FORT MYERS, Fla., May 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alico, Inc. (“Alico” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: ALCO) today announces financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2020 and the six months ended March 31, 2020, the highlights which are as follows:

• The coronavirus outbreak (“COVID-19”) has had minimal impact on the Company’s harvest and business operations.
  
• Company paid a second quarter cash dividend and has no plans to reduce payout for the foreseeable future.
• Demand for Not-From-Concentrate (“NFC”) orange juice surges - consumption increases 49.7% in trailing four-week period ended April 11, 2020 as compared to same period in prior year. (*)
  
• Company has strengthened its liquidity by drawing down on its lines of credit to retain cash on its balance sheet during these uncertain times.

Results of Operations

For the six months ended March 31, 2020, the Company earned net income attributable to Alico common stockholders of approximately $4.4 million and earnings of $0.58 per diluted common share, compared to net income attributable to Alico common stockholders of approximately $5.1 million and earnings of $0.68 per diluted common share in the prior year. The decrease in net income attributable to Alico common stockholders is primarily due to a decline in the market price per pound solids for citrus fruit this season due to unfavorable industry supply dynamics and an increase in cost of goods sold specifically relating to the timing of the harvest. Partially offsetting this decrease was (i) an increase in Valencia boxes harvested relating to the timing of the harvest, (ii) funds awarded through the federal disaster relief program, (iii) a reduction in certain general and administrative costs and (iv) a gain on the sale of certain parcels on the east side of Alico Ranch.

When both periods are adjusted for certain non-recurring items, the Company had adjusted net income of $0.01 per diluted common share for the six months ended March 31, 2020, compared to adjusted income of $1.12 per diluted common share for the six months ended March 31, 2019. Adjusted EBITDA for the six months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 was $10.3 million and $21.3 million, respectively.

These results reflect the seasonal nature of the Company’s business. The majority of the Company’s citrus crop is harvested in the second and third quarters of the fiscal year; consequently, most of the Company's profit and cash flows from operating activities are typically recognized in those quarters and our working capital requirements are typically greater in the first and fourth quarters of the fiscal year.

The Company reported the following financial results:

(1) See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” at the end of this earnings release for details regarding these measures.

Alico Citrus Division Results

Citrus production for the three and six months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 is summarized in the following table.

NM - Not meaningful

For the six months ended March 31, 2020, Alico Citrus harvested approximately 5.61 million boxes of fruit, an increase of 23.3% from the same period of the prior fiscal year. The increase was principally related to the harvest for the Valencia fruit commencing earlier in the current fiscal year compared to the prior fiscal year. The Company has seen a reduction in its average realized/blended price per pound solid fall from $2.36 in the prior fiscal year to $1.81 in the current fiscal year, largely due to the Florida citrus crop being greater than expected in the 2018/2019 harvest season, leading to excess inventory levels in the current harvest season.  Also impacting the price reduction was the continued inflow of imported fruit.

The Company expects to complete its current year harvest season by mid-May 2020.  To date, the Company’s harvesting activities have not been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and there has been no disruption in delivering fruit to the processors, all of whom indicated they have been rigorous in their safety protocols. Alico is encouraged by a measurable increase in not-from-concentrate orange juice consumption by retail consumers during the past quarter which is reducing inventory levels at the Florida citrus processors, and which is expected to improve market pricing in the next harvest season.

Water Resources and Other Operations Division Results

Operating results for the Water Resources and Other Operations Division for the six months ended March 31, 2020 improved by approximately $0.4 million compared to the six months ended March 31, 2019. This was primarily due to lower expenses related to the dispersed water project, as well as a reduction in land consulting expenses.

Management Comment

John Kiernan, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “The coronavirus has had an impact on all of us personally, but so far there has been no disruption to our business.  We have been able to prioritize the health and safety of our employees by instituting applicable health guidelines without impacting our day-to-day activities. Alico is fortunate to have individual grove managers who have been managing our operations for between 15 and 45 years enabling us to navigate through these challenging times seamlessly. We believe our grove managers are some of the best in the industry.

“Alico did not seek any federal relief under the CARES Act. However, because we cannot predict the impact of COVID-19 going forward we decided to draw down on our lines of credit and strengthen our liquidity during these uncertain times by placing enough cash on our balance sheet to meet operating expenses for more than a full year.

“As expected in fiscal year 2020, Alico will realize lower profits and lower rates of return this year as a result of lower market prices for citrus fruit. However, we are encouraged by the recent increase in demand among retail consumers for NFC orange juice, which, when combined with the impact of lower levels of imported juice, potentially will improve market pricing next season as processor inventory supplies decrease.”

Mr. Kiernan continued, “For the first time since 2015, excluding our purchases of small citrus groves within its existing grove, Alico has purchased a new citrus grove. Although only 334 acres in size, this well-managed grove in Polk County is adjacent to another Alico citrus grove, and we anticipate will allow us to realize operating economies of scale. This transaction was done in coordination with the sale of a small portion of the east side of Alico Ranch, which allowed us to defer taxes on the gain associated with this sale.

“The Alico Board remains confident about our business model and prospects in the citrus industry and is committed to continue uninterrupted quarterly dividend payments as we have done for the past five decades.”

