Alexander &Baldwin Inc. suffered a financial loss in the first quarter as expenses for winding down Maui sugar cane operations and buying a Manoa shopping center offset other gains for the Honolulu-based company.

A&B announced Thursday that it lost $7 million in the first three months of this year, representing a heavy 180-degree turn from a $25.9 million profit in the same quarter last year.

The loss wasn’t unexpected, given that A&B has projected hefty costs associated with closing its Hawaiian Commercial &Sugar Co. plantation. A&B said in January the shutdown will take most of this year.

The size of the first-quarter loss eclipsed a consensus of stock market analysts who research A&B. The expectation, according to Bloomberg, was a loss of 4.5 cents per share of A&B stock, while the actual loss was 15 cents per share.

A&B said its farming division, mainly HC&S, had a $14.3 million operating loss in the first quarter that included $15.5 million of shutdown-related expenses. A year earlier the division had a $1.9 million operating profit.

Chris Benjamin, A&B’s CEO, told stock analysts on a conference call that the farm division loss was actually smaller than projected. But what he termed a “hiccup” in real estate sales during the quarter was unexpected.

In real estate development, where A&B usually does well, the company posted a $3.8 million operating loss in the first quarter compared with a $32 million operating profit a year earlier.

This loss was due in part to buying Manoa Marketplace for $82.4 million in January and selling almost no real estate. A&B also had an exceptionally strong 2015 first quarter in which it received proceeds from 328 condominium unit sales in the residential Waihonua tower the company developed in Kakaako.

“Development sales in (quarter) one were, quite frankly, a miss,” Benjamin said on the call.

Other parts of A&B did well, including a $14.1 million operating profit from real estate leasing that includes managing retail property the company owns, and an $8 million operating profit from asphalt, quarry and paving subsidiary Grace Pacific.

Revenue from all A&B operations totaled $108.8 million in the first quarter, down from $150.7 million a year earlier.

Benjamin said A&B, which owns several major retail centers in Hawaii and much of the commercial core of Kailua, expects to do better later this year, and he mentioned several investments that the company anticipates will pay future dividends.

At Manoa Marketplace, Benjamin said, A&B plans to renovate the center anchored by Safeway and Longs. The company also is evaluating plans to expand the center, he said.

In June, A&B expects three pending sales of three commercial properties it owns on the mainland will be completed to offset much of the purchase expense for the Manoa center, Benjamin said.

Another long-term A&B investment plan involves spending $21 million to convert the former Macy’s store in Kailua into a complex with new stores and restaurants. Renovation work on this project is expected to be completed in early 2018.

Benjamin also mentioned a plan to spend $2.5 million converting the food court at Pearl Highlands Center into a “more upscale food hall” expected to open in early 2017.

A&B expects returns from two major investments.

One is buying an interest in two commercial solar farms in Mililani that are expected to begin generating electricity later this year. A&B said it agreed in March to invest $13.5 million in the 6.5-megawatt Waihonu solar project being developed by the New York-based parent company of Hawaii Gas, Macquarie Infrastructure Co.

The other investment is The Collection, a condo tower A&B is developing in Kakaako with 467 units. A&B said it expects construction will finish and sales will close toward the end of the year.

“We look forward to stronger sales later in the year, particularly the closings of units at The Collection in the fourth quarter,” Benjamin said in a statement.

Shares of A&B stock closed at $37.74 Thursday before the earnings announcement. A&B shares have traded between a $42.51 high on May 18 and a $29.30 low on Feb. 2 over the past 52 weeks.