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Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 11:17 PM
Subject: Reported loss from hedging investments

 
Farmer Bros. filed its Form 10-Q quarterly report this evening, reporting a net loss of $4.1 million for the quarter ending December 31, 2004.  Net sales were $51.2 million, compared with $51.5 for the previous year's December quarter.  No press release could be found.
 
As expected from management comments at the annual meeting, as reported in a December 15, 2004 Forum Report, the company experienced substantial losses from hedge investment activities.  The following statements were found in  the "Results of Operations" section of the current 10-Q report's Item 2:
 
Other, net (expense) in the second quarter of fiscal 2005 was ($8,307,000), as
compared to Other, net (expense) of ($403,000) in the same quarter of fiscal
2004.  Higher green coffee prices during the second quarter of fiscal 2005
resulted in a decrease in the value of green coffee futures and options used by
the Company to hedge against a decline in commodity prices.  Other, net
(expense) during the second quarter of fiscal 2005 consisted of net realized
and unrealized coffee trading losses of ($8,821,000), offset by net gains of
$514,000 on other investments.
 
For the first six months of fiscal 2005, Other, net (expense) was ($8,222,000),
as compared to Other, net income of $1,169,000 for the same period of fiscal
2004.  Higher green coffee prices during the second quarter of fiscal 2005
resulted in a decrease in the value of green coffee futures and options used by
the Company to hedge against a decline in commodity prices.  Other, net
(expense) during the first six months of fiscal 2005 consisted of net realized
and unrealized coffee trading losses of ($9,663,000), offset by net gains on
other investments.  The net realized and unrealized losses during the three and
six month periods ended December 31, 2004 consisted of the following (in
thousands):
 
                                 Three month period  Six month period
                                       ended             ended
                                  December 31, 2004   December 31, 2004
 
Realized coffee gains               $1,340              $2,063
Realized coffee losses              (7,665)             (7,687)
Unrealized coffee losses            (2,496)             (4,039)
   Totals                          ($8,821)            ($9,663)
 
 
Since the company does not consider itself subject to the reporting requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1949, there is no more detailed information about these investments.
 
             - GL
 
Gary Lutin
Lutin & Company
575 Madison Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, New York 10022
Tel: 212/605-0335
Fax: 212/605-0325
Email: gl@shareholderforum.com

 

 

The Forum is open to all Farmer Bros. shareholders, whether institutional or individual, and to professionals concerned with their investment decisions.  Its purpose is to provide shareholders with access to information and a free exchange of views on issues relating to their evaluations of alternatives.  As stated in the Forum's Conditions of Participation, participants are expected to make independent use of information obtained through the Forum, subject to the privacy rights of other participants.  It is a Forum rule that participants will not be identified or quoted without their explicit permission.

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