BEL FUSE INC /NJ - Quarter Report: 2009 March (Form 10-Q)
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
10-Q
(Mark
One)
x
|
QUARTERLY
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934
|
For the
quarterly period ended March 31,
2009
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: 0-F11676
BEL FUSE INC.
|
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its
charter)
|
NEW
JERSEY
|
22-1463699
|
|
(State
of other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
|
(I.R.S.
Employer Identification
No.)
|
206 Van Vorst Street
|
Jersey City, New Jersey
|
07302
|
(Address of
principal executive offices)
|
|
(Zip Code) |
(201) 432-0463
|
(Registrant's
telephone number, including area
code)
|
(Former
name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last
report)
|
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 and Exchange Act of 1934 during
the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was
required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing
requirements for the past 90 days. x Yes ¨ No
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on
its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be
submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding
12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit
and post such files). ¨ Yes ¨ No Not
applicable to the registrant.
Indicate
by checkmark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated
filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the
definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller
reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large
accelerated filer ¨
|
Accelerated
filer x
|
Non-accelerated
filer ¨
|
Smaller
reporting company ¨
|
(Do
not check if a smaller
|
|||
reporting
company)
|
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
¨ Yes x No
At May 8,
2009, there were 2,174,912 shares of Class A Common Stock, $0.10 par value,
outstanding and 9,355,843 shares of Class B Common Stock, $0.10 par value,
outstanding.
BEL FUSE
INC.
INDEX
Page
|
||||
Part I
|
Financial
Information
|
|||
Item
1.
|
Financial
Statements
|
1
|
||
Condensed
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2009and December 31,
2008
|
2-3
|
|||
Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Three Months Ended March 31,
2009 and 2008
|
4
|
|||
Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity for the Year Ended
December 31, 2008 and the Three Months Ended March 31,
2009
|
5
|
|||
Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Three Months Ended March 31,
2009 and 2008
|
6-7
|
|||
Notes
to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
|
8-21
|
|||
Item
2.
|
Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations
|
22-32
|
||
Item
3.
|
Quantitative
and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
|
33
|
||
Item
4.
|
Controls
and Procedures
|
34-35
|
||
Part II
|
Other
Information
|
|||
Item
1.
|
Legal
Proceedings
|
36
|
||
Item
2.
|
Unregistered
Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
|
36
|
||
Item
6.
|
Exhibits
|
37
|
||
Signatures
|
38
|
PART
I. Financial
Information
Item
1. Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
Certain information and footnote
disclosures required under accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States of America have been condensed or omitted from the following
condensed consolidated financial statements pursuant to the rules and
regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The following
condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with
the year-end consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2008.
The results of operations for the three
months ended March 31, 2009 are not necessarily indicative of the results for
the entire fiscal year or for any other period.
1
BEL
FUSE INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(dollars
in thousands)
March
31,
|
December
31,
|
|||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
ASSETS
|
||||||||
Current
Assets:
|
||||||||
Cash
and cash equivalents
|
$ | 90,918 | $ | 74,955 | ||||
Marketable
securities
|
13,759 | 13,735 | ||||||
Short-term
investments
|
1,712 | 4,013 | ||||||
Accounts
receivable - less allowance for doubtful accounts of $644 and
$660 at March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008,
respectively
|
30,943 | 46,047 | ||||||
Inventories,
net
|
38,420 | 46,524 | ||||||
Prepaid
expenses and other current assets
|
1,485 | 859 | ||||||
Refundable
income taxes
|
3,024 | 2,498 | ||||||
Assets
held for sale
|
- | 236 | ||||||
Deferred
income taxes
|
5,048 | 4,752 | ||||||
Total
Current Assets
|
185,309 | 193,619 | ||||||
Property,
plant and equipment - net
|
38,699 | 39,936 | ||||||
Restricted
cash
|
- | 2,309 | ||||||
Long-term
investments
|
1,911 | 1,062 | ||||||
Deferred
income taxes
|
3,669 | 5,205 | ||||||
Intangible
assets - net
|
810 | 926 | ||||||
Goodwill
|
14,204 | 14,334 | ||||||
Other
assets
|
4,122 | 4,393 | ||||||
TOTAL
ASSETS
|
$ | 248,724 | $ | 261,784 |
See notes
to condensed consolidated financial statements.
2
BEL
FUSE INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - CONTINUED
(dollars
in thousands, except per share data)
March
31,
|
December
31,
|
|||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
LIABILITIES
AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
|
||||||||
Current
Liabilities:
|
||||||||
Accounts
payable
|
$ | 10,773 | $ | 14,285 | ||||
Accrued
expenses
|
6,419 | 9,953 | ||||||
Accrued
restructuring costs
|
153 | 555 | ||||||
Income
taxes payable
|
3,998 | 4,054 | ||||||
Dividends
payable
|
801 | 787 | ||||||
Total
Current Liabilities
|
22,144 | 29,634 | ||||||
Long-term
Liabilities:
|
||||||||
Accrued
restructuring costs
|
625 | 406 | ||||||
Deferred
gain on sale of property
|
- | 4,616 | ||||||
Liability
for uncertain tax positions
|
3,477 | 3,445 | ||||||
Minimum
pension obligation and unfunded pension liability
|
6,111 | 5,910 | ||||||
Total
Long-term Liabilities
|
10,213 | 14,377 | ||||||
Total
Liabilities
|
32,357 | 44,011 | ||||||
Commitments
and Contingencies
|
||||||||
Stockholders'
Equity:
|
||||||||
Preferred
stock, no par value, authorized 1,000,000 shares; none
issued
|
- | - | ||||||
Class
A common stock, par value $.10 per share - authorized 10,000,000 shares;
outstanding 2,174,912 and 2,180,982 shares, respectively (net of 1,072,770
treasury shares)
|
217 | 218 | ||||||
Class
B common stock, par value $.10 per share - authorized 30,000,000 shares;
outstanding 9,359,693 and 9,369,893 shares, respectively (net of 3,218,310
treasury shares)
|
936 | 937 | ||||||
Additional
paid-in capital
|
20,299 | 19,963 | ||||||
Retained
earnings
|
196,497 | 196,467 | ||||||
Accumulated
other comprehensive (loss) income
|
(1,582 | ) | 188 | |||||
Total
Stockholders' Equity
|
216,367 | 217,773 | ||||||
TOTAL
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
|
$ | 248,724 | $ | 261,784 |
See notes
to condensed consolidated financial statements.
3
BEL
FUSE INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(dollars
in thousands, except per share data)
Three
Months Ended
|
||||||||
March 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Net
Sales
|
$ | 43,871 | $ | 60,869 | ||||
Costs
and expenses:
|
||||||||
Cost
of sales
|
38,211 | 49,638 | ||||||
Selling,
general and administrative
|
7,653 | 8,933 | ||||||
Restructuring
charge
|
413 | - | ||||||
Gain
on sale of property, plant and equipment
|
(4,665 | ) | - | |||||
41,612 | 58,571 | |||||||
Income
from operations
|
2,259 | 2,298 | ||||||
Other,
net
|
8 | - | ||||||
Realized
gain (loss/impairment charge) on investment
|
2 | (280 | ) | |||||
Interest
income
|
181 | 913 | ||||||
Earnings
before provision for income taxes
|
2,450 | 2,931 | ||||||
Income
tax provision
|
1,634 | 764 | ||||||
Net
earnings
|
$ | 816 | $ | 2,167 | ||||
Earnings
per Class A common share
|
||||||||
Basic
|
$ | 0.06 | $ | 0.17 | ||||
Diluted
|
$ | 0.06 | $ | 0.17 | ||||
Weighted-average
Class A common shares outstanding
|
||||||||
Basic
|
2,176,156 | 2,532,408 | ||||||
Diluted
|
2,176,156 | 2,532,408 | ||||||
Earnings
per Class B common share
|
||||||||
Basic
|
$ | 0.07 | $ | 0.19 | ||||
Diluted
|
$ | 0.07 | $ | 0.19 | ||||
Weighted-average
Class B common shares outstanding
|
||||||||
Basic
|
9,362,115 | 9,306,940 | ||||||
Diluted
|
9,362,115 | 9,313,556 |
See notes to condensed consolidated financial
statements.
4
BEL
FUSE INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
(dollars
in thousands)
Accumulated
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other
|
Class
A
|
Class
B
|
Additional
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive
|
Retained
|
Comprehensive
|
Common
|
Common
|
Paid-In
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Total
|
(Loss)
Income
|
Earnings
|
Income
(loss)
|
Stock
|
Stock
|
Capital
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance,
January 1, 2008
|
$ | 244,527 | $ | 214,580 | $ | (344 | ) | $ | 255 | $ | 929 | $ | 29,107 | |||||||||||||||
Exercise
of stock options
|
312 | 3 | 309 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tax
benefits arising from the disposition of non-qualified incentive stock
options
|
39 | 39 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash
dividends declared on Class A common stock
|
(565 | ) | (565 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash
dividends declared on Class B common stock
|
(2,619 | ) | (2,619 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance
of restricted common stock
|
- | 6 | (6 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termination
of restricted common stock
|
- | (1 | ) | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchase/retirement
of Class A common stock
|
(11,002 | ) | (37 | ) | (10,965 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Currency
translation adjustment
|
(355 | ) | $ | (355 | ) | (355 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized
holding losses on marketable securities arising during the year, net of
taxes
|
(4,230 | ) | (4,230 | ) | (4,230 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Reclassification
adjustment of unrealized holding losses for impairment charge
included in net loss, net of tax
|
5,551 | 5,551 | 5,551 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based
compensation expense
|
1,478 | 1,478 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Change
in unfunded SERP liability, net of taxes
|
(434 | ) | (434 | ) | (434 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
loss
|
(14,929 | ) | (14,929 | ) | (14,929 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive
loss
|
$ | (14,397 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance,
December 31, 2008
|
$ | 217,773 | $ | 196,467 | $ | 188 | $ | 218 | $ | 937 | $ | 19,963 | ||||||||||||||||
Cash
dividends declared on Class A common stock
|
(131 | ) | (131 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash
dividends declared on Class B common stock
|
(655 | ) | (655 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termination
of restricted common stock
|
- | (1 | ) | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchase/retirement
of Class A common stock
|
(92 | ) | (1 | ) | (91 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Currency
translation adjustment
|
(524 | ) | $ | (524 | ) | (524 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized
holding losses on marketable securities arising during the year, net of
taxes
|
(1,246 | ) | (1,246 | ) | (1,246 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based
compensation expense
|
426 | 426 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
earnings
|
816 | 816 | 816 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive
loss
|
$ | (954 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance,
March 31, 2009
|
$ | 216,367 | $ | 196,497 | $ | (1,582 | ) | $ | 217 | $ | 936 | $ | 20,299 |
See notes
to condensed consolidated financial statements.
