Note 11 - Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2014

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

11.   Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost

The net periodic benefit costs for pension benefits for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013 were as follows:

	Three Months						Six Months
	Ended June 30,						Ended June 30,
	2014			2013			2014			2013
	(in thousands)
Interest cost	$	772		$	720		$	1,544		$	1,440
Expected return on plan assets		(777	)		(726	)		(1,554	)		(1,452	)
Recognized actuarial loss		146			228			292			456
Net expense	$	141		$	222		$	282		$	444

The Company’s cessation of its pineapple operations at the end of 2009 and the corresponding reduction in the active participant count for the Pension Plan for Bargaining Unit and Hourly Employees (“Bargaining Plan”) triggered the requirement that the Company provide security to the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) of approximately $5.2 million to support the unfunded liabilities of the Bargaining Plan. In April 2011, the Company executed a settlement agreement with the PBGC and pledged as security approximately 1,400 acres of former agricultural lands in West Maui that will be released in five years if the Company does not otherwise default on the agreement. No formal appraisal or determination of the fair value of the 1,400 acres was performed by the Company or the PBGC in connection with the settlement agreement.

The Company was advised in October 2011 that the cessation of its golf operations and the corresponding reduction in the active participant count for the Bargaining Plan and the Pension Plan for Non-Bargaining Unit Employees triggered the requirement that the Company provide additional security to the PBGC of approximately $18.7 million to support the unfunded liabilities of the two pension plans or to make contributions to the plans in excess of the minimum required amounts. In November 2012, the Company executed a settlement agreement with the PBGC and pledged security of approximately 7,000 acres of former agricultural lands in West Maui that will be released in five years if the Company does not otherwise default on the agreement. No formal appraisal or determination of the fair value of the 7,000 acres was performed by the Company or the PBGC in connection with the settlement agreement.

In June 2013, the State of Hawaii enacted a bill directing the Department of Land and Natural Resources (“DLNR”), in consultation with the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, to engage in the purchase of an approximately 270-acre parcel of former agricultural land in West Maui, known as Lipoa Point, from the Company. The bill further requires the DLNR to ensure to the maximum extent practicable that the Company uses the proceeds of the sale to benefit the Company’s defined benefit pension plans. As of June 30, 2014, the Company had unfunded pension fund liabilities of $20.6 million. The Lipoa Point property is included in the 7,000 acres of former agricultural lands pledged to the PBGC. The passage of the bill does not obligate the DLNR to purchase the property or obligate the Company to sell the property. Any such sale would be subject to negotiation between the parties, including the purchase price. There is no certainty that any such sale will take place, and even if it does, the amount by which the Company’s unfunded pension fund liabilities would be reduced is uncertain. Any such reduction may not be sufficient to release the security interest on any of the Company’s other West Maui real estate holdings pledged as security to the PBGC.

The minimum required contributions to the Company’s defined benefit pension plans in 2014 are estimated to be $2.8 million, $0.5 million of which has been paid as of June 30, 2014.