United States Securities and Exchange Commission Washington, D.C. 20549 Form 10-K (x) Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2000 or ( ) 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 333-24519 Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 54-1833398 (State or other jurisdiction (I.R.S. Employer Incorporation or organization) Identification Number) 167 Kelley Drive Front Royal, VA 22630 Telephone: (540) 622-2000 (Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant's principal executive offices) 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 periods that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes __X__ No ____ Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this from 10-K. (X) Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant's classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date. As of March 31, 2000, there were outstanding 100 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value, all of which are privately owned and are not traded on a public market. Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Form 10-K For the Fiscal Year Ended January 1, 2000 Certain statements contained in this Annual Report are forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Because such statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the integration of businesses following an acquisition, competitors with broader product lines and greater resources or the Company's inability to attract and retain highly qualified management, technical, creative and sales and marketing personnel. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Index Part I. Item 1. Business 1 Item 2. Properties 7 Item 3. Legal Proceedings 7 Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders 8 Part II. Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Stock and Related Stockholder Matter 8 Item 6. Selected Financial Data 8 Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 11 Item 7a. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 18 Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 18 Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosures 18 Part III. Item 10. Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant 18 Item 11. Executive Compensation 20 Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management 21 Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions 21 Part IV. Item 14. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules and Reports on Form 8-K 21 Signature 24 Part I Item 1. Business General Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. (together with its majority-owned subsidiaries, the "Company") was incorporated in 1997 in the state of Delaware, the successor corporation to a Virginia corporation of the same name. The Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. ("Holdings") a Virginia corporation. The Company is a leading U.S. manufacturer and marketer of school, home and office supply products. The Company's core products include binders, pads, filler paper, spiral and coilless notebooks, planners, envelopes, school supplies and arts and crafts products. In 1992, the Company recognized a previously unfulfilled demand for higher quality, upscale school and office-related products. The Company pioneered a line of these differentiated higher price point, branded products to serve the school and office product markets. The Company has developed strong consumer recognition for its proprietary office styles and its upscale school styles under the Pen-Tab(R), Pen-Tab Pro(R) and Expert(R) brand names. These differentiated products provide both the Company and the retailer with higher margins. The Company's August 1998 acquisition of Stuart Hall Company, Inc. ("Stuart Hall") expanded the Company's product line into the market of licensed products. The acquisition broadened the Company's product offerings by adding licensed products to Pen-Tab's proprietary styles and brands. Stuart Hall's license portfolio includes Dragonball Z(R), Seventeen(R), Looney Tunes, Coca-Cola(R) brand, Nickelodeon(TM), Rugrats(R), MTV: Music Television(TM) and Disney's Winnie the Pooh. For fiscal 1999, core products represented an estimated 50.0% of revenue and differentiated products represented an estimated 50.0% of revenue. For fiscal 1999, school-related products represented an estimated 63.9% of revenue and office-related products represented an estimated 36.1% of revenue. The Company's move into differentiated products and the acquisition of Stuart Hall are the primary reasons for the increase in sales and profitability. From 1995 to 1999, the Company's sales have grown from $84.3 million to $155.4 million and EBITDA (as defined herein) has grown from $10.5 million to $23.9 million. During the same period, the Company's EBITDA margin increased from 12.5% to 15.4%. The Company's strategy is to grow through continued internal design of new, differentiated product lines and strategic acquisitions. The Company has a long-standing customer base featuring mass merchandisers, national discount stores, wholesale clubs, and office supply superstores in the United States and Canada. The Company is headquartered in a state-of-the-art 282,000 sq. ft. facility in Front Royal, Virginia. The Company also maintains manufacturing facilities in Los Angeles and Kansas City. The Company has invested heavily in state-of-the-art automated production equipment to provide a low cost manufacturing environment. Recent Developments Management change. On June 29, 1999, the Company appointed Marc English as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. English was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of CSS Industries' Cleo unit, a consumer products company primarily engaged in the manufacturing and sale to mass-market retailers of seasonal gift-wrap products. In addition, Mr. English has held marketing and sales management positions with other companies, including CPS Corp., also in the gift-wrap industry. Mr. English replaced Mr. Hodes who resigned from the position as Chief Executive Officer of the Company. 1 Company Initiatives/Reorganization. Under the leadership of Marc English, the Company performed a review of all operations with the goals of increasing market share, streamlining operations, reducing debt and increasing profitability. On December 30, 1999, the Company approved a plan to rationalize its manufacturing operations. The plan includes a plant consolidation, equipment moves, plant/product changes, and warehouse consolidation. The rationalization is expected to result in an approximate 20% reduction in manufacturing space. The fourth quarter reorganization charge of $6.1 million represents the Company's rationalization plan and includes employee termination costs, including benefits, costs to exit facilities, lease termination costs, and property taxes after ceasing operations. The major undertakings of the rationalization plan are expected to be completed in 2000. Upon full implementation, the plan is expected to have a significant positive effect on the Company's financial performance, resulting in an estimated annualized cost savings of approximately $3 million. On March 31, 2000, the Company decided to divest its vinyl packaging business segment, which operates as Vinylweld L.L.C. The divestiture is anticipated to occur by the end of the first quarter of 2001. Covenant Violations/Amendments to Credit Facility/Note Holder Consent. As a result of insufficient third quarter 1999 earnings, the Company was in default of a covenant based on EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and certain non-cash charges, as defined in the agreement) and cash interest and principal payments (fixed charge coverage ratio) for the twelve months ended October 2, 1999. On November 16, 1999, the Company amended its credit facility to waive the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant default. This amendment also provided that the interest rate increase by 0.625%. As a result of insufficient fourth quarter 1999 earnings, the Company was in default of the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant and the minimum net worth covenant, as defined in the agreement, at and for the twelve months ended January 1, 2000. In addition, due to the earnings shortfall and Enterprise Resource Planning ("ERP") system implementation issues which led to higher than expected inventories and accounts receivable collection delays, the Company was in default of the annual revolver clean up provision. The clean up provision requires the Company, for a period of not less than thirty days between September 30 and November 15, to reduce the outstanding balance on the revolver to $25 million or less. The Company was also in default of the borrowing base formula, as defined in the agreement, whereby the balance outstanding on the revolver was in excess of the borrowing base formula computed amount. On March 13, 2000, the Company amended its credit facility. The amendment (i) waived the defaults, (ii) revised the borrowing base definition to provide for an over advance of up to $16.5 million for the period of March 1, 2000 through July 15, 2000, (iii) increased the interest rate by 0.875% plus another 0.50% during the over advance period, (iv) revised the annual clean up provision amount to $27 million from $25 million and revised the clean up period to be between October 15 and January 15 from between September 30 and November 15, (v) revised the fixed charge coverage ratio to 1.00:1 (from 1.50:1) for the twelve month periods ended March 31, 2000 and June 30, 2000 and to 1.50:1 (from 1.75:1) thereafter, (vi) limits capital expenditures to $2 million for fiscal 2000 and (vii) requires total debt, as defined in the agreement, not to exceed $153 million at June 30, 2000. The Company paid a fee of $0.5 million in conjunction with the Credit Facility amendment and will amortize such fee over the remaining life of the Credit Facility (March 2000 through August 2001). Prior to the amendment discussed in the preceding paragraph and as a result of the covenant violations described above, the Company was not allowed to make the required interest payment of approximately $4 million due on February 1, 2000 to the holders of the Company's $75 million 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2007. As a condition of the aforementioned amendment, the Company obtained consent from substantially all of the note holders to accept the February 1, 2000 interest payment in the form of new notes, in aggregate principal amount substantially equal to such interest payment, in lieu of a cash payment. As a result, the Company will be deemed to have made the cash interest payment and simultaneously issued new notes to existing noteholders in exchange for such cash payment. 2 Subsequent to January 1, 2000, a major stockholder of Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. ("Holdings") purchased approximately $60 million of the $75 million 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes in the secondary market. Competitive Strengths The combination of the Company's products, customers and proven track record distinguishes it as a leading manufacturer and marketer of school, home and office products in North America. The Company attributes this success and it's continued opportunities for growth and profitability to the following competitive strengths: Market leader in differentiated, branded school, home and office products. The Company is a market leader in differentiated, branded school, home and office products. The Company has pioneered a line of high-quality, functionally superior, higher price point and margin, branded items to serve the school and office products markets. Demand for proprietary differentiated products has risen steadily since 1993 when the Company first introduced them and the Company expects a significant portion of its future growth to come from increased sales of differentiated products. Licensed Products. Through the acquisition of Stuart Hall, Pen-Tab has rounded out its differentiated product offering with a portfolio of licensed products. This portfolio includes licenses with Dragonball Z(R), Seventeen(R), Looney Tunes, Coca-Cola(R) brand, Nickelodeon(TM), Rugrats(R), MTV: Music Television(TM), X Games(TM), and Disney's Winnie the Pooh. Brand name recognition. Through the manufacturing of high-quality products for over 60 years, the Company has developed strong brand recognition with consumers, retailers and distributors. The Company focuses on building its brand name by internally designing new, differentiated products and product formats. This allows the Company to achieve higher margins than would be achievable with core products. Several trademarks, sub-brands and proprietary styles, including Pen-Tab(R), Pen-Tab Pro(R), Stuart Hall, Attitude(R), Tough Tracks(R), Executive(R) and Expert(R), have been developed to service targeted market sectors. Long-standing customer base. The Company has cultivated long-term customer relationships with well-capitalized, high-growth retailers and distributors in the school, home and office products industry. Management has identified the fastest growing distribution channels in the Company's marketplaces and has focused its resources on the key accounts in those channels. The Company's customers include the nation's largest discount stores and mass merchandisers, wholesale clubs, office supply superstores, contract stationers and grocery and drug store chains. Leading edge information systems. The Company has recently invested in a new state-of-the-art Enterprise Resource Planning ("ERP") software system to manage the manufacturing, accounting, distribution, inventory, sales and billing systems. The system integrates all of the Company's locations to provide timely information to management. The Company uses electronic data interchange programs with most of its large customers. Growth Strategy Focus on rapidly growing customers. The Company serves many of the largest and best-positioned customers in the school, home and office products industry including mass merchandisers warehouse clubs, national office products superstores, national contract stationers and grocery and drug store chains. Anticipating further consolidation in the school, home and office products industry, the Company expects that its national scope and broad product line will be increasingly important in meeting the needs of its customers. The Company will continue to target those customers driving consolidation in the school, home and office products retail industry. Continue to introduce differentiated products. Differentiated, higher value-added products give the Company a greater selection to offer its customers and improve product line profitability for both the Company and its customers. The Company plans to continue to distinguish itself from other suppliers and 3 improve profitability through product innovation, differentiation and line extensions. The Company will accomplish this by continued internal design of new, differentiated product lines. Focus on partnering relationships. The Company will continue to utilize and expand the integrated efforts of the creative, sales and marketing personnel to develop and foster partnering relationships with major customers. Partnering should allow the Company to continue designing products in concert with its major customers while expanding production of upscale products that meet a mutual vision. Broaden product distribution. The Company's market presence and distribution strength position it to sell new or acquired product lines across its distribution