Aug 8, 2009 12:37 PM

Dole Food Company Inc announced second quarter 2009 operating income of $108 million and cash flow from operations of $170 million. The firm also announced that it has succeeded in reducing its net debt by $145 million during the second quarter and by $480 million, or 20%, over the past five quarters. Net debt is defined as total debt less cash and cash equivalents.

In addition, Dole announced that it has signed letters of intent to sell certain operating properties in Latin America for approximately $68 million. These transactions are all expected to close in the third quarter of 2009. Dole anticipates that the sales of these operating properties will not have a significant impact on ongoing earnings. Proceeds of these transactions will be used to pay down debt.

David A DeLorenzo, president and chief executive officer, said, “We are very pleased with the excellent results of our second quarter, especially the strong, $170 million of cash flow we generated from operations, as compared with $60 million in the second quarter of 2008. We continue on track to meet or exceed our operational and financial goals for 2009.”

With 2008 net revenues of $7.6 billion, Dole is the world’s largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, and is a leading producer of organic bananas. Dole markets a line of packaged and frozen foods and is a produce industry leader in nutrition education and research.