In February 2007, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities” (“SFAS 159”). SFAS 159 expands opportunities to use fair value measurement in financial reporting and permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value. This Statement is effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007, or the Company’s fiscal year ending October 30, 2009. The Company does not expect this Statement will have a material impact on its results of operations or financial position.
In December 2007, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 160, “Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements” (“SFAS 160”). SFAS 160 amends Accounting Research Bulletin No. 51,“Consolidated Financial Statements” to establish accounting and reporting standards for noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary and for the deconsolidation of a subsidiary. This statement clarifies that a noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary is an ownership interest in the consolidated entity and should be reported as equity in the consolidated financial statements, rather than in the liability or mezzanine section between liabilities and equity. SFAS 160 also requires consolidated net income to be reported at amounts that include the amounts attributable to both the parent and the noncontrolling interest. SFAS 160 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning on or after December 15, 2008; therefore, the Company expects to adopt SFAS 160 at the beginning of fiscal 2010. Adoption of SFAS 160 is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position.
In May 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 162, “Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” (“SFAS 162”). This statement is intended to improve financial reporting by identifying a consistent framework, or hierarchy, for selecting accounting principles to be used in preparing financial statements of nongovernmental entities that are presented in conformity with GAAP. This statement will be effective 60 days following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board amendment to AU Section 411, “The Meaning of Present Fairly in Conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.” The adoption of this Statement is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations.
The Company is not engaged in any “off-balance sheet arrangements” within the meaning of Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
General risk factors include, among others, the following: general economic and business conditions; the impact of competitive products and pricing; success of operating initiatives; development and operating costs; advertising and promotional efforts; adverse publicity; acceptance of new product offerings; consumer trial and frequency; changes in business strategy or development plans; availability, terms and deployment of capital; availability of qualified personnel; commodity, labor, and employee benefit costs; changes in, or failure to comply with, government regulations; weather conditions; construction schedules; and other factors referenced in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in Bridgford Foods’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 2, 2007. Because of these and other factors that may affect the Company’s operating results, past financial performance should not be considered an indicator of future performance, and investors should not use historical trends to anticipate results or trends in future periods. The Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
There can be no assurances that the Company’s growth objectives will be met or that product lines will be profitable. Anticipated and unanticipated declines in customer demand or taste, sales softness or aggressive competition may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations. The business is also exposed to the risk of negative publicity, whether or not based in fact, which affects consumer perceptions about the health, safety or quality of food and inputs of food products.
The Company's operating results are heavily dependent upon the prices paid for raw materials. Other significant factors that influence operating results include transportation and energy costs. The marketing of the Company's value-added products does not lend itself to instantaneous changes in selling prices. While the Company attempts to change prices to offset changes in its cost structure, such changes cannot be made frequently enough or quickly enough to mitigate the significant volatility in its raw ingredient, transportation, fuel, and other costs. As a result, the Company’s operations and operating margins are impacted significantly by the volatility of its costs.
Financial Instrument Risk
The Company’s financial instruments generally consist of cash and cash equivalents and life insurance policies. At July 11, 2008, the carrying value of the Company’s financial instruments approximated their fair market values based on current market prices and rates. It is not the Company’s policy to enter into derivative financial instruments.
Foreign Currency Risk
The Company did not have significant foreign currency exposure at July 11, 2008.
Concentration of Credit Risk
The Company’s credit risk is diversified across a broad range of customers and geographic regions. Losses due to credit risk have recently been immaterial. The provision for doubtful accounts receivable is based on historical trends and current collection risk. The Company has significant amounts receivable with a few large, well known customers which, although historically secure, could be subject to material risk should these customers’ operations suddenly deteriorate. The Company monitors these customers closely to minimize the risk of loss.
Fixed – Price Contracts Risk
The Company purchases bulk flour under short-term fixed price contracts during the normal course of business. Under these arrangements, the Company is obligated to purchase specific quantities at fixed prices, within the specified contract period. These contracts provide for automatic price increases if agreed quantities are not purchased within the specified contract period. No significant contracts remained unfulfilled at July 11, 2008.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Management of the Company, with the participation and under the supervision of the Company’s Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Based on this evaluation, the Chairman and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are effective as of the end of the period covered by this report to provide reasonable assurance that material information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms. There has been no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
The Company’s management, including its Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that the Company’s disclosure controls and internal controls will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the control.
