Bevo Agro gets reprieve on loan

B.C.-based greenhouse supply firm Bevo Agro Inc. has been granted another three months to pay back a $5 million bond that matured Sept. 24.

Bevo Agro propagates and supplies vegetable, flower, berry and other seedlings to greenhouse operators, field growers and nurseries, including a substantial customer base in the U.S.

The company said Monday that Vancouver private equity firm Banyan Capital Partners has agreed to extend the deadline to January 31, 2008 for Bevo to repay on the convertible debenture it issued to Banyan.

Bevo Agro previously said it had expected to repay the debenture with a $5 million advance from its bank, which responded that it wasn’t satisfied with the company’s debt service and debt:equity ratios. The company said Monday that with Banyan’s co-operation, it’s now “negotiating alternative sources of long-term financing.”

The company released its year-end financial results Monday, showing the effects of lower sales and profits due to the rising Canadian dollar.

Lower sales, and a “bad debt write-off” of almost $395,000, led to a net loss of $279,606 on $19.8 million in sales for the year ending June 30, down from net earnings of just over $805,000 on sales of $22.03 million in its previous fiscal year, the company said.