Alexander & Baldwin Inc., the parent of ocean transport company Matson Navigation, is looking to buy U.S. logistics companies, its finance chief said.

"We would anticipate continuing to do some small acquisitions and continuing to grow organically," Chief Financial Officer Christopher Benjamin said in an interview Thursday. He didn't identify possible targets.

The Honolulu-based company's Matson division, one of two U.S.-flag shipping lines, operates container ships primarily between the West Coast and Hawai'i. It added service to China last year.

Alexander & Baldwin sees logistics and real estate as having the best growth potential, Benjamin said. A&B last month announced the formation of a new subsidiary, Matson Global Distribution Services, to expand its logistics services to include warehousing and distribution and freight-forwarding services.

Matson benefits from a U.S. maritime law, known as the Jones Act, that prohibits foreign-owned ships from carrying freight between U.S. ports. As a result, only ships built and owned in the U.S., with American crews, can move goods between Hawai'i and the Mainland.

The company's new Chinese container traffic grew to 15 percent of its volume in the first quarter, almost six times more than a year earlier. In a bid to differentiate itself as a premium carrier, the Matson unit also introduced an on-time delivery guarantee for shipments from Asia.

"A year ago, it was like the Maytag repairman," Chief Executive Officer Allen Doane said. "It was very lonely in our first couple visits to China with ships that were pretty empty. A year later, our ships are virtually full."

Matson has no plans to add to its China capacity, which employs five ships on a continuous circuit between Long Beach, Calif., and China's ports of Ningbo and Shanghai.

Alexander & Baldwin earned 87 percent of its $385 million first-quarter revenue from transportation and logistics services. Profit fell by a third to $24.7 million, or 58 cents a share on weak real estate sales.

Shares rose 16 cents to $54.02 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. They have increased 22 percent this year.