Green Brick Partners, Inc. - Quarter Report: 2010 September (Form 10-Q)
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON,
D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
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x
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QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO
SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934
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For
the quarterly period ended September 30, 2010
OR
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¨
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO
SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934
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For
the transition period from to
Commission
file number: 001-33530
BIOFUEL
ENERGY CORP.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
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20-5952523
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(State
of incorporation)
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(I.R.S.
employer identification number)
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1600
Broadway, Suite 2200
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||
Denver,
Colorado
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80202
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(Address
of principal executive offices)
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(Zip
Code)
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(303)
640-6500
(Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code)
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 (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required
to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for
the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on
its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be
submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this
chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ¨ No ¨
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an
accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See
definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller
reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large
accelerated filer ¨
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Accelerated
filer ¨
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Non-accelerated
filer ¨
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Smaller
reporting company x
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Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No x
Number of
shares of common stock outstanding as of November 8, 2010: 25,465,728 exclusive
of 809,606 shares held in treasury.
PART I.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM 1.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The
accompanying interim consolidated financial statements of BioFuel Energy Corp.
(the “Company”) have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America. The statements are
unaudited but reflect all adjustments which, in the opinion of management, are
necessary to fairly present the Company’s financial position and results of
operations. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. The results
of operations for the interim period are not necessarily indicative of the
results for the full year. For further information, refer to the financial
statements and notes presented in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009 (filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2010).
2
BioFuel
Energy Corp.
Consolidated
Balance Sheets
(in
thousands, except share and per share data)
(Unaudited)
September 30,
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December 31,
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|||||||
2010
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2009
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|||||||
Assets
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||||||||
Current
assets
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||||||||
Cash
and equivalents
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$ | 10,895 | $ | 6,109 | ||||
Accounts
receivable
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21,442 | 23,745 | ||||||
Inventories
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19,159 | 20,885 | ||||||
Prepaid
expenses
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1,937 | 2,529 | ||||||
Other
current assets
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1,995 | 325 | ||||||
Total
current assets
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55,428 | 53,593 | ||||||
Property,
plant and equipment, net
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266,364 | 284,362 | ||||||
Debt
issuance costs, net
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5,320 | 6,472 | ||||||
Other
assets
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2,591 | 2,348 | ||||||
Total
assets
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$ | 329,703 | $ | 346,775 | ||||
Liabilities
and equity
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||||||||
Current
liabilities
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||||||||
Accounts
payable
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$ | 10,511 | $ | 8,066 | ||||
Current
portion of long-term debt
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32,635 | 30,174 | ||||||
Derivative
financial instrument
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— | 315 | ||||||
Current
portion of tax increment financing
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338 | 318 | ||||||
Other
current liabilities
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2,944 | 1,957 | ||||||
Total
current liabilities
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46,428 | 40,830 | ||||||
Long-term
debt, net of current portion
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218,377 | 220,754 | ||||||
Tax
increment financing, net of current portion
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5,527 | 5,591 | ||||||
Other
non-current liabilities
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4,277 | 1,705 | ||||||
Total
liabilities
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274,609 | 268,880 | ||||||
Commitments
and contingencies
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||||||||
Equity
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||||||||
BioFuel
Energy Corp. stockholders’ equity
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||||||||
Preferred
stock, $0.01 par value; 5.0 million shares authorized and no shares
outstanding at September 30, 2010 and December 31,
2009
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— | — | ||||||
Common
stock, $0.01 par value; 100.0 million shares authorized and 26,275,334
shares outstanding at September 30, 2010 and 25,932,741 shares
outstanding at December 31, 2009
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262 | 259 | ||||||
Class B
common stock, $0.01 par value; 50.0 million shares authorized and
7,111,985 shares outstanding at September 30, 2010 and 7,448,585
shares outstanding at December 31, 2009
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71 | 74 | ||||||
Less
common stock held in treasury, at cost, 809,606 shares at
September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009
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(4,316 | ) | (4,316 | ) | ||||
Additional
paid-in capital
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138,322 | 137,037 | ||||||
Accumulated
other comprehensive loss
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— | (242 | ) | |||||
Accumulated
deficit
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(79,513 | ) | (60,577 | ) | ||||
Total
BioFuel Energy Corp. stockholders’ equity
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54,826 | 72,235 | ||||||
Noncontrolling
interest
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268 | 5,660 | ||||||
Total
equity
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55,094 | 77,895 | ||||||
Total
liabilities and equity
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$ | 329,703 | $ | 346,775 |
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
3
BioFuel
Energy Corp.
Consolidated
Statements of Operations
(in
thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
September 30,
|
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
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|||||||||||||||
2010
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2009
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2010
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2009
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|||||||||||||
Net
sales
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$ | 114,747 | $ | 91,138 | $ | 312,031 | $ | 295,096 | ||||||||
Cost
of goods sold
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110,140 | 89,039 | 318,336 | 298,911 | ||||||||||||
Gross
profit (loss)
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4,607 | 2,099 | (6,305 | ) | (3,815 | ) | ||||||||||
General
and administrative expenses:
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||||||||||||||||
Compensation
expense
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1,606 | 1,467 | 5,152 | 4,551 | ||||||||||||
Other
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1,976 | 4,420 | 4,642 | 8,210 | ||||||||||||
Operating
income (loss)
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1,025 | (3,788 | ) | (16,099 | ) | (16,576 | ) | |||||||||
Other
income (expense):
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||||||||||||||||
Interest
income
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— | 13 | — | 74 | ||||||||||||
Interest
expense
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(2,783 | ) | (4,598 | ) | (8,061 | ) | (12,036 | ) | ||||||||
Other
non-operating expense
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— | — | — | (1 | ) | |||||||||||
Loss
before income taxes
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(1,758 | ) | (8,373 | ) | (24,160 | ) | (28,539 | ) | ||||||||
Income
tax provision (benefit)
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— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Net
loss
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(1,758 | ) | (8,373 | ) | (24,160 | ) | (28,539 | ) | ||||||||
Less:
Net loss attributable to the noncontrolling interest
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381 | 2,139 | 5,224 | 8,061 | ||||||||||||
Net
loss attributable to BioFuel Energy Corp. common
shareholders
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$ | (1,377 | ) | $ | (6,234 | ) | $ | (18,936 | ) | $ | (20,478 | ) | ||||
Loss
per share - basic and diluted attributable to BioFuel Energy Corp.
common shareholders
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$ | (0.05 | ) | $ | (0.26 | ) | $ | (0.75 | ) | $ | (0.87 | ) | ||||
Weighted
average shares outstanding – basic and diluted
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25,449 | 24,397 | 25,411 | 23,418 |
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
4
BioFuel
Energy Corp.
Consolidated
Statement of Changes in Equity
(in
thousands, except share data)
(Unaudited)
Accumulated
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||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class B
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Additional
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Other
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||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common Stock
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Common Stock
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Treasury
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Paid-in
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Accumulated
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Comprehensive
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Noncontrolling
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Total
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|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares
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Amount
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Shares
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Amount
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Stock
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Capital
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Deficit
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Loss
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Interest
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Equity
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|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance
at December 31, 2008
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23,318,636 | $ | 233 | 10,082,248 | $ | 101 | $ | (4,316 | ) | $ | 134,360 | $ | (46,947 | ) | $ | (2,741 | ) | $ | 14,069 | $ | 94,759 | |||||||||||||||||||
Stock
based compensation
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— | — | — | — | — | 413 | — | — | — | 413 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Exchange
of Class B shares to common
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2,633,663 | 27 | (2,633,663 | ) | (27 | ) | — | 2,263 | — | (121 | ) | (2,142 | ) | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance
of restricted stock, (net of forfeitures)
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(19,558 | ) | (1 | ) | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive
loss:
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— | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hedging
settlements
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— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2,321 | 853 | 3,174 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Change
in derivative financial instrument fair value
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— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 299 | (1,048 | ) | (749 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
loss
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— | — | — | — | — | — | (13,630 | ) | — | (6,072 | ) | (19,702 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total
comprehensive loss
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(17,277 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance
at December 31, 2009
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25,932,741 | 259 | 7,448,585 | 74 | (4,316 | ) | 137,037 | (60,577 | ) | (242 | ) | 5,660 | 77,895 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stock
based compensation
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— | — | — | — | — | 1,044 | — | — | — | 1,044 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Exchange
of Class B shares to common
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336,600 | 3 | (336,600 | ) | (3 | ) | — | 241 | — | (5 | ) | (236 | ) | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance
of restricted stock, (net of forfeitures)
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5,993 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive
loss:
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||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hedging
settlements
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— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 155 | 42 | 197 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Change
in derivative financial instrument fair value
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— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 92 | 26 | 118 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
loss
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— | — | — | — | — | — | (18,936 | ) | — | (5,224 | ) | (24,160 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total
comprehensive loss
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(23,845 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance
at September 30, 2010
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26,275,334 | $ | 262 | 7,111,985 | $ | 71 | $ | (4,316 | ) | $ | 138,322 | $ | (79,513 | ) | $ | — | $ | 268 | $ | 55,094 |
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
5
BioFuel
Energy Corp.
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows
(in
thousands)
(Unaudited)
Nine Months Ended September 30,
|
||||||||
2010
|
2009
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|||||||
Cash
flows from operating activities
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||||||||
Net
loss
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$ | (24,160 | ) | $ | (28,539 | ) | ||
Adjustments
to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating
activities:
|
||||||||
Stock
based compensation expense
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1,044 | 284 | ||||||
Depreciation
and amortization
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21,335 | 20,988 | ||||||
Loss
on disposal of assets
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1,702 | - | ||||||
Changes
in operating assets and liabilities:
|
||||||||
Accounts
receivable
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2,303 | 506 | ||||||
Inventories
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1,726 | 1,220 | ||||||
Prepaid
expenses
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592 | 740 | ||||||
Accounts
payable
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2,781 | (4,183 | ) | |||||
Other
current liabilities
|
987 | (1,330 | ) | |||||
Other
assets and liabilities
|
3,478 | (380 | ) | |||||
Net
cash provided by (used in) operating activities
|
11,788 | (10,694 | ) | |||||
Cash
flows from investing activities
|
||||||||
Capital
expenditures (including payment of construction retainage)
|
(4,179 | ) | (12,570 | ) | ||||
Proceeds
from insurance claim
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- | 300 | ||||||
Redemption
of certificates of deposit
|
- | 2,159 | ||||||
Net
cash used in investing activities
|
(4,179 | ) | (10,111 | ) | ||||
Cash
flows from financing activities
|
||||||||
Proceeds
from issuance of debt
|
27,514 | 20,387 | ||||||
Repayment
of debt
|
(27,450 | ) | (4,383 | ) | ||||
Withdrawal
from debt service reserve
|
- | 1,615 | ||||||
Repayment
of notes payable and capital leases
|
(804 | ) | (718 | ) | ||||
Repayment
of tax increment financing
|
(34 | ) | (228 | ) | ||||
Payment
of equity offering costs
|
(981 | ) | — | |||||
Payment
of debt issuance costs
|
(1,068 | ) | — | |||||
Net
cash provided by (used in) financing activities
|
(2,823 | ) | 16,673 | |||||
Net
increase (decrease) in cash and equivalents
|
4,786 | (4,132 | ) | |||||
Cash
and equivalents, beginning of period
|
6,109 | 12,299 | ||||||
Cash
and equivalents, end of period
|
$ | 10,895 | $ | 8,167 | ||||
Cash
paid for taxes
|
$ | 5 | $ | 8 | ||||
Cash
paid for interest
|
$ | 5,925 | $ | 10,993 | ||||
Non-cash
investing and financing activities:
|
||||||||
Additions
to property, plant and equipment unpaid during period
|
$ | 11 | $ | 324 | ||||
Additions
to property, plant and equipment financed with notes payable and capital
lease
|
$ | - | $ | 445 |
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
6
BioFuel
Energy Corp.
Notes
to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
1.
|
Organization, Nature of Business,
and Basis of Presentation
|
Organization
and Nature of Business
BioFuel
Energy Corp. (the “Company”, “we”, “our” or “us”) produces and sells ethanol and
distillers grain through its two ethanol production facilities located in Wood
River, Nebraska (“Wood River”) and Fairmont, Minnesota (“Fairmont”). Both
facilities, with a combined annual nameplate production capacity of
approximately 230 million gallons per year (“Mmgy”), based on the maximum amount
of permitted denaturant, commenced start-up and began commercial operations in
June 2008. At each location, Cargill, Incorporated (“Cargill”), with whom we
have an extensive commercial relationship, has a strong local presence and owns
adjacent grain storage and handling facilities. We work closely with Cargill,
one of the world’s leading agribusiness companies. Cargill provides corn
procurement services, purchases the ethanol and distillers grain we produce and
provides transportation logistics for our two plants under long-term contracts.
In addition, we lease their adjacent grain storage and handling facilities. Our
operations and cash flows are subject to wide and unpredictable fluctuations due
to changes in commodity prices, specifically, the price of our main commodity
input, corn, relative to the price of our main commodity product, ethanol, which
is known in the industry as the “crush spread”. Since we have commenced
operations, we have from time to time entered into derivative financial
instruments such as futures contracts, swaps and option contracts with the
objective of limiting our exposure to changes in commodities prices, and we may
enter into these types of instruments in the future. However, we are currently
able to engage in such hedging activities only on a limited basis due to our
lack of financial resources, and we may not have the financial resources to
increase or conduct any of these hedging activities in the future.
We were
incorporated as a Delaware corporation on April 11, 2006 to invest solely in
BioFuel Energy, LLC (the “LLC”), a limited liability company organized on
January 25, 2006 to build and operate ethanol production facilities in the
Midwestern United States. The Company’s headquarters are located in Denver,
Colorado.
At
September 30, 2010, the Company owned 78.7% of the LLC membership units with the
remaining 21.3% owned by the historical equity investors of the LLC. The Class B
common shares of the Company are held by the historical equity investors of the
LLC, who held 7,111,985 membership units in the LLC as of September 30, 2010
that, together with the corresponding Class B shares, can be exchanged for newly
issued shares of common stock of the Company on a one-for-one basis. During the
nine months ended September 30, 2010, unit holders exchanged 336,600 membership
units in the LLC for common stock of the Company. LLC membership units held by
the historical equity investors are recorded as noncontrolling interest on the
consolidated balance sheets. Holders of shares of Class B common stock have no
economic rights but are entitled to one vote for each share held. Shares of
Class B common stock are retired upon exchange of the related membership units
in the LLC.
The
aggregate book value of the assets of the LLC at September 30, 2010 and December
31, 2009 was $334.6 million and $354.3 million, respectively, and such assets
are collateral for the LLC’s subsidiaries’ obligations under our Senior Debt
facility with a group of lenders (see Note 5 – Long-Term Debt). Our Senior Debt
facility also imposes restrictions on the ability of the LLC’s subsidiaries that
own and operate our Wood River and Fairmont plants to pay dividends or make
other distributions to us, which restricts our ability to pay
dividends.
Basis
of Presentation and Going Concern Considerations
The
accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America,
which contemplate our continuation as a going concern. Our results of operations
and financial condition depend substantially on the crush spread. The prices of
these commodities are volatile and beyond our control. As a result of the
volatility of the prices for these and other items, our results fluctuate
substantially and in ways that are largely beyond our control. For example, we
were profitable in the fourth quarter of 2009 but incurred significant losses
during the first half of 2010 when crush spreads contracted significantly.
However, crush spreads improved during the third quarter of 2010 and therefore,
as shown in the accompanying consolidated financial statements, the Company’s
net losses narrowed to $1.8 million during the three months ended September 30,
2010. We cannot predict when or if crush spreads will narrow. In the event crush
spreads narrow, we may choose to curtail operations at our plants or cease
operations altogether. In addition, we may expend all of our other sources of
liquidity, in which event we would not be able to pay principal or interest on
our debt, which would lead to an event of default under our debt agreements and,
in the absence of forbearance, debt service abeyance or other accommodations
from our lenders, require us to seek relief through a filing under the U.S.
Bankruptcy Code. We expect fluctuations in the crush spread to continue. Any
future reduction in the crush spread may also cause our operating margins to
deteriorate to an extent that would result in an impairment charge, in addition
to causing the consequences described above.
7
As shown
in the accompanying consolidated financial statements, the Company has
experienced declining liquidity and as of September 30, 2010 has $32.6 million
of long-term debt due within the next year, including a $19.4 million Bridge
Loan (see Note 5 – Long-Term Debt) which matures on March 24, 2011. We are
restricted by the terms of our Senior Debt facility from using the funds
generated by our operating subsidiaries to repay the Bridge Loan. Therefore,
even if we generate positive cash flow from operations, under the terms of our
Senior Debt facility, we cannot use that cash flow to repay the Bridge Loan. In
connection with the Bridge Loan agreement, on September 24, 2010, the Company
entered into a Rights Offering Letter Agreement (see Note 7 – Stockholders’
Equity) with the Bridge Loan lenders, who are our two largest stockholders,
pursuant to which the Company agreed to use its commercially reasonable best
efforts to commence and complete a rights offering. The LLC also intends to
commence and complete a concurrent private placement of LLC interests. If the
rights offering and the LLC’s concurrent private placement do not generate
sufficient proceeds to repay the Bridge Loan, we may not have sufficient
liquidity to repay the Bridge Loan when it becomes due. If we are unable to
generate sufficient proceeds from the rights offering and the LLC’s concurrent
private placement to repay the Bridge Loan, we may seek new capital from other
sources. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in achieving any of
these initiatives or, even if successful, that these initiatives will be
sufficient to address our limited liquidity and the pending maturity of the
Bridge Loan. In addition, if we do not repay the Bridge Loan in full on or
before March 24, 2011, we will be required to issue to the Bridge Loan lenders
warrants to purchase shares of our common stock equal to 15% of our outstanding
shares as of such date at a price of $0.01 per share. If we are unable to raise
sufficient proceeds from the rights offering, the LLC’s concurrent private
placement, or from other sources, we may be unable to continue as a going
concern, which could potentially force us to seek relief through a filing under
the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The accompanying consolidated financial statements
have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern;
however, the above conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s
ability to do so. The accompanying consolidated financial statements do not
include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the
recoverability and classification of assets, including possible impairment in
the carrying value of our property, plant and equipment, or the amounts and
classifications of liabilities that may result should the Company be unable to
continue as a going concern.
