FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES INC - Quarter Report: 2004 December (Form 10-Q)

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

FORM 10-Q

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 1-7521

FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED

4001 HOMESTEAD ROAD, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77028-5585
(Address of principal executive office and zip code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (713) 672-9433

     Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months, and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

     Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

     At December 31, 2004, the number of shares outstanding of the issuer’s only class of stock was 6,975,771 shares of Common Stock.

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PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

ASSETS

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FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS — UNAUDITED

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FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS — UNAUDITED

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FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED

CONDENSED NOTES TO QUARTERLY REPORT — UNAUDITED
NINE MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004

NOTE A — BASIS OF PRESENTATION

     The accompanying unaudited condensed, consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. For further information, refer to the financial statements and footnotes included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2004.

NOTE B — INVENTORIES

     Inventories consist of prime coil, non-standard coil and tubular materials. Prime coil inventory consists primarily of raw materials, non-standard coil inventory consists primarily of finished goods and tubular inventory consists of both raw materials and finished goods. Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or replacement market value. Cost for prime coil inventory is determined under the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method. Cost for non-standard coil inventory is determined using the specific identification method. Cost for tubular inventory is determined using the weighted average method.

     A summary of inventory values follows:

NOTE C — LONG-TERM DEBT

     The following summary reflects long-term debt including the current portion thereon:

     The Company has a $6 million revolving credit facility which expires April 1, 2006. There were no amounts outstanding pursuant to the facility at December 31, 2004 or March 31, 2004.

NOTE D — STOCK BASED COMPENSATION

     The Company follows Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees (“APB 25”), for its employee stock options. Under APB 25, because the exercise price of the Company’s employee stock options equals the market price of the underlying stock on the date of grant, no compensation expense is recognized.

     The following schedule reflects the impact on net income and earnings per common share if the Company had applied the fair value recognition provisions of Statements of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, to stock based employee compensation for each period indicated:

     During the nine months ended December 31, 2004, options for 23,000 shares of the Company’s common stock were exercised which resulted in proceeds of $54,730 to the Company. In the 2004 period, no options were granted.

     The fair value of options was estimated using a Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions: risk-free interest rates of 3.0%, a dividend yield of 3.4%, volatility factor of the expected market price of the Company’s common stock of 0.42, and a weighted average expected life of the option of four years.

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     NOTE E — SEGMENT INFORMATION — UNAUDITED

     Segment amounts reflected above are stated in thousands. General corporate expenses reflect general and administrative expenses not directly associated with segment operations and consist primarily of corporate executive and accounting salaries, professional fees and services, bad debts, accrued profit sharing expense, corporate insurance expenses and office supplies. Corporate assets consists primarily of cash and cash equivalents and the cash value of officers’ life insurance.

NOTE F-NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

     In December 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Statement Financial Accounting Standard No. 123 (revised 2004), Share-Based Payment (SFAS 123(R)). Statement 123(R) requires all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, to be recognized in the income statement based on their fair values. The effective date of SFAS 123(R) is as of the beginning of the first interim or annual reporting period that begins after June 15, 2005. The Company is currently assessing the effect of SFAS 123(R) on its financial statements.

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FINANCIAL POSITION, LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

      The Company remained in a strong, liquid position at December 31, 2004. Current ratios were 2.7 and 3.0 at December 31, 2004 and March 31, 2004, respectively. Working capital was $26,972,919 at December 31, 2004 and $25,189,938 at March 31, 2004.

      At December 31, 2004, the Company maintained assets and liabilities at levels it believed were commensurate with operations. Prime coil inventories increased due to increases in costs and tons. The increase in tons was primarily related to early shipments by NSC. The Company expects to continue to monitor, evaluate and manage balance sheet components depending on changes in the market conditions and the Company’s operations.

      On December 13, 2004, the Company purchased 624,207 shares of the common stock of the Company from Mr. Harold Friedman for approximately $4.434 per share or a total of $2,767,734. Effective as of December 31, 2004, Mr. Friedman resigned as Vice Chairman of the Board and retired as a full-time employee of the Company.