channels, including mass merchandisers, national office products superstores, national contract stationers, office product wholesalers and grocery and drug store chains. Continued growth through acquisition. In addition to the growth the Company expects to come from the development of new, differentiated products and product lines and expanding sales of existing products and product lines, the Company actively evaluates acquisition candidates. Future strategic acquisitions may be undertaken to broaden the Company's product lines, expand its manufacturing capacity, and strengthen its presence within the various channels of distribution in the worldwide market. Products and Services The Company designs, manufactures and markets school, home and office-related products. The Company's core products include binders, pads, filler paper, wirebound notebooks, and envelopes. The Company manufactures over 1,000 variations of these core products, based on differences in color, size, count, packaging and other features. Several years ago, management recognized a market need for well-designed, high-quality, functionally superior school and office products. To serve this need, the Company pioneered a new line of branded differentiated products with value-added features. The Company's high-quality, fashion-forward school-related designs and high quality, functionally superior, office-related products have been very successful with major mass merchandisers and consumers. Approximately 50.0 percent of the Company's 1999 sales are derived from differentiated products, which have been developed over the last six years. School-related products (63.9% of 1999 net sales). The Company produces tablets, spiral and coilless notebooks, filler paper and binders for the school market. The Company's high-technology production equipment is designed to produce these products in mass quantity in virtually any configuration according to the customer needs. The Company also designs, assembles and markets nylon binders, planners, knapsacks and other school products. Products are packaged in a variety of quantities, rulings, sizes and papers. The Company is the recognized market leader for higher quality, upscale, creatively designed school products largely for the teenage market. The Company's marketing and design departments have carefully researched market demands to develop a range of product offerings. The Company created a broad line of innovative styles and designs to appeal to segmented markets of school-age children through its Pen-Tab Pro(R), Tough Tracks(R), Pro Ball(R) and Pen-Tab Online(R) product lines. Durable nylon covers and colorful designs have been incorporated into core products to differentiate its line. Whereas certain basic school supplies often work as a loss leader for retailers, the Company's differentiated products give a mass merchandiser a fashion-forward image and an attractive profit margin. Through the acquisition of Stuart Hall, the Company is now a leading manufacturer and marketer of licensed school products. Stuart Hall's licensed portfolio includes Dragonball Z(R), Seventeen(R), Looney Tunes, Coca-Cola(R) brand, Nickelodeon(TM), Rugrats(R), MTV: Music Television(TM), X Games(TM) and Disney's Winnie the Pooh. These licenses are proprietary to the Company in its category and allow for 4 higher margins than non-licensed products. The Company's many licenses appeal to segmented markets of school age children. Leveraging its creative capabilities and experience, the Company has created a brand name for high quality, upscale school supplies. For example, Tough Tracks(R) line incorporates a rugged, outdoors look which is targeted at environmentally-conscious school children and utilizes textures, designs and colors to appeal to the target market. The "Pro Series" is the Company's best selling premium notebook line. Features of this line include pressboard covers, inside pockets, coated double wire, extended tab dividers, and heavyweight 20 lb. paper. The Company also produces a variety of paper products for use in creative and artistic leisure activities, including construction paper, poster paper, tracing paper and drawing pads. The Company sells these items both in conventional packaging and in innovative combination packs and jumbo bonus packs. The Company distinguishes its arts and crafts packages by including special "kids activity ideas" to encourage creativity. Sales of school-related products are seasonal and peak during spring and summer. Orders for back-to-school products are generally placed during March through April, and shipped May through August. The Company builds a substantial inventory of finished back-to-school products before shipment. Certain differentiated products that are manufactured overseas are only mass-produced with firm customer commitments to limit inventory risk. Management believes the growth opportunities for differentiated, creatively designed school products remain largely untapped. The Company has numerous exciting new products for the coming year, and management expects continued growth from these items. Office-related products (36.1% of 1999 net sales). The Company produces a variety of similar products for the office, including pads and envelopes. Sales of office products are not seasonal. New, differentiated products for the office market have included double wire spiral pads with hard covers, organizers and other high-quality, functionally superior products sold under the Executive(R), Expert(R) and Platinum(R) brands. The office products market represents significant growth potential for the Company. Office products distribution is shifting to the Company's existing core customer base of mass merchandisers wholesale clubs and office supply superstores. In addition, the Company has recently established strong relationships with several of the nation's largest contract stationers. Management believes the same opportunity exists to develop innovative higher quality products for the office supply market as in the school products market. The Company's creative department has already created several high-quality, functionally superior designs for planners and pads in the office supply market. 5 Sales, Distribution and Marketing The Company markets its broad range of products to a wide variety of customers through virtually every channel of distribution for school, home and office products including the largest mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, office product superstores, major contract stationers and grocery and drug store chains. The Company's aggregate net sales to two customers accounted for approximately 22.8% and 12.0%, respectively of the Company's net sales for fiscal 1999. The largest retailers, wholesalers and contract stationers have been rapidly expanding as industry channels are undergoing consolidation. Management has identified the fastest growing distribution channels in their marketplaces and has focused the resources of the Company to the key accounts in those channels. Management selectively pruned its customer base over the past several years to concentrate on strong growth-oriented companies, which purchase a more profitable product mix. The Company will continue to target those customers driving consolidation in the office products industry and believes that it is strongly positioned to meet the special requirements of these customers in the growing distribution channels of the school, home and office products industry. Leading merchandisers favor larger suppliers with national manufacturing capabilities, such as the Company, that has implemented automated ordering, manufacturing and distribution practices. These customers seek suppliers, such as the Company, who are able to offer broad product lines, higher value-added innovative products, national distribution capabilities, low costs and reliable service. Furthermore, as these customers continue to grow and consolidate their supplier bases, the Company's ability to meet their special requirements should be an increasingly important competitive advantage. Senior sales management personally handles the Company's largest accounts. The Company also employs approximately 30 manufacturer representative agencies with over 100 agents to market its products. The Company assists the representative agencies in servicing these accounts. The Company's sales staff is compensated by a base salary and a bonus based on performance. Manufacturer representatives are compensated strictly based on commission. Management starts its product plan by segmenting its customer base (e.g. for the teen market, consumers with a focus on a sports, fashion, rugged or 'techie' image). Product designs are then evaluated through research, focus groups and sample testing. Through over 60 years of customer presence, Pen-Tab(R) and Stuart Hall have developed strong brand identity for quality products. Its Pen-Tab Pro(R), Tough Tracks(R), Attitude(R), Executive(R), Expert(R) and Pen-Tab Paper Store(R) lines are also building customer loyalty in segmented markets. The Company typically leads marketing efforts with its core established product lines and leverages this stable business to increase sales of its value-added differentiated products. 6 Competition The markets for the Company's products are highly competitive. The Company's principal methods of competition are customer service, price, product differentiation, quality and breadth of product line offerings. The markets in which the Company operates have become increasingly characterized by a limited number of large companies selling under recognized trade names. These larger companies, including the Company, have the economies of scale, national presence, management information systems and breadth of product line required by the major customers. In addition to branded product lines, manufacturers also produce private-label products, especially in the context of broader supply relationships with office product superstores and contract stationers. The school, home and office products industry is fragmented, ranging from large national and foreign manufacturers to single-facility, regional manufacturers. A few manufacturers, including the Company, have developed strong brand name recognition for a number of product lines. Other national companies include Mead and American Pad & Paper Company. In addition, the Company still competes with a large number of smaller, regional companies, which have more limited product lines. Intellectual Property The Company seeks trademark protection for all of its product line trade names. The Company presently holds several trademarks covering designs, symbols and trade names used in connection with its products, including Pen-Tab(R), Pen-Tab Pro(R), Attitude(R), Executive(R), Expert(R) and Pen-Tab Paper Store(R). Licensed Products The Company is a party to numerous license agreements. These license agreements permit the Company to use various licensed properties on its products. The license agreements generally have terms of one to three years, have minimum royalty requirements and a fixed percentage of the selling price as a royalty due the licensor. Employees The Company had approximately 760 employees as of January 1, 2000. Approximately 500 employees are represented by collective bargaining agreements at the Missouri, Illinois and California facilities. In Missouri the employees are represented by the United Paperworkers International Union AFL-C10, CLC Local 765, whose contract expires August 8, 2000. In California, the employees are represented by the Graphic Communications Union Local No. 388-M AFL-CIO, whose contract expires November 30, 2001. In Illinois, the employees are represented by the Warehouse, Mail Order, Office and Professional Employees Local 743 Affiliated International Brotherhood, Teamsters AFL-CIO, whose contract expires December 19, 2001. The Company enjoys an amicable relationship with unionized labor. The following table provides information on the Company's employees by operating function: 7 Employees Categorized by Function --------------------------------- Manufacturing 675 Sales, Marketing and Creative 30 Administrative 40 Executive 15 -------- Total 760 ======== As of January 1, 2000, the Company's manufacturing employees numbered 180 in the Virginia facility, 150 in the California facility, 165 in the Chicago facility and 180 in the Kansas City Facility. Item 2. Properties The following table summarizes the Company's facilities by location. Company Facilities - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Approximate Owned/ Lease Location Square Feet Leased Product Categories Expiration - -------- ----------- ------ ------------------ ---------- Front Royal, VA 282,000 Owned School, Office & Home N/A Kansas City, MO 491,000 Leased School, Office & Home 2005 City of Industry, CA 250,000 Leased School, Office & Home 2002 Chicago, IL 210,000 Leased Vinyl Packaging 2004 The Company's Front Royal, VA facility was financed with Industrial Revenue Development Bonds and is pledged as collateral. Item 3. Legal Proceedings The Company is a party to various litigation matters incidental to the conduct of its business. Management does not believe that the outcome of any of the matters in which it is currently involved will have a material effect on the financial condition or results of operations of the Company. Environmental, Health and Safety Matters The Company is subject to federal, state, and local environmental and occupational health and safety laws and regulations. Such laws and regulations, among other things, impose limitations on the discharge of pollutants and establish standards for management of waste. While there can be no assurance that the Company is at all times in complete compliance with all such requirements, the Company believes that any such noncompliance is unlikely to have a material adverse effect on the Company. As is the case with manufacturers in general, if a release or threat of release of hazardous materials occurs on or from the Company's properties or any associated offsite disposal location, or if contamination from prior activities is discovered at any properties owned or operated by the Company, the Company may be held liable for response costs and damages to natural resources. There can be no assurance that the amount of any such liability would not be material. 