CREDITRISKMONITOR COM INC - Annual Report: 2015 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

☑	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended: December 31, 2015

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 1-8601

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (845) 230-3000

Securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered under Section 12(g) of the Act:

(Title of class)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  Yes ☐    No ☑

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act.  Yes ☐    No ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes ☑    No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes ☑    No ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12-b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Indicate by a check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes ☐    No ☑

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2015 was $10,413,356. The Company’s common stock is traded on the OTC Markets. There were 10,722,321 shares of common stock $.01 par value outstanding as of March 8, 2016.

Documents incorporated by reference: None

 

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PART I

ITEM 1.

BUSINESS

In addition to historical information, the following discussion of the Company’s business contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including but not limited to, those discussed in the sections in this Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled “The CreditRiskMonitor Business”, “The Company’s Goals”, “Marketing and Sales”, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, and “Risks and Other Considerations”. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s opinions only as of the date hereof. CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. (the “Company” or “CreditRiskMonitor”) undertakes no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements. Readers should carefully review the risk factors described in this document as well as in other documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q to be filed by the Company in fiscal year 2016.

Overview

CreditRiskMonitor was organized in Nevada in February 1977 and was engaged in the development and sale of nutritional food products from 1982 until October 22, 1993, when it sold substantially all of its assets, as previously reported. Effective January 19, 1999, the Company acquired the assets of the CreditRisk Monitor credit information service (“CM Service”) from Market Guide Inc.  Following the closing of the CM Service purchase, the Company commenced doing business under the name “CreditRiskMonitor.com”.

The CreditRiskMonitor Business

The overall focus of the Company’s services is on facilitating the analysis of corporate financial risk, in the context of (a) the extension of trade credit from one business to another, (b) the management by businesses of important relationships with suppliers, and/or (c) the management by businesses of significant “counter-party” (i.e., buying and selling) relationships.

CreditRiskMonitor (see our website at www.creditriskmonitor.com) is a web-based publisher of financial information, that helps corporate credit and procurement professionals stay ahead of and manage financial risk quickly, accurately and cost effectively. Leading global companies, including more than 35% of the Fortune 1000, use CreditRiskMonitor’s timely news alerts, research and reports on public companies to make important risk decisions.

 

The Company publishes comprehensive commercial credit reports covering public companies worldwide. The reports feature detailed analysis of financial statements, including ratio analysis and trend reports, and peer analyses. To help subscribers prioritize and monitor risk, the reports offer the Company’s proprietary FRISK® scores (a measure of financial distress tied to the probability of bankruptcy), as well as the well-known Altman Z” default scores, Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) and Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) issuer ratings. On U.S. banks, reports include Institutional Risk Analytics (“IRA”) Counterparty Quality scores and financial data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (“FFIEC”) Call Reports. Additionally, the reports include company background information, trade payment reports, as well as public filings (i.e., suits, liens, judgments and bankruptcy information) on millions of U.S. companies. To keep subscribers current with changing risk conditions, the Company’s service uses email to “push” selected information to subscribers. These emails include continuously filtered news monitoring that keeps subscribers up to date on events affecting the creditworthiness of companies selected by the subscribers. Subscribers also receive alerts covering such topics as FRISK® score reports, credit limit alerts, financial statement updates, SEC filings and ratings changes. All news items are filtered to assure the stories have financial relevance.

 

CreditRiskMonitor’s service is most often purchased to review the risks of extending trade credit by a company to its corporate customers. Within a midsized or large corporation, there is often a professional whose responsibility is managing this credit (often together with managing collections of the company’s accounts receivable). CreditRiskMonitor believes that, with the long-term downsizing of corporations and the related reductions in credit departmental budgets and personnel, corporate credit professionals have to do more with less. It is also notable that trade credit decisions are often made under intense time pressure. Simultaneously, the Company believes, there has been an explosive growth in the volume of data about large businesses. Credit professionals are often faced with an overwhelming amount of available data concerning their most important customers, while the time for research and analysis is severely limited. CreditRiskMonitor’s service is designed to save them time, money and effort by prioritizing their risk and helping them automatically stay up to date as conditions change.

In a business-to-business transaction, for example the purchase and sale of $20,000 of merchandise, the seller usually will ship before the buyer pays – this is an extension of trade credit by the seller. The seller takes a financial risk extending this credit, referred to as “trade credit risk”. The buyer may pay late, causing the seller to incur increased borrowing costs; the seller may incur extra costs in attempting to collect the $20,000; or the buyer may never pay the full $20,000. Amounts unlikely to be repaid are called “bad debt”. If buyers fail to pay, the seller can suffer substantial losses (e.g., assuming the seller averages a 10% pre-tax margin it will take about $10 of sales to offset each $1 of bad debt).

There is little hard data on the size of CreditRiskMonitor’s credit-risk market. The U.S. National Association of Credit Management has more than 15,000 members, but some industry observers believe the number of U.S. credit managers and other personnel performing this function is substantially greater. In addition, there are numerous U.S. based companies that do not have a full-time credit function but still require credit information. Furthermore, a market exists outside of the U.S. for information on U.S. and foreign companies.

Some of the Company’s subscribers use the service for managing the financial risk of relationships with suppliers and/or “counter-parties” with whom they both buy and sell. Strategic planning is another use of the Company’s service. In the last recession, risks to the “supply chain” became prominent and a renewed focus of management concern. Companies were reminded that while the financial distress of a single important customer might jeopardize a large receivable associated with that account, the financial distress of a single important supplier can shut down an entire factory and jeopardize a company’s entire revenue stream. The Company’s revenue from subscribers who have added the procurement function to their list of users, and new subscribers whose use is entirely about “supply chain”, is a small but growing percentage of total revenue.

