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Hawaii real estate investment and development firm Alexander & Baldwin Inc. posted a $5 million second-quarter profit, a turnaround from a $4.4 million loss in the same period last year that was affected by the company’s spinoff of former subsidiary Matson Navigation Co.
Honolulu-based A&B, which announced the financial results today, said revenue declined a bit to $71.1 million in the recent quarter from $72.1 million a year earlier.
A&B said it achieved operating profits from leasing commercial real estate and its agribusiness division that were partially offset by an operating loss in real estate sales and development.
In real estate leasing, which includes A&B’s ownership of shopping centers and other commercial property, operating profit was $10.6 million in the second quarter, up 1 percent from $10.5 million a year earlier.
Operating profit from agribusiness, which includes Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. on Maui, was $8.3 million in the second quarter, up 19 percent from $7 million a year earlier.
A&B had an operating loss of $700,000 in its property sales and development business during the second quarter, which was an improvement from a $9.9 million operating loss a year earlier. The year-earlier loss was driven mainly by two development projects in California that were devalued as part of the separation from Matson.
Excluding separation-related costs, A&B would have earned $5.5 million in the 2012 second quarter.
In the recent quarter, A&B said it incurred $1.5 million in expenses related to its pending acquisition of Grace Pacific Corp. Without that expense, A&B’s second-quarter profit would have been $6.5 million.
A&B announced the deal to buy Grace, a local construction firm and asphalt paving contractor, in June for $277 million. The purchase, which includes $42 million in assumed debt and $235 million in cash and stock, is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
