DOLE REPORTS BETTER THAN EXPECTED EARNINGS.Byline: Chris Sieroty Staff Writer WESTLAKE VILLAGE - Dole Food Co., the world's top fruit and vegetable producer, on Friday reported better than expected fourth-quarter earnings, citing improved results from its fresh fruit and processed foods divisions. Before costs related mostly to 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 , which devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. Dole's growing regions in Central America Central America, narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. , the Westlake Village-based company said for the period ended Jan. 1 it earned $2.1 million, or 4 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , compared to a loss of $7.8 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier. Four analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial Corp. had expected Dole to report a profit before charges of 3 cents per share. ``Their earnings were as expected,'' said Terry Bivens, an analyst with Bear Sterns in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . ``The fourth quarter is not a significant quarter for Dole's banana business. The stock will sink or swim over the next couple of quarters depending on banana prices.'' Additionally, during the quarter the company received a $9.2 million insurance payment related to last year's Hurricane Mitch. Also in the fourth-quarter, Dole recorded a charge of $48.5 million related to downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing of its fresh fruit division and early retirements. Including costs for a crop affected by a freeze in California, the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $28.5 million, or 51 cents per share, which was smaller than the $108.3 million, or $1.82 per share, it lost in the final quarter of 1998. Dole's revenues for the quarter rose 10 percent to $1.1 billion from $1 billion a year earlier. The better than expected operating results were led by improvements at its fresh fruits and processed foods businesses, the company said in a statement. Results from the banana business improved slightly because of sales to Asia and reduced banana volumes shipped to markets in Eastern Europe, which was partially offset by continued weak pricing in European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community markets, the statement said. ``Dole has consistently underperformed over the past two years,'' said Bivens. ``The outlook is cautiously optimistic.'' Shares of Dole closed up $1 Friday at $15.063. |
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