5
BEL
FUSE INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(dollars
in thousands)
Three
Months Ended
|
||||||||
March 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Cash
flows from operating activities:
|
||||||||
Net
earnings
|
$ | 816 | $ | 2,167 | ||||
Adjustments
to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operating
activities:
|
||||||||
Depreciation
and amortization
|
1,686 | 1,813 | ||||||
Stock-based
compensation
|
426 | 254 | ||||||
Restructuring
charges, net of cash payments
|
(183 | ) | ||||||
Gain
on sale of property, plant and equipment
|
(4,665 | ) | - | |||||
Realized
(gain) loss/impairment charge on investment
|
(2 | ) | 280 | |||||
Unrealized
foreign exchange transaction losses (gains)
|
176 | (139 | ) | |||||
Other,
net
|
496 | 157 | ||||||
Deferred
income taxes
|
1,953 | (248 | ) | |||||
Changes
in operating assets and liabilities
|
14,624 | 5,752 | ||||||
Net
Cash Provided by Operating Activities
|
15,327 | 10,036 | ||||||
Cash
flows from investing activities:
|
||||||||
Purchase
of property, plant and equipment
|
(410 | ) | (1,659 | ) | ||||
Purchase
of intangible asset
|
- | (150 | ) | |||||
Purchase
of marketable securities
|
(2,033 | ) | (10,124 | ) | ||||
Proceeds
from sale of property, plant and equipment
|
2,617 | - | ||||||
Redemption
of investment
|
1,454 | 7,766 | ||||||
Net
Cash Provided by (Used in) Investing Activities
|
1,628 | (4,167 | ) |
See notes
to condensed consolidated financial statements.
6
BEL
FUSE INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Continued)
(dollars
in thousands)
Three
Months Ended
|
||||||||
March 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Cash
flows from financing activities:
|
||||||||
Proceeds
from exercise of stock options
|
- | 49 | ||||||
Dividends
paid to common shareholders
|
(772 | ) | (765 | ) | ||||
Purchase
and retirement of Class A common stock
|
(92 | ) | (394 | ) | ||||
Net
Cash Used In Financing Activities
|
(864 | ) | (1,110 | ) | ||||
Effect
of exchange rate changes on cash
|
(128 | ) | 240 | |||||
Net
Increase in Cash and Cash Equivalents
|
15,963 | 4,999 | ||||||
Cash
and Cash Equivalents - beginning of period
|
74,955 | 83,875 | ||||||
Cash
and Cash Equivalents - end of period
|
$ | 90,918 | $ | 88,874 | ||||
Changes
in operating assets and liabilities consist
of:
|
||||||||
Decrease
in accounts receivable
|
$ | 14,862 | $ | 9,988 | ||||
Decrease
(increase) in inventories
|
7,938 | (3,234 | ) | |||||
Increase
in prepaid expenses and other current assets
|
(634 | ) | (453 | ) | ||||
Increase
in other assets
|
(6 | ) | (161 | ) | ||||
(Decrease)
increase in accounts payable
|
(3,464 | ) | 981 | |||||
Decrease
in accrued expenses
|
(3,496 | ) | (2,288 | ) | ||||
(Decrease)
increase in income taxes payable
|
(576 | ) | 919 | |||||
$ | 14,624 | $ | 5,752 | |||||
Supplementary
information:
|
||||||||
Cash
paid during the period for income taxes
|
$ | 207 | $ | 137 |
See notes
to condensed consolidated financial statements.
7
BEL FUSE
INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1.
|
BASIS
OF PRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTING
POLICIES
|
The
condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2009, and the condensed
consolidated statements of operations, stockholders' equity and cash flows for
the periods presented herein have been prepared by Bel Fuse Inc. (the "Company"
or "Bel") and are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments
(consisting solely of normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly
the financial position, results of operations, changes in stockholders' equity
and cash flows for all periods presented have been made. The results
for the three months ended March 31, 2009 should not be viewed as indicative of
the Company’s annual results or the Company’s results for any other
period. The information for the condensed consolidated balance sheet
as of December 31, 2008 was derived from audited financial
statements. These financial statements should be read in conjunction
with the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the
Bel Fuse Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2008.
2.
|
EARNINGS
PER SHARE
|
The
Company utilizes the two-class method to report its earnings per
share. The two-class method is an earnings allocation formula that
determines earnings per share for each class of common stock according to
dividends declared and participation rights in undistributed
earnings. The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, as amended,
states that Class B common shares are entitled to dividends at least 5% greater
than dividends paid to Class A common shares, resulting in the two-class method
of computing earnings per share. In computing earnings per share, the
Company has allocated dividends declared to Class A and Class B based on amounts
actually declared for each class of stock and 5% more of the undistributed
earnings have been allocated to Class B shares than to the Class A shares on a
per share basis. Basic earnings per common share are computed by
dividing net earnings by the weighted-average number of common shares
outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per common share, for
each class of common stock, are computed by dividing net earnings by the
weighted-average number of common shares and potential common shares outstanding
during the period. During the three months ended March 31, 2008, potential
common shares used in computing diluted earnings per share relate to stock
options for Class B common shares which, if exercised, would have a dilutive
effect on earnings per share. There were no stock options outstanding
during the three months ended March 31, 2009 which would have had a dilutive
effect on earnings per share.
8
The
earnings and weighted average shares outstanding used in the computation of
basic and diluted earnings per share are as follows (dollars in thousands,
except share and per share data):
Three
Months Ended
|
||||||||
March 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Numerator:
|
||||||||
Net
earnings
|
$ | 816 | $ | 2,167 | ||||
Less
Dividends:
|
||||||||
Class
A
|
131 | 158 | ||||||
Class
B
|
655 | 637 | ||||||
Undistributed
earnings
|
$ | 30 | $ | 1,372 | ||||
Undistributed
earnings allocation - basic:
|
||||||||
Class
A undistributed earnings
|
5 | 282 | ||||||
Class
B undistributed earnings
|
25 | 1,090 | ||||||
Total
undistributed earnings
|
$ | 30 | $ | 1,372 | ||||
Undistributed
earnings allocation - diluted:
|
||||||||
Class
A undistributed earnings
|
5 | 282 | ||||||
Class
B undistributed earnings
|
25 | 1,090 | ||||||
Total
undistributed earnings
|
$ | 30 | $ | 1,372 | ||||
Net
earnings allocation - basic:
|
||||||||
Class
A allocated earnings
|
136 | 440 | ||||||
Class
B allocated earnings
|
680 | 1,727 | ||||||
Net
earnings
|
$ | 816 | $ | 2,167 | ||||
Net
earnings allocation - diluted:
|
||||||||
Class
A allocated earnings
|
136 | 440 | ||||||
Class
B allocated earnings
|
680 | 1,727 | ||||||
Net
earnings
|
$ | 816 | $ | 2,167 | ||||
Denominator:
|
||||||||
Weighted-average
shares outstanding:
|
||||||||
Class
A - basic and diluted
|
2,176,156 | 2,532,408 | ||||||
Class
B - basic
|
9,362,115 | 9,306,940 | ||||||
Dilutive
impact of stock options
|
- | 6,616 | ||||||
Class
B - diluted
|
9,362,115 | 9,313,556 | ||||||
Earnings
per share:
|
||||||||
Class
A - basic
|
$ | 0.06 | $ | 0.17 | ||||
Class
A - diluted
|
$ | 0.06 | $ | 0.17 | ||||
Class
B - basic
|
$ | 0.07 | $ | 0.19 | ||||
Class
B - diluted
|
$ | 0.07 | $ | 0.19 |
During
the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, 53,000 outstanding options were
not included in the foregoing computations for Class B common shares because
their effect would be antidilutive.
9
3.
|
MARKETABLE
SECURITIES
|
At March
31, 2009 and December 31, 2008, marketable securities with an original cost of
approximately $24.6 million and $22.6 million had a carrying value of $13.8
million and $13.7 million, respectively. During the three months
ended March 31, 2008, the Company recorded realized losses/impairment charges on
its investments in the amount of $0.3 million. At March 31, 2009 and
December 31, 2008, respectively, gross unrealized (losses) gains on other
marketable securities of approximately ($2.0) million and $0.1 million are
included, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive (loss)
income.
Columbia Strategic Cash
Portfolio (“Columbia Portfolio”):
At March
31, 2009, the Company’s investment securities included privately placed units of
beneficial interests in the Columbia Portfolio, which is an enhanced cash fund
sold as an alternative to money-market funds. In December 2007, due
to adverse market conditions, the fund was overwhelmed with withdrawal requests
from investors and it was closed with a restriction placed upon the cash
redemption ability of its holders. At the time the liquidation was
announced, the Company held 25.7 million units of the Columbia Portfolio at a
book value of $25.7 million.
As of
March 31, 2009, the Company has received total cash redemptions to date of $20.3
million (including $1.5 million during the three months ended March 31, 2009) at
a weighted-average net asset value (NAV) of $.9547 per unit. As of
March 31, 2009, the Company holds 4.4 million units with a book value of $3.6
million and a fair market value of $3.7 million. The information and
the markets relating to these investments remain dynamic. There may
be further declines in the value of these investments, in the value of the
collateral held by these entities, and in the liquidity of the Company’s
investments. To the extent that the Company determines that there is
a further decline in fair value, the Company may recognize impairment charges in
future periods up to the aggregate carrying amount of these
investments.
Toko, Inc.
(“Toko”):
As of
March 31, 2009, the Company owned a total of 1,840,919 shares, or approximately
1.9%, of the outstanding shares, of the common stock of Toko. Toko
develops, manufactures and sells power supply related components and radio
frequency related components primarily in Japan. Toko had a market
capitalization of approximately $125.3 million as of March 31,
2009. These shares are reflected on the Company’s condensed
consolidated balance sheets as marketable securities. These
marketable securities are considered to be available for sale under Statement of
Financial Accounting Standards No. (“SFAS”) 115, “Accounting for Certain
Investments in Debt and Equity Securities”. At March 31, 2009 and
December 31, 2008, this investment had an adjusted basis of $2.0 million, and a
fair market value of $2.4 million and $2.1 million, respectively. The
gross unrealized gain of $0.3 million and $0.1 million at March 31, 2009 and
December 31, 2008, respectively, is included, net of tax, in accumulated other
comprehensive income (loss).
10
Power-One, Inc.
(“Power-One”):
As of
March 31, 2009, the Company owned a total of 7,338,998 shares of Power-One
common stock representing, to the Company’s knowledge, 8.4% of Power-One’s
outstanding common stock, at a total purchase price of $14.1 million ($1.92 per
share). Power-One’s common stock is quoted on the NASDAQ Global
Market. Power-One is a designer and manufacturer of power conversion
and power management products. At March 31, 2009, this investment had
an adjusted basis of $8.7 million ($1.19 per share) and a fair market value of
$6.5 million ($0.88 per share). At December 31, 2008, the basis of
this stock was adjusted to the fair market value of $8.7 million, as it was
determined that an other-than-temporary impairment existed. The gross
unrealized loss at March 31, 2009 of $2.3 million is included, net of income
tax, in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’
equity. Subsequent to March 31, 2009, the Power-One stock price
recovered to levels in excess of the Company’s carrying value of this investment
and, as a result, this investment was not other-than-temporarily impaired as of
March 31, 2009.
