UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark One)
| | |
þ | | Quarterly Report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 |
For the quarterly period ended September 29, 2007
| | |
o | | Transition Report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission file number 000-27312
TOLLGRADE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| | |
Pennsylvania | | 25-1537134 |
(State or other jurisdiction | | (I.R.S. Employer |
of incorporation or organization) | | Identification No.) |
493 Nixon Rd.
Cheswick, PA 15024
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
412-820-1400
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
YesþNoo
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). (Check one):
Large Accelerated Filero Accelerated Filerþ Non-accelerated filero
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
YesoNoþ
As of September 29, 2007, there were 13,156,000 shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock, $0.20 par value per share, and no shares of the Registrant’s Preferred Stock, $1.00 par value per share, outstanding.
TOLLGRADE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
For the Quarter Ended September 29, 2007
Table of Contents
2
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
TOLLGRADE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands, except par value) (Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | |
| | September 29, 2007 | | | December 31, 2006* | |
ASSETS | | | | | | | | |
Current assets: | | | | | | | | |
Cash and cash equivalents | | $ | 46,116 | | | $ | 57,378 | |
Short-term investments | | | 7,724 | | | | 5,323 | |
Accounts receivable: | | | | | | | | |
Trade, net of allowance for doubtful | | | 18,313 | | | | 15,149 | |
accounts of $488 in 2007 and $535 in 2006 | | | | | | | | |
Other | | | 1,970 | | | | 1,918 | |
Inventories | | | 13,170 | | | | 8,556 | |
Prepaid expenses | | | 813 | | | | 776 | |
Deferred tax assets and refundable income tax | | | 2,027 | | | | 2,939 | |
Assets held for sale | | | 272 | | | | 1,190 | |
|
Total current assets | | | 90,405 | | | | 93,229 | |
Property and equipment, net | | | 3,674 | | | | 3,301 | |
Intangibles and capitalized software, net | | | 47,775 | | | | 41,487 | |
Goodwill | | | 24,665 | | | | 23,836 | |
Other assets | | | 332 | | | | 499 | |
|
Total assets | | $ | 166,851 | | | $ | 162,352 | |
|
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY | | | | | | | | |
|
Current liabilities: | | | | | | | | |
Accounts payable | | $ | 2,265 | | | $ | 1,580 | |
Accrued warranty | | | 1,989 | | | | 2,135 | |
Accrued expenses | | | 2,755 | | | | 2,590 | |
Accrued salaries and wages | | | 388 | | | | 658 | |
Accrued royalties payable | | | 525 | | | | 200 | |
Deferred income | | | 3,226 | | | | 2,783 | |
|
Total current liabilities | | | 11,148 | | | | 9,946 | |
Deferred tax liabilities and other taxes | | | 3,600 | | | | 2,962 | |
Pension obligation | | | 787 | | | | — | |
|
Total liabilities | | | 15,535 | | | | 12,908 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Contingencies and commitments | | | | | | | | |
Shareholders’ equity: | | | | | | | | |
Preferred stock, $1.00 par value; 10,000 authorized shares, none issued | | | — | | | | — | |
Common stock, $0.20 par value; authorized shares, 50,000; issued shares, 13,731 in 2007 and 13,709 in 2006 | | | 2,744 | | | | 2,742 | |
Additional paid-in capital | | | 73,403 | | | | 72,477 | |
Treasury stock, at cost, 575 shares in 2007 and 462 shares in 2006 | | | (5,900 | ) | | | (4,791 | ) |
Retained earnings | | | 81,003 | | | | 79,016 | |
Accumulated other comprehensive income | | | 66 | | | | — | |
|
Total shareholders’ equity | | | 151,316 | | | | 149,444 | |
|
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity | | $ | 166,851 | | | $ | 162,352 | |
|
| | |
* | | Amounts derived from audited financial statements presented in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
3
TOLLGRADE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands, except per share data) (Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Three Months Ended | | | Nine Months Ended | |
| | September 29, | | | September 30, | | | September 29, | | | September 30, | |
| | 2007 | | | 2006 | | | 2007 | | | 2006 | |
| | |
Revenues: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Products | | $ | 15,530 | | | $ | 12,053 | | | $ | 36,979 | | | $ | 38,828 | |
Services | | | 5,048 | | | | 2,896 | | | | 10,822 | | | | 9,982 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total revenues: | | | 20,578 | | | | 14,949 | | | | 47,801 | | | | 48,810 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Cost of product sales: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Products | | | 7,305 | | | | 5,454 | | | | 16,758 | | | | 19,238 | |
Services | | | 1,424 | | | | 982 | | | | 3,234 | | | | 3,601 | |
Amortization of intangibles | | | 903 | | | | 962 | | | | 2,041 | | | | 2,853 | |
Inventory restructuring writedown | | | — | | | | 4,346 | | | | — | | | | 4,346 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | 9,632 | | | | 11,744 | | | | 22,033 | | | | 30,038 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Gross Profit: | | | 10,946 | | | | 3,205 | | | | 25,768 | | | | 18,772 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Selling and marketing | | | 2,853 | | | | 2,459 | | | | 7,363 | | | | 8,081 | |
General and administrative | | | 2,673 | | | | 1,751 | | | | 7,121 | | | | 5,935 | |
Research and development | | | 3,694 | | | | 3,233 | | | | 9,639 | | | | 10,484 | |
Restructuring expense | | | 233 | | | | 1,500 | | | | 827 | | | | 1,500 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total operating expenses | | | 9,453 | | | | 8,943 | | | | 24,950 | | | | 26,000 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Income (loss) from operations | | | 1,493 | | | | (5,738 | ) | | | 818 | | | | (7,228 | ) |
Interest income | | | 635 | | | | 729 | | | | 2,151 | | | | 1,984 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Income (loss) before income taxes | | | 2,128 | | | | (5,009 | ) | | | 2,969 | | | | (5,244 | ) |
Provision (benefit) for income taxes | | | 702 | | | | (1,759 | ) | | | 982 | | | | (1,826 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net income (loss) | | $ | 1,426 | | | $ | (3,250 | ) | | $ | 1,987 | | | $ | (3,418 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Earnings (loss) per share information: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Weighted average shares of common stock and equivalents: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Basic | | | 13,207 | | | | 13,247 | | | | 13,241 | | | | 13,236 | |
Diluted | | | 13,440 | | | | 13,247 | | | | 13,467 | | | | 13,236 | |
Net income (loss) per common and common equivalent shares: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Basic | | $ | 0.11 | | | $ | (0.25 | ) | | $ | 0.15 | | | $ | (0.26 | ) |
Diluted | | $ | 0.11 | | | $ | (0.25 | ) | | $ | 0.15 | | | $ | (0.26 | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
4
Tollgrade Communications, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity
(In thousands) (Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Accumulated | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Additional | | | | | | | | | | Other | | | | |
| | Preferred Stock | | Common Stock | | Paid-In | | Treasury | | Retained | | Comprehensive | | Comprehensive | | |
| | Shares | | Amount | | Shares | | Amount | | Capital | | Stock | | Earnings | | Income | | Income | | Total |
|
Balance at December 31, 2006 | | | — | | | $ | — | | | | 13,709 | | | $ | 2,742 | | | $ | 72,477 | | | $ | (4,791 | ) | | $ | 79,016 | | | $ | — | | | $ | — | | | $ | 149,444 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Exercise of common stock options | | | — | | | | — | | | | 10 | | | | 2 | | | | 87 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 89 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Tax benefit from exercise of stock options | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 10 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 10 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Purchase of Treasury Stock | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (1,109 | ) | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (1,109 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Share based compensation | | | — | | | | — | | | | 12 | | | | — | | | | 829 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 829 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Foreign currency translation | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 66 | | | | 66 | | | | 66 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net income | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 1,987 | | | | — | | | | 1,987 | | | | 1,987 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Comprehensive income | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | $ | 2,053 | | | | — | |
| | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Balance at September 29, 2007 | | | — | | | | — | | | | 13,731 | | | $ | 2,744 | | | $ | 73,403 | | | $ | (5,900 | ) | | $ | 81,003 | | | $ | 66 | | | | — | | | $ | 151,316 | |
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
5
TOLLGRADE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands) (Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | |
| | Nine Months Ended |
| | September 29, | | September 30, |
| | 2007 | | 2006 |
|
Cash flows from operating activities: | | | | | | | | |
Net income (loss) | | $ | 1,987 | | | $ | (3,418 | ) |
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities: | | | | | | | | |
Depreciation and amortization | | | 3,258 | | | | 4,483 | |
Compensation expense related to stock plans | | | 829 | | | | 378 | |
Deferred and refundable income taxes | | | 1,547 | | | | (1,635 | ) |
Excess tax benefits from share-based compensation | | | (10 | ) | | | — | |
Restructuring charges | | | 313 | | | | 5,338 | |
Provision for losses on inventories | | | 333 | | | | (44 | ) |
Provision for allowance for doubtful accounts | | | 96 | | | | 19 | |
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisition: | | | | | | | | |
Accounts receivable-trade | | | 525 | | | | (3,770 | ) |
Accounts receivable-other | | | 752 | | | | 48 | |
Inventories | | | (3,730 | ) | | | (4,208 | ) |
Prepaid expenses and other assets | | | 163 | | | | 570 | |
Accounts payable | | | 215 | | | | (425 | ) |
Accrued warranty | | | (146 | ) | | | (87 | ) |
Accrued expenses, deferred income & accrued salaries and wages | | | (1,988 | ) | | | 587 | |
Accrued royalties payable | | | 318 | | | | (421 | ) |
Income taxes payable | | | — | | | | (428 | ) |
|
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities | | | 4,462 | | | | (3,013 | ) |
|
Cash flows from investing activities: | | | | | | | | |
Purchase of Broadband Test Division (2007) and Emerson Test Division (2006) | | | (11,952 | ) | | | (5,501 | ) |
Purchase of short-term investments | | | (11,608 | ) | | | (7,589 | ) |
Redemption/maturity of short-term investments | | | 9,207 | | | | 18,354 | |
Capital expenditures, including capitalized software | | | (1,220 | ) | | | (1,003 | ) |
Sale of assets held for sale | | | 892 | | | | — | |
|
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities | | | (14,681 | ) | | | 4,261 | |
|
Cash flows from financing activities: | | | | | | | | |
Repurchase of treasury shares | | | (1,109 | ) | | | — | |
Proceeds from the exercise of stock options | | | 89 | | | | 406 | |
Excess tax benefits from share-based compensation | | | 10 | | | | 94 | |
|
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities | | | (1,010 | ) | | | 500 | |
|
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents | | | (33 | ) | | | — | |
|
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents | | | (11,262 | ) | | | 1,748 | |
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | | $ | 57,378 | | | $ | 49,421 | |
|
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | | $ | 46,116 | | | $ | 51,169 | |
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
6
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION
We report our quarterly results for the first three interim periods of 2007 based on fiscal quarters ending on Saturdays and for the fourth interim period ending on December 31. For the periods presented herein, our fiscal quarters ended September 29, 2007 (13 weeks) and September 30, 2006 (13 weeks). The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared by Tollgrade Communications, Inc. (the “Company” or “Tollgrade”) in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the three and nine-month periods ended September 29, 2007 should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements (and notes thereto) included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006. Accordingly, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements, although the Company believes that the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. In the opinion of Company management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair statement of the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been included, and all adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature. Operating results for the three and nine-month periods ended September 29, 2007 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2007.
RECLASSIFICATIONS
Certain reclassifications have been made to prior year amounts to conform to the current year presentation.
NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
In February 2007, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, including an amendment to SFAS No. 115” (“SFAS 159”). Under SFAS 159, entities may elect to measure specified financial instruments and certain other items at fair value. SFAS 159 is effective as of the beginning of a company’s first fiscal year that begins after November 15, 2007. We do not believe the adoption of SFAS 159 will have a material impact on our financial position and results of operations.
In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 158, “Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit
7
Pension and Other Postretirement Plans-an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, 106, and 123 (R)” (“SFAS 158”). SFAS 158 requires an employer to recognize the overfunded or underfunded status of a defined benefit postretirement plan as an asset or liability in its balance sheet for the fiscal year ending after December 31, 2008 and to recognize changes in that funded status through comprehensive income of a business entity in the year in which the changes occur. SFAS 158 also requires an employer to measure the funded status of a plan as of the date of its year-end balance sheet for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2008. The funded status of each of our pension and other postretirement benefit plans is currently measured as of September 29, 2007. We adopted SFAS 158 effective August 1, 2007 upon the acquisition of the Broadband Test Division of Teradyne, Inc. (see Note 4). The measurement provision of SFAS 158 will be adopted as of December 31, 2007.
2. STOCK COMPENSATION PLANS AND ACCOUNTING FOR STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION EXPENSE
The Plans
The Company currently sponsors two separate active stock compensation plans. In March 2006, the Company adopted the 2006 Long-Term Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2006 Plan”), which was approved by the shareholders on May 9, 2006 and effectively replaced the 1995 Long-Term Incentive Plan, which by its terms does not allow grants to be made after October 15, 2005. The 2006 Plan provides that participants may be directors, officers, and other employees. The 2006 Plan authorized up to 1,300,000 shares available for grant. The 1998 Employee Incentive Plan (the “1998 Plan”) continues in existence and is considered an active plan by the Company. The 1998 Plan reserved a total of 990,000 shares to be made available for grant. All full-time active employees, excluding directors and officers, are eligible to participate in the 1998 Plan.
Under the Company’s stock-based compensation plans, participants may be granted restricted shares and/or options to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock. The grant price on any such shares or options is equal to the quoted fair market value of the Company’s shares at the date of the grant, as defined in the applicable plans. Restricted shares will vest in accordance with the terms of the applicable award agreement and the applicable plan. The 2006 Plan requires that non-performance-based restricted stock grants to employees vest in not less than three years, while performance-based restricted stock grants may vest after one year. Grants of restricted stock to directors may vest after one year. Options generally vest over time; such period has typically been two years with one third vested at the date of grant, one third at the end of one year, and one third at the end of two years.
Stock-Based Compensation Expense
On January 1, 2006, the Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123 (revised 2004), “Share-Based Payment” (“SFAS 123(R)”), which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to employees and directors based on estimated fair values.
SFAS 123(R) requires companies to record the effect of share-based payment awards based on fair market value. The fair value of options is determined using an option model utilizing quoted share prices on the date of option grant. The value of the portion of the award that is ultimately expected to vest is recognized as expense over the requisite service periods in the Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations. Total stock-based compensation expense recognized under SFAS 123(R) for the three months ended September 29, 2007 and September 30,
8
2006 was $0.2 and $0.1 million, respectively, and for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 and September 30, 2006 was $0.8 million and $0.4 million, respectively. During the third quarter of 2007, the Company revised its estimated forfeiture rate from 0% to 8%. The impact of this change in estimate was a benefit in the third quarter of 2007 of approximately $0.1 million. At September 29, 2007, unamortized stock-based compensation expense related to the stock option and restricted stock grants was $0.9 million which, subject to certain performance targets and time-based vesting, will vest at various times throughout the next three years.
| | | | | | | | |
| | Shares Authorized But Not Granted |
| | September 29, 2007 | | December 31, 2006 |
|
1998 Employee Incentive Compensation Plan | | | 162,723 | | | | 153,373 | |
2006 Long-term Incentive Compensation Plan | | | 1,149,451 | | | | 1,276,666 | |
Transactions involving stock options under the Company’s various plans and otherwise are summarized below:
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Number of | | | | | | | Weighted Average | |
| | Shares | | | Range of Options Price | | | Exercise Price | |
|
Outstanding, December 31, 2006 | | | 1,358,385 | | | $ | 7.28-159.19 | | | $ | 30.24 | |
|
Granted | | | 10,000 | | | | 9.84 | | | | 9.84 | |
Exercised | | | (10,500 | ) | | | 7.56-9.49 | | | | 8.49 | |
Cancelled | | | (38,121 | ) | | | 8.49-159.19 | | | | 68.61 | |
|
Outstanding, September 29, 2007 | | | 1,319,764 | | | $ | 7.28-159.19 | | | $ | 29.13 | |
|
3. RESTRUCTURING
On July 27, 2006, Tollgrade announced a restructuring program which included the consolidation of the Company’s operations at its leased Sarasota facility, discontinuance of various products, and the write-down of certain fixed assets and real estate. During the third quarter of 2007, we continued to record certain additional restructuring costs, primarily associated with the refinement of estimates related to employee relocation and lease termination costs. The total expense incurred as a result of this program was $7.0 million through September 29, 2007. Additional expense could be incurred based on changes in estimates related to employee relocation costs.
