Alico Citrus Production Halved

Josh McGillfinancial, hurricane

Florida citrus grower and landholder Alico, Inc. on Aug. 3 announced financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023 and the nine months ended June 30, 2023. For the nine months, Alico harvested approximately 2.7 million boxes of citrus, a decrease of approximately 51% from the same period in the prior fiscal year.

Alico
The smaller harvest is primarily due to fruit drop from Hurricane Ian.

After the completion of the harvest season, the early- and mid-season orange crop was down 55% in boxes harvested, compared to the prior year, and the Valencia crop was down 49%. The overall decrease in the number of boxes harvested and revenues generated is primarily due to the increased rate of fruit drop caused by the impact of 2022’s Hurricane Ian.

The company’s average realized/blended orange price per pound solids for the nine months increased by approximately 3% compared to the prior-year period.

John Kiernan, Alico president and chief executive officer, pointed out that the company’s 51% reduction in citrus production was better than the 61.5% decrease in box production for the overall Florida orange crop. But, he said, “this lower level of production was insufficient to support our operating cash flow requirements.”

“We maintain crop insurance and property and casualty insurance on all of our groves, and through June 30, 2023, have received approximately $22.2 million in insurance proceeds, with the remaining $0.3 million of crop insurance proceeds received in July 2023,” Kiernan added. 

He said the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was passed into law in December 2022, has federal funds earmarked for disaster relief. “We hope that these funds eventually follow the funding mechanism previously established for the disbursement of the Hurricane Irma (2017) relief funds,” Kiernan said.

For the nine months ended June 30, 2023, Alico reported net income of approximately $0.9 million, compared to approximately $33.5 million for the same nine month period last year. For the nine months ended June 30, 2023, the company had earnings of $0.12 per diluted common share, compared to $4.44 for the nine months ended June 30, 2022.

Source: Alico, Inc.

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