8 Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders. None Part II Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters. None Item 6. Selected Financial Data (Dollars in Thousands) The financial statements of Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. for fiscal year 1995 represents the combined historical financial statements of Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., a New York corporation, and its affiliated company Pen-Tab Industries of California, Inc., a Delaware corporation, which were controlled under common ownership. Intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in combination. Effective July 1, 1996, the two companies were merged into a new Virginia corporation, called Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., with no change in ownership, and accordingly, the historical book values of the companies' assets and liabilities were carried forward to the new company. In connection with the merger, Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. recorded a charge to retained earnings of $295 relating to the cancellation of treasury stock previously held by the two companies, and eliminated the treasury stock and related additional capital balances. On February 4, 1997, Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., a Virginia corporation, changed its name to Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. On February 4, 1997 Holdings formed a wholly owned subsidiary called Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., a Delaware corporation. On February 4, 1997, the Company issued $75 million 10 7/8% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2007 and Holdings effected a recapitalization pursuant to which Holdings repurchased approximately 748 shares of Class A common stock and 122 shares of Class B common stock from management shareholders for approximately $47,858, converted an additional 14 shares of Class A common stock and 358 shares of Class B common stock into redeemable preferred stock, and sold 37 shares of Class A common stock, 3 shares of Class B common stock and 125,875 shares of redeemable preferred stock to outside investors for proceeds of approximately $15,010. Holdings' shareholders concurrently approved an amendment to Holdings' articles of incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares to 8,352,500, consisting of 6,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, 2,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, and 352,500 shares of redeemable preferred stock. Following completion of the above transaction, Holdings' shareholders approved a stock split pursuant to which each share of Holdings' Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock then outstanding was converted into 60,937.50 shares of such common stock. The Financial statements of Pen - Tab Industries, Inc. for fiscal year 1998 reflect the acquisition of Stuart Hall Company, Inc. and the results of their operations from the acquisition on August 20, 1998, through the fiscal year end of January 2, 1999. Set forth below are selected historical financial data and other financial data of the Company as of the dates and for the periods presented. The selected historical financial data as of January 1, 2000, January 2, 1999, January 3, 1998, December 28, 1996, December 30, 1995, and for the fiscal years then ended were derived from the Audited Financial Statements of the Company. 9 The information contained in this table and accompanying notes should be read in conjunction with the "Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," the Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying notes and schedules thereto appearing elsewhere. Fiscal Year ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Statement of Operations Data Net sales $ 155,403 $114,791 $88,014 $ 96,402 $ 84,280 Cost of goods sold 110,631 83,228 65,071 67,313 64,664 Gross profit 44,772 31,563 22,943 29,089 19,616 Selling, general and administrative expenses 26,681 20,469 15,234 15,108 11,388 Amortization of goodwill 1,892 578 - - - Relocation and reorganization expenses (a) 6,112 - 804 - 1,906 Interest expense, net 17,427 11,425 8,192 2,346 2,883 Other income, net (21) (28) - (4) (55) Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes (7,319) (881) (1,287) 11,639 3,494 Income tax (benefit) provision (b), (e) (1,492) (290) 1,774 (168) (263) Income (loss) from continuing operations (5,827) (591) (3,061) 11,807 3,757 Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes (750) (90) 216 1,602 1,151 Net income (loss) $ (6,577) $ (681) $ (2,845) $ 13,409 $ 4,908 Other Financial Data Net cash provided by (used in)operating activities $ (7,115) 24,880 $ (768) $ 13,356 $ 10,926 Net cash (used in) investing activities (2,854) (116,086) (1,562) (890) (8,521) Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 10,124 77,550 15,895 (13,191) (2,291) Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations (c) 23,921 14,529 10,065 16,119 10,543 Adjusted EBITDA margin from continuing operations (c) 15.4% 12.7% 11.4% 16.7% 12.5% Depreciation and amortization 8,862 4,892 2,968 2,364 2,760 Capital expenditures $ 2,854 $ 2,854 $ 1,562 $ 890 $ 9,322 Ratio of earnings to fixed charges (d) --(d) --(d) --(d) 5.8x 2.4x At ------------------------------------------------------------------ Jan. 1 Jan. 2 Jan. 3 Dec. 28 Dec. 30 2000 1999 1998 1996 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Balance Sheet Data Total assets $193,722 $181,943 $ 63,792 $43,504 $43,805 Long-term debt (including current portion) 163,169 132,460 82,754 24,210 28,000 Stockholder's equity (deficit) $ 3,850 $ 10,517 $(28,005) $15,052 $11,044 - ----- (a) During fiscal 1995, the Company relocated its headquarters and its east coast manufacturing facilities from Glendale, New York to Front Royal, Virginia. The non-recurring charges of $1.9 million associated therewith are reported as relocation expense in the statement of operations. During fiscal 1997, the 10 Company reorganized its sales and marketing functions. The non-recurring charges of $0.8 million for recruitment and acquisition costs of new sales and marketing executives as well as the severance costs of terminated sales employees are reported as reorganization expenses in the statement of operations. During 1999, the Company approved a plan to rationalize its manufacturing operations. The plan includes a plant consolidation, equipment moves, plant/product changes and warehouse consolidation. The non-recurring charges of $6.1 million associated therewith are reported as reorganization expenses in the statement of operations. (b) For fiscal years 1995 and until the period ended February 3, 1997, the Company elected to be treated as an "S" corporation for federal income tax purposes under which income, losses, deductions and credits were allocated to and reported by the Company's shareholders based on their respective ownership interests. Accordingly, no provision for income taxes was required for such periods, except for state income taxes. (c) Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization and certain non-recurring expenses (see (a) above). Adjusted EBITDA is presented because it is a widely accepted financial indicator of a company's ability to incur and service debt. However, Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for net income (loss) or cash flow data prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles or as a measure of a company's profitability or liquidity. In addition, this measure of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures reported by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA amounts for 1999 have been adjusted for reorganization expenses of $6.1 million related to the rationalizing of the Company's manufacturing operations. Adjusted EBITDA amounts for fiscal 1997 has been adjusted for reorganization expenses of $0.8 million, related to the recruitment and acquisition costs of new sales and marketing executives as well as the severance costs of terminated sales employees and fiscal 1995 has been adjusted for non-depreciation relocation expenses of $1.7 million, related to the relocation of the Company's headquarters and east coast manufacturing facilities from New York to Virginia. Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated as the ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to net sales for the period. Funds depicted by Adjusted EBITDA are not available for management's discretionary use due to functional requirements to conserve funds primarily for capital replacement and expansion, and debt service requirements. (d) For purposes of the ratio of earnings to fixed charges, (i) earnings are calculated as the Company's earnings before income taxes and fixed charges and (ii) fixed charges include interest on all indebtedness, amortization of deferred financing costs and one-third of operating lease expense. Earnings before fixed charges for the years ended January 1, 2000, January 2, 1999 and January 3,1998 were insufficient to cover fixed charges by $8.3 million, $1.0 million and $0.9 million, respectively. Fiscal Year ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 ------------------------------------------ -------------------------- Income (loss) before income taxes $(8,261) $ (1,016) $(900) $13,218 $ 4,565 Add back Fixed Charges; Interest Expense 17,382 11,413 8,194 2,346 2,883 Operating Lease Expense 572 531 400 400 375 ------------------------------------------ -------------------------- Earnings before Fixed Charges 9,693 10,928 7,694 15,964 7,823 Fixed Charges 17,954 11,944 8,594 2,746 3,258 Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges - - - 5.8x 2.4x (e) During fiscal 1997, the Company recorded a cumulative deferred tax liability of $2,316 upon termination of the Company's "S" corporation status. 11 Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations General The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the "Selected Financial Data", the Audited Financial Statements and the accompanying notes and schedules thereto appearing elsewhere herein. Stuart Hall Acquisition. On August 20, 1998 Pen-Tab acquired all of the capital stock of Stuart Hall Company, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newell Co. The net purchase price was approximately $133.8 million after post-closing adjustments and expenses, of which $39.2 was generated by an equity contribution from Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc., Pen-Tab's parent company and the remainder was financed with drawings on a bank Credit Facility (as hereinafter defined). Stuart Hall's results of operations since the acquisition date are included in the Company's results of operations. The acquisition was accounted for as a purchase. Differentiated products. In 1992, the Company recognized a previously unfulfilled demand for higher quality, functionally superior, upscale school and office-related products. The Company pioneered a line of these higher price point and margin, branded products to serve the school and office products markets. A significant portion of the Company's increase in sales since 1992 is due to the introduction of differentiated products. Additionally, the Company's differentiated products and product lines result in higher margins for the Company and its customers. Demand for differentiated products has risen steadily since 1992 when the Company first introduced them and the Company expects a significant portion of its future growth to come from increased sales of differentiated products. Seasonality. As a result of the seasonal nature of the back-to-school sector of the business, the Company's inventory and associated working capital borrowings typically increase throughout the calendar year until the latter part of May and early June. At such time, the inventory is shipped to customers, and converted into receivables. By the middle of September, account collections occur and working capital borrowing is reduced. Paper prices. Paper represents the largest component of the Company's cost of goods sold. Certain commodity grades of paper have shown considerable price volatility during recent years. The Company's pricing policies generally enable it to set product prices consistently with the Company's cost of paper at the time of shipment. The Company believes that it is able to price its products so as to minimize the impact of price volatility on dollar margins. As a result of new product introductions, a substantial portion of which have little or no paper content, the Company offers a broader and more diverse product mix which is less susceptible to paper price fluctuations. Recent Developments Management change. On June 29, 1999, the Company appointed Marc English as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. English was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of CSS Industries' Cleo unit, a consumer products company primarily engaged in the manufacturing and sale to mass-market retailers of seasonal gift-wrap products. In addition, he has held marketing and sales management positions with other companies, including CPS Corp., also in the gift-wrap industry. Mr. English replaced Mr. Hodes who resigned from the position as Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Company Initiatives/Reorganization. Under the leadership of Marc English, the Company performed a review of all operations with the goals of increasing market share, streamlining operations, reducing debt and increasing profitability. 12 On December 30, 1999, the Company approved a plan to rationalize its manufacturing operations. The plan includes a plant consolidation, equipment moves, plant/product changes, and warehouse consolidation. The rationalization is expected to result in an approximate 20% reduction in manufacturing space. The fourth quarter reorganization charge of $6.1 million represents the Company's rationalization plan and includes employee termination costs, including benefits, costs to exit facilities, lease termination costs, and property taxes after ceasing operations. The major undertakings of the rationalization plan are expected to be completed in 2000. Upon full implementation, the plan is expected to have a significant positive effect on the Company's financial performance, resulting in an estimated annualized cost savings of approximately $3 million. In March 2000, the company decided to divest its vinyl packaging business segment, which operates as Vinylweld L.L.C. The divestiture is anticipated to occur by the end of the first quarter of 2001. Covenant Violations/Amendments to Credit Facility/Note Holder Consent. As a result of insufficient third quarter 1999 earnings, the Company was in default of a covenant based on EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and certain non-cash charges, as defined in the agreement) and cash interest and principal payments (fixed charge coverage ratio) for the twelve months ended October 2, 1999. On November 16, 1999, the Company amended its credit facility to waive the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant default. This amendment also provided that the interest rate increase by 0.625%. As a result of insufficient fourth quarter 1999 earnings, the Company was in default of the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant and the minimum net worth covenant, as defined in the agreement, at and for the twelve months ended January 1, 2000. In addition, due to the earnings shortfall and ERP system implementation issues which led to higher than expected inventories and accounts receivable collection delays, the Company was in default of the annual revolver clean up provision. The clean up provision requires the Company, for a period of not less than thirty days between September 30 and November 15, to reduce the outstanding balance on the revolver to $25 million or less. The Company was also in default of the borrowing base formula, as defined in the agreement, whereby the balance outstanding on the revolver was in excess of the borrowing base formula computed amount. On March 13, 2000, the Company amended its credit facility. The amendment (i) waived the defaults, (ii) revised the borrowing base definition to provide for an over advance of up to $16.5 million for the period of March 1, 2000 through July 15, 2000, (iii) increased the interest rate by 0.875% plus another 0.50% during the over advance period, (iv) revised the annual clean up provision amount to $27 million from $25 million and revised the clean up period to be between October 15 and January 15 from between September 30 and November 15, (v) revised the fixed charge coverage ratio to 1.00:1 (from 1.50:1) for the twelve month periods ended March 31, 2000 and June 30, 2000 and to 1.50:1 (from 1.75:1) thereafter, (vi) limits capital expenditures to $2 million for fiscal 2000 and (vii) requires total debt, as defined in the agreement, not to exceed $153 million at June 30, 2000. The Company paid a fee of $0.5 million in conjunction with the Credit Facility amendment and will amortize such fee over the remaining life of the Credit Facility. Prior to the amendment discussed in the preceding paragraph and as a result of the covenant violations described above, the Company was not allowed to make the required interest payment of approximately $4 million due on February 1, 2000 to the holders of the Company's $75 million 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2007. As a condition of the aforementioned amendment, the Company obtained consent from substantially all of the note holders to accept the February 1, 2000 interest payment in the form of new notes, in aggregate principal amount substantially equal to such interest payment, in lieu of a cash payment. As a result, the Company will be deemed to have made the cash interest payment and simultaneously issued new notes to existing noteholders in exchange for such cash payments. Results of Operations The following table sets forth the fiscal years 1997 through 1999, certain income and expense items of the Company as a percentage of net sales. 