Other Corporate Financial Information

General and administrative expenses for the six months ended March 31, 2020 totaled approximately $5.7 million, compared to approximately $8.1 million for the six months ended March 31, 2019. The decrease was attributable in large part to (i) a reduction  in professional fees of approximately $2.3 million relating to corporate matters incurred in the six months ended March 31, 2019, (ii) a reduction in consulting and separation fees of $0.8 million incurred in the six months ended March 31, 2019 relating to a settlement agreement with a former senior executive and (iii) a reduction in rent expense of approximately $0.15 million as a result of the Company not renewing its lease for office space in New York City. These decreases were partially offset by an adjustment to stock compensation expense whereby the Company recorded a reduction in stock compensation expense of approximately $0.8 million for the six months ended March 31, 2019, as a result of a former senior executive forfeiting his stock options as part of a settled litigation.

Other expense, net, for the six months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 was approximately $0.2 million and approximately $4.8 million, respectively. The decrease in the other expense, net is primarily due to (i) the Company recording a gain on sale of real estate, property and equipment and assets held for sale of approximately $2.9 million during the six months ended March 31, 2020 while in the same period in the prior year no significant gain on sale of assets was recorded, (ii) the Company recording less interest expense by approximately $0.9 million as a result of borrowing on average fewer funds under its line of credit in the six months ended March 31, 2020, as compared to the six months ended March 31, 2019, along with the reduction of its long-term debt attributable to making its mandatory principal payments and (iii) during the six months ended March 31, 2019, the Company recorded an expense of approximately $1.0 million relating to the change in fair value of the derivative asset and derivative liabilities.

During the six months ended March 31, 2020 the Company received approximately $4.6 million of additional proceeds under the Florida Citrus Recovery Block Grant (“Florida CRBG”) program relating to Hurricane Irma. To date, the Company has received $20.2 million of proceeds under the Florida CRBG program, which represented reimbursement under Part 1 and Part 2.  The timing and amount to be received under Part 3 of the Florida CRBG program, if any, has not yet been finalized.

Dividend

On April 10, 2020, the Company paid a second quarter cash dividend of $0.09 per share on its outstanding common stock to stockholders of record as of March 27, 2020.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

The Company continues to demonstrate financial strength within its balance sheet, as highlighted below:

• The Company’s working capital, excluding the $66.7 million drawn on its lines of credit which is in cash, was approximately $25.8 million at March 31, 2020, representing a 2.09 to 1.00 ratio.
  
• The Company continues to improve upon its debt to equity ratio.  At March 31, 2020, September 30, 2019 and September 30, 2018, the ratios, excluding the $66.7 million drawn on is line of credit which is in cash, were 0.76 to 1.00, 0.82 to 1.00 and 1.00 to 1.00, respectively.

At March 31, 2020, the Company had term debt, including lines of credit, net of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, of $136.3 million.

About Alico

Alico, Inc. primarily operates two divisions: Alico Citrus, one of the nation’s largest citrus producers, and Alico Water Resources and Other Operations, a leading water storage and environmental services division. Learn more about Alico (Nasdaq: “ALCO”) at www.alicoinc.com.

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* - Source: Nielsen
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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 their 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; market pricing of citrus; 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 and corporate opportunities; onetime events; acquisitions and divestitures; 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; the Company's receipt of future funding from the state of Florida in connection with water retention projects; impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our agriculture operations, including without limitation demand for product, supply chain, health and availability of our labor force and the labor force of our competitors and access to governmental loans and incentives; any reduction in the public float resulting from repurchases of common stock by the Company; changes in equity awards to employees; any increase in public float resulting from the distribution by 734 Investors of its shares to its members; whether the Company's dividend policy, including its recent increased dividend amounts, is continued; expressed desire of certain of our stockholders to liquidate their shareholdings by virtue of past market sales of common stock by sales of common stock or by way of future transactions; political changes and economic crises; competitive actions by other companies; risks related to the duration and severity of the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the Company’s business; the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the U.S. and global economies and financial market; increased competition from international companies; changes in environmental regulations and their impact on farming practices; the ability to secure permits for the Water Storage Contract and Project from the South Florida Water Management District; the land ownership policies of governments; changes in government farm programs and policies and international reaction to such programs; changes in pricing calculations with our customers; fluctuations in the value of the U. S. dollar, interest rates, inflation and deflation rates; length of terms of contracts with customers; impact on concentration of sales to one customer; and changes in and effects of crop insurance programs, global trade agreements, trade restrictions and tariffs; and soil conditions, harvest yields, prices for commodities, and crop production expenses.  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.

Investor Contact:

Investor Relations
(646) 277-1254
InvestorRelations@alicoinc.com

Richard Rallo
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
(239) 226-2000
rrallo@alicoinc.com

Alico utilizes the non-GAAP measures EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Common Share 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 EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Common Share 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, provide 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 help 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. EBITDA is defined as net income before interest expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income before interest expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization and adjustments for non-recurring transactions or transactions that are not indicative of our core operating results, such as gains or losses on sales of real estate, property and equipment and assets held for sale. Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Common Share is defined as net income adjusted for non-recurring transactions divided by diluted common shares.