 

The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation (“Dun & Bradstreet”), our major competitor, has disclosed that it generated approximately $733.4 million from its Risk Management Solutions business (i.e., credit information services revenue) in the Americas (i.e., U.S., Canada and Latin America) for 2015 which we believe serves a similar mix of business functions. The remaining market is extremely fragmented with numerous other vendors, notably including Experian plc and Equifax Inc. On that basis, we estimate that our revenue represents a little more than 1% of the U.S. market.

CreditRiskMonitor’s annual fixed-price subscription service represented over 98% of its fiscal 2015 operating revenues. This annual service is sold to a diverse customer base with no single customer representing more than 2% of 2015 operating revenues. Accordingly, the Company is not dependent on a single customer nor is the Company dependent on a few large customers, such that a loss of any one customer would have a material adverse effect on its financial condition or results of operations.

The Company has contractual agreements with its data suppliers, including IRA, Moody’s, S&P and Fitch to redistribute their information as part of our service. We also obtain financial statement and other data from Thomson Reuters (Markets) LLC. Although we report some of this “raw” data directly on our website, the critical elements of our service – the FRISK® score, the ratio analysis and trend reports, the peer analyses, the Altman Z” default scores and emails which “push” information to our subscribers – are computed by the Company using its own algorithms and weighting techniques, and are delivered in formats carefully designed for the way our subscribers prefer to use this information. Further, hundreds of subscribers and non-subscribers provide us with data from their accounts receivable systems that we aggregate and report, so subscribers can see how these firms are paying the invoices of other firms, without disclosing the specific contributors of this information.

CreditRiskMonitor’s service is the result of management’s experience in the commercial credit industry and on-going research with respect to the information needs of corporate credit and purchasing/procurement departments. This has enabled CreditRiskMonitor to satisfy their need for a timely, efficient, low-cost credit information service. CreditRiskMonitor publishes and sells the following commercial financial analysis services:

(1)

An annual fixed-price service (the “Fundamental Service”) with unlimited usage and coverage of public companies, featuring multi-period spreads of financial reports and ratio analysis, as well as up-to-date financial news screened specifically for usefulness in credit evaluation. Another feature of the service is notification and delivery of this news via email, concerning only companies of interest to the subscriber. This service is supplemented with trade receivable data contributed mainly by CreditRiskMonitor’s subscribers, as well as U.S. public-record filing information (i.e., suits, liens, judgments and bankruptcy information) covering millions of public and private U.S. companies. Made available in 2011 as a part of the Fundamental Service, the IRA Counterparty Quality (“CQ”) score is a predictor of bank failure for U.S. banks.

 

The Fundamental Service features the Company’s proprietary credit score, the “FRISK®” score. This proprietary score indicates financial distress, by predicting the probability of bankruptcy within the next 12 months. It provides clients with a fast, consistent method for identifying those companies at greatest risk. The FRISK® score is updated daily, based on the latest information available to the Company, and is derived from a statistical model back-tested on 7,000 companies over a multi-year period and continually monitored by the Company. Calculation of the FRISK® score involves preparation of data from multiple sources, the use of executable software created expressly by and owned by the Company as well as sophisticated algorithms and weighting techniques which are proprietary Company trade secrets. At the end of 2015, the Fundamental Service covered over 57,000 public companies worldwide, totaling approximately $62.2 trillion in corporate revenue compared to world Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) of $77.8 trillion. Subscribers may opt, at lower prices, for limited regional coverage, i.e., “North American Service” for coverage of just U.S., Canadian, Mexican and Caribbean companies.

In addition, the Company sells its Credit Limit Service on an annual subscription basis. Available since 2007, this interactive service helps credit managers to manage credit line limits for their customers, in light of changes in the companies’ financial strength. This service monitors daily changes in a customized recommended credit limit for each customer and generates alert messages to subscribers as requested, so they can take immediate action when a customer’s circumstances change. This Credit Limit Service is fully integrated with the Fundamental Service, which provides analytical depth to subscribers when questions arise or more analysis is needed. It is only sold in conjunction with the Fundamental Service, for an additional fee. The fee is based, in part, on the number of companies evaluated during the annual subscription period, and includes email monitoring alerts.

(2)

Single credit reports on any of the over 57,000 companies covered in item (1) above. These reports are sold mainly via credit card and obtained via the Internet. Email alerts are not available with this single-report service.

(3)

Individual credit reports on approximately 20 million foreign public and private companies. These reports are purchased by CreditRiskMonitor through affiliations with third-party suppliers and sold to CreditRiskMonitor subscribers.

The viability and potential of CreditRiskMonitor’s business is made possible by the following characteristics:

·

Low price. The prices of CreditRiskMonitor’s services are low compared to a subscriber’s possible losses from not getting paid, and are low compared to the cost of most competitive credit report products.