13 Fiscal Year -------------------------------- 1999 1998 1997 ------ ------ ------ Net sales 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Cost of goods sold 71.2% 72.5% 73.9% ------ ------ ------ Gross profit 28.8% 27.5% 26.1% Selling, general, and administrative expenses 17.2% 17.8% 17.3% Amortization of goodwill 1.2% 0.5% - Reorganization expenses 3.9% - 0.9% ------ ------ ------ Income from continuing operations 6.5% 9.2% 7.9% ====== ====== ====== Fiscal 1999 Compared to Fiscal 1998 Net sales for the year ended January 1, 2000 increased by $40.6 million, or 35.4%, to $155.4 million from $114.8 million for the year ended January 2, 1999. The increase in sales is primarily attributable to the purchase of Stuart Hall on August 20, 1998. The increase in sales related to the Stuart Hall acquisition is partially offset and impacted by (i) an approximate 10% decrease in selling prices in 1999 from 1998 resulting from a decrease in the cost of paper, (ii) loss of sales volume to foreign competition, and (iii) an increase in sales deductions and allowances related to ERP implementation and merger integration difficulties. For the Pen-Tab segment, which includes Stuart Hall, differentiated product and core product sales increased by $20.3 million and $20.3 million, respectively, for the year ended January 1, 2000 as compared to the year ended January 2, 1999. Gross profit for the year ended January 1, 2000 increased by $13.2 million or 41.8% to $44.8 million from $31.6 million for the year ended January 2, 1999. The gross profit percentage for year ended January 1, 2000 was 28.8% compared to 27.5% for the year ended January 2, 1999. The 1.3% increase in the gross profit percentage is principally related to (i) a LIFO adjustment increasing gross profit for the year ended January 1,2000 by $1.5 million due to significant decrease in the cost of paper versus a LIFO adjustment increasing gross profit for the year ended January 2, 1999 by $0.7 million, (ii) the increase in differentiated higher margin product sales in the Pen-Tab segment as a result of the acquisition of Stuart Hall, and (iii) the difficulties encountered in integrating Stuart Hall operations into Pen-Tab. Differentiated products represent approximately 50.0% of net sales in 1999 versus approximately 37.4% in 1998. The increase in gross profit was partially offset by margin erosion on certain maturing differentiated product lines, lower selling prices due to the reduction in the cost of paper in 1999, and foreign competition causing lower selling prices and margins on certain product lines. SG&A expenses for the year ended January 1, 2000 increased $6.2 million or 30.2% to $26.7 million from $20.5 million for the year ended January 2, 1999. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A expenses decreased to 17.2% for the year ended January 1, 2000 from 17.8% for the year ended January 2, 1999. This increase is primarily the result of (i) a full year of Stuart Hall activity in 1999 versus four months in 1998 and (ii) increased distribution and commission expenses on the $40.6 million increase in net sales. Reorganization expense for the year ended January 1, 2000 is $6.1 million. The reorganization charges represent a plant consolidation plan that includes employee termination costs, including benefits, costs to exit facilities, lease termination costs, and property taxes after ceasing operations. Discontinued Operations includes the operations of the Company's vinyl packaging segment. In March 2000, the Company decided to divest this business. The divestiture is anticipated to occur by the end of the first quarter of 2001. Net sales for the vinyl packaging segment for the year ended January 1, 2000 decreased by $1.1 million or 11.8% to $8.2 million from $9.3 million for the year ended January 2, 1999. Loss from discontinued operations, net of income tax benefits, for the year ended January 1, 2000 was $0.8 million compared to a loss of $0.1 million for the year ended January 2, 1999. Interest expense, net for the year ended January 1, 2000 increased $6.0 million to $17.4 million from $11.4 million for the year ended January 2, 1999. The increase is principally due to the interest on the debt incurred to acquire Stuart Hall on August 20, 1998, coupled with interest rate increases. 14 Fiscal 1998 Compared to Fiscal 1997 Net sales for the year ended January 2, 1999 increased by $26.8 million, or 30.5%, to $114.8 million from $88.0 million for the year ended January 3, 1998. The Company's acquisition of Stuart Hall on August 20, 1998 contributed $11.8 million or 13.4% of the increase. For the Pen-Tab segment, which includes Stuart Hall, differentiated product and core product sales increased by $10.8 million and $16.0 million, respectively, for the year ended January 2, 1999 as compared to the year ended January 3, 1998. Gross profit for the year ended January 2, 1999 increased by $8.7 million or 38.0% to $31.6 million from $22.9 million for the year ended January 3, 1998. The gross profit percentage for year ended January 2, 1999 was 27.5% compared to 26.1% for the year ended January 3, 1998. The 1.4% increase in the gross profit percentage is principally related to (i) the growth in high margin differentiated product sales which increased to 37.4% of net sales for the year ended January 2, 1999 from 36.7% for the year ended January 3, 1998, and (ii) sales volume increase in 1998 caused an increase in gross margin due to the increased utilization of fixed factory overhead. SG&A expenses for the year ended January 2, 1999 increased $5.3 million or 34.9% to $20.5 million from $15.2 million for the year ended January 3, 1998. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A expenses increased to 17.8% for the year ended January 2, 1999 from 17.3% for the year ended January 3, 1998. This increase is principally the result of (i) shipping expenses (primarily freight out) increased to 8.9% of net sales for the year ended January 2, 1999 from 7.5% of net sales for the year ended January 3, 1998. The increase was the result of an increase in direct-to-store customers. Partially offset by (ii) a reduction in 1998 of television and print advertising of $1.2 million or 0.9%. Discontinued operations includes the operations of the Company's vinyl packaging segment. Net sales for the vinyl packaging segment for the year ended January 2, 1999 increased by $0.7 million or 8.1% to $9.3 million from $8.6 million for the year ended January 3, 1998. Loss from discontinued operations, net of income tax benefits, for the year ended January 2, 1999 was $0.1 million compared to an income of $0.2 million for the year ended January 3, 1998. Interest expense, net for the year ended January 2, 1999 increased $3.2 million to $11.4 million from $8.2 million for the year ended January 3, 1998. The increase is principally due to the interest on the debt incurred to acquire Stuart Hall on August 20, 1998. Liquidity and Capital Resources Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended January 1, 2000 was $7.1 million as compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $24.9 million for the year ended January 2, 1999. The decrease was primarily attributable to the timing of the purchase of Stuart Hall as the acquisition occurred at the seasonal peak in accounts receivable. Hence the 1998 cash provided by operating activities was benefited by acquired accounts receivable collections. In addition, merger integration and ERP system implementation issues led to higher than normal accounts receivable at January 1, 2000. Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended January 1, 2000 was $2.9 million as compared to $116.1 million for the year ended January 2, 1999. Substantially all of the cash used in investing activities in 1998 was used to purchase Stuart Hall. Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended January 1, 2000 was $10.1 million as compared to $77.6 million for the year ended January 2, 1999. The activity in both years was mainly due to the Stuart Hall acquisition. During 1999 the Company paid a post closing working capital purchase price adjustment of approximately $19.9 million which was funded by proceeds from revolver borrowings. Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended January 2, 1999 was $24.9 million as compared to net cash used in operating activities of $0.8 million for the year ended January 3, 1998. The increase was primarily attributable to the acquisition of Stuart Hall. The timing of which generated a $16.4 million decrease in accounts receivable. Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended January 2, 1999 was $77.6 million as compared to net cash provided by financing activities of $15.9 million for the year ended January 3, 1998. The increase is attributable to a $39.2 million equity contribution from Pen-Tab Holdings and the proceeds of long-term debt used to acquire Stuart Hall. Capital expenditures in the fiscal years 1999, 1998, and 1997 were $2.9 million, $2.9 million, and $1.6 million, respectively. The Company expects that capital expenditure requirements will not exceed $2.0 million for 2000 as required in the Credit Facility. The Company believes capital expenditure levels are sufficient to 15 maintain competitiveness and to provide sufficient manufacturing capacity. The Company expects to fund capital expenditures primarily from cash generated from operating activities. In August 1998, in conjunction with the acquisition of Stuart Hall, the Company entered into a new Credit Facility ("Credit Facility"). The information below is a summary of the material terms thereof qualified by reference to the complete text of the documents. The Credit Facility has two parts, a $100 million revolver and a $35 million term loan. Borrowings under the Credit Facility are available to acquire the capital stock of Stuart Hall Company, Inc., for working capital and general corporate purposes, including letters of credit. The $35 million term loan was fully drawn on at August 20, 1998 in conjunction with the acquisition of Stuart Hall. The Credit Facility is secured by first priority liens on substantially all of the Company's assets. The Credit Facility expires on August 20, 2001, unless extended. The interest rate per annum applicable to the Credit Facility is the prime rate, as announced by the Bank plus 1.75% or, at the Company's option, the Eurodollar rate plus 3.5%. The Company is required to pay a commitment fee of 0.65% on the unused portion of the $100 million revolver. The Credit Facility permits the Company to prepay loans and to permanently reduce credit commitments or letters of credit, in whole or in part, at any time in certain minimum amounts. The availability of the Credit Facility is subject to various conditions precedent. Advances are made under the revolver portion of the Credit Facility up to an aggregate $100 million based on a borrowing base comprised of eligible accounts receivable and inventory at the following advance rates: 85% of the value of eligible accounts receivable, and 60% of the value of eligible inventory. The Credit Facility and the Indenture impose certain restrictions on the Company, including restrictions on its ability to incur indebtedness, pay dividends, make investments, grant liens, sell its assets and engage in certain other activities. The Company's average working capital borrowings under its Credit Agreement and Credit Facility, since August 20, 1998, for the fiscal years 1999, 1998, and 1997 were $52.8 million, $7.6 million, and $2.5 million, respectively. The Company's maximum working capital borrowings outstanding were $78.5 million, $35.3 million, and $10.9 million, respectively for the same fiscal years. As a result of insufficient third quarter 1999 earnings, the Company was in default of a covenant based on EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and certain non-cash charges, as defined in the agreement) and cash interest and principal payments (fixed charge coverage ratio) for the twelve months ended October 2, 1999. On November 16, 1999, the Company amended its credit facility to waive the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant default. This amendment also provided that the interest rate increase by 0.625%. As a result of insufficient fourth quarter 1999 earnings, the Company was in default of the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant and the minimum net worth covenant, as defined in the agreement, at and for the twelve months ended January 1, 2000. In addition, due to the earnings shortfall and ERP system implementation issues which led to higher than expected inventories and accounts receivable collection delays, the Company was in default of the annual clean up provision. The clean up provision requires the Company, for a period of not less than thirty days between September 30 and November 15, to reduce the outstanding balance on the revolver to $25 million or less. The Company was also in default of the borrowing base formula, as defined in the agreement, whereby the balance outstanding on the revolver was in excess of the borrowing base formula computed amount. On March 13, 2000, the Company amended its credit facility. The amendment (i) waived the defaults, (ii) revised the borrowing base definition to provide for an over advance of up to $16.5 million for the period of March 1, 2000 through July 15, 2000, (iii) increased the interest rate by 0.875% plus another 0.50% during the over advance period, (iv) revised the annual clean up provision amount to $27 million from $25 million and revised the clean up period to be between October 15 and January 15 from between September 30 and November 15, (v) revised the fixed charge coverage ratio to 1.00:1 (from 1.50:1) for the twelve month periods ended March 31, 2000 and June 30, 2000 and to 1.50:1 (from 1.75:1) thereafter, (vi) limits capital 16 expenditures to $2 million for fiscal 2000 and (vii) requires total debt, as defined in the agreement, not to exceed $153 million at June 30, 2000. The Company paid a fee of $0.5 million in conjunction with the Credit Facility amendment and will amortize such fee over the remaining life of the Credit Facility (March 2000 through August 2001). Prior to the amendment discussed in the preceding paragraph and as a result of the covenant violations described above, the Company was not allowed to make the required interest payment