SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 31, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (Nasdaq:PEIX), announced today that the forbearance agreements with its lenders have been extended as the Company continues attempts to negotiate new loan terms. These agreements provide that the Company's lenders will refrain from exercising their rights and remedies through April 30, 2009, in respect of certain loan covenant defaults. Negotiations are ongoing with the Company's lenders, namely Wachovia Capital Finance Corporation (Western), with respect to its operating line of credit for Kinergy Marketing, WestLB AG and the other lenders under the Credit Agreement dated February 27, 2007 with respect to its term loans and working capital lines of credit for its wholly-owned ethanol production facilities, and Lyles United, LLC and its affiliate Lyles Mechanical Co., with respect to other outstanding loans.
In connection with the extension of the forbearance agreements, the Company received unsecured loans totaling $2 million from its Chairman, William L. Jones, and CEO, Neil M. Koehler.
The Company intends to file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission describing the forbearance agreements and loans in greater detail.
The Company has also filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. The summary financial statements are shown below.
PACIFIC ETHANOL, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)
Three Months Ended Years Ended
December 31, December 31,
--------------------- ---------------------
2008 2007 2008 2007
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Net sales $ 160,437 $ 130,390 $ 703,926 $ 461,513
Cost of goods sold 189,658 128,712 737,331 428,614
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Gross profit (loss) (29,221) 1,678 (33,405) 32,899
Selling, general and
administrative
expenses 7,521 7,080 31,796 30,822
Impairment of
goodwill -- -- 87,047 --
Impairment of asset
group -- -- 40,900 --
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Income (loss) from
operations (36,742) (5,402) (193,148) 2,077
Other expense, net (1,884) (7,111) (6,068) (6,801)
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Loss before non-
controlling interest
in variable interest
entity (38,626) (12,513) (199,216) (4,724)
Noncontrolling
interest in variable
interest entity 4,730 (2,176) 52,669 (9,676)
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Net loss before
provision for
income taxes (33,896) (14,689) (146,547) (14,400)
Provision for income
taxes -- -- -- --
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Net loss $ (33,896) $ (14,689) $(146,547) $ (14,400)
========= ========= ========= =========
Preferred stock
dividends $ (808) $ (1,050) $ (4,104) $ (4,200)
========= ========= ========= =========
Deemed dividend on
preferred stock $ -- $ (28) $ (761) $ (28)
========= ========= ========= =========
Loss available to
common stockholders $ (34,704) $ (15,767) $(151,412) $ (18,628)
========= ========= ========= =========
Net loss per share,
basic and diluted $ (0.61) $ (0.39) $ (3.02) $ (0.47)
========= ========= ========= =========
Weighted-average
shares outstanding,
basic and diluted 56,984 40,079 50,147 39,895
========= ========= ========= =========
PACIFIC ETHANOL
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)
December 31, December 31,
ASSETS 2008 2007
------ ----------- -----------
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 11,466 $ 5,707
Investments in marketable securities 7,780 19,353
Accounts receivable, net 23,823 28,034
Restricted cash 2,520 780
Inventories 18,408 18,540
Prepaid expenses 2,279 1,498
Prepaid inventory 2,016 3,038
Derivative instruments 7 1,613
Other current assets 3,592 3,630
----------- -----------
Total current assets 71,891 82,193
----------- -----------
Property and equipment, net 530,037 468,704
----------- -----------
Other Assets:
Goodwill -- 88,168
Intangible assets, net 5,630 6,324
Other assets 9,276 6,211
----------- -----------
Total other assets 14,906 100,703
----------- -----------
Total Assets $ 616,834 $ 651,600
=========== ===========
PACIFIC ETHANOL, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (CONTINUED)
(in thousands, except par value)
December 31, December 31,
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY 2008 2007
------------------------------------ ----------- -----------
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable - trade $ 14,034 $ 22,641
Accrued liabilities 12,335 8,526
Accounts payable and accrued
liabilities - construction-related 20,198 55,203
Contract retentions 106 5,358
Other liabilities - related parties 608 900
Current portion - notes payable 305,420 11,098
Short-term note payable -- 6,000
Derivative instruments 7,503 10,353
----------- -----------
Total current liabilities 360,204 120,079
Notes payable, net of current portion 937 151,188
Other liabilities 3,497 1,965
----------- -----------
Total Liabilities 364,638 273,232
----------- -----------
Commitments and Contingencies
Noncontrolling interest in variable
interest entity 42,823 96,082
----------- -----------
Stockholders' Equity:
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value;
10,000 shares authorized;
Series A: 0 and 5,316 shares issued
and outstanding as of December 31,
2008 and 2007, respectively
Series B: 2,346 and 0 shares issued
and outstanding as of December 31,
2008 and 2007, respectively 2 5
Common stock, $0.001 par value;
100,000 shares authorized;
57,750 and 40,606 shares issued and
outstanding as of December 31, 2008
and 2007, respectively 58 41
Additional paid-in capital 479,034 402,932
Accumulated other comprehensive loss -- (2,383)
Accumulated deficit (269,721) (118,309)
----------- -----------
Total stockholders' equity 209,373 282,286
----------- -----------
Total Liabilities and Stockholders'
Equity $ 616,834 $ 651,600
=========== ===========
About Pacific Ethanol, Inc.
Pacific Ethanol is the largest West Coast-based marketer and producer of ethanol. Pacific Ethanol has ethanol plants in Madera and Stockton, California; Boardman, Oregon; and Burley, Idaho. Pacific Ethanol also owns a 42% interest in Front Range Energy, LLC which owns an ethanol plant in Windsor, Colorado. Central to Pacific Ethanol's growth strategy is its destination business model, whereby each respective ethanol plant achieves lower process and transportation costs by servicing local markets for both fuel and feed. Pacific Ethanol has achieved its goal of 220 million gallons per year of ethanol production capacity in 2008. In addition, Pacific Ethanol is working to identify and develop other renewable fuel technologies, such as cellulose-based ethanol production and bio-diesel.
The Pacific Ethanol, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5940
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
With the exception of historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The actual future results of Pacific Ethanol could differ from those statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the ability of Pacific Ethanol to obtain additional debt or equity financing, including additional working capital financing, and the ability of Pacific Ethanol to reschedule or restructure its indebtedness; the ability of Pacific Ethanol to successfully capitalize on its internal growth initiatives; the ability of Pacific Ethanol to operate its plants at their planned production capacities; the price of ethanol relative to the price of corn and other production inputs; the price of ethanol relative to the price of gasoline; and the factors contained in the "Risk Factors" section of Pacific Ethanol's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 31, 2009.