Dole Expects Little-Changed or Wider Loss
Dole Food Co., the world’s biggest seller of fresh fruit, said it expects its third-quarter loss to be little changed or wider than a year earlier because of the euro’s decline against the dollar and higher fuel costs. The loss from operations will be 2 to 8 cents a share, said Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Kay. Westlake Village-based Dole had a loss from operations of 3 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter. The company is expected to lose 15 cents, the average estimate of five analysts polled by IBES International Inc. Dole, which also sells some vegetables, plans to sell most of its Arizona and California citrus business for about $55 million to the Paramount Citrus Assn., a unit of closely held Roll International. Dole said it will keep a stake in some agricultural businesses managed by Paramount and is selling or closing some subsidiaries to widen profit margins. Dole shares fell 19 cents to close at $14.63 on the New York Stock Exchange. . . . Airborne Freight Corp., the parent of No. 3 express delivery service Airborne Express, said it will post a third-quarter loss in part because of slow growth of U.S. shipments and higher fuel costs. The Seattle company said it will lose 5 to 10 cents a share in the quarter. It had been expected to earn 28 cents a share. It had net income of $21.6 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Shares fell $1.81 to close at $10 on the NYSE. . . . Crown Cork & Seal Inc., a leading supplier of packaging products, said 2000 earnings will be only about a third of what investors were expecting in January. Calling 2000 one of its most difficult years in recent history, the can and plastic bottle manufacturer projected a profit of 35 cents to 40 cents per diluted share for its third quarter and an undisclosed loss for its fourth, blaming fierce price competition and rising costs for materials and crude oil. The latest consensus among Wall Street analysts had called for a profit of 67 cents per share in its third quarter and 21 cents in its fourth. Shares of Philadelphia-based Crown were unchanged at $10.63 on the NYSE.