 

·

Non-cyclical. As economic growth slows, general corporate credit risk usually increases and the credit manager’s function rises in importance and complexity. Additionally, products that allow credit managers to perform their jobs more efficiently and cost effectively, compared to competitive services, should gain market share in most business environments and especially during a downturn. In a contracting business environment, many companies face increasing price competition which should accelerate their shift to lower cost technologies and providers, such as CreditRiskMonitor. CreditRiskMonitor’s business and revenues have continued to grow as world economic growth slowed or declined. Over the last ten years the issuance of corporate “junk bonds” and other debt by public companies and public debt by private companies (LBO’s, etc.), and the development of credit instruments to hedge default and interest rate risk (i.e., credit derivatives) has increased dramatically. It is difficult to get a complete or totally accurate number of the totals, but according to the Bank for International Settlements, as of June 2015 the total “notional” value of Over the Counter Credit Default Swap Derivatives was $14.6 trillion. This was down from the peak value of $58.2 trillion at the end of 2007 and from $24.3 trillion at the end of 2013. To put this in perspective, in 2014 the world GDP was $77.8 trillion, and the market value of all worldwide domestic equity at December 31, 2015 was approximately $66.8 trillion. Thus, publicly listed companies and private companies with public debt have a vulnerability to business cycle contraction and the attendant market risks for interest rates and stock markets. Volatility in most markets has remained high, despite signs of modest growth in some major countries. Large over-the-counter debt and generally high market uncertainty indicate continued high risk and complexity extending commercial trade credit to many companies, and puts a premium on the speed and analytic strength of CreditRiskMonitor’s service.

·

Recurring revenue stream. The recurring annual revenue stream of its subscription fee model gives the Company stability not found in a one-time sale product-based company.

·

Profit multiplier. Some of the Company’s basic costs are being reduced. On a broad generic basis, the prices of computer hardware, software and telecommunications have been coming down for all buyers, including CreditRiskMonitor. In addition, CreditRiskMonitor has automated a significant amount of the processes used to create and deliver its service; therefore, its production costs, apart from the development cost of enhancing and upgrading the Company’s website, are relatively stable over a wide range of increasing revenue. Offsetting these cost reductions is the cost of increasing the data content of CreditRiskMonitor’s services if the Company chooses to increase content and not raise its prices to cover these additional costs.

·

Self financing. CreditRiskMonitor’s business has no inventory, manufacturing or warehouse facilities, and payment for the subscription service is made early in the subscription cycle. Thus, the Company’s business is characterized by low capital-intensity, and yet it is a business capable of generating high margins and sufficient positive cash flow to grow the business organically with little need for external capital.

·

Management. CreditRiskMonitor has in-place an experienced management team with proven talent in business credit evaluation systems and Internet development.

The Company’s Goals

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Growth in U.S. market share. Faced with a dominant U.S. competitor, Dun & Bradstreet, as well as several other larger competitors, the Company’s primary goal is to gain market share. The Company believes that many potential customers are unaware of its service, while many others who are aware of CreditRiskMonitor have not evaluated its service.

·

International penetration. Foreign companies doing business within the U.S. or other foreign countries may have the same need as domestic companies for CreditRiskMonitor’s credit analysis of U.S. and foreign companies. Internationally, the Internet provides a mechanism for rapid and inexpensive marketing and distribution of CreditRiskMonitor’s service.

 

·

Broaden the services supplied. Revenue per subscriber may increase over time as the Company adds functionality and content. Also, revenue per client should increase over time as the Company sells additional passwords to existing clients.

·

Lowest cost provider. CreditRiskMonitor’s sourcing, analysis and preparation of data into a usable form is highly automated. CreditRiskMonitor delivers all of its information to customers via the Internet and there is automation between the sourcing of data and delivery of a company credit report to a subscriber. Because of this automation, CreditRiskMonitor’s production costs are relatively stable over a wide range of increasing revenue. Management believes CreditRiskMonitor’s cost structure is one of the lowest in its industry.

·

High margins and return on investment. The Company foresees declining unit costs in some important expense areas, such as computer and communication costs, which should increase net profits from its subscription income stream. The Company has lower sales expenses for customer renewals than for new sales, and the Company expects that its renewal revenue will continue to grow to be a larger share of total revenue each year. All these naturally occurring unit cost reductions will be in addition to the cost reductions achieved through servicing more accounts over the Company’s in-place fixed costs.

Marketing and Sales

To gain market share for the Company’s service, it will continue to use the Internet (at our website www.creditriskmonitor.com) as the primary mechanism for demonstrating and distributing its service. To inform potential subscribers about its service, CreditRiskMonitor uses a combination of telephone sales, Internet demonstration, online and offline marketing, trade show representation and speaking engagements before credit groups and associations.

Value Proposition

The Company’s fundamental value proposition is that it creates and sells high quality commercial credit reports that help busy risk professionals stay ahead of financial risk quickly, easily and accurately, at a cost significantly below that of reports from the leading provider (price comparison as of January 26, 2016). Because Dun & Bradstreet has the largest share of the commercial credit market, their flagship product, DNBi, is the standard by which that market measures both quality and price. The Company’s research shows that its customers overwhelmingly agree that CreditRiskMonitor saves them time, helps them to make better credit decisions, and represents a significant value for the price paid compared to competitive services.

The operational strategy CreditRiskMonitor follows to deliver on its value proposition is straightforward. CreditRiskMonitor became (and remains) one of the industry’s lowest cost producers of high quality commercial credit information by continuously collecting data from a wide variety of sources and employing sophisticated proprietary computer algorithms to process that data into an extensive database of valuable reports on companies. Highly automated operations add to reliability and consistency, while limiting costs. The Company employs a small number of analysts who selectively review data at critical points in its process to further enhance the quality of its products and their relevance to credit professionals.