of approximately $4 million due on February 1, 2000 to the holders of the Company's $75 million 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2007. As a condition of the aforementioned amendment, the Company obtained consent from substantially all of the note holders to accept the February 1, 2000 interest payment in the form of new notes, in aggregate principal amount substantially equal to such interest payment, in lieu of a cash payment. As a result, the Company will be deemed to have made the cash interest payment and simultaneously issued new notes to existing note holders in exchange for such cash payment. Subsequent to January 1, 2000, a major stockholder of Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. ("Holdings") purchased approximately $60 million of the $75 million 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes in the secondary market. The Company is currently engaged in discussions with the note holders of the $75 million 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes regarding a conversion of such notes to non-cash interest bearing securities or equity. Such conversion is required to take place on or before June 30, 2000 in order for the Company to meet the total debt, as defined in the Credit Facility, covenant threshold. Management believes that it will be able to accomplish such a conversion and therefore meet the Credit Facility covenant regarding total debt at June 30, 2000. Management believes that based on current levels of operations and anticipated internal growth, cash flow from operations, together with other available sources of funds including the availability of seasonal borrowings under the Credit Facility, will be adequate for the foreseeable future to make required payments on the Company's indebtedness, to fund anticipated capital expenditures and working capital requirements. The ability of the Company to meet its debt service obligations and reduce its total debt will be dependent, however, upon the future performance of the Company which, in turn, will be subject to general economic conditions and to financial, business and other factors, including factors beyond the Company's control. The majority of the debt of the Company bears interest at floating rates; therefore, its financial condition is and will continue to be affected by changes in prevailing interest rates. During November 1997, the Company entered into a swap agreement, which expires February, 2002, to swap its fixed rate of payment on the $75 million 10 7/8% Senior Subordinated Notes for a floating rate payment. The floating rate is based upon a basket of LIBORS of three countries plus a spread, and is capped at 12.5%. The interest rate resets every six months and the Company's effective interest rate under the swap agreement at January 1, 2000 was 10.04%. The Company can terminate the transaction on any interest reset date at the then current fair market value of the swap instrument. At January 1, 2000, the agreement could have been terminated at a loss of $0.7 million. Inflation The Company believes that inflation has not had a material impact on its results of operations for the three years ended January 1, 2000. Year 2000 compliance. The company did not experience any significant Year 2000 issues in its information technology systems nor non-information technology systems through January 31, 2000. No major business processes, operations or customer deliveries were disrupted as a result of the Year 2000 issue. The company had a contingency plan to address the greatest areas of risk of noncompliance or threats to business operations or company assets related to the Year 2000 issue. 17 Disclosures Regarding Accounting Standards Issued But Not Yet Adopted The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued three new statements including Statement No. 135 (Recision of Statement No. 75), Statement No. 136 (Transfer of Assets Involving a Not-for-Profit Organization That Raises or Holds Contributions for Others) and Statement No. 137 (Deferral of Effective Date of Statement No. 133). Statements No. 135 and 136 have no applicability to the Company. Statement No. 137, which deferred the effective date of Statement No. 133 (Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities) is not effective until fiscal year 2001 and the Company did not adopt early. Adoption of this standard will not materially impact the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows, and any effect, while not yet determined by the Company, will be limited to the presentation of its disclosures. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has issued three new statements including SOP 98-9 (Modification of SOP 97-2 on Software Revenue Recognition), SOP 99-2 (Accounting for and Reporting of Postretirement Medical Benefit (401(h)) Features of Defined Benefit Pension Plans) and SOP 99-3 (Accounting for and Reporting of Certain Defined Contribution Plan Investments and Other Disclosure Matters). The aforementioned statements do not have a material effect on the financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Company. Item 7a. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk. The Company's market risk is impacted by changes in interest rates and certain commodity prices, namely paper. The Company does not currently hold or issue derivative instruments, except for the swap disclosed in Note 2, for trading or hedging purposes related to commodity price fluctuations. The Company's primary market risk is commodity price exposure. Based upon past experience, the Company believes it can effectively pass through to its customers commodity price fluctuations thus assisting the Company in mitigating exposure related to commodity price fluctuations. In addition, the Company has market risk related to interest rate exposure on its Credit Facility and swap agreement. Interest rate swaps may be used to adjust interest rate exposure when appropriate. Based on the Company's overall commodity price and interest rate exposure at January 1, 2000, management believes that a short-term change in any of the exposures will not have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements of the Company. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. Financial Statements of Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors.......................... F1 Consolidated Balance Sheets................................................ F2 Consolidated Statements of Operations...................................... F4 Consolidated Statements of Stockholder's Equity............................ F5 Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows...................................... F6 Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements................................. F7 Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure. The Company has not filed a form 8-K reporting a change of independent auditors or any disagreement with the independent auditors. Part III Item 10. Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant. The following table sets forth the names, ages as of December 1999, and a brief account of the business experience of each person who is a director or executive officer of the Company. Name Age Position - ---- --- -------- Marc English 47 Chief Executive Officer Michael Greenberg 59 Executive Vice President William Leary 40 Vice President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Deborah Hodes 47 Senior Vice President/Creative Director and Director Alan Hodes 56 Director Thomas McWilliams 56 Director David Howe 35 Director James Stevens 63 Director 18 Marc English joined the Company as Chief Executive Office in July 1999. Mr. English was previously the President and Chief Executive Officer of CSS's Cleo unit, a consumer products company primarily engaged in the manufacturer and sale to mass-market retailers of seasonal gift-wrap products. Mr. English's employment at Cleo spanned 1994 through 1999 and included holding the position of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Prior to joining Cleo, Mr. English spent 15 years at CPS Corp., also in the gift-wrap industry, in various roles, the most recent of which was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales. Mr. English has a Bachelors degree from the University of Wisconsin. Michael Greenberg has been Executive Vice President since 1971. Mr. Greenberg was Vice President of Vinylweld, Inc. the predecessor of the Company's packaging business, when it was acquired by the Company. He was previously Manufacturing Manager for Mohawk Tablet Company. Mr. Greenberg graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering. William Leary has been Vice President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of the Company since 1991. Mr. Leary is a certified public accountant. He was previously employed by Ernst & Young, LLP as a Senior Manager in the Audit practice. Mr. Leary earned a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in Accounting in 1982 from Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York. Deborah Hodes has been Senior Vice President/Creative Director of the Company since 1992. Ms. Hodes experience in the fashion related industry includes a position as Fashion Director for a chain of specialty department stores and Assistant to a leading clothing and fragrance designer. Ms. Hodes' education includes the New York School of Interior Design, Parsons School of Design and Chamberlayne College. Ms. Hodes is married to Alan Hodes. Alan Hodes has been affiliated with Pen-Tab since 1966. Mr. Hodes and Mr. Greenberg purchased Pen-Tab in 1982. Mr. Hodes was Chief Executive Officer of Pen-Tab from 1982 to 1999. Mr. Hodes received his B.S. degree in Accounting from Brooklyn College. Mr. Hodes is married to Deborah Hodes. Thomas McWilliams has been affiliated with CVC since 1983 and presently serves as managing director of CVC as well as a member of CVC's investment committee. From 1978 until 1983, Mr. McWilliams served as an executive officer, including as vice president, president and chief operating officer, of Shelter Resources Corporation, a publicly held holding company with operating subsidiaries in the manufactured housing industry. From 1967 until 1978, Mr. McWilliams served in various corporate finance and management positions at Citibank, N.A. Mr. McWilliams is currently a director of each of Chase Brass Industries, Inc., Ergo Science Corporation and various privately owned companies. David Howe has been employed at CVC since 1993. Prior thereto, he worked at Butler Capital, a private investment company. He serves on the Board of Directors of Aetna Industries, Inc., Brake-Pro, Inc., Cable Systems International, Inc., Copes-Vulcan, Inc., Sinter Metals, Inc., Milk Specialties Company and American-Italian Pasta Company. He also represents Citicorp on the Board of Del Monte Foods Company. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. James Stevens is presently a financial consultant and serves a variety of organizations as a corporate director or as a trustee. From 1987 through 1994, Mr. Stevens was affiliated with Prudential Insurance Company of America, serving as Executive Vice President. He was also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Prudential Asset Management Group (August 1993 through December 1994), the Senior Officer in charge of the Private Placement Group (October 1987 through August 1993) and a 19 member of the Operating Council. Mr. Stevens is a former Managing Director of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., a former Executive Vice President of Citicorp/Citibank and a former Chairman of CVC. Item 11. Executive Compensation Compensation of Directors The Company will reimburse directors for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with services provided in such capacity. In addition, the Company may compensate directors for services provided in such capacity. Compensation of Executive Officers The following summarizes the principal components of compensation of the Company's Chief Executive Officer and each officer whose compensation exceeded $100,000 for fiscal 1999. The compensation set forth below fully reflects compensation for work performed on behalf of the Company. Summary Compensation Table Annual Compensation -------------------- Salary Bonus Name and Principal Position Fiscal Year ($) ($) - --------------------------- ----------- ------ ----- Marc English 1999 330,000 161,000 Chief Executive Officer Michael Greenberg 1999 235,847 - Executive Vice President 1998 231,964 - 1997 228,800 - William Leary 1999 150,000 - Vice President, Chief Financial and 1998 128,700 50,000 Administrative Officer 1997 117,000 50,000 Deborah Hodes 1999 118,960 - Senior Vice President, Creative Director 1998 113,300 50,000 1997 103,000 50,000 Alan Hodes 1999 309,239 - Former Chief Executive Officer 1998 304,148 - 1997 300,000 - Dan Gallo 1999 231,000 - Former President 1998 220,000 50,000 1997 220,000 118,000 20 Employment Agreements Currently, Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. has an employment agreement with Mr. Greenberg. The employment agreement provides for (i) payment of a base salary indexed to inflation, (ii) payment of bonuses of up to fifty percent of base salary to be awarded at the discretion of the Company's Board of Directors and (iii) certain fringe benefits. The employment agreement provides that the executive may be terminated by the Company only with cause, and provides that the executive will not compete with Holdings or its subsidiaries during the period of employment and for the three years thereafter. The executive is entitled to receive a severance payment in the event of a resignation caused by the relocation of the office at which the executive is employed. Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. has an employment agreement with Mr. English. The employment agreement provides for (i) payment of a base salary, (ii) payment of an annual bonus based upon the executive's performance and the Company's operating results, and (iii) certain fringe benefits. The employment agreement provides that the executive will not compete with the Company during the period of employment and for eighteen months thereafter. Pension Plan The Company sponsors a 401(k) plan for all non-union employees meeting the participation requirements. The Company matches the employee's contribution at a rate of 50% on the employee's first 5% of wages. The Company also contributes to union sponsored multi-employer defined contribution pension plans. Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management. All of the Company's issued and outstanding capital stock is owned by Holdings. Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions Subsequent to January 1, 2000, a major stockholder of Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. ("Holdings") purchased approximately $60 million of the $75 million 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes in the secondary market. Part IV Item 14. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules and Reports on Form 8-K. (a) The following documents are filed as part of this form 10-K: 1) Financial Statements Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors Consolidated Balance Sheets Consolidated Statements of Operations Consolidated Statements of Stockholder's Equity Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 2) Financial Statement Schedules Schedule II - Valuation and Qualifying Accounts Financial data schedule 21 3) Exhibits: the exhibits listed on the accompanying exhibit index are filed as part of this form 10-K. EXHIBIT INDEX Exhibit No. Description - ------- 2.1 Recapitalization Agreement dated as of January 9, 1997 by and among Citicorp Venture Capital, Ltd., Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., Alan Hodes and Michael Greenberg.