Dole’s Profits Leave Wall Street Unsatisfied : Stock: Chairman David Murdock has doubled its net worth since 1986, but he won’t talk to analysts.

Dole Food Co. was on the brink of bankruptcy in 1985 when billionaire developer David Murdock took control of the banana, pineapple and real estate concern.

Since then, Dole’s revenue has soared from $1.8 billion in 1986 to $3.2 billion last year, while its profits tripled, to $134 million. In the same period, the total assets and net worth of the Westlake Village company have each more than doubled.

Analysts and investors praise Dole’s many strengths. Bananas are Americans’ favorite fruit, and Dole sells more of them here than any other company.

Dole also now grows dozens of other fresh fruits and vegetables in 15 countries and has branched into packaged goods, including frozen desserts, juices and pre-cut salad makings--a successful strategy that capitalizes on the famous Dole brand name.

And while the company’s two new luxury resorts on the Dole-owned Hawaiian island of Lanai have been hurt by the weak economy, income from residential developments in California and Hawaii has held steady despite the housing slump. Murdock has also been applauded for plowing more than $700 million back into Dole’s food operations, modernizing farming methods and investing in a fleet of 43 refrigerated container ships.

Why then does Dole’s stock now trade at $32.25 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 25 cents as of Monday’s close, about the same price it was three years ago? And why is archrival Chiquita Brands International followed by three times as many analysts?

The answer, some observers say, is Murdock, 69, who is Dole’s chairman and its biggest shareholder with 23% of the stock. Murdock is also one of the nation’s richest businessmen, with a personal net worth of at least $1.35 billion, according to Forbes magazine. But Murdock’s detractors, while praising him for his empire building, also deride him for being notoriously uncommunicative.

“I can’t say there’s very little communication. Basically, there’s no communication,” said New York-based Prudential Securities Research analyst John M. McMillin in explaining why he follows Chiquita but not Dole. “I think they’re doing a disservice to their minority shareholders.”

Nonetheless, Murdock, who rarely grants interviews, defended his penchant for secrecy. “I don’t believe in going back to Wall Street and shooting my mouth off,” he said.

Murdock said he sees no need to disclose information not contained in Dole’s annual report and other regulatory filings, and doesn’t break down results by product for competitive reasons. He’s also not interested in helping analysts make earnings projections, he said. “I’m building a company for the long range.”

The few analysts who do follow Dole say they don’t know how much of Dole’s operating profit comes from, say, lettuce, or grapes or even pineapple. They don’t know how badly Dole was hurt by last fall’s white fly infestation, which devastated Southern California crops. Murdock declines even to reveal occupancy rates at the Hawaiian resorts, saying only that the levels are increasing more slowly than he had hoped because they opened at a time when the Persian Gulf War depressed travel, and they continue to suffer from the slow economy.

Analyst Craig Silvers at Crowell, Weedon & Co. in Los Angeles estimated that Dole generates 30% of its revenue and 40% of its profit from bananas--but that’s just a guess based on interviews with grocers, trade reports and government data. Silvers also predicted Dole’s profit will rise 12% to $150 million for all of 1992, but “that’s obviously subject to change.”

But many investors remain skittish about Dole, not just because of Murdock’s reticence, but also because the company is vulnerable to wild supply-and-demand-driven commodity price swings. Two weeks ago, the stocks of Dole and Chiquita fell when the European Community proposed setting quotas on banana imports to go into effect next year. In addition, Dole was hoping to expand its presence in Eastern Europe, but that market has yet to grow.

The usually conservative Murdock rolled the dice last year when he announced that Dole’s 1991 profit would surpass 1990’s. A few months later, Dole reported that its third-quarter earnings declined 41% to $25.8 million, a result of the banana glut. Dole’s stock went into a slide that took it from $48 a share in September to the low $30s.

In the fourth quarter, however, Dole’s profit surged 50% to $29.1 million, and 1991 earnings were up 12%, to $134 million (although operating profits fell slightly for the year, due mainly to a $39-million operating loss on the Lanai resorts).

On Monday, the company reported that its profit edged up 4% in the first quarter ended March 21, to $26.7 million from $25.7 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 8% to $753.3 million from $698.9 million.

Dole also said Monday that it is considering an initial public offering of a minority interest in its wholly owned home-building and residential development company. The unit has operations in California, Hawaii and Arizona. However, Dole said it will retain all its resort and residential operations on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, and its commercial and industrial properties in Hawaii and California.

Murdock’s plans for Dole are far from complete. In 1989, he tried to spin off Dole’s food operations; that fell through because of tax reasons and because real estate financing was drying up. The following year, he put the food business up for sale, but nixed that idea when offers were too low.

He now says he has “zero intent of selling” Dole. In the meantime, Murdock said, Dole’s earnings might continue to fluctuate quarter by quarter. “I’m interested in what my earnings are going to be next year, and what my earnings are going to be the year after that . . . and how can I make the company grow.”