The design of any system of controls is also based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, a control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
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Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002:
In order to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Act”), the Company has undertaken and continues a comprehensive effort, which includes the documentation and review of its internal controls. In order to comply with the Act, the Company is in the process of centralizing most accounting and many administrative functions at its corporate headquarters in an effort to control the cost of maintaining its control systems. On July 11, 2006, The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations issued guidance on how small companies should implement an effective internal control framework over financial reporting and other risks. This guidance is considered a key tool to help smaller public companies to confront the challenges of the Act. As a result, the Company may incur substantial additional expenses and diversion of management’s time. During the course of these activities, the Company may identify certain internal control issues which management believes should be improved. These improvements, if necessary, will likely include further formalization of policies and procedures, improved segregation of duties, additional information technology system controls and additional monitoring controls. Although management does not believe that any of these matters will result in material weaknesses being identified in the Company’s internal controls as defined by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Auditing Standard No. 5, no assurances can be given regarding the outcome of these efforts. Additionally, control weaknesses may not be identified in a timely enough manner to allow remediation prior to the issuance of the auditor’s report on internal controls over financial reporting. Any failure to adequately comply could result in sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities, which could harm the Company’s business or investors’ confidence in the Company.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, on December 15, 2006, adopted new measures to grant relief to smaller public companies by extending the date of compliance with Section 404 of the Act. Under these new measures, the Company will be required to comply with the Act in two phases. The first phase will be effective for the Company’s fiscal year ending October 31, 2008 and will require the Company to furnish a management report on internal control over financial reporting. The second phase will require the Company to provide an auditor’s attestation report on internal control over financial reporting beginning with the Company’s fiscal year ending in 2010.
Part II. Other Information
Item 1A. Risk Factors
The risk factors listed in Part I “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 2, 2007, should be considered with the information provided elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which could materially adversely affect the business, financial condition or results of operations. There have been no material changes to the risk factors as previously disclosed in such Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
The Company has not sold any equity securities during the period covered by this report. The following table provides information regarding repurchases by the Company of its common stock, for each of the three four-week periods included in the interim twelve-week period ended July 11, 2008.
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ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
| | | | | | | | Maximum |
| | | | | | Total Number of | | Number of |
| | | | | | Shares | | Shares that May |
| | | | | | Purchased as | | Yet Be |
| | Total Number of | | | | Part of Publicly | | Purchased Under |
| | Shares | | Average Price | | Announced Plans | | the Plans or |
Period(1) | | Purchased | | Paid Per Share | | or Programs(2) | | Programs(2) |
April 19, 2008 – May 16, 2008 | | | 645 | | | $6.20 | | | 645 | | | | 482,124 | |
May17,2008 – June 13, 2008 | | | 11,584 | | | $6.28 | | | 746 | | | | 481,378 | |
June14,2008 – July 11, 2008 | | | 162 | | | $6.75 | | | 162 | | | | 481,216 | |
Total | | | 12,391 | | | $6.29 | | | 1,553 | | | | | |
| (1) | | The periods shown are the Company’s fiscal periods during the twelve-week quarter ended July 11, 2008. |
| |
| (2) | | Repurchases reflected in the foregoing table were made on the open market. The Company’s stock repurchase program was approved by the Board of Directors in November 1999 (1,500,000 shares authorized, disclosed in a Form 10-K filed on January 26, 2000) and was expanded in June 2005 (500,000 additional shares authorized, disclosed in a press release and Form 8-K filed on June 17, 2005). Under the stock repurchase program, the Company is authorized, at the discretion of management and the Board of Directors, to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock on the open market. The Company’s Stock Purchase Plan (“Purchase Plan”) is administered by Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (“CGM”) for purchase of shares of common stock issued by the Company in compliance with the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act. Commencing on September 16, 2007 and continuing through and including September 15, 2008, CGM shall act as the Company’s exclusive agent to purchase Stock under the Purchase Plan. This Purchase Plan supplements any purchases of stock by the Company “outside” of the Purchase Plan, which may occur from time to time, in open market transactions pursuant to Rule 10b-18 of the Exchange Act or in privately-negotiated transactions. On June 5, 2008, the Company purchased 10,838 shares of its common stock from a shareholder in a privately-negotiated transaction for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $68,000. As of July 11, 2008, the total maximum number of shares that may be purchased under the Purchase Plan is 481,216 at a total maximum aggregate price (exclusive of commission) of $4,812,160. |
Item 6.
Exhibits
| Exhibit No. | | Description |
| 31.1 | | Certification of Chairman (Principal Executive Officer), as required by Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
| | | |
| 31.2 | | Certification of Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer), as required by Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
| |
| 32.1 | | Certification of Chairman (Principal Executive Officer), as required by Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
| |
| 32.2 | | Certification of Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer), as required by 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.
| BRIDGFORD FOODS CORPORATION | |
| (Registrant) | |
Dated: August 29, 2008 | By: | /s/ | Raymond F. Lancy | |
| | | Raymond F. Lancy |
| | | Chief Financial Officer |
| | | (Duly Authorized Officer and Principal Financial Officer) |
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