** 3.1 Certificate of Incorporation of Pen-Tab Industries, Inc.** 3.2 By-laws of Pen-Tab Industries, Inc.** 4.1 Indenture dated as of February 1, 1997 between Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. and United States Trust Company of New York.** 4.2 First Supplemental Indenture, dated as of May 7, 1997, between Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. and United States Trust Company of New York.** 10.1 Second Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement dated as of February 4, 1997 among Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as Pen-Tab Industries, Inc.) and Bank of America Illinois.** 10.2 Form of Notice of Borrowing.** 10.3 Form of Amended and Restated Revolving Note.** 10.4 Amended and Restated Trademark Agreement dated as of February 4, 1997 among Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. and Bank of America Illinois.** 10.5 Pledge Agreement dated as of February 4, 1997 made by Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. in favor of Bank of America Illinois.** 10.6 First Amendment to Second Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement dated as of February 4, 1997.*** 10.7 Second Amendment and Waiver to Second Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement dated as of June 9, 1997.*** 10.8 Third Amendment to Second Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement dated as of February 23, 1998.*** 10.11 Shareholders Agreement dated as of February 4, 1997 by and among Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc., Citicorp Venture Capital, Ltd., Alan Hodes, Michael Greenberg and each other executive of Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. or its subsidiaries who acquires Class A Common Stock from the Company.** 10.12 Registration Rights Agreement dated as of February 4, 1997 by and among Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., Citicorp Venture Capital, Ltd., Alan Hodes, Michael Greenberg.** 10.13 Employment Agreement by and among Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc., Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. and Alan Hodes.** 10.14 Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. 1997 Stock Option Plan and Form of Agreement Evidencing a Grant of a Nonqualified Stock Option under 1997 Stock Option Plan.** 10.15 Employment Agreement by and among Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc., Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. and Michael Greenberg.** 10.16 First Amendment to Second Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement, dated as of February 4, 1997 by and among Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as Pen-Tab Industries, Inc.) and Bank of America Illinois.** 10.17 Stock Purchase Agreement between Newell Co. and Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. dated June 24, 1998.** 10.18 Secured Credit Agreement dated as of August 20, 1998 among Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. and Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association, as Agent and Letter of Credit Issuing Bank, and The Other Financial Institutions Party Hereto.** 10.19 First Amendment and Waiver to the Secured Credit Agreement dated March 31, 1999.* 10.20 Second Amendment and Waiver to the Secured Credit Agreement dated November 16, 1999.* 10.21 Third Amendment and Waiver to the Secured Credit Agreement date March 13, 2000.* 10.22 Bond Holders Consent and Waiver Agreement dated March 13, 2000.* 22 10.23 Employment Agreement by and among Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc., Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., and Marc English.* 21.1 Subsidiaries of Pen-Tab Industries, Inc.* 25.1 Statement of Eligibility of Trustee on Form T-1.** 27.1 Financial Data Schedule.* 99 Pen-Tab Safe Harbor Statement.* Earnings to Fixed Charge Exhibit.*** *Filed herewith. **Incorporated by reference ***Included in management discussion and analysis (b) Reports of form 8-K Form 8-K filed on June 3, 1999, announcing the retirement of Alan Hodes as Chief Executive Officer and the appointment of Marc English as the new Chief Executive Officer. 23 Signature Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 on 15(d) 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. Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. (Registrant) Date: April 15, 2000 By: /s/ William Leary - ----------------------- --------------------- William Leary Vice President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer (principal financial officer and accounting officer) Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed by the following person on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacity and on the date indicated. Marc English /s/ Marc English Chief Executive Officer April 15, 2000 ------------------------ William Leary /s/ William Leary Chief Financial Officer April 15, 2000 ------------------------ Deborah Hodes /s/ Deborah Hodes Senior Vice President April 15, 2000 ------------------------ And Director Alan Hodes /s/ Alan Hodes Director April 15, 2000 ------------------------ Thomas McWilliams /s/ Thomas McWilliams Director April 15, 2000 ------------------------ David Howe /s/ David Howe Director April 15, 2000 ------------------------ James Stevens /s/ James Stevens Director April 15, 2000 ------------------------ 24 Schedule II - Valuation and Qualifying Accounts Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Balance at Beginning Bad Debts Charge-off Balance at Description of period Expense Deductions End of period - ------------------------ --------------- --------------- --------------- -------------- Allowance for doubtful accounts for the years ended: January 1, 2000 $ 306 $ 340 $ (289) $ 357 January 2, 1999 $ 186 $ 286 $ (166) $ 306 January 3, 1998 $ 76 $ 144 $ (34) $ 186 Balance at Beginning Allowances Charge-off Balance at Description of period and Credits Deductions End of period - ------------------------ --------------- --------------- --------------- -------------- Reserve for allowances and credits for the years ended: January 1, 2000 $1,429 $6,586 $(4,816) $3,199 January 2, 1999 $ 217 $3,041 $(1,829) $1,429 January 3, 1998 $1,299 $ -- $(1,082) $ 217 Balance at Beginning Balance at Description of period Additions Subtractions End of period - ------------------------ --------------- --------------- --------------- -------------- Reserve for lower of cost or market inventory adjustments for the years ended: January 1, 2000 $2,036 $ - $(2,036) $ - January 2, 1999 $ - $2,036 $ - $2,036 January 3, 1998 $ - $ - $ - $ - Balance at Beginning Balance at Description of period Additions Subtractions End of period - ------------------------ --------------- --------------- --------------- -------------- Reserved for excess and obsolete inventory for the years ended: January 1, 2000 $1,121 $ 879 $ - $2,000 January 2, 1999 $ - $1,121 $ - $1,121 January 3, 1998 $ - $ - $ - $ - 25 Index to Financial Statements and Schedules Financial Statements of Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors ...........................F1 Consolidated Balance Sheets as of January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999 .......F2 Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three years in the period ended January 1, 2000....................................................F4 Consolidated Statements of Stockholder's Equity for the three years in the period ended January 1, 2000.............................................F5 Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three years in the period ended January 1, 2000....................................................F6 Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements...................................F7 The following consolidated financial statement schedule is included in item 14(d): Schedule II - Valuation and Qualifying Accounts All other schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission are not required under the related instructions or are inapplicable and therefore have been omitted. F Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors Board of Directors Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. as of January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999, and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholder's equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended January 1, 2000. Our audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the index at Item 14(a). These consolidated financial statements and schedule are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards in the United States. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. at January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended January 1, 2000, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. Also, in our opinion, the related financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole, present fairly in all material respects the information set forth therein. /s/ Ernst & Young LLP April 14, 2000 McLean, Virginia F1 Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Consolidated Balance Sheets (Dollars in Thousands) January 1, January 2, 2000 1999 ---------- ---------- Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 175 $ 20 Accounts receivable (less allowances for discounts, credits and doubtful accounts of $3,794 & $2,325) 21,353 15,770 Inventories, net 45,015 40,601 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 810 611 Deferred income taxes 6,871 1,384 -------- -------- Total current assets 74,224 58,386 -------- -------- Property, plant and equipment, at cost: Land and buildings 16,244 16,206 Machinery and equipment 42,601 42,746 Furniture and fixtures 3,279 1,332 Leasehold improvements 1,504 1,476 -------- -------- 64,078 61,760 Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization 21,771 16,222 -------- -------- Total property, plant and equipment 42,307 45,538 -------- -------- Intangibles: Goodwill, net 73,737 73,680 Debt issue costs, net 3,454 4,339 -------- -------- Total intangibles 77,191 78,019 -------- -------- Total assets $193,722 $181,943 ======== ======== See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements. F2 Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Consolidated Balance Sheets (Continued) (Dollars in Thousands, except share data) January 1, January 2, 2000 1999 -------- --------- Liabilities and stockholder's equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 6,211 $ 6,646 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 10,556 7,382 Due to Newell Co. - 18,546 Accrued interest on subordinated notes 3,065 3,324 Current portion of long-term debt 21,431 4,886 Current portion of capitalized lease obligation 809 924 -------- --------- Total current liabilities 42,072 41,708 -------- --------- Long-term debt 134,456 119,339 Capitalized lease obligation 6,473 7,311 Deferred income taxes 6,871 3,068 -------- --------- Total long-term liabilities 147,800 129,718 -------- --------- Stockholder's equity: Common Stock $.01 par value, 1,000 shares, Authorized; 100 shares issued at January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999 - - Additional capital 39,209 39,209 Retained deficit (35,359) (28,692) -------- --------- Total stockholder's equity 3,850 10,517 -------- --------- Total liabilities and stockholder's equity $193,722 $181,943 ======== ======== See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements. F3 Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Operations (Dollars in Thousands) Fiscal Year ------------------------------------------- 1999 1998 1997 -------- -------- ------- Net sales $155,403 $114,791 $88,014 Cost of goods sold 110,631 83,228 65,071 -------- -------- ------- Gross profit 44,772 31,563 22,943 -------- -------- ------- Expenses: Selling, general and administrative 26,681 20,469 15,234 Amortization of goodwill 1,892 578 - Other: Interest income - (102) (228) Interest expense 17,427 11,527 8,420 Reorganization expenses 6,112 - 804 Other income--net (21) (28) - -------- -------- ------- Total expenses 52,091 32,444 24,230 -------- -------- ------- Loss from continuing operations before income tax (benefit) provision (7,319) (881) (1,287) Income tax (benefit) provision (1,492) (290) 1,774 -------- -------- ------- Loss from continuing operations (5,827) (591) (3,061) -------- -------- ------- Income (loss) from operations of discontinued segment, net of taxes (750) (90) 216 -------- -------- ------- Net loss $ (6,577) $ (681) $(2,845) ======== ======== ======= Unaudited Pro Forma Data: Historical loss before income taxes $ (900) Pro forma tax benefit (338) ------- Pro forma net loss $ (562) ======= See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements. F4 Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Stockholder's Equity (Dollars in Thousands) Retained Common Additional Earnings Stock Capital (Deficit) Total -------- -------- -------- -------- Balance December 28, 1996 $ -- $ -- $ 15,052 $ 15,502 Net loss -- -- (2,845) (2,845) Dividends -- -- (40,212) (40,212) -------- -------- -------- -------- Balance January 3, 1998 -- -- (28,005) (28,005) Net loss -- -- (681) (681) Dividends -- -- (6) (6) Equity Contributions -- 39,209 -- 39,209 -------- -------- -------- -------- Balance January 2, 1999 39,209 (28,692) 10,517 Net loss -- -- (6,577) (6,577) Dividends -- -- (90) (90) -------- -------- -------- -------- Balance January 1, 2000 $ -- $ 39,209 $(35,359) $ 3,850 ======== ======== ======== ======== See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements. F5 Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Dollars in Thousands) Fiscal Year ----------------------------------- 1999 1998 1997 --------- --------- --------- Operating activities Net loss $ (6,577) $ (681) $ (2,845) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 6,085 3,607 2,554 Amortization of goodwill 1,892 578 - Amortization of debt issue costs 885 707 414 Deferred income taxes (1,492) (290) 1,774 Provision for losses on accounts receivable 340 286 144 Provision for sales allowances and credits 6,586 3,041 - Provision for reorganization expenses 5,932 - - Provision for excess and obsolete inventory 879 1,121 - Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable (12,509) 16,376 2,232 Inventories (5,293) (3,507) (7,049) Prepaid expenses and other current assets (199) 461 (507) Accounts payable (435) 1,230 (103) Accrued expenses and other liabilities (2,950) 1,957 (712) Accrued interest on subordinated notes (259) (6) 3,330 --------- --------- --------- Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (7,115) 24,880 (768) --------- --------- --------- Investing activities Sale of minority interest in Vinylweld LLC - 125 - Purchase of property, plant and equipment (2,854) (2,854) (1,562) Purchase of Stuart Hall, net of cash acquired - (113,357) - --------- --------- --------- Net cash used in investing activities (2,854) (116,086) (1,562) --------- --------- --------- Financing activities Proceeds from revolver borrowings 93,500 145,058 18,688 Repayments of revolver borrowings (57,000) (140,058) (35,144) Proceeds from term loan - 35,000 - Principal payments on long-term debt (4,838) (1,150) - Principal payments on capitalized lease obligations (953) (503) - Proceeds from issuance of senior subordinated notes - - 72,563 Payment to Newell Co. (20,495) - - Dividends (90) (6) (40,212) Equity