Partially offsetting the favorable impact of the above was a reduction in maintenance contract revenues in the current period, coupled with increased service costs resulting from investments to strengthen the service support infrastructure of the Company’s international subsidiaries. Additionally, gross margins were unfavorably impacted in the current period by a reduction in average selling prices for lower-end products in the Producer product line, primarily resulting from increased equipment sales in the U.S. retail market segment, which generally carry lower selling prices.
Future gross profit margins will continue to be affected by many factors, including the impact of recently implemented changes in the Company’s sales distribution model described above, product mix, the timing of new product introductions, changes in material costs, manufacturing volume, the growth rate of service related revenues relative to associated service support costs and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2010 amounted to $6.3 million, or 34% of revenues, compared to $5.3 million, or 29% of revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2009. The rise in expenses in the current-year period primarily reflects the impact of investments made to strengthen the Company’s core business, including increased compensation-related costs from personnel additions and equity compensation as well as higher costs for recruiting, travel and promotional programs. Additionally, the Company incurred expenses in the current period for the implementation of an enhanced sales order processing system to support the changes made effective April 1, 2010 in its sales distribution model. Also contributing to the increase in expenses in the current period was the impact of currency fluctuations primarily affecting the Company’s European operation, increasing expenses by $0.1 million. Rimage anticipates expenditures for selling, general and administrative activities in the second quarter of 2010 will approximate first quarter expense levels.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (Continued)
Other income, net. The Company recognized net interest income on cash and marketable securities of $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010, compared to $0.6 million for the same prior-year period. The reduction in interest income in the current period was the result of a decline in average effective yields approximating two percentage points relative to the same prior-year period. This resulted from the Company’s change to a more conservative investment strategy as well as an environment of generally lower interest rates. Partially offsetting the impact of the reduction in interest rates was a $15 million increase in average cash equivalent and marketable securities balances for the three months ended March 31, 2010 compared to the same period in the prior year.
Income taxes. The provision for income taxes represents federal, state and foreign income taxes on income. Income tax expense for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and 2009 amounted to $0.4 million and $0.6 million, respectively, or 36.2% and 32.6% of income before taxes in each respective period. The increase in the effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2010 primarily reflects the impact of a significantly reduced amount of projected tax-exempt interest income comprising a smaller percentage of pre-tax income and the expiration of the federal research credit effective January 1, 2010, resulting in no tax benefit in the current period. Partially offsetting the unfavorable effect of the above was the impact in the current period of the implementation in late 2009 of recommendations of a transfer price study which reduced projected U.S. pre-tax income and reduced the projected loss of the Company’s Japanese subsidiary. Also partially offsetting the unfavorable impact of the above changes was an increased benefit in the current period from the Section 199 deduction, impacted by an increase in the rate applied to qualified production activities income from 6% to 9% effective January 1, 2010.
Net income / net income per share. Resulting net income for the three months ended March 31, 2010 was $0.7 million, or 4% of revenues. Comparable amounts for the three months ended March 31, 2009 were $1.2 million, or 6% of revenues. Related net income per diluted share amounts were $0.07 and $0.13 for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and 2009, respectively.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Company expects it will be able to maintain current operations and anticipated capital expenditure requirements for the foreseeable future through its internally generated funds and, if required, from Rimage’s existing credit agreement. This credit agreement allows for advances under an unsecured revolving loan up to a maximum advance of $10 million. At March 31, 2010, no amounts were outstanding under the credit agreement.
At March 31, 2010, the Company had working capital of $103.0 million, down $0.2 million from working capital reported at December 31, 2009. The decrease was primarily the result of the use of $2.7 million of cash to purchase property and equipment, partially offset by net income adjusted for non-cash items of $1.4 million and proceeds from stock option exercises of $0.1 million.
On October 17, 2007, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 500,000 shares of its common stock. In February 2008, the Company’s Board of Directors increased the share repurchase authorization by an additional 500,000 shares, bringing total shares authorized for repurchase to 1,000,000. Shares may be purchased at prevailing market prices in the open market or in private transactions, subject to market conditions, share price, trading volume and other factors. The repurchase program may be discontinued at any time. The Company will finance the purchase of the shares, if any, using cash on hand. During the three months ended March 31, 2010, the Company did not repurchase any shares of its common stock. The Company also intends on utilizing its assets primarily for its continued organic growth and potential future strategic initiatives or alliances.
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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (Continued)
Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010, compared to $1.3 million in the same prior-year period. The $0.5 million decrease in cash generated from operating activities resulted from changes in operating assets and liabilities producing a $0.5 million greater use of cash for the three months ended March 31, 2010 compared to the same prior-year period. Primarily contributing to the change in operating assets and liabilities compared to the prior-year period were unfavorable changes of $1.5 million in inventories and $0.4 million in the aggregate amount of trade accounts payable, accrued compensation and accrued expenses, a $1.1 million larger increase in prepaid income taxes and prepaid expenses and a $0.3 million larger decrease in deferred income, partially offset by a $2.8 million favorable change in receivables. The change in inventories resulted from a $1.1 million increase in inventories in the current period, compared to a $0.4 million decline in the prior-year. The current period increase in inventories occurred as the Company prepared for the impact of a change in its sales model effective April 1, 2010 under which it will sell products to end-user customers through value-added resellers instead of through distributors in major markets, requiring increased inventory levels. The change in prepaid income taxes and prepaid expenses was impacted primarily by the amount and timing of payments for estimated taxes and other prepaid expenses. The change in the aggregate amount of trade accounts payable, accrued compensation and accrued expenses reflects a $0.2 million aggregate decrease in the amount of these balances in the current-year period, compared to a $0.2 million aggregate increase in the same period last year. These changes were primarily due to increased payments in the current-year period for annual incentive bonuses to employees for calendar year 2009 performance and expenditures for property and equipment, partially offset by the impact of a higher level of inventory purchases remaining in accounts payable at the end of the period. The favorable change in receivables resulted from a $2.4 million reduction in receivables in the current period and a $0.4 million increase in the prior-year period, primarily impacted by a $0.9 million decrease in sales from December 2009 to March 2010, compared to a $1.5 million increase in sales from December 2008 to March 2009.
Investing activities provided net cash of $9.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010, compared to a net use of cash of $1.0 million for the same prior-year period. The fluctuations in investing activities were primarily the result of $12.6 million in maturities of marketable securities during the three months ended March 31, 2010, compared to $1.0 million in purchases of marketable securities, net of related maturities, in the same prior-year period. Purchases of property and equipment during the three months ended March 31, 2010 and 2009 amounted to $2.7 million and $0.1 million, respectively. Capital expenditures in the current-year period included $2.4 million of production tooling capitalized by the Company in late 2009 associated with a new product launched during the first quarter of 2010. Remaining capital expenditures in the current-year period consisted primarily of costs to support the Company’s information technology infrastructure related requirements.
Financing activities generated net cash of $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Financing activities in each period consisted primarily of proceeds from stock option exercises.
Critical Accounting Policies
Management utilizes its technical knowledge, cumulative business experience, judgment and other factors in the selection and application of the Company’s accounting policies. The accounting policies considered by management to be the most critical to the presentation of the consolidated financial statements because they require the most difficult, subjective and complex judgments include revenue recognition, allowance for doubtful accounts, inventory provisions, deferred tax asset valuation allowances, accruals for uncertain tax positions, stock-based compensation and impairment of long-lived assets. These accounting policies are discussed in Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. Management made no changes to the Company’s critical accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2010.
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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (Continued)
In applying its critical accounting policies, management reassesses its estimates each reporting period based on available information. Changes in such estimates did not have a significant impact on earnings for the three months ended March 31, 2010.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For this purpose, any statements contained in this report that are not statements of historical fact may deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate” or “continue” or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements by their nature involve substantial risks and uncertainties. The Company’s actual results could differ significantly from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the following, as well as other factors not now identified: the economic health of the markets from which Rimage derives its sales and, in particular, the strength of the economies within North America and Europe where the Company has averaged 92% of total sales over the past three years; the Company’s ability to keep pace with changes in technology in the computer and storage media industries as well as technology changes in the Company’s targeted markets; increasing competition and the ability of the Company’s products to successfully compete with products of competitors and newly developed media storage products; the ability of the Company’s newly developed products to gain acceptance and compete against products in their markets; the significance of the Company’s international operations and the risks associated with international operations including currency fluctuations, local economic health and management of these operations over long distances; the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to defend claims of others relating to its intellectual property; the Company’s ability to effectively market its products and serve customers through its value-added resellers, distributors, strategic partners and its own sales force; the Company’s ability to maintain adequate inventory of products; the Company’s reliance on single source suppliers; the ability of the Company’s products to operate effectively with the computer products developed and to be developed by other manufacturers; the negative effect upon the Company’s business from manufacturing or design defects; the effect of U.S. and international regulation; fluctuations in the Company’s operating results; the Company’s dependence upon its key personnel; the volatility of the price of the Company’s common stock; provisions governing the Company relating to a change of control, compliance with corporate governance and securities disclosures rules and other risks, including those set forth in the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Item 1A of Part I of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this report and the Company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements.
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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The Company is exposed to market risk from foreign exchange rate fluctuations of the European Euro and Japanese Yen to the U.S. dollar as the financial position and operating results of the Company’s German and Japanese subsidiaries, Rimage Europe GmbH and Rimage Japan Co., Ltd., respectively, are translated into U.S. dollars for consolidation. Resulting translation adjustments are recorded as a separate component of stockholders’ equity.
The Company enters into forward exchange contracts principally to hedge intercompany receivables denominated in Euros arising from sales to its subsidiary in Germany. Gains or losses on forward exchange contracts are calculated at each period end and are recognized in net income in the period in which they arose. The Company records the fair value of its open forward foreign exchange contracts in other current assets or other current liabilities depending on whether the net amount is a gain or a loss. The Company does not utilize financial instruments for trading or other speculative purposes.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
(a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
The Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Sherman L. Black, and the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, Robert M. Wolf, have evaluated the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2010. Based upon such evaluation, they have concluded that these disclosure controls and procedures are effective. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer used the definition of “disclosure controls and procedures” as set forth in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act in making their conclusion as to the effectiveness of such controls and procedures.
(b) Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in internal controls over financial reporting that occurred during the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 that have materially affected, or are reasonable likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
PART II — OTHER INFORMATION
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Item 1. | Legal Proceedings |
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Not Applicable. | |
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Item 1A. | Risk Factors |
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Not Applicable. | |
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Item 2. | Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds |
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Not applicable. | |
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Item 3. | Defaults Upon Senior Securities |
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Not Applicable. | |
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Item 4. | [Removed and Reserved] |
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Not Applicable.
(a) The following exhibits are included herein:
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| 31.1 | Certificate of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14 of the Exchange Act. |
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| 31.2 | Certificate of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14 of the Exchange Act. |
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| 32 | Certifications pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §1350. |
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SIGNATURES
In accordance with the Exchange Act, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereto duly authorized.
| | |
| | RIMAGE CORPORATION |
| | Registrant |
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Date:May 7, 2010 | By: | /s/ Sherman L. Black |
| | Sherman L. Black |
| | Chief Executive Officer |
| | (Principal Executive Officer) |
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Date:May 7, 2010 | By: | /s/ Robert M. Wolf |
| | Robert M. Wolf |
| | Chief Financial Officer |
| | (Principal Financial Officer) |
| | (Principal Accounting Officer) |
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