The components of the charges and accrual at September 29, 2007 for this program are as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Balance at | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Balance at | |
| | December 31, | | | | | | | Cash | | | Asset write- | | | September 29, | |
| | 2006 | | | Expense | | | payments | | | downs | | | 2007 | |
| | |
Facility rationalization including employee costs | | $ | 341 | | | $ | 800 | | | $ | (641 | ) | | $ | (286 | ) | | $ | 214 | |
Real estate impairment | | | — | | | | 27 | | | | — | | | | (27 | ) | | | — | |
| | |
Total | | $ | 341 | | | $ | 827 | | | $ | (641 | ) | | $ | (313 | ) | | $ | 214 | |
| | |
As a result of the restructuring program, the Company is in the process of selling certain real estate that will not be used by the Company. The value of the assets held for sale was based on management’s estimates of market value, supported by independent real estate broker opinions. We expect the sale of this real estate to be completed within a year.
9
The majority of the cash payments to be made under the restructuring program pertain to the remaining obligation for lease termination costs. The total of these payments that will be made throughout the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008 is approximately $0.2 million. We do not believe we will be successful in sub-leasing this facility and have accrued all remaining lease payments as of September 29, 2007.
In conjunction with the Broadband Test Division acquisition, the Company has committed to a plan to close its Deerfield, Illinois facility and relocate from the existing Bracknell, England location to another facility within Bracknell, England. We also expect to offer selected employees relocation benefits to relocate them to our corporate headquarters in Cheswick, Pennsylvania. We estimate the employee relocation and facility closure costs to be approximately $0.5 million and we expect these efforts will be completed by December 31, 2007. As of September 29, 2007, no cash payments have been made. There will be remaining lease payments into 2008. These costs were accounted for under Emerging Issue Task Force No. 95-3 (EITF 95-3) “Recognition of Liabilities in Connection with a Purchase Business Combination.”
4. ACQUISITION
On August 1, 2007, Tollgrade completed its previously announced acquisition of the Broadband Test Division of Teradyne, Inc. Tollgrade acquired substantially all of the assets for approximately $11.3 million in cash and assumed certain liabilities, and there were approximately $0.7 million in transaction fees for a total acquisition expenditure of $12.0 million. The acquisition was recorded under the purchase method of accounting in accordance with the provisions of SFAS 141, “Business Combinations”, and SFAS 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets”. Accordingly, the results of operations of the acquired Broadband Test Division from August 1, 2007 are included in the consolidated financial statements of the Company. The Company has made a preliminary allocation of purchase price to the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed. All intangible assets including goodwill are deductible for tax purposes over the appropriate tax life as determined by each country and are not expected to have any residual value. The purchase price allocation remains subject to change based on final valuation of acquired intangible assets.
The following summarizes the current estimated fair values as of the date of the acquisition (in thousands):
| | | | |
Accounts receivable | | $ | 4,524 | |
Inventories | | | 1,119 | |
Property and equipment | | | 551 | |
Intangible assets | | | 8,124 | |
Goodwill | | | 823 | |
Other | | | 21 | |
|
Total assets acquired | | | 15,162 | |
|
Deferred income | | | 1,545 | |
Accounts payable | | | 458 | |
Pension obligation | | | 743 | |
Relocation and lease termination | | | 464 | |
|
Total liabilities | | | 3,210 | |
|
Net assets acquired | | $ | 11,952 | |
|
10
The following condensed pro forma results of operations reflect the pro forma combination of the Company and the acquired Broadband Test Division business as if the combination occurred as of the beginning of each of the periods presented. Revenues for the periods prior to the Company’s ownership were based on historical information provided by Teradyne, Inc. The pro forma financial information is presented for comparative purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the operating results that actually would have been incurred had the Broadband Test Division acquisition been consummated on January 1, 2006 or 2007. In addition, these results are not intended to be projections of future results.
| | | | | | | | |
| | (In Thousands, Except Per Share Data) |
| | Unaudited Pro Forma | | Unaudited Pro Forma |
| | Three Months Ended | | Three Months Ended |
| | September 29, 2007 | | September 30, 2006 |
Revenues | | $ | 21,507 | | | $ | 19,354 | |
Income (loss) from operations | | | 498 | | | | (8,161 | ) |
Net income (loss) | | | 759 | | | | (4,822 | ) |
Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share | | $ | 0.06 | | | $ | (0.36 | ) |
| | | | | | | | |
| | (In Thousands, Except Per Share Data) | |
| | Unaudited Pro Forma | | | Unaudited Pro Forma | |
| | Nine Months Ended | | | Nine Months Ended | |
| | September 29, 2007 | | | September 30, 2006 | |
Revenues | | $ | 58,955 | | | $ | 64,915 | |
Income (loss) from operations | | | 812 | | | | (11,301 | ) |
Net income (loss) | | | 1,983 | | | | (6,073 | ) |
Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share | | $ | 0.15 | | | $ | (0.46 | ) |
The three and nine months ended September 30, 2006 includes certain non-recurring charges related to inventory restructuring writedown and other restructuring charges for both the Company and the Broadband Test Division, during the time it was still a part of Teradyne, Inc. The total restructuring charges for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2006 were $6.8 million and $7.7 million, respectively.
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On February 24, 2006, Tollgrade acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities associated with the test systems business unit of Emerson Network Power, Energy System, North America, Inc. (“Emerson”) for $5.5 million in cash. The acquisition was recorded under the purchase method of accounting in accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 141, “Business Combinations,” and SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets.” Accordingly, the results of operations of the acquired Emerson test systems business from February 24, 2006 are included in the consolidated financial statements of the Company. During the second quarter of 2007, we reached a settlement with Emerson resulting in no purchase price adjustment. All intangible assets including goodwill are deductible for tax purposes over a fifteen year period and are not expected to have any residual value.
The following summarizes the estimated fair values as of the date of the acquisition (in thousands):
| | | | |
Accounts receivable | | $ | 1,827 | |
Inventories | | | 1,113 | |
Property and equipment | | | 112 | |
Intangible assets | | | 1,113 | |
Goodwill | | | 2,274 | |
|
Total assets acquired | | | 6,439 | |
|
Deferred income | | | 175 | |
Accounts payable | | | 636 | |
Restructuring accrual | | | 127 | |
|
Total liabilities | | | 938 | |
|
Net assets acquired | | $ | 5,501 | |
|
The following condensed pro forma results of operations reflect the pro forma combination of the Company and the acquired Emerson test systems business as if the combination occurred as of January 1, 2006. Revenues for the periods prior to the Company’s ownership were based on historical information provided by Emerson. The pro forma financial information is presented for comparative purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the operating results that actually would have been incurred had the Emerson test systems business acquisition been consummated on January 1, 2006. In addition, these results are not intended to be projections of future results.
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| | | | |
| | (In Thousands, Except Per |
| | Share Data) |
| | Unaudited Pro Forma |
| | Nine Months Ended |
| | September 30, 2006 |
Revenues | | $ | 50,376 | |
(Loss) from operations | | $ | (7,218 | ) |
Net (loss) | | $ | (3,412 | ) |
Basic and diluted (loss) per share | | $ | (0.26 | ) |
5. INTANGIBLE ASSETS
The following information is provided regarding the Company’s intangible assets and goodwill (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | September 29, 2007 | |
Amortizing Intangible Assets: | | | | | | | | | | Accumulated | | | | |
| | Life (Years) | | | Gross | | | Amortization | | | Net | |
| | |
Post Warranty Service Agreements | | | 6-50 | | | $ | 38,347 | | | $ | 1,519 | | | $ | 36,828 | |
Technology | | | 5-10 | | | | 18,640 | | | | 13,029 | | | | 5,611 | |
Customer Relationships | | | 5-15 | | | | 3,426 | | | | 1,042 | | | | 2,384 | |
Other | | | 1-10 | | | | 835 | | | | 183 | | | | 652 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Non-Amortizing Intangible Assets: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Tradenames | | | | | | | 2,300 | | | | — | | | | 2,300 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
Total Intangible Assets | | | | | | $ | 63,548 | | | $ | 15,773 | | | $ | 47,775 | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Goodwill | | | | | | $ | 24,665 | | | $ | — | | | $ | 24,665 | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | December 31, 2006 | |
Amortizing Intangible Assets: | | | | | | | | | | Accumulated | | | | |
| | Life (Years) | | | Gross | | | Amortization | | | Net | |
| | |
Post Warranty Service Agreements | | | 50 | | | $ | 32,000 | | | $ | 800 | | | $ | 31,200 | |
Technology | | | 5-10 | | | | 17,912 | | | | 12,057 | | | | 5,855 | |
Customer Relationships | | | 5-15 | | | | 2,843 | | | | 748 | | | | 2,095 | |
Other | | | 1-3 | | | | 159 | | | | 122 | | | | 37 | |
Non-Amortizing Intangible Assets: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Tradenames | | | | | | | 2,300 | | | | — | | | | 2,300 | |
| | | | | | |
Total Intangible Assets | | | | | | $ | 55,214 | | | $ | 13,727 | | | $ | 41,487 | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
Goodwill | | | | | | $ | 23,836 | | | $ | — | | | $ | 23,836 | |
| | | | | | |
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Finite lived intangible assets are generally amortized utilizing an accelerated method which reflects the pattern in which the economic benefits of the customer relationship asset are consumed or otherwise used. Software-related intangible assets are amortized based on the greater of the amount computed using the ratio that current gross revenues bear to the total of current and anticipated future gross revenues for that product, or the straight-line method over the remaining estimated economic life. All amortization of intangible assets is recorded in cost of goods sold. The intangible assets associated with the acquisition of the net assets of the Broadband Test Division of Teradyne as of September 29, 2007 were:
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Life(Years) | | | Weighted Average Amortization Period (Years) | | | | | |
Post-warranty service agreement | | | 6-48 | | | | 25.6 | | | $ | 6,347 | |
Customer relationships | | | 10 | | | | 10.0 | | | | 583 | |
Technology | | | 10 | | | | 10.0 | | | | 644 | |
Other | | | 2-10 | | | | 8.8 | | | | 675 | |
Total | | | | | | | | | | $ | 8,249 | |
The Company currently estimates its total amortization expense including the intangible assets associated with the Broadband Test Division of Teradyne to be $1.1 million for the remaining three months of 2007 and $4.0 million, $3.5 million, $3.0 million, and $2.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively, and $31.6 million for periods thereafter.
6. PENSION
As a result of our acquisition of the Broadband Test Division the Company assumed a defined benefit pension plan for three employees based in the Company’s German location. The German pension obligation assumed as of August 1, 2007 was approximately $0.7 million. Net periodic pension expense recorded from the date of the acquisition through September 29, 2007 was insignificant. The pension obligation as of September 29, 2007 was approximately $0.8 million. The increase in pension obligation from August 1, 2007 through September 29, 2007 was related primarily to changes in foreign exchange rates. The pension obligation was estimated using the following assumptions: a discount rate of 5.2%, salary rate increase of 3%, standard mortality tables, and early retirement and turnover rates consistent with historical rates.
7. INVENTORIES
Inventories consisted of the following (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | |
| | September 29, 2007 | | | December 31, 2006 | |
Raw materials | | $ | 8,414 | | | $ | 5,895 | |
Work in process | | | 3,504 | | | | 2,728 | |
Finished goods | | | 3,439 | | | | 2,358 | |
| | | | | | |
| | | 15,357 | | | | 10,981 | |
Reserve for slow moving and obsolete inventory | | | (2,187 | ) | | | (2,425 | ) |
| | | | | | |
| | $ | 13,170 | | | $ | 8,556 | |
| | | | | | |
8. PER SHARE INFORMATION
Net income (loss) per share has been computed in accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 128, “Earnings Per Share”, for all periods presented. SFAS No. 128 requires companies with complex
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capital structures to report earnings per share on a basic and diluted basis. Basic earnings per share is computed using the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period, while diluted earnings per share is calculated to reflect the potential dilution that occurs related to issuance of capital stock option grants. The three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2006 did not include the effect of dilutive securities, which amounted to 21,000 and 88,000, respectively, due to the net loss reported in each of those periods which would make those securities anti-dilutive to the earnings per share calculation.
A reconciliation of earnings per share is as follows (in thousands, except per share data):
| | | | | | | | |
| | Three Months Ended | | | Nine Months Ended | |
| | September 29, 2007 | | | September 29, 2007 | |
Net Income | | $ | 1,426 | | | $ | 1,987 | |
| | | | | | |
Common and common equivalent shares: | | | | | | | | |
Weighted average common shares outstanding | | | 13,207 | | | | 13,241 | |
Effect of dilutive securities- stock options | | | 233 | | | | 226 | |
| | | | | | |
| | | 13,440 | | | | 13,467 | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Income per share: | | | | | | | | |
Basic | | $ | 0.11 | | | $ | 0.15 | |
Diluted | | $ | 0.11 | | | $ | 0.15 | |
9. PRODUCT WARRANTY
The Company records estimated warranty costs on the accrual basis of accounting. These reserves are based on applying historical returns to the current level of product shipments and the cost experience associated therewith. In the case of software, the reserves are based on the expected cost of providing services within the agreed-upon warranty period.
Activity in the warranty accrual is as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | |
| | Nine Months Ended | | | Year Ended | |
| | September 29, 2007 | | | December 31, 2006 | |
Balance at the beginning of the period | | $ | 2,135 | | | $ | 2,220 | |
|
Accruals for warranties issued during the period | | | 1,002 | | | | 1,595 | |
|
Settlements during the period | | | (1,148 | ) | | | (1,680 | ) |
| | | | | | |
Balance at the end of the period | | $ | 1,989 | | | $ | 2,135 | |
| | | | | | |
10. CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS
The Company is, from time to time, a party to various legal claims and disputes, either asserted or unasserted, which arise in the ordinary course of business. While the final resolution of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, the Company does not believe that the outcome of any of these claims will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, or annual results of operations or cash flow.
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11. INCOME TAXES
On January 1, 2007, the Company adopted the provisions of Financial Standards Accounting Board Interpretation No. 48 Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes (“FIN 48”), an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109 (“SFAS 109”). As a result of the implementation of FIN 48, the Company recognized no material adjustment in the liability for unrecognized income tax benefits. At the adoption date of January 1, 2007, unrecognized tax benefits were $97,000 all of which would affect the Company’s effective tax rate if recognized. At September 29, 2007, unrecognized tax benefits were approximately $135,000. We do not expect any significant changes to this liability.
The Company recognized interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in income tax expense. As of September 29, 2007, the Company has approximately $17,100 of accrued interest related to uncertain tax positions.
The tax years 2004 through 2006 remain open to examination by the major taxing jurisdictions to which we are subject.
The Company intends to permanently reinvest accumulated earnings in foreign subsidiaries as of September 29, 2007. As a result, deferred taxes have not been provided on foreign earnings at September 29, 2007. If the Company’s intention changes and such amounts are expected to be repatriated, deferred taxes will be provided.
12. MAJOR CUSTOMERS AND INTERNATIONAL SALES
The Company’s primary customers for its products and services are the Regional Bell Operating Companies (“RBOCs”), large international telephone service providers, certain major independent telephone companies, and most of the major domestic cable operators. Of these major customer groups, the RBOCs are the most significant. For the third quarter ended September 29, 2007, sales to the RBOCs accounted for approximately 30.3% of the Company’s total revenue, compared to approximately 35.2% of total revenue for the third quarter of 2006. Sales to AT&T (including BellSouth Corporation which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T in 2006) comprised 21.7% of the Company’s total revenue for the third quarter of 2007. Sales to AT&T comprised 28.0% of the Company’s total revenue for the third quarter of 2006. Additionally, sales to one international customer comprised approximately 18.2% of the Company’s third quarter 2007 revenue. As of September 29, 2007, the Company had approximately $7.0 million of accounts receivable with three customers, all of which individually exceeded 10% of our September 29, 2007 receivable balances. As of December 31, 2006, the Company had approximately $4.2 million of accounts receivable with two customers, both of which individually exceeded 10% of our December 31, 2006 receivable balances.
For the nine months ended September 29, 2007 and September 30, 2006, sales to the RBOCs accounted for approximately 35.2% and 31.4%, respectively, of the Company’s total revenue. Sales to AT&T (including BellSouth Corporation which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T in 2006) comprised approximately 26.9% and 24.7% of the Company’s total revenue for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 and September 30, 2006, respectively. The Company had sales to one cable OEM customer Alpha Technologies, Inc. (“Alpha”) that were approximately 12.6% of the Company’s consolidated revenue for the nine month period ended September 30, 2006. The Company did not have sales exceeding 10% of its consolidated revenue to any customers for its cable products and services in the nine months ended September 29, 2007.
International sales represented approximately $10.0 million, or 48.6%, of the Company’s total revenue
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for the quarter ended September 29, 2007, compared to $5.2 million, or 34.8%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2006. Our international sales were primarily in three geographic areas based upon customer location for the quarter ended September 29, 2007: the Americas (excluding the United States); Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia. Sales for the Americas were approximately $1.5 million and $1.2 million, sales in EMEA were approximately $8.4 million and $3.8 million, and sales in Asia were approximately $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the quarters ended September 29, 2007 and September 30, 2006, respectively.
International sales represented approximately $17.2 million, or 36.0% of the Company’s total revenue for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 compared to $11.4 million, or 23.4%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2006. Our international sales were primarily in three geographic areas based upon customer location for the nine months ended September 29, 2007: the Americas (excluding the United States); Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia. Sales in the Americas were approximately $3.8 million and $3.6 million, sales in EMEA were approximately $13.1 million and $7.3 million, and sales in Asia were approximately $0.3 million and $0.5 million for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2006, respectively.
13. SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM
On July 25, 2007, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program, pursuant to which the Company may repurchase up to one million shares of the Company’s Common Stock through December 31, 2007. Such purchases may be made through open market transactions and privately negotiated transactions at the Company’s discretion, subject to market conditions and other factors. During the third quarter of 2007, Tollgrade purchased 113,491 shares of treasury stock for approximately $1.1 million.
14. COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
The following table summarizes the components of other comprehensive income for all periods presented:
| | | | | | | | |
| | Three Months Ended | | | Nine Months Ended | |
(in thousands) | | September 29, 2007 | | | September 29, 2007 | |
Net income | | $ | 1,426 | | | $ | 1,987 | |
Foreign currency translation adjustments | | | 66 | | | | 66 | |
| | | | | | |
Comprehensive income | | $ | 1,492 | | | $ | 2,053 | |
| | | | | | |
Item 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto appearing elsewhere in this report.
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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR PURPOSES OF THE “SAFE HARBOR” PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995.
The statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including, but not limited to those contained in Item 2- Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations , along with statements in other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), external documents and oral presentations, which are not historical facts are considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements may be expressed in a variety of ways, including the use of forward-looking terminology such as “will,” “believes,” “intends,” “expects,” “plans,” “could” or “may,”or the negatives thereof, other variations thereon or comparable terminology. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements and other forward-looking statements contained in other public disclosures of the Company which make reference to the cautionary factors contained in this Form 10-Q are based on assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change. These risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements, as a result of various factors, including those described in Item 1A under “Risk Factors.” The factors discussed herein may not be exhaustive. Therefore, the factors should be read together with other reports and documents that are filed by the Company with the SEC from time to time, which may supplement, modify, supersede or update the factors listed in this document.
OVERVIEW
About the Company
Tollgrade designs, engineers, markets and supports test system, test access and status monitoring products and test software for the telecommunications and cable television industries in the United States and in certain international markets. The Company’s telecommunications proprietary test access products enable telephone companies to use their existing line test systems to remotely diagnose problems in Plain Old Telephone Service (“POTS”) lines containing both copper and fiber optics. The Company’s test system products focus on helping local exchange carriers conduct the full range of fault diagnosis along with the ability to pre-qualify, deploy and maintain service offerings, including Digital Subscriber Line (“DSL”) service. The Company’s cable products consist of a complete cable status monitoring system that provides a comprehensive testing solution for the Broadband Hybrid Fiber Coax distribution system. The status monitoring system consists of a host for user interface, control and configuration; a headend controller for managing network communications; and transponders that are strategically located within the cable network to gather status reports from power supplies, line amplifiers and fiber-optic nodes.
About our customers
The Company’s primary customers for its products and services are the Regional Bell Operating Companies (“RBOCs”), large international telephone service providers, certain major independent
18
telephone companies, and most of the major domestic cable operators. Of these major customer groups, the RBOCs are the most significant. For the third quarter ended September 29, 2007, sales to the RBOCs accounted for approximately 30.3% of the Company’s total revenue, compared to approximately 35.2% of total revenue for the third quarter of 2006. Sales to AT&T (including BellSouth Corporation, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T in 2006) comprised approximately 28.0% of the Company’s total revenue for the third quarter of 2006. Sales to AT&T comprised 21.7% of the Company’s total revenue for the third quarter of 2007. Additionally, sales to one international customer comprised approximately 18.2% of the Company’s third quarter 2007 revenue.
For the nine months ended September 29, 2007 and September 30, 2006, sales to the RBOCs accounted for approximately 35.2% and 31.4%, respectively, of the Company’s total revenue. Sales to AT&T (including BellSouth Corporation which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T in 2006) comprised approximately 26.9% and 24.7% of the Company’s total revenue for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 and September 30, 2006, respectively. The Company had sales to one cable OEM customer Alpha Technologies, Inc. (“Alpha”) that were approximately 12.6% of the Company’s consolidated revenue for the nine month period ended September 30, 2006.
PRODUCTS
TELECOMMUNICATION TEST SYSTEMS
Our proprietary telecommunications test and measurement products enable the telephone companies to use their existing line test systems to remotely diagnose problems in POTS lines containing both copper and fiber optics as well as qualify and troubleshoot broadband DSL and IP services. POTS lines provide traditional voice service as well as connections for communication devices such as computer modems and fax machines. POTS excludes non-switched and private lines, such as data communications service lines, commonly referred to as “special services.” POTS lines still comprise the vast majority of lines in service today throughout the world. We also sell our telecommunications test and measurement products to carriers that do not yet have POTS and DSL test systems, as well as to those seeking to replace older generation test systems. Our products enable the carrier to eliminate false dispatches, while providing high quality troubleshooting of problems for its subscribers.
DigiTest
Our DigiTest product family, including DigiTest EDGE®, DigiTest HUB™ and DigiTest ICE™, electrically measure the characteristics and connection performance of copper POTS and broadband circuits and reports those measurements to our LoopCare Operation Support System (“OSS”). The LoopCare OSS, in turn, analyzes that measurement data and creates an easy-to-understand fault description. At the same time, the LoopCare system can generate a dispatch to a work center so that a repairman can fix the problem. The DigiTest product family can also serve as a replacement for aging Loop Test Systems (“LTS”) equipment widely deployed in current POTS networks. In addition, LoopCare and the DigiTest product family can be used to determine whether customer lines are suitable for DSL services, and to remotely isolate troubles for various DSL services.
LoopCare has remained the major OSS utilized by the RBOCs for over twenty-five years to test the
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integrity and quality of their POTS network infrastructure. The LoopCare OSS, which we offer both as part of the DigiTest system and as a stand-alone software product that can interface with certain other test heads on the market, currently manages testing operations for more than 75% of the copper pairs in the United States, and is the qualification, installation and maintenance tool used to troubleshoot more than 150 million POTS, ISDN and DSL subscribers worldwide. With the acquisition of the Broadband Test Division of Teradyne, Inc. we estimate that our telephony embedded base of worldwide metallic access lines under test is more than 300 million.
DigiTest EDGE provides a global platform for POTS and broadband test applications, by combining a narrowband and wideband metallic testing platform with a multi-layered DSL service assurance platform. These test capabilities, when managed by our LoopCare OSS, enable service providers to accurately isolate a DSL problem between the customer’s premises, the local exchange carrier’s local loop and Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (“DSLAM”) serving network, and the Internet service provider’s data network.
Our DigiTest product family also includes the DigiTest HUB, our next generation central office test platform designed to support multiple testing environments. The DigiTest HUB addresses emerging broadband testing requirements, but also retains interfaces to legacy equipment, allowing for a seamless migration from traditional to packet-based delivery of services and allowing service providers to continue automated, mass-market processes. The DigiTest HUB is a modular 12-slot chassis for medium to large central office applications from which a variety of services emanate. Plug-in modules can be added, as required to support POTS and DSL Layer 1-7. Test plug-in resources can be shared to multiple network elements by the use of a module that multiplexes the test access path. This includes sharing a test resource to remote access elements as fiber is driven further out into the network in topologies such as FTTx. When coupled with our LoopCare OSS, the DigiTest HUB serves the testing needs of both legacy and evolving broadband networks to facilitate a low-cost, asset-preserving transition.
Our most recent addition to the DigiTest product family is the DigiTest ICE™, which we expect to be available to certain markets by the end of 2007. Optimized for deployment at remote DSLAM locations, DigiTest ICE will be a cost-effective solution, providing both metallic and multi-layered DSL testing to help service providers install and maintain broadband triple play services within their emerging deep fiber remote terminal networks.
In addition to the LoopCare OSS software sold as part of the DigiTest system, we also sell new LoopCare features to existing customers and the base LoopCare OSS as a stand-alone product to Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (“CLECs”) for use with test heads other than our DigiTest hardware.
Broadband Test Division
We significantly expanded our offering of telecommunication test system products with the acquisition of the Teradyne Broadband Test Division. These products complement our existing product portfolio and are primarily sold into international markets. The acquired products include the Test System Controller, which provides the centralized processing of diagnostics and test results and is the interface platform to operational support systems, switch elements and other data sources. The Loop Diagnostic
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Unit (LDU™) is an advanced DSP-based test head designed to meet the requirements of central office / exchange installations and remote node installations, providing best-in-class physical and logical testing of triple-play services served from traditional switched networks, broadband DSLAMs, or new IP-based Fiber-To-The-Node (FTTN) networks. The LDU supports full 4TEL™ and Celerity™ physical loop test functions, enabling network operators to reduce the cost of provisioning and maintaining voice and broadband Internet and video services.
The 4TEL Line Test Application provides comprehensive voice and DSL service assurance loop test capabilities. It provides demand and routine test capabilities for both reactive and proactive maintenance of the copper plant. The 4TEL II™ expert system utilizes the LDU’s ability to detect electronic ringers to accurately segment faults to the exchange/remote node, cable plant or customer premises. Field craft can use 4TEL’s Voice Response System to access the LDU capabilities for fast, convenient test results data.
Also acquired was the Celerity Line Test Application, which, when working with the LDU, provides swept-frequency measurement capability to deliver unequalled pre-qualification, provisioning support and service assurance capability to DSL providers. Through demand or routine testing, the LDU provides the Celerity analysis engine with measurement data used to determine a loop’s capability to support various service levels. Signature analysis can identify load coils, CO splitters and other DSL inhibitors.
N(x)Test™, N(x)DSL-3™ and LTSC™
In 2006, Tollgrade also added telecommunications testing products with the Emerson acquisition, including the N(x)Test, N(x)DSL-3 and LTSC software. The N(x)Test product is a modular, subscriber loop measurement unit which can address broadband testing, standard demand and interactive testing and OSS-controlled ALT batch processing on subscriber loops, as well as the pre-qualification of loops for DSL services. The N(x)DSL-3 test unit provides higher layer testing capability for various DSL services a customer may deploy. The LTSC software has multi-tasking capabilities that can stand alone or become an integrated process to an existing OSS in order to provide a totally integrated line testing platform for the customer’s operations.
MCU
Our legacy MCU® products plug into Digital Loop Carrier (“DLC”) systems, the large network transmission systems used by telephone companies to link the copper and fiber-optic portions of the local loop. MCU products allow our customers to extend their line testing capabilities to all of their POTS lines served by a DLC system regardless of whether the system is fed by a copper or fiber optic link. DLC systems, which are located at telephone companies’ central offices and at remote sites within local user areas, effectively multiplex the services of a single fiber-optic line into multiple copper lines. In many instances, several DLC systems are located at a single remote site to create multiple local loops that serve several thousand different end-user homes and businesses. Generally, for every DLC remote site, customers deploy at least two MCU line-testing products.
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CABLE TESTING PRODUCTS
Our Cheetah™ performance and status monitoring products provide a broad network assurance solution for the Broadband Hybrid Fiber Coax (“HFC”) distribution system found in the cable industry. Our Cheetah products gather status information and report on critical components within the cable network. The systems include complete hardware and software solutions that enable efficient HFC plant status monitoring. By providing a constant, proactive view of the health and status of outside plant transmission systems, the products can reduce operating costs and increase subscriber satisfaction.
Our cable offerings currently consist of our proprietary CheetahLight™ and CheetahNet™ software systems and maintenance, our CheetahXD™ Broadband assurance software and maintenance, head-end controllers, return path switch hardware, both proprietary and DOCSIS®-based and Euro-DOCSIS™-based transponders, and other equipment, which gather status and performance reports from power supplies, line amplifiers and fiber optic nodes. A significant portion of the sales of our DOCSIS®-based status monitoring equipment is through our reseller Alpha, the leading supplier of power management products to the cable industry.
Our CheetahIP™/HFC service assurance solution provides remote visibility into IP efficiency. This fully integrated solution allows cable operators to proactively test and monitor Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) and Video on Demand (“VOD”) using hardware test probes and software analysis tools.
SERVICES
Our Services offerings include software maintenance as well as professional services, which are designed to make sure that all of the components of our customers’ voice test systems operate properly. Our Services business has shifted away from traditional POTS-based testability services, which has caused revenues from Services to be less predictable. The Services business was considerably expanded due to the addition of software maintenance agreements acquired as part of the acquisition of the Broadband Test Division.
BACKLOG
Our backlog consists of firm customer purchase orders and signed software maintenance agreements. As of September 29, 2007, the Company had backlog of approximately $23.0 million compared to $10.0 million as of December 31, 2006 and $11.6 million as of September 30, 2006. The order backlog as of September 29, 2007 includes approximately $11.8 million associated with the acquired Broadband Test Division products and services. The backlog at September 29, 2007 and December 31, 2006 includes approximately $11.8 million and $5.7 million, respectively, related to software maintenance contracts, which are earned and recognized as income on a straight-line basis during the remaining term of the underlying agreements. The Company’s policy is to include a maximum of twelve months revenue from multi-year maintenance agreements in reported backlog.
We have entered into LoopCare software maintenance agreements with all four RBOCs. One of these agreements expires December 31, 2007, and the renewal is being negotiated with that customer. Two
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other RBOC LoopCare agreements expire on December 31, 2008 and an additional agreement expires on December 31, 2011.
