of 2008.
The Resort segment reported an operating loss of $4.2 million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to an operating loss of $2.3 million for the first quarter of 2008. Resort segment revenues decreased from $11.7 million in the first quarter of 2008 to $8.6 million for the first quarter of 2009 or 26%, reflecting lower revenues from the primary Resort operations, golf, retail and villas. A reduction in visitor arrivals and occupancy at the Resort was primarily responsible for the lower results in the first quarter of 2009.
The Agriculture segment produced an operating loss of $3.5 million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to an operating loss of $5.1 million for the first quarter of 2008. Revenues from the Agriculture segment decreased by 42% from $8.5 million in the first quarter of 2008 to $4.9 million in the first quarter of 2009 due to lower case volume of fresh pineapple sales. The lower loss in the first quarter of 2009 reflects higher average prices for fresh pineapple and lower operating costs in the Agriculture segment. In addition, the operating loss for the first quarter of 2008 included approximately $0.9 million in equipment write-offs and a provision of $0.9 million for potentially uncollectible accounts receivable.
MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE COMPANY, INC.
Report of Consolidated Operations
(Unaudited)
(in thousands except per share amounts)
NOTES:
The Company’s reports for interim periods utilize numerous estimates of production, general and administrative expenses, and other costs for the full year. In addition, revenues from land sales are sporadic. Consequently, amounts in the interim reports are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year.
Contacts:
For Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc.
Robert I. Webber, 808-877-1674
Fax: 808-877-1614
State auditor: Molokai water system mismanaged
By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
Maui News
WAILUKU ? The state auditor issued a blistering report last week charging the state Department of Agriculture with mismanaging the Molokai Irrigation System while simultaneously allowing it to deteriorate over a period of decades.
The irrigation system is crucial to the island?s agriculture-based economy but draws only about 4 million gallons a day ? less than 10 percent of its projected capacity when it was first planned.
?We found that while the Department of Agriculture inherited a broken system, little has been done to learn about system problems or to create a plan to address them,? state Auditor Marion Higa wrote in her 57-page report. ?The department?s flawed management endangers agriculture in Molokai.?
However, state Agriculture Chairwoman Sandra Kunimoto called most of the report?s criticisms ?overreaching? in a telephone interview Friday.
She said she felt as though the report?s dramatic statements weren?t backed up by the actual details contained within it.
HAWAII FRUITS ANNUAL SUMMARY
Here is the PDF file for the HAWAII FRUITS ANNUAL SUMMARY Report.
Please visit the website for more information: http://www.nass.usda.gov/hi/
————————————————————-
Contact Information:
Mark E. Hudson, Director
USDA NASS Hawaii Field Office
1421 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814-2512
Office: (808) 973-9588 / (800) 804-9514
Fax: (808) 973-2909
————————————————————-
2006 HAWAII FRUIT OUTPUT AND VALUE DECLINE
Hawaii fruit growers harvested 435.2 million pounds of fruit for fresh and processed utilization in 2006, an 11 percent decline from the previous year, according to the USDA, NASS, Hawaii Field Office. Total value fell 3 percent to $101.7 million, with guava, lemon, papaya, pineapple, and the tropical specialty group recording declines in value of sales. Fruit acreage totaled 19,740 acres, a 2 percent decrease from 2005. Harvested area decreased 6 percent to 4,090 acres. Almost continuous rainfall from late February through March contributed to losses in some crops due to soil erosion, flooding, disease outbreaks, and fruit and tree losses. The lengthy rainy period slowed fruit maturation in some crops.
Pineapple, still Hawaii?s largest fruit commodity, represented 70 percent of total fruit acreage and 74 percent of the total fruit value. Total utilized pineapple production fell 11 percent to 376 million pounds. Since records were kept by the Hawaii Field Office, 2006 was the first year fresh market utilization outweighed processed utilization. Also establishing a record was the average farm price. In late 2006, operations ended prematurely for one major company which had previously announced their phase-out of pineapple production.
The state?s papaya producers devoted 2,095 acres toward papaya production, a decrease of 13 percent from the previous year. Harvested area totaled 1,530 acres, 3 percent more than 2005. Papaya output declined 13 percent to 28.7 million pounds while value of sales dropped 2 percent to $11.0 million.
Total banana acreage rose 5 percent in 2006 while harvested acreage increased 2 percent to 1,000 acres. Utilized production was pegged at 20.0 million pounds, 4 percent less than 2005. However, higher average prices helped push total value of sales to $9.8 million, 7 percent higher than the previous year.
Total guava production area declined 14 percent to 575 acres in 2006 while area harvested declined 41 percent to 365 acres. Value of sales declined 7 percent to $1.1 million. Hawaii?s guavas, which are mainly for the processed market, recorded a 2 percent increase in price. However, this was not enough to offset the 9 percent lower output.