CDARS:
During
2008, the Company invested a total of $4.9 million in certificates of deposit
(CDs) through Stephens, Inc., with whom the Company has an investment banking
relationship. These investments are part of the Certificate of
Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS) program whereby the funds are invested
with various banks in order to achieve FDIC insurance on the full invested
amount. The CDs have an initial maturity of 26-weeks and an early
redemption feature with a 30-day interest penalty. During December
2008, $2.0 million of the CD’s matured and were temporarily renewed for a period
of 29 days and, accordingly, were considered to be a cash equivalent as of
December 31, 2008, due to the short-term nature of the investment. As
these CDs were renewed in January 2009 for a period of 13 weeks, they have been
classified as marketable securities in the condensed consolidated balance sheet
at March 31, 2009.
4.
|
FAIR
VALUE MEASUREMENT
|
The
Company adopted SFAS No. 157 “Fair Value Measurements”, as amended by Financial
Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Staff Position (“FSP”) 157-1, FSP 157-2, and
FSP 157-3 (collectively referred to as SFAS No. 157), on January 1, 2008,
for all financial assets and liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at
fair value in the condensed consolidated financial statements on a recurring
basis or on a nonrecurring basis during the reporting period. While the Company
adopted the provisions of SFAS No. 157 for nonfinancial assets and
liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial
statements on a recurring basis, no such assets or liabilities existed at the
balance sheet date. The Company, in accordance with FSP 157-2, delayed
implementation of SFAS No. 157 for all nonfinancial assets and liabilities
recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a
nonrecurring basis and adopted these provisions effective January 1,
2009.
In
accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 157, which clarifies that fair value
is an exit price, representing the price that would be received to sell an asset
or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market
participants at the measurement date, the Company utilizes market data or
assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or
liability. SFAS No. 157 establishes a three-tier fair value
hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair
value. These tiers include: Level 1, defined as observable
inputs such as quoted market prices in active markets; Level 2, defined as
inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or
indirectly observable; and Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs about which
little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its
own assumptions.
11
As of
March 31, 2009, the Company held certain financial assets that are measured at
fair value on a recurring basis. These consisted of the Company’s
investments in Toko stock, Power-One stock and CDARS (categorized as
available-for-sale securities). The fair value of these investments is
determined based on quoted market prices in public markets and is categorized as
Level 1. The Company does not have any financial assets measured at
fair value on a recurring basis categorized as Level 2 or Level 3, and there
were no transfers in or out of Level 2 or Level 3 during the three months ended
March 31, 2009.
The
following table sets forth by level, within SFAS 157’s fair value hierarchy, the
Company’s financial assets accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis as
of March 31, 2009 (dollars in thousands).
Assets at Fair Value as of March 31, 2009
|
||||||||||||||||
Total
|
Quoted Prices
in Active
Markets for
Identical
Assets
(Level 1)
|
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs
(Level 2)
|
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs
(Level 3)
|
|||||||||||||
Available-for-sale
securities
|
$ | 13,759 | $ | 13,759 | - | - | ||||||||||
Total
|
$ | 13,759 | $ | 13,759 | - | - |
The
following table sets forth by level, within SFAS 157’s fair value hierarchy, the
Company’s financial assets accounted for at fair value on a nonrecurring basis
as of March 31, 2009 (dollars in thousands). These consisted of the
Company’s investment in the Columbia Portfolio (categorized as an other
investment in the table below). The fair value of these investments
is determined based on significant other observable inputs and is categorized as
Level 2 (dollars in thousands).
Assets at Fair Value as of March 31, 2009
|
Total Gains
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Total
|
Quoted Prices
in Active
Markets for
Identical
Assets
(Level 1)
|
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs
(Level 2)
|
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs
(Level 3)
|
Three Months
Ended
March 31, 2009
|
||||||||||||||||
Other
investments
|
$ | 3,653 | - | $ | 3,653 | - | $ | 2 | ||||||||||||
Total
|
$ | 3,653 | - | $ | 3,653 | - | $ | 2 |
There
were no changes to the Company’s valuation techniques used to measure asset fair
values on a recurring or nonrecurring basis during the three months ended March
31, 2009 and the Company did not have any financial liabilities as of March 31,
2009.
Nonfinancial
assets and liabilities accounted for at fair value on a nonrecurring basis
include items such as goodwill and long-lived assets that are measured at fair
value to test for and measure an impairment charge, when
necessary. There were no triggering events during the first quarter
of 2009 which warranted an impairment test on the Company’s goodwill or
long-lived assets.
12
5.
|
COMPANY-OWNED
LIFE INSURANCE
|
Investments
in company-owned life insurance policies (“COLI”) were made with the intention
of utilizing them as a long-term funding source for the Company’s supplemental
retirement plan obligations, which amounted to $6.1 million at March 31, 2009.
However, the cash surrender value of the COLI does not represent a committed
funding source for these obligations. Any proceeds from these
policies are subject to claims from creditors, and the Company can designate
them to another purpose at any time. The fair market value of the
COLI of $3.6 million and $3.8 million as of March 31, 2009 and December 31,
2008, respectively, is included in other assets in the accompanying condensed
consolidated balance sheets. During the first quarter of 2009,
significant declines in global equity markets had a significant effect in
reducing the cash surrender value and as a result, the Company recorded a $0.3
million charge to account for the reduction in cash surrender
value. This charge was allocated between cost of sales and selling,
general and administrative expenses on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of
Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2009. The allocation
is consistent with the costs associated with the long-term employee benefit
obligations that the COLI is intended to fund.
6.
|
INVENTORIES
|
The
components of inventories are as follows (dollars in thousands):
March 31,
|
December 31,
|
|||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Raw
materials
|
$ | 21,858 | $ | 25,527 | ||||
Work
in progress
|
1,551 | 1,650 | ||||||
Finished
goods
|
15,011 | 19,347 | ||||||
$ | 38,420 | $ | 46,524 |
Inventories
are shown net of an allowance for excess and obsolete inventory of $3.6 million
and $4.1 million as of March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008,
respectively.
13
7.
|
BUSINESS
SEGMENT INFORMATION
|
The
Company operates in one industry with three reportable segments. The
segments are geographic and include North America, Asia and
Europe. The primary criteria by which financial performance is
evaluated and resources are allocated are revenues and operating
income. The following is a summary of key financial data (dollars in
thousands):
Three
Months Ended
|
||||||||
March 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Total
segment revenues
|
||||||||
North
America
|
$ | 11,306 | $ | 22,991 | ||||
Asia
|
33,798 | 42,139 | ||||||
Europe
|
5,040 | 6,786 | ||||||
Total
segment revenues
|
50,144 | 71,916 | ||||||
Reconciling
items:
|
||||||||
Intersegment
revenues
|
(6,273 | ) | (11,047 | ) | ||||
Net
sales
|
$ | 43,871 | $ | 60,869 | ||||
Income
(loss) from Operations:
|
||||||||
North
America
|
$ | 2,570 | $ | 1,097 | ||||
Asia
|
(192 | ) | 841 | |||||
Europe
|
(119 | ) | 360 | |||||
$ | 2,259 | $ | 2,298 |
8.
|
DEBT
|
Short-term
debt
The
Company has an unsecured credit agreement in the amount of $20 million, which
expires on September 10, 2011. There have not been any borrowings
under the credit agreement and, as such, there was no balance outstanding as of
March 31, 2009. At that date, the entire $20 million line of credit
was available to the Company to borrow. The credit agreement bears
interest at LIBOR plus 0.75% to 1.25% based on certain financial statement
ratios maintained by the Company.
The
Company’s Hong Kong subsidiary had an unsecured line of credit of approximately
$2 million which was unused as of March 31, 2009. The line of credit
expired on January 31, 2009 and was renewed on February 10, 2009. Any
borrowing on the line of credit will be guaranteed by the U.S.
parent. The line of credit bears interest at a rate determined by the
bank as the financing is extended.
9.
|
INCOME
TAXES
|
In
accordance with the provisions of FASB Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for
Uncertainties in Income Taxes”, as of March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008, the
Company has approximately $7.4 million and $7.3 million, respectively, of
liabilities for uncertain tax positions ($3.9 million and $3.9 million,
respectively, included in income tax payable and $3.5 million and $3.4 million,
respectively, included in liability for uncertain tax positions) all of which,
if recognized, would reduce the Company’s effective tax rate.
14
The
Company and its subsidiaries file income tax returns in the U.S. federal
jurisdiction and various states and foreign jurisdictions. The
Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal examinations by tax authorities for
years before 2005 and for state examinations before
2004. Regarding foreign subsidiaries, the Company is no longer
subject to examination by tax authorities for years before 2002 in the Far East
and generally 2004 in Europe.
As a
result of the expiration of the statute of limitations for specific
jurisdictions, it is reasonably possible that the related unrecognized benefits
for tax positions taken regarding previously filed tax returns may change
materially from those recorded as liabilities for uncertain tax positions in the
Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements at March 31,
2009. A total of $3.9 million of previously recorded
liabilities for uncertain tax positions relates to the 2005 tax
year. The statute of limitations related to this liability is
scheduled to expire on September 15, 2009.
The
Company’s policy is to recognize interest and penalties related to uncertain tax
positions as a component of the current provision for income
taxes. During the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, the
Company recognized an immaterial amount and approximately $0.1 million,
respectively, in interest and penalties in the Condensed Consolidated Statements
of Operations. The Company has approximately $1.6 million and $1.6
million accrued for the payment of interest and penalties at March 31, 2009 and
December 31, 2008, respectively, which is included in both income taxes payable
and liability for uncertain tax positions in the Condensed Consolidated Balance
Sheets.
10.
|
ACCRUED
EXPENSES
|
Accrued
expenses consist of the following (dollars in thousands):
March 31,
|
December 31,
|
|||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Sales
commissions
|
$ | 1,150 | $ | 1,598 | ||||
Contract
labor
|
1,429 | 2,939 | ||||||
Salaries,
bonuses and related benefits
|
1,920 | 2,834 | ||||||
Other
|
1,920 | 2,582 | ||||||
$ | 6,419 | $ | 9,953 |
See Note
19 for discussion and details associated with restructuring
accruals.
11.
|
RETIREMENT
FUND AND PROFIT SHARING PLAN
|
The
Company maintains a domestic profit sharing plan and a contributory stock
ownership and savings 401(K) plan, which combines stock ownership and individual
voluntary savings provisions to provide retirement benefits for plan
participants. The expense for the three months ended March 31, 2009
and 2008 amounted to approximately $0.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively.