Management expects that approximately 46% of the current backlog will be recognized as revenue in the fourth quarter of 2007. Periodic fluctuations in customer orders and backlog result from a variety of factors, including but not limited to the timing of significant orders and shipments. Although these fluctuations could impact short-term results, they are not necessarily indicative of long-term trends in sales of our products.
OPERATING SEGMENT
On August 1, 2007 we completed the acquisition of the Broadband Test Division from Teradyne Inc. We have determined that our business, including the Broadband Test Division, has one operating segment, test assurance. All product sales relate to the business of testing infrastructure and networks for the telecommunications and cable industries. Our products have similar production processes, and are sold through comparable distribution channels and means to similar types and classes of customers already in, or entering into, the telecommunications and cable businesses. Operating results are regularly reviewed by the Company’s Chief Operating decision maker regarding decisions about the allocation of resources and to assess performance.
INTERNATIONAL SALES
International sales represented approximately $10.0 million, or 48.6% of the Company’s total revenue for the quarter ended September 29, 2007, compared to $5.2 million, or 34.8%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2006. Our international sales were primarily in three geographic areas based upon customer location for the quarter ended September 29, 2007: the Americas (excluding the United States); Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia. Sales for the Americas were approximately $1.5 million and $1.2 million, sales in EMEA were approximately $8.4 million and $3.8 million, and sales in Asia were approximately $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the quarters ended September 29, 2007 and September 30, 2006, respectively. The addition of the Broadband Test Division has significantly enhanced the Company’s international footprint.
International sales represented approximately $17.2 million, or 36.0% of the Company’s total revenue for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 compared to $11.4 million, or 23.4%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2006. Our international sales were primarily in three geographic areas based upon customer location for the nine months ended September 29, 2007: the Americas (excluding the United States); Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia. Sales in the Americas were approximately $3.8 million and $3.6 million, sales in EMEA were approximately $13.1 million and $7.3 million, and sales in Asia were approximately $0.3 million and $0.5 million for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 and the nine months ended September 30, 2006, respectively.
As previously disclosed, at the end of 2006 we were awarded two international projects that have contributed to 2007 sales. We have recorded revenue of approximately $4.8 million in the third quarter of 2007 related to these projects and total revenue for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 of $6.6 million. Although we originally expected most of the potential revenue from these two projects to be recognized in 2007, the timing of completion of these projects has been extended. As a result, trial and acceptance by these customers of our newer technologies will continue into 2008.
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APPLICATION OF CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Our financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The application of certain of these accounting principles is more critical than others in gaining an understanding of the basis upon which our financial statements have been prepared. We deem the following accounting policies to involve critical accounting estimates.
Revenue Recognition
We market and sell test system hardware and related software to the telecommunications and cable television industries. The Company follows Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 104, “Revenue Recognition,” for hardware and software sales. This bulletin requires, among other things, that revenue should be recognized only when title has transferred and risk of loss has passed to a customer with the capability to pay, and that there are no significant remaining obligations of the Company related to the sale. The majority of our hardware sales are made to RBOCs and other large international customers. Delivery terms of hardware sales are predominantly FOB origin. Where title and risk of loss do not pass to the customer until the product reaches the customer’s delivery site, revenue is deferred unless the Company can objectively determine delivery occurred before the end of the applicable reporting period. Revenue is recognized for these customers upon shipment against a valid purchase order. We reduce collection risk by requiring letters of credit or other payment guarantees for significant sales to new customers, certain international customers and/or those in weak financial condition.
For perpetual software license fees and maintenance revenue, we follow the AICPA’s Statement of Position (SOP) 97-2, “Software Revenue Recognition.” This statement requires that software license fee revenue be recorded only when evidence of a sales arrangement exists, the software has been delivered, and a customer with the capacity to pay has accepted the software, leaving no significant obligations on the part of the Company to perform. We require a customer purchase order or other written agreement to document the terms of a software order and written, unqualified acceptance from the customer prior to revenue recognition. In certain limited cases, however, agreements provide for automatic customer acceptance after the passage of time from a pre-determined event and we have relied on these provisions for an indication of the timing of revenue recognition. In isolated cases for orders of custom software, or orders that require significant software customization, we employ contract accounting using the percentage-of-completion method, whereby revenue is recognized based on costs incurred to date compared to total estimated contract cost in accordance with SOP 81-1, “Accounting for Performance of Construction-Type and Certain Production-Type Contracts.” The revenue for orders with multiple deliverables such as hardware, software and/or installation or other services may be separated into stand-alone fair values if not already documented in the purchase order or agreement and where list prices or other objective evidence of fair value exists to support such allocation, in accordance with the provisions of Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) Issue 00-21, “Accounting for Revenue Arrangements with Multiple Deliverables.” Revenue will not be recognized for any single element until all elements considered essential to the functionality of the delivered elements under the contract are delivered and accepted.
The recognition of revenue under EITF 00-21 requires certain judgment by management. If any undelivered elements, which can include hardware, software or services, are essential to the
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functionality of the system as defined in the contract, revenue will not be recorded until all of the items considered essential are delivered as one unit of accounting. Our internal policy requires that we obtain a written acceptance from our customers for each specific customer situation where new products are sold. Revenue will not be recorded until written acceptance is received from the customer. Although infrequent, in some situations contingencies will be noted by the customer on the written acceptance. In these situations, management will use judgment to determine the importance of such contingencies for recognizing revenue related to the sale. The Company’s general practice is to defer revenue recognition unless these contingencies are inconsequential.
Our LoopCare and other software customers may enter into separate agreements for software maintenance upon expiration of the stated software warranty period. Maintenance agreements include software upgrades and bug fixes as they become available; however, newly developed features must be purchased separately. Post-warranty maintenance for new features is either included under the current maintenance agreement without additional charge, and is considered in the maintenance agreement fees, or is separately charged upon expiration of the warranty. Depending upon the timing of the enhancement purchase and the length of the maintenance agreement, we must evaluate whether or not a portion of a perpetual right to use fee should be treated as post-contract support to be deferred and recognized over the remaining life of the maintenance agreement.
Software maintenance revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis over the period the respective arrangements are in effect. Revenue recognition, especially for software products, involves critical judgments and decisions that can result in material effects to reported net income.
Goodwill and Intangible Assets
At September 29, 2007, we had net intangible assets of $72.4 million including Goodwill of $24.7 million primarily resulting from the acquisitions of the LoopCare product line in September 2001, the Cheetah product line in February 2003, the test business of Emerson in February 2006 and the purchase of the Broadband Test Division in August 2007. In connection with these acquisitions, we utilized the guidance of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 141, “Business Combinations,” and SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets,” which were issued in July 2001. SFAS No. 141 requires that the purchase method of accounting be used for all business combinations initiated after June 30, 2001 and that goodwill, as well as any indefinite-lived intangible assets, not be amortized for financial reporting purposes. Finite-lived intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis or an accelerated method, whichever better reflects the pattern in which the economic benefits of the asset are consumed or otherwise used. Software-related intangible assets are amortized based on the greater of the amount computed using the ratio that current gross revenues bear to the total of current and anticipated future gross revenues for that product or the straight-line method over the remaining estimated economic life.
In connection with the assets acquired in the 2001 LoopCare transaction, intangible assets of $45.1 million were identified with residual goodwill of $16.6 million. These include Developed Product Software valued at $7.3 million and LoopCare Base Software valued at $4.5 million. Both have been determined to have finite useful lives of five years and ten years, respectively, and are being amortized over those periods. Also identified were intangible assets related to the LoopCare trade name of $1.3 million and Post-Warranty Service Agreements of $32.0 million. Because of the longevity of the LoopCare trade name and the stability, level of embedment, and unique dependence of the RBOCs on
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the post warranty maintenance services, these intangible assets were determined to have indefinite useful lives at the acquisition date. With regard to the Post-Warranty Maintenance Service Agreements, during the fourth quarter of 2005, management determined that events and circumstances which supported the indefinite life of this asset had changed. More specifically one of the Company’s key customers continues to implement a Fiber to the Premise (“FTTP”) initiative which indicates that the intangible asset related to the Post-Warranty Service Agreements may not have an indefinite useful life. This development as well as circumstances surrounding recent post-warranty contract renewals led the Company to conclude that in accordance with SFAS No. 142, a finite useful life should be assigned and the intangible asset should be amortized beginning October 1, 2005. Management currently believes that the hybrid fiber/copper network currently deployed by the RBOCs, which is tested by the underlying LoopCare Base Software, will exist for at least an additional fifty years. Management has therefore assigned a useful life to this asset of fifty years.
In connection with the assets acquired in the 2003 Cheetah transaction, intangible assets of $7.8 million were identified with residual goodwill of $4.9 million. The intangible assets consisted of the Cheetah Base Software valued at $2.9 million, the Cheetah Customer Base valued at $2.7 million, Proprietary Technology valued at $1.0 million and Cheetah Maintenance Agreements valued at $0.2 million. The Cheetah Base Software, Proprietary Technology and Cheetah Maintenance Agreements were determined to have useful lives of ten years, while the Cheetah Customer Base whose value is based on discounted cash flows generated on hardware sales which typically continue five years beyond the sale of the corresponding Base Software, was assigned a useful life of fifteen years. A Cheetah trademark asset valued at $1.0 million was identified and determined to have an indefinite useful life.
On February 24, 2006, Tollgrade acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities associated with the test systems business unit of Emerson for $5.5 million in cash. The acquisition was recorded under the purchase method of accounting in accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 141, “Business Combinations,” and SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets.” Accordingly, the results of operations of the acquired Emerson test systems business from February 24, 2006 are included in the consolidated financial statements of the Company. The purchase price allocation was finalized during the second quarter of 2007 and no adjustments were required as a result of this settlement. All intangible assets are deductible for tax purposes over a fifteen year period and are not expected to have any residual value. Based on our purchase price allocation, we have identified $0.2 million of customer relationship intangible assets and $0.8 million in technology related intangible assets both having an estimated life of five years. We also have identified $0.1 million associated with a tradename that is expected to have a useful life of three years. Finally, we allocated $0.1 million of the purchase price to the sales order backlog that was acquired, which was consumed during 2006. Based on the purchase price allocation, goodwill is approximately $2.3 million.
On August 1, 2007, Tollgrade acquired certain assets associated with the Broadband Test Division of Teradyne, Inc. for a purchase price of approximately $11.3 million in cash and assumed certain liabilities and there were acquisition costs of $0.7 million for a total acquisition expenditure of $12.0 million. The acquisition was recorded under the purchase method of accounting in accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 141, “Business Combinations”, and SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets”. Accordingly, the results of operations of the acquired Broadband Test Division from August 1, 2007 are included in the consolidated financial statements of the Company. The
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preliminary purchase price allocation for the third quarter of 2007 remains subject to change based on finalization of the closing net assets. All intangible assets are deductible for tax purposes over the appropriate tax life as determined by each country and are not expected to have any residual value. Based on our purchase price allocation, we have identified $0.6 million of customer relationship intangible assets and $0.6 million in technology related intangible assets. We also have identified $6.3 million associated with customer maintenance contracts and $0.7 million to other intangible assets acquired. Based on the purchase price allocation we have recorded goodwill of approximately $0.8 million.
Sensitivity Analysis
Certain portions of the telecom market serviced by the Company’s products are evolving and, when appropriate, management reviews the impact of such changes on the key assumptions underlying the valuation of each of its intangible assets. Technological advances, as well as potential changes in strategic direction by any of the Company’s key telecom or cable customers, could result in an impairment or substantial reduction in one or more of the estimated lives over which the respective intangible asset(s) is/are currently being amortized. The following table lists intangible assets with a remaining life at September 29, 2007:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Years | |
| | | | | | Remaining | | | Carrying | | | Rolling | |
| | Original | | | Life at | | | Value at | | | Projected | |
Asset Description | | Life | | | 09/29/07 | | | 09/29/07 | | | Amortization | |
| | | | | | | | | | (in millions) | |
LoopCare | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Base Software | | | 10 | | | | 4.00 | | | $ | 1.8 | | | $ | 0.5 | |
Post-Warranty Maintenance Service Agreements | | | 50 | | | | 48.00 | | | | 30.7 | | | | 0.6 | |
Cheetah | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Base Software | | | 10 | | | | 5.25 | | | | 1.6 | | | | 0.3 | |
Proprietary Technology | | | 10 | | | | 5.25 | | | | 0.5 | | | | 0.1 | |
Customer Base | | | 15 | | | | 10.25 | | | | 1.7 | | | | 0.3 | |
Emerson | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Proprietary Technology | | | 5 | | | | 3.50 | | | | 0.5 | | | | 0.2 | |
Customer Relationship | | | 5 | | | | 3.50 | | | | 0.1 | | | | — | |
BTD | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Post Warranty Maintenance Service Agreements | | | 48 | | | | 47.85 | | | | 1.5 | | | | 0.4 | |
Post Warranty Maintenance Service Agreements | | | 20 | | | | 19.85 | | | | 3.7 | | | | 0.7 | |
Post Warranty Maintenance Service Agreements | | | 10 | | | | 9.85 | | | | 0.7 | | | | 0.2 | |
Post Warranty Maintenance Service Agreements | | | 6 | | | | 5.85 | | | | 0.2 | | | | 0.1 | |
Technology | | | 10 | | | | 9.85 | | | | 0.6 | | | | 0.1 | |
Customer Relationship | | | 10 | | | | 9.85 | | | | 0.5 | | | | 0.2 | |
Other | | | 2-10 | | | | 1.85-9.85 | | | | 1.4 | | | | 0.4 | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | $ | 45.5 | | | $ | 4.1 | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
In the event that the Company would reevaluate the above estimated useful lives in the future due to changed events and circumstances, annual amortization would increase based on the respective intangible asset’s carrying value and revised remaining useful life.
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Reviews for Impairment
Goodwill and certain other intangible assets, determined to have an indefinite life, are not amortized. Instead, these assets are reviewed for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstance indicate that the carrying value of such assets may not be recoverable. During these reviews for impairment of indefinite lived assets, other than goodwill, we review any changes in facts and circumstances which would impact the estimated useful life of the asset. We perform our annual impairment tests on December 31st of each year. With respect to goodwill, we have determined that we have one reporting unit. At December 31, 2006, we based our goodwill impairment test on a comparison of the fair value, which we estimated based on our market capitalization and an estimated control premium to the Company’s book value. Our goodwill impairment test indicated no impairment in 2006 or in prior years. We did not have any triggering events at September 29, 2007. In the period subsequent to September 29, 2007, the quoted price of our common stock on The Nasdaq Global Select Market has declined. We will continue to monitor the impact of this decline as it relates to our year-end impairment tests. These impairment tests consider several factors including a control premium, but critical to the evaluation is the quoted market value of our shares. Should we determine that the decline in the quoted market value of our shares is other than temporary, we may be required to record an impairment of goodwill at December 31, 2007. Indefinite lived intangible assets are valued using the relief from royalty method with no residual value. For indefinite lived intangible assets, our annual impairment tests indicated no impairment and the results of our review of useful lives, based on current events and circumstances, continue to support the indefinite lives.
We review our finite lived intangible assets or fixed assets and their related useful lives whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable, including: a change in the competitive landscape; any internal decisions to pursue new or different technology strategies; a loss of a significant customer; or a significant change in the market place including changes in the prices paid for our products or changes in the size of the market for our products. An impairment results if the carrying value of the asset exceeds the sum of the future undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and disposition of the asset or the period of economic benefit has changed. If impairment were indicated, the amount of the impairment would be determined by comparing the carrying value of the asset group to the fair value of the asset group. Fair value is generally determined by calculating the present value of the estimated future cash flows using an appropriate discount rate. The projection of the future cash flows and the selection of a discount rate require significant management judgment. The key assumptions that management must estimate include sales volume, prices, inflation, product costs, capital expenditures and sales and marketing costs. For developed technology, we also must estimate the likelihood of both pursuing a particular strategy and the level of expected market adoption.