 

CreditRiskMonitor employs several different selling strategies to deliver this value to different customer segments:

·

Credit professionals need to save time, when analyzing their most important customers and suppliers, and the CreditRiskMonitor service provides this critical benefit. CreditRiskMonitor believes that its reports and monitoring of public companies, having aggregate revenues of approximately $62.2 trillion, are superior in this way to competitive products or services in that the CreditRiskMonitor service provides financial information in greater depth and better analytical efficiency. It also includes timely email alerts enabling credit professionals to easily stay on top of financial developments at their customers, without the clutter of non-financial news prevalent at other news services. Finally, the proprietary FRISK® scores, ratings from Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, CQ scores from IRA, the Altman Z” scores and the trade payment reports delivered by the Company’s service enable further efficiency by focusing each subscriber’s attention on only those companies showing financial weakness.

·

For low-volume customers, CreditRiskMonitor sells single commercial credit reports for a flat price of $49.95 per report, using credit card transactions via the Internet.

Employees

As of March 8, 2016, the Company had 79 full-time and 4 part-time employees. None of the Company’s employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. The Company believes its relations with its employees to be satisfactory and has suffered no interruption in operations.

The Company established a 401(k) Plan covering all employees effective January 1, 2000 that provides for discretionary Company contributions. The Company has no other retirement, pension, profit sharing or similar program in effect for its employees. The Company has adopted stock option plans in 1998 and 2009 that cover its employees.

ITEM 2.

PROPERTIES.

The Company does not own any real property. The Company’s principal office is located in approximately 12,300 square feet of leased space in an industrial warehouse complex located in Valley Cottage, New York. The lease expires on July 31, 2020 and provides for an aggregate total monthly cost of $14,400, plus an allocated portion of real estate taxes, insurance and common area maintenance.

 

ITEM 3.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

Neither the Company nor its property is a party to or the subject of a pending legal proceeding.

ITEM 4.

MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.

Not applicable.

 

PART II

 

ITEM 5.

MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

The Company’s Common Stock is listed on the OTC Markets OTCQX U.S. Premier, which is the highest tier of the OTC market, reserved exclusively for companies meeting the highest financial standards and that have undergone a thorough qualitative review. The following table sets forth the high and low closing bid quotations reported on the OTCQX U.S. Premier for each calendar quarter of 2014 and 2015. These quotations reflect inter-dealer prices without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions. Prices have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the Company’s 1.3-for-1 stock split, effected in the form of a 30% stock dividend, effective as of December 15, 2015.

On March 8, 2016, there were approximately 217 registered holders of the Company’s Common Stock based on information provided by our transfer agent. This number does not reflect the number of individuals or institutional investors holding stock in nominee name through banks, brokerage firms, and others.

In fiscal 2015, the Company paid a cash dividend of $0.04 per share on its Common Stock on November 30, 2015; in fiscal 2014, the Company paid a cash dividend of $0.04 per share on its Common Stock on November 28, 2014. Both amounts have been adjusted for the 1.3-to-1 stock split described above.

The Company did not repurchase any of its common stock during the fourth quarter of 2015.

ITEM 6.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 7.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

Business Environment

Despite the continued strengthening of the U.S. economy, the continuing uncertainty in the worldwide financial system has negatively impacted general business conditions. It is possible that a weakened economy could adversely affect our clients’ need for credit information, or even their solvency, but we cannot predict whether or to what extent this will occur.

Our strategic priorities and plans for 2016 are to continue to build on the improvement initiatives underway to achieve sustainable, profitable growth. Global market conditions, however, may affect the level and timing of resources deployed in pursuit of these initiatives in 2016.

Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

The following table presents selected financial information and statistics as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 (dollars in thousands):

The Company believes that its existing balances of cash, cash equivalents and cash generated from operations will be sufficient to satisfy its currently anticipated cash requirements through at least the next 12 months and the foreseeable future. Moreover, the Company has been cash flow positive for 9 of the last 10 fiscal years and has no long-term debt. However, the Company’s liquidity could be negatively affected if it were to make an acquisition or if it were to license products or technologies, which may necessitate the need to raise additional capital through future debt or equity financing. Additional financing may not be available at all or on terms favorable to the Company.

As described more fully in Note 8 of the Notes to Financial Statements, at December 31, 2015 the Company had certain cash obligations, which are due as follows:

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

The Company is not a party to any other off-balance sheet arrangements.

Results of Operations

 

Operating revenues increased $282,790, or 2%, for fiscal 2015 over the prior year. This overall revenue growth resulted from an increase in Internet subscription service revenue, attributable to increased sales to new and existing subscribers, partially offset by a decrease in the Company’s third-party international credit report subscription service, attributable to lower usage by subscribers.

Data and product costs decreased $55,754, or 1%, for fiscal 2015. This decrease was due primarily to the lower cost associated with the outsourcing of certain data entry tasks, as less tasks have been outsourced, partially offset by the higher cost of third-party content, as last year the amount reported was reduced by the refunds received on sales tax paid on third party content that covered the 45 month period ended May 2014.

 

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $116,643, or 2%, for fiscal 2015. This increase was due to higher marketing expenditures, higher professional fees and higher salary and related employee benefits.

Depreciation and amortization decreased $2,831, or 1%, for fiscal 2015. This decrease was due to a lower net depreciable asset base, as the Company’s office lease expired at the end of July 2015 and all capitalized leasehold improvements were fully amortized as of that date, partially offset by the purchase of computer equipment.

Other income, net decreased $14,783 for fiscal 2015, primarily due to lower interest and dividend income as well as a larger negative mark-to-market adjustment recorded in 2015.

Provision for income taxes increased $87,286 due to the Company having higher pre-tax income because of the reasons enumerated.