As of March 31, 2009, the plans owned 17,113 and 167,853 shares of Bel Fuse Inc.
Class A and Class B common stock, respectively.
The
Company's subsidiaries in Asia have a retirement fund covering substantially all
of their Hong Kong based full-time employees. The expense for the
three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 amounted to approximately $0.1
million for both periods. As of March 31, 2009, the plan owned 3,323
and 17,342 shares of Bel Fuse Inc. Class A and Class B common stock,
respectively.
15
The
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (the "SERP" or the “Plan”) is designed to
provide a limited group of key management and highly compensated employees of
the Company with supplemental retirement and death benefits.
The
components of SERP expense are as follows (dollars in
thousands):
Three Months Ended
|
||||||||
March 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Service
cost
|
$ | 96 | $ | 73 | ||||
Interest
cost
|
88 | 76 | ||||||
Amortization
of adjustments
|
37 | 33 | ||||||
Total
SERP expense
|
$ | 221 | $ | 182 |
March 31,
|
December 31,
|
|||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Balance
sheet amounts:
|
||||||||
Minimum
pension obligation and unfunded pension liability
|
$ | 6,111 | $ | 5,910 | ||||
Accumulated
other comprehensive (loss) income
|
(1,588 | ) | (1,588 | ) |
12.
|
SHARE-BASED
COMPENSATION
|
The
Company records compensation expense in its Condensed Consolidated Statements of
Operations related to employee stock-based options and awards in accordance with
SFAS No. 123(R) “Share-Based Payment”. The aggregate pretax
compensation cost recognized in net earnings for stock-based compensation
(including incentive stock options and restricted stock, as further discussed
below) amounted to approximately $0.4 million and $0.3 million, respectively,
for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008. The Company did
not use any cash to settle any equity instruments granted under share-based
arrangements during the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008.
Stock
Options
The
Company has an equity compensation program (the "Program") which provides for
the granting of "Incentive Stock Options" within the meaning of Section 422 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, non-qualified stock options and
restricted stock awards. No stock options were granted during the
three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008.
16
Information
regarding the Company’s stock options for the three months ended March 31, 2009
is as follows. All of the stock options noted below relate to options
to purchase shares of the Company’s Class B common stock.
Weighted
|
|||||||||||||
Average
|
|||||||||||||
Weighted
|
Remaining
|
Aggregate
|
|||||||||||
Average
|
Contractual
|
Intrinsic
|
|||||||||||
Options
|
Shares
|
Exercise Price
|
Term
|
Value (000's)
|
|||||||||
Outstanding
at January 1, 2009
|
53,000 | $ | 31.48 | ||||||||||
Granted
|
- | ||||||||||||
Exercised
|
- | ||||||||||||
Forfeited
or expired
|
- | ||||||||||||
Outstanding
at March 31, 2009
|
53,000 | $ | 31.48 |
1.0 years
|
$ | - | |||||||
Exercisable
at March 31, 2009
|
38,000 | $ | 32.26 |
0.9 years
|
$ | - |
No stock
options were exercised during the three months ended March 31,
2009. During the three months ended March 31, 2008, a nominal amount
of stock options were exercised and, as a result, the amount received from the
exercise of stock options and the associated intrinsic value and tax benefits
related to these exercises were minimal. Stock compensation expense applicable
to stock options was minimal for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and
2008.
A summary
of the status of the Company's unvested stock options as of December 31, 2008
and changes during the three months ended March 31, 2009 is presented
below:
Weighted-Average
|
||||||||
Grant-Date
|
||||||||
Unvested Stock Options
|
Shares
|
Fair Value
|
||||||
Unvested
at December 31, 2008
|
15,000 | $ | 29.50 | |||||
Granted
|
- | - | ||||||
Vested
|
- | - | ||||||
Forfeited
|
- | - | ||||||
Unvested
at March 31, 2009
|
15,000 | $ | 29.50 |
At March
31, 2009, the Company has recognized all costs related to unvested stock options
arrangements under the Program. Currently, the Company believes that
substantially all options will vest.
Restricted
Stock Awards
The
Company provides common stock awards to certain officers and key
associates. The Company grants these awards, at its discretion, from
the shares available under the Program. Unless otherwise provided at
the date of grant or unless subsequently accelerated, the shares awarded vest in
25% increments on the second, third, fourth and fifth anniversaries of the
award, respectively, and are distributed provided the employee has remained
employed by the Company through such anniversary dates; otherwise the unearned
shares are forfeited. The market value of these shares at the date of
award is recorded as compensation expense on the straight-line method over the
five year periods
from the respective award dates, as adjusted for forfeitures of unvested awards.
No common stock awards were granted by the Company during the three months ended
March 31, 2009 or 2008. In connection with awards granted in prior
years, the Company recorded pre-tax compensation expense of $0.4 million and
$0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008,
respectively.
17
A summary
of the activity under the Restricted Stock Awards Plan as of January 1, 2009 and
for the three months ended March 31, 2009 is presented below:
Weighted
|
|||||||||
Weighted
|
Average
|
||||||||
Average
|
Remaining
|
||||||||
Restricted Stock
|
Award
|
Contractual
|
|||||||
Awards
|
Shares
|
Price
|
Term
|
||||||
Outstanding
at January 1, 2009
|
202,900 | $ | 32.58 |
3.06
years
|
|||||
Granted
|
- | - | |||||||
Vested
|
- | - | |||||||
Forfeited
|
(10,200 | ) | 29.14 | ||||||
Outstanding
at March 31, 2009
|
192,700 | $ | 32.76 |
2.78
years
|
As of
March 31, 2009, there was $3.9 million of total pre-tax unrecognized
compensation cost included within additional paid-in-capital related to
non-vested stock based compensation arrangements granted under the restricted
stock award plan; that cost is expected to be recognized over a period of 4.1
years. The Company's policy is to issue new shares to satisfy
Restricted Stock Awards and incentive stock option exercises. In
calculating the stock-based compensation expense related to stock awards, the
Company has estimated that 5% of the outstanding unvested stock awards will
forfeit each year related to employee attrition.
13.
|
COMMON
STOCK
|
During
2000, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized the purchase of up to ten
percent of the Company’s outstanding common shares. As of March 31, 2009, the
Company had purchased and retired 23,600 Class B common shares at a cost of
approximately $0.8 million and had purchased and retired 527,817 Class A common
shares at a cost of approximately $16.8 million. No shares of Class B
common stock were repurchased during the three months ended March 31, 2009 and
6,070 shares of Class A common stock were repurchased during the three months
ended March 31, 2009 at a cost of $0.1 million.
As of
March 31, 2009, to the Company’s knowledge, there were two shareholders of the
Company’s common stock with ownership in excess of 10% of Class A outstanding
shares with no ownership of the Company’s Class B common stock. In
accordance with the Company’s certificate of incorporation, the Class B
Protection clause is triggered if a shareholder owns 10% or more of the
outstanding Class A common stock and does not own an equal or greater percentage
of all then outstanding shares of both Class A and Class B common stock (all of
which common stock must have been acquired after the date of the 1998
recapitalization). In such a circumstance, such shareholder must,
within 90 days of the trigger date, purchase Class B common shares, in an amount
and at a price determined in accordance with a formula described in the
Company’s certificate of incorporation, or forfeit its right to vote its Class A
common shares. As of March 31, 2009, to the Company’s knowledge,
these shareholders had not purchased any Class B shares to comply with these
requirements. In order to vote their shares at Bel’s next
shareholders’ meeting, these shareholders must either purchase the required
number of Class B common shares or sell or otherwise transfer Class A common
shares until their Class A holdings are under 10%. As of March 31,
2009, to the Company’s knowledge, these shareholders owned 17.0% and 12.1%,
respectively, of the Company’s Class A common stock in the aggregate and had not
taken steps to either purchase the required number of Class B common shares or
sell or otherwise transfer Class A common shares until their Class A holdings
fall below 10%.
18
There are
no contractual restrictions on the Company's ability to pay dividends provided
the Company is not in default immediately before such payment and after giving
effect to such payment. On February 1, 2009, the Company paid a $0.07 per share
dividend to all shareholders of record of Class B Common Stock in the total
amount of $0.6 million and a $0.06 per share dividend to all shareholders of
record of Class A Common Stock in the total amount of $0.2 million.
14.
|
COMPREHENSIVE
INCOME
|
Comprehensive
(loss) income for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 consists of the
following (dollars in thousands):
Three Months Ended
|
||||||||
March 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Net
earnings
|
$ | 816 | $ | 2,167 | ||||
Currency
translation adjustment
|
(524 | ) | 719 | |||||
(Decrease)
increase in unrealized gain on marketable securities - net of
taxes
|
(1,246 | ) | 2,894 | |||||
Comprehensive
(loss) income
|
$ | (954 | ) | $ | 5,780 |
The
components of accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income as of March 31, 2009
and December 31, 2008 are summarized below (dollars in thousands):
March 31,
|
December 31,
|
|||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Foreign
currency translation adjustment
|
$ | 1,222 | $ | 1,746 | ||||
Unrealized
holding loss on available-for-sale securities under SFAS No. 115, net of
taxes of ($740) and $23 as of March 31, 2009 and December 31,
2008
|
(1,216 | ) | 30 | |||||
Unfunded
SERP liability, net of taxes of ($606) as of March 31, 2009 and December
31, 2008
|
(1,588 | ) | (1,588 | ) | ||||
Accumulated
other comprehensive (loss) income
|
$ | (1,582 | ) | $ | 188 |
19
15.
|
SALE
OF PROPERTY
|
During
May 2007, the Company sold a parcel of land located in Jersey City, New Jersey
for $6.0 million. In December 2007, the Tidelands Resource Council
voted to approve the Bureau of Tideland’s Management’s recommendation for a
Statement of No Interest. On March 14, 2008, the Commissioner of the
Department of Environmental Protection signed a letter to approve the Statement
of No Interest. As final approval of the Statement of No Interest was
still pending as of December 31, 2008, the Company continued to defer the
estimated gain on sale of the land, in the amount of $4.6 million. Of
the $6.0 million sales price, the Company received cash of $1.5 million before
closing costs, and $4.6 million (including interest) was being held in escrow
pending final resolution of the State of New Jersey tideland claim and certain
environmental costs. During 2007, the Company paid $0.4 million
related to environmental costs, which approximated the maximum amount of
environmental costs for which the Company is liable. During May 2008,
the title company released $2.3 million of the escrow and, as such, $2.3
remained in escrow and had been classified as restricted cash as of December 31,
2008. In February 2009, the final approval of the Statement of No
Interest was received from the State of New Jersey. In March 2009,
the title company released the remaining escrow of $2.3 million and
corresponding guarantees and the Company recognized the gain associated with the
sale of this property in the amount of $4.6 million.
