DOLE FOOD CO. TAKES HIT FROM MITCH.Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer Hurricane Mitch's wrath is being felt all the way to Westlake Village. Dole Food Co., the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers, said Tuesday it will take a $50 million to $70 million charge in the fourth quarter due to the damages received by its operations in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. ``Essentially, everything is flooded,'' said Tom Pernice, a Dole spokesman. ``If they stay underwater for a few days to a week, that will kill all the crops.'' Dole has 40,000 acres of banana, sugar and palm-oil plantations in those countries. They represent 25 percent of Dole's worldwide banana production. The area requires ``significant rehabilitation rehabilitation: see physical therapy. ,'' the company said. Pernice said the full extent of the damages has not been determined yet. Dole expects that it may even have to rebuild roads themselves, in addition to repairing its own facilities. It should take 12 to 18 months to replant re·plant v. To reattach an organ, limb, or other body part surgically to the original site. n. An organ, limb, or body part that has been replanted. the crops, Pernice said. George Dahlman, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Piper Jaffray & Co. (NYSE: PJC), often shortened to just Piper Jaffray or PiperJaffray, is a U.S. middle-market investment banking firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a focused on delivering financial advice, investment products and transaction execution in Minneapolis, said Dole has quantified what Wall Street has anticipated for some time. Much of Dole's expenses have already been considered by the Street, he said. Dole closed at $31.6875, down 6.25 cents. Meanwhile, Dole is extending humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. to the Central American Central America A region of southern North America extending from the southern border of Mexico to the northern border of Colombia. It separates the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean and is linked to South America by the Isthmus of Panama. governments. The company is feeding 20,000 people a day. Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch was one of the deadliest and most powerful hurricanes on record in the Atlantic basin, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph (290 km/h). The storm was the thirteenth tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic has wiped out whole villages. The greatest destruction was in Honduras, where 5,000 people have been killed. |
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