Alico, Inc. Announces Second Quarter and Six Month Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2017 Highlighted by $4.1 million of Net Income, $19.6 million of EBITDA, and $2.7 million of Net Cash Used in Operating Activities for the Six Months of Fiscal Year 2017

FORT MYERS, Fla., May 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alico, Inc. (“Alico” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:ALCO), today announces financial results for the second quarter and six months ended March 31, 2017.  For the six month period, the Company earned $0.49 per share compared to $0.69 per share in the prior year primarily due to lower citrus production volume. When both periods are adjusted for certain items including merger and acquisition transaction costs, litigation costs, consulting fees, real estate gains and stock compensation expense, the Company earned $0.43 per share in the six month period of fiscal year 2017 and $0.73 per share in the six months of 2016.

Alico Citrus Division Results

Alico Citrus’ Early and Mid-Season fruit harvest was completed in the quarter ended March 31, 2017.  Early and Mid-Season 2016-17 box and pound solids production for the six months were down 10.8% and 10.3%, respectively compared to the 2015-16 harvest.  However, prices increased by 17.0% to $2.55 per pound solid compared to $2.18 last year.  Pound solids per box also increased to 5.58 compared to 5.55 last year.

The Valencia fruit harvest commenced in the quarter.  Year-to-date production is not directly comparable to last year due to timing as we have harvested fewer blocks this year compared to the same time in last year’s harvest season.  Pound solids per box are improved at 6.09 compared to 5.94 last year.

On April 11, 2017, the USDA estimated that the Florida orange crop, as measured in boxes, will decline by 18.0% for the 2016-17 season compared to last year.  We are currently projecting a full season year-over-year decline in box production of approximately 15.0%.

Citrus production for the second quarter and six months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 is summarized in the following table.

Alico Citrus continues to focus on efficiency and cost control.  Our cost of sales for fiscal year 2017 are expected to decrease by approximately $1.2 million from the prior year despite the challenges of unusual weather and disease; however, the cost of production per pound solid increased 16.1% to $1.44 for the six months ended March 31, 2017 as compared to $1.24 in the same period last year because of lower volumes supporting the cost base.

Conservation and Environmental Resources Division Results

Conservation and Environmental Resources (“CER”) revenues for the six months ended March 31, 2017 totaled $0.8 million compared to $1.7 million in the six months ended March 31, 2016. The decrease relates primarily to the timing of calf sales. CER held an additional 1,000 calves in inventory at September 30, 2015 which would have historically been sold prior to year-end but were instead sold in the first quarter of fiscal year 2016. 

CER operating expenses decreased by $0.9 million for the six months ended March 31, 2017 compared to the six months ended March 31, 2016 due to the timing of additional pounds sold and a $0.1 million decrease in water conservation related expenses. 

Other Corporate Financial Information

Alico continues to invest in information technology, management talent and strategic acquisition activities while simultaneously controlling recurring general and administrative costs.  Corporate G&A expenses for the six months ended March 31, 2017 totaled $7.2 million compared to $6.8 million for the six months ended March 31, 2016, an increase of $0.4 million. Recurring general and administrative costs increased by approximately $0.9 million in the first six months of fiscal 2017 compared to the first six months of fiscal year 2016.  The increase was attributable to executive compensation-related expenses. 

Other expense, net was $2.9 million and $4.4 million for the six months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.  The decrease of $1.5 million is primarily attributable to a $0.9 million increase in gains on real estate sales and a $0.3 million decrease in interest expense.

The Company paid a second quarter cash dividend of $0.06 per share on its outstanding common stock on April 14, 2017 to shareholders of record at March 31, 2017.

During the second quarter, the Company entered into negotiations with a third party to sell approximately 1,000 net plantable acres of farmland in Hendry County, Florida that is currently leased to a vegetable farmer.  A non-binding letter of intent has been executed and provides the potential buyer with a period of exclusivity to conduct due diligence. The proposed sale price would result in a significant positive impact on our net income but there is no assurance that a binding agreement will be entered into or that a sale will occur.

The Company ended the quarter with term debt, net of cash and cash equivalents, of $190.8 million.

About Alico

Alico is a holding company with assets and related operations in agriculture and environmental resources, including cattle ranching, water management, and mining. Our mission is to create value for shareholders by managing existing assets to their optimal current income and total returns, opportunistically acquiring new assets and producing high quality agricultural products while exercising responsible environmental stewardship. Learn more about Alico (NASDAQ:ALCO) at www.alicoinc.com. 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on Alico’s current expectations about future events and can be identified by terms such as “plans,” ”expect,” “may,” “anticipate,”  “intend,” “should be,” “will be,” “is likely to,” “believes,”  and similar expressions referring to future periods.

Alico believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable but cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, Alico cautions you against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause future outcomes to differ materially from those foreseen in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: changes in laws, regulation and rules; weather conditions that affect production, transportation, storage, demand, import and export of fresh product and its by-products, increased pressure from diseases including citrus greening and citrus canker, as well as insects and other pests; disruption of water supplies or changes in water allocations; pricing and supply of raw materials and products; market responses to industry volume pressures; pricing and supply of energy; changes in interest rates; availability of financing for land development activities and other growth opportunities; onetime events; acquisitions and divestitures, including our ability to achieve the anticipated results of the Orange-Co acquisition and Silver Nip merger; seasonality; labor disruptions; inability to pay debt obligations; inability to engage in certain transactions due to restrictive covenants in debt instruments; government restrictions on land use; changes in agricultural land values; and market and pricing risks due to concentrated ownership of stock. Other risks and uncertainties include those that are described in Alico’s SEC filings, which are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Alico undertakes no obligation to subsequently update or revise the forward-looking statements made in this press release, except as required by law.

Alico utilizes the non-GAAP measures Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Common Share and Adjusted Free Cash Flow among other measures, to evaluate the performance of its business. Due to significant depreciable assets associated with the nature of our operations and, to a lesser extent, interest costs associated with our capital structure, management believes that Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Common Share, and Adjusted Free Cash Flow are important measures to evaluate our results of operations between periods on a more comparable basis and to help investors analyze underlying trends in our business, evaluate the performance of our business both on an absolute basis and relative to our peers and the broader market, provides useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our core operating results and operational strength of our business and helps investors evaluate our ability to service our debt. Such measurements are not prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) and should not be construed as an alternative to reported results determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP information provided is unique to Alico and may not be consistent with methodologies used by other companies.  Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization adjusted for consulting agreement expenses, gain on sales of real estate, litigation expenses related to shareholder lawsuit, stock compensation expenses and transaction costs. Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Common Share is defined as net income attributable to common stockholders adjusted for consulting agreement expenses, gain on sales of real estate, litigation expenses related to shareholder lawsuit, stock compensation expenses and transaction costs, all adjusted for estimated taxes, divided by diluted common shares. Adjusted Free Cash Flow is defined as cash provided by (used in) operating activities adjusted for consulting agreement expenses, litigation expenses related to shareholder lawsuit and transaction costs, all adjusted for estimated taxes, less capital expenditures. The Company uses Adjusted Free Cash Flow to evaluate its business and this measure is considered an important indicator of the Company's liquidity, including its ability to reduce net debt, make strategic investments and pay dividends to common stockholders. The Company’s definition of Adjusted Free Cash Flow does not represent residual cash flows available for discretionary spending.