Biofuel Energy Corporation (BioFuel Energy), a US-based company engaged in manufacture and sale of ethanol and its co-products, has reported revenues of $97.5 million for the first quarter of 2009. It also reported a net loss of $11.2 million, or $0.34 loss per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2009, compared with the net loss of $3.57 million, or $0.12 loss per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.
Net loss attributable to common shareholders was $7.7 million, or $.34 a share, for the three months ended March 31, 2009.
Operating loss for the first quarter was $7.7 million, which resulted from $102.6 million of cost of goods sold, including $72.0 million for corn. The company also had $3.5 million of interest expense in the first quarter, which resulted in the net loss of $11.2 million. The company also had $6.6 million of depreciation expense for the quarter. On a combined basis, the plants ran at 100% of their nameplate capacity during the quarter.
Scott H. Pearce, the company’s president and chief executive officer, stated: The first full quarter of production for the company represents a significant milestone as our plants averaged 100% of capacity for the quarter. Despite this, the continuation of negative spot margins is the main factor behind the operating losses. We also continued to experience challenges with our dryer reliability that negatively impacted the company’s performance, especially at our Fairmont Plant. Despite this, the strength of our operations team showed through in our results and we remain on a path of continuous improvement. As we’ve disclosed previously, given the challenging environment we are in and our debt service requirements in 2009, we are likely to need to restructure our debt or obtain other accommodations from our lenders, in order to continue operating as planned.
In the first quarter, the company borrowed $12.5 million under its construction loan and $2.0 million under its working capital facility. At March 31, 2009, amounts outstanding included $193.7 million drawn under the construction loan and $19.0 million borrowed on the working capital facility. Of the $16.3 million still available under the construction facility at March 31, 2009, $10.8 million is reserved to fund a debt service reserve account. At March 31, 2009, the company held $7.8 million of cash and equivalents and stockholders’ equity totaled $84.3 million, including $9.7 million of noncontrolling interest.