      During the nine months ended December 31, 2004, the Company purchased approximately $617,387 in fixed assets. This purchase was related primarily to a small diameter pipe mill which began operation in April 2004.

      In June 2004 and July 2004, the Company surrendered for cash, certain split-dollar life insurance policies on the lives of Jack and Harold Friedman, respectively. The Company received the total cash surrender value of $812,432.

      During the nine months ended December 31, 2004, cash and cash equivalents increased $3,266,252 primarily as the result of earnings during the 2004 period.

      The Company has an arrangement with a bank which provides for a revolving line of credit facility (the “revolving facility”). Pursuant to the revolving facility, which expires April 1, 2006, the Company may borrow up to $6 million at the bank’s prime rate or 1.5% over LIBOR. The Company uses the revolving facility to support cash flow and will borrow and repay the note as working capital is required. At December 31, 2004 and March 31, 2004, the Company had no borrowings outstanding under the revolving facility.

      The Company has in the past and may in the future borrow funds on a term basis to build or improve facilities. The Company currently has no plans to borrow funds on a term basis.

      Notwithstanding the current market conditions, the Company believes its cash flows from operations and borrowing capability under its revolving facility are adequate to fund its expected cash requirements for the next twenty-four months.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES

      The preparation of consolidated financial statements requires the Company to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. One such accounting policy which requires significant estimates and judgments is the valuation of LIFO inventories in the Company’s quarterly reporting. The quarterly valuation of inventory requires estimates of the year end quantities which is inherently difficult. Historically, these estimates have been materially correct. In addition, the Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts receivable by providing for specifically identified accounts where collectibility is doubtful and a general allowance based on the aging of the receivables compared to past experience and current trends. On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates estimates and judgements. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

      From time to time, the Company may make certain statements that contain “forward-looking” information (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1996) and that involve risk and uncertainty. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, future results of operations, future production capacity and product quality. Forward-looking statements may be made by management orally or in writing including, but not limited to, this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and other sections of the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results and trends in the future may differ materially depending on a variety of factors including but not limited to changes in the demand and prices of the Company products, changes in the demand for steel and steel products in general and the Company’s success in executing its internal operating plans.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

      In the normal course of business the Company is exposed to market risks primarily from changes in the cost of steel in inventory and in interest rates. The Company closely monitors exposure to market risks and develops appropriate strategies to manage risk. With respect to steel purchases, there is no recognized market to purchase derivative financial instruments to reduce the inventory exposure risk on changing commodity prices. The exposure to market risk associated with interest rates relates primarily to debt. Recent debt balances are minimal and, as a result, direct exposure to interest rates changes is not significant.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

     The Company’s management, with the participation of the Company’s principal executive officer (CEO) and principal financial officer (CFO), evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) as of the end of the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2004. Based on this evaluation, for the reasons described below, the CEO and CFO concluded that its disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of as of the end of the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2004 to ensure that information that is required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms.

     During the financial reporting process associated with the Company’s financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2004, the Company determined that certain errors had occurred with the regard to the accuracy of the Company’s accrual for accounts payable in the Company’s financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2004. As a result, on February 14, 2005, the Company restated its financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2004.

     In conjunction with the Company’s decision to restate its financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2004, the Company identified a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Auditing Standard No.2, a material weakness is a significant deficiency, or a combination of significant deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected) and, as a result thereof, reevaluated its disclosure controls and procedures over the accrual of accounts payable and concluded that these controls were not effective. The Company has taken steps to identify, rectify and prevent the recurrence of such circumstances. As part of this undertaking, the Company intends to incorporate additional levels of review of the processes and supporting documentation related to its accruals, including but not limited to those for accounts payable. The Company believes these enhancements to its systems of internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures will be adequate to provide reasonable assurance that the control objectives will be met.

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FRIEDMAN INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED

Part II — OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

      Not applicable

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

     None

Item 5. Other Information

      Not applicable

Item 6. Exhibits

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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.

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EXHIBIT INDEX