Hilo-based macadamia nut producer Royal Hawaiian Orchards LP suffered a bigger financial loss in the third quarter partly due to damage from Tropical Storm Iselle that is expected to continue affecting Hawaii’s largest macadamia farm business.

Royal Hawaiian reported a $1.4 million net loss for the three months ended Sept. 30 compared with a $1.2 million loss in the same quarter last year.

The publicly traded company, which filed its financial report with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, said the storm that struck Hawaii island in August caused damage to its operations that cost $107,000 to repair in the third quarter.

Total storm-related repair costs are estimated to be $250,000 for Royal Hawaiian and could be partially covered by federal assistance capped at $200,000 for orchard rehabilitation, the company said. However, Royal Hawaiian expects storm effects will result in reduced nut production into the middle of next year.

"The tropical storm adversely affected production in the third quarter, and we expect it will adversely affect production for the remainder of the crop year ended June 30, 2015," the company said in the report.

Macadamia nut production is generally highest in the third and fourth quarters, with low production in the first quarter and little to no production in the second quarter, the company noted.

During the third quarter, Royal Hawaiian increased revenue to $5 million from $4.4 million in the year-ago quarter, primarily due to increased retail sales of flavored snack products using nuts from its orchards.

Sales from the packaged-food line in the quarter grew to $1.1 million from $438,000 a year earlier. Revenue from nut sales and contracted orchard operations was near flat at about $3.9 million in both periods.

Royal Hawaiian launched its retail snack products two years ago in an effort to earn higher profit margins compared with selling nuts raw in the wholesale trade. However, starting the retail line of foods has involved high initial expenses, including payments for prime shelf space in stores and discounts.

The company said about 9,700 stores in the United States and Canada are carrying or have committed to carry its products to date.

Shares in Royal Hawaiian traded on an over-the-counter exchange closed at $2.85 Friday before the earnings announcement. That was down from $3 on Thursday. Shares over the last 52 weeks have traded between a low of $2.25 in December and $3.19 in June.