During 1999, the Company entered into several development contracts with both commercial and government entities for further development of the RSD technology for meeting specific customer applications.
In the commercial business area, the Company entered into a multi-year product development and licensing agreement with Carl Zeiss Inc. to develop a range of products in ophthalmic diagnostics and surgical visualization.
In the defense business area, the Company entered into a $4.2 million contract with the U.S. Army’s Aircrew Integrated Systems Program Office to further advance the form and functional development of the helmet-mounted display. In March 1999, the Company entered into a $750,000 SBIR Phase II Contract with U.S. Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (“AADT”) for the design of an advanced helmet-mounted display and imaging system to be used in the Virtual Cockpit Optimization Program (“VCOP”). In September 1999, the Company entered into a $1.5 million follow-on SBIR Phase III contract with the AATD to continue development of the VCOP advanced head-worn display.
Cost of revenue decreased by approximately $1.5 million or 23% to $4.9 million in 1999 from $6.4 million in 1998. The decrease resulted from a decrease in the direct costs associated with the Company’s performance on development contracts in 1999 from that in 1998. The lower level of expense in 1999 as compared to 1998 also resulted from a higher level of investment made by the Company in developing its technologies through work performed on its own internal research and development projects, resulted in greater overhead absorption by such research and development projects.
Included in research and development expenses are costs incurred in acquiring and maintaining licenses of technology from other companies. The Company has charged all research and development costs to cost of revenue or research and development expense.
Research and development expense increased by approximately $6.9 million or 210% to $10.2 million in 1999 from $3.3 million in 1998. The increase reflects continued implementation of the Company’s operating plan, which calls for building its technical staff and supporting activities to further develop the Company’s technology; establishing and equipping its own in-house laboratories; and developing intellectual property related to the Company’s business.
In May 1999, the Company entered into a $2.6 million one year development contract with Cree to accelerate development of semi-conductor light-emitting diodes and laser diodes for application in the Company’s proposed display and imaging products. The increase in research and development costs includes costs associated with the work performed by Cree pursuant to the development agreement. In addition, during 1999, costs of $452,000 related to the acquisition of an exclusive license were expensed by the Company.
Marketing, General and Administrative Expense. Marketing, general and administrative expenses include compensation and support costs for sales, marketing, management and administrative staff, and for other general and administrative costs, including legal, accounting, consultants and other operating expenses.
Marketing, general and administrative expenses increased by approximately $2.7 million or 61% to $7.2 million in 1999 from $4.5 million in 1998. The increase includes increased compensation and support costs for employees and contractors.
Non-Cash Compensation Expense. Non-cash compensation expense decreased by $187,000 or 41% to $264,000 in 1999 from $451,000 in 1998. The decrease is due to the Company decreasing the practice of paying consultants with stock in lieu of cash.
Interest Income and Expense. Interest income increased by approximately $856,000 or 279% to $1.2 million in 1999 from $307,000 in 1998. This increase resulted from higher average cash and investment securities balances in 1999, as a result of the financing activities of the Company, from the average cash and investment securities balances in 1998.
Interest expense increased by approximately $91,000 or 111% to $172,000 in 1999 from $82,000 in 1998. This increase resulted from interest related to higher levels of borrowings.
Preferred Stock Dividends. The Company paid a cash dividend of $73,400 to the holder of its Series B Convertible Preferred Stock in connection with the redemption of its convertible preferred stock and issuance of common stock. In October 1999, the Company amended the option to purchase convertible preferred stock to extend the expiration date to June 30, 2000. This extension was accounted for as a preferred stock dividend with a fair market value $154,400. Additionally, during 1999, the Company recorded a charge of $1.8 million attributable to the beneficial conversion feature of convertible preferred stock issued in 1999.
Income Taxes. No provision for income taxes has been recorded because the Company has experienced net losses from inception through December 31, 1999. At December 31, 1999, the Company had net operating loss carry-forwards of approximately $34.2 million for federal income tax reporting purposes.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Company has funded its operations to date primarily through the sale of common stock and convertible preferred stock and to a lesser extent, revenues from development contracts and product shipments. At December 31, 2000, the Company had $40.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and investment securities.
Cash used in operating activities totaled approximately $23.1 million in 2000 compared to $14.8 million in 1999. Cash used in operating activities for each period resulted primarily from the net loss for the period.
