Dole Has Lower Loss for Q3

Dole Food Company Inc. narrowed its net loss for the third quarter, one that showed strong performance for its fresh vegetable and packaged food segments, the Westlake Village-based company announced. The company had a net loss of $49 million on revenues of $1.99 billion. That is a lower loss compared to the same period last year, when the company had net loss of $53 million on revenues of $1.94 billion from the same period in 2009. The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased to $101 million for this year’s third quarter, compared to $85 million for the same period in 2009. “Despite challenging conditions in our fresh fruit segment, we reported strong financial results for the third quarter,” said David DeLorenzo, Dole Food Company’s president and CEO. “The strong turnaround in our fresh vegetables segment continued during the third quarter, with Adjusted EBITDA growing by $10 million on higher pricing and volumes. Our packaged foods segment also continued to perform well, with successful new product introductions and year-to-date results ahead of last year.” DeLorenzo also said that during the third quarter, Dole Food Company started implementing plans to downsize and restructure the company’s European banana operations. The one-time restructuring actions are expected to result in direct savings of about $34 million in 2011. Jessica Vernabe