Dolly Owner Blame Loss on Cost of Closings
The Associated Press
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Interstate Bakeries Corp., maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, reported a much larger monthly loss on Tuesday, driven by costs tied to the planned closing of four bakeries in Southern California.
In a court filing, the Kansas City-based company, which owns the Dolly Madison bakery in Emporia, said it lost $13.4 million on sales of $228 million during the four-week period ending Aug. 25. During the previous month, the company lost $3.66 million on sales of $224.8 million.
Costs of goods sold and other operating expenses during the period increased almost 2 percent from the previous month to $221.6 million.
Interstate Bakeries in August said it would leave the bread market in Southern California, closing four plants and laying off around 1,300 people. The company said it expected that those moves, to be completed by the end of October, would require reducing the value of company assets in that area by $10.2 million.
Interstate Bakeries has been required to file monthly operating reports with the bankruptcy court since seeking Chapter 11 reorganization in September 2004.
A bankruptcy judge last week gave the company until Nov. 7 to file a reorganization plan or possibly allow the company’s creditors and lenders to file proposals of their own.
Shares of Interstate Bakeries, which trade on the over-the-counter market, lost 3 cents to 32 cents in trading Tuesday.
On the Net:
Interstate Bakeries: www.interstatebakeriescorp.com