Cash used in investing activities totaled approximately $9.3 million in 2000 compared to $33.9 million in 1999. The decrease in cash used in investing activities resulted primarily from decreases in the purchase of investment securities offset by increases in purchases of property and equipment.
The Company used cash for capital expenditures of approximately $5.4 million in 2000 compared to approximately $2.1 million in 1999. Historically, capital expenditures have been used to make leasehold improvements to leased office space and to purchase computer hardware and software, laboratory equipment and furniture and fixtures to support the Company’s growth. Capital expenditures are expected to continue to increase as the Company expands its operations. The Company currently has no material commitments for capital expenditures.
Cash provided by financing activities totaled approximately $36.9 million in 2000 compared to $49.2 million in 1999. The decrease in cash provided by financing activities resulted primarily from decreases in the net proceeds from the issuance of common stock and preferred stock in 2000.
The Company’s future expenditures and capital requirements will depend on numerous factors, including the progress of its research and development program, the progress in commercialization activities and arrangements, the cost of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and other intellectual property rights, competing technological and market developments and the ability of the Company to establish cooperative development, joint venture and licensing arrangements. In order to maintain its exclusive rights under the Company’s license agreement with the University of Washington, the Company is obligated to make royalty payments to the University of Washington with respect to the Virtual Retinal Display technology. If the Company is successful in establishing OEM co-development and joint venture arrangements, the Company expects its partners to fund certain non-recurring engineering costs for technology development and/or for product development. Nevertheless, the Company expects its cash requirements to increase significantly each year as it expands its activities and operations with the objective of commercializing the retinal scanning display technology and other technologies.
The Company believes that its cash, cash equivalent and investment securities balances totaling $40.7 million, will satisfy its budgeted cash requirements for at least the next 12 months based on the Company’s current operating plan. Actual expenses, however, may exceed the amounts budgeted therefore and the Company may require additional capital earlier to further the development of its technology, for expenses associated with product development, and to respond to competitive pressures or to meet unanticipated development difficulties. In addition, the Company’s operating plan calls for the addition of sales, marketing, technical and other staff and the purchase of additional laboratory and production equipment. The operating plan also provides for the development of strategic relationships with systems and equipment manufacturers that may require additional investments by the Company. There can be no assurance that additional financing will be available to the Company or that, if available, it will be available on terms acceptable to the Company on a timely basis. If adequate funds are not available to satisfy either short-term or long-term capital requirements, the Company may be required to limit its operations substantially. The Company’s capital requirements will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to, the rate at which the Company can, directly or through arrangements with OEMs, introduce products incorporating the retinal scanning display technology and the market acceptance and competitive position of such products.
Subsequent Events
In February 2001, the Company acquired a fully paid-up royalty-free exclusive license to the HALO technology in exchange for 37,000 shares of Microvision common stock and $100,000.
In March 2001, Lumera raised $21.4 million, net of issuance costs, from the sale of 2,136,000 shares of convertible preferred stock to a group of investors in a private placement. In addition, Lumera issued 264,000 shares of convertible preferred stock to Microvision to retire $2.6 million of intercompany debt. The convertible preferred shares are convertible to an equal number of shares of common stock at the option of the holder.
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Substantially all of the Company’s cash equivalents and investment securities are at fixed interest rates and, as such, the fair value of these instruments is affected by changes in market interest rates. Due to the generally short-term maturities of these investment securities, the Company believes that the market risk arising from its holdings of these financial instruments is not significant. A one-percent change in market interest rates would have approximately a $407,200 impact on the fair value of the investment securities.
Presently, all of the Company’s development contract payments are made in U.S. dollars and, consequently, the Company believes it has no foreign currency exchange rate risk. However, in the future the Company may enter into development contracts in foreign currencies which may subject the Company to foreign exchange rate risk. The Company does not have any derivative instruments and does not presently engage in hedging transactions.
The weighted average maturities of cash equivalents and investment securities, available-for-sale, as of December 31, 2000, are as follows.
| Amount
| Percent
|
Cash | $350,200 | 0.9% |
Less than one year | 14,867,200 | 36.5% |
One to two years | 18,300,000 | 44.9% |
Two to three years | 7,200,000
| 17.7%
|
| $40,717,400
| 100.0%
|
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS