Item 5. Other Events
NEWS RELEASE
December 16, 2004
FARM - NASDAQ NATIONAL MARKET SYSTEM
Farmer Bros. Declares Dividend, Reports Proxy Voting Results
TORRANCE, CALIF. - Dec. 16, 2004 - Farmer Bros. Co. (Nasdaq:
FARM) today said
its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10
per share for
shareholders of record on Jan. 28, payable on Feb. 14, 2005.
The Company also announced the certified proxy vote results from
its Annual
Meeting of Shareholders on Dec. 14. As announced during the
meeting,
shareholders ratified the selection of the independent auditors
and elected the
three incumbent Directors who were on the proxy ballot, with
each Director
receiving more than 81% of the votes cast.
Here are the certified votes for the election of three Directors
to a three-
year term of office expiring at the 2007 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders.
FOR
WITHOLD
Lewis A. Coffman 12,273,023
2,734,070
John Samore, Jr. 12,671,935
2,335,158
Kenneth R. Carson 12,251,756
2,755,337
Here is the vote to ratify the selection of Ernst & Young as
independent
auditors of the Company for the fiscal year ending June 30,
2005:
FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN TOTAL
14,874,710 85,044 47,339
15,007,093
Of the 16,075,080 shares of common stock entitled to vote, a
total of
15,007,093 shares (93.4%) were voted.
Farmer Bros. Co. is an institutional coffee roaster that sells a
variety of
coffee and allied products to the food service industry. The
Company's
signature trucks and vans bearing the "Consistently Good" logo
are seen
throughout Farmer Brothers' 28-state service area. Farmer
Brothers has paid a
dividend for 51 consecutive years, increased the dividend in
each of the last
seven consecutive years, and its stock price has grown on a
split-adjusted
basis from $1.80 a share in 1980.
Contact:
Jim Lucas / Whitney Hays
Abernathy MacGregor Group
213-630-6550
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