A&B Shows Improvement in All Sector for First Quarter

Stanley M. Kuriyama, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Alexander & Baldwin. Courtesy photo.

By Sonia Isotov

Alexander & Baldwin reported net income for the first quarter of 2013 of $5 million, or a 20% improvement over the first quarter 2012 , which held at an adjusted $4 million,  according to the company’s earnings report released today.

“Operating profit across all of our business segments improved in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of 2012. Leasing continues to perform well, posting a 4% increase in net operating income and a 2% increase in operating profit in the first quarter,” said Stanley M. Kuriyama, A&B chairman and chief executive officer, in a media statement.

“In development, we’re encouraged that the pick-up in sales activity we noted at our projects at the end of 2012 is continuing in 2013. Agribusiness performance also improved compared to the first quarter of 2012 due to higher power margins.”

Kuriyama explained that strategically, the company made substantial progress in pursuing post-separation objectives for the company’s real estate business, following the break off of Matson.

On Maui, Kuriyama noted that the company agreed to sell a 24-acre parcel adjacent to their Maui Business Park II project to a subsidiary of Safeway, for the development of Maui’s first Target store.

“This would be a major sale for the company and a boost to our Maui Business Park lot sales program. We’re augmenting our product offerings at ‘shovel-ready’ projects such as Kukui’ula, Wailea, and Maui Business Park, and in the first half of 2013, we expect to add over 215,000 square feet of retail GLA [gross leasable area] to our Hawaii portfolio, as we begin to gain traction in our long-term strategy of migrating our mainland commercial portfolio to Hawaii.”

“In leasing, during the quarter, we also sold the Northpoint Industrial facility located in Fullerton, California, at a 6% cap rate, and were successful in identifying as a replacement, the 46,000-square-foot Napili Shopping Center in Kapalua, Maui. The Napili sale is currently expected to close in the second quarter,” said Kuriyama.