Dole Food Co. Profits Are Down in 2nd Quarter

Dole Food Co. Inc., hurt by a decline in fresh fruit sales, said that its second-quarter profit fell to $39.7 million from $40.1 million a year earlier.

The Westlake Village-based food producer and distributor posted revenue of $863.7 million for the quarter ending June 19, down 4% from $901.8 million in the second quarter of 1992.

Dole said that its resort operations in Hawaii had an operating loss before depreciation of $4.8 million in the second quarter.

For the first half of fiscal 1993, Dole had net income of $92.9 million, up from the $17.3 million earned in the first half of 1992. The big increase was due in part to a non-recurring pretax gain of $30.9 million from selling 18% of the common stock of Castle & Cooke Homes, a Los Angeles-based subsidiary, while last year’s first-half earnings included a one-time after-tax charge of $49.5 million related to a new accounting procedure to recover future retiree medical benefits.

Dole’s revenue for the first half of the year dipped 2% to $1.63 billion from $1.66 billion during the same period last year.