USA: Pittsburgh Brewing says financial position has deteriorated over the last year

Pittsburgh Brewing filed on January 12 financial statements indicating it has assets of $7.5 million against liabilities of $13.2 million, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette communicated on January 12. The Lawrenceville brewer said it lost $846,00 in the first eight months of last year, indicating that the company's financial position has deteriorated over the last year.

Pittsburgh Brewing's liabilities include $6.5 million owed to secured creditors, including President Joseph Piccirilli, and $6.7 million owed to unsecured creditors. Not listed in the filing is the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which will likely have to take over a brewery pension fund saddled with more than a $6 million deficit.

When the company last year asked the PBGC for permission to terminate the pension plan, it said it had posted operating losses of $1.2 million over the previous three years.

The 20 largest unsecured creditors are owed $5.1 million. They include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Pittsburgh Steelers Sports, the U.S. Treasury, a union pension fund, Highmark, the UPMC Health Plan and suppliers.

Pittsburgh Brewing filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec. 7 after the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority threatened to terminate service over $2.5 million in unpaid bills, some of them dating back to 1996.

The filing indicates Mr. Piccirilli is paid an annual salary of $112,000 and owns 44 percent of the company's stock. The next largest shareholder listed is Chicago investor Jack Cerone, who owns 20 percent. Mr. Cercone is the brewery's largest secured creditor, with a claim of $6 million. Mr. Piccirilli has a secured claim of $375,000 from a loan he made to the company.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .