Tuesday, January 07, 2020

Dairy giant Borden files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Borden Dairy Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday, citing insurmountable debt that left it unable to cope with declining prices, rising costs, increasing competition and waning tastes for milk.

"In filing documents, Borden also highlighted eroding profit margins caused by industry consolidation and rising costs for fuel and the resin used in its bottles. A truck driver shortage has propped up transportation costs, too, it said," Niraj Chokshi reports for The New York Times. "Borden also said the cost of various pension and retirement obligations had contributed to its bankruptcy filing, including a $33 million pension settlement."

The Dallas-based company reported $1.18 billion in sales in 2018, but has been on rocky financial ground since at least 2017. Borden borrowed about $275 million that year, but then suffered net income losses for the next two years, Chokshi reports.

The announcement comes only two months after major Borden rival Dean Foods filed for Chapter 11 as well. Borden, which employs about 3,000 people, says it's in a better position than Dean to bounce back. Borden's chief executive, Tony Sarsam, told Chokshi: "Our operations are running in a way that gives us confidence that when we come out of this we’ll be in better shape."

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