If the estimate of an intangible asset’s or fixed asset’s remaining useful life would be changed, the remaining carrying amount of the intangible asset or fixed asset would be amortized prospectively over the revised remaining useful life.
This testing relative to impairments involves critical accounting estimates. We relied upon our revised financial plan for 2007 and best estimates of revenues and cash flows for later years in measuring current values; however, these expectations may not be realized and future events and market
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conditions might indicate material impairment of value that could result in material charges to net income. Such a future situation would not, however, in and of itself affect our cash flow or liquidity.
Inventory Valuation
We utilize a standard cost system that approximates first-in, first-out costing of the products. Standards are monitored monthly and changes are made on individual parts if warranted; otherwise standard costs are updated on all parts annually, normally in November of each year. Excess capacity is not included in the standard cost of inventory. We evaluate our inventories on a monthly basis for slow moving, excess and obsolete stock on hand. The carrying value of such inventory that is determined not to be realizable is reduced, in whole or in part, by a charge to cost of sales and reduction of the inventory value in the financial statements. The evaluation process, which has been consistently followed, relies in large part on a review of inventory items that have not been sold, purchased or used in production within a one-year period. Management also reviews, where appropriate, inventory products that do not meet this threshold but which may be unrealizable due to discontinuance of products, evolving technologies, loss of certain customers or other known factors. As a result of this comprehensive review process, an adjustment to the reserve for slow moving and obsolete inventory is normally made monthly. Inventory identified as obsolete is also discarded from time to time when circumstances warrant.
Inventory realization is considered a critical accounting estimate since it relies in large part on management judgments as to future events and differing judgments could materially affect reported net income.
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
The allowance is based on our assessment of the collectibility of customer accounts. We regularly review the allowance by considering factors such as historical experience, credit quality, age of the accounts receivable balances and current conditions that may affect a customer’s ability to pay.
If a major customer’s creditworthiness deteriorates, or if actual defaults are higher than our historical experience, or if other circumstances arise, our estimates of the recoverability of amounts due to us could be overstated, and an additional allowance could be required, which could have an adverse impact on our revenue.
Income Taxes
We follow the provisions of SFAS No. 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes,” in reporting the effects of income taxes in our consolidated financial statements. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the “temporary differences” between the financial statement carrying amounts and the tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect in the years in which the differences are expected to reverse. We evaluate all remaining deferred tax assets based on our current outlook, and, as of September 29, 2007, we believe all remaining assets will be utilized. There have been no significant changes in our state net operating losses or valuation allowances during the current quarter. On January 1, 2007, we adopted Financial Standards Accounting Board Interpretation No, 48 “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes (“FIN 48”). The adoption of this interpretation required no cumulative effect adjustment to be recorded.
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Warranty
We provide warranty coverage on our various products. Terms of coverage range from up to one year on software to one to five years for hardware products. We review products returned for repair under warranty on a quarterly basis and adjust the accrual for future warranty costs based upon cumulative returns experience. We also evaluate special warranty problems for products with high return rates to correct the underlying causes and, where deemed necessary, to provide additional warranty expense for expected higher returns of these products. Warranty costs associated with software sales are also accrued based on the projected hours to be incurred during the warranty period (normally three months). The accounting for warranty costs involves critical estimates and judgments that can have a material effect on net income.
Long-Lived Assets Held for Sale
We classify long-lived assets as held for sale when certain criteria are met, including: Management’s commitment to a plan to sell the assets; the availability of the assets for immediate sale in their present condition; whether an active program to locate buyers and other actions to sell the assets has been initiated; whether the sale of the assets is probable and their transfer is expected to qualify for recognition as a completed sale within one year; whether the assets are being marketed at reasonable prices in relation to their fair value; and how unlikely it is that significant changes will be made to the plan to sell the assets. Long-lived assets held for sale are classified as other current asset in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.
We measure long-lived assets to be disposed of by sale at the lower of carrying amounts or fair value less cost to sell. Fair value for the assets currently held for sale is determined based on management’s estimates of market value, supported by independent real estate broker opinion.
Restructuring Accrual
In July 2006, we began to implement a formalized restructuring program based on our business strategies and economic outlook to increase efficiency and reduce costs. In connection with these strategic initiatives, we have recorded estimated expenses associated with employee severance, relocation and lease termination costs. In accordance with SFAS No. 146, “Accounting for Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities” (“SFAS 146”), generally costs associated with restructuring activities initiated after December 31, 2002 have been recognized when they are incurred rather than at the date of commitment to an exit or disposal plan. However, in the case of leases, the expense is estimated and accrued when the property is vacated. Given the significance and the timing of execution of such activities, this process is complex and involves periodic reassessments of estimates made at the time the original decisions were made, including evaluating real estate market conditions for expected vacancy periods and sub-lease rents. We continually evaluate the adequacy of the remaining liabilities under our restructuring initiatives. Although we believe that these estimates accurately reflect the costs of our restructuring plans, actual results may differ, thereby requiring us to record additional provisions or reverse a portion of such provisions.
Pension Benefits
We sponsor a defined benefit pension plan for three employees based in Germany. Accounting for the cost of this plan requires the estimation of the cost of the benefits to be provided well into the future and attributing that cost over the expected work life of employees participating in this plan. This estimation requires our judgment about the discount rate used to determine these obligations, rate of
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future compensation increases, withdrawal and mortality rates and participant retirement age. Differences between our estimates and actual results may significantly affect the cost of our obligations under these plans.
In the valuation of this pension benefit liability, management utilizes various assumptions. We determine our discount rate based on an investment grade bond yield curve with a duration that approximates the benefit payment timing of each plan. This rate can fluctuate based on changes in investment grade bond yields.
Future compensation rates, withdrawal rates and participant retirement age are determined based on historical information. These assumptions are not expected to significantly change. Mortality rates are determined based on a review of published mortality tables.
Stock-Based Compensation
We recognize stock-based compensation expense for all stock option and restricted stock awards over the period from the date of grant to the date when the award is no longer contingent on the employee providing additional service (substantive vesting period). We utilize the Black-Scholes valuation method to establish fair value of all awards. The Black-Scholes valuation method requires that we make certain estimates regarding estimated forfeiture rates, expected holding period and stock price volatility.
Foreign Currency Translation
The assets and liabilities of our international operations are translated into U.S. (United States) dollars using year-end exchange rates, while revenues and expenses are translated at average exchange rates throughout the year. The resulting net translation adjustments are recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). The local currency is the functional currency for all of our locations.
These areas involving critical accounting estimates are periodically reviewed and discussed with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
THIRD QUARTER OF 2007 COMPARED TO THIRD QUARTER OF 2006
Revenues
The Company’s revenues for the third quarter of 2007 were $20.6 million, a $5.6 million increase, or 37.7%, compared to revenues of $14.9 million reported for the third quarter of 2006.
Sales of the Company’s DigiTest system products, which include LoopCare software and the Emerson products, were $6.8 million in the third quarter of 2007, an increase of $2.5 million, compared to sales in the third quarter of 2006 of $4.3 million. DigiTest system revenues increased primarily as a result of deployment of products for our international customers. DigiTest system products revenue accounted for 33% and 29% of total revenues for the third quarter of 2007 and 2006, respectively. During the
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third quarter of 2007, we continued to experience lower sales in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets due to changes in network deployment architecture. We do not expect revenues in the Tier 2 and 3 markets to return to historical levels until modifications to our current product offerings produce lower cost points, assuming customers choose to adopt this new product technology. In particular, we are addressing these market conditions with the pending general availability of our DigiTest ICE product. General domestic market delays caused by these and our Tier 1 customers not yet finalizing their transitions and approach to upgrading their access network service assurance solutions have also adversely impacted expected DigiTest and ICE revenues for the third quarter and 2007 year to date.
Sales of LoopCare software products separate and unrelated to DigiTest system products were $0.2 million in the third quarter of 2007 compared to $0.7 million in the third quarter of 2006, which represented 1% and 5% of revenue for the three months ended September 29, 2007 and September 30, 2006, respectively. The LoopCare software product line, which involves software license fees that individually are significant in amount, typically has long and unpredictable sales, purchase approval and acceptance cycles. When making a purchase decision for LoopCare software, our customers generally must complete a full technical evaluation of the software and develop a favorable business case within their organization. As a result, revenue from this product line can fluctuate significantly on a quarter by quarter basis. Further, service providers continue to carefully evaluate expenditures in this area as they focus their capital expenditures on new network elements, which has constrained LoopCare purchases and substantially lengthened selling cycles. The same domestic market delays affecting expected 2007 DigiTest and ICE revenues mentioned above have also adversely impacted stand-alone LoopCare software revenues for the quarter and 2007 year to date.
Sales of hardware and software products from the newly acquired Broadband Test Division were $2.2 million for the quarter ended September 29, 2007, which represents 11% of total third quarter 2007 revenue.
Overall sales of cable hardware and software products were $2.8 million in the third quarter of 2007 compared with $2.9 million in the third quarter of 2007. Cable hardware and software product sales amounted to 14% and 19% of total third quarter 2007 and 2006 revenue, respectively.
Sales of MCUs during the third quarter of 2007 were $3.6 million, compared to $4.1 million reported in third quarter of 2006. We believe demand for this product continues to be driven by emphasis on DSL rollouts at remote terminal sites by certain RBOC customers. MCU sales represented 17% of total third quarter 2007 revenues compared to 28% for the third quarter of 2006.
We expect MCU sales for the foreseeable future to continue to account for a meaningful portion of the Company’s revenue, and such sales may fluctuate somewhat unpredictably on a quarterly basis. However, as a result of the continuing maturation of this product line, the RBOCs’ trend of limiting capital spending in their traditional POTS networks and the evolution of the transmission network toward end to end fiber, the Company believes revenues from this product line will continue to decline over time.
Service revenues, which include installation oversight and project management services provided to RBOC and other customers and fees for LoopCare, Cheetah software maintenance and the newly acquired Broadband Test maintenance agreements were $5.0 million in the third quarter of 2007
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compared to $2.9 million for the third quarter of 2006. Service revenues amounted to 24% and 19% of total third quarter 2007 and 2006 revenue, respectively. The increase in services revenues was due primarily to the contribution from the acquired Broadband Test Division.
Gross Profit
Gross profit for the third quarter of 2007 was $10.9 million compared to $3.2 million in the third quarter of 2006. The third quarter of 2006 included a charge of $4.3 million associated with the write-down of certain inventory. Gross profit increased primarily due to a more favorable sales mix, lower amortization expense and a reduction in the inventory write-down. As a percentage of sales, gross profit for the third quarter of 2007 was 53.2% versus 21.4% for the prior year quarter. The increase in gross profit as a percentage of sales between years, excluding the impact of the inventory charge in the third quarter of 2006, is due primarily to a more favorable sales mix, as well as reduced amortization expense.
Selling and Marketing Expense
Selling and marketing expense, which consists primarily of payroll-related costs, consulting expense and travel costs were $2.9 million in the third quarter of 2007, or an increase of $0.4 million compared to the third quarter of 2006. The increase is primarily associated with the acquisition of the Broadband Test Division. As a percentage of revenues, selling and marketing expenses decreased from 16.4% in the third quarter of 2006 to 13.9% in the third quarter of 2007.
General and Administrative Expense
General and administrative expense, which consists primarily of payroll-related costs, insurance expense and professional services were $2.7 million in the third quarter of 2007, an increase of $0.9 million compared to the third quarter of 2006. The increase is primarily associated with professional expenses from the acquisition of the Broadband Test Division, as well as other incremental recruiting and consulting costs. As a percentage of revenues, general and administrative expenses increased from 11.7% in the third quarter of 2006 to 13.0% in the third quarter of 2007.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development expense, which consists primarily of payroll related costs and depreciation expense were $3.7 million compared to $3.2 million in the third quarter of 2006. The increase is primarily associated with the Broadband Test acquisition. As a percentage of revenues, research and development expense for the third quarter of 2007 was 18.0%, decreasing from 21.6% for the third quarter of 2006.
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Restructuring Expense
On July 27, 2006, Tollgrade announced a restructuring program which included the consolidation of the Company’s operations at its leased Sarasota facility, discontinuance of various products, and the write-down of certain fixed assets and real estate. During the third quarter of 2007, we recorded $0.2 million of additional restructuring costs primarily associated with the refinement of estimates related to employee relocation and lease termination costs. The total expense incurred as a result of this program was $7.0 million through September 29, 2007. Additional expense could be incurred based on changes in estimates related to employee relocation costs.
As a result of the restructuring program, the Company is in the process of selling certain real estate that will not be used by the Company. The value of the assets held for sale was based on management’s estimates of market value, supported by independent real estate broker opinions. We expect the sale of this real estate to be completed within a year.
The majority of the cash payments remaining to be made under the restructuring program pertain to the remaining obligation for lease termination costs. The total of these payments that will be made throughout the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008 is approximately $0.2 million. We do not believe we will be successful in sub-leasing this facility and have accrued all remaining lease payments as of September 29, 2007.
In conjunction with the Broadband Test Division acquisition, the Company has committed to a plan to close its Deerfield, Illinois facility and relocate from the existing Bracknell, England location to another facility within Bracknell, England. We also expect to offer selected employees relocation benefits to relocate them to our corporate headquarters in Cheswick, Pennsylvania. We estimate the employee relocation and facility closure costs to be approximately $0.5 million and we expect that these efforts will be completed by December 31, 2007. As of September 29, 2007, no cash payments have been made. There will be remaining lease payments into 2008. These costs were accounted for under Emerging Issue Task Force No. 95-3 (EITF 95-3) “Recognition of Liabilities in Connection with a Purchase Business Combination.”
Interest Income
Interest income for the third quarter of 2007 was $0.6 million compared to $0.7 million for the third quarter of 2006. The decrease is related to lower cash and short-term investment balances during the quarter due to the cash purchase of the Broadband Test Division and the repurchase of shares under our share repurchase program.
Income Taxes
Income taxes expense for the third quarter of 2007 was $0.7 million compared to a benefit of $1.8 million for the third quarter of 2006. The effective income tax rate for the third quarter of 2007 was 33% compared to a benefit of 35% in the third quarter of 2006. The decrease in the effective rate is attributable to the proportional impact of certain permanent items relative to pre-tax income. While we have made our best estimate of our effective rate for 2007, based on the Company’s operating results and permanent differences, we believe it is possible that our effective income tax rate could vary during the remainder of 2007. We expect our 2007 full year effective tax rate to be approximately 33%.
Net Income (Loss) and Income (Loss) Per Share
For the third quarter of 2007, our basic and diluted earnings per common share was $0.11 compared to
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a net loss of $(0.25) per basic common share and diluted common share recorded in the third quarter of 2006. Basic and diluted weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding were 13.2 million and 13.4 million, respectively, for the third quarter of 2007. The three months ended September 30, 2006 had 13.2 million common and common equivalent shares outstanding which did not include the effect of dilutive securities due to the net loss which would have made those securities anti-dilutive to the earnings per share calculation.
NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 29, 2007 COMPARED TO NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2006
Revenues
The Company’s revenues for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 were $47.8 million, a decrease of $1.0 million compared to revenues of $48.8 million reported for the nine months ended September 30, 2006.
Sales of the Company’s DigiTest system products, which include LoopCare software and the Emerson products, were $13.3 million for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 and September 30, 2006. Although revenues were flat between periods, revenue related to the DigiTest family of products increased as a result of deployments into our international customer, but were nearly entirely offset as a result of lower revenues in the N(x)Test product line. During the nine months ended September 29, 2007, we continued to experience lower sales in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets due to changes in network deployment architecture. We do not expect revenues in the Tier 2 and 3 markets to return to historical levels until modifications to our current product offerings produce lower cost points, assuming customers choose to adopt this new product technology. In particular, we are addressing these market conditions with the pending availability of our DigiTest ICE product. General domestic market delays caused by these and our Tier 1 customers not yet finalizing their transitions and approach to upgrading their access network service assurance solutions have also adversely impacted expected DigiTest and ICE revenues for 2007 year to date. DigiTest system sales accounted for 28% and 27% of total revenues for the first nine months of 2007 and 2006, respectively.
Sales of hardware and software products from the newly acquired Broadband Test Division were $2.2 million for the quarter ended September 29, 2007, which represents 5% of total third quarter 2007 revenue.
Sales of LoopCare software products separate and unrelated to DigiTest system products were $1.5 million in the nine months ended September 29, 2007 compared with $1.7 million recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2006. The LoopCare software product line, which involves software license fees that individually are significant in amount, typically has long and unpredictable sales, purchase approval and acceptance cycles. When making a purchase decision for LoopCare software, our customers generally must complete a full technical evaluation of the software and develop a favorable business case within their organization. As a result, revenue from this product line can fluctuate significantly on a quarter by quarter basis. Further, service providers continue to carefully evaluate expenditures in this area as they focus their capital expenditures on new network elements, which has constrained LoopCare purchases and substantially lengthened selling cycles. The same domestic market delays affecting expected 2007 DigiTest and ICE revenues mentioned above have
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also adversely impacted stand-alone LoopCare software revenues for 2007 year to date. LoopCare software product sales comprised 3% of total revenues during the nine months ended September 29, 2007 compared to 4% in the nine months ended September 30, 2006.
Overall sales of cable hardware and software products decreased from $13.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2006 to $9.6 million for the nine months ended September 29, 2007. During the nine months ended September 30, 2006, we experienced substantial shipments of our DOCSIS-based transponders (primarily attributed to sales in the first quarter of 2006), that did not repeat in the first nine months of 2007. Cable hardware and software product sales amounted to 20% and 27% of the first nine months of 2007 and 2006 revenue, respectively.
Sales of MCUs during the nine months ended September 29, 2007 were $10.4 million, compared to the $10.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2006. We believe demand for this product continues to be driven by emphasis on DSL rollouts out to remote terminal sites by certain RBOC customers. MCU sales represented 22% of total revenues for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 compared to 22% for the nine months ended September 30, 2006.
Service revenues, which include installation oversight and project management services provided to RBOC and other customers and fees for LoopCare and Cheetah software maintenance, increased $0.8 million, to $10.8 million in the nine months ended September 29, 2007. The increase is primarily attributable to inclusion of services revenue from the newly acquired Broadband Test Division offset by lower revenue from project oriented professional services relating to two installation projects which were concluded in 2006. Service revenues amounted to 22% and 20% for the nine months of 2007 and 2006 revenue, respectively.
Gross Profit
Gross profit for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 was $25.8 million compared to $18.8 million for the third quarter of 2006, which included a charge of $4.3 million to write-down inventories in the third quarter of 2006. As a percentage of sales, gross profit for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 was 53.9% compared with 38.5% in the nine month period ended September 30, 2006. Excluding this charge, gross margins increased due to a more favorable product mix and increased revenue.
Selling and Marketing Expense
Selling and marketing expense, which consists primarily of payroll related costs, consulting expense and travel costs were $7.4 million in the nine months ended September 29, 2007, a decrease of $0.7 million from $8.1 million in the nine months ended September 29, 2006. The decrease reflects savings from the Company’s restructuring initiatives and lower commission expense offset in part, by costs associated with the Broadband Test Division. As a percentage of revenues, selling and marketing expenses decreased from 16.6% in the first nine months of 2006 to 15.4% in the first nine months of 2007.
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General and Administrative Expense
General and administrative expense, which consists primarily of payroll related costs, insurance expense and professional services, for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 was $7.1 million, an increase of $1.2 million from the $5.9 million recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2006. The increase is primarily attributed to additional professional expense from the acquisition of the Broadband Test Division as well as incremental recruiting and consultation costs and stock compensation expense. As a percentage of revenues, general and administrative expenses increased from 12.2% in the first nine months of 2006 to 14.9% in the first nine months of 2007.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development expense, which consists primarily of payroll related costs and depreciation expense was $9.6 million for the nine months ended September 29, 2007, a decrease of $0.8 million from the nine months ended September 30, 2006. The decrease in research and development expense is associated with a reduction in the number of employees through the restructuring efforts initiated by the Company on July 27, 2006, offset, in part, by costs associated with the Broadband Test Division acquisition. As a percentage of revenues, research and development expense decreased to 20.2% in the nine months ended September 29, 2007 from 21.5% in the prior year’s first nine months.
Restructuring Expense
On July 27, 2006, Tollgrade announced a restructuring program which included the consolidation of the Company’s operations at its leased Sarasota facility, discontinuance of various products, and the write-down of certain fixed assets and real estate. During the nine months ended September 29, 2007, we recorded $0.8 million of additional restructuring costs primarily associated with the refinement of estimates related to employee relocation and lease termination costs. The total expense incurred as a result of this program was $7.0 million through September 29, 2007. Additional expense could be incurred based on changes in estimates related to employee relocation costs.
As a result of the restructuring program, the Company is in the process of selling certain real estate that will not be used by the Company. The value of the assets held for sale was based on management’s estimates of market value, supported by independent real estate broker opinions. We expect the sale of this real estate to be completed within a year.
The majority of the cash payments remaining to be made under the restructuring program pertain to the remaining obligation for lease termination costs. The total of these payments that will be made throughout the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008 is approximately $0.2 million. We do not believe we will be successful in sub-leasing this facility and have accrued all remaining lease payments as of September 29, 2007.
Interest Income
Interest income for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 was $2.2 million, an increase of $0.2 million from the amount recorded for the nine months ended September 30, 2006. The increase is due to an increase in the average balance of cash and short term investments between periods as a result of cash generated from operations, as well as higher yields on our investments.
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Provision for Income Taxes
Income taxes expense for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 was $1.0 million compared to a benefit of $1.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2006. The effective income tax rate for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 was 33% compared to 35% in the nine months ended September 30, 2006. The decrease in the effective rate is attributable to the proportional impact of certain permanent items relative to pre-tax income. While we have made our best estimate of our effective rate for 2007, based on the Company’s operating results and permanent differences, we believe it is possible that our effective income tax rate could vary during the remainder of 2007.
Net Income (Loss) and Earnings (Loss) Per Share
As a result of the above factors, the net income for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 was $2.0 million compared to net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2006 of $(3.4) million. For the nine months ended September 29, 2007, our basic and diluted earnings per common share was $0.15 compared to a loss of $(0.26) per common share recorded in the prior year’s first nine months. Basic and diluted weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding were 13.2 million and 13.5 million in the nine months ended September 29, 2007. The nine months ended September 30, 2006 had 13.2 million common and common equivalent shares outstanding which did not include the effect of dilutive securities due to the net loss which would have made those securities anti-dilutive to the earnings per share calculation.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Net cash provided by operating activities for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 was $4.5 million compared to net cash used of $3.0 million for the same period in the prior year. The increase in net cash provided is largely attributable to improved profit margins and the benefits from reduced expenses achieved from the 2006 restructuring.
The Company had working capital of $79.3 million at September 29, 2007, a decrease of $4.1 million from $83.4 million of working capital as of December 31, 2006. As of September 29, 2007, we had approximately $53.8 million in cash, cash equivalent and short term investments, which are available for corporate purposes, including acquisitions and other general working capital requirements, compared to $62.7 million at December 31, 2006. The decrease in cash, cash equivalents, and short term investments from December 31, 2006 is attributable to the purchase for cash of the Broadband Test Division and share repurchases, offset by funds provided from operations for the period.
Cash used in investing activities was $14.7 million for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 compared to cash provided by investing activities of $4.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2006. The change is attributable in large part to the purchase of the Broadband Test Division.
The Company is party with a bank to a three-year $25.0 million Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility (the “Facility”), which includes a $2.0 million letter of credit sub-facility, expiring on December 19, 2009. In accordance with the terms of the Facility, the proceeds must be used for general corporate purposes, working capital needs, and in connection with certain acquisitions, as defined. The Facility
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contains certain standard covenants with which the Company must comply, including a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, a minimum defined level of tangible net worth and a restriction on the amount of capital expenditures that can be made on an annual basis, among others. Our borrowings are limited by the calculation of our maximum leverage ratio, which is calculated on a quarterly basis. Interest is payable on any revolving credit amounts utilized under the Facility at prime, or the prevailing Euro rate plus 0.75% to 1.5% depending on the ratio of consolidated total indebtedness of the Borrower and its subsidiaries to consolidated EBITDA. Letter of credit fees are payable on letters of credit outstanding quarterly at the rate of 0.75% to 1.5% depending on the ratio of consolidated total indebtedness of the Borrower and its subsidiaries to consolidated EBITDA, and annually at the rate of 1/8% beginning with letter of credit issuance. Commitment fees are payable quarterly at the rate of 0.25% per annum on the average unused commitment. As of September 29, 2007 and currently, there are no outstanding borrowings under the Facility, and we are in compliance with all debt covenants. We do not anticipate any short-term borrowings for working capital as we believe our cash reserves and internally generated funds will be sufficient to sustain working capital requirements for the foreseeable future.
On August 1, 2007, we completed the purchase of the net assets of the Broadband Test Division of Teradyne, Inc. for a purchase price of approximately $11.3 million in cash, plus acquisition costs of approximately $0.7 million for a total acquisition expenditure of $12.0 million, plus the assumption of specified liabilities, subject to adjustment for certain items.
On July 25, 2007, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program, pursuant to which the Company may repurchase up to one million shares of the Company’s Common Stock through December 31, 2007. Such purchases may be made through open market transactions and privately negotiated transactions at the Company’s discretion, subject to market conditions and other factors. As of September 29 2007, we have acquired 113,491 shares at a total cost of $1.1 million.
Our financial position enables us to meet our cash requirements for operations and capital expansion programs.
KEY RATIOS
The Company’s days sales outstanding (DSO) in accounts receivable trade, based on the past twelve months rolling revenue, was 94 and 85 days as of September 29 2007 and September 30, 2006, respectively. The change was attributable to the timing of cash collection primarily related to large international projects. The Company’s inventory turnover ratio was 2.5 and 4.0 turns at September 29 2007 and September 30, 2006, respectively. The decrease in inventory turnover is related to increased inventory levels at a sub-contractor, in addition to ongoing international projects whose contractual terms result in extended acceptance procedures and subsequent delay in revenue recognition.
NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
In February 2007, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, including an amendment to SFAS No. 115” (“SFAS 159”). Under SFAS 159, entities may elect to measure specified financial instruments and warranty and certain other items at fair value. SFAS 159 is effective as of the
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beginning of a company’s first fiscal year that begins after November 15, 2007. We do not believe the adoption of SFAS 159 will have a material impact on our financial position and result of operations.
In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 158, “Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans — an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, 106, and 123 (R)” (SFAS 158). SFAS 158 requires an employer to recognize the overfunded or underfunded status of a defined benefit postretirement plan as an asset or liability in its statement of financial position and to recognize changes in that funded status through comprehensive income of a business entity in the year in which the changes occur. SFAS 158 also requires an employer to measure the funded status of a plan as of the date of its year-end statement of financial position. The funded status of each of our pension and other postretirement benefit plans is currently measured as of September 29, 2007. We adopted SFAS 158 effective August 1, 2007 upon the acquisition of the Broadband Test Division acquisition. The measurement provisions of SFAS 158 will be adopted as of December 31, 2007.
COMMITMENTS AND CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
The Company leases office space and equipment under agreements which are accounted for as operating leases. The office lease for the Cheswick facility expires on June 30, 2009. The office leases for the Piscataway facility and the Sarasota facility expire on April 30, 2012 and April 28, 2008, respectively. The office leases for the Bracknell facility, Wuppertal facility, and Kontich facility expire on April 24, 2008, January 31, 2009, and April 1, 2012, respectively. The Company is also involved in various month-to-month leases for research and development and office equipment at all locations. In addition, all of the office leases include provisions for possible adjustments in annual future rental commitments relating to excess taxes, excess maintenance costs that may occur and increases in rent based on the consumer price index and based on increases in our annual lease commitments, none of which are material.
Included in the commitment schedule below are certain purchase obligations primarily arising from non-cancelable, non-returnable agreements with materials vendors. Additionally, the Company has arrangements with certain manufacturing subcontractors under which the Company is contingently obligated to purchase up to $0.1 million of raw material parts in the event they would not be consumed by the manufacturing process in the normal course of business. This liability has been recorded in the consolidated balance sheet as the Company has a legal obligation to purchase this inventory as of September 29, 2007. The recording of this obligation in the financial statements did not result in a charge to the Consolidated Statements of Operations. We fully expect to utilize this inventory during the normal course of business and have not recorded any reserve related to this specific item.
Included in the commitment schedule below are certain FIN 48 obligations. On January 1, 2007, the Company adopted the provisions of Financial Standards Accounting Board Interpretation No. 48 Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes (“FIN 48”), an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109 (“SFAS 109”). As a result of the implementation of FIN 48, we recognized no material adjustment in the liability for unrecognized income tax benefits. At the adoption date of January 1, 2007, unrecognized tax benefits were $97,000 all of which would affect our effective tax rate if recognized. At September 29, 2007, unrecognized tax benefits were approximately $135,000. We do not expect any significant changes to this liability.
Included in the commitment schedule below are certain pension obligations. As a result of our acquisition of the Broadband Test Division we assumed a defined benefit pension plan for three employees based in our German location. The German pension obligation acquired as of August 1, 2007 was approximately $0.7 million. Net periodic pension expense recorded from the date of the acquisition through September 29, 2007 was insignificant. The pension obligation as of September 29, 2007 was approximately $0.8 million. The increase in pension obligation from August 1, 2007 through September 29, 2007 was related primarily to changes in foreign exchange rates. The pension obligation was estimated using the following assumptions: a discount rate of 5.2%, salary rate increase of 3%, standard mortality tables, and early retirement and turnover rates consistent with historical rates.
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Minimum annual future commitments as of September 29, 2007 are (in millions):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Payments due by period |
| | | | | | Remaining | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Total | | in 2007 | | 2008 | | 2009 | | 2010 | | 2011 | | Thereafter |
|
Operating LeaseObligations | | $ | 2.5 | | | $ | 0.4 | | | $ | 0.9 | | | $ | 0.5 | | | $ | 0.3 | | | $ | 0.3 | | | $ | 0.1 | |
|
Purchase Obligations | | 0.3 | | | 0.1 | | | 0.2 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — |
|
FIN 48 Obligations | | | 0.1 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 0.1 | |
|
Pension Obligations | | | 0.8 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 0.8 | |
|
Total | | $ | 3.7 | | | $ | 0.5 | | | $ | 1.1 | | | $ | 0.5 | | | $ | 0.3 | | | $ | 0.3 | | | $ | 1.0 | |
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The lease expense was $1.0 million for the nine months ended September 29, 2007 which includes $0.2 million recorded as restructuring expense.
In addition, the Company is, from time to time, party to various legal claims and disputes, either asserted or unasserted, which arise in the ordinary course of business. While the final resolution of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, the Company does not believe that the outcome of any of these claims will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, or annual results of operations or cash flow.
Item 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
The Company’s current investment policy limits its investments in financial instruments to cash and cash equivalents, individual municipal bonds, and corporate and government bonds. The investment in financial derivatives and preferred and common stocks is strictly prohibited. The Company believes it minimizes its risk through proper diversification along with the requirements that the securities must be of investment grade with an average rating of “A” or better by Standard & Poor’s. The Company generally holds its investment securities to maturity and believes that earnings and cash flows will not be materially affected by changes in interest rates, due to the nature and short-term investment horizon for which these securities are invested.