Area devoted to tropical specialty fruit totaled 1,240 acres in 2006, 2 percent less than 2005. Area harvested totaled 690 acres, 5 percent lower than the previous year. Hawaii?s growers of tropical specialty fruit produced and sold an estimated 1.45 million pounds of fruit in 2006, relatively unchanged from 2005. Compared with 2005, higher output was registered for longan, lychee, mango, and persimmon. Value of sales was pegged at $2.6 million in 2006, 4 percent lower than 2005.
Hawaii Agricultural Labor Report
Here is the PDF file for the *Hawaii Agricultural Labor* Report.
Please visit the website for more information: http://www.nass.usda.gov/hi/
USDA NASS Hawaii Field Office
1421 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814-2512
1-800- 804-9514
Hawaii Agricultural Labor
In Cooperation with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture
Number of hired workers down 10 percent
Hawaii?s agricultural hired work force totaled 6,300 during the July 8-14, 2007 survey week, down 10 percent from a year ago. Diversified agricultural workers accounted for 81 percent of all farm labor and at 5,100 workers, it was down 5 percent from July 2006. Pineapple and sugarcane workers were combined to avoid disclosure of individual operations and totaled 1,200 workers (does not include mill or cannery workers) during the July 8-14, 2007 survey week, down 27 percent from July 2006.
Average wage rate up 7 percent
The average wage paid to all hired workers during the July survey period was a record-high $12.87 per hour, 56 cents higher than July 2006. The combined average wage for field and livestock workers also reached a new record high at $10.89 per hour, up 51 cents from July 2006. Hawaii farms employing from 1 to 9 workers paid an average of $10.90 per hour for all hired workers, while the combined average wage for field and livestock workers was $10.28 an hour.
U.S. hired workers up 1 percent from a year ago
There were 1,205,000 hired workers on the Nation?s farms and ranches during the week of July 8-14, 2007, up 1 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 847,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 358,000 workers.
Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.04 per hour during the July 2007 reference week, up 32 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $9.31 per hour, up 38 cents from last July, while livestock workers earned $9.80 per hour compared with $9.49 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $9.44 per hour, was up 37 cents from last year.
The number of hours worked averaged 41.6 hours for hired workers during the survey week, up 1 percent from a year ago.
Source: Farm Labor, August 17, 2007, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Decisions made with sustainability in mind
The Hot Seat
The Honolulu Advertiser
From politicians to newsmakers to everyday people in the news ? Editorial and Opinion Editor Jeanne Mariani-Belding puts them in the Hot Seat, and lets you ask the questions. So get ready. Let the conversation begin.
Reach Jeanne at jmbelding@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Posted on: July 30, 2007 at 12:02:58 pm
Now on the Hot Seat: Maui Land & Pineapple Co.?s CEO David Cole
Welcome to The Hot Seat! Joining me today is Maui Land & Pineapple Co.?s chairman, president and CEO David Cole.
The closure Maui Land and Pineapple?s canning operation in June marked the end of an era; it was the last canning operation of its kind in the United States. And, as David notes in his commentary in Sunday?s Advertiser, it was also a rite a passage for so many of us here in Hawaii.
David joins us live and will take your questions on his company and the future of agriculture in Hawaii.
With that, let?s chat.
[first question]
Christopher: Can you please explain why Maui Land and Pineapple continues to be a member of the LURF Foundation? Maui Land and Pineapple purports to hold the values of “malama ‘aina, ecology and creating holistic communities.”
With these guiding principles, I have difficulty seeing the association with LURF, which has quietly lobbied against most of the grassroots sustainability issues that have ever come up.
Perhaps with your company’s leadership, you could take LURF in a more modern 21st-century direction?
David Cole: The Land Use Research Foundation has been around since the late ’70s. In recent years, LURF’s focus has become more development-related, although the organization also works with other organizations, such as the Urban Land Institute, Hawai’i Economic Association and the Hawai’i Farm Bureau Federation. One of the goals of LURF is to protect the rights of landowners who are also developers.
As we understand it, LURF has not lobbied, quietly or otherwise, against sustainability issues. In fact, LURF Executive Director David Arakawa has taken a position that is very supportive of sustainability initiatives.
If this not the case, perhaps we should be more engaged in a leadership mode and concentrate more effort another organization?
[last question]
IslandBiz: Aloha, David. I want to say thanks for doing the Hot Seat and talking story with us. I read the article on you recently in Hawaii Business.
Tell us one thing about you that has not been written about that might be surprising, something that would give insight into what kind of a guy you are. Make it a good one!
David Cole: Greetings Islandbiz. My campaign poster for VP of the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii (ASUH) back in the 70’s showed me naked on horseback with the slogan “nothing to hide.”
There you have it!!
CLICK HERE to view the full “Hot Seat” conversation