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Grass seed company looks to cut costs

Monday, March 8, 1999 | 10:44 a.m.

AgriBioTech Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Budd moved today to shore up the Henderson seed company's slumping stock price, announcing he personally bought 100,000 shares and that over the next two quarters the company expects to break even on a pre-tax basis.

The forecast for a break even performance excludes a previously announced restructuring charge. The company also hopes to cut annual expenses by $14 million in order to make the company profitable in fiscal year 2000. "Demand for our products and spring shipments appears to be very good," Budd said in a statement.

Budd added that he purchased personally, on the open market, 100,000 shares of AgriBioTech stock on March 1 at a price of $4.70 per share. The stock closed Friday at $3.75, off 53 cents.

The decline in the stock price from a 52-week high of $29.50 has resulted in shareholder lawsuits alleging AgriBioTech manipulated its financial reports -- charges denied by the company.

AgriBioTech lost $10.3 million or 26 cents per share in the second quarter -- up from the 1998 quarter's loss of $1.4 million or 5 cents per share.

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