News

RiceBran losses mount

RiceBran Technologies has announced that consolidated revenues rose to $9.7 million in the first quarter, up 25.7% from $7.7 million in Q1 2014. Consolidated gross profit in Q1 2015 decreased by $0.4 million to $1.1 million with consolidated gross profit decreasing by 7.5 percentage points to 10.9% in Q1 2015 compared to 18.4% in Q1 2014. The decrease was attributable to a decline […]

RiceBran Technologies has announced that consolidated revenues rose to $9.7 million in the first quarter, up 25.7% from $7.7 million in Q1 2014.

Consolidated gross profit in Q1 2015 decreased by $0.4 million to $1.1 million with consolidated gross profit decreasing by 7.5 percentage points to 10.9% in Q1 2015 compared to 18.4% in Q1 2014. The decrease was attributable to a decline in gross profit in the Brazil segment which was negatively impacted by supply chain issues resulting from trucking strikes that affected RiceBran’s ability to receive high quality bran and ship finished product.

Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2015 was $(1.6 million). This compares to adjusted EBITDA of $(0.9 million) in Q1 2014.

For the first quarter of 2015 the company recorded a net loss attributable to shareholders of ($3.0) million.This compares to a loss of ($1.9) million in the first quarter of 2014.

“Now that we have largely completed a number of significant improvement projects in the U.S. and Brazil, we enter 2015 focused on improving financial performance,” said W. John Short, CEO & President. “In the first quarter we achieved revenue increases in both segments despite the macroeconomic challenges in the Brazilian economy and customer delays in new product launches in the U.S. and Asia.  USA segment margins remain very healthy and we expect our emphasis on new product development to continue to drive USA segment growth throughout 2015 as we focus on higher margin functional foods and nutri-cosmetics.”

“Our Irgovel plant is now capable of operating as originally planned and the recent strong rice harvest should provide us with more than adequate supplies of bran for 2015.  Overall, however, economic weakness in Brazil, including  labour unrest and currency declines, continues to be a drag on performance from this segment.  As we move through 2015, we intend to work diligently to maximize both our top and bottom line financial performance to reach our goal of positive EBITDA in 2015.”