8
2.
|
Summary of Significant Accounting
Policies
|
Principles
of Consolidation and Noncontrolling Interest
The
accompanying consolidated financial statements include the Company, the LLC and
its wholly owned subsidiaries: BFE Holdings, LLC; BFE Operating Company, LLC;
Buffalo Lake Energy, LLC; and Pioneer Trail Energy, LLC. All inter-company
balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The Company
treats all exchanges of LLC membership units for Company common stock as equity
transactions, with any difference between the fair value of the Company’s common
stock and the amount by which the noncontrolling interest is adjusted being
recognized in equity.
Use
of Estimates
Preparation
of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and
assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets and liabilities and
disclosures in the accompanying notes at the date of the financial statements
and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Revenue
Recognition
The
Company sells 100% of its ethanol and distillers grain products to Cargill under
the terms of marketing agreements whereby Cargill has agreed to purchase all
ethanol and distillers grain produced at our ethanol plants through September
2016. Revenue is recognized when risk of loss and title transfers upon shipment
of ethanol and distillers grain to Cargill. In accordance with our agreements
with Cargill, the Company records its revenues based on the amounts payable by
Cargill to us at the time of our sales of ethanol and distillers grain to them.
The amount payable by Cargill for ethanol is equal to the average delivered
price per gallon received by the marketing pool from Cargill’s customers, less
average transportation and storage charges incurred by Cargill, and less a
commission. The amount payable by Cargill for distillers grain is equal to the
market price of distillers grain at the time of sale less a
commission.
Cost
of Goods Sold
Cost of
goods sold primarily includes costs of raw materials (primarily corn from
Cargill and natural gas), purchasing and receiving costs, inspection costs,
shipping costs, other distribution expenses, plant management, certain
compensation costs and general facility overhead charges, including depreciation
expense.
General
and Administrative Expenses
General
and administrative expenses consist of salaries and benefits paid to our
management and administrative employees, expenses relating to third party
services, insurance, travel, office rent, marketing and other expenses,
including certain expenses associated with being a public company, such as fees
paid to our independent auditors associated with our annual audit and quarterly
reviews, directors’ fees, and listing and transfer agent fees.
Cash
and Equivalents
Cash and
equivalents include highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three
months or less. Cash equivalents are currently comprised of money market mutual
funds. At September 30, 2010, we had $10.9 million held at three financial
institutions, which is in excess of FDIC insurance limits.
Accounts
Receivable
Accounts
receivable are carried at original invoice amount less an estimate made for
doubtful receivables based on a review of all outstanding amounts on a monthly
basis. Management determines the allowance for doubtful accounts by regularly
evaluating individual customer receivables and considering a customer’s
financial condition, credit history and current economic conditions. Receivables
are written off when deemed uncollectible. Recoveries of receivables previously
written off are recorded as a reduction to bad debt expense when received. As of
September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009, Cargill was our only customer and no
allowance was considered necessary.
Concentrations
of Credit Risk
Credit
risk represents the accounting loss that would be recognized at the reporting
date if counterparties failed completely to perform as contracted.
Concentrations of credit risk, whether on- or off-balance sheet, that arise from
financial instruments exist for groups of customers or counterparties when they
have similar economic characteristics that would cause their ability to meet
contractual obligations to be similarly affected by changes in economic or other
conditions described below.
9
During
the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, the
Company recorded sales to Cargill representing 100% of total net sales. As of
September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009, the LLC, through its subsidiaries, had
receivables from Cargill of $21.4 million and $23.7 million, respectively,
representing 100% of total accounts receivable.
The LLC,
through its subsidiaries, purchases corn, its largest cost component in
producing ethanol, from Cargill. During the three and nine months ended
September 30, 2010, corn purchases from Cargill totaled $83.0 million and $217.8
million, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30,
2009, corn purchases from Cargill totaled $60.6 million and $208.0 million,
respectively. As of September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009, the LLC, through
its subsidiaries, had payables to Cargill of $6.8 million and $2.1 million,
respectively, related to corn purchases.
Inventories
Raw
materials inventories, which consist primarily of corn, denaturant, supplies and
chemicals, and work in process inventories are valued at the
lower-of-cost-or-market, with cost determined on a first-in, first-out basis.
Finished goods inventories consist of ethanol and distillers grain and are
stated at lower of average cost or market.
A summary
of inventories is as follows (in thousands):
September 30,
|
December 31,
|
|||||||
2010
|
2009
|
|||||||
Raw
materials
|
$ | 12,481 | $ | 12,292 | ||||
Work
in process
|
3,540 | 2,883 | ||||||
Finished
goods
|
3,138 | 5,710 | ||||||
$ | 19,159 | $ | 20,885 |
Derivative
Instruments and Hedging Activities
Derivatives
are recognized on the balance sheet at their fair value and are included in the
accompanying balance sheets as “derivative financial instruments”. On the date
the derivative contract is entered into, the Company may designate the
derivative as a hedge of a forecasted transaction or of the variability of cash
flows to be received or paid related to a recognized asset or liability (“cash
flow” hedge). Changes in the fair value of a derivative that is highly effective
and that is designated and qualifies as a cash flow hedge are recorded in other
comprehensive income, net of tax effect, until earnings are affected by the
variability of cash flows (e.g., when periodic settlements on a variable rate
asset or liability are recorded in earnings). Changes in the fair value of
undesignated derivative instruments or derivatives that do not qualify for hedge
accounting are recognized in current period operations. The Company designated
its interest rate swap at December 31, 2009 as a cash flow hedge. The value
of the interest rate swap was recorded on the balance sheet as a
liability under derivative financial instruments, while the unrealized gain/loss
on the change in the fair value has been recorded in other comprehensive income
(loss). The statement of operations impact of these hedges is included in
interest expense. See Note 8 for additional required disclosure.
Accounting
guidance for derivatives requires a company to evaluate contracts to determine
whether the contracts are derivatives. Certain contracts that meet the
definition of a derivative may be exempted as normal purchases or normal sales.
Normal purchases and normal sales are contracts that provide for the purchase or
sale of something other than a financial instrument or derivative instrument
that will be delivered in quantities expected to be used or sold over a
reasonable period in the normal course of business. The Company’s contracts for
corn and natural gas that meet these requirements and are designated as normal
purchases are exempted from the derivative accounting and reporting
requirements.
Property,
Plant and Equipment
Property,
plant and equipment is recorded at cost. All costs related to purchasing and
developing land or the engineering, design and construction of a plant are
capitalized. Maintenance, repairs and minor replacements are charged to
operating expenses while major replacements and improvements are capitalized.
Depreciation is computed by the straight line method over the following
estimated useful lives:
Years
|
||||
Land
improvements
|
20-30
|
|||
Buildings
and improvements
|
7-40
|
|||
Machinery
and equipment:
|
||||
Railroad
equipment
|
20-39
|
|||
Facility
equipment
|
20-39
|
|||
Other
|
5-7
|
|||
Office
furniture and equipment
|
3-10
|
10
Debt
Issuance Costs
Debt
issuance costs are stated at cost, less accumulated amortization. Debt issuance
costs included in noncurrent assets represent costs incurred related to the
Company’s senior debt, subordinated debt and tax increment financing agreements.
Debt issuance costs included in other current assets total $1,014,000 and
represent costs incurred related to the bridge loan. These costs are being
amortized through interest expense over the term of the related debt. Estimated
future debt issuance cost amortization as of September 30, 2010 is as follows
(in thousands):
Remainder
of 2010
|
$
|
848
|
||
2011
|
1,846
|
|||
2012
|
1,294
|
|||
2013
|
1,248
|
|||
2014
|
973
|
|||
Thereafter
|
125
|
|||
Total
|
$
|
6,334
|
Impairment of
Long-Lived Assets
The
Company has two asset groups, its ethanol facility in Fairmont and its ethanol
facility in Wood River, which are evaluated separately when considering whether
the carrying value of these assets has been impaired. The Company continually
monitors whether or not events or circumstances exist that would warrant
impairment testing of its long-lived assets. In evaluating whether impairment
testing should be performed, the Company considers several factors including
projected production volumes at its facilities, projected ethanol and distillers
grain prices that we expect to receive, and projected corn and natural gas costs
we expect to incur. In the ethanol industry, operating margins, and consequently
undiscounted future cash flows, are primarily driven by the crush spread. In the
event that the crush spread is sufficiently depressed to result in negative
operating cash flow at its facilities, the Company will evaluate whether or not
an impairment of the carrying value of its long-lived assets has
occurred.
Recoverability
is measured by comparing the carrying value of an asset with estimated
undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and
its eventual disposition. An impairment loss is reflected as the amount by which
the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the fair value of the asset. Fair value
is determined based on the present value of estimated expected future cash flows
using a discount rate commensurate with the risk involved, quoted market prices
or appraised values, depending on the nature of the assets. As of September 30,
2010, at the current crush spread, cash flow from operations suggests the
carrying values of the Company’s long-lived assets are recoverable. Therefore no
recoverability test was performed.
Stock-Based
Compensation
Expense
associated with stock-based awards and other forms of equity compensation is
based on fair value at grant and recognized on a straight line basis in the
financial statements over the requisite service period, if any, for those awards
that are expected to vest.
Asset
Retirement Obligations
Asset
retirement obligations are recognized when a contractual or legal obligation
exists and a reasonable estimate of the amount can be made. Changes to the asset
retirement obligation resulting from revisions to the timing or the amount of
the original undiscounted cash flow estimates shall be recognized as an increase
or decrease to both the carrying amount of the asset retirement obligation and
the related asset retirement cost capitalized as part of the related property,
plant, and equipment. At September 30, 2010, the Company had accrued asset
retirement obligation liabilities of $137,000 and $173,000 for its plants at
Wood River and Fairmont, respectively. At December 31, 2009, the Company had
accrued asset retirement obligation liabilities of $134,000 and $168,000 for its
plants at Wood River and Fairmont, respectively.
The asset
retirement obligations accrued for Wood River relate to the obligations in our
contracts with Cargill and Union Pacific Railroad (“Union Pacific”). According
to the grain elevator lease with Cargill, the equipment that is adjacent to the
grain elevator may be required at Cargill’s discretion to be removed at the end
of the lease. In addition, according to the contract with Union Pacific, the
buildings that are built near their land in Wood River may be required at Union
Pacific’s request to be removed at the end of our contract with them. The asset
retirement obligations accrued for Fairmont relate to the obligations in our
contracts with Cargill and in our water permit issued by the state of Minnesota.
According to the grain elevator lease with Cargill, the equipment that is
adjacent to the grain elevator being leased may be required at Cargill’s
discretion to be removed at the end of the lease. In addition, the water permit
in Fairmont requires that we secure all above ground storage tanks whenever we
discontinue the use of our equipment for an extended period of time in Fairmont.
The estimated costs of these obligations have been accrued at the current net
present value of these obligations at the end of an estimated 20 year life for
each of the plants. These liabilities have corresponding assets recorded in
property, plant and equipment, which are being depreciated over 20
years.
11
Income
Taxes
The
Company accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method, under
which deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax
consequences attributable to temporary differences between financial statement
carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax
bases and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and
liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable
income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be
recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a
change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the
enactment date. The Company regularly reviews historical and anticipated future
pre-tax results of operations to determine whether the Company will be able to
realize the benefit of its deferred tax assets. A valuation allowance is
required to reduce the potential deferred tax asset when it is more likely than
not that all or some portion of the potential deferred tax asset will not be
realized due to the lack of sufficient taxable income. The Company establishes
reserves for uncertain tax positions that reflect its best estimate of
deductions and credits that may not be sustained. As the Company has incurred
losses since its inception and expects to continue to incur tax losses for the
foreseeable future, we will provide a valuation allowance against all deferred
tax assets until the Company believes that such assets will be realized. The
Company includes interest on tax deficiencies and income tax penalties in the
provision for income taxes.
Fair
Value of Financial Instruments
The
Company’s financial instruments, including cash and equivalents, accounts
receivable, and accounts payable are carried at cost, which approximates their
fair value because of the short-term maturity of these instruments. The
derivative financial instruments are carried at fair value. The fair value of
the Company’s senior debt and notes payable (excluding the Cargill note payable)
approximates their carrying amounts based on anticipated interest rates that
management believes would currently be available to the Company for similar
issues of debt, taking into account the current credit risk of the Company and
other market factors. The Company is unable to determine a fair value
of its subordinated debt, its note payable to Cargill, and its bridge loan debt
due to the nature of the relationships between the parties and the
Company.
Comprehensive
Income (Loss)
Comprehensive
income (loss) consists of the unrealized changes in the fair value on the
Company’s financial instruments designated as cash flow hedges. The financial
instrument liabilities are recorded at fair value. The effective portion of any
changes in the fair value is recorded as other comprehensive income (loss) while
the ineffective portion of any changes in the fair value is recorded as interest
expense.
Three Months Ended
September 30,
|
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
|
|||||||||||||||
(in
thousands)
|
2010
|
2009
|
2010
|
2009
|
||||||||||||
Net
loss
|
$ | (1,758 | ) | $ | (8,373 | ) | $ | (24,160 | ) | $ | (28,539 | ) | ||||
Hedging
settlements
|
— | 988 | 197 | 2,842 | ||||||||||||
Change
in derivative financial instrument fair value
|
— | (141 | ) | 118 | (720 | ) | ||||||||||
Comprehensive
loss
|
(1,758 | ) | (7,526 | ) | (23,845 | ) | (26,417 | ) | ||||||||
Comprehensive
loss attributable to noncontrolling interest
|
381 | 1,928 | 5,156 | 8,325 | ||||||||||||
Comprehensive
loss attributable to BioFuel Energy Corp. common
shareholders
|
$ | (1,377 | ) | $ | (5,598 | ) | $ | (18,689 | ) | $ | (18,092 | ) |
Segment
Reporting
Operating
segments are defined as components of an enterprise for which separate financial
information is available and is evaluated regularly by the chief operating
decision maker or decision making group in deciding how to allocate resources
and in assessing performance. Each of our plants is considered its own unique
operating segment under these criteria. However, when two or more operating
segments have similar economic characteristics, accounting guidance allows for
them to be aggregated into a single operating segment for purposes of financial
reporting. Our two plants are very similar in all characteristics and
accordingly, the Company presents a single reportable segment, the manufacture
of fuel-grade ethanol and the co-products of the ethanol production
process.
Recent
Accounting Pronouncements
From time
to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting
Standards Board (“FASB”) or other standards setting bodies that are adopted by
us as of the specified effective date. Unless otherwise discussed, our
management believes that the impact of recently issued standards that are not
yet effective will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial
statements upon adoption.
12
3.
|
Property, Plant and
Equipment
|
Property,
plant and equipment, stated at cost, consist of the following at September 30,
2010 and December 31, 2009, respectively (in thousands):
September 30,
|
December 31,
|
|||||||
2010
|
2009
|
|||||||
Land
and land improvements
|
$
|
19,639
|
$
|
19,639
|
||||
Construction
in progress
|
259
|
2,449
|
||||||
Buildings
and improvements
|
49,823
|
49,771
|
||||||
Machinery and
equipment
|
246,203
|
242,191
|
||||||
Office
furniture and equipment
|
6,088
|
6,075
|
||||||
322,012
|
320,125
|
|||||||
Accumulated
depreciation
|
(55,648
|
)
|
(35,763
|
)
|
||||
Property,
plant and equipment, net
|
$
|
266,364
|
$
|
284,362
|
Depreciation
expense related to property, plant and equipment was $6,768,000 and $20,139,000
for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010, respectively, and was
$6,669,000 and $19,823,000 for the three and nine months ended September 30,
2009, respectively.
4.
|
Earnings Per
Share
|
Basic
earnings per share are computed by dividing net income by the weighted average
number of common shares outstanding during each period. Diluted earnings per
share are calculated using the treasury stock method and includes the effect of
all dilutive securities, including stock options, restricted stock and Class B
common shares. For those periods in which the Company incurred a net loss, the
inclusion of the potentially dilutive shares in the computation of diluted
weighted average shares outstanding would have been anti-dilutive to the
Company’s loss per share, and, accordingly, all potentially dilutive shares have
been excluded from the computation of diluted weighted average shares
outstanding in those periods.
For both
the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010, 1,792,545 shares issuable
upon the exercise of stock options have been excluded from the computation of
diluted earnings per share as the exercise price exceeded the average price of
the Company’s shares during the period. For both the three and nine months ended
September 30, 2009, 334,075 shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options
have been excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share as the
exercise price exceeded the average price of the Company’s shares during the
period.
A summary
of the reconciliation of basic weighted average shares outstanding to diluted
weighted average shares outstanding follows:
Three Months Ended September 30,
|
Nine Months Ended September 30,
|
|||||||||||||||
2010
|
2009
|
2010
|
2009
|
|||||||||||||
Weighted
average common shares outstanding - basic
|
25,449,313
|
24,397,327
|
25,410,844
|
23,418,419
|
||||||||||||
Potentially
dilutive common stock equivalents
|
||||||||||||||||
Class B
common shares
|
7,111,985
|
8,149,431
|
7,142,781
|
9,115,731
|
||||||||||||
Stock
options
|
55,000
|
—
|
55,000
|
—
|
||||||||||||
Restricted
stock
|
16,028
|
28,564
|
19,562
|
43,801
|
||||||||||||
7,183,013
|
8,177,995
|
7,217,343
|
9,159,532
|
|||||||||||||
32,632,326
|
32,575,322
|
32,628,187
|
32,577,951
|
|||||||||||||
Less
anti-dilutive common stock equivalents
|
(7,183,013
|
)
|
(8,177,995
|
)
|
(7,217,343
|
)
|
(9,159,532
|
)
|
||||||||
Weighted
average common shares outstanding - diluted
|
25,449,313
|
24,397,327
|
25,410,844
|
23,418,419
|
13
5.
|
Long-Term
Debt
|
The
following table summarizes long-term debt (in thousands):
September 30,
|
December 31,
|
|||||||
2010
|
2009
|
|||||||
Term
(formerly construction) loans
|
$
|
192,530
|
$
|
195,387
|
||||
Subordinated
debt
|
21,139
|
20,315
|
||||||
Bridge
loan
|
19,421
|
—
|
||||||
Working
capital loans
|
—
|
16,500
|
||||||
Notes
payable
|
15,422
|
16,196
|
||||||
Capital
leases
|
2,500
|
2,530
|
||||||
251,012
|
250,928
|
|||||||
Less
current portion
|
(32,635
|
)
|
(30,174
|
)
|
||||
Long-term
portion
|
$
|
218,377
|
$
|
220,754
|
In
September 2006, certain subsidiaries of the LLC (the “Operating
Subsidiaries”) entered into a Senior Secured Credit Facility providing for the
availability of $230.0 million of borrowings (“Senior Debt facility”) with a
syndicate of lenders to finance the construction of our ethanol plants.
