Fruit sales drop at Alico

FORT MYERS — Agribusiness firm Alico says lower fruit sales and lower prices for sugar pushed sales and profits down in the third quarter compared with the same quarter one year ago.

Alico reported net income of $1.1 million on sales of $28.7 million in the third quarter ending June 30 compared with net income of $4.1 million on sales of $35.2 million in the same quarter in 2013.

In addition, Alico says it took a one-time charge of $2.3 million related to an agriculture lease for its sugarcane fields. The company earlier this year announced it would no longer harvest sugarcane directly and would lease 30,600 acres in Hendry County to U.S. Sugar Corp. under a 10-year agreement. Terms of the deal were $3.5 million annually, more if sugar prices rise above a certain threshold.

The Fort Myers-based company owns about 130,700 acres in Alachua, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Polk counties where it cultivates citrus and sugarcane and raises cattle. In April, a group of New York-based investors acquired the majority of the stock of the company from the heirs of citrus magnate Ben Hill Griffin Jr. The company's shares are publicly traded (symbol: ALCO; recent price: $38).