Coffee Service

Farmer Bothers improves Q1 2022 revenues, earnings

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November 15, 2021

Farmer Brothers, a U.S.-based coffee foodservices company, reported improved sales and earnings for Q1 2022 driven by eased COVID restrictions, according to an earnings release.

Net sales rose 11.4% from $97.27 million in Q1 2021 to $108.4 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2021, driven primarily by continued recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic as local governments across the country eased restrictions and vaccines were distributed and rolled out successfully.

Average weekly DSD sales were down 25% compared to pre-COVID levels, which represents continued improvement from both the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and the one ended Sept. 30, 2020 when sales were down 27% and 41%, respectively.

While the company experienced improvement in several markets during the first fiscal quarter, the recovery in certain regions and markets was negatively impacted by the recent increase in COVID-19 cases which caused certain government restrictions to be reimplemented.

Direct ship channel sales declined 5.7% during the recent quarter compared to the prior year period due to accounts the company decided to exit during fiscal 2021 because they resulted in lower or negative profit due to the impacts from COVID-19.

Net loss was $2.4 million in the recent quarter compared to a net loss of $6.3 million in the prior year period.

Both basic and diluted net loss available to common stockholders improved from 37 cents to 14 cents in the comparative quarters.

The $108.36 in quarterly revenue beat analyst expectations by $3.46 million while the GAAP EPS of a 14-cent loss beat expectations by 23 cents, according to Seeking Alpha.

Shares traded at $8.23 today against a 52-week range of $3.67-$13.08.

"We're pleased to see the efficiencies that we've built into the business over the past 12 months continue to materialize, and we're encouraged by the continued sequential improvement in sales trends," CEO Deverl Maserang said in the press release. "We experienced our highest DSD volume during the quarter since the onset of COVID, and our DSD sales volumes have continued to trend favorably in recent weeks. While there continue to be lingering challenges associated with the pandemic, we're excited to see how the business responds as we enter our busy season and look to the balance of the year."

For an update on how the coronavirus pandemic has affected convenience services, click here.