 

Operating revenues increased approximately $336,315, or 3%, for fiscal 2014 over the prior year. This overall revenue growth resulted from an increase in Internet subscription service revenue, attributable to increased sales to new and existing subscribers, partially offset by a decrease in the Company’s third-party international credit report subscription service, attributable to lower usage by subscribers.

Data and product costs increased $282,572, or 6%, for fiscal 2014. This increase was primarily due to higher salary and related employee benefits, including additional quality control personnel, as well as the higher cost of third-party content due to the purchase of additional data elements, partially offset by the refunds received on sales tax paid on third party content that covered the 45 month period ended May 2014.

 

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $42,802, or 1%, for fiscal 2014. This decrease was primarily due to lower professional fees partially offset by higher salary and related employee benefits.

Depreciation and amortization increased $53,372, or 32%, for fiscal 2014. This increase was due to the capitalization of leasehold improvements during the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters of 2013 associated with additional space leased at the Company’s corporate headquarters as well as the purchase of computer equipment.

Other income (expense), net increased $55,687 for fiscal 2014, primarily due to the smaller negative mark-to-market adjustment recorded in 2014.

Provision for income taxes increased $51,878 due to the Company having higher pre-tax income because of the reasons enumerated.

Future Operations

The Company over time intends to expand its operations by expanding the breadth and depth of its product and service offerings and introducing new and complementary products. Gross margins attributable to new business areas may be lower than those associated with the Company’s existing business activities.

As a result of the evolving nature of the markets in which it competes, the Company’s ability to accurately forecast its revenues, gross profits and operating expenses as a percentage of net sales is limited. The Company’s current and future expense levels are based largely on its investment plans and estimates of future revenues. To a large extent these costs do not vary with revenue. Sales and operating results generally depend on the Company’s ability to attract and retain customers and the volume of and timing of customer subscriptions for the Company’s services, which are difficult to forecast. The Company may be unable to adjust spending in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected revenue shortfall. Accordingly, any significant shortfall in revenues in relation to the Company’s planned expenditures would have an immediate adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Further, as a strategic response to changes in the competitive environment, the Company may from time to time make certain pricing, service, marketing or acquisition decisions that could have a material adverse effect on its business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Achieving greater profitability depends on the Company’s ability to generate and sustain increased revenue levels. The Company believes that its success will depend in large part on its ability to (i) increase its brand awareness, (ii) provide its customers with outstanding value, thus encouraging customer renewals, and (iii) achieve sufficient sales volume to realize economies of scale. Accordingly, the Company intends to continue to increase the size of its sales force and service staff, and to invest in product development, operating infrastructure, marketing and promotion. The Company believes that these expenditures will help it to sustain the revenue growth it has experienced over the last several years. We anticipate that sales and marketing expenses will continue to increase in dollar amount and as a percentage of revenues during 2016 and future periods as the Company continues to expand its business on a worldwide basis. Further, the Company expects that product development expenses will also continue to increase in dollar amount and may increase as a percentage of revenues in 2016 and future periods because it expects to employ more development personnel on average compared to prior periods and build the infrastructure required to support the development of new and improved products and services. However, as these expenditures are discretionary in nature, the Company expects that the actual amounts incurred will be in line with its projections of future cash flows in order not to negatively impact its future liquidity and capital needs. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to achieve these objectives within a meaningful time frame.

 

Critical Accounting Policies, Estimates and Judgments

The Company’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles that are generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates. Management continually evaluates its estimates and judgments, the most critical of which are those related to:

Revenue recognition -- CreditRiskMonitor’s North American and worldwide service is sold on a subscription basis pursuant to customer contracts that span varying periods of time, but are generally for a period of one year. The Company initially records amounts billed as accounts receivable and defers the related revenue until persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, fees are fixed and determinable, and collection is reasonably assured. Revenues are recognized ratably over the related subscription period. Revenue from the Company’s third-party international credit report service is recognized as information is delivered and products and services are used by customers.

Valuation of goodwill -- Goodwill is reviewed for impairment annually, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances warrant. If the carrying value of this asset exceeds its estimated fair value, the Company will record an impairment loss to write the asset down to its estimated fair value.

Income taxes -- The Company provides for deferred income taxes resulting from temporary differences between financial statement and income tax reporting. Temporary differences are differences between the amounts of assets and liabilities reported for financial statement purposes and their tax bases. Deferred tax liabilities are recognized for temporary differences that will be taxable in future years’ tax returns. Deferred tax assets are recognized for temporary differences that will be deductible in future years’ tax returns and for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance if it is deemed more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) have issued accounting pronouncements as of December 31, 2015 that will become effective in subsequent periods; however, management does not believe that any of those pronouncements would have significantly affected our financial accounting measurements or disclosures had they been in effect during the annual period for which financial statements are included in this annual report, nor does management believe those pronouncements would have a significant effect on our future financial position or results of operations.

 

Risks and Other Considerations

The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing the Company. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to the Company or currently deemed immaterial also may impair its business operations. If any of the risks described below actually occur, the Company’s business could be impaired.

From time to time, information provided by the Company or statements made by its employees, or information provided in its filings with the SEC may contain forward-looking information. Any statements contained herein or otherwise made that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company’s actual future operating results or short-term or long-term liquidity may differ materially from those projections or statements made in such forward-looking information as a result of various risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the following in addition to those set forth elsewhere herein or in other filings made by the Company with the SEC.