Item 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
The Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of the Company (its principal executive officer and principal financial officer, respectively) have concluded, based on their evaluation as of the end of the period covered by this report, that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports filed or submitted by it under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and include controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in such reports is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
There were no changes in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended September 29, 2007 that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect these controls. In reliance on the guidance set forth in “Frequently Asked Questions” interpretative release issued by the staffs of the Office of the Chief Accountant and the Division of Corporation Finance (revised September 24, 2007), we excluded the Broadband Test Division from our assessment of our internal control over financial reporting for the quarter ended September 29, 2007. We also expect to exclude the Broadband Test Division from our annual assessment for the year ended December 31,
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2007. We are in the process of integrating the internal control procedures of the Broadband Test Division into our internal control structure.
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
We wish to caution each reader of this Form 10-Q to consider the following factors and other factors discussed herein and in other past reports, including but not limited to prior year Form 10-K and quarterly Form 10-Q reports filed with the SEC. Our business and results of operations could be materially affected by any of the following risks. The factors discussed herein are not exhaustive. Therefore, the factors contained herein should be read together with other reports and documents that we file with the SEC from time to time, which may supplement, modify, supersede or update the factors listed in this document.
We depend upon a few major customers for a majority of our revenues, and the loss of any of these customers, or the substantial reduction in the products that they purchase from us, would significantly reduce our revenues and net income.
We currently depend upon a few major customers for a significant portion of our revenues and we expect to continue to derive a significant portion of our revenues from a limited number of customers in the future. The loss of any of these customers or a substantial reduction in the products that they purchase from us would significantly reduce our revenues and net income. Furthermore, diversions in the capital spending of certain of these customers to new network elements have and could continue to lead to their reduced demand for our products, which could in turn have a material adverse affect on our business and results of operation. The capital spending of our RBOC customers, as well as many of our other customers and potential customers, are dictated by a number of factors, most of which are beyond our control, including:
• | | the conditions of the communications market and the economy in general; |
|
• | | subscriber line loss and related reduced demand for wireline telecommunications services; |
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• | | changes or shifts in the technology utilized in the networks; |
|
• | | labor disputes between our customers and their collective bargaining units; |
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• | | the failure of our customers to meet established purchase forecasts and growth projections; |
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• | | competition among the RBOCs, competitive exchange carriers and wireless telecommunications and cable providers; and |
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• | | reorganizations, including management changes, at one or more of our customers or potential customers. |
If the financial condition of one or more of our major customers should deteriorate, or if they have difficulty acquiring investment capital due to any of these or other factors, a substantial decrease in our revenues would likely result.
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Our operating results may vary from quarter to quarter, causing our stock price to fluctuate.
Our operating results have in the past been subject to quarter to quarter fluctuations, and we expect that these fluctuations will continue, and may increase in magnitude, in future periods. Demand for our products is driven by many factors, including the availability of funding for our products in customers’ capital budgets. There is a trend for some of our customers to place large orders near the end of a quarter or fiscal year, in part to spend remaining available capital budget funds. Seasonal fluctuations in customer demand for our products driven by budgetary and other reasons can create corresponding fluctuations in period-to-period revenues, and we therefore cannot assure you that our results in one period are necessarily indicative of our revenues in any future period. In addition, the number and timing of large individual sales and the ability to obtain acceptances of those sales, where applicable, has been difficult for us to predict, and large individual sales have, in some cases, occurred in quarters subsequent to those we anticipated, or have not occurred at all. The loss or deferral of one or more significant sales in a quarter could harm our operating results. It is possible that in some quarters our operating results will be below the expectations of public market analysts or investors. In such events, or in the event adverse conditions prevail, the market price of our common stock may decline significantly.
General market delays have been caused by customers not yet finalizing their transitions and approach to upgrading access network service assurance solutions.
Certain of our larger customers are in the process of upgrading their access networks, and have not yet finalized their transitions and approach to upgrading their service assurance solutions for these networks. This delay has and may continue to adversely impact revenues from our testing products, until such customers make these decisions. Further, these customers may decide not to adopt our technologies for their service assurance needs, which would have a significant adverse affect on revenues for those products.
Our Services business is subject to a trend of reduced capital spending for our products by our major customers.
Our Services business, which includes software maintenance as well as professional services, is sensitive to the decline in our RBOC customers’ capital investment in their traditional voice services, which tends to drive the professional services. Furthermore, the timing of the extension or renewal of certain of the more significant software maintenance agreements can have a major impact on the Company’s Services revenues for any particular fiscal quarter or year. We are currently in the process of negotiating one of the more significant RBOC maintenance contracts set to expire at the end of this year, and failure to reach agreement or to achieve favorable commercial terms would have an adverse effect on Services revenues. We are also experiencing intense pricing pressure from many of our larger software maintenance customers, as they continue to attempt to reduce their own internal costs. Accordingly, our ability to maintain historical levels or increase levels of Services revenues cannot be assured, and in fact, such levels may continue to decrease.
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We have completed, and may pursue additional acquisitions, which could result in the disruption of our current business, difficulties related to the integration of acquired businesses, and substantial expenditures.
We have completed, and we may pursue additional acquisitions of companies, product lines and technologies as part of our efforts to enhance our existing products, to introduce new products and to fulfill changing customer requirements. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including the disruption of our business, exposure to assumed or unknown liabilities of the acquired target, and the failure to integrate successfully the operations and products of acquired businesses. International acquisitions provide specific challenges due to the unique topology of international telecommunications networks, as well as requirements of doing business in particular countries. Further, our ability to sell certain products internationally depends upon our ability to maintain certain key manufacturing relationships and we may not be able to continue those relationships. Goodwill arising from acquisitions may result in significant impairment charges against our operating results in one or more future periods. Furthermore, we may never achieve the anticipated results or benefits of an acquisition, such as increased market share or the successful development and sales of a new product. The effects of any of these risks could materially harm our business and reduce our future results of operations.
On August 1, 2007 we acquired the Broadband Test Division of Teradyne, Inc. In addition to the general risks discussed above, the acquisition is subject to the risks that we may be unable to secure key relationships with key suppliers, customers and employees of the Broadband Test Division, execute agreements with new customers or close international opportunities due to the risk and uncertainties due to the risks inherent in international markets which are important to the acquired business. In addition, we may experience difficulties in gaining market acceptance of our products in the international customer base of the acquired business, and we face possible delays in, or may be unable to complete, the renewal of a significant maintenance contract with one of the customers of the acquired business. As a result of these and other factors we may not achieve the synergies and revenue targets necessary to make the acquisition accretive during 2007 or thereafter.
The failure of acquired assets to meet expectations, or a decline in our fair value determined by market prices of our stock, could indicate impairment of our intangible assets and result in impairment charges.
The carrying value of certain of our intangible assets, consisting primarily of goodwill related to acquired businesses and product lines, could become impaired by changing market conditions. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142 (“SFAS 142”) requires goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite lives to be measured for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events and circumstances indicate that the carrying value of such assets may not be recoverable. We perform annual impairment tests as of December 31 of each year. We have determined that we have one reporting unit and test goodwill for impairment by comparing the fair value of the Company’s equity, which we estimate based on the quoted market price of our common stock and an estimated control premium, to the Company’s book value. Our last required measurement date was December 31, 2006, at which time our test indicated no impairment.
In the period subsequent to September 29, 2007, the quoted price of our common stock on The Nasdaq Global Select Market has declined. We will continue to monitor the impact of this decline as it relates
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to our year-end impairment tests. These impairment tests consider several factors including a control premium, but critical to the evaluation is the quoted market value of our shares. Should we determine that the decline in the quoted market value of our shares is other than temporary, we may be required to record an impairment of goodwill at December 31, 2007.
The sale of our products is dependent upon our ability to satisfy the proprietary requirements of our customers.
We depend upon a relatively narrow range of products for the majority of our revenue. Our success in marketing our products is dependent upon their continued acceptance by our customers. In some cases, our customers require that our products meet their own proprietary requirements. If we are unable to satisfy such requirements, or forecast and adapt to changes in such requirements, our business could be materially harmed. In addition, we plan to introduce certain new products in the fourth quarter of 2007. The introduction of such products and their rate of acceptance could be delayed by, among other factors, extended testing or acceptance periods, requests for custom or modified engineering of such products to conform to customer requirements.
The sale of our products is dependent on our ability to respond to rapid technological change, including evolving industry-wide standards, and may be adversely affected by the development, and acceptance by our customers, of new technologies which may compete with or reduce the demand for our products.
Rapid technological change, including evolving industry standards, could render our products obsolete. Sales of our legacy cable products are declining, and demand for these products may further decline or be eliminated, as the market for these products transitions to industry-wide standards, such as the HMS and DOCSIS cable standards. Furthermore, standards for new services and technologies continue to evolve, requiring us to continually modify our products or to develop new versions to meet these new standards. Certain of these certifications are limited in scope, which may require that the product be recertified if any modifications to hardware or firmware are made. If we are unable to forecast the demand for, or develop new products or adapt our existing products to meet, these evolving standards and other technological innovations, or if our products and services do not gain the acceptance of our customers, our overall revenues and profitability will be adversely affected.
In addition, changes in network architecture experienced by our customers in the Tier 2 and 3 telephony market have and may continue to negatively affect our ability to sell products in these markets. Although we are addressing these changes with modifications to our existing products, if customers do not accept this new product technology, our revenues could be adversely affected.
In addition, the development of new technologies which compete with or reduce the demand for our products, and the adoption of such technologies by our customers, could adversely affect sales of our products. For example, as our products generally serve the wireline marketplace, to the extent wireline customers migrate to wireless technologies, there may be reduced demand for our products. In addition, we face new competition as testing functions that were once only available with purpose-built test systems are now available as integrated components of network elements. To the extent our customers adopt such new technology in place of our telecommunications products, the sales of our
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telecommunications products may be adversely affected. Such competition may also increase pricing pressure for our telecommunications products and adversely affect the revenues from such products.
Our reliance on third parties to manufacture certain aspects of our products involves risks, including delays in product shipments and reduced control over product quality.
We depend upon a limited number of third party contract manufacturers to manufacture certain elements of our products. Furthermore, the components of our hardware products are procured from a limited number of outside suppliers. Our reliance upon such third party contractors involve several additional risks, including reduced control over manufacturing costs, delivery times, reliability and quality of components. Although our products generally use industry standard products, some parts, such as ASICs, are custom-made to our specifications. If we were to encounter a shortage of key manufacturing components from limited sources of supply, or experience manufacturing delays caused by reduced manufacturing capacity, inability of our contract manufacturers to procure raw materials, or integration issues related to our acquisition of the Broadband Test Division, the loss of key assembly subcontractors or other factors, we could experience lost revenues, increased costs, delays in, cancellations or rescheduling of orders or shipments, any of which would materially harm our business.
Our future sales in international markets are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties.
Our future sales in international markets are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including local economic and labor conditions, political instability including terrorism and other acts of war or hostility, unexpected changes in the regulatory environment, trade protection measures, tax laws, our ability to market current or develop new products suitable for international markets, difficulties with deployments and acceptances of products, obtaining and maintaining successful distribution and resale channels and foreign currency exchange rates. These specific risks, or an overall reduction in the demand for or the sales of our products in international markets, could adversely affect future results.
The Company is party to contracts with in-country partners for certain international projects to supply our multi-layered testing solutions for country-wide networks. As these contracts are “as-ordered” contracts, the deployment of products in connection with these projects may be delayed, cancelled or reduced in scope if our customers fail to issue purchase orders that meet our expectations. In addition, product deployments under either or both of these projects could be delayed due to a variety of other factors including inability to obtain proper acceptances, the need to obtain acceptances on a site-by-site basis, difficulty in securing cooperation from or defects in the performance of our in-country partners, delays in project implementation, political instability, or other unforeseen obstacles or delays. Any of these factors could cause a reduction or delay in future revenues.
We face intense competition, which could result in our losing market share or experiencing a decline in our gross margins.
The markets for some of our products are very competitive. Some of our competitors have greater technological, financial, manufacturing, sales and marketing, and personnel resources than we have. As a result, these competitors may have an advantage in responding more rapidly or effectively to changes in industry standards or technologies. Competition is particularly difficult in the cable
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markets, due to the introduction of the DOCSIS standard, which allows customers to purchase system components from multiple vendors. We are also facing competition with our IP-based testing solutions, and many competitive technologies, encompassing both hardware and software, are available in these markets. Moreover, better financed competitors may be better able to withstand the pricing pressures that increased competition may bring. If our introduction of improved products or services is not timely or well received, or if our competitors reduce their prices for products that are comparable to ours, demand for our products and services could be adversely affected. Recent competition from certain network element providers offering chip-based testing functionality may also intensify the pricing pressure for our telecommunications products and adversely affect future revenues from such products. We also face increasing pressure from certain of our RBOC customers on software maintenance agreements, as they continue to divert spending from legacy networks to next generation network elements.
We may also compete directly with our customers. Generally, we sell our products either directly or indirectly through OEM channels and other means to end-user telecommunications and cable television providers. It is possible that our customers, as the result of bankruptcy or other rationales for dismantling network equipment, could attempt to resell our products. The successful development of such a secondary market for our products by a third party could negatively affect demand for our products, reducing our future revenues.
Our future results are dependent on our ability to establish, maintain and expand our distribution channels and our existing third-party distributors.
We market and sell certain of our products, including our DigiTest and Cheetah product lines and certain of the newly acquired Broadband Test Division products, through domestic and international OEM relationships. Our future results are dependent on our ability to establish, maintain and expand third party relationships with OEM as well as other marketing and sales distribution channels. If, however, the third parties with whom we have entered into such OEM and other arrangements should fail to meet their contractual obligations, cease doing, or reduce the amount of their business with us or otherwise fail to meet their own performance objectives, customer demand for our products could be adversely affected, which would have an adverse effect on our revenues.
The sales cycle for our system products is long, and the delay or failure to complete one or more large transactions in a quarter could cause our operating results to fall below our expectations.
The sales cycle for our system products is highly customer specific and can vary from a few weeks to many months. The system requirements of customers is highly dependent on many factors, including but not limited to their projections of business growth, capital budgets and anticipated cost savings from implementation of the system. Our delay or failure to complete one or more large transactions in a quarter could harm our operating results. Our systems involve significant capital commitments by customers. Potential customers generally commit significant resources to an evaluation of available enterprise software and system testing solutions and require us to expend substantial time, effort and money educating them about the value of our solutions. System sales often require an extensive sales effort throughout a customer’s organization because decisions to acquire software licenses and associated system hardware involve the evaluation of the products by a significant number of customer personnel in various functional and geographic areas, each often having specific and conflicting
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requirements. A variety of factors, including actions by competitors and other factors over which we have little or no control, may cause potential customers to favor a particular supplier or to delay or forego a purchase.
Many of the Company’s products must comply with significant governmental and industry-based regulations, certifications, standards and protocols, some of which evolve as new technologies are deployed. Compliance with such regulations, certifications, standards and protocols may prove costly and time-consuming for the Company, and the Company cannot provide assurance that its products will continue to meet these standards in the future. In addition, regulatory compliance may present barriers to entry in particular markets or reduce the profitability of the Company’s product offerings. Such regulations, certifications, standards and protocols may also adversely affect the industries in which we compete, limit the number of potential customers for the Company’s products and services or otherwise have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition and results of operations. Failure to comply, or delays in compliance, with such regulations, standards and protocols or delays in receipt of such certifications could delay the introduction of new products or cause the Company’s existing products to become obsolete.
We depend on sales of our MCU products for a meaningful portion of our revenues, but this product is mature and its sales will continue to decline.