Neither the Company nor the LLC is a borrower under the Senior Debt facility,
although the equity interests and assets of our subsidiaries are pledged as
collateral to secure the debt under the facility.
The
Senior Debt facility initially consisted of two construction loans, which
together totaled $210.0 million of available borrowings, and working capital
loans of up to $20.0 million. No principal payments were required until
the construction loans were converted to term loans, which occurred on September
29, 2009. Thereafter, principal payments are payable quarterly at a
minimum amount of $3,150,000, with additional pre-payments to be made out of
available cash flow.
The
Operating Subsidiaries began making quarterly principal payments on September
30, 2009, and as of September 30, 2010 there remained $192.5 million in
aggregate principal amount outstanding under the Senior Debt facility. These
term loans mature in September 2014.
The
Senior Debt facility also included a working capital facility of up to $20.0
million, which had a maturity date of September 25, 2010. On September 24, 2010,
the Company paid off the outstanding working capital facility balance of
$17.9 million with proceeds from a Bridge Loan, as described
below.
Interest
rates on the Senior Debt facility are, at management’s option, set at: i)
a base rate, which is the higher of the federal funds rate plus 0.5% or the
administrative agent’s prime rate, in each case plus a margin of 2.0%; or ii) at
LIBOR plus 3.0%. Interest on base rate loans is payable quarterly and,
depending on the LIBOR rate elected, as frequently as monthly on LIBOR loans,
but no less frequently than quarterly. The weighted average interest rate
in effect on the borrowings at September 30, 2010 was 3.3%.
The
Senior Debt facility is secured by a first priority lien on all right, title and
interest in and to the Wood River and Fairmont plants and any accounts
receivable or property associated with those plants and a pledge of all of our
equity interests in the Operating Subsidiaries. The Operating Subsidiaries
have established collateral deposit accounts maintained by an agent of the
banks, into which our revenues are deposited, subject to security interests to
secure any outstanding obligations under the Senior Debt facility. These
funds are then allocated into various sweep accounts held by the collateral
agent, including accounts that provide funds for the operating expenses of the
Operating Subsidiaries. The collateral accounts have various provisions,
including historical and prospective debt service coverage ratios and debt
service reserve requirements, which determine whether there is, and the amount
of, cash available to the LLC from the collateral accounts each month. The
terms of the Senior Debt facility also include covenants that impose certain
limitations on, among other things, the ability of the Operating Subsidiaries to
incur additional debt, grant liens or encumbrances, declare or pay dividends or
distributions, conduct asset sales or other dispositions, merge or consolidate,
and conduct transactions with affiliates. The terms of the Senior Debt
facility also include customary events of default including failure to meet
payment obligations, failure to pay financial obligations, failure of the
Operating Subsidiaries of the LLC to remain solvent and failure to obtain or
maintain required governmental approvals. Under the terms of separate
management services agreements between our Operating Subsidiaries and the LLC,
the Operating Subsidiaries pay a monthly management fee of $834,000 to the LLC
to cover salaries, rent, and other operating expenses of the LLC, which payments
are unaffected by the terms of the Senior Debt facility or the collateral
accounts.
14
Debt
issuance fees and expenses of $8.5 million ($4.0 million, net of accumulated
amortization) have been incurred in connection with the Senior Debt facility
through September 30, 2010. These costs have been deferred and are
being amortized and expensed as interest over the term of the Senior Debt
facility.
The LLC
is the borrower of subordinated debt (“Subordinated Debt”) under a loan
agreement dated September 25, 2006, entered into with certain affiliates of
Greenlight Capital, Inc. and Third Point LLC (the “Sub Lenders”), both of which
are related parties, the proceeds of which were used to fund a portion of the
development and construction of our plants and for general corporate purposes.
The entire principal balance, if any, plus all accrued and unpaid interest will
be due in March 2015. Once repaid, the Subordinated Debt may not be re-borrowed.
The Subordinated Debt is secured by the subsidiary equity interests owned by the
LLC and are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by all of the LLC’s
subsidiaries, which guarantees are subordinated to the obligations of these
subsidiaries under our Senior Debt facility. A default under our Senior Debt
facility would also constitute a default under our Subordinated Debt and would
entitle the lenders to accelerate the repayment of amounts
outstanding.
The LLC
did not make the scheduled quarterly interest payments that were due on
September 30, 2008 and December 31, 2008. Under the terms of the
Subordinated Debt, the failure to pay interest when due is an event of
default. In January 2009, the LLC and the Sub Lenders entered into a
waiver and amendment agreement to the loan agreement (“Waiver and
Amendment”). Under the Waiver and Amendment, an initial payment of $2.0
million, which was made on January 16, 2009, was made to pay the $767,000
of accrued interest due September 30, 2008 and to reduce outstanding
principal by $1,233,000. Effective upon the $2.0 million initial payment,
the Sub Lenders waived the defaults and any associated penalty interest relating
to the LLC’s failure to make the September 30, 2008 and the
December 31, 2008 quarterly interest payments. Effective
December 1, 2008, interest on the Subordinated Debt began accruing at a
5.0% annual rate, a rate that will apply until the debt with Cargill (under an
agreement entered into simultaneously) has been paid in full, at which time the
rate will revert to a 15.0% annual rate and quarterly payments in arrears are
required. As of September 30, 2010, the LLC had $21.1 million outstanding under
the Subordinated Debt. As long as the debt with Cargill remains
outstanding, future payments to the Sub Lenders are contingent upon available
cash being received by the LLC, as defined in the Waiver and Amendment. The
Subordinated Debt is secured by the equity of the subsidiaries of the LLC owning
the Wood River and Fairmont plant sites and fully and unconditionally guaranteed
by those subsidiaries, which guarantees are subordinated to the obligations of
the subsidiaries under our Senior Debt facility. A default under our
Senior Debt facility would also constitute a default under our Subordinated Debt
and would entitle the lenders to accelerate the repayment of amounts
outstanding.
Debt
issuance fees and expenses of $5.5 million ($1.2 million, net of accumulated
amortization) have been incurred in connection with the Subordinated Debt at
September 30, 2010. Debt issuance costs associated with the
Subordinated Debt have been deferred and are being amortized and expensed as
interest over the term of the agreement.
In
January 2009, the LLC and Cargill entered into an agreement (“Cargill
Agreement”) which finalized the payment terms for $17.4 million owed to Cargill
(“Cargill Debt”) by the LLC related to hedging losses with respect to corn
hedging contracts that had been liquidated in the third quarter of 2008.
The Cargill Agreement required an initial payment of $3.0 million on the
outstanding balance, which was paid on December 5, 2008. Upon the
initial payment of $3.0 million, Cargill also forgave $3.0 million.
Effective December 1, 2008, interest on the Cargill Debt began accruing at
a 5.0% annual rate compounded quarterly. Future payments to Cargill of
both principal and interest are contingent upon the receipt by the LLC of
available cash, as defined in the Cargill Agreement. Cargill will forgive,
on a dollar for dollar basis, a further $2.8 million as it receives the next
$2.8 million of principal payments. The Cargill Debt is being accounted
for as a troubled debt restructuring. As the future cash payments
specified by the terms of the Cargill Agreement exceed the carrying amount of
the debt before the $3.0 million was forgiven, the carrying amount of the debt
was not reduced and no gain was recorded. As future payments are made, the
LLC will determine, based on the timing of payments, whether or not any gain
should be recorded.
On
September 24, 2010, the Company entered into a loan agreement (the “Bridge Loan
Agreement”) with Greenlight Capital, Inc. and certain of its affiliates
(collectively, the “Greenlight Parties”) and an affiliate of Third Point LLC
(“Third Point” and, together with the Greenlight Parties, the “Bridge Loan
Lenders”) pursuant to which the Company borrowed $19.4 million (the "Bridge
Loan"). The proceeds of the Bridge Loan were used (i) to repay the
$17.9 million in outstanding working capital loans under the Senior Debt
facility, and (ii) to pay the fees and expenses of the transaction, which were a
bridge loan funding fee of $0.8 million and a backstop commitment fee pursuant
to the Rights Offering Letter Agreement of $0.7 million. The bridge
loan funding fee and the backstop commitment fee are included in other current
assets. The Bridge Loan is secured by a pledge of the Company's equity interest
in the LLC. The Bridge Loan matures on March 24, 2011 and in the
event the Bridge Loan is not paid in full on or before the maturity date, the
Company will issue warrants to the Bridge Loan Lenders exercisable for an
aggregate of 15% of the Company's common stock on a fully diluted basis as of
the date the warrant is issued at an exercise price of $0.01 per
share.
The Bridge Loan bears interest at a
rate of 12.5% per annum, and if the Bridge Loan is not paid in full on or before
the maturity date, the Bridge Loan will bear interest at a rate of 14.5% per
annum. Under the Bridge Loan Agreement, the Company must comply with its
obligations under the Rights Offering Letter Agreement, including the obligation
to use its commercially reasonable best efforts to conduct a rights offering to
the owners of its common stock (the “Rights Offering”). In connection therewith,
the LLC intends to conduct a concurrent private placement of LLC membership
interests (see Note 7 – Stockholders’ Equity).
15
The
Bridge Loan Agreement contains customary affirmative covenants for facilities of
this type, including covenants pertaining to the delivery of financial
statements, notices of default and certain other information, maintenance of
business and insurance, collateral matters and compliance with laws, as well as
customary negative covenants for facilities of this type, including limitations
on the incurrence of indebtedness and liens, mergers and certain other
fundamental changes, loans and investments, acquisitions, transactions with
affiliates, dispositions of assets, payments of dividends and other restricted
payments and changes in the Company's line of business.
The Bridge Loan Agreement contains
default provisions that include a material breach of the Rights Offering Letter
Agreement and others that are customary for facilities of this type, which are
subject to customary grace periods and materiality thresholds, including, among
other things, defaults related to payment failures, failure to comply with
covenants, misrepresentations, defaults under other material indebtedness, the
occurrence of a “change of control”, bankruptcy and related events, material
judgments, specified changes in control of the Company and invalidity of the
loan documents. If an event of default occurs under the Bridge Loan Agreement,
the lenders may, among other things, declare the Bridge Loan immediately payable
and foreclose on the collateral. The Bridge Loan Agreement requires prepayments
with the proceeds from certain sales of assets, the Rights Offering and any
substitute transaction. The Bridge Loan may be prepaid without
penalty or premium.
The LLC,
through its subsidiary that constructed the Fairmont plant, has entered into an
agreement with the local utility pursuant to which the utility has built and
owns and operates a substation and distribution facility in order to supply
electricity to the plant. The LLC is paying a fixed facilities charge
based on the cost of the substation and distribution facility of $34,000 per
month, over the 30-year term of the agreement. This fixed facilities
charge is being accounted for as a capital lease in the accompanying financial
statements. The agreement also includes a $25,000 monthly minimum energy
charge that also began in the first quarter of 2008.
Notes
payable relate to certain financing agreements in place at each of our sites, as
well as the Cargill Debt. The subsidiaries of the LLC that constructed the
plants entered into financing agreements in the first quarter of 2008 for the
purchase of certain rolling stock equipment to be used at the facilities for
$748,000. The notes have fixed interest rates (weighted average rate of
approximately 5.6%) and require 48 monthly payments of principal and interest,
maturing in the first and second quarter of 2012. In addition, the
subsidiary of the LLC that constructed the Wood River facility has entered into
a note payable for $2,220,000 with a fixed interest rate of 11.8% for the
purchase of our natural gas pipeline. The note requires 36 monthly payments of
principal and interest and matures in the first quarter of 2011. In
addition, the subsidiary of the LLC that constructed the Wood River facility has
entered into a note payable for $419,000 with the City of Wood River for special
assessments related to street, water, and sanitary improvements at our Wood
River facility. This note requires ten annual payments of $58,000,
including interest at 6.5% per annum, and matures in 2018.
The
following table summarizes the aggregate maturities of our long-term debt as of
September 30, 2010 (in thousands):
Remainder
of 2010
|
$
|
3,421
|
||
2011
|
32,418
|
|||
2012
|
12,705
|
|||
2013
|
12,648
|
|||
2014
|
151,631
|
|||
Thereafter
|
38,189
|
|||
Total
|
$
|
251,012
|
16
6.
Tax Increment
Financing
In
February 2007, the subsidiary of the LLC that constructed the Wood River
plant received $6.0 million from the proceeds of a tax increment revenue note
issued by the City of Wood River, Nebraska. The proceeds funded
improvements to property owned by the subsidiary. The City of Wood River
will pay the principal and interest of the note from the incremental increase in
the property taxes related to the improvements made to the property. The
interest rate on the note is 7.85%. The proceeds have been recorded as a
liability which is reduced as the subsidiary of the LLC remits property taxes to
the City of Wood River, which began in 2008 and will continue through
2021.
The LLC
has guaranteed the principal and interest of the tax increment revenue note if,
for any reason, the City of Wood River fails to make the required payments
to the holder of the note or the subsidiary of the LLC fails to make the
required payments to the City of Wood River. Semiannual principal payments
on the tax increment revenue note began in June 2008. Due to lower than
anticipated assessed property values, the subsidiary of the LLC was required to
pay $468,000 in 2009 and $34,000 during the nine months ended September 30, 2010
as a portion of the note payments.
The
following table summarizes the aggregate maturities of the tax increment
financing debt as of September 30, 2010 (in thousands):
Remainder
of 2010
|
$
|
274
|
||
2011
|
343
|
|||
2012
|
370
|
|||
2013
|
399
|
|||
2014
|
431
|
|||
Thereafter
|
4,048
|
|||
Total
|
$
|
5,865
|
7.
Stockholders’
Equity
Rights
Offering and LLC Concurrent Private Placement
In connection with the Bridge Loan
Agreement, on September 24, 2010, the Company entered into a Rights Offering
Letter Agreement (the "Rights Offering Letter Agreement") with the Bridge Loan
Lenders pursuant to which the Company agreed to use its commercially reasonable
best efforts to commence the Rights Offering. The Rights Offering will entail a
distribution to our common stockholders of rights to purchase depositary shares
representing fractional interests in a new series of Series A Non-Voting
Convertible Preferred Stock. Concurrent with the Rights Offering, the LLC will
conduct a private placement of LLC interests. The LLC’s concurrent private
placement will be structured so as to provide the holders of the membership
interests in the LLC (other than BioFuel Energy Corp.) with a private placement
that is economically equivalent to the Rights Offering. The combined
offering size of the Rights Offering and the concurrent private placement is
anticipated to be approximately $44.0 million. The Company would use the
proceeds of the Rights Offering and the LLC’s concurrent private placement to
(i) repay in full the Bridge Loan, (ii) repay in full its obligations under the
Subordinated Debt, (iii) repay certain amounts owed to Cargill, and (iv) pay
certain fees and expenses incurred in connection with the Rights Offering and
the LLC’s concurrent private placement.
The provisions of the Rights Offering
Letter Agreement permit the Company to solicit, participate in, initiate or
facilitate discussions or negotiations with, or provide any information to, any
person or group of persons concerning any alternative equity financing or other
transaction (a “Substitute Transaction”) that would result in the (a) repayment
in full of all amounts outstanding under the Bridge Loan Agreement, (b)
repayment in full of all amounts under the Subordinated Debt and (c) repay
certain amounts owed to Cargill. If the Company signs a definitive agreement
relating to a Substitute Transaction, it will pay the Bridge Loan Lenders a
termination fee of $350,000.
The Bridge Loan Lenders agreed to (i)
participate in the Rights Offering for their full pro rata share (the "Basic
Commitment") and (ii) purchase all of the available depositary shares not
otherwise sold in the Rights Offering (the "Backstop
Commitment"). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Rights Offering
Letter Agreement provides that (a) the Bridge Loan Lenders may reduce the number
of depositary shares that the Bridge Loan Lenders would otherwise be obligated
to purchase pursuant to the Basic Commitment and/or Backstop Commitment or (b)
the Company may reduce the aggregate number of depositary shares offered in the
Rights Offering in the event the Bridge Loan Lenders determine, in their sole
discretion, but after consultation with the Company, that the consummation of
the Rights Offering, the Basic Commitment and/or the Backstop Commitment would
result in adverse tax, legal or regulatory consequences to the Company or any of
the Bridge Loan Lenders. In the event of a backstop reduction, the
Rights Offering would proceed with the Company and the Bridge Loan Lenders using
their commercially reasonable best efforts to structure and consummate an
alternative transaction to take the place of the issuance of the depositary
shares not purchased in the Rights Offering. In consideration of the Backstop
Commitment for a combined $40 million Rights Offering, the Company paid the
Bridge Loan Lenders $0.7 million on September 24, 2010. If the amount
of the Rights Offering is increased above $40 million, an additional fee of 4%
of the excess will be payable to the Bridge Loan Lenders).
17
Stock
Repurchase Plan
On
October 15, 2007, the Company announced the adoption of a stock repurchase
plan authorizing the repurchase of up to $7.5 million of the Company’s common
stock. Purchases will be funded out of cash on hand and made from time to
time in the open market. From the inception of the buyback program through
September 30, 2010, the Company had repurchased 809,606 shares at an average
price of $5.30 per share, leaving $3,184,000 available under the repurchase
plan. The shares repurchased are being held as treasury stock. As of
September 30, 2010, there were no plans to repurchase any additional
shares.
Dividends
The
Company has not declared any dividends on its common stock and does not
anticipate paying dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, the
terms of the Senior Debt facility contain restrictions on the ability of the LLC
to pay dividends or other distributions, which will restrict the Company’s
ability to pay dividends in the future.
8.