16.
|
NEW
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
|
In
September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements”, which
enhances existing guidance for measuring assets and liabilities using fair
value. This Standard provides a single definition of fair value,
together with a framework for measuring it, and requires additional disclosure
about the use of fair value to measure assets and
liabilities. In February 2008, the FASB issued FASB
Staff Position SFAS 157-1, “Application of SFAS No. 157 to SFAS No. 13 and Its
Related Interpretative Accounting Pronouncements that Address Leasing
Transactions” (“FSP SFAS 157-1”) and FASB Staff Position SFAS 157-2, “Effective
Date of SFAS No. 157” (“FSP SFAS 157-2”). FSP SFAS 157-1 excludes SFAS No.
13 and its related interpretive accounting pronouncements that address leasing
transactions from the requirements of SFAS No. 157, with the exception of fair
value measurements of assets and liabilities recorded as a result of a lease
transaction but measured pursuant to other pronouncements within the scope of
SFAS No. 157. FSP SFAS 157-2 delays the effective date of SFAS No. 157 for
all nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, except those that are
recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring
basis (at least annually). FSP SFAS 157-1 and FSP SFAS 157-2 became effective
for the Company upon adoption of SFAS No. 157 on January 1, 2008. See
Note 4 of Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for
disclosures related to the Company’s financial assets accounted for at fair
value on a recurring or nonrecurring basis. The Company completed its
implementation of SFAS No. 157 effective January 1, 2009 and it did not have a
material impact on its financial statements.
In
December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141(R), which replaces SFAS No. 141
“Business Combinations”. This Statement is intended to improve the
relevance, completeness and representational faithfulness of the information
provided in financial reports about the assets acquired and the liabilities
assumed in a business combination. This Statement requires an
acquirer to recognize the assets acquired, the liabilities assumed, and any
noncontrolling interest in the acquiree at the acquisition date, measured at
their fair values as of that date, with limited exceptions specified in the
Statement. Under SFAS No. 141(R), acquisition-related costs,
including restructuring costs, must be recognized separately from the
acquisition and will generally be expensed as incurred. That replaces
SFAS No. 141’s cost-allocation process, which required the cost of an
acquisition to be allocated to the individual assets acquired and liabilities
assumed based on their estimated fair values. SFAS No. 141(R) shall
be applied prospectively to business combinations for which the acquisition date
is on or after the beginning of the first annual report period beginning on or
after December 15, 2008. The Company has adopted SFAS No. 141(R)
effective January 1, 2009 and it did not have a material impact on its financial
statements.
20
In May
2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 162, “The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles”. SFAS No. 162 identifies the sources of
accounting principles and the framework for selecting the principles to be used
in the preparation of financial statements of nongovernmental entities that are
presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in
the United States. The Company has adopted SFAS No. 162 effective
January 1, 2009 and it did not have a material impact on its financial
statements.
17.
|
LEGAL
PROCEEDINGS
|
The
Company is, from time to time, a party to litigation arising in the normal
course of its business, including various claims of patent
infringement. See the Company’s 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the details of all of Bel’s pending lawsuits. There were no material
developments related to any of the Company’s lawsuits since the filing of the
Company’s 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
18.
|
RELATED
PARTY TRANSACTIONS
|
As of
March 31, 2009, the Company has $2.0 million invested in a money market fund
with GAMCO Investors, Inc. (“GAMCO”). GAMCO is a current shareholder
of the Company, with holdings of its Class A stock of approximately
12.1%. However, as discussed in Note 13, GAMCO’s voting rights are
currently suspended.
19.
|
RESTRUCTURING
ACTIVITY
|
The
Company ceased all manufacturing operations at its Bel Power Inc. facility in
Westborough, Massachusetts as of December 31, 2008. The costs
associated with this closure are being accounted for under SFAS No. 146
“Accounting for Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal
Activities”. The Company incurred $0.4 million of restructuring
charges during the three months ended March 31, 2009, including $0.1 million
related to severance and related benefits. The Company has been unable to
sublease the facility in Westborough, Massachusetts and in light of the current
real estate market, it is not anticipated that a sublease can be reasonably
obtained for this facility. As a result, the Company has recorded an
additional charge of $0.3 million related to its facility lease obligation
during the three months ended March 31, 2009. These charges impacted
the operating profit of the Company’s North America operating
segment.
Activity
and liability balances related to the restructuring charges for the three months
ended March 31, 2009 are as follows:
Liability at
|
New
|
Cash Payments &
|
Liability at
|
|||||||||||||
December 31, 2008
|
Charges
|
Other Settlements
|
March 31, 2009
|
|||||||||||||
Termination
benefit charges
|
$ | 437 | $ | 121 | $ | (558 | ) | $ | - | |||||||
Facility
lease obligation
|
524 | 292 | (38 | ) | 778 | |||||||||||
$ | 961 | $ | 413 | $ | (596 | ) | $ | 778 |
The
Company has included the current portion of $0.2 million in accrued
restructuring in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at March 31, 2009, and
has classified the remaining $0.6 million of the liability related to the
facility lease obligation as noncurrent.
20.
|
SUBSEQUENT
EVENT
|
In April 2009, as part of the
quarter-end review, the Company's internal accounting personnel identified a
questionable entry in the Company's stock option exercise records. After
questioning by management, a Company employee (the "Employee") responsible for
certain aspects of the Company's benefit plan administration admitted
fabricating certain Company records for his own benefit in order to enable him
to exercise stock options that had not been granted to him by the Company's
Compensation Committee. The Company's management immediately terminated the
employment of the Employee and reported the matter to the Company's Audit
Committee and external auditors. The Audit Committee, in turn, directed internal
accounting personnel to investigate this matter and directed counsel to engage a
forensic accounting firm to supplement the Company's internal review.
The
Company's internal review has focused on the Employee's role in the
administration of the Company's stock option plan, 401(k) plan and
profit-sharing plan. The following determinations have been made:
|
·
|
With
respect to the stock option plan, the Company has determined that over a
period of approximately eight years, the Employee exercised options
covering 28,000 shares of Class B Common Stock on the basis of
documentation that the Employee fabricated. The fair value of these 28,000
shares at the times of issuance approximated $0.8 million. Option
exercises covering an additional 3,500 shares are questionable but have
not, as yet, been determined to be based on fabricated documentation. The
Employee has returned 24,000 shares to the Company for cancellation with a
fair market value on the dates of their return of approximately $0.4
million.
|
|
·
|
With
respect to the Company's 401(k) plan, the Company has determined that over
the same approximate eight year period, the Employee made paper entries to
artificially increase the balance in his 401(k) account by a total of
$44,300. The Employee has not withdrawn any funds in his 401(k) account.
Accordingly, the Company intends to recoup such $44,300 directly from the
Employee's 401(k) account.
|
|
·
|
With
respect to the Company's profit-sharing plan, the Company has determined
that the Employee diverted to his account a total of $3,600 credited to
the account of an employee whose employment had terminated and who
therefore was about to forfeit his profit-sharing interest. The Employee
has not withdrawn any funds in his profit-sharing account. The Company
intends to recoup such $3,600 directly from the Employee's profit-sharing
account.
|
The
review by the Company's internal accounting personnel is substantially complete.
The Company's forensic accounting firm is in the process of performing an email
search designed to ascertain whether there is any evidence that the Employee's
actions extended beyond his own personal accounts or whether other employees
were directly involved in such actions. To date, the Company has not discovered
any evidence that suggests that the fraudulent practices identified pursuant to
the internal investigation extended beyond the Employee's personal accounts or
directly involved Company personnel other than the Employee.
21
Item
2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations
The
Company’s quarterly and annual operating results are impacted by a wide variety
of factors that could materially and adversely affect revenues and
profitability, including the risk factors described in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. As a result of these
and other factors, the Company may experience material fluctuations in future
operating results on a quarterly or annual basis, which could materially and
adversely affect its business, financial condition, operating results, and stock
prices. Furthermore, this document and other documents filed by the
Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) contain certain
forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 (“Forward-Looking Statements”) with respect to the business of the
Company. These Forward-Looking Statements are subject to certain
risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in Item 1A of the Company’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, which could
cause actual results to differ materially from these Forward-Looking
Statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release
the results of any revisions to these Forward-Looking Statements which may be
necessary to reflect events or circumstances after the date such statements are
made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. An
investment in the Company involves various risks, including those which are
detailed from time to time in the Company’s SEC filings.
Overview
Our
Company
Bel is a
leading producer of electronic products that help make global connectivity a
reality. The Company designs, manufactures and markets a broad array of
magnetics, modules (including power conversion and integrated modules), circuit
protection devices and interconnect products. While these products
are deployed primarily in the computer, networking and telecommunication
industries, Bel’s expanding portfolio of products also finds application in the
automotive, medical and consumer electronics markets. Bel's
products are designed to protect, regulate, connect, isolate or manage a variety
of electronic circuits.
Bel’s
business is operated through three geographic segments: North
America, Asia and Europe. During the three months ended March 31,
2009, 67% of the Company’s revenues were derived from Asia, 23% from North
America and 10% from its Europe operating segment. Sales of the
Company’s magnetic products represented approximately 45% of the Company’s total
net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2009. These sales are
primarily driven by working closely with the Company’s customers’ engineering
staffs and aligning them with industry standards committees and various
integrated circuit (IC) manufacturers. The remaining revenues related
to sales of the Company’s modules products (33%), interconnect products (17%)
and circuit protection products (5%).
The
Company’s expenses are driven principally by the cost of labor where Bel’s
factories are located and the cost of the materials that it uses. As
labor and material costs vary by product line, any significant shift in product
mix has an associated impact on the Company’s costs of sales. Bel
generally enters into processing arrangements with several independent third
party contractors in Asia. Costs are recorded as incurred for all
products manufactured either at third party facilities or at the Company's own
manufacturing facilities. Such amounts are determined based upon the
estimated stage of production and include labor cost and fringes and related
allocations of factory overhead. The Company manufactures finished goods at its
own manufacturing facilities in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, Inwood, New York, the
Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the Czech Republic.
22
Trends
Affecting our Business
The
Company believes the key factors affecting Bel’s first quarter 2009 and future
results include the following:
|
·
|
Increasing
pressures in the U.S. and global economy related to the global economic
downturn, the credit crisis, volatility in interest rates, investment
returns, energy prices and other elements that impact commercial and
end-user consumer spending are creating a highly challenging environment
for Bel and its customers.
|
|
·
|
These
weakening economic conditions have resulted in reductions in capital
expenditures by end-user consumers of our products, resulting in a
decreased backlog of orders in
2009.
|
|
·
|
With
the overall reduction in demand in our industry, competition will continue
to increase. As a result, Bel is being faced with pricing pressures, which
will impact Bel’s future profit
margins.
|
|
·
|
Commodity
prices, especially those pertaining to gold and copper, have been highly
volatile. Fluctuations in these prices and other commodity
prices associated with Bel’s raw materials will have a corresponding
impact on our profit margins.
|
|
·
|
The
costs of labor, particularly in the People’s Republic of China where
several of Bel’s factories are located, have risen significantly as a
result of government mandates for new minimum wage and overtime
requirements (effective April 2008). These higher labor rates
will continue to have a negative impact on Bel’s profit
margins.
|
|
·
|
The
global nature of Bel’s business exposes Bel to earnings volatility
resulting from exchange rate
fluctuations.
|
These
factors are expected to continue into the foreseeable future. With
reduced demand for Bel’s products, coupled with maintaining competitive pricing
and the challenge of curbing internal costs, the Company anticipates that its
results of operations for the remainder of 2009 will be materially adversely
affected by the continuing economic crisis.
