Tasty Baking gets extension till June

Tasty Baking Co. has been given until June to either sell itself or refinance its debt, the company announced this afternoon.

The troubled company does not have to pay any debt until the end of June.

It also got $6.5 million to continue operating, including $3 million from public entities - $1 million from the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. and $2 million from the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Tasty had faced a deadline today on a payment due Jan. 1 on $81.5 million in debt owed to Citizens and other banks.

Meanwhile, Tasty's stock has lost about 40 percent of its value in the week since the company disclosed its debt problems.

The company announced early on Jan. 5 that it was in a financial bind, and that the resolution to its problems could go as far as a merger or a sale of itself.

The company said the financial problems were caused, in part, by $100 million in debt used to build and move into a new plant, as well as a failure to realize expected cost savings.

Shortly after the company announcement at midafternoon, shares were trading at $3.85, down 15 cents on the day. That represents a 40 percent decline from $6.43, the closing price the day before the company announced its financial problems.