Derivative Financial
Instruments
Prior to
March 31, 2010, we used interest rate swaps to manage the economic effect of
variable interest obligations associated with our floating rate Senior Debt
facility so that the interest payable on a portion of the principal value of the
Senior Debt facility effectively becomes fixed at a certain rate, thereby
reducing the impact of future interest rate changes on our future interest
expense. The unrealized losses on these interest rate swaps are included in
accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and the corresponding fair value
liabilities are included in the current portion of derivative financial
instrument liability in our consolidated balance sheet. The monthly
interest settlements are reclassified from other comprehensive income (loss) to
interest expense as they are settled each month. The full amount of
accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) at December 31, 2009 related
to one interest rate swap and was reclassified to the statement of operations in
the first two months of 2010 as it expired. See Note 5 for further
discussion of interest rates on the Senior Debt facility.
The effects of derivative instruments
on our consolidated financial statements were as follows as of September 30,
2010 and December 31, 2009 and for the three and nine months ended September 30,
2010 and September 30, 2009 (in thousands) (amounts presented exclude any income
tax effects and have not been adjusted for the amount attributable to the
noncontrolling interest):
Fair
Values of Derivative Instruments
Liability Derivatives
|
|||||||||
Fair Value at
|
|||||||||
Consolidated Balance Sheet Location
|
September 30, 2010
|
December 31, 2009
|
|||||||
Derivative
designated as hedging instrument:
|
|||||||||
Interest
rate contract
|
Derivative
financial instrument (current liabilities)
|
$ | - | $ | 315 |
Effect
of Derivative Instruments on the Consolidated Statement of
Operations
|
Three Months Ended
|
Nine
Months Ended
|
|||||||||||||||
Consolidated Statements of Operations Location
|
September
30,
2010
|
September
30,
2009
|
September
30,
2010
|
September
30,
2009
|
|||||||||||||
gain
(loss)
|
gain (loss)
|
gain (loss)
|
gain (loss)
|
||||||||||||||
Derivative
not designated as hedging instrument:
|
|||||||||||||||||
Commodity
contract
|
Net
sales
|
$ | - | $ | - | $ | 230 | $ | - | ||||||||
Derivative
designated as hedging instrument:
|
|||||||||||||||||
Interest
rate contract
|
Interest
expense
|
- | (988 | ) | (197 | ) | (2,842 | ) | |||||||||
Net
amount recognized in earnings
|
$ | - | $ | (988 | ) | $ | 33 | $ | (2,842 | ) |
Effective
January 1, 2008, the Company adopted the framework for measuring fair value and
the expanded disclosures about fair value measurements. In accordance with these
provisions, we have categorized our financial assets and liabilities, based on
the priority of the inputs to the valuation technique, into a three-level fair
value hierarchy as set forth below. If the inputs used to measure the financial
instruments fall within different levels of the hierarchy, the categorization is
based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value
measurement of the instrument.
Financial
assets and liabilities recorded on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets are
categorized based on the inputs to the valuation techniques as
follows:
Level 1 —
Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on unadjusted quoted
prices for identical assets or liabilities in an active market that the Company
has the ability to access at the measurement date. We currently do not have any
Level 1 financial assets or liabilities.
Level 2 —
Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on quoted prices in
markets where trading occurs infrequently or whose values are based on quoted
prices of instruments with similar attributes in active
markets. Level 2 inputs include the following:
|
·
|
Quoted prices for identical or
similar assets or liabilities in non-active markets (examples include
corporate and municipal bonds which trade
infrequently);
|
18
|
·
|
Inputs other than quoted prices
that are observable for substantially the full term of the asset or
liability (examples include interest rate and currency swaps);
and
|
|
·
|
Inputs that are derived
principally from or corroborated by observable market data for
substantially the full term of the asset or liability (examples include
certain securities and
derivatives).
|
(in thousands)
|
September 30,
|
December 31,
|
||||||
Level 2
|
2010
|
2009
|
||||||
Financial
Liabilities:
|
||||||||
Interest
rate contract
|
$ | — | $ | (315 | ) | |||
Total
liabilities
|
$ | — | $ | (315 | ) | |||
Total
net position
|
$ | — | $ | (315 | ) |
The fair
value of our interest rate swap was derived from market data, primarily
market rates for Eurodollar futures and adjusted for credit risk.
Level 3 —
Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on prices or valuation
techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the
overall fair value measurement. These inputs reflect management’s own
assumptions about the assumptions a market participant would use in pricing the
asset or liability. We currently do not have any Level 3 financial assets or
liabilities.
9.
Stock-Based Compensation
The
following table summarizes the stock based compensation incurred by the
Company:
Three Months Ended, September 30
|
Nine Months Ended, September 30
|
|||||||||||||||
(in thousands)
|
2010
|
2009
|
2010
|
2009
|
||||||||||||
Stock
options
|
$
|
327
|
$
|
64
|
$
|
1,017
|
$
|
190
|
||||||||
Restricted
stock
|
6
|
3
|
27
|
94
|
||||||||||||
Total
|
$
|
333
|
$
|
67
|
$
|
1,044
|
$
|
284
|
2007
Equity Incentive Compensation Plan
Immediately
prior to the Company’s initial public offering, the Company adopted the 2007
Equity Incentive Compensation Plan (“2007 Plan”). The 2007 Plan provides for the
grant of options intended to qualify as incentive stock options, non-qualified
stock options, stock appreciation rights or restricted stock awards and any
other equity-based or equity-related awards. The 2007 Plan is administered by
the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. Subject to adjustment for
changes in capitalization, the aggregate number of shares that may be delivered
pursuant to awards under the 2007 Plan is 3,000,000 and the term of the Plan is
ten years, expiring in June 2017.
Stock Options —
Except as otherwise directed by the Compensation Committee, the exercise price
for options cannot be less than the fair market value of our common stock on the
grant date. Other than the stock options issued to Directors, the options will
generally vest and become exercisable with respect to 30%, 30% and 40% of the
shares of our common stock subject to such options on each of the first three
anniversaries of the grant date. Compensation expense related to these options
is expensed on a straight line basis over the three year vesting period. Options
issued to Directors generally vest and become exercisable on the first
anniversary of the grant date. All stock options have a five year term from the
date of grant.
During
the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010, the Company issued 5,000 and
768,932 stock options, respectively, under the 2007 Plan to certain of our
employees and our non-employee Directors with a per share exercise price equal
to the market price of the stock on the date of grant. During the three and nine
months ended September 30, 2009, the Company issued 0 and 30,000 stock options,
respectively, under the 2007 Plan to certain of our non-employee Directors with
a per share exercise price equal to the market price of the stock on the date of
grant. The determination of the fair value of the stock option awards, using the
Black-Scholes model, incorporated the assumptions in the following table for
stock options granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2010. The
risk-free rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time
of grant over the expected term. Expected volatility is calculated by
considering, among other things, the expected volatilities of public companies
engaged in the ethanol industry.
19
The
weighted average variables used in calculating fair value and the resulting
compensation expense in the nine months ended September 30, 2010 are as
follows:
Expected stock price volatility
|
151.3
|
%
|
||
Expected
life (in years)
|
3.2
|
|||
Risk-free
interest rate
|
2.3
|
%
|
||
Expected
dividend yield
|
0.0
|
%
|
||
Expected
forfeiture rate
|
28.0
|
%
|
||
Weighted
average grant date fair value
|
$
|
2.27
|
A summary
of the status of outstanding stock options at September 30, 2010 and the
changes during the nine months ended September 30, 2010 is as
follows:
Weighted
|
Weighted
|
Unrecognized
|
||||||||||||||||||
Average
|
Average
|
Aggregate
|
Remaining
|
|||||||||||||||||
Exercise
|
Remaining
|
Intrinsic
|
Compensation
|
|||||||||||||||||
Shares
|
Price
|
Life (years)
|
Value
|
Expense
|
||||||||||||||||
Options
outstanding, January 1, 2010
|
1,196,900
|
$
|
4.00
|
|||||||||||||||||
Granted
|
768,932
|
2.73
|
||||||||||||||||||
Exercised
|
-
|
-
|
||||||||||||||||||
Forfeited
|
(118,287
|
)
|
7.19
|
|||||||||||||||||
Options
outstanding, September 30, 2010
|
1,847,545
|
$
|
3.27
|
4.1
|
$
|
40,900
|
||||||||||||||
Options
vested or expected to vest at September 30, 2010
|
1,285,897
|
$
|
3.38
|
4.0
|
$
|
39,008
|
$
|
1,743,023
|
||||||||||||
Options
exercisable, September 30, 2010
|
290,414
|
$
|
4.62
|
3.2
|
$
|
31,500
|
Restricted Stock -
During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010, the Company
granted 2,500 and 15,000 shares, respectively, to its non-employee Directors
under the 2007 Plan. During the three and nine months ended September 30,
2009, the Company granted 0 and 15,000 shares, respectively, to its non-employee
Directors under the 2007 Plan.
A summary
of the restricted stock activity during the nine months ended September 30,
2010 is as follows:
Weighted
|
||||||||||||||||
Average
|
Unrecognized
|
|||||||||||||||
Grant Date
|
Aggregate
|
Remaining
|
||||||||||||||
Fair Value
|
Intrinsic
|
Compensation
|
||||||||||||||
Shares
|
per Award
|
Value
|
Expense
|
|||||||||||||
Restricted
stock outstanding, January 1, 2010
|
24,962
|
$
|
4.63
|
|||||||||||||
Granted
|
15,000
|
1.68
|
||||||||||||||
Vested
|
(17,040
|
)
|
1.90
|
|||||||||||||
Cancelled
or expired
|
(6,507
|
)
|
10.50
|
|||||||||||||
Restricted
stock outstanding, September 30, 2010
|
16,415
|
$
|
2.44
|
$
|
32,666
|
|||||||||||
Restricted
stock expected to vest at September 30, 2010
|
12,318
|
$
|
2.42
|
$
|
24,513
|
$
|
22,376
|
The
remaining unrecognized option and restricted stock expense will be recognized
over 2.1 and 0.7 years, respectively. After considering the stock option
and restricted stock awards issued and outstanding, the Company had 1,052,636
shares of common stock available for future grant under our 2007 Plan at
September 30, 2010.
20
10.
Income Taxes
The
Company has not recognized any income tax provision (benefit) for the three and
nine months ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009.
The U.S.
statutory federal income tax rate is reconciled to the Company’s effective
income tax rate as follows:
Three Months Ended, September
30,
|
Nine Months Ended, September
30,
|
|||||||||||||||
|
2010
|
2009
|
2010
|
2009
|
||||||||||||
Statutory
U.S. federal income tax rate
|
(34.0
|
)%
|
(34.0
|
)%
|
(34.0
|
)%
|
(34.0)
|
%
|
||||||||
Expected
state tax benefit, net
|
(3.6
|
)%
|
(3.6
|
)%
|
(3.6
|
)%
|
(3.6)
|
%
|
||||||||
Valuation
allowance
|
37.6
|
%
|
37.6
|
%
|
37.6
|
%
|
37.6
|
%
|
||||||||
0.0
|
%
|
0.0
|
%
|
0.0
|
%
|
0.0
|
%
|
The
effects of temporary differences and other items that give rise to deferred tax
assets and liabilities are presented below (in thousands).
September 30,
|
December 31,
|
|||||||
2010
|
2009
|
|||||||
Deferred
tax assets:
|
||||||||
Capitalized
start up costs
|
$
|
3,877
|
$
|
4,216
|
||||
Net
unrealized loss on derivatives
|
-
|
36
|
||||||
Stock
options
|
402
|
179
|
||||||
Net
operating loss carryover
|
58,612
|
48,879
|
||||||
Other
|
31
|
33
|
||||||
Deferred
tax asset
|
62,922
|
53,343
|
||||||
Valuation
allowance
|
(30,946
|
)
|
(24,130
|
)
|
||||
Deferred
tax liabilities:
|
||||||||
Property,
plant and equipment
|
(31,976
|
)
|
(29,213
|
)
|
||||
Deferred
tax liabilities
|
(31,976
|
)
|
(29,213
|
)
|
||||
Net
deferred tax asset
|
$
|
—
|
$
|
—
|
The
Company assesses the recoverability of deferred tax assets and the need for a
valuation allowance on an ongoing basis. In making this assessment,
management considers all available positive and negative evidence to determine
whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax
assets will be realized in future periods. This assessment requires
significant judgment and estimates involving current and deferred income taxes,
tax attributes relating to the interpretation of various tax laws, historical
bases of tax attributes associated with certain assets and limitations
surrounding the realization of deferred tax assets.
As of
September 30, 2010, the net operating loss carryforward is $156 million,
which will begin to expire if not used by December 31, 2028. The
U.S. federal statute of limitations remains open for our 2006 and
subsequent tax years.
11.
Employee Benefit Plan
401(k) Plan
The LLC
sponsors a 401(k) profit sharing and savings plan for its employees. Employee
participation in this plan is voluntary. Prior to January 1, 2010,
contributions to the plan by the LLC were discretionary and were made on an
annual basis at year end. Effective January 1, 2010, the LLC began
matching up to 3% of eligible employee contributions on a biweekly
basis. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010,
contributions to the plan by the LLC totaled $67,000 and $198,000,
respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009 there were
no contributions to the plan by the LLC.
21
12.
Commitments and Contingencies
The LLC,
through its subsidiaries, entered into two operating lease agreements with
Cargill. Cargill’s grain handling and storage facilities, located adjacent to
the Wood River and Fairmont plants, are being leased for 20 years, which began
in September 2008 for both plants. Minimum annual payments are $800,000 for the
Fairmont plant and $1,000,000 for the Wood River plant so long as the associated
corn supply agreements with Cargill remain in effect. Should the Company not
maintain its corn supply agreements with Cargill, the minimum annual payments
under each lease increase to $1,200,000 and $1,500,000, respectively. The leases
contain escalation clauses which are based on the percentage change in the
Midwest Consumer Price Index. The escalation clauses are considered to be
contingent rent and, accordingly, are not included in minimum lease payments.
Rent expense is recognized on a straight line basis over the terms of the
leases. Events of default under the leases include failure to fulfill monetary
or non-monetary obligations and insolvency. Effective September 1, 2009, the
subsidiaries and Cargill entered into Omnibus Agreements whereby the two
operating lease agreements were modified, for a period of one year, to defer a
portion of the monthly lease payments. The deferred lease payments were to be
paid back to Cargill over a two year period beginning September 1, 2010. On
September 23, 2010 the subsidiaries and Cargill entered into a letter agreement
(“Letter Agreement”) whereby (i) effective October 2010 the minimum annual
payments under the leases were reduced to $50,000 for the Fairmont plant and
$250,000 for the Wood River plant and (ii) repayment of the deferred lease
payments have been deferred for an indefinite period of time.
Subsidiaries
of the LLC entered into agreements to lease a total of 825 railroad cars.
Pursuant to these lease agreements, which began in the second quarter of 2008,
these subsidiaries will pay an average of approximately $7.4 million per year
for ten years. Monthly rental charges escalate if modifications of the
cars are required by governmental authorities or mileage exceeds 30,000 miles in
any calendar year. Rent expense is recognized on a straight line basis
over the terms of the leases. Events of default under the leases include
failure to fulfill monetary or non-monetary obligations and
insolvency.
In
April 2008, the LLC entered into a five year lease that began July 1,
2008 for office space for its corporate headquarters. Rent expense is
being recognized on a straight line basis over the term of the
lease.
Future
minimum operating lease payments at September 30, 2010 are as follows (in
thousands):
Remainder
of 2010
|
$
|
2,221
|
||
2011
|
8,211
|
|||
2012
|
8,036
|
|||
2013
|
7,996
|
|||
2014
|
7,776
|
|||
Thereafter
|
29,080
|
|||
Total
|
$
|
63,320
|
Rent
expense recorded for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 totaled
$2,334,000 and $6,919,000, respectively. Rent expense recorded for the three and
nine months ended September 30, 2009 totaled $2,366,000 and $7,080,000,
respectively.
The LLC,
through its subsidiary that constructed the Wood River plant, has entered into
agreements with electric utilities pursuant to which the electric utilities
built, own and operate substation and distribution facilities in order to supply
electricity to the plants. For its Wood River plant, the LLC paid the
utility $1.5 million for the cost of the substation and distribution facility,
which was recorded as property, plant and equipment. The balance of the
utilities direct capital costs is being recovered from monthly demand charges of
approximately $124,000 per month for three years which began in the second
quarter of 2008.
Pursuant
to long-term agreements, Cargill is the exclusive supplier of corn to the Wood
River and Fairmont plants for twenty years commencing September 2008.
The price of corn purchased under these agreements is based on a formula
including cost plus an origination fee of $0.045 per bushel. The minimum
annual origination fee payable to Cargill per plant under the agreements is $1.2
million. The agreements contain events of default that include failure to
pay, willful misconduct, purchase of corn from another supplier, insolvency or
the termination of the associated grain facility lease. Effective
September 1, 2009, the subsidiaries and Cargill entered into Omnibus Agreements
whereby the two corn supply agreements were modified, for a period of one year,
extending payment terms for our corn purchases which payment terms were to
revert back to the original terms on September 1, 2010. On September 23, 2010
the subsidiaries and Cargill entered into a Letter Agreement whereby the
extended payment terms for our corn purchases will remain in effect for the
remainder of the two corn supply agreements.
At
September 30, 2010, the LLC, through its subsidiaries, had contracted to
purchase 6,957,000 bushels of corn to be delivered between October 2010 and
October 2011 at our Fairmont location, and 8,858,000 bushels of corn to be
delivered between October 2010 and March 2012 at our Wood River location.
These purchase commitments represent 16% and 14% of the projected corn
requirements during those periods for Fairmont and Wood River,
respectively. The purchase price of the corn will be determined at the
time of delivery. At September 30, 2010, the LLC, through its
subsidiaries, had contracted for future ethanol deliveries valued at $4.3
million between October 2010 and December 2010 for each of our plants.
These sales commitments represent 10% of the projected ethanol sales during the
period at each plant. These normal purchase and sale commitments are not
marked to market or recorded in the consolidated balance sheet.
22
Cargill
has agreed to purchase all ethanol and distillers grain produced at the Wood
River and Fairmont plants through September 2016. Under the terms of the ethanol
marketing agreements, the Wood River and Fairmont plants will generally
participate in a marketing pool where all parties receive the same net price.
That price initially was the average delivered price per gallon received by the
marketing pool less average transportation and storage charges and less a 1%
commission. In certain circumstances, the plants may elect not to participate in
the marketing pool. Minimum annual commissions are payable to Cargill and
initially represented 1% of Cargill’s average selling price for 82.5 million
gallons of ethanol from each plant. Under the distillers grain marketing
agreements, the Wood River and Fairmont plants will receive the market value at
time of sale less a commission. Minimum annual commissions are payable to
Cargill and range from $500,000 to $700,000 depending upon certain factors as
specified in the agreement. The marketing agreements contain events of default
that include failure to pay, willful misconduct and insolvency. Effective
September 1, 2009, the subsidiaries and Cargill entered into Omnibus Agreements
whereby the two ethanol marketing agreements were modified, for a period of one
year, to defer a portion of the monthly ethanol commission payments. The
deferred commission payments were to be paid to Cargill over a two year period
beginning September 1, 2010. On September 23, 2010 the subsidiaries and Cargill
entered into a Letter Agreement whereby (i) effective September 24, 2010 the
ethanol commissions were reduced to $0.01 per gallon and the distillers grain
commissions were reduced accordingly and (ii) repayment of the deferred
commission payments have been deferred for an indefinite period of
time.
The
Company is not currently a party to any material legal, administrative or
regulatory proceedings that have arisen in the ordinary course of business or
otherwise that would result in loss contingencies.
13.
Noncontrolling Interest
Noncontrolling
interest consists of equity issued to members of the LLC. Under its original LLC
agreement, the LLC was authorized to issue 9,357,500 Class A; 950,000 Class B;
425,000 Class M; 2,683,125 Class C; and 894,375 Class D Units. Class M, C and D
Units were considered “profits interests” for which no cash consideration was
received upon issuance. In accordance with the LLC agreement, all classes of the
LLC’s equity units were converted to one class of LLC equity upon the Company’s
initial public offering in June 2007. As provided in the LLC agreement, the
exchange ratio of the various existing classes of equity for the single class of
equity was based on the Company’s initial public offering price of $10.50 per
share and the resulting implied valuation of the Company. The exchange resulted
in the issuance of 17,957,896 LLC membership units and Class B common shares.
Each LLC membership unit combined with a share of Class B common stock is
exchangeable at the holder’s option into one share of Company common stock. The
LLC may make distributions to members as determined by the Company.
Exchange
of LLC Units
LLC
membership units, when combined with the Class B shares, can be exchanged
for newly issued shares of common stock of the Company on a one-for-one
basis. The following table summarizes the exchange activity since the
Company’s initial public offering:
LLC
Membership Units and Class B common shares outstanding at
initial public offering, June 2007
|
17,957,896
|
|||
LLC
Membership Units and Class B common shares exchanged in
2007
|
(561,210
|
)
|
||
LLC
Membership Units and Class B common shares exchanged in
2008
|
(7,314,438
|
)
|
||
LLC
Membership Units and Class B common shares exchanged in
2009
|
(2,633,663
|
)
|
||
LLC
Membership Units and Class B common shares exchanged in the nine months
ended September 30, 2010
|
(336,600
|
)
|
||
Remaining
LLC Membership Units and Class B common shares at September 30,
2010
|
7,111,985
|
At the
time of its initial public offering, the Company owned 28.9% of the LLC
membership units of the LLC. At September 30, 2010, the Company owned 78.7%
of the LLC membership units. The noncontrolling interest will continue to be
reported until all Class B common shares and LLC membership units have been
exchanged for the Company’s common stock.
The table
below shows the effects of the changes in BioFuel Energy Corp.’s ownership
interest in LLC on the equity attributable to BioFuel Energy Corp.’s common
shareholders for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and
September 30, 2009 (in thousands):
23
Net
Loss Attributable to BioFuel Energy Corp.’s Common
Shareholders and
Transfers
(to) from the Noncontrolling Interest
Three Months Ended, September 30
|
Nine Months Ended, September 30
|
|||||||||||||||
2010
|
2009
|
2010
|
2009
|
|||||||||||||
Net
income (loss) attributable to BioFuel Energy Corp.
|
$
|
(1,377
|
)
|
$
|
(6,234
|
)
|
$
|
(18,936
|
)
|
$
|
(20,478
|
)
|
||||
Transfers
(to) from the noncontrolling interest
|
||||||||||||||||
Increase
in BioFuel Energy Corp.’s stockholders equity
from issuance of common shares in exchange for Class B
common shares and units of BioFuel Energy, LLC
|
-
|
-
|
236
|
1,794
|
||||||||||||
Net
transfers (to) from noncontrolling interest
|
-
|
-
|
236
|
1,794
|
||||||||||||
Change in
equity from net loss attributable to BioFuel Energy Corp. and
transfers (to) from noncontrolling interest
|
$
|
(1,377
|
)
|
$
|
(6,234
|
)
|
$
|
(18,700
|
)
|
$
|
(18,684
|
)
|
Tax
Benefit Sharing Agreement
Membership
units in the LLC combined with the related Class B common shares held by
the historical equity investors may be exchanged in the future for shares of our
common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to customary conversion rate
adjustments for stock splits, stock dividends and reclassifications. The
LLC will make an election under Section 754 of the IRS Code effective for
each taxable year in which an exchange of membership units and Class B
shares for common shares occurs, which may result in an adjustment to the tax
basis of the assets owned by the LLC at the time of the exchange.
Increases in tax basis, if any, would reduce the amount of tax that the Company
would otherwise be required to pay in the future, although the IRS may challenge
all or part of the tax basis increases, and a court could sustain such a
challenge. The Company has entered into tax benefit sharing agreements with its
historical LLC investors that will provide for a sharing of these tax benefits,
if any, between the Company and the historical LLC equity investors. Under these
agreements, the Company will make a payment to an exchanging LLC member of 85%
of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income
taxes the Company actually realizes as a result of this increase in tax
basis. The Company and its common stockholders will benefit from the
remaining 15% of cash savings, if any, in income taxes realized. For purposes of
the tax benefit sharing agreement, cash savings in income tax will be computed
by comparing the Company’s actual income tax liability to the amount of such
taxes the Company would have been required to pay had there been no increase in
the tax basis in the assets of the LLC as a result of the exchanges. The
term of the tax benefit sharing agreement commenced on the Company’s initial
public offering in June 2007 and will continue until all such tax benefits
have been utilized or expired, unless a change of control occurs and the Company
exercises its resulting right to terminate the tax benefit sharing agreement for
an amount based on agreed payments remaining to be made under the
agreement.
True
Up Agreement
At the
time of formation of the LLC, the founders agreed with certain of our principal
stockholders as to the relative ownership interests in the Company of our
management members and affiliates of Greenlight Capital, Inc.
(“Greenlight”) and Third Point LLC (“Third Point”). Certain management
members and affiliates of Greenlight and Third Point agreed to exchange LLC
membership interests, shares of common stock or cash at a future date, referred
to as the “true-up date”, depending on the Company’s performance. This provision
functions by providing management with additional value if the Company’s value
improves and by reducing management’s interest in the Company if its value
decreases, subject to a predetermined rate of return accruing to Greenlight and
Third Point. In particular, if the value of the Company increases from the time
of the initial public offering to the “true-up date”, the management members
will be entitled to receive LLC membership units, shares of common stock or cash
from the affiliates of Greenlight and Third Point. On the other hand, if the
value of the Company decreases from the time of the initial public offering to
the “true-up date” or if a predetermined rate of return is not met, the
affiliates of Greenlight and Third Point will be entitled to receive LLC
membership units or shares of common stock from the management
members.
The
“true-up date” will be the earlier of (1) the date on which the Greenlight
and Third Point affiliates sell a number of shares of our common stock equal to
or greater than the number of shares of common stock or Class B common
stock received by them at the time of our initial public offering in respect of
their original investment in the LLC, and (2) five years from the date of
the initial public offering which is June 2012. On the “true-up date”, the
LLC’s value will be determined, based on the prices at which the Greenlight and
Third Point affiliates sold shares of our common stock prior to that date, with
any remaining shares (or LLC membership units exchangeable for shares) held by
them deemed to have been sold at the then-current trading price. If the number
of LLC membership units held by the management members at the time of the
offering is greater than the number of LLC membership units the management
members would have been entitled to in connection with the “true-up” valuation,
the management members will be obligated to deliver to the Greenlight and Third
Point affiliates a portion of their LLC membership units or an equivalent number
of shares of common stock. Conversely, if the number of LLC membership units the
management members held at the time of the offering is less than the number of
LLC membership units the management members would have been entitled to in
connection with the “true-up” valuation, the Greenlight and Third Point
affiliates will be obligated to deliver, at their option, to the management
members a portion of their LLC membership interests or an equivalent amount of
cash or shares of common stock. In no event will any management member be
required to deliver more than 50% of the membership units in the LLC, or an
equivalent number of shares of common stock, held on the date of the initial
public offering, provided that Mr. Thomas J. Edelman may be required
to deliver up to 100% of his LLC membership units, or an equivalent amount of
cash or number of shares of common stock. No new shares will be issued as a
result of the true-up. As a result there will be no impact on our public
shareholders, but rather a redistribution of shares among certain members of our
management group and our two largest investors, Greenlight and Third Point. This
agreement was considered a modification of the awards granted to the
participating management members; however, no incremental fair value was created
as a result of the modification.
24
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND
ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You
should read the following discussion in conjunction with the unaudited
consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes included in this
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. This discussion contains forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Specifically, forward-looking
statements may be preceded by, followed by or may include such words as
“estimate”, “plan”, “project”, “forecast”, “intend”, “expect”, “is to be”,
“anticipate”, “goal”, “believe”, “seek”, “target” or other similar
expressions. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this
Form 10-Q, or in the case of a document incorporated by reference, as of
the date of that document. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation
to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements
to reflect any events or circumstances after the date of this Form 10-Q or
to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Our actual results may
differ materially from those discussed in or implied by any of the
forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including but not
limited to those listed elsewhere in this Form 10-Q and those listed in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 or in
other documents we have filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Overview
BioFuel
Energy Corp. produces and sells ethanol and distillers grain through its two
ethanol production facilities located in Wood River, Nebraska and Fairmont,
Minnesota. Each of these plants has a nameplate capacity, based on the maximum
amount of permitted denaturant, of approximately 115 million gallons per
year (“Mmgy”). We work closely with Cargill, Inc., one of the world’s
leading agribusiness companies and a related party, with whom we have an
extensive commercial relationship. The two plant locations were selected
primarily based on access to corn supplies, the availability of rail
transportation and natural gas and Cargill’s competitive position in the
area. At each location, Cargill has a strong local presence and owns
adjacent grain storage and handling facilities, which we lease from them.
Cargill provides corn procurement services, markets the ethanol and distillers
grain we produce and provides transportation logistics for our two plants under
long-term contracts.
We are a
holding company with no operations of our own, and are the sole managing member
of BioFuel Energy, LLC, or the LLC, which is itself a holding company and
indirectly owns all of our operating assets. The Company’s ethanol plants are
owned and operated by the Operating Subsidiaries of the LLC.
Going
Concern and Liquidity Considerations
Our
results of operations and financial condition depend substantially on the price
of our main commodity input, corn, relative to the price of our main commodity
product, ethanol, which is known in the industry as the “crush spread.” The
prices of these commodities are volatile and beyond our control. As a
result of the volatility of the prices for these and other items, our results
fluctuate substantially and in ways that are largely beyond our control.
For example, from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2010, the Chicago Board of
Trade (CBOT) price of corn has fluctuated from a low of $3.01 per bushel in
September 2009 to a high of $5.22 per bushel in September 2010 and averaged
$3.79 per bushel during this period, while CBOT ethanol prices have fluctuated
from a low of $1.40 per gallon in December 2008 to a high of $2.16 per gallon in
December 2009 and averaged $1.69 per gallon during this same period. We were
profitable in the fourth quarter of 2009, when crush spreads were more
favorable, but incurred significant losses during the first half of 2010 when
crush spreads contracted significantly. However, crush spreads improved during
the third quarter of 2010 and therefore, as reported in the unaudited
consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report, the
Company’s net losses narrowed to $1.8 million during the three months ended
September 30, 2010. Since we commenced operations, we have from time to time
entered into derivative financial instruments such as futures contracts, swaps
and option contracts with the objective of limiting our exposure to changes in
commodities prices. However, we are currently able to engage in such
hedging activities only on a limited basis due to our lack of financial
resources, and we may not have the financial resources to increase or conduct
any of these hedging activities in the future.
We cannot
predict when or if crush spreads will narrow. We have experienced periods during
which narrow crush spreads have greatly diminished or, in some instances
eliminated, our daily gross operating margins at the plant level, which
adversely affected our results of operations and caused our operating cash flow
to decrease below the amount needed to service our debt on a sustained basis. In
the event crush spreads narrow, we may choose to curtail operations at our
plants or cease operations altogether. In addition, we may expend all of our
available sources of liquidity, in which event we would not be able to pay
principal or interest on our debt, which would lead to an event of default under
our debt agreements and, in the absence of forbearance, debt service abeyance or
other accommodations from our lenders, require us to seek relief through a
filing under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. See “—Liquidity and capital resources.”
We expect fluctuations in the crush spread to continue. Any future reduction in
the crush spread may also cause our operating margins to deteriorate to an
extent that would result in an impairment charge, in addition to causing the
consequences described above. See “—Summary of critical accounting policies and
significant estimates—Recoverability of property, plant and
equipment.”
25
As of September 30, 2010, the Company
had $32.6 million of long-term debt due within the next year, including a $19.4
million Bridge Loan (See “—Liquidity and capital resources—Bridge Loan
facility”) which matures on March 24, 2011. We are restricted by the terms of
our Senior Debt facility from using the funds generated by our operating
subsidiaries to repay the Bridge Loan. Therefore, even if we generate positive
cash flow from operations, under the terms of our Senior Debt facility, we
cannot use that cash flow to repay the Bridge Loan. In connection with the
Bridge Loan agreement, on September 24, 2010, the Company entered into a Rights
Offering Letter Agreement (See “—Liquidity and capital resources—Rights Offering
and LLC Concurrent Private Placement”) with the Bridge Loan Lenders, who are our
two largest stockholders, pursuant to which the Company agreed to use its
commercially reasonable best efforts to commence and complete a rights offering.
The LLC also intends to commence and complete a concurrent private placement of
LLC interests. If the rights offering and the LLC’s concurrent private placement
do not generate sufficient proceeds to repay the Bridge Loan, we may not have
sufficient liquidity to repay the Bridge Loan when it becomes due. If we are
unable to generate sufficient proceeds from the rights offering and the LLC’s
concurrent private placement to repay the Bridge Loan, we may seek new capital
from other sources. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in achieving
any of these initiatives or, even if successful, that these initiatives will be
sufficient to address our limited liquidity and the pending maturity of the
Bridge Loan. In addition, if we do not repay the Bridge Loan in full on or
before March 24, 2011, we will be required to issue to the Bridge Loan Lenders
warrants to purchase shares of our common stock equal to 15% of our outstanding
shares as of such date at a price of $0.01 per share and the interest rate on
the Bridge Loan will increase to a rate of 14.5% per annum. If we are unable to
raise sufficient proceeds from the rights offering, the LLC’s concurrent private
placement, or from other sources, we may be unable to continue as a going
concern, which could potentially force us to seek relief through a filing under
the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
26
Basis
for Consolidation
At
September 30, 2010, the Company owned 78.7% of the LLC and the remainder
was owned by some of our historical equity investors. As a result, the Company
consolidates the results of the LLC. The amount of income or loss allocable to
the 21.3% holders is reported as noncontrolling interest in our consolidated
statements of operations. The Class B common shares of the Company
are held by the historical equity investors of the LLC, who held 7,111,985
membership units in the LLC as of September 30, 2010 that, together with the
corresponding Class B shares, can be exchanged for newly issued shares of
common stock of the Company on a one-for-one basis. As of December 31,
2009, the unit holders owned 7,448,585 membership units, or 22.9% of the
membership units in the LLC. During the nine months ended September 30,
2010, unit holders exchanged 336,600 membership units in the LLC (together with
the corresponding shares of Class B common stock) for shares of our common
stock, substantially all of which are eligible for sale under Rule 144
promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933 upon lapse of a six-month holding
period.
Revenues
Our
primary source of revenue is the sale of ethanol. The selling prices we
realize for our ethanol are largely determined by the market supply and demand
for ethanol, which, in turn, is influenced by industry factors over which we
have little control. Ethanol prices are extremely volatile.
We also
receive revenue from the sale of distillers grain, which is a residual
co-product of the processed corn used in the production of ethanol and is sold
as animal feed. The selling prices we realize for our distillers grain are
largely determined by the market supply and demand, primarily from livestock
operators and marketing companies in the U.S. and internationally.
Distillers grain is sold by the ton and, based upon the amount of moisture
retained in the product, can either be sold “wet” or “dry”.
Cost
of goods sold and gross profit (loss)
Our gross
profit (loss) is derived from our revenues less our cost of goods sold. Our cost
of goods sold is affected primarily by the cost of corn and natural gas. The
prices of both corn and natural gas are volatile and can vary as a result of a
wide variety of factors, including weather, market demand, regulation and
general economic conditions, all of which are outside of our
control.
Corn is
our most significant raw material cost. Historically, rising corn prices
result in lower profit margins because ethanol producers are unable to pass
along increased corn costs to customers. The price and availability of corn is
influenced by weather conditions and other factors affecting crop yields, farmer
planting decisions and general economic, market and regulatory factors. These
factors include government policies and subsidies with respect to agriculture
and international trade, and global and local demand and supply for corn and for
other agricultural commodities for which it may be substituted, such as
soybeans. Historically, the cash price we pay for corn, relative to the spot
price of corn, tends to rise during the spring planting season in May and
June as the local basis (i.e., discount) contracts, and tends to decrease
relative to the spot price during the fall harvest in October and November
as the local basis expands.
We also
purchase natural gas to power steam generation in our ethanol production process
and as fuel for our dryers to dry our distillers grain. Natural gas represents
our second largest operating cost after corn, and natural gas prices are
extremely volatile. Historically, the spot price of natural gas tends to be
highest during the heating and cooling seasons and tends to decrease during the
spring and fall.
Corn
procurement fees paid to Cargill are included in our cost of goods sold. Other
cost of goods sold primarily consists of our cost of chemicals and enzymes,
electricity, depreciation, manufacturing overhead and rail car lease
expenses.
27
General
and administrative expenses
General
and administrative expenses consist of salaries and benefits paid to our
management and administrative employees, expenses relating to third party
services, insurance, travel, office rent, marketing and other expenses,
including expenses associated with being a public company, such as fees paid to
our independent auditors associated with our annual audit and quarterly reviews,
directors’ fees, and listing and transfer agent fees.
Results
of operations
The
following discussion summarizes the significant factors affecting the
consolidated operating results of the Company for the three and nine months
ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009. This discussion should be read
in conjunction with the unaudited consolidated financial statements and notes to
the unaudited consolidated financial statements contained in this
Form 10-Q.
The
following table sets forth net sales, expenses and net loss, as well as the
percentage relationship to net sales of certain items in our consolidated
statements of operations:
Three Months Ended
|
Nine
Months Ended
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
September
30,
2010
|
September
30,
2009
|
September
30,
2010
|
September
30,
2009
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(unaudited)
|
(unaudited)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(dollars in thousands)
|
(dollars
in thousands)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
sales
|
$ | 114,747 | 100.0 | % | $ | 91,138 | 100.0 | % | $ | 312,031 | 100.0 | % | $ | 295,096 | 100.0 | % | ||||||||||||||||
Cost
of goods sold
|
110,140 | 96.0 | 89,039 | 97.7 | 318,336 | 102.0 | 298,911 | 101.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gross
profit (loss)
|
4,607 | 4.0 | 2,099 | 2.3 | (6,305 | ) | (2.0 | ) | (3,815 | ) | (1.3 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
General
and administrative expenses
|
3,582 | 3.1 | 5,887 | 6.5 | 9,794 | 3.1 | 12,761 | 4.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating
income (loss)
|
1,025 | 0.9 | (3,788 | ) | (4.2 | ) | (16,099 | ) | (5.1 | ) | (16,576 | ) | (5.6 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Other
expense
|
(2,783 | ) | (2.4 | ) | (4,585 | ) | (5.0 | ) | (8,061 | ) | (2.6 | ) | (11,963 | ) | (4.1 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Net
loss
|
(1,758 | ) | (1.5 | ) | (8,373 | ) | (9.2 | ) | (24,160 | ) | (7.7 | ) | (28,539 | ) | (9.7 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Less:
Net loss attributable to the noncontrolling interest
|
381 | 0.3 | 2,139 | 2.4 | 5,224 | 1.6 | 8,061 | 2.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
loss attributable to BioFuel Energy Corp. common
shareholders
|
$ | (1,377 | ) | (1.2 | ) % | $ | (6,234 | ) | (6.8 | ) % | $ | (18,936 | ) | (6.1 | )% | $ | (20,478 | ) | (6.9 | )% |
The
following table sets forth key operational data for the three and nine months
ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 that we believe are important
indicators of our results of operations:
Three Months Ended
|
Nine Months Ended
|
|||||||||||||||
September 30,
2010
|
September 30,
2009
|
September 30,
2010
|
September 30,
2009
|
|||||||||||||
(unaudited)
|
(unaudited)
|
(unaudited)
|
(unaudited)
|
|||||||||||||
Ethanol sold (gallons, in thousands)
|
56,185
|
51,557
|
167,733
|
162,568
|
||||||||||||
Dry
distillers grains sold (tons, in thousands)
|
131.3
|
117.3
|
377.4
|
360.8
|
||||||||||||
Wet
distillers grains sold (tons, in thousands)
|
65.5
|
84.3
|
266.3
|
283.1
|
||||||||||||
Average
price of ethanol sold (per gallon)
|
$
|
1.84
|
$
|
1.56
|
$
|
1.64
|
$
|
1.54
|
||||||||
Average
price of dry distillers grains sold (per ton)
|
$
|
88.10
|
$
|
84.25
|
$
|
92.72
|
$
|
108.05
|
||||||||
Average
price of wet distillers grains sold (per ton)
|
$
|
22.26
|
$
|
23.08
|
$
|
22.80
|
$
|
34.34
|
||||||||
Average
corn cost (per bushel)
|
$
|
3.83
|
$
|
3.14
|
$
|
3.66
|
$
|
3.58
|
Three
Months Ended September 30, 2010 Compared to the Three Months Ended
September 30, 2009
Net Sales: Net
Sales were $114,747,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2010
compared to $91,138,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2009, an
increase of $23,609,000 or 25.9%. This increase was attributable to an
increase in ethanol revenues of $22,463,000 and an increase in distillers grains
revenues of $1,146,000. The increase in ethanol revenue was due to
both an increase in the per unit price we received and the quantity of ethanol
sold. Higher sales volumes resulted from higher production volumes for the three
months ended September 30, 2010 compared to the same period in the prior
year.
Cost of goods sold:
The following table sets forth the components of cost of goods sold
for the three months ended September 30, 2010 and September 30,
2009:
28
Three Months Ended September 30,
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
2010
|
|
|
2009
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
Amount
|
|
|
Per Gallon of
Ethanol
|
|
|
Amount
|
|
|
Per Gallon of
Ethanol
|
|||||
(amounts in thousands)
|
||||||||||||||||
Corn
|
$
|
78,215
|
$
|
1.39
|
$
|
60,456
|
$
|
1.17
|
||||||||
Natural
gas
|
7,788
|
$
|
0.14
|
5,359
|
$
|
0.10
|
||||||||||
Denaturant
|
1,935
|
$
|
0.03
|
1,817
|
$
|
0.04
|
||||||||||
Electricity
|
3,636
|
$
|
0.07
|
3,300
|
$
|
0.07
|
||||||||||
Chemicals
and enzymes
|
4,156
|
$
|
0.07
|
3,528
|
$
|
0.07
|
||||||||||
General
operating expenses
|
7,938
|
$
|
0.14
|
8,219
|
$
|
0.16
|
||||||||||
Depreciation
|
6,472
|
$
|
0.12
|
6,360
|
$
|
0.12
|
||||||||||
Cost
of goods sold
|
$
|
110,140
|
$
|
89,039
|
Cost of
goods sold was $110,140,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2010
compared to $89,039,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2009, an
increase of $21,101,000 or 23.7%. The increase was primarily attributable
to a $17,759,000 increase in the cost of corn and $2,429,000 in higher natural
gas costs. The increase in corn cost was attributable to an increase in the
price per bushel paid for com, partially offset by an increase in yield, that
is, in the amount of ethanol we were able to produce per bushel of corn used.
The increase in natural gas cost was attributable to a higher price per million
of British Thermal Units (“Mmbtu”).
General and administrative
expenses: General and administrative expenses decreased
$2,305,000 or 39.2%, to $3,582,000 for the three months ended September 30,
2010, compared to $5,887,000 for the three months ended September 30,
2009. The decrease was primarily due to $3,205,000 of legal and financial
advisory expenses, primarily related to the Company’s negotiations with the
lenders under the Senior Debt facility concerning restructuring and loan
conversion, which were incurred during the three months ended September 30,
2009. During the three months ended September 30, 2010, the Company
incurred $942,000 of legal and financial advisory expenses related to
negotiations with those lenders.
Other income (expense):
Interest expense was $2,783,000 for the three months ended
September 30, 2010, compared to $4,598,000 for the three months ended
September 30, 2009, a decrease of $1,815,000 or 39.5%. During the
three months ended September 30, 2009, the Company paid $988,000 relating to two
interest rate swaps, both of which were in effect for the entire quarter.
These interest rate swaps were not in effect during the three months ended
September 30, 2010. The remainder of the decrease was primarily attributable to
a $1,050,000 decrease in interest on the Senior Debt facility as a result of the
higher default interest rate the Company was required to pay for the three
months ended September 30, 2009, which was not in effect during the three months
ended September 30, 2010.
Noncontrolling Interest:
The net loss attributable to the noncontrolling interest decreased
$1,758,000 to $381,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2010,
compared to $2,139,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2009.
The decrease was attributable to the Company’s net loss decreasing from
$8,373,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2009 to $1,758,000 for the
three months ended September 30, 2010, which was offset by a decrease in
the percentage ownership of the noncontrolling interest from 25.0% at
September 30, 2009 to 21.3% at September 30, 2010.
Nine
Months Ended September 30, 2010 Compared to the Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2009
Net Sales: Net
Sales were $312,031,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2010
compared to $295,096,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, an
increase of $16,935,000 or 5.7%. This increase was attributable to an
increase in ethanol revenues of $24,497,000, which was partially offset by a
decrease in distillers revenues of $7,562,000. The increase in
ethanol revenue was due to both an increase in the per unit price we received
and the quantity of ethanol sold. Higher sales volumes resulted from higher
production volumes for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 compared to the
same period in the prior year. The decrease in distillers grains revenue was
primarily due to a decrease in the per unit price we received.
Cost of goods sold:
The following table sets forth the components of cost of goods sold
for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and September 30,
2009:
Nine Months Ended September
30,
|
||||||||||||||||
2010
|
2009
|
|||||||||||||||
Amount
|
Per Gallon of
Ethanol
|
Amount
|
Per Gallon of
Ethanol
|
|||||||||||||
(amounts in thousands)
|
||||||||||||||||
Corn
|
$
|
219,071
|
$
|
1.31
|
$
|
211,736
|
$
|
1.30
|
||||||||
Natural
gas
|
25,007
|
$
|
0.15
|
18,493
|
$
|
0.11
|
||||||||||
Denaturant
|
6,465
|
$
|
0.04
|
4,934
|
$
|
0.03
|
||||||||||
Electricity
|
10,093
|
$
|
0.06
|
9,293
|
$
|
0.06
|
||||||||||
Chemicals
and enzymes
|
12,130
|
$
|
0.07
|
12,677
|
$
|
0.08
|
||||||||||
General
operating expenses
|
26,333
|
$
|
0.16
|
22,868
|
$
|
0.14
|
||||||||||
Depreciation
|
19,237
|
$
|
0.11
|
18,910
|
$
|
0.12
|
||||||||||
Cost
of goods sold
|
$
|
318,336
|
$
|
298,911
|
29
Cost of
goods sold was $318,336,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2010
compared to $298,911,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, an
increase of $19,425,000 or 6.5%. The increase was primarily attributable
to a $7,335,000 increase in the cost of corn, a $6,514,000 increase in natural
gas costs, and a $3,465,000 increase in general operating expense
costs. The increase in corn cost was attributable to an increase in the
price per bushel paid for com, partially offset by an increase in yield, that
is, in the amount of ethanol we were able to produce per bushel of corn used.
The increase in natural gas cost was attributable to a higher price per Mmbtu
while the increase in general operating expenses resulted primarily from an
increase in repairs and maintenance costs of $1,921,000.
General and administrative
expenses: General and administrative expenses decreased
$2,967,000 or 23.3%, to $9,794,000 for the nine months ended September 30,
2010, compared to $12,761,000 for the nine months ended September 30,
2009. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in legal and financial
advisory expenses of $3,912,000, partially offset by an increase in share based
compensation expense of $760,000. The legal and financial advisory
expenses incurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 primarily
related to the Company’s negotiations with the lenders under the Senior Debt
facility concerning restructuring and loan conversion and totaled
$4,854,000. During the nine months ended September 30, 2010, the
Company incurred $942,000 of legal and financial advisory expenses related to
negotiations with those lenders.
Other income (expense):
Interest expense was $8,061,000 for the nine months ended
September 30, 2010, compared to $12,036,000 for the nine months ended
September 30, 2009, a decrease of $3,975,000 or 33.0%. During the
nine months ended September 30, 2009, the Company paid $2,841,000 relating to
two interest rate swaps, both of which were in effect for the entire
period. During the nine months ended September 30, 2010, the Company paid
$197,000 as only one swap remained in effect for the first two months of the
period. The remaining decrease was primarily attributable to a
$1,400,000 decrease as a result of the higher default interest rate the Company
was required to pay on the Senior Debt facility for the period of June 2009
through September 2009, which was not in effect during the nine months ended
September 30, 2010.
Noncontrolling
Interest: The net loss attributable to the
noncontrolling interest decreased $2,837,000 to $5,224,000 for the nine months
ended September 30, 2010, compared to $8,061,000 for the nine months ended
September 30, 2009. The decrease was attributable to a decrease in
the percentage ownership of the noncontrolling interest during those periods, in
addition to the Company’s net loss decreasing from $28,539,000 for the nine
months ended September 30, 2009 to $24,160,000 for the nine months ended
September 30, 2010.
Liquidity
and capital resources
Our cash
flows from operating, investing and financing activities during the nine months
ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 are summarized below (in
thousands):
Nine Months Ended
|
||||||||
September 30,
2010
|
September 30,
2009
|
|||||||
Cash
provided by (used in):
|
||||||||
Operating
activities
|
$
|
11,788
|
$
|
(10,694
|
)
|
|||
Investing
activities
|
(4,179
|
)
|
(10,111
|
)
|
||||
Financing
activities
|
(2,823
|
)
|
16,673
|
|||||
Net
increase (decrease) in cash and equivalents
|
$
|
4,786
|
$
|
(4,132
|
)
|
Cash provided by (used in) operating
activities. Net cash provided by operating activities was $11,788,000 for
the nine months ended September 30, 2010, compared to net cash used in
operating activities of $10,694,000 for the nine months ended September 30,
2009. For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, the amount was
primarily comprised of a net loss of $24,160,000 which was offset by working
capital sources of $11,867,000 and non-cash charges of $24,081,000, which were
primarily depreciation and amortization. Working capital sources primarily
related to decreases in accounts receivable and inventories and increases in
accounts payable. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009,
the amount was primarily comprised of a net loss of $28,539,000, and working
capital uses of $3,427,000, which were partially offset by non-cash charges of
$21,272,000, which were primarily depreciation and amortization.
30
Cash used in investing
activities. Net cash used in investing activities was
$4,179,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, compared to
$10,111,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. The net
cash used in investing activities during the nine months ended
September 30, 2010 was for various capital expenditure projects at the
plants. The net cash used in investing activities during the nine months
ended September 30, 2009 was primarily comprised of the payment of the
construction retainage to TIC, the general contractor that constructed our two
plants, which totaled $9,407,000, and $3,163,000 for various capital
expenditures at the plants.
Cash provided by (used in) financing
activities. Net cash used in financing activities was
$2,823,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, compared to net
cash provided by financing activities of $16,673,000 for the nine months ended
September 30, 2009. For the nine months ended September 30,
2010, the amount was primarily comprised of $6,593,000 of borrowings under our
term loan facility, $1,500,000 of borrowings under our working capital facility,
and $19,421,000 of borrowings under our bridge loan, which were offset by
$9,450,000 in payments under our term loan facility, $18,000,000 in payments
under our working capital facility, $804,000 in payments of notes payable and
capital leases, and $2,049,000 in payments for debt and equity issuance
costs. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009 the amount was
primarily comprised of $3,000,000 of borrowings under our working capital
facility and $17,387,000 in borrowings under our term loan (formerly
construction loan) facility, which were partially offset by $1,233,000 in
payments on the Subordinated Debt, $3,150,000 in payments under the term loan
facility, and $718,000 in payments of notes payable and capital
leases.
Our
principal sources of liquidity at September 30, 2010 consisted of cash and
equivalents of $10,895,000. Under an amendment to our corn supply agreement with
Cargill, we may also extend payment terms for corn which as of September 30,
2010 would provide approximately another $3,200,000 in liquidity.
As noted elsewhere in this report,
crush spreads narrowed during the first half of 2010, resulting in lower margins
and decreased liquidity. Our principal liquidity needs are expected to be
funding our plant operations, capital expenditures, debt service requirements,
and general corporate purposes. Although the crush spread
improved in the third quarter of 2010, we cannot predict when or if crush
spreads will fluctuate again or if the current margins will improve or
worsen. In the event crush spreads narrow, we may choose to curtail or
cease operations at our plants. In addition, we have fully utilized our
debt service reserve availability under our Senior Debt facility and we may
expend all of our other sources of liquidity, in which event we would not be
able to pay principal or interest on our debt. This would lead to an event
of default under our debt agreements and, in the absence of forbearance, debt
service abeyance or other accommodations from our lenders, require us to cease
operating altogether.
Senior
Debt facility
In
September 2006, the Operating Subsidiaries entered into the Senior Debt
facility providing for the availability of $230.0 million of borrowings
with a syndicate of lenders to finance the construction of our ethanol plants.
Neither the Company nor the LLC is a borrower under the Senior Debt facility,
although the equity interests and assets of our subsidiaries are pledged as
collateral to secure the debt under the facility.
The
Senior Debt facility initially consisted of two construction loans, which
together totaled $210.0 million of available borrowings, and working capital
loans of up to $20.0 million. No principal payments were required until
the construction loans were converted to term loans, which occurred on September
29, 2009. Thereafter, principal payments are payable quarterly at a
minimum amount of $3,150,000, with additional pre-payments to be made out of
available cash flow.
The
Operating Subsidiaries began making quarterly principal payments on September
30, 2009, and as of September 30, 2010 there remained $192.5 million in
aggregate principal amount outstanding under the Senior Debt facility.
These term loans mature in September 2014.
The
Senior Debt facility also included a working capital facility of up to
$20.0 million, which had a maturity date of September 25, 2010. On
September 24, 2010, the Company paid off the $17.9 million outstanding working
capital facility balance with proceeds from a Bridge Loan, as described
below.
31
The
Senior Debt facility is secured by a first priority lien on all right, title and
interest in and to the Wood River and Fairmont plants and any accounts
receivable or property associated with those plants and a pledge of all of our
equity interests in the Operating Subsidiaries. The Operating Subsidiaries
have established collateral deposit accounts maintained by an agent of the
banks, into which our revenues are deposited, subject to security interests to
secure any outstanding obligations under the Senior Debt facility. These
funds are then allocated into various sweep accounts held by the collateral
agent, including accounts that provide funds for the operating expenses of the
Operating Subsidiaries. The collateral accounts have various provisions,
including historical and prospective debt service coverage ratios and debt
service reserve requirements, which determine whether there is, and the amount
of, cash available to the LLC from the collateral accounts each month. The
terms of the Senior Debt facility also include covenants that impose certain
limitations on, among other things, the ability of the Operating Subsidiaries to
incur additional debt, grant liens or encumbrances, declare or pay dividends or
distributions, conduct asset sales or other dispositions, merge or consolidate,
and conduct transactions with affiliates. The terms of the Senior Debt
facility also include customary events of default including failure to meet
payment obligations, failure to pay financial obligations, failure of the
Operating Subsidiaries of the LLC to remain solvent and failure to obtain or
maintain required governmental approvals. Under the terms of separate
management services agreements between our Operating Subsidiaries and the LLC,
the Operating Subsidiaries pay a monthly management fee of $834,000 to the LLC
to cover salaries, rent, and other operating expenses of the LLC, which payments
are unaffected by the terms of the Senior Debt facility or the collateral
accounts.
Interest
rates on the Senior Debt facility are, at management’s option, set at: i)
a base rate, which is the higher of the federal funds rate plus 0.5% or the
administrative agent’s prime rate, in each case plus a margin of 2.0%; or ii) at
LIBOR plus 3.0%. Interest on base rate loans is payable quarterly and,
depending on the LIBOR rate elected, as frequently as monthly on LIBOR loans,
but no less frequently than quarterly. The weighted average interest rate
in effect on the borrowings at September 30, 2010 was 3.3%.
Debt
issuance fees and expenses of $8.5 million ($4.0 million, net of accumulated
amortization) have been incurred in connection with the Senior Debt facility
through September 30, 2010. These costs have been deferred and are being
amortized and expensed over the term of the Senior Debt facility.
Subordinated
Debt agreement
The LLC
is the borrower of Subordinated Debt under a loan agreement dated September 25,
2006, entered into with certain affiliates of Greenlight Capital, Inc. and Third
Point LLC, both of which are related parties, the proceeds of which were used to
fund a portion of the development and construction of our plants and for general
corporate purposes. The entire principal balance, if any, plus all accrued and
unpaid interest will be due in March 2015. Once repaid, the Subordinated Debt
may not be re-borrowed. The Subordinated Debt is secured by the subsidiary
equity interests owned by the LLC and are fully and unconditionally guaranteed
by all of the LLC’s subsidiaries, which guarantees are subordinated to the
obligations of these subsidiaries under our Senior Debt facility. A default
under our Senior Debt facility would also constitute a default under our
Subordinated Debt and would entitle the lenders to accelerate the repayment of
amounts outstanding.
In
January 2009, the LLC and the Subordinated Debt lenders entered into a waiver
and amendment agreement to the Subordinated Debt agreement. Under the waiver and
amendment, interest on the Subordinated Debt began accruing at a 5.0% annual
rate compounded quarterly, a rate that will apply until the debt owed to
Cargill, under an agreement entered into simultaneously, has been paid in full,
at which time the rate will revert to a 15.0% annual rate and quarterly payments
in arrears are required. As long as the debt to Cargill remains outstanding,
future payments to the Subordinated Debt lenders will be contingent upon
available cash (as defined in both agreements) being received by the LLC. As of
September 30, 2010, the LLC had $21.1 million outstanding under its Subordinated
Debt facility.
32
Debt
issuance fees and expenses of $5.5 million ($1.2 million, net of accumulated
amortization) have been incurred in connection with the Subordinated Debt
through September 30, 2010. Debt issuance costs associated with the
Subordinated Debt have been deferred and are being amortized and expensed over
the term of the agreement.
Cargill
debt agreement
In
January 2009, the LLC and Cargill entered into the Cargill Agreement which
finalized the payment terms for $17.4 million owed to Cargill by the LLC related
to hedging losses with respect to corn hedging contracts that had been
liquidated in the third quarter of 2008. The Cargill Agreement required an
initial payment of $3.0 million on the outstanding balance, which was paid on
December 5, 2008. Upon the initial payment of $3.0 million, Cargill also forgave
$3.0 million. Effective December 1, 2008, interest on the Cargill Debt began
accruing at a 5.0% annual rate compounded quarterly. Future payments to Cargill
of both principal and interest are contingent upon the receipt by the LLC of
available cash, as defined in the Cargill Agreement. Cargill will forgive, on a
dollar for dollar basis, a further $2.8 million as it receives the next $2.8
million of principal payments. The Cargill Debt is being accounted for as a
troubled debt restructuring. As the future cash payments specified by the
terms of the Cargill Agreement exceed the carrying amount of the debt before the
$3.0 million was forgiven, the carrying amount of the debt was not reduced and
no gain was recorded. As future payments are made, the LLC will determine,
based on the timing of payments, whether or not any gain should be
recorded.
Bridge
Loan facility
On
September 24, 2010, the Company entered into a loan agreement (the “Bridge Loan
Agreement”) with Greenlight Capital, Inc. and certain of its affiliates
(collectively, the “Greenlight Parties”) and an affiliate of Third Point LLC
(“Third Point” and, together with the Greenlight Parties, the “Bridge Loan
Lenders”) pursuant to which the Company borrowed $19.4 million (the "Bridge
Loan"). The proceeds of the Bridge Loan were used (i) to repay the
$17.9 million in outstanding working capital loans under the Senior Debt
facility, and (ii) to pay the fees and expenses of the transaction, which were a
bridge loan funding fee of $0.8 million and a backstop commitment fee pursuant
to the Rights Offering Letter Agreement of $0.7 million. The Bridge
Loan is secured by a pledge of the Company's equity interest in the
LLC. The Bridge Loan matures on March 24, 2011 and in the event the
Bridge Loan is not paid in full on or before the maturity date, the Company will
issue warrants to the Bridge Loan Lenders exercisable for an aggregate of 15% of
the Company's common stock on a fully diluted basis as of the date the warrant
is issued at an exercise price of $0.01 per share.
The Bridge Loan bears interest at a
rate of 12.5% per annum, and if the Bridge Loan is not paid in full on or before
the maturity date, the Bridge Loan will bear interest at a rate of 14.5% per
annum. Under the Bridge Loan Agreement, the Company must comply with its
obligations under the Rights Offering Letter Agreement, including the obligation
to use its commercially reasonable best efforts to conduct the Rights Offering.
In connection therewith, the LLC intends to conduct a concurrent private
placement of LLC membership interests. See “—Rights Offering and LLC Concurrent
Private Placement.”
The Bridge Loan Agreement contains
customary affirmative covenants for facilities of this type, including covenants
pertaining to the delivery of financial statements, notices of default and
certain other information, maintenance of business and insurance, collateral
matters and compliance with laws, as well as customary negative covenants for
facilities of this type, including limitations on the incurrence of indebtedness
and liens, mergers and certain other fundamental changes, loans and investments,
acquisitions, transactions with affiliates, dispositions of assets, payments of
dividends and other restricted payments and changes in the Company's line of
business.
The Bridge Loan Agreement contains
default provisions that include a material breach of the Rights Offering Letter
Agreement and others that are customary for facilities of this type, which are
subject to customary grace periods and materiality thresholds, including, among
other things, defaults related to payment failures, failure to comply with
covenants, misrepresentations, defaults under other material indebtedness, the
occurrence of a “change of control”, bankruptcy and related events, material
judgments, specified changes in control of the Company and invalidity of the
loan documents. If an event of default occurs under the Bridge Loan Agreement,
the lenders may, among other things, declare the Bridge Loan immediately payable
and foreclose on the collateral. The Bridge Loan Agreement requires prepayments
with the proceeds from certain sales of assets, the Rights Offering and any
Substitute Transaction. The Bridge Loan may be prepaid without
penalty or premium.
Capital
lease
The LLC,
through its subsidiary that constructed the Fairmont plant, has entered into an
agreement with the local utility pursuant to which the utility has built and
owns and operates a substation and distribution facility in order to supply
electricity to the plant. The LLC is paying a fixed facilities charge based on
the cost of the substation and distribution facility of $34,000 per month, over
the 30-year term of the agreement. This fixed facilities charge is being
accounted for as a capital lease in the accompanying financial statements. The
agreement also includes a $25,000 monthly minimum energy charge that also began
in the first quarter of 2008.
33
Notes
payable
Notes
payable relate to certain financing agreements in place at each of our sites, as
well as the Cargill Debt. The subsidiaries of the LLC that constructed the
plants entered into financing agreements in the first quarter of 2008 for the
purchase of certain rolling stock equipment to be used at the facilities for
$748,000. The notes have fixed interest rates (weighted average rate of
approximately 5.6%) and require 48 monthly payments of principal and interest,
maturing in the first and second quarter of 2012. In addition, the subsidiary of
the LLC that constructed the Wood River facility has entered into a note payable
for $2,220,000 with a fixed interest rate of 11.8% for the purchase of our
natural gas pipeline. The note requires 36 monthly payments of principal and
interest and matures in the first quarter of 2011. In addition, the subsidiary
of the LLC that constructed the Wood River facility has entered into a note
payable for $419,000 with the City of Wood River for special assessments related
to street, water, and sanitary improvements at our Wood River facility. This
note requires ten annual payments of $58,000, including interest at 6.5% per
annum, and matures in 2018.
Tax
increment financing
In
February 2007, the subsidiary of the LLC that constructed the Wood River plant
received $6.0 million from the proceeds of a tax increment revenue note issued
by the City of Wood River, Nebraska. The proceeds funded improvements to
property owned by the subsidiary. The City of Wood River will pay the principal
and interest of the note from the incremental increase in the property taxes
related to the improvements made to the property. The proceeds have been
recorded as a liability which is reduced as the subsidiary of the LLC remits
property taxes to the City of Wood River, which began in 2008 and will
continue through 2021.
The LLC
has guaranteed the principal and interest of the tax increment revenue note if,
for any reason, the City of Wood River fails to make the required payments to
the holder of the note or the subsidiary of the LLC fails to make the required
payments to the City of Wood River. Semiannual principal payments on the
tax increment revenue note began in June 2008. Due to lower than
anticipated assessed property values, the subsidiary of the LLC was required to
pay $468,000 in 2009 and $34,000 during the nine months ended September 30, 2010
as a portion of the note payments.
Rights
Offering and LLC Concurrent Private Placement
In connection with the Bridge Loan
Agreement, on September 24, 2010, the Company entered into the Rights Offering
Letter Agreement with the Bridge Loan Lenders pursuant to which the Company
agreed to use its commercially reasonable best efforts to commence the Rights
Offering. The Rights Offering will entail a distribution to our common
stockholders of rights to purchase depositary shares representing fractional
interests in a new series of Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock.
Concurrent with the Rights Offering, the LLC will conduct a private placement of
LLC interests. The LLC’s concurrent private placement will be structured so as
to provide the holders of the membership interests in the LLC (other than
BioFuel Energy Corp.) with a private placement that is economically equivalent
to the Rights Offering. The combined offering size of the Rights Offering
and the concurrent private placement is anticipated to be approximately $44.0
million. The Company would use the proceeds of the Rights Offering and the LLC’s
concurrent private placement to (i) repay in full the Bridge Loan, (ii) repay in
full its obligations under the Subordinated Debt, (iii) repay certain amounts
owed to Cargill, and (iv) pay certain fees and expenses incurred in connection
with the Rights Offering and the LLC’s concurrent private
placement.
The provisions of the Rights Offering
Letter Agreement permit the Company to solicit, participate in, initiate or
facilitate discussions or negotiations with, or provide any information to, any
person or group of persons concerning a Substitute Transaction that would result
in the (a) repayment in full of all amounts outstanding under the Bridge Loan
Agreement, (b) repayment in full of all amounts under the Subordinated Debt and
(c) repay certain amounts owed to Cargill. If the Company signs a definitive
agreement relating to a Substitute Transaction, it will pay the Bridge Loan
Lenders a termination fee of $350,000.
The Bridge Loan Lenders agreed to (i)
participate in the Rights Offering for their full pro rata share pursuant to the
Basic Commitment and (ii) purchase all of the available depositary shares not
otherwise sold in the Rights Offering pursuant to the Backstop
Commitment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Rights Offering Letter
Agreement provides that (a) the Bridge Loan Lenders may reduce the number of
depositary shares that the Bridge Loan Lenders would otherwise be obligated to
purchase pursuant to the Basic Commitment and/or Backstop Commitment or (b) the
Company may reduce the aggregate number of depositary shares offered in the
Rights Offering in the event the Bridge Loan Lenders determine, in their sole
discretion, but after consultation with the Company, that the consummation of
the Rights Offering, the Basic Commitment and/or the Backstop Commitment would
result in adverse tax, legal or regulatory consequences to the Company or any of
the Bridge Loan Lenders. In the event of a backstop reduction, the
Rights Offering would proceed with the Company and the Bridge Loan Lenders using
their commercially reasonable best efforts to structure and consummate an
alternative transaction to take the place of the issuance of the depositary
shares not purchased in the Rights Offering. In consideration of the Backstop
Commitment for a combined $40 million Rights Offering, the Company paid the
Bridge Loan Lenders $0.7 million on September 24, 2010. If the amount
of the Rights Offering is increased above $40 million, an additional fee of 4%
of the excess will be payable to the Bridge Loan Lenders.
Off-balance
sheet arrangements
Except
for our operating leases, we do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements that
have or are reasonably likely to have a material current or future effect on our
financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses,
results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital
resources.
34
Summary
of critical accounting policies and significant estimates
The
consolidated financial statements of BioFuel Energy Corp. included in this Form
10-Q have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States. Note 2 to these consolidated financial
statements contains a summary of our significant accounting policies, certain of
which require the use of estimates and assumptions. Accounting estimates are an
integral part of the preparation of financial statements and are based on
judgments by management using its knowledge and experience about the past and
current events and assumptions regarding future events, all of which we consider
to be reasonable. These judgments and estimates reflect the effects of matters
that are inherently uncertain and that affect the carrying value of our assets
and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent liabilities and reported amounts
of expenses during the reporting period.
The
accounting estimates and assumptions discussed in this section are those that we
believe involve significant judgments and the most uncertainty. Changes in these
estimates or assumptions could materially affect our financial position and
results of operations and are therefore important to an understanding of our
consolidated financial statements.
Recoverability
of property, plant and equipment
The
Company has two asset groups, its ethanol facility in Fairmont and its ethanol
facility in Wood River, which are evaluated separately when considering whether
the carrying value of these assets has been impaired. The Company
continually monitors whether or not events or circumstances exist that would
warrant impairment testing of its long-lived assets. In evaluating whether
impairment testing should be performed, the Company considers several factors
including projected production volumes at its facilities, projected ethanol and
distillers grain prices that we expect to receive, and projected corn and
natural gas costs we expect to incur. In the ethanol industry, operating
margins, and consequently undiscounted future cash flows, are primarily driven
by the crush spread. In the event that the crush spread is sufficiently
depressed to result in negative operating cash flow at its facilities, the
Company will evaluate whether or not an impairment of the carrying value of its
long-lives assets has occurred. Recoverability is measured by comparing the
carrying value of an asset with estimated undiscounted future cash flows
expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition. An
impairment loss is reflected as the amount by which the carrying amount of the
asset exceeds the fair value of the asset. Fair value is determined based
on the present value of estimated expected future cash flows using a discount
rate commensurate with the risk involved, quoted market prices or appraised
values, depending on the nature of the assets. As of September 30, 2010,
at the current crush spread, cash flow from operations suggests the carrying
values of the Company’s long-lived assets are recoverable. Therefore no
recoverability test was performed.
35
Income
Taxes
The
Company accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method, under
which deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax
consequences attributable to temporary differences between financial statement
carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax
bases. The Company regularly reviews historical and anticipated future
pre-tax results of operations to determine whether the Company will be able to
realize the benefit of its deferred tax assets. A valuation allowance is
required to reduce the potential deferred tax asset when it is more likely than
not that all or some portion of the potential deferred tax asset will not be
realized due to the lack of sufficient taxable income. The most
significant component of our deferred tax asset balance relates to our net
operating loss and credit carryforwards. The Company may reduce the
aggregate number of depositary shares offered in the Rights Offering in the
event the Bridge Loan Lenders determine, in their sole discretion, but after
consultation with the Company, that the consummation of the Rights Offering, the
Basic Commitment and/or the Backstop Commitment would result in adverse tax
consequences to the Company, including limiting our ability to use our net
operating loss and credit carryforwards. As the Company has incurred
losses since its inception and expects to continue to incur tax losses for the
foreseeable future, we will provide a valuation allowance against all deferred
tax assets until the Company believes that such assets will be
realized.
Recent
accounting pronouncements
From time
to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the FASB or other standards
setting bodies that are adopted by us as of the specified effective date. Unless
otherwise discussed, our management believes that the impact of recently issued
standards that are not yet effective will not have a material impact on our
consolidated financial statements upon adoption.
ITEM
3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We are
subject to significant risks relating to the prices of four primary commodities:
corn and natural gas, our principal production inputs, and ethanol and
distillers grain, our principal products. These commodities are also subject to
geographic basis differentials, which can vary considerably. In recent years,
ethanol prices have been primarily influenced by gasoline prices, the
availability of other gasoline additives and federal, state and local laws,
regulations, subsidies and tariffs. Distillers grain prices tend to be
influenced by the prices of alternative animal feeds. However, in the short to
intermediate term, logistical issues may have a significant impact on ethanol
prices. In addition, the acceptance by livestock operators of the anticipated
sharp increase in quantities of distillers grain production as new ethanol
plants become operational could significantly depress its price.
We expect
that lower ethanol prices will tend to result in lower profit margins even when
corn prices decrease due to the significance of fixed costs. The price of
ethanol is subject to wide fluctuations due to domestic and international supply
and demand, infrastructure, government policies, including subsidies and
tariffs, and numerous other factors. Ethanol prices are extremely volatile. From
October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2010, the CBOT ethanol prices have fluctuated
from a low of $1.40 per gallon in December 2008 to a high of $2.16 per gallon in
December 2009 and averaged $1.69 per gallon during this period.
We expect
that lower distillers grain prices will tend to result in lower profit margins.
The selling prices we realize for our distillers grain are largely determined by
market supply and demand, primarily from livestock operators and marketing
companies in the U.S. and internationally. Distillers grain is sold by the
ton and can either be sold “wet” or “dry”.