Slowing Rates of Growth and Margins. In order to continue to grow its business and maintain or increase its profit margins, the Company among other things, must maintain and increase its customer base, implement and successfully execute its business and marketing strategy and its expansion into new product markets, effectively integrate acquisitions and other business combinations, continue to develop and upgrade its technology and transaction-processing systems, improve its website, provide superior customer service, respond to competitive developments and attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in addressing such risks, and the failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Unpredictability of Future Revenues and Profits; Potential Fluctuations in Operating Results. The Company’s ability to accurately forecast its revenues, gross profits and operating expenses as a percentage of net sales is limited. The Company’s current and future expense levels are based largely on its investment plans and estimates of future revenues and to a large extent are fixed. Sales and operating results generally depend on the Company’s ability to attract and retain customers and the volume of and timing of their subscriptions for the Company’s services, which are difficult to forecast. The Company may be unable to adjust spending in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected revenue shortfall. Accordingly, any significant shortfall in revenues in relation to the Company’s planned expenditures would have an immediate adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Further, as a strategic response to changes in the competitive environment, the Company may from time to time make certain pricing, service, marketing or acquisition decisions that could have a material adverse effect on its business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Maintaining and improving profitability depends on the Company’s ability to generate and sustain substantially increased revenue levels. The Company believes that its success will depend in large part on its ability to (i) extend its brand position, (ii) provide its customers with outstanding value, and (iii) achieve sufficient sales volume to realize economies of scale. Accordingly, the Company intends to continue to invest in marketing and promotion, product development and technology and operating infrastructure development. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to achieve these objectives within a meaningful time frame.

 

The Company expects to experience significant fluctuations in its future quarterly operating results due to a variety of factors, some of which are outside the Company’s control. Factors that may adversely affect the Company’s quarterly operating results include, among others, (i) the Company’s ability to retain existing customers, attract new customers at a steady rate and maintain customer satisfaction, (ii) the Company's ability to maintain gross margins in its existing business and in future product lines and markets, (iii) the development of new services and products by the Company and its competitors, (iv) price competition, (v) the level of use of the Internet and online services and increasing acceptance of the Internet and other online services for the purchase of products such as those offered by the Company, (vi) the Company’s ability to upgrade and develop its systems and infrastructure, (vii) the Company’s ability to attract new personnel in a timely and effective manner, (viii) the level of traffic on the Company’s website, (ix) the Company’s ability to manage effectively its development of new business segments and markets, (x) the Company’s ability to successfully manage the integration of operations and technology of acquisitions or other business combinations, (xi) technical difficulties, system downtime or Internet brownouts, (xii) the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to expansion of the Company’s business, operations and infrastructure, (xiii) governmental regulation and taxation policies, (xiv) disruptions in service by common carriers due to strikes or otherwise, (xv) risks of fire or other casualty, (xvi) litigation costs or other unanticipated expenses, (xvii) interest rate risks and inflationary pressures, and (xviii) general economic conditions and economic conditions specific to the Internet and online commerce.

Due to the foregoing factors and the Company’s limited forecasting abilities, the Company believes that period-to-period comparisons of its revenues and operating results are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied on as an indication of future performance.

Competition. The online commerce market, particularly over the Web, is intensely competitive. The Company’s current or potential competitors include (i) companies now selling or who will be selling credit analysis data, such as Dun & Bradstreet which currently has the dominant position in the industry and the financial resources to invest much more than the Company can while withstanding substantial price competition, and (ii) a number of indirect competitors that specialize in online commerce or information or who derive a substantial portion of the revenues from online commerce, advertising or information, and who may offer competing products, and many of which possess significant brand awareness, sales volume and customer bases. The Company believes that the principal competitive factors in its market are brand recognition, selection, personalized services, convenience, price, accessibility, customer service, quality of search tools, breadth of coverage, quality of editorial and other site content and reliability and speed of delivery. Many of the Company’s competitors have longer operating histories, larger customer bases, greater brand recognition and significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources than the Company. Certain of the Company’s competitors may be able to secure data from vendors on more favorable terms, devote greater resources to marketing and promotional campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing and devote substantially more resources to Web site and systems development than the Company. Increased competition may result in reduced operating margins, loss of market share and a diminished brand franchise. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors.

 

The Company expects that the competition in the Internet and online commerce markets will intensify in the future. For example, as various Internet market segments obtain large, loyal customer bases, participants in those segments may seek to leverage their market power to the detriment of participants in other market segments. In addition, new technologies and the expansion of existing technologies may increase the competitive pressures on the Company. Competitive pressures created by any one of the Company’s competitors, or by the Company’s competitors collectively, could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Need for Additional Financing; Risks of Default. The Company’s future liquidity and capital funding requirements will depend on numerous factors, including whether or when the Company will increase its customer base and revenues, and the costs and timing of expansion of sales, control of information costs and other expenses and competition. There can be no assurance that additional capital, if needed, will be available on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all. Furthermore, debt financing, if available, will likely include restrictive covenants, including financial maintenance covenants restricting the Company’s ability to incur additional indebtedness and to pay dividends. The failure of the Company to raise capital on acceptable terms when needed could have a material adverse effect on the Company.

System Development and Operation Risks. Any system interruptions that result in the unavailability of the Company’s Web site would reduce the attractiveness of the Company’s service offerings. The Company has experienced periodic system interruptions, which it believes will continue to occur from time to time. The Company will be required to add additional software and hardware and further develop and upgrade its existing technology and network infrastructure to accommodate increased traffic on its Web site resulting from increased sales volume. Any inability to do so may cause unanticipated system disruptions, slower response times, degradation in levels of customer service, impaired quality, or delays in reporting accurate financial information. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to accurately project the rate or timing of increases, if any, in the use of its Web site or in a timely manner to effectively upgrade and expand its systems or to integrate smoothly any newly developed or purchased modules with its existing systems. Any inability to do so could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

The Company’s web servers are located at a secure offsite location. Its back office computer and communications hardware is located at a single leased facility in Valley Cottage, New York. The Company’s systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from fire, flood, power loss, telecommunications failure, break-ins, earthquake and similar events. The Company does not currently have redundant systems or a formal disaster recovery plan and does not have sufficient business interruption insurance to compensate it for losses that may occur. Despite the implementation of network security measures by the Company, its servers are vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions, which could lead to interruptions, delays, loss of critical data or the inability to accept and fulfill customer orders. The occurrence of any of the foregoing events could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Management of Potential Growth. To continue to manage the expected growth of its operations and personnel, the Company will be required to improve existing and implement new operational and financial systems, procedures and controls, as well as to expand, train and manage its growing employee base. There can be no assurance that the Company's current and planned personnel, systems, procedures and controls will be adequate to support the Company’s future operations, that management will be able to hire, train, retain, motivate and manage required personnel or that Company management will be able to successfully identify, manage and exploit existing and potential market opportunities. If the Company is unable to manage growth effectively, such inability could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Limited Personnel. The Company currently has limited personnel and other resources to undertake the extensive marketing activities necessary to maintain and grow is revenues. The Company’s ability to continue to generate revenue will be dependent upon, among other things, its ability to manage an effective sales organization. The Company will need to continue to develop and expand a sales force and a marketing group with technical expertise to coordinate marketing efforts. In addition, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to market its products effectively through an in-house sales force, independent sales representatives, through arrangements with an outside sales force, or through strategic partners.

Risks of New Business Areas. The Company intends to expand its operations by continuing to promote new and complementary products and by expanding the breadth and depth of its product or service offerings. Expansion of the Company’s operations in this manner will require significant additional expense and development, operations and editorial resources and could strain the Company’s management, financial and operational resources. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to expand its operations in a cost-effective or timely manner. Furthermore, any new business launched by the Company that is not favorably received by customers could damage the Company’s reputation or the CreditRiskMonitor brand. The lack of market acceptance of such efforts or the Company’s inability to generate satisfactory revenues from such expanded services or products to offset their cost could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Gross margins attributable to new business areas may be lower than those associated with the Company’s existing business activities.

Risks of Business Combinations and Strategic Alliances. The Company may choose to expand its operations or market presence by entering into business combinations, investments, joint venture or other strategic alliances with third parties. Any such transaction will be accompanied by risks commonly encountered in such transactions, which include, among others, the difficulty of assimilating the operations, technology and personnel of the combined companies, the potential disruption of the Company's ongoing business, the possible inability to retain key technical and managerial personnel, the potential inability of management to maximize the financial and strategic position of the Company through the successful integration of acquired businesses, additional expenses associated with amortization of purchased intangible assets, additional operating losses and expenses associated with the activities and expansion of acquired businesses, the maintenance of uniform standards, controls and policies and the possible impairment of relationships with existing employees and customers. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in overcoming these risks or any other problems encountered in connection with such business combinations, investments, joint ventures or other strategic alliances, or that such transactions will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Rapid Technological Change. To remain competitive, the Company must continue to enhance and improve the responsiveness, functionality and features of its services. The Internet and the online commerce industry are characterized by rapid technological change, changes in user and customer requirements and preferences, frequent new products and service introductions embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards and practices that could render the Company’s existing website and proprietary technology and systems obsolete. The Company’s success will depend, in part, on its ability to license leading technologies useful in its business, enhance its existing services, develop new services and technology that address the increasingly sophisticated and varied needs of its prospective customers and respond to technological advances and emerging industry standards and practices on a cost-effective and timely basis. The continuing development of a website and other proprietary technology entails significant technical, financial and business risks. There can be no assurance that the Company will successfully implement new technologies or adapt its website, proprietary technology and transaction-processing systems to customer requirements or emerging industry standards. If the Company is unable, for technical, legal, financial or other reasons, to adapt in a timely manner in response to changing market conditions or customer requirements, such inability could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Dependence on Key Personnel. The Company’s performance is substantially dependent on the continued services and on the performance of its senior management and other key personnel. The Company does not have long-term employment agreements with any of its key personnel and maintains no “key person” life insurance policies. The loss of the services of its executive officers or other key employees could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Reliance on Certain Suppliers. The Company purchases its data and/or credit reports from a limited number of vendors under agreements having terms of 36 months or less. The Company has no longer-term contracts or arrangements with any vendor of data that guarantee the availability of data, the continuation of particular payment terms or the extension of credit. Nevertheless, the Company believes that it would be able to obtain the necessary data from other sources, at competitive prices, should it become necessary or advisable to do so. There can be no assurance, however, that the Company’s vendors will continue to supply data to the Company on current terms or that the Company will be able to establish new or extend current vendor relationships to ensure acquisition of information in a timely and efficient manner and on acceptable commercial terms. If the Company were unable to maintain or develop relationships with vendors that would allow it to obtain sufficient quantities of reliable information on acceptable commercial terms, such inability could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Risk of Expansion and Implementation of Growth Strategy. The Company’s growth and expansion have placed, and may continue to place, a strain on the Company’s management, administrative, operational, financial and technical resources and increased demands on its systems and controls. Demands on the Company’s network resources and technical staff and resources have grown rapidly with the Company’s expanding customer bases. A failure to effectively provide customer and technical support services will adversely affect the Company’s ability to attract and maintain its customer base. The Company expects to experience continued strain on its operational systems as it develops, operates and maintains its network. Expected increases in the Company’s Internet client base will produce increased demands on sales, marketing and administrative resources, its engineering and technical resources, and its customer and technical support resources. The Company believes that it will need, both in the short-term and the long-term, to hire additional sales and marketing and technical personnel as well as qualified administrative and management personnel in the accounting and finance areas to manage its financial control systems. In addition, the Company will need to hire or to train managerial and support personnel. Although the Company has hired additional personnel and upgraded certain of its systems, there can be no assurance that the Company’s administrative, operating and financial control systems, infrastructure, personnel and facilities will be adequate to support the Company’s future operations or maintain and effectively adapt to future growth.

