Slimmed-down operations at Maui Land & Pineapple Co. produced a slimmed-down financial loss in the second quarter.

The Kahului-based company reported yesterday a net loss of $4.6 million, or 57 cents per stock share, in the three months ended June 30, down from a loss of $54.2 million, or $6.75 per share, in the same period last year.

The dramatic change reflected the absence of major asset write-downs in the recent quarter compared with a year ago.

Revenue in the recent quarter was $8.3 million, down just a bit from $8.7 million in the second quarter of 2009.

Maui Land’s resort operations produced the biggest drag on earnings in the recent quarter, with a $2.7 million operating loss on revenue of $5.4 million. A year earlier the division recorded a $4.6 million operating loss on $6.7 million in revenue.

The company’s land development division produced a $70,000 operating loss on $2.8 million in revenue. A year earlier the division’s operating loss of $41 million included a $23 million write-down on its stake in a partnership that developed the luxury time-share and condominium complex Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay.

Maui Land reported a $983,000 operating gain in the second quarter from noncore activities, primarily selling part of its former administrative offices in Kahului.

Second-quarter operations also included a $318,000 loss from discontinued operations. A year earlier Maui Land was still engaged in pineapple farming, which contributed to a 2009 second-quarter operating loss of $5 million for agriculture activities.

Tim Esaki, Maui Land’s chief financial officer, said the company continues efforts to streamline and improve operations.

"Hopefully we’ll see continued improvement in the future," he said.

Shares of Maui Land on the New York Stock Exchange closed yesterday at $3.92, up 8 cents from Friday.

Maui Land stock has traded in the past 52 weeks between a high of $7.65 on March 29 and a low of $2.35 on Jan. 26.