Shareholders of Anaheim-based frozen and refrigerated food maker Bridgford Foods Corp. aren’t feeling the chill these days.
After a tough 2008 that cut the value of Bridgford’s shares in half, the company is benefiting from lower costs and a reorganization.
The thinly traded stock,three-quarters of which is owned by the Bridgford family,has risen more than 200% in the past four months, giving it a recent market value of about $70 million.
The company beat the overall uptick in the stock market,the S & P; 500 Index saw a 30% rise in the same period.
Bridgford’s quarterly results, which were released a few weeks ago for the 12 weeks ended April 17, showed a before tax profit of a little more than $1 million, versus a loss of about $1.25 million a year earlier.
Sales for the quarter were up 3% to $25.6 million.
Lower costs for the grains and meat Bridgford buys to make its products,which include bread rolls and meat slices,helped save about $1.7 million from the same period a year earlier, a 10% savings.
It also saved $400,000 as fuel costs declined and benefited from favorable tax moves.
Higher costs drove a 2008 loss of nearly $12.5 million, prompting the company to drop unprofitable products and reorganize.
The company, which isn’t followed by any analysts, didn’t put out a press release on its earnings.
Along with good results, part of the stock’s climb is due to market dynamics. Bridgford has about 3% fewer shares available for trading than a year ago at 9.43 million shares. But trading activity on its shares is up, with thousands exchanged daily.
The company is doing a 450,000-share buyback program after its available cash hit the $11 million mark, up from about $6 million a year ago.
Bridgford’s executives were not available for comment.
The company employs nine members of the Bridgford family in management positions.
It also saw a good first quarter as it made about $1.5 million, compared to a loss of $263,000 a year earlier.
Sales were about flat.
It’s not the only frozen food company to see growth lately. Shares of the Los Angeles area’s Overhill Farms Inc., Downer’s Grove, Ill.-based Sara Lee Corp. and Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods Inc. all saw 20% to 85% stock growth since March.
Bridgford’s main products include sliced lunch meats and sandwiches for retail markets in the Southwestern U.S., frozen bread dough products for the food service and retail food industries, dry sausage and sandwiches sold on store shelves, an assortment of frozen microwave-ready sandwiches and heat and serve breads.
Sales are made to large retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The company employs more than 600 workers in factories in Anaheim, Chicago, Statesville, N.C., and two in Dallas.
Hugh H. Bridgford founded the company in 1932 in San Diego.
He started as a retail meat market then expanded into several markets, sales to hotels and restaurants, frozen food distri-bution, meatpacking then frozen food manufacturing.
