We recorded a net loss for the first quarter of 2009 of $266,000 or $0.06 per share compared to a net loss of $418,000 or $0.09 per share in the same period of 2008. Stabilization of fuel and commodity food prices combined with our increases in prices charged to our customers have improved our gross margins in comparison to the third and fourth quarters of 2008, and are approaching our historical levels that we experienced in the comparable quarter of 2008. We expect to benefit from
the increased pricing for the remainder of 2009, however we can provide no assurance that fuel and commodity food prices will remain stable.
Net sales.Net sales increased 7.2 percent to $22.3 million from $20.8 million in the same period of 2008 due primarily to higher prices charged to customers and to a lesser extent increased sales of higher priced items. During 2008 we increased prices to our customers to mitigate the effects of increased raw material and transportation costs.
Gross profit.Our gross profit margin decreased from 9.8 percent in the first quarter of 2008 to 8.7 percent in the first quarter of 2009. Our cost of sales increased $1.6 million as we paid $662,000 more for raw material food products, $43,000 more for packaging materials and $132,000 more for utilities and waste removal in our processing facilities in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008. Our cost of delivering our products to our customer was $107,000 less in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter of 2008, due primarily to a reduction of diesel fuel costs. We paid $859,000 more for labor and labor related expenses in our processing facilities which we believe are primarily due to general labor shortages in Oklahoma caused by immigration enforcement legislation and to a lesser extent to a slight increase in product volume in our processing facilities. We have previously undertaken several different steps to mitigate the effects of the reduced labor supply, and subsequently experienced an improvement in our retention and labor efficiency. However, we expect our labor costs to remain higher than our historical labor costs.
Selling, general and administrative expenses.Our selling, general and administrative expenses decreased to $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $2.4 million in same period of 2008. Our general corporate expenses including auditing, consulting, legal and travel expenses were reduced by $149,000. We reduced our sales and adminstrative salaries and commissions by $55,000 as a result of integrating the functions of finance and sales between our facilities. We reduced all other categories of selling, general and administrative expense by $66,000, net.
Other income and expense.Other income and expense resulted in a net expense of $230,000 in the first quarter of 2009 compared to a net expense of $158,000 in the same period of 2008. Interest income decreased due to our lower invested cash balances resulting from funds required for operations and capital expenditures during the last two quarters of 2008.
Interest expense increased to $227,000 in the first quarter of 2009 from $179,000 in the same period of 2008, primarily due to borrowings on our revolving line of credit, which was zero during the first quarter of 2008. We started the first quarter of 2009 with $1.0 million in short term borrowings on our revolving line of credit, then refinanced with a new lender during March 2009. Borrowings on the new or refinanced line of credit were $2.8 million at March 31, 2009.
Income tax expense (benefit).We recognized an income tax benefit of $163,000 in the first quarter of 2009 compared to a benefit of $114,000 in the same period of 2008. The primary cause of the income tax benefit in both periods is primarily due to operating losses and the creation of net operating loss carryforward tax assets.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 15, 2009, includes a detailed discussion of our liquidity and capital resources and our analysis of the current economic and credit conditions. The following is an update and should be read in conjunction with the Liquidity and Capital Resources discussion on our Form 10-K.
We completed the refinancing of our revolving line of credit on March 18, 2009, extending our availability from $1.0 million to $3.0 million. Proceeds of the refinancing were used to (a) payoff the previous line of credit of $1.0 million (b) fund letters of credit of $0.4 million and (c) provide additional working capital to fund our operations. We experienced an overall decrease in working capital of $1.1 million primarily due to increasing our short-term borrowings on our new revolving line of credit and increasing our vendor payables as we increased our inventories and accounts receivable resulting from seasonally higher revenues.
The terms of our new revolving line of credit are significantly more expensive than would be expected during times of less restrictive credit conditions and matures in the second quarter of 2010. However, we can provide no assurance that economic and credit conditions will improve, that we can obtain any additional financing which may be required to fund our business, that we can replace our revolving line of credit when it matures or that our actual cash requirements will not be greater than we currently anticipate.
ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.
Market risk is the risk of loss to future earnings or future cash flows that may result from changes in economic factors. In the normal course of business, we are exposed to market risks related to changes in interest rates and prices of our raw materials.