23
First
Quarter 2009 Results
The current market conditions have
impacted the Company considerably during the three months ended March 31,
2009.
|
·
|
Net
Sales. The Company’s sales decreased by $17.0 million or
27.9% during the three months ended March 31, 2009 as compared to the same
period of 2008, primarily due to a reduction in demand across all product
lines related to weakening global economic
conditions.
|
|
·
|
Income from
Operations. During the three months ended March 31,
2009, the Company recorded a gain on sale of property in the amount of
$4.6 million, which is included in income from
operations. Excluding this gain, income from operations for the
three months ended March 31, 2008 of $2.3 million decreased by $4.7
million to a loss from operations of $2.4 million for the three months
ended March 31, 2009. The exclusion of such gain results in a
Non-GAAP Financial Measure, which is presented in order to assist the
reader in comparing income from operations from one quarter to another
quarter. The decrease in income from operations after excluding
such gain is primarily attributable to the
following:
|
|
§
|
Rising
Bill of Material Costs. Bel continues to increase its sales
volume of a particular product line within the modules group in which a
larger percentage of the final product is comprised of purchased
components. In addition, sales revenue in other product lines
has decreased, thereby increasing the proportion of total sales
represented by this product line, and reducing gross
margins.
|
|
§
|
Restructuring
Charges. The Company ceased manufacturing at its Bel Power
manufacturing facility in Westborough, Massachusetts as of December 31,
2008. Related to this closure, the Company incurred severance
costs of $0.1 million and costs associated with its facility lease
obligation of $0.3 million during the three months ended March 31,
2009.
|
|
§
|
Reduced
Labor Costs. The Company experienced a significant increase in
customer demand after the Lunar New Year in early February 2008, leading
to large number of new workers being hired and the associated training
costs, production inefficiencies and excessive overtime. Due to
reduced demand in the first quarter of 2009, additional workforce was not
needed.
|
|
§
|
Reduction
in Selling, General and Administrative (“SG&A”)
Expenses. SG&A expenses were $1.3 million lower during the
first quarter of 2009 as compared to the same period of
2008. This reduction was primarily due to lower commissions
from the reduced sales volume, administrative headcount reductions and
travel restrictions put in place during the first quarter of
2009.
|
|
·
|
Net
Earnings. The Company’s net earnings decreased
significantly from $2.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2008
to $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009. In
addition to the factors impacting income from operations discussed above,
the following non-operating factors impacted the first quarter 2009 net
earnings:
|
|
§
|
Reduced
Interest Rates. Interest income decreased from $0.9 million
during the first quarter of 2008 to $0.2 million during the first quarter
of 2009 as a result of significantly lower interest rates earned on
invested balances during the first quarter of
2009.
|
24
|
§
|
Income
tax expense of $1.7 million was recognized, related to the gain on sale of
property described above.
|
Critical Accounting
Policies
The Company’s discussion and analysis
of its financial condition and results of operations are based upon the
Company’s consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in
accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America. The preparation of these financial statements requires the Company to
make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets,
liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets
and liabilities. On an on-going basis, the Company evaluates its estimates,
including those related to product returns, bad debts, inventories, intangible
assets, investments, SERP expense, income taxes and contingencies and
litigation. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on
various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the
circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about
the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from
other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different
assumptions or conditions. For a discussion of the Company’s critical
accounting policies, see the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2008.
Results of
Operations
The following table sets forth, for the
periods presented, the percentage relationship to net sales of certain items
included in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of
operations.
Percentage of Net Sales
|
||||||||
Three Months Ended
|
||||||||
March 31,
|
||||||||
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
Net
sales
|
100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | ||||
Cost
of sales
|
87.1 | 81.5 | ||||||
Selling,
general and administrative expenses
|
17.4 | 14.7 | ||||||
Restructuring
charge
|
0.9 | - | ||||||
Gain
on sale of property, plant and equipment
|
(10.6 | ) | - | |||||
Realized
gain (loss/impairment charge) on investment
|
- | (0.5 | ) | |||||
Interest
income
|
0.4 | 1.5 | ||||||
Earnings
before provision for income taxes
|
5.6 | 4.8 | ||||||
Income
tax provision
|
3.7 | 1.3 | ||||||
Net
earnings
|
1.9 | 3.6 |
25
The following table sets forth the year
over year percentage increase or decrease of certain items included in the
Company's condensed consolidated statements of operations.
Increase
(decrease) from
|
||||
Prior Period
|
||||
Three
Months Ended
|
||||
March
31, 2009
|
||||
Compared
with
|
||||
Three
Months Ended
|
||||
March 31, 2008
|
||||
Net
sales
|
(27.9 | ) % | ||
Cost
of sales
|
(23.0 | ) | ||
Selling,
general and administrative expenses
|
(14.3 | ) | ||
Net
earnings
|
(62.3 | ) |
THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31,
2009 VERSUS
THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31,
2008
Sales
Net sales decreased 27.9% from $60.9
million during the three months ended March 31, 2008 to $43.9 million during the
three months ended March 31, 2009. The Company attributes the decrease to a
reduction in demand across all major product groups as a result of the weakening
economic conditions.
The significant components of the
Company's revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2009 were magnetic
products of $20.0 million (as compared with $25.0 million during the three
months ended March 31, 2008), interconnect products of $7.4 million (as compared
with $12.0 million during the three months ended March 31, 2008), module
products of $14.4 million (as compared with $19.9 million during the three
months ended March 31, 2008), and circuit protection products of $2.1 million
(as compared with $4.0 million during the three months ended March 31,
2008).
Cost of
Sales
Cost of sales as a percentage of net
sales increased from 81.5% during the three months ended March 31, 2008 to 87.1%
during the three months ended March 31, 2009. The increase in the cost of sales
percentage is primarily attributable to the following:
¨
|
Material
costs as a percentage of sales have increased from 53.3% during the three
months ended March 31, 2008 to 57.0% during the three months ended March
31, 2009. Sales of a particular product line within the modules
group have increased to 15% of total sales for the three months ended
March 31, 2009 as compared to 11% of total sales in the same period in
2008. Much of this increase was due to revenue declines in
other product lines. While these products are strategic to
Bel’s growth and important to total earnings, they return lower gross
profit margins as a larger percentage of the final product is comprised of
purchased components. As these sales continue to increase as a
percentage of total sales, the Company’s average gross profit percentage
will likely decrease.
|
26
¨
|
Included
in cost of sales are research and development expenses of $2.2 million and
$2.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008,
respectively. The increase in research and development
expenses during the first quarter of 2009 was primarily related to Bel’s
power products and new integrated connector
modules.
|
¨
|
While
other fixed costs within cost of sales, such as support labor and
depreciation and amortization, have decreased in dollar amount during the
first quarter of 2009 as compared to 2008, as a percentage of sales these
costs have increased due to the lower sales volume in
2009.
|
¨
|
As
an offsetting factor, the Company experienced a reduction in labor costs
during the three months ended March 31, 2009 (8.5% of sales as compared to
10.3% of sales for the three months ended March 31, 2008). A
significant increase in customer demand after the Lunar New Year in
February 2008 resulted in the hiring of approximately 5,000 new workers,
which resulted in training expenses, production inefficiencies and
excessive overtime. With lower customer demand in 2009,
additional manpower was not needed after Lunar New Year and Bel has
effectively eliminated overtime costs. In addition, the Company
continues to transition the labor intensive assembly operations to lower
cost regions of the PRC.
|
Selling, General and
Administrative Expenses
The percentage relationship of selling,
general and administrative expenses to net sales increased from 14.7% during the
three months ended March 31, 2008 to 17.4% during the three months ended March
31, 2009. While the percentage of sales increased from last year, the
dollar amount of selling, general and administrative expense for the three
months ended March 31, 2009 was $1.3 million lower as compared to the same
period of 2008. The overall reduction in dollar amount was the result
of the following factors:
¨
|
Sales
commissions decreased by $0.7 million due to the 2009 lower sales
volume.
|
¨
|
Travel
expenses were reduced by $0.2 million, as management implemented travel
restrictions during the first quarter of
2009.
|
¨
|
General
and administrative salaries decreased by $0.4 million as compared to the
first quarter of 2008 as a result of headcount reductions in Westborough,
Massachusetts, Germany and Asia.
|
¨
|
Other
reductions in SG&A of $0.2 million included reduced legal and
professional fees, lower bad debt expense and other factors that were not
individually significant.
|
¨
|
As
an offsetting factor, the Company recorded a $0.2 million charge during
the first quarter of 2009 to account for the reduction in fair market
value of its COLI.
|
Restructuring
Charge
In connection with the closing of the
Company’s Westborough, Massachusetts facility in December 2008, the Company
incurred $0.1 million of termination benefit charges and $0.3 million related to
its facility lease obligation during the three months ended March 31, 2009. See
“Liquidity and Capital Resources” for further information on the restructuring
charges.
27
Sale of Property, Plant and
Equipment
During the three months ended March 31,
2009, the Company realized the above-mentioned gain from the sale of property in
Jersey City, New Jersey in the amount of $4.6 million.
Realized Loss/Impairment
Charge on Investment
During the three months ended March 31,
2008, the Company recorded realized losses and an other-than-temporary
impairment charge of $0.3 million related to its investment in the Columbia
Strategic Cash Portfolio. See “Liquidity and Capital Resources” for
further information. The Company did not record any impairment
charges during the three months ended March 31, 2009.
Interest
Income
Interest income earned on cash and cash
equivalents decreased by approximately $0.7 million during the three months
ended March 31, 2009, as compared to the comparable period in 2008. The decrease
is due primarily to significantly lower interest rates on invested balances
during the three months ended March 31, 2009 as compared to 2008.
Provision for Income
Taxes
The provision for income taxes for the
three months ended March 31, 2009 was $1.6 million compared to $0.8 million for
the three months ended March 31, 2008. The Company's earnings before
income taxes for the three months ended March 31, 2009 are approximately $0.5
million lower than the same period in 2008. The Company’s effective
tax rate, the income tax provision as a percentage of earnings before provision
for income taxes, was 66.7% and 26.1% for the three months ended March 31, 2009
and March 31, 2008, respectively. The Company’s effective tax rate
will fluctuate based on the geographic segment the pretax profits are earned
in. Of the geographic segments in which the Company operates, the
U.S. has the highest tax rates; Europe’s tax rates are generally lower than U.S.
tax rates; and the Far East has the lowest tax rates. The increase in the
effective tax rate during the three months ended March 31, 2009 is attributable
to increased earnings in North America and losses in the Far East with minimal
tax benefit as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2008.