We
anticipate that higher corn prices will tend to result in lower profit margins,
as it is unlikely that such an increase in costs can be passed on to ethanol
customers. The availability as well as the price of corn is subject to wide
fluctuations due to weather, carry-over supplies from the previous year or
years, current crop yields, government agriculture policies, international
supply and demand and numerous other factors. Using recent corn prices of
$4.75 per bushel, we estimate that corn will represent approximately 77% of our
operating costs. Historically, the spot price of corn tends to rise during the
spring planting season in May and June and tends to decrease during the fall
harvest in October and November. From October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2010 the
CBOT price of corn has fluctuated from a low of $3.01 per bushel in September
2009 to a high of $5.22 per bushel in September 2010 and averaged $3.79 per
bushel during this period.
Higher
natural gas prices will tend to reduce our profit margin, as it is unlikely that
such an increase in costs can be passed on to ethanol customers. Natural gas
prices and availability are affected by weather, overall economic conditions,
oil prices and numerous other factors. Using recent corn prices of $4.75 per
bushel and recent natural gas prices of $4.00 per Mmbtu, we estimate that
natural gas will represent approximately 6% of our operating costs.
Historically, the spot price of natural gas tends to be highest during the
heating and cooling seasons and tends to decrease during the spring and fall.
From October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2010, the Nymex price of natural gas has
fluctuated from a low of $2.51 per Mmbtu in September 2009 to a high of $7.73
per Mmbtu in October 2008 and averaged $4.59 per Mmbtu during this
period.
36
To reduce
the risks implicit in price fluctuations of these four principal commodities and
variations in interest rates, we plan to continuously monitor these markets and
to hedge a portion of our exposure, provided we have the financial resources to
do so. In hedging, we may buy or sell exchange-traded commodities futures or
options, or enter into swaps or other hedging arrangements. While there is an
active futures market for corn and natural gas, the futures market for ethanol
is still in its infancy and very illiquid, and we do not believe a futures
market for distillers grain currently exists. Although we will attempt to link
our hedging activities such that sales of ethanol and distillers grain match
pricing of corn and natural gas, there is a limited ability to do this against
the current forward or futures market for ethanol and corn. Consequently, our
hedging of ethanol and distillers grain may be limited or have limited
effectiveness due to the nature of these markets. Due to the Company’s limited
liquidity resources and the potential for required postings of significant cash
collateral or margin deposits resulting from changes in commodity prices
associated with hedging activities, the Company is currently unable to
hedge with third-party brokers. We also may vary the amount of hedging
activities we undertake, and may choose to not engage in hedging transactions at
all. As a result, our operations and financial position may be adversely
affected by increases in the price of corn or natural gas or decreases in the
price of ethanol or unleaded gasoline.
We have
prepared a sensitivity analysis as set forth below to estimate our exposure to
market risk with respect to our projected corn and natural gas requirements and
our ethanol and distillers grain sales for the last three months of 2010.
Market risk related to these factors is estimated as the potential change in
pre-tax income, resulting from a hypothetical 10% adverse change in the cost of
our corn and natural gas requirements and the selling price of our ethanol and
distillers grain sales based on current prices as of September 30, 2010,
excluding activity we may undertake related to corn and natural gas forward and
futures contracts used to hedge our market risk. Actual results may vary from
these amounts due to various factors including significant increases or
decreases in the LLC’s production capacity during the last three months of
2010.
Volume
Requirements
|
Units
|
Price per Unit
at September 30,
2010
|
Hypothetical
Adverse Change
in Price
|
Change in
Three months ended
December 31,
2010 Pre-tax
Income
|
|||||||||||||
(in millions)
|
(in millions)
|
||||||||||||||||
Ethanol
|
58.1
|
Gallons
|
$
|
1.99
|
10
|
%
|
$
|
(11.6
|
)
|
||||||||
Dry
Distillers
|
0.1
|
Tons
|
$
|
118.83
|
10
|
%
|
$
|
(1.2
|
)
|
||||||||
Wet
Distillers
|
0.1
|
Tons
|
$
|
38.00
|
10
|
%
|
$
|
(0.4
|
)
|
||||||||
Corn
|
20.7
|
Bushels
|
$
|
4.56
|
10
|
%
|
$
|
(9.4
|
)
|
||||||||
Natural
Gas
|
1.6
|
Mmbtu
|
$
|
4.08
|
10
|
%
|
$
|
(0.7
|
)
|
We are
subject to interest rate risk in connection with our Senior Debt facility. Under
the facility, our bank borrowings bear interest at a floating rate based, at our
option, on LIBOR or an alternate base rate. As of September 30, 2010, we
had borrowed $192.5 million under our Senior Debt facility. A hypothetical
100 basis points increase in interest rates under our Senior Debt facility would
result in an increase of $1,925,000 on our annual interest expense.
At
September 30, 2010, we had $10.9 million of cash and equivalents invested in
both standard cash accounts and money market mutual funds held at three
financial institutions, which is in excess of FDIC insurance limits. The
money market mutual funds are not invested in any auction rate
securities.
ITEM
4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Controls
and Procedures
The
Company’s management carried out an evaluation, as required by Rule 13a-15(b) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), with the participation
of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, of the
effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of our
last fiscal quarter. Based upon this evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and
the Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and
procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q, such that the information relating to the Company and its
consolidated subsidiaries required to be disclosed in our Exchange Act reports
filed with the SEC (i) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within
the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and (ii) is accumulated and
communicated to the Company’s management, including our Chief Executive Office
and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding
required disclosure.
37
In
addition, the Company’s management carried out an evaluation, as required by
Rule 13a-15(d) of the Exchange Act, with the participation of our Chief
Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, of changes in the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting. Based on this evaluation, the Chief
Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that no change in
internal control over financial reporting occurred during the quarter ended
September 30, 2010, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting.
PART II.
OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1A.
|
RISK
FACTORS
|
There
have been no material changes to the risks to our business from those described
under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed
with the SEC on October 18, 2010.
ITEM
2.
|
UNREGISTERED
SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF
PROCEEDS
|
The sales
of the securities of the registrant listed below were not registered under the
Securities Act because they were sold in transactions exempt from registration
pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act.
Warrants
under Bridge Loan Agreement
On
September 24, 2010, we entered into a loan agreement (which we refer to as the
“Bridge Loan Agreement”) with Greenlight Capital, LP, Greenlight Capital
Qualified, LP, Greenlight Capital (Gold), LP, Greenlight Capital Offshore
Partners, Greenlight Capital Offshore Master (Gold), Ltd., Greenlight
Reinsurance, Ltd. (which we refer to collectively as the “Greenlight Parties”)
and Third Point Loan LLC (which we refer to as “Third Point” and, together with
the Greenlight Parties, as the “Backstop Parties”) and Greenlight APE, LLC, as
administrative agent, pursuant to which we borrowed $19,421,000 (which we refer
to as the “Bridge Loan”). The Bridge Loan matures on March 24, 2011, and
in the event the Bridge Loan is not paid in full on or before that date, the
Bridge Loan Agreement provides that we will issue warrants to the Backstop
Parties exercisable at an exercise price of $0.01 per share for an aggregate of
15% of our common stock on a fully diluted basis as of the date the warrants are
issued. A form of warrant is included in the Bridge Loan Agreement, which is
incorporated by reference as Exhibit 10.1 to this quarterly report.
Cargill
Stock Payment
On
September 23, 2010, we entered into a letter agreement with Cargill,
Incorporated (“Cargill”), Cargill Commodity Services, Inc., BFE Operating
Company, LLC, Pioneer Trail Energy, LLC and Buffalo Lake Energy, LLC (which we
refer to as the “Cargill Letter”).
We and
Cargill agreed in the Cargill Letter that upon successful completion of our
planned rights offering (i) we will pay Cargill $2,800,828 (which we refer to as
the “Cargill Cash Payment”) pursuant to the terms of the agreement dated January
14, 2009 by and between us and Cargill (which we refer to as the “Settlement
Agreement”) and, as contemplated by the Settlement Agreement, Cargill will
forgive a like amount of the payable under the Settlement Agreement and (ii)
upon receipt of the Cargill Cash Payment, Cargill will forgive the remaining
payable under the Settlement Agreement in exchange for depositary shares in an
amount equal to approximately $6,000,000 (which we refer to as the “Cargill
Stock Payment”).
The
depositary shares that will make up the Cargill Stock Payment will be issued to
Cargill on the 12th business day following the consummation of the planned
rights offering and will be valued at a per share price equal to the average of
the volume weighted averages of the trading prices of our common stock, as such
prices are reported on The Nasdaq Global Market, for the 10 consecutive trading
days ending on the second trading day immediately preceding the date such
depositary shares are issued to Cargill. The depositary shares to be
issued to Cargill will therefore be issued after the depositary shares that will
be issued upon expiration of the rights offering but will have the same rights
and preferences as the depositary shares that will be issued upon expiration of
the rights offering. The depositary shares to be issued to Cargill are not
being registered or sold in the rights offering. In order to issue the
depositary shares that will make up the Cargill Stock Payment, we expect to
issue and deposit with the depositary a number of additional shares of Series A
Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock that corresponds to the aggregate
fractional interests in shares of Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred
Stock that the newly issued depositary shares represent. In the event that
an insufficient number of authorized shares of Series A Non-Voting Convertible
Preferred Stock are available for such issuance and deposit with the depositary,
we expect to establish an alternative method for satisfying the Cargill Stock
Payment that is satisfactory to us, Cargill and the Backstop
Parties.
Backstop
Commitment
In
connection with the Bridge Loan Agreement, on September 24, 2010, we entered
into a Rights Offering Letter Agreement (the “Rights Offering Letter Agreement”)
with the Backstop Parties.
38
Subject
to the terms and conditions set forth in the Rights Offering Letter Agreement,
the Backstop Parties have agreed to purchase immediately prior to expiration of
the planned rights offering all of the available depositary shares not otherwise
sold in the rights offering following the exercise of all other holders’ basic
subscription privileges and over-subscription privileges (which we refer to as
the “Backstop Commitment”). The price per depositary share paid by the
Backstop Parties pursuant to the Backstop Commitment will be equal to the price
paid by the other holders in the rights offering. Any depositary shares
purchased pursuant to the Backstop Commitment will be purchased directly from
us. The number of depositary shares subject to purchase by the Backstop
Parties pursuant to the Backstop Commitment is subject to reduction in certain
circumstances as described in the prospectus included in the registration
statement we filed with the SEC on October 18, 2010.
ITEM
6.
|
EXHIBITS
.
|
|
Number
|
Exhibit
|
|
3.1
|
Amended
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of BioFuel Energy Corp.,
incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current
Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 19,
2007.
|
|
3.2
|
BioFuel
Energy Corp. Bylaws, as Amended and Restated, incorporated by reference to
Exhibit 3.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed
with the SEC on March 23, 2009.
|
|
Loan
Agreement dated as of September 24, 2010, by and among BioFuel Energy
Corp., Greenlight Capital, LP, Greenlight Capital Qualified, LP,
Greenlight Capital (Gold), LP, Greenlight Capital Offshore Partners,
Greenlight Capital Offshore Master (Gold), Ltd., Greenlight Reinsurance,
Ltd. and Third Point Loan LLC and Greenlight APE, LLC, as administrative
agent (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current
Report on Form 8-K filed September 27, 2010).
|
||
10.2
|
Rights
Offering Letter Agreement dated as of September 24, 2010, by and among
BioFuel Energy Corp., Greenlight Capital, LP, Greenlight Capital
Qualified, LP, Greenlight Capital (Gold), LP, Greenlight Capital Offshore
Partners, Greenlight Capital Offshore Master (Gold), Ltd., Greenlight
Reinsurance, Ltd. and Third Point Loan LLC (incorporated by reference to
Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed September
27, 2010).
|
39
10.3
|
Voting
Agreement dated as of September 24, 2010 by Greenlight Capital, LP,
Greenlight Capital Qualified, LP, Greenlight Capital (Gold), LP,
Greenlight Capital Offshore Partners, Greenlight Capital Offshore Master
(Gold), Ltd. and Greenlight Reinsurance, Ltd. (incorporated by reference
to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed
September 27, 2010).
|
|
10.4
|
Voting
Agreement dated as of September 24, 2010 by Third Point Loan LLC
(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company’s Current Report
on Form 8-K filed September 27, 2010).
|
|
10.5
|
Letter
Agreement dated as of September 23, 2010, by and among BioFuel Energy
Corp., BFE Operating Company, LLC, Pioneer Trail Energy, LLC, Buffalo Lake
Energy, LLC, Cargill, Incorporated and Cargill Commodity Services, Inc.
(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Current Report
on Form 8-K filed September 27, 2010).
|
|
10.6
|
Waiver
Letter, dated September 24, 2010, by Scott H. Pearce, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Kelly G. Maguire, Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer, Doug Anderson, Vice President of Operations, and Mark
Zoeller, Vice President and General Counsel (incorporated by reference to
Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report filed September 30,
2010).
|
|
10.7
|
Executive
Employment Agreement dated as of August 31, 2010 between BioFuel Energy,
LLC and Scott H. Pearce, incorporated by reference from the Company’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 3,
2010.
|
|
10.8
|
Executive
Employment Agreement dated as of August 31, 2010 between BioFuel Energy,
LLC and Kelly G. Maguire, incorporated by reference from the Company’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 3,
2010.
|
|
10.9
|
Offer
of Continued Employment dated as of August 31, 2010 between BioFuel
Energy, LLC and Doug Anderson, incorporated by reference from the
Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 3,
2010.
|
|
10.10
|
Offer
of Continued Employment dated as of August 31, 2010 between BioFuel
Energy, LLC and Mark Zoeller, incorporated by reference from the Company’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 3,
2010.
|
|
31.1
|
Certification
of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer Pursuant To Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C.
Section 7241).
|
|
31.2
|
Certification
of the Company’s Chief Financial Officer Pursuant To Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C.
Section 7241).
|
|
32.1
|
Certification
of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer Pursuant To Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C.
Section 1350).
|
|
32.2
|
Certification
of the Company’s Chief Financial Officer Pursuant To Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C.
Section 1350).
|
|
99.1
|
Press
Release Announcing Results for Third Quarter of
2010.
|
40
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) 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.
BIOFUEL
ENERGY CORP.
|
||
(Registrant)
|
||
Date:
November 11, 2010
|
By:
|
/s/ Scott H. Pearce
|
Scott
H. Pearce,
|
||
President,
|
||
Chief
Executive Officer and Director
|
||
Date:
November 11, 2010
|
By:
|
/s/ Kelly G. Maguire
|
Kelly
G. Maguire,
|
||
Executive
Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer
|
41
INDEX
TO EXHIBITS
Number
|
Exhibit
|
|
3.1
|
Amended
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of BioFuel Energy Corp.,
incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current
Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 19,
2007.
|
|
3.2
|
BioFuel
Energy Corp. Bylaws, as Amended and Restated, incorporated by reference to
Exhibit 3.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed
with the SEC on March 23, 2009.
|
|
Loan
Agreement dated as of September 24, 2010, by and among BioFuel Energy
Corp., Greenlight Capital, LP, Greenlight Capital Qualified, LP,
Greenlight Capital (Gold), LP, Greenlight Capital Offshore Partners,
Greenlight Capital Offshore Master (Gold), Ltd., Greenlight Reinsurance,
Ltd. and Third Point Loan LLC and Greenlight APE, LLC, as administrative
agent (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current
Report on Form 8-K filed September 27, 2010).
|
||
10.2
|
Rights
Offering Letter Agreement dated as of September 24, 2010, by and among
BioFuel Energy Corp., Greenlight Capital, LP, Greenlight Capital
Qualified, LP, Greenlight Capital (Gold), LP, Greenlight Capital Offshore
Partners, Greenlight Capital Offshore Master (Gold), Ltd., Greenlight
Reinsurance, Ltd. and Third Point Loan LLC (incorporated by reference to
Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed September
27,
2010).
|
10.3
|
Voting
Agreement dated as of September 24, 2010 by Greenlight Capital, LP,
Greenlight Capital Qualified, LP, Greenlight Capital (Gold), LP,
Greenlight Capital Offshore Partners, Greenlight Capital Offshore Master
(Gold), Ltd. and Greenlight Reinsurance, Ltd. (incorporated by reference
to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed
September 27, 2010).
|
|
10.4
|
Voting
Agreement dated as of September 24, 2010 by Third Point Loan LLC
(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company’s Current Report
on Form 8-K filed September 27, 2010).
|
|
10.5
|
Letter
Agreement dated as of September 23, 2010, by and among BioFuel Energy
Corp., BFE Operating Company, LLC, Pioneer Trail Energy, LLC, Buffalo Lake
Energy, LLC, Cargill, Incorporated and Cargill Commodity Services, Inc.
(incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Current Report
on Form 8-K filed September 27, 2010).
|
|
10.6
|
Waiver
Letter, dated September 24, 2010, by Scott H. Pearce, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Kelly G. Maguire, Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer, Doug Anderson, Vice President of Operations, and Mark
Zoeller, Vice President and General Counsel (incorporated by reference to
Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report filed September 30,
2010).
|
|
10.7
|
Executive
Employment Agreement dated as of August 31, 2010 between BioFuel Energy,
LLC and Scott H. Pearce, incorporated by reference from the Company’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 3,
2010.
|
|
10.8
|
Executive
Employment Agreement dated as of August 31, 2010 between BioFuel Energy,
LLC and Kelly G. Maguire, incorporated by reference from the Company’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 3,
2010.
|
|
10.9
|
Offer
of Continued Employment dated as of August 31, 2010 between BioFuel
Energy, LLC and Doug Anderson, incorporated by reference from the
Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 3,
2010.
|
|
10.10
|
Offer
of Continued Employment dated as of August 31, 2010 between BioFuel
Energy, LLC and Mark Zoeller, incorporated by reference from the Company’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 3,
2010.
|
|
31.1
|
Certification
of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer Pursuant To Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C.
Section 7241).
|
|
31.2
|
Certification
of the Company’s Chief Financial Officer Pursuant To Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C.
Section 7241).
|
|
32.1
|
Certification
of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer Pursuant To Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C.
Section 1350).
|
|
32.2
|
Certification
of the Company’s Chief Financial Officer Pursuant To Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U.S.C.
Section 1350).
|
|
99.1
|
Press
Release Announcing Results for Third Quarter of
2010.
|
42