contribution from Holdings - 39,209 - --------- --------- --------- Net cash provided by financing activities 10,124 77,550 15,895 --------- --------- --------- Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 155 (13,656) 13,565 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 20 13,676 111 --------- --------- --------- Cash and cash equivalents at end of year $ 175 $ 20 $ 13,676 ========= ========= ========= Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information Cash paid during the year for: Interest $ 16,859 $ 10,028 $ 5,109 --------- --------- --------- Income taxes $ - $ - $ 512 ========= ========= ========= Non-cash transaction: Services purchased related to the debt offering and paid for by a reduction of proceeds received $ - $ - $ 2,437 ========= ========= ========= See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements. F6 Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Dollars in thousands) 1. Description of Business, Recent Developments and Liquidity On February 4, 1997, Pen-Tab Industries, Inc., a Virginia corporation, changed its name to Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. ("Holdings"). On February 4, 1997 Holdings formed a wholly owned subsidiary called Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. (the "Company"), a Delaware corporation. On February 4, 1997, the Company issued $75 million 10 7/8% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2007 and Holdings effected a recapitalization pursuant to which Holdings repurchased approximately 748 shares of Class A common stock and 122 shares of Class B common stock from management shareholders for approximately $47,858, converted an additional 14 shares of Class A common stock and 358 shares of Class B common stock into redeemable preferred stock, and sold 37 shares of Class A common stock, 3 shares of Class B common stock and 125,875 shares of redeemable preferred stock to outside investors for proceeds of approximately $15,010. Holdings' shareholders concurrently approved an amendment to Holdings' articles of incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares to 8,352,500, consisting of 6,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, 2,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, and 352,500 shares of redeemable preferred stock. Following completion of the above transactions, Holdings' shareholders approved a stock split pursuant to which each share of Holdings' Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock then outstanding was converted into 60,937.50 shares of such common stock. On August 20, 1998, the Company acquired all of the capital stock of Stuart Hall Company, Inc. ("Stuart Hall"). See Note 3 for details. The Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Holdings, is a leading manufacturer of school, home and office supply products. Its products include legal pads, wirebound notebooks, envelopes, school supplies, and arts and crafts products. The Company is a primary supplier of many national discount store chains, office supply super stores, and wholesale clubs throughout the United States and Canada. The Company, through Vinylweld L.L.C., is a leading designer and manufacturer of vinyl packaging products. Sales are made on open account and the Company generally does not require collateral. F7 1. Description of Business, Recent Developments and Liquidity (Continued) Covenant Violations/Amendments to Credit Facility/Note Holder Consent. As a result of insufficient third quarter 1999 earnings, the Company was in default of a covenant based on EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and certain non-cash charges, as defined in the agreement) and cash interest and principal payments (fixed charge coverage ratio) for the twelve months ended October 2, 1999. On November 16, 1999, the Company amended its credit facility to waive the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant default. This amendment also provided that the interest rate increase by 0.625%. As a result of insufficient fourth quarter 1999 earnings, the Company was in default of the fixed charge coverage ratio, annual clean up and the minimum net worth covenants, as defined in the agreement, at and for the twelve months ended January 1, 2000. In addition, due to the earnings shortfall and Enterprise Resource Planning ("ERP") system implementation issues which led to higher than expected inventories and accounts receivable collection delays, the Company was in default of the annual revolver clean up provision. The clean up provision requires the Company, for a period of not less than thirty days between September 30 and November 15, to reduce the outstanding balance on the revolver to $25 million or less. The Company was also in default of the borrowing base formula, as defined in the agreement, whereby the balance outstanding on the revolver was in excess of the borrowing base formula computed amount. On March 13, 2000, the Company amended its credit facility. The amendment (i) waived the defaults, (ii) revised the borrowing base definition to provide for an over advance of up to $16.5 million for the period of March 1, 2000 through July 15, 2000, (iii) increased the interest rate by 0.875% plus another 0.50% during the over advance period, (iv) revised the annual clean up provision amount to $27 million from $25 million and revised the clean up period to be between October 15 and January 15 from between September 30 and November 15, (v) revised the fixed charge coverage ratio to 1.00:1 (from 1.50:1) for the twelve month periods ended March 31, 2000 and June 30, 2000 and to 1.50:1 (from 1.75:1) thereafter, (vi) limits capital expenditures to $2 million for fiscal 2000 and (vii) requires total debt, as defined in the agreement, not to exceed $153 million at June 30, 2000. The Company paid a fee of $0.5 million in conjunction with the Credit Facility amendment and will amortize such fee over the remaining life of the Credit Facility (March 2000 through August 2001). Prior to the amendment discussed in the preceding paragraph and as a result of the covenant violations described above, the Company was not allowed to make the required interest payment of approximately $4 million due on February 1, 2000 to the holders of the Company's $75 million 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2007. As a condition of the aforementioned amendment, the Company obtained consent from substantially all of the note holders to accept the February 1, 2000 interest payment in the form of new notes, in aggregate principal amount substantially equal to such interest payment, in lieu of a cash payment. As a result, the Company will be deemed to have made the cash interest payment and simultaneously issued new notes to existing note holders in exchange for such cash payment. Subsequent to January 1, 2000, a majority stockholder of Pen-Tab Holdings, Inc. ("Holdings") purchased approximately $60 million of the $75 million 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes in the secondary market. Management, in conjunction with its debtors, have reviewed the Company's fiscal 2000 budget and cash flow forecasts, and believe these plans will allow the Company to meet the debt covenant requirements of its debt agreements. F8 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Method of Accounting The accompanying consolidated financial statements are prepared on the accrual basis of accounting in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The 1998 and 1999 fiscal years refer to the fifty-two week periods ended January 2, 1999 and January 1, 2000, respectively, and the 1997 fiscal year refers to the fifty-three week period ended January 3, 1998. Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the company and its subsidiaries. All significant inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Revenue Recognition Sales are recognized upon product shipment (FOB shipping point). All risks and rewards of ownership pass to the customer upon shipment. Damaged or defective products may be returned to the Company for replacement or credit. The Company may offer certain volume rebates, co-op advertising and other discounts and allowances. The effects of these discounts and allowances are estimated and recorded at the time of shipment. Cash and Cash Equivalents The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Inventories Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market and are valued using the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method. Property, Plant and Equipment Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation is computed on the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the related assets. Leasehold improvements and assets held under capital leases are amortized by the straight-line method over the shorter of the estimated useful lives or F9 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Continued) the lease term. The principal estimated useful lives are: buildings - 15 to 40 years; machinery and equipment - 3 to 10 years; furniture, fixtures and computer equipment - 3 to 5 years; leasehold improvements and assets held under capital leases - 3 to 10 years. Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Each year, management determines whether any property and equipment or any other assets have been impaired based on the criteria established in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 121 ("SFAS 121"), "Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Long-Lived Assets to be Disposed of." The Company made no adjustments to the carrying values of the assets during the years ended January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999. Goodwill The excess of the purchase cost over the fair value of assets acquired is being amortized over 40 years. The Company evaluates whether events and circumstances have occurred that indicate the remaining estimated useful life of goodwill may warrant revision or that the remaining balance of goodwill may not be recoverable. When factors indicate that goodwill should be evaluated for possible impairment, the Company uses an estimate of the undiscounted future cash flows over the remaining useful life to determine whether goodwill is recoverable. The Company believes that no material impairment of goodwill existed at January 1, 2000. The related accumulated amortization at January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999 was $2,470 and $578, respectively. Amortization of Debt Issue Costs Debt issue costs are stated at cost and amortized to interest expense. Amortization of debt issue costs is computed on the effective interest method over the maturity of the applicable debt, which range from three years for the Credit Facility, ten years for the Senior Subordinated Notes and twenty years for the Industrial Development Revenue Bonds. The Company complies with Statements of Financial Standards (FAS 121) "Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets" as related to its debt issue costs and other intangibles. The related accumulated amortization at January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999 was $2,025 and $1,140, respectively. Advertising Costs The Company expenses the costs of advertising as incurred. Such costs amounted to approximately $0, $1,596, and $2,658 for fiscal 1999, 1998, and 1997, respectively. F10 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Continued) Income Taxes The Company accounts for income taxes and the related assets and liabilities in accordance with FAS 109, "Accounting for Income Taxes". Provisions for income taxes are based upon earnings reported for financial statement purposes and may differ from amounts currently payable or receivable because certain amounts are recognized for financial reporting purposes in different periods than they are for income tax purposes. Deferred income taxes, net of any valuation allowance, result from temporary differences between the financial statement amounts of assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Also see Note 8. Fair Value of Financial Instruments The Company considers the recorded value of its cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable to approximate the fair value of the respective assets and liabilities at January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999. The fair value of the $75 million Senior Subordinated Notes based on a quoted market price is 30% of the face value or $22.5 million at January 1, 2000. The fair value of the swap agreement at January 1, 2000 was a loss of $0.7 million. The fair value was determined based upon prevailing interest rates at January 1, 2000. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Derivative Financial Instruments The Company utilizes derivative financial instruments principally to hedge interest rates through an interest rate swap agreement. The Company actively evaluates the credit worthiness of the financial institutions that are counterparts to derivative financial instruments, and it does not expect any counterparts to fail to meet their obligation. Premiums paid on the interest swap agreement are amortized as interest expense over the term of the agreement. Amounts received or paid under the swap agreement are recorded as a reduction of or increase in interest expense, respectively. F11 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Continued) Risk and Uncertainties The Company is potentially subjected to concentrations of credit risk with trade accounts receivable. Because the Company has a large and diverse customer base, there was no material concentration of credit risk related to trade accounts receivable at January 1, 2000, except as discussed in Note 11. Reclassification Certain amounts included in prior years' financial statements have been reclassified. 3. Acquisition of Stuart Hall On August 20, 1998, Pen-Tab acquired all of the outstanding stock of Stuart Hall, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newell Co. for $126.8 million in cash. The purchase price of the acquisition was funded by an equity contribution of $39.2 million from Holdings and with borrowings under the Company's Credit Facility (see Note 7 - Long-Term Debt). The transaction was accounted for using the purchase method. The purchase price was allocated to the assets and liabilities acquired based on their estimated fair values. In conjunction with the acquisition, the Company recorded goodwill of approximately $75.8 million. The operations of Stuart Hall are included in the consolidated financial statements of the Company beginning August 20, 1998 (date of acquisition). The following unaudited pro form results of operations assumes that the acquisition of Stuart Hall had occurred at the beginning of fiscal 1998 and 1997, respectively. These pro forma results give effect to certain adjustments, including depreciation of property, plant and equipment, amortization of goodwill and interest expense resulting from the acquisition and related financing. The pro forma results have been prepared for comparative purposes only and do not purport to indicate the results of operations that would actually have occurred had the combination been in effect on the date indicated or which may occur in the future. For the Year Ended ------------------------- Jan 2, 1999 Jan 3, 1998 ------------- ------------ Pro forma net sales unaudited.................. $ 193,175 $ 187,570 ============= ============ Pro forma net income unaudited................. $ 5,098 $ 3,367 ============= ============ F12 4. Unaudited Pro Forma Data As described further in Note 8, the Company was taxed as an "S" corporation through February 4, 1997. Upon completion of the recapitalization described in Note 1, Pen-Tab Industries, Inc. terminated its "S" corporation status. The pro forma related statement of operations for fiscal 1997 reflects adjustments to the Company's income tax provision, as if the Company had been taxed as a "C" corporation for the entire fiscal year of 1997. 