Initial assessments indicate that Alico, Inc. sustained minimal
tree damage from Hurricane Milton last week.
Most importantly, we are grateful that none of
our approximately 197 employees were casualties from this
devastating storm in Florida last week. The full impact of
Hurricane Milton on Alico’s assets and operations is still being
assessed at this time, but we believe the lessons learned over the
past century, especially since Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Ian in
2022, allowed us to be better prepared prior to landfall and to
more rapidly begin recovery after impact. Our disaster programs and
protocols, our dedicated workforce, and experienced management
helped to limit the damage to our properties.
Our approximately 48,000 acres of citrus groves,
which are located in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hendry,
Highlands and Polk Counties, sustained hurricane or tropical storm
force winds for varying durations of time. Field assessments are
ongoing, but initial observations include measurable drop of fruit
from trees in our northern groves, particularly in Polk and Hardee
County. The magnitude of this drop will be formally calculated by
our staff and our insurance companies over the coming weeks. As of
the time of this press release, initial inspections indicate that
substantially all our trees remain intact. We believe
this indicates that Company-wide, the impact of the storm will
be on production in the current season, rather than on
long-term production.
Alico did not experience any significant
flooding at our properties. Our leased office headquarters in Ft.
Myers in Lee County was not damaged, and our other property and
equipment also was not materially impacted.
Alico maintains crop insurance for catastrophic
events on all of our groves. While all of our groves experienced an
impact from Hurricane Milton, it is possible that none of our
groves may have suffered enough damage for insurance claims. Alico
maintains insurance for catastrophic loss of trees, which is not
likely to be significant from this storm. The Company will work
closely with Florida Citrus Mutual, the citrus industry trade
group, and government agencies on potential federal relief funds
and will seek any and all federal, state or local assistance
programs to aid in our recovery.
Alico will supply Tropicana, Peace River, and
Florida’s Natural with all available citrus fruit during the
upcoming harvest season, in accordance with the terms of its
respective contracts, which will begin later this year.
Alico has improved its balance sheet in recent
years. The Company announced that, effective September 17, 2024, it
has amended its Credit Agreement with Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company, and New England Life Insurance Company (collectively
“MetLife”), which, among other things increases the borrowing
capacity under the revolving line of credit (the “RLOC”) from $25
million to $95 million and now extends the maturity date of the
RLOC to May 1, 2034. The majority of Alico’s long-term debt does
not require principal payments until 2029.
About Alico
Alico, Inc. primarily operates two divisions:
Alico Citrus, one of the nation’s largest citrus producers, and
Land Management and Other Operations, which include land leasing
and related support operations. 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. Forward-looking statements include, but are
not limited to, statements regarding the magnitude of drop of fruit
from trees, the impact of the storm on long-term production, our
plans to work with Florida Citrus Mutual and government agencies on
potential federal relief funds and to seek any and all federal,
state or local assistance programs to aid in our recovery, plans to
supply citrus fruit to Tropicana, Peace River, and Florida’s
Natural, and any other statements relating to our future activities
or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on
our current expectations, estimates and projections about our
business based, in part, on assumptions made by our management and
can be identified by terms such as “will,” “should,” “expects,”
“plans,” ,”hopes,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,”
“projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “forecasts,”
“predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these
terms or other similar expressions.
These forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties
and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual
outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed
or forecasted in the forward-looking statements due to numerous
factors, including, but not limited to: adverse weather conditions,
natural disasters and other natural conditions, including the
effects of climate change and hurricanes and tropical storms,
particularly because our citrus groves are geographically
concentrated in Florida; damage and loss from disease including,
but not limited to, citrus greening and citrus canker; any adverse
event affecting our citrus business; our ability to effectively
perform grove management services, or to effectively manage an
expanded portfolio of groves; our dependency on our relationship
with Tropicana and Tropicana’s relationship with certain third
parties for a significant portion of our business; our ability to
execute our strategic growth initiatives and whether they
adequately address the challenges or opportunities we face; product
contamination and product liability claims; water use regulations
restricting our access to water; changes in immigration laws; harm
to our reputation; tax risks associated with a Section 1031
Exchange; risks associated with the undertaking of one or more
significant corporate transactions; the seasonality of our citrus
business; fluctuations in our earnings due to market supply and
prices and demand for our products; climate change, or legal,
regulatory, or market measures to address climate change; ESG
issues, including those related to climate change and
sustainability; increases in labor, personnel and benefits costs;
increases in commodity or raw product costs, such as fuel and
chemical costs; transportation risks; any change or the
classification or valuation methods employed by county property
appraisers related to our real estate taxes; liability for the use
of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other potentially
hazardous substances; compliance with applicable environmental
laws; loss of key employees; material weaknesses and other control
deficiencies relating to our internal control over financial
reporting ; macroeconomic conditions, such as rising inflation and
the deadly conflicts in Ukraine and Israel; system security risks,
data protection breaches, cyber-attacks and systems integration
issues; our indebtedness and ability to generate sufficient cash
flow to service our debt obligations; higher interest expenses as a
result of variable rates of interest for our debt; our ability to
continue to pay cash dividends; and the other factors described
under the sections "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30,
2023 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)
on December 6, 2023, and in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, we do not undertake
an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future
developments, or otherwise.
Investor Contact:
Any questions can be emailed
to: investorrelations@alicoinc.com
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