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Interest Rate Risk. We are subject to market risk from exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. Some of our debt instruments contain variable interest rates adjusted quarterly and upon date of change, and indexed by different published rates. At March 31, 2009 our revolving line of credit variable interest rate was 7.75 percent, or Wall Street Journal Prime Rate plus 4.5 percent. As of March 31, 2009 there were borrowings of $2.8 million. Other long-term debt, totaling $3.4 million, secured by real estate and other assets also have variable rates indexed by LIBOR and other lending institution Base Rates. A change in interest rates of 1.0 percent on our total debt outstanding at March 31, 2009, of $12.7 million would cause an increase in interest expense of $0.1 million.
Commodity Price Risks. The supply and price of fresh vegetables, fruits and other food commodities is subject to volatility due to growing seasons, the risk of crop failure, catastrophic or abnormal weather events, and other factors beyond our control. We enter into agreements (which are specific as to price and quantity within a range and are cancelable by us and the supplier upon 60 or 90 days’ notice, depending on the term of the agreement and which contain “Act of God” or Force Majeure clauses) for supply at fixed prices to provide a limited amount of ability to maintain an adequate supply of raw materials, so that we may service our customers in the event of a market shortage. Our purchase agreements may cause our purchase costs to be higher than prevailing market conditions in the event of a low market with excessive supply. In contrast, our purchase agreements may cause our purchase costs to be lower than prevailing market conditions in the event of a high market with limited supply. There can be no assurance that our suppliers will be able to fulfill our contracts or will not invoke Force Majeure clauses in our agreements in the event of a limited supply market. We may also make purchase commitments for more product than we will require over a period of time, and may have to pay our suppliers for that product for which we have made a commitment, but that we do not require.
Packaging Cost Risk. Our packaging costs are subject to market risk due to the cost of petroleum products in plastics and the paper products in our corrugated boxes. Significant increases in petroleum and paper products could increase our packaging costs.
Fuel Cost.Our business is highly dependent upon timely delivery of our products by our fleet of delivery equipment. Increases in diesel fuel prices increased our delivery costs during the last three years and more significantly during 2008. Diesel fuel prices have moderated during the first quarter of 2009. Our diesel fuel purchases for use in our delivery equipment represent 2.1 percent and 3.7 percent of our total cost of sales for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and the year ended December 31, 2008, respectively. An increase of $1.00 per gallon of diesel fuel purchased would cause an increase in our total cost of sales of approximately $850,000 annually, or 1 percent of our net sales at our 2008 rate. Increases in diesel fuel costs included increased raw material costs for inbound freight, and our cost to deliver products to our customers. Material increases in fuel costs put us at a competitive disadvantage compared to suppliers located closer to their customers.
ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
(a) Evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures
The Company maintains disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information we are required to disclose in reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in Securities and Exchange Commission rules and forms, and (ii) is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management.
Management of the Company, including the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in the Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e)) as of March 31, 2009. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2009.
(b) Changes in internal control over financial reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this report on Form 10-Q that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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PART II — OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
We are not a party to any material legal proceedings. We could become involved in litigation from time to time relating to claims arising out of our ordinary course of business.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 15, 2009, includes a detailed discussion of our risk factors. Since that time, there have been no material changes to our risk factors.
Item 2. Stock Option Awards
Stock Option Awards
The Company intends to file a registration statement on Form S-8 with the Securities and Exchange Commission registering the Common Stock issuable under the terms of the Vaughan Foods, Inc. 2006 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the “Plan”) before any options issued under the Plan are exercisable. Information regarding securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plan is included in our Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 15, 2009.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities
None.
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
None.
Item 5. Other Information
None.
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Item 6. Exhibits
The following exhibits are filed herewith or incorporated by reference as indicated as required by Item 601 of Regulation S-K.
| | |
Exhibit No. | | Description |
| |
|
| | |
31.1 | | Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a), as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. |
| | |
31.2 | | Certification of Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a), as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
| | |
32.1 | | Certifications of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
| | |
Dated: May 8, 2009 | |
| |
| Vaughan Foods, Inc. |
| | |
| By: | /s/ Herbert B. Grimes |
| | Herbert B. Grimes |
| | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer |
| | |
| | (Principal Executive Officer) |
| | |
Dated: May 8, 2009 | | |
| | |
| Vaughan Foods, Inc. |
| | |
| By: | /s/ Gene P. Jones |
| | Gene P. Jones |
| | Chief Financial Officer |
| | (Principal Financial Officer) |
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EXHIBIT INDEX
| | |
Exhibit No. | | Description |
| |
|
| | |
31.1 | | Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a), as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. |
| | |
31.2 | | Certification of Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a), as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
| | |
32.1 | | Certifications of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
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