A large portion of our sales have historically been attributable to our MCU products. We expect that our MCU products may continue to account for a meaningful percentage of our revenues for the foreseeable future. However, these sales are declining. MCU sales largely depend upon the rate of deployment of new, and the retrofitting of existing, DLC systems in the United States. Installation and replacement of DLC systems are, in turn, driven by a number of factors, including the availability of capital resources and the demand for new or better POTS. Our customers have begun to implement next generation network improvements such as Fiber-to-the-Premises (“FTTP”), which do not require the use of our MCU products as does the present hybrid POTS network. If our major customers fail to continue to build out their DSL networks and other projects requiring DLC deployments, or if we otherwise satisfy the domestic telecommunications market’s demand for MCUs, our MCU sales will continue to decline and our future results would be materially and adversely affected.
Although we are unable to predict future prices for our MCU products, we expect that prices for these products will continue to be subject to significant downward pressure in certain markets for the reasons described above. Accordingly, our ability to maintain or increase revenues will be dependent on our ability to expand our customer base, increase unit sales volumes of these products and to successfully, develop, introduce and sell new products such as our cable and software products. We cannot assure you that we will be able to expand our customer base, increase unit sales volumes of existing products or develop, introduce and/or sell new products.
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Our continued emphasis on our network assurance and testing solutions and cable status monitoring products, and on software products in particular, could have a material adverse effect on our profitability.
We are actively engaged in research to improve and expand our cable products, including research and development to reduce product costs while providing enhancements, such as VoIP service assurance; however, with the rise of industry-wide standards, among other factors, our cable products have lower margins than our telephony test system products. If sales of our network assurance and testing solutions and cable status monitoring products do not increase or are not accepted in the marketplace, or if our research and development activities do not produce marketable products that are both competitive and accepted by our customers, our overall revenues and profitability will be adversely affected.
In addition, although software products generally generate higher margin returns for us than our hardware products, the initial development costs of software applications, coupled with the inherent problems with pricing software, can make it difficult to assess the potential profitability of new software products. Unless we acquire software, we must internally develop any new software products, which can be a relatively expensive and lengthy process, particularly for proprietary software products. In addition, because it is customary in our industry to sell perpetual enterprise licenses that cover an entire customer’s operations, it can be difficult to assess at the time of sale the exact price that we should charge for a particular license.
Another emerging risk to our software development efforts is the presence of available open source software, which can allow our competitors and/or our customers to piece together a non-proprietary software solution relatively quickly. To the extent they are successful in developing software that meets their feature and benefit needs, revenue from our proprietary software could be adversely affected. Further, to the extent we incorporate open source into our software products, our ability to maximize revenue from our software products could be adversely impacted.
Our customers are subject to an evolving governmental regulatory environment that could significantly reduce the demand for our products or increase our costs of doing business.
Our customers have historically been subject to a number of governmental regulations, many of which have been repealed or amended as a result of the passage of The Telecommunications Act of 1996. Deregulatory efforts have affected and likely will continue to affect our customers in several ways, including the introduction of competitive forces into the local telephone markets and the imposition (or removal) of controls on the pricing of services. These and other regulatory changes may limit the scope of our customers’ deployments of future services and budgets for capital expenditures, which could significantly reduce the demand for our products.
Moreover, as the FCC adopts new and amends existing regulations, and as the courts analyze the FCC’s authority to do so, our customers cannot accurately predict the rules which will regulate their conduct in their respective markets. Changes in the telecommunications regulatory environment could, among other results, increase our costs of doing business, require our customers to share assets with competitors or prevent the Company or our customers from engaging in business activities they may wish to conduct, which could adversely affect our future results.
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Our limited ability to protect our proprietary information and technology may adversely affect our ability to compete, and our products could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others, resulting in claims against us the results of which could be costly.
Many of our products consist entirely or partly of proprietary technology owned by us. Although we seek to protect our technology through a combination of copyrights, trade secret laws, contractual obligations and patents, these protections may not be sufficient to prevent the wrongful appropriation of our intellectual property, nor will they prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our proprietary technology. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. In order to defend our proprietary rights in the technology utilized in our products from third party infringement, we may be required to institute legal proceedings. If we are unable to successfully assert and defend our proprietary rights in the technology utilized in our products, our future results could be adversely affected.
Although we attempt to avoid infringing known proprietary rights of third parties in our product development efforts, we may become subject to legal proceedings and claims for alleged infringement from time to time in the ordinary course of business. Any claims relating to the infringement of third-party proprietary rights, even if not meritorious, could result in costly litigation, divert management’s attention and resources, require us to reengineer or cease sales of our products or require us to enter into royalty or license agreements which are not advantageous to us. In addition, parties making claims may be able to obtain an injunction, which could prevent us from selling our products in the United States or abroad.
The success of some of our products is dependent on our ability to maintain licenses to technology from the manufacturers of systems with which our products must be compatible.
Some of our products require that we license technology from manufacturers of systems with which our products must be compatible. The success of our proprietary MCU products, in particular, rely upon our ability to acquire and maintain licensing arrangements with the various manufacturers of DLC systems for the Proprietary Design Integrated Circuits (PDICs) unique to each. Although most of our PDIC licensing agreements have perpetual renewal terms, all of them can be terminated by either party. If we are unable to obtain the PDICs necessary for our MCU products to be compatible with a particular DLC system, we may be unable to satisfy the needs of our customers. Furthermore, future PDIC license agreements may contain terms comparable to, or materially different than, the terms of existing agreements, as dictated by competitive or other conditions. The loss of these PDIC license agreements, or our inability to maintain an adequate supply of PDICs on acceptable terms, could have a material adverse effect on our business.
If we are unable to satisfy our customers’ specific product quality, certification or network requirements, our business could be disrupted and our financial condition could be harmed.
Our customers demand that our products meet stringent quality, performance and reliability standards. We have, from time to time, experienced problems in satisfying such standards. Defects or failures have in the past, and may in the future occur relating to our product quality, performance and
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reliability. From time to time, our customers also require us to implement specific changes to our products to allow these products to operate within their specific network configurations. If we are unable to remedy these failures or defects or if we cannot affect such required product modifications, we could experience lost revenues, increased costs, including inventory write-offs, warranty expense and costs associated with customer support, delays in or cancellations or rescheduling of orders or shipments and product returns or discounts, any of which would harm our business.
If our accounting controls and procedures are circumvented or otherwise fail to achieve their intended purposes, our business could be seriously harmed.
We evaluate our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of each fiscal quarter, and are annually reviewing and evaluating our internal controls over financial reporting in order to comply with SEC rules relating to internal control over financial reporting adopted pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
If we ship products that contain defects, the market acceptance of our products and our reputation will be harmed and our customers could seek to recover their damages from us.
Our products are complex, and despite extensive testing, may contain defects or undetected errors or failures that may become apparent only after our products have been shipped to our customers and installed in their network or after product features or new versions are released. Any such defect, error or failure could result in failure of market acceptance of our products or damage to our reputation or relations with our customers, resulting in substantial costs for both the Company and our customers as well as the cancellation of orders, warranty costs and product returns. In addition, any defects, errors, misuse of our products or other potential problems within or out of our control that may arise from the use of our products could result in financial or other damages to our customers. Our customers could seek to have us pay for these losses. Although we maintain product liability insurance, it may not be adequate.
We are dependent upon our ability to attract, retain and motivate our key personnel.
Our success depends on our ability to attract, retain and motivate our key management personnel, including the Company’s CEO and CFO, and key engineers, necessary to implement our business plan and to grow our business. Despite the adverse economic conditions of the past several years, competition for certain specific technical and management skill sets is intense. If we are unable to identify and hire the personnel that we need to succeed, or if one or more of our present key employees were to cease to be associated with the Company, our future results could be adversely affected.
Consolidations in, or a continued slowdown in, the telecommunications industry could harm our business.
We have derived a substantial amount of our revenues from sales of products and related services to the telecommunications industry. The telecommunications industry has experienced significant growth
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and consolidation in the past few years, although, over recent years, trends indicate that capital spending by this industry has decreased and may continue to decrease in the future as a result of a general decline in economic growth in local and international markets. In particular, RBOC and large ILEC customers have been adversely affected by subscriber line losses and the after-effects of overspending in 1999 and 2000 as well as by competition from cable and wireless carriers and other carriers entering the local telephone service market. Certain emerging carriers also continue to be hampered by financial instability caused in large part by a lack of access to capital. In the event of further significant slowdown in capital spending of the telecommunications industry, our business would be adversely affected. Furthermore, as a result of industry consolidation, there may be fewer potential customers requiring our software in the future. Larger, consolidated telecommunications companies may also use their purchasing power to create pressure on the prices and the margins we could realize. We cannot be certain that consolidations in, or a slowdown in the growth of, the telecommunication industry will not harm our business.
Our expenses are relatively fixed in the short term, and we may be unable to adjust spending to compensate for unexpected revenue shortfalls.
We base our expense levels in part on forecasts of future orders and sales, which are extremely difficult to predict. A substantial portion of our operating expenses is related to personnel, facilities and sales and marketing. The level of spending for such expenses cannot be adjusted quickly and is, therefore, relatively fixed in the short term. Accordingly, our operating results will be harmed if revenues fall below our expectations in a particular quarter.
We rely on software that we have licensed from third-party developers to perform key functions in our products.
We rely on software that we license from third parties, including software that is integrated with internally developed software and used in our products to perform key functions. We could lose the right to use this software or it could be made available to us only on commercially unreasonable terms. Although we believe that, in most cases, alternative software is available from other third-party suppliers or internal developments, the loss of or inability to maintain any of these software licenses or the inability of the third parties to enhance in a timely and cost-effective manner their products in response to changing customer needs, industry standards or technological developments could delay or reduce our product shipments until equivalent software could be developed internally or identified, licensed and integrated, which would harm our business.
We are affected by a pattern of product price decline in certain markets, which can harm our business.
Because our cable products generate lower margins for us than our proprietary telephony offerings, an increase in the percentage of our sales of cable-related products relative to our traditional products will result in lower profit margins. Furthermore, consolidations within the cable industry and the adoption of the DOCSIS standards have caused and could continue to cause pricing pressure as our competitors lower product pricing. As a result of these factors, our revenues have been and may continue to be adversely affected. Although we have developed DOCSIS-based hardware and we believe that our relationships with our OEM partners position us to succeed in the marketing of DOCSIS-based
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products, these products will likely generate lower margins than have historically been generated by our proprietary technology. As a result, as our business shifts from our higher margin proprietary products to lower margin cable offerings and standardized products for which there is greater competition, we will need to sell greater volumes of our products to maintain our profitability.
Our common stock price may be extremely volatile.
Our common stock price has been and is likely to continue to be highly volatile. The market price may vary in response to many factors, some of which are outside our control, including:
• | | General market and economic conditions; |
|
• | | Changes in the telecommunications industry; |
|
• | | Actual or anticipated variations in operating results; |
|
• | | Announcements of technological innovations, new products or new services by us or by our competitors or customers; |
|
• | | Changes in financial estimates or recommendations by stock market analysts regarding us or our competitors; |
|
• | | Announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments; |
|
• | | Announcements by our customers regarding end market conditions and the status of existing and future infrastructure network deployments; |
|
• | | Additions or departures of key personnel; and |
|
• | | Future equity or debt offerings or our announcements of these offerings. |
In addition, in recent years, the stock market in general, and The NASDAQ Global Market and the securities of technology companies in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of individual companies. These broad market fluctuations have in the past and may in the future materially and adversely affect our stock price, regardless of our operating results. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action
litigation has often been initiated against such company. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources that could harm our business.
We may be subject from time to time to legal proceedings, and any adverse determinations in these proceedings could materially harm our business.
We may from time to time be involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings, which arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation matters are inherently unpredictable, and we cannot predict the outcome of any such matters. If we ultimately lose or settle a case, we may be liable for monetary damages and other costs of litigation. Even if we are entirely successful in a lawsuit, we may incur significant legal expenses and our management may expend significant time in the defense. An adverse resolution of a lawsuit or legal proceeding could negatively impact our financial position and results of operations.
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Item 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS
(c) | | During the quarter ended September 29, 2007 the Company repurchased the following shares of its common stock. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | (d) | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Maximum number | |
| | | | | | | | | | (c) | | | (or approximate | |
| | | | | | | | | | Total number of | | | dollar value) of | |
| | | | | | | | | | shares purchased | | | shares that may | |
| | (a) | | | (b) | | | as part of publicly | | | yet be purchased | |
| | Total number of | | | Average price paid | | | announced plans | | | under the plans or | |
Period | | shares purchased | | | per share | | | or programs | | | programs | |
July 1-July 31 | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 1,000,000 | |
August 1-August 31 | | | 113,491 | | | $ | 9.78 | | | | 113,491 | | | | 886,509 | |
September 1- September 29 | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 886,509 | |
|
TOTAL | | | 113,491 | | | $ | 9.78 | | | | 113,491 | | | | | |
On July 25, 2007, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program, pursuant to which the Company may repurchase up to one million shares of the Company’s Common Stock through December 31, 2007. Such purchases may be made through open market transactions and privately negotiated transactions at the Company’s discretion, subject to market conditions and other factors.
Item 6. EXHIBITS
(a) Exhibits:
The following exhibits are being filed with this report:
| | |
Exhibit | | |
Number | | Description |
10.1 | | Severance Agreement dated July 5, 2007 between Tollgrade Communications, Inc. and Joseph A. Ferrara, filed on Form 8-K on August 1, 2007 and incorporated herein by reference. |
| | |
10.2 | | Lease and License for Alterations dated October 18, 2007 among Tollgrade UK Limited, Tollgrade Communications, Inc., Bedell Corporate Trustees Limited and Atrium Trustees (as Trustees of the Park One Unit Trust), filed herewith. |
| | |
31.1 | | Certification of Chief Executive Officer, filed herewith. |
| | |
31.2 | | Certification of Chief Financial Officer, filed herewith. |
| | |
32 | | Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18.U.S.C. Section 350, filed herewith. |
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™LoopCare is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™Cheetah is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™CheetahLight is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™CheetahNet is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™CheetahXD is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™HUB is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™ICE is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™N(x)Test is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™N(x)DSL is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™N(x)DSL-3 a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™LTSC is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™LTSC is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™4TEL is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™Celerity is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
™LDU-50 is a trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
®Tollgrade is a registered trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
®DigiTest is a registered trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
®EDGE is a registered trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
®MCU is a registered trademark of Tollgrade Communications, Inc.
®DOCSIS is a registered trademark of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| | |
| | Tollgrade Communications, Inc. |
| | (Registrant) |
| | |
Dated: November 8, 2007 | | /s/ Mark B. Peterson |
| | |
| | Mark B. Peterson |
| | Chief Executive Officer |
| | |
Dated: November 8, 2007 | | /s/ Samuel C. Knoch |
| | |
| | Samuel C. Knoch |
| | Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer |
| | |
Dated: November 8, 2007 | | /s/ Sean M. Reilly |
| | |
| | Sean M. Reilly |
| | Controller |
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EXHIBIT INDEX
(Pursuant to Item 601 of Regulation S-K)
| | |
Exhibit | | |
Number | | Description |
10.1 | | Severance Agreement dated July 5, 2007 between Tollgrade Communications, Inc. and Joseph A. Ferrara, filed on Form 8-K on August 1, 2007 and incorporated herein by reference. |
| | |
10.2 | | Lease and License for Alterations dated October 18, 2007 among Tollgrade UK Limited, Tollgrade Communications, Inc., Bedell Corporate Trustees Limited and Atrium Trustees (as Trustees of the Park One Unit Trust), filed herewith. |
| | |
31.1 | | Certification of Chief Executive Officer, filed herewith. |
| | |
31.2 | | Certification of Chief Financial Officer, filed herewith. |
| | |
32 | | Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18.U.S.C. Section 350, filed herewith. |
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