BioFuel Energy first quarter net loss increases to $11.1 million

BIOFUEL ENERGY CORP. (NASDAQ: BIOF), an ethanol production company, today announced its first quarter 2012 results.  For the quarter ended March 31, 2012, the net loss was $11.1 million on revenues of $139.4 million, compared with a net loss of $9.0 million on revenues of $158.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.  For the quarter ended March 31, 2012, the net loss attributable to common stockholders was $9.4 million, or $.09 per share, while for the three months ended March 31, 2011 the net loss attributable to common stockholders was $7.7 million, or $.11 per share.

"We continue to face a challenging commodity margin environment, as the industry continues to over-produce in the face of lower demand for motor fuel," said Scott H. Pearce, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer.  "Over the past two years, we have made a number of improvements to our platform to mitigate losses in periods like this, the most recent example being the installation of corn oil extraction systems, which began generating revenues early in the first quarter of 2012.  We also produced fewer gallons year over year as we pared back production to optimize the margin realized."

For the quarter ended March 31, 2012, the Company's operating loss was $9.3 million, which resulted from $145.9 million in cost of goods sold and $2.8 million in general and administrative expenses.  During the first quarter of 2012, the Company also incurred $1.8 million in interest expense, which resulted in a net loss of $11.1 million.  For the same period of 2011, our operating loss was $4.8 million, which resulted from $160.2 million in cost of goods sold and $2.6 million in general and administrative expenses.  The Company also had $4.2 million of interest expense in the first quarter of 2011, which resulted in a net loss of $9.0 million

At March 31, 2012, the Company had $173.6 million in term loans outstanding under its senior debt facility.  At March 31, 2012, the Company held $11.7 million of cash and cash equivalents and equity totaled $89.3 million, including $3.8 million of noncontrolling interest.