Inflation and Foreign
Currency Exchange
During the past two years, the effect
of inflation on the Company's profitability was not
material. Historically, fluctuations of the U.S. dollar against other
major currencies have not significantly affected the Company's foreign
operations as most sales have been denominated in U.S. Dollars or currencies
directly or indirectly linked to the U.S. dollar. Most significant
expenses, including raw materials, labor and manufacturing expenses, are either
incurred in U.S. Dollars or the currencies of the Hong Kong Dollar, the Macao
Pataca or the Chinese Renminbi. However, the Chinese Renminbi
appreciated in value (approximately 4.8%) during the three months ended March
31, 2009 as compared with the same period of 2008. Further
appreciation of the Renminbi would result in the Company’s incurring higher
costs for all expenses incurred in the PRC. The Company's European
entities, whose functional currencies are Euros, Czech Korunas, and U.S.
dollars, enter into transactions which include sales which are denominated
principally in Euros, British Pounds and various other European currencies, and
purchases that are denominated principally in U.S.
dollars. Settlement of such transactions resulted in net
realized and unrealized currency exchange losses of $0.1 million for the three
months ended March 31, 2009 which were charged to expense. Exchange
gains recognized during the three months ended March 31, 2008 were minimal.
Translation of subsidiaries’ foreign currency financial statements into U.S.
dollars resulted in translation (losses) gains of ($0.5) million and $0.7
million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively, which
are included in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income. Any
change in the linkage of the U.S. dollar and the Hong Kong Dollar could have a
material effect on the Company's consolidated financial position or results of
operations.
28
Liquidity and Capital
Resources
Historically, the Company has financed
its capital expenditures primarily through cash flows from operating activities
and has financed acquisitions both through cash flows from operating activities
and borrowings. Management believes that the cash flow from
operations after payments of dividends combined with its existing capital base
and the Company's available lines of credit, will be sufficient to fund its
operations for at least the next twelve months. Such statement
constitutes a Forward Looking Statement. Factors which could cause
the Company to require additional capital include, among other things, a further
softening in the demand for the Company’s existing products, an inability to
respond to customer demand for new products, potential acquisitions requiring
substantial capital, future expansion of the Company's operations and net losses
that would result in net cash being used in operating, investing and/or
financing activities which result in net decreases in cash and cash
equivalents. Net losses may result in the loss of domestic and
foreign credit facilities and preclude the Company from raising debt or equity
financing in the capital markets on affordable terms or otherwise.
The Company has an unsecured credit
agreement in the amount of $20 million, which expires on September 10,
2011. There have not been any borrowings under the credit agreement
and as such, there was no balance outstanding as of March 31,
2009. At that date, the entire $20 million line of credit was
available to the Company to borrow. The credit agreement bears
interest at LIBOR plus 0.75% to 1.25% based on certain financial statement
ratios maintained by the Company.
The Company's Hong Kong subsidiary had
an unsecured line of credit of approximately $2 million, which was unused at
March 31, 2009. The line of credit expired on January 31, 2009 and
was renewed on February 10, 2009. Borrowing on the line of credit was guaranteed
by the U.S. parent. The line of credit bears interest at a rate
determined by the lender as the financing is extended.
For
information regarding further commitments under the Company's operating leases,
see Note 15 of Notes to the Company's Consolidated Financial
Statements in the Company's 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
During May 2007, the Company sold a
parcel of land located in Jersey City, New Jersey for $6.0
million. In December 2007, the Tidelands Resource Council voted to
approve the Bureau of Tideland’s Management’s recommendation for a Statement of
No Interest. On March 14, 2008, the Commissioner of the Department of
Environmental Protection signed a letter to approve the Statement of No
Interest. As final approval of the Statement of No Interest was still
pending as of December 31, 2008, the Company continued to defer the estimated
gain on sale of the land, in the amount of $4.6 million. Of the $6.0
million sales price, the Company received cash of $1.5 million before closing
costs, and $4.6 million (including interest) was being held in escrow pending
final resolution of the State of New Jersey tideland claim and certain
environmental costs. During 2007, the Company paid $0.4 million
related to environmental costs, which approximated the maximum amount of
environmental costs for which the Company is liable. During May 2008,
the title company released $2.3 million of the escrow and as such, $2.3 remained
in escrow and had been classified as restricted cash as of December 31,
2008. In February 2009, the final approval of the Statement of No
Interest was received from the State of New Jersey. In March 2009,
the title company released the remaining escrow of $2.3 million and
corresponding guarantees and, during the first quarter of 2009, the Company
recognized the gain associated with the sale of this property in the amount of
$4.6 million.
29
Columbia Strategic Cash
Portfolio (“Columbia Portfolio”):
At March
31, 2009, the Company’s investment securities included privately placed units of
beneficial interests in the Columbia Portfolio, which is an enhanced cash fund
sold as an alternative to money-market funds. In December 2007, due
to adverse market conditions, the fund was overwhelmed with withdrawal requests
from investors and it was closed with a restriction placed upon the cash
redemption ability of its holders. At the time the liquidation was
announced, the Company held 25.7 million units of the Columbia Portfolio at a
book value of $25.7 million.
As of
March 31, 2009, the Company has received total cash redemptions to date of $20.3
million (including $1.5 million during the three months ended March 31, 2009) at
a weighted-average net asset value (NAV) of $.9547 per unit. As of
March 31, 2009, the Company holds 4.4 million units with a book value of $3.6
million and a fair market value of $3.7 million. The information and
the markets relating to these investments remain dynamic. There may
be further declines in the value of these investments, in the value of the
collateral held by these entities, and in the liquidity of the Company’s
investments. To the extent that the Company determines that there is
a further decline in fair value, the Company may recognize impairment charges in
future periods up to the aggregate carrying amount of these
investments.
Toko, Inc.
(“Toko”):
As of
March 31, 2009, the Company owned a total of 1,840,919 shares, or approximately
1.9%, of the outstanding shares, of the common stock of Toko. Toko
develops, manufactures and sells power supply related components and radio
frequency related components primarily in Japan. Toko had a market
capitalization of approximately $125.3 million as of March 31,
2009. These shares are reflected on the Company’s condensed
consolidated balance sheets as marketable securities. These
marketable securities are considered to be available for sale under SFAS No.
115, “Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity
Securities”. At March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008, this investment
had an adjusted basis of $2.0 million, and a fair market value of $2.4 million
and $2.1 million, respectively. The unrealized gain of $0.4 million
and $0.1 million at March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008, respectively, is
included, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive income
(loss).
Power-One, Inc.
(“Power-One”):
As of
March 31, 2009, the Company owned a total of 7,338,998 shares of Power-One
common stock representing, to the Company’s knowledge, 8.4% of Power-One’s
outstanding common stock, at a total purchase price of $14.1 million ($1.92 per
share). Power-One’s common stock is quoted on the NASDAQ Global
Market. Power-One is a designer and manufacturer of power conversion
and power management products. At March 31, 2009, this investment had
an adjusted basis of $8.7 million ($1.19 per share) and a fair market value of
$6.4 million ($0.88 per share). The Company has recorded the related
unrealized loss, net of income tax, of approximately $2.3 million in accumulated
other comprehensive loss in stockholders’ equity. Subsequent to
March 31, 2009, the Power-One stock price recovered to levels in excess of the
Company’s carrying value of this investment and, as a result, this investment
was not other-than-temporarily impaired as of March 31, 2009.
30
CDARS:
During
2008, the Company invested a total of $4.9 million in certificates of deposit
(CDs) through Stephens, Inc., with whom the Company has an investment banking
relationship. These investments are part of the Certificate of
Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS) program whereby the funds are invested
with various banks in order to achieve FDIC insurance on the full invested
amount. The CDs have an initial maturity of 26-weeks and an early
redemption feature with a 30-day interest penalty. During December
2008, $2.0 million of the CD’s matured and were temporarily renewed for a period
of 29 days and, accordingly, were considered to be a cash equivalent as of
December 31, 2008, due to the short-term nature of the investment. As
these CDs were renewed in January 2009 for a period of 13 weeks, they have been
classified as marketable securities in the condensed consolidated balance sheet
at March 31, 2009.
Stock
Repurchases
During 2000, the Board of Directors of
the Company authorized the purchase of up to ten percent of the Company’s
outstanding common shares. As of March 31, 2009, the Company had purchased and
retired 23,600 Class B common shares at a cost of approximately $0.8 million and
had purchased and retired 527,817 Class A common shares at a cost of
approximately $16.8 million. No shares of Class B common stock were
repurchased during the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 6,070 shares of
Class A common stock were repurchased during the three months ended March 31,
2009 at a cost of $0.1 million.
Cash
Flows
During the three months ended March 31,
2009, the Company's cash and cash equivalents increased by $16.0 million,
reflecting approximately $15.3 million provided by operating activities, $1.5
million from the partial redemption of the Columbia Portfolio and $2.6 million
of proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipment, offset, in part, by
$0.4 million for the purchase of property, plant and equipment, $0.1 million for
the repurchase of the Company’s common stock, $2.0 million for the purchase of
marketable securities and $0.8 million for payments of dividends.
Cash and cash equivalents, marketable
securities, short-term investments and accounts receivable comprised
approximately 55.2% and 53.0% of the Company's total assets at March 31, 2009
and December 31, 2008, respectively. The Company's current ratio (i.e., the
ratio of current assets to current liabilities) was 8.4 to 1 and 6.5 to 1 at
March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008, respectively.
During the current worldwide financial
downturn, the Company believes that several of its vendors, particularly those
located in Asia, are seeking to shorten established credit terms or eliminate
credit entirely.
In connection with the closure of the
Company’s Westborough, Massachusetts facility in December 2008, the Company
recorded restructuring charges of $0.4 million during the three months ended
March 31, 2009 related to termination benefit charges and charges associated
with its facility lease obligation.
31
New Financial Accounting
Standards
In
September 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued
Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (“SFAS”) No. 157, “Fair Value
Measurements”, which enhances existing guidance for measuring assets and
liabilities using fair value. This Standard provides a single
definition of fair value, together with a framework for measuring it, and
requires additional disclosure about the use of fair value to measure assets and
liabilities. In February 2008, the FASB issued FASB
Staff Position SFAS 157-1, “Application of SFAS No. 157 to SFAS No. 13 and Its
Related Interpretative Accounting Pronouncements that Address Leasing
Transactions” (“FSP SFAS 157-1”) and FASB Staff Position SFAS 157-2, “Effective
Date of SFAS No. 157” (“FSP SFAS 157-2”). FSP SFAS 157-1 excludes SFAS No.