5. Inventories Inventories consist of the following: January 1, January 2, 2000 1999 ------- ------- Raw materials $17,858 $17,242 Work-in-process 1,792 715 Finished goods, net 23,922 22,644 LIFO reserve, net 1,443 - ------- ------- $45,015 $40,601 ======= ======= For purposes of comparability, had LIFO inventories been reported at values approximating current cost, as would have resulted from using the FIFO method, and if no other assumptions were made as to changes in income, income before taxes would have been lower in 1999, 1998, and 1997 by approximately $1,443, $707, and $257, respectively. The Company reports its inventory under the LIFO method in order to better match its income and expenses. There were no liquidations of LIFO inventories for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2000. 6. Dividends Dividends for fiscal years 1999, 1998, and 1997 of $90, $6, and $40,212, respectively, were paid to the stockholders' of the Company. The dividends for the fiscal year 1997 included $5,695 paid to the stockholders' of the Company in the period to February 3, 1997 and $34,517 paid by the Company to Holdings. F13 7. Long-Term Debt Long-term debt consisted of the following: January 1 January 2, 2000 1999 --------- ---------- Credit Facility: Revolver $ 41,500 $ 5,000 Term Loan 30,750 34,250 Senior Subordinated Notes 75,000 75,000 Industrial development revenue bonds 6,700 7,100 Equipment notes payable 1,937 2,875 Capital lease obligations (see Note 9) 7,282 8,235 -------- -------- 163,169 132,460 Less: current portion 22,240 5,810 -------- -------- $140,929 $126,650 ======== ======== In conjunction with the acquisition of Stuart Hall on August 20, 1998, the Company entered into a $135 million Credit Facility ("Credit Facility") with Bank of America which expires on August 20, 2001. The Credit Facility includes a $100 million revolver and a $35 million term loan. The $35 million term loan has aggregate maturities as follows: 1998 $750; 1999 $3,500; 2000 $5,500; 2001 $25,250. The $100 million revolver portion of the Credit Facility provides for advances based upon a borrowing base comprised of specified percentages of eligible accounts receivable and inventory. During March 1, 2000 through July 15, 2000 the borrowing base includes an overadvance of up to $16,500. The interest rate per annum applicable to the Credit Facility is the prime rate, as announced by the Bank plus 1.75% or at the Company's option, the Eurodollar rate plus 3.5%. During an overadvance period the interest rate is increased by 0.50%. The Company is required to pay a commitment fee of 0.65% on the unused portion of the $100 million revolver. Under the terms of the Credit Facility, the Company is required to maintain certain financial ratios relating to cash flow (fixed charge coverage ratio, minimum EBITDA threshold and capital expenditure limit), annually reduce the principal balance of the revolver to $27 million for thirty consecutive days during the period between October 15 and January 15, limit total debt, as defined in the agreement, to $153 million at June 30, 2000 and restrict the amount of dividends that can be paid during the year. Except as noted below, all assets of the company are pledged as collateral for balances owing under the Credit Facility. The weighted average borrowing rate was 7.7%, 7.5% and 7.5% for fiscal year 1999, 1998 and 1997, respectively. F14 7. Long-Term Debt (Continued) The 10 7/8% Senior Subordinated Notes are due in 2007. The Indenture contains certain covenants that, among other things, limits the ability of the Company to incur additional indebtedness. During November 1997, the Company entered into a swap agreement, which expires February, 2002, to swap its fixed rate of payment on the $75,000 10 7/8% Senior Subordinated Notes for a floating rate payment. The floating rate is based upon a basket of the LIBORS of three countries plus a spread, and is capped at 12.5%. The interest rate resets every six months and at January 1, 2000, the Company's effective interest rate under the swap agreement was 10.04%. The Company can terminate the transaction at any time, at the then current fair market value of the swap instrument. A 1.0% change in the effective interest rate would result in a $0.7 million change in interest expense. The industrial development revenue bonds represent 20-year tax-exempt bonds issued through the Town of Front Royal and the County of Warren, Virginia on April 1, 1995. Interest is paid monthly, and is calculated using a floating rate determined every 7 days with reference to a tax-exempt bond index (3.82% as of January 1, 2000 plus a bank of letter of credit fee of 1.5%). The industrial development revenue bonds are subject to a mandatory sinking fund redemption which commenced April 1, 1998, under which Pen-Tab is required to make 17 annual installments of $400, with a final installment of $700, due in 2015. Repayment is collateralized by a bank standby letter of credit in the amount of $6.8 million and a first security interest in Pen-Tab's land and buildings in Front Royal, Virginia. The bonds may be redeemed at the option of Pen-Tab, in whole or in part, on any interest payment date. The Company has a series of equipment notes payable with CIT Group/Equipment Financing Inc. The notes bear interest at various fixed amounts from 8.95% to 10.85% and mature at various dates through 2001. The aggregate maturities are as follows: 2000 $986; 2001 $951. 8. Income Taxes The Company elected to be treated as an "S" corporation for federal income tax purposes until February 4, 1997 under which income, losses, deductions and credits were allocated to and reported by the company's stockholders based on their respective ownership interests. Effective February 4, 1997, in conjunction with the Recapitalization described in Note 1, the Company terminated its "S" corporation election. The significant components of these amounts as shown on the Balance Sheet are as follows: F15 8. Income Taxes (Continued) January 1, January 2, 2000 1999 ------- ------- Current - ------- Deferred Tax Assets Accrued expenses $ 115 $ -- Allowance for bad debts 136 110 Inventory capitalization 304 186 Inventory valuation 760 -- Unused net operating loss 4,041 314 Restructure reserve 2,254 -- LIFO reserve -- 774 ------- ------- Current Deferred Tax Asset 7,610 1,384 Valuation allowance (739) -- ------- ------- Net Current Deferred Tax Asset $ 6,871 $ 1,384 ------- ------- Non-current - ----------- Deferred Tax Liability Property, plant and equipment $(3,919) $(1,897) Goodwill (2,952) (1,171) ------- ------- Net Non-Current Deferred Tax Liability $(6,871) $(3,068) ======= ======= Total Net Deferred Tax $ -- $(1,684) ======= ======= The components of income tax (benefit) provision from continuing operations are: 1999 1998 1997 ------- ------- ------- Current Federal $ -- $ -- $ -- State -- -- (30) ------- ------- ------- -- -- (30) ------- ------- ------- Deferred Federal (1,337) (263) 1,545 State (155) (27) 259 ------- ------- ------- (1,492) (290) 1,804 ------- ------- ------- Income tax (benefit) provision $(1,492) $ (290) $ 1,774 ======= ======= ======= F16 8. Income Taxes (Continued) The differences between the (benefit) provision for income taxes and income taxes computed at the statutory U.S. federal income tax rates are explained as follows: 1999 1998 1997 ------- ------- ------- Income tax benefit computed at the statutory U.S. federal income tax rates $(2,488) $ (300) $ (438) State income taxes, net of federal benefit (293) (35) (51) Valuation allowance 739 -- -- Change in entity status -- -- 2,343 (Income) loss taxed at shareholders level -- -- 108 Other, including permanent differences 550 45 (188) ------- ------- ------- (Benefit) provision for income taxes $(1,492) $ (290) $ 1,774 ======= ======= ======= A deferred tax asset valuation allowance of $739 was recorded in 1999. This valuation allowance reduced the deferred tax asset to an amount, which the Company believes, based on the Company's estimates of its future taxable earnings, is realizable. Therefore, the 1999 income tax benefit was reduced by a provision of $739 related to the valuation allowance. In future periods, the Company's provision for income taxes may be impacted by adjustments to the valuation allowance. The Company has available for federal income tax purposes $10,634 of net operating losses, which expire substantially in the years 2012 through 2019. During fiscal 1997, the Company was taxed as an "S" corporation for the period ended February 3, 1997 and as a "C" corporation for the period thereafter. The Company recorded a cumulative deferred tax liability of $2,343 upon termination of the Company's "S" corporation election. 9. Leases and Commitments The Company leases certain office, manufacturing and warehouse facilities in California and Chicago under operating leases which expire in May 2002 and December 2004, respectively. The Company also leases certain office, manufacturing and warehouse facilities in Kansas City under long-term capital leases that expire in December 2005, and are included in property, plant and equipment as buildings. The assets held under capital leases are as follows: F17 9. Leases and Commitments (Continued) January 1, January 2, 2000 1999 ------ ------ Buildings $8,783 $8,783 Less: Accumulated amortization 1,302 304 ------ ------ Total $7,481 $8,479 ====== ====== Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating and capital leases are as follows, as of January 1, 2000: Fiscal year Operating Capital ----------------------- ----------------- ------------------- 2000 1,871 1,582 2001 1,629 1,582 2002 982 1,582 2003 482 1,582 2004 430 1,582 Thereafter 126 1,856 ------ -------- Total $5,520 $ 9,766 ====== Imputed interest (2,484) -------- Present value $ 7,282 ======== Rent expense was approximately $1,717, $1,353, and $1,197 in fiscal 1999, 1998, and 1997, respectively. Amortization of the capital lease assets are included in depreciation expense. At January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999, the Company had standby letters of credit outstanding in the amounts of $197 and $457 issued by a bank on behalf of Pen-Tab in connection with a license contract and a worker's compensation insurance program, respectively. See also Note 7. 10. Reorganization Expenses During fiscal 1999, the Company approved a plan to rationalize its manufacturing operations. The plan includes a plant consolidation, equipment moves, plant/product changes, and warehouse consolidation. The reorganization charge of $6.1 million represents the Company's rationalization plan and includes employee termination costs, including severance and benefit, cost to exit facilities, lease termination costs, and property taxes after ceasing operations. F18 10. Reorganization Expenses (Continued) During fiscal 1997, the Company reorganized its sales and marketing functions. The non-recurring charges of $804 for recruitment and acquisition costs of new sales and marketing executives as well as the severance costs of terminated sales employees are reported as reorganization expenses in the statements of income and retained earnings. 11. Concentration of Risk During fiscal 1999, 1998, and 1997 the Company had two customers each in excess of 10% of revenues as follows: 1999 1998 1997 ---- ---- ---- Customer A 22.8% 18.3% 23.8% Customer B 12.0% 14.4% 19.1% ---- ---- ---- Total 34.8% 32.7% 42.9% ==== ==== ==== Two customers comprised approximately 35.0% and 34.5% of the net accounts receivable balance at January 1, 2000 and January 2, 1999, respectively. Employees covered under collective bargaining agreements represent approximately 65% of the Company's work force. Collective bargaining agreements covering approximately 24% of the Company's work force have expiration dates within one year. 12. Defined Contribution Plan The Company sponsors a 401(k) plan in which nonunion full-time employees meeting certain age and employment requirements are eligible for participation. Participating employees can contribute between 2% and 15% of their annual compensation. The Company matches employee contributions at a rate of 50% of the employee's annual contributions up to 2.5% of the employee's annual compensation. Total expense under the plan amounted to $228, $220, and $136 in fiscal 1999, 1998, and 1997, respectively. The Company also contributes to union sponsored multi-employer defined contribution pension plans. All union employees meeting certain employment requirements are covered. Total expense under the union sponsored plans amounted to $95, $87, and $24 in fiscal 1999, 1998, and 1997, respectively. 13. Discountinued Operations In March 2000, the Company decided to divest its vinyl packaging business segment, which operates as Vinylweld L.L.C. The consolidated financial statements and related footnotes reflect this business as a discontinued operation. The net sales from this segment amounted to $8,152 in 1999, $9,291 in 1998 and $8,623 in 1997. Income tax (benefits) provisions allocated to this segment were $(192), $(45) and $171 for the years 1999, 1998 and 1997, respectively. The assets and liabilities of this segment, consists primarily of accounts receivable, inventories, property, plant and equipment and accounts payable. January 1, January 2, 2000 2000 ------------------ ------------------ Net current assets $ 1,088 $ 1,519 ================== ================== Net non-current assets $ 1,139 $ 1,050 ================== ================== 14. Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consist of the following: January 1, January 2, 2000 1999 ---------- ---------- Accrued compensation and benefits $ 632 $ 1,135 Accrued reorganization costs 5,932 - Accrued sales programs 2,538 1,562 Accrued acquisition costs - 3,271 Other accrued expenses 1,454 1,414 ---------- ---------- $ 10,556 $ 7,382 ========== ========== F19 15. Segment Information As described in Note 1, the Company operates in two business segments consisting of school, home and office products, and vinyl packaging products. The following table provides certain financial data regarding these two segments. School, Home Vinyl And Office Packaging Products Products Total ------------ --------- ----- 1999 Net sales $155,403 $ 8,152 $163,555 Operating earnings (loss) 10,108 (987) 9,121 Interest expense, net 17,337 45 17,382 Identifiable assets 190,415 3,307 193,722 Depreciation and amortization 8,586 276 8,862 Capital expenditures 2,483 371 2,854 1998 Net sales $114,791 $ 9,291 $124,082 Operating earnings (loss) 10,545 (148) 10,397 Interest expense, net 11,413 -- 11,413 Identifiable assets 178,608 3,335 181,943 Depreciation and amortization 4,692 200 4,892 Capital expenditures 2,175 679 2,854 1997 Net sales $ 88,014 $ 8,623 $ 96,637 Operating earnings 6,905 389 7,294 Interest expense, net 8,194 -- 8,194 Identifiable assets 61,578 2,214 63,792 Depreciation and amortization 2,770 198 2,968 Capital expenditures 1,498 64 1,562 For the purposes of the segment information provided above, operating earnings are defined as net sales less related cost of goods sold, selling, general and administration expenses, amortization of goodwill, restructure and reorganization expenses and other income-net. Inter-segment sales are immaterial. F20