Below is a table summarizing the income (loss) recognized from the sales, net of certain expenses, of our interests in synthetic fuel entities.
Minority interest of $54,000 for the quarter ended July 31, 2007 and ($41,000) for the six months ended July 31, 2007, represents the owners’ (other than us) share of the income of Levelland/Hockley County Ethanol, LLC.
income for the first six months of fiscal year 2007 was $13.3 million, an increase of $10.3 million from $3.0 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2006.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $17.8 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2007, compared to $12.9 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2006. For the first six months of fiscal year 2007, cash was provided by net income of $13.3 million, adjusted for the impact of $10.1 million for gains on our installment sales of the limited partnership interests, the gain on the disposal of real estate and property and equipment of $9.0 million and non-cash items of $2.3 million, which consisted of depreciation and amortization, stock based compensation expense, impairment charges, income and dividends from equity method investments, deferred income and the deferred income tax provision. In addition, accounts payable provided cash of $16.3 million, primarily a result of changes in inventory levels and extended terms from certain vendors. The primary use of cash was an increase in inventory of $14.2 million primarily due to seasonal fluctuations. The inventory increase from January 31, 2007 primarily results from higher television and air conditioner levels. The other use of cash was an increase in other assets of $9.6 million.
For the first six months of fiscal year 2006, cash was provided by net income of $3.0 million, adjusted for the impact of $2.8 million for gains on our installment sales of the limited partnership interests, non-cash items of $2.5 million, which consisted of depreciation and amortization, stock based compensation expense, impairment charges, deferred income and gain on disposal of fixed assets. In addition, accounts payable provided cash of $12.4 million, primarily a result of changes in inventory levels. The primary use of cash was an increase in inventory of $26.0 million primarily due to seasonal fluctuations. The other use of cash was a decrease in other current liabilities of $2.3 million.
At July 31, 2007, working capital was $119.4 million compared to $83.8 million at January 31, 2007. This increase is primarily a result of the real estate sale and leaseback transaction and greater cash proceeds from our synthetic fuel investments. The ratio of current assets to current liabilities was 2.7 to 1 and 2.6 to 1 at July 31, 2007 and January 31, 2007, respectively.
Cash of $76.6 million was provided by investing activities for the first six months of fiscal year 2007, compared to cash used of $2.1 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2006. During the first six months of fiscal year 2007, we received proceeds of $79.7 million from the sale and leaseback transaction with Klac and other real estate sales and $15.1 million from the installment sales of our ownership interests in synthetic fuel entities. We purchased an ethanol related note of $3.0 million during the first six months of fiscal year 2007. We had capital expenditures of approximately $15.2 million during the first six months of fiscal year 2007, primarily related to the Levelland/Hockley County Ethanol, LLC ethanol plant construction.
Cash of $2.1 million was used in investing activities for the first six months of fiscal year 2006. We paid $5.6 million for a note investment in Levelland/Hockley and received proceeds of $2.6 million from the sale of real estate and fixed assets during the first half of fiscal year 2006. Additionally, during the first half of fiscal year 2006, we received proceeds of $1.3 million from installment sales of our ownership interests in synthetic fuel entities. We had capital expenditures of
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approximately $0.3 million during the first half of fiscal 2006, primarily related to improvements at selected stores.
Cash used in financing activities totaled approximately $11.5 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2007 compared to cash provided by financing activities of $0.4 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2006. Cash of approximately $17.6 million was used to repay mortgage debt. Cash was provided by new debt borrowings of $5.0 million and stock option activity of $4.9 million. Cash of approximately $3.8 million was also used to acquire 195,000 shares of our common stock. As of July 31, 2007, we had approximately 805,000 authorized shares remaining available for purchase under the stock buy-back program.
Cash provided by financing activities totaled approximately $0.4 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2006. Cash was provided by stock option activity of $1.6 million. Cash of $1.2 million was used for scheduled payments of mortgage debt.
On June 15, 2007, we entered into a contingent agreement to subscribe for a minimum of $35.1 million and a maximum of $62.4 million of membership units of One Earth in a registered offering. This replaced our prior commitment to fund $24.9 million in One Earth. One Earth intends to commence construction, beginning in 2007, of an ethanol manufacturing facility in Gibson City, Illinois, with an annual production capacity of 100 million gallons. Our commitment will enable us to secure a majority ownership interest in One Earth.
In addition, we have entered into a conditional agreement with One Earth to fund up to an additional $6.0 million in interim financing in the form of secured debt, bearing an interest rate of 9% per annum. As of July 31, 2007, we have funded $3.0 million of the interim financing.
We believe we have sufficient resources to fund these and other potential ethanol investments.
In June 2006, Levelland/Hockley entered into an agreement with a designer/builder for the construction of Levelland’s ethanol plant. The designer/builder is responsible for all engineering, labor, materials and equipment to design, construct, startup and achieve guaranteed performance criteria of the plant. The contract price is approximately $58.4 million, of which $17.4 million has been spent through July 31, 2007.
On July 25, 2002, Levelland/Hockley entered into an agreement with RIO Technical Services, Inc., (“RIO”) regarding the planning, financing, design and construction of Levelland’s ethanol plant. RIO is a related party, as certain officers of RIO own equity interests in Levelland/Hockley. The Company estimates that fees for these services will be approximately $3.0 million, of which approximately $1.0 million has been spent through July 31, 2007.
We believe that Levelland/Hockley will begin borrowing on its construction loan during the third quarter of fiscal 2007; thus, we anticipate incurring additional interest expense subsequent to July 31, 2007.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This Form 10-Q contains or may contain forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements can be identified by use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “expect,” “believe,” “estimate,” “anticipate” or “continue” or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. Readers are cautioned that there are risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those referred to in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the risk factors set forth from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the acquisition of REX Stores' interest in Millennium Ethanol, LLC by U.S. BioEnergy Corporation including, but not limited to the uncertainty of the financial performance of U.S. BioEnergy Corporation following completion of the transaction; fluctuations in the market prices and trading volumes of U.S. BioEnergy Corporation common stock; the highly competitive nature of the consumer electronics retailing industry, changes in the national or regional economies, weather, the effects of terrorism or acts of war on consumer spending patterns, the availability of certain products, technological changes, changes in real estate market conditions, new regulatory restrictions or tax law changes relating to the Company’s synthetic fuel investments, the fluctuating amount of quarterly payments received by the Company with respect to sales of its partnership interest in a synthetic fuel investment, the potential for Section 29/45K tax credits to phase out based on the price of crude oil adjusted for inflation, and the uncertain amount of synthetic fuel production and resulting income received from time to time from the Company’s synthetic fuel investments. As it relates to ethanol investments, risks and uncertainties include among other things: the uncertainty of constructing plants on time and on budget, the price volatility of corn, dried distiller grains, ethanol, gasoline and natural gas, and the ability to remain in compliance with related debt covenants.Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are set forth in Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2007 (File No. 001-09097).
Item 3.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
No material changes since January 31, 2007.
Item 4.Controls and Procedures
Our management evaluated, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms and is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
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There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our last fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1A.Risk Factors
During the quarter ended July 31, 2007, there have been no material changes to the risk factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2007.
Item 2.Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities |
|
| | | | | | Total Number of | | Maximum Number |
| | | | | | Shares Purchased | | of Shares that May |
| Total Number | | | Average Price | | as Part of Publicly | | Yet Be Purchased |
| of Shares | | | Paid per | | Announced Plans | | Under the Plans |
Period | Purchased | | | Share | | or Programs (1) | | or Programs (1) |
May 1-31, 2007 | - | | $ | - | | - | | 496,645 |
June 1-30, 2007 | 126,600 | | $ | 18.70 | | 126,600 | | 873,400 |
July 1-31, 2007 | 68,800 | | $ | 20.53 | | 68,800 | | 804,600 |
Total | 195,400 | | $ | 19.34 | | 195,400 | | 804,600 |
(1) | On June 1, 2007, the Company announced it had increased the authorization to purchase shares of its common stock from 496,645 to 1,000,0000 shares from time to time in private or market transactions at prevailing market prices. At July 31, 2007, a total of 804,600 shares remained available to purchase under this authorization. |
Item 6. Exhibits.
The following exhibits are filed with this report:
31 Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certifications
32 Section 1350 Certifications
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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.
| REX STORES CORPORATION |
| Registrant |
Signature | Title | Date |
|
/s/ Stuart A. Rose | Chairman of the Board | September 6, 2007 |
(Stuart A. Rose) | (Chief Executive Officer) | |
|
|
/s/ Douglas L.Bruggeman | Vice President, Finance and Treasurer | September 6, 2007 |
(Douglas L. Bruggeman) | (Chief Financial Officer) | |
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