13 and its related interpretive accounting pronouncements that address leasing
transactions from the requirements of SFAS No. 157, with the exception of fair
value measurements of assets and liabilities recorded as a result of a lease
transaction but measured pursuant to other pronouncements within the scope of
SFAS No. 157. FSP SFAS 157-2 delays the effective date of SFAS No. 157 for
all nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, except those that are
recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring
basis (at least annually). FSP SFAS 157-1 and FSP SFAS 157-2 became effective
for the Company upon adoption of SFAS No. 157 on January 1, 2008. See
Note 4 of Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for
disclosures related to the Company’s financial assets accounted for at fair
value on a recurring or nonrecurring basis. The Company completed its
implementation of SFAS No. 157 effective January 1, 2009 and it did not have a
material impact on its financial statements.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS
No. 141(R), which replaces SFAS No. 141 “Business Combinations”. This
Statement is intended to improve the relevance, completeness and
representational faithfulness of the information provided in financial reports
about the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed in a business
combination. This Statement requires an acquirer to recognize the
assets acquired, the liabilities assumed, and any noncontrolling interest in the
acquiree at the acquisition date, measured at their fair values as of that date,
with limited exceptions specified in the Statement. Under SFAS No.
141(R), acquisition-related costs, including restructuring costs, must be
recognized separately from the acquisition and will generally be expensed as
incurred. That replaces SFAS No. 141’s cost-allocation process, which
required the cost of an acquisition to be allocated to the individual assets
acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair
values. SFAS No. 141(R) shall be applied prospectively to business
combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the
first annual report period beginning on or after December 15,
2008. The Company has adopted SFAS No. 141(R) effective January 1,
2009 and it did not have a material impact on its financial
statements.
In May
2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 162, “The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles”. SFAS No. 162 identifies the sources of
accounting principles and the framework for selecting the principles to be used
in the preparation of financial statements of nongovernmental entities that are
presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in
the United States. The Company has adopted SFAS No. 162 effective
January 1, 2009 and it did not have a material impact on its financial
statements.
32
Item
3. Quantitative and Qualitative
Disclosures About Market Risk
Fair Value of Financial Instruments —
The estimated fair values of financial instruments have been determined by the
Company using available market information and appropriate valuation
methodologies.
The
Company has not entered into, and does not expect to enter into, financial
instruments for trading or hedging purposes. The Company does not currently
anticipate entering into interest rate swaps and/or similar
instruments.
The
Company's carrying values of cash, marketable securities, accounts receivable,
accounts payable and accrued expenses are a reasonable approximation of their
fair value.
The
Company’s investment in Power-One has been subject to market
declines. As of March 31, 2009, the pre-tax unrealized loss
associated with this investment is $2.3 million. If the per share
fair market value of the Power-One stock were to decrease by $0.09 per share
(10% of the March 31, 2009 Power-One stock price), this would result in an
additional unrealized loss of $0.6 million. The Company’s adjusted
basis of this investment at March 31, 2009 is $1.19 per share. While
the fair market value of the Power-One stock was $0.88 per share at March 31,
2009, the stock price recovered substantially subsequent to quarter-end (to
$1.24 per share as of April 29, 2009). As a result of these factors,
management believes that the investment in Power-One is not
other-than-temporarily impaired as of March 31, 2009.
The
Company’s investment in the Columbia Portfolio has also been sensitive to market
volatility. As of March 31, 2009, the Company owned 4.4 million units
in the Columbia Portfolio with a fair market value of $3.7
million. While the NAV associated with this investment has remained
consistent over the three months ended March 31, 2009, the portfolio manager of
this fund has extended the projected timeline of liquidations for approximately
9% of the original unit balance beyond 2009, noting that no reliable estimate of
the schedule for redemption for that portion of the assets can be provided,
including if it will occur in 2009 or 2010. Most of the remaining
securities in this category are comprised of securities that are in default,
extremely impaired or have significantly extended weighted-average
lives. While the NAV at March 31, 2009 was $0.8336 per share, the
Company cannot predict the NAV at which the remaining units will ultimately be
redeemed. If the NAV were to decline by $0.08 per unit (10% of the
NAV at March 31, 2009), the net impact to the Company’s results of operations
and cash flows would be a decrease of income before provision for income taxes
and cash flows from operating activities of approximately $0.4
million.
The Company enters into transactions
denominated in U.S. Dollars, Hong Kong Dollars, the Chinese Renminbi, Euros,
British Pounds and the Czech Koruna. Fluctuations in the U.S. dollar
exchange rate against these currencies could significantly impact the Company's
consolidated results of operations.
The Company believes that a change in
interest rates of 1% or 2% would not have a material effect on the Company's
condensed consolidated statement of operations or balance
sheet.
33
Item
4. Controls and
Procedures
a)
|
Disclosure controls
and procedures. As of the end of the Company’s most
recently completed fiscal quarter covered by this report, the Company
carried out an evaluation, with the participation of the Company’s
management, including the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Vice
President - Finance, of the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure
controls and procedures pursuant to Securities Exchange Act Rule
13a-15. As part of the quarter-end review, the Company's
internal accounting personnel identified a questionable entry in the
Company's stock option exercise records. After questioning by management,
a Company employee (the "Employee") responsible for certain aspects of the
Company's benefit plan administration admitted fabricating certain Company
records for his own benefit in order to enable him to exercise stock
options that had not been granted to him by the Company's Compensation
Committee. The Company's management immediately terminated the employment
of the Employee and reported the matter to the Company's Audit Committee
and external auditors. The Audit Committee, in turn, directed internal
accounting personnel to investigate this matter and directed counsel to
engage a forensic accounting firm to supplement the Company's internal
review.
|
The
Company's internal review has focused on the Employee's role in the
administration of the Company's stock option plan, 401(k) plan and
profit-sharing plan. The following determinations have been made:
|
·
|
With
respect to the stock option plan, the Company has determined that over a
period of approximately eight years, the Employee exercised options
covering 28,000 shares of Class B Common Stock on the basis of
documentation that the Employee fabricated. The fair value of these 28,000
shares at the times of issuance approximated $0.8 million. Option
exercises covering an additional 3,500 shares are questionable but have
not, as yet, been determined to be based on fabricated documentation. The
Employee has returned 24,000 shares to the Company for cancellation with a
fair market value on the dates of their return of approximately $0.4
million.
|
|
·
|
With
respect to the Company's 401(k) plan, the Company has determined that over
the same approximate eight year period, the Employee made paper entries to
artificially increase the balance in his 401(k) account by a total of
$44,300. The Employee has not withdrawn any funds in his 401(k) account.
Accordingly, the Company intends to recoup such $44,300 directly from the
Employee's 401(k) account.
|
|
·
|
With
respect to the Company's profit-sharing plan, the Company has determined
that the Employee diverted to his account a total of $3,600 credited to
the account of an employee whose employment had terminated and who
therefore was about to forfeit his profit-sharing interest. The Employee
has not withdrawn any funds in his profit-sharing account. The Company
intends to recoup such $3,600 directly from the Employee's profit-sharing
account.
|
The
review by the Company's internal accounting personnel is substantially complete.
The Company's forensic accounting firm is in the process of performing an email
search designed to ascertain whether there is any evidence that the Employee's
actions extended beyond his own personal accounts or whether other employees
were directly involved in such actions. To date, the Company has not discovered
any evidence that suggests that the fraudulent practices identified pursuant to
the internal investigation extended beyond the Employee's personal accounts or
directly involved Company personnel other than the Employee.
34
Based
upon the information discovered to date:
|
·
|
The
Company does not believe that the Employee's actions have had or will have
a material effect on the Company's consolidated financial
statements.
|
|
·
|
The
Audit Committee has directed the Company's internal audit staff to assess
whether existing controls should be enhanced to assure that employees
engaged in benefit plan administration do not have the ability to allocate
employment benefits to themselves absent a third party
approval.
|
|
·
|
Management
will recommend to the Company's Compensation Committee that no stock
options or restricted stock be granted by the Company until such time as
the Audit Committee determines that enhanced controls have been
implemented or are not necessary.
|
|
·
|
The
Company's Chief Executive Officer and Vice President - Finance have
concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are
effective in ensuring that information required to be disclosed by the
Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported
within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and
forms.
|
b.)
|
Changes in internal
controls over financial reporting: There were no changes
in the Company's internal controls over financial reporting that occurred
during the Company's last fiscal quarter to which this report relates that
have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect,
the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting.
|
35
PART
II. Other Information
Item
1. Legal
Proceedings
The
Company is, from time to time, a party to litigation arising in the normal
course of its business, including various claims of patent
infringement. See the Company’s 2008 Annual Report on Form
10-K. There were no material developments related to any of the
Company’s lawsuits since the filing of the Company’s 2008 Annual Report on Form
10-K.
Item
2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of
Proceeds
The
following table sets forth certain information regarding the Company's purchase
of shares of its Class A Common Stock during each calendar month in the quarter
ended March 31, 2009:
Period
|
Total
Number of
Shares
Purchased
|
Average
Price Paid
per Share
|
Total Number of
Shares Purchased as
Part of Publicly
Announced Plans or
Programs
|
Maximum Number
of Shares that
May Yet Be
Purchased Under
the Plan
|
||||||||||||
January
1 - January 31, 2009
|
4,448 | $ | 15.26 | 4,448 | 604,273 | |||||||||||
February
1 - February 29, 2009
|
1,622 | 14.83 | 1,622 | 602,651 | ||||||||||||
March
1 - March 31, 2009
|
- | - | - | 602,651 | ||||||||||||
Total
|
6,070 | $ | 15.14 | 6,070 | 602,651 |
As of
March 31, 2009, the Company had cumulatively purchased and retired 527,817
shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock and 23,600 shares of the Company’s
Class B Common Stock. No shares of Class B common stock were
repurchased during the three months ended March 31, 2009.
36
Item
6. Exhibits
(a)
Exhibits:
|
31.1
|
Certification
of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
|
|
31.2
|
Certification
of the Vice President of Finance pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
|
|
32.1
|
Certification
of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes -
Oxley Act of 2002.
|
|
32.2
|
Certification
of the Vice-President of Finance pursuant to Section 906 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
|
37
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to
be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly
authorized.
BEL
FUSE INC.
|
|
By:
|
/s/ Daniel Bernstein
|
Daniel
Bernstein, President and
|
|
Chief
Executive Officer
|
|
By:
|
/s/ Colin Dunn
|
Colin
Dunn, Vice President of
Finance
|
Dated:
May 11, 2009
38
EXHIBIT
INDEX
Exhibit
31.1 - Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Exhibit
31.2 - Certification of the Vice President of Finance pursuant to Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Exhibit
32.1 - Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Exhibit
32.2 - Certification of the Vice President of Finance pursuant to Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
39