 

There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to build its infrastructure, add services, expand its customer bases or implement the other features of its business strategy at the rate or to the extent presently planned, or that its business strategy will be successful. The Company’s ability to continue to grow may be affected by various factors, many of which are not within the Company’s control, including U.S. and foreign regulation of the Internet industry, competition and technological developments. The inability to continue to upgrade the networking systems or the operating and financial control systems, the inability to recruit and hire necessary personnel or the emergence of unexpected expansion difficulties could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks of Network Failure. The success of the Company is largely dependent on its ability to deliver high quality, uninterrupted access to its product over the Internet. Any system or network failure that causes interruptions in the Company’s Internet operations could have a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition or results of operations of the Company. The Company’s operations are dependent on its ability to successfully expand its network and integrate new and emerging technologies and equipment into its network, which are likely to increase the risk of system failure and cause unforeseen strain upon the network. The Company’s operations also are dependent on the Company’s protection of its hardware and other equipment from damage from natural disasters such as fires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes, or other sources of power loss, telecommunications failures or similar occurrences.

Significant or prolonged system failures could damage the reputation of the Company and result in the loss of customers. Such damage or losses could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s ability to obtain new subscribers and customers, and on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Security Risks. Despite the implementation of network security measures by the Company, such as limiting physical and network access to its routers, its Internet access systems and information services are vulnerable to computer viruses, break-ins and similar disruptive problems caused by its customers or other Internet users. Such problems caused by third parties could lead to interruption, delays or cessation in service to the Company’s Internet customers. Furthermore, such inappropriate use of the Internet by third parties could also potentially jeopardize the security of confidential information stored in the computer systems of the Company’s customers and other parties connected to the Internet, which may deter potential subscribers. Persistent security problems continue to plague public and private data networks. Recent break-ins, “worms” and “viruses” reported in the press and otherwise have reached computers connected to the Internet at major corporations and Internet access providers and have involved the theft of information, including incidents in which hackers bypassed firewalls by posing as trusted computers. Alleviating problems caused by computer viruses, worms, break-ins or other problems caused by third parties may require significant expenditures of capital and resources by the Company, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company. Until more comprehensive security technologies are developed, the security and privacy concerns of existing and potential customers may inhibit the growth of the Internet service industry in general and the Company’s customer base and revenues in particular. Moreover, if the Company experiences a breach of network security or privacy, there can be no assurance that the Company’s customers will not assert or threaten claims against the Company based on or arising out of such breach, or that any such claims will not be upheld, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Risks Associated with Domain Names. The Company currently utilizes its domain names “CreditRiskMonitor.com” and “crmz.com” in its business. The acquisition and maintenance of domain names generally is regulated by governmental agencies and their designees. For example, in the United States, the National Science Foundation has appointed Network Solutions, Inc. as the exclusive registrar for the “.com”, “.net” and “.org” generic top-level domains. The regulation of domain names in the United States and in foreign countries is subject to change. Governing bodies may establish additional top-level domains, appoint additional domain name registrars or modify the requirements for holding domain names. As a result, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to acquire or maintain relevant domain names in the United States and all other countries in which it may conduct business. Furthermore, the relationship between regulations governing domain names and laws protecting trademarks and similar proprietary rights is unclear. The Company, therefore, may be unable to prevent third parties from acquiring domain names that are similar to, infringe upon or otherwise decrease the value of its trademarks and other proprietary rights. Any such inability could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Governmental Regulation and Legal Uncertainties. The Company is not currently subject to direct regulation by any domestic or foreign governmental agency, other than regulations applicable to businesses generally and laws or regulations directly applicable to access to online commerce. However, due to the increasing popularity and use of the Internet and other online services, it is possible that a number of laws and regulations may be adopted with respect to the Internet or other online services covering issues such as user privacy, pricing, content, copyrights, distribution and characteristics and quality of products and services. Furthermore, the growth and development of the market for online commerce may prompt calls for more stringent consumer protection laws that may impose additional burdens on those companies conducting business online. The adoption of any additional laws or regulations may decrease the growth of the Internet or other online services, which could, in turn, decrease the demand for the Company’s products and services and increase the Company’s cost of doing business, or otherwise have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, the applicability to the Internet and other online services of existing laws in various jurisdictions governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes, libel and personal privacy is uncertain and may take years to resolve. Any such new legislation or regulation, the application of laws and regulations from jurisdictions whose laws do not currently apply to the Company's business, or the application of existing laws and regulations to the Internet and other online services could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Proprietary Rights. The Company relies and expects to continue to rely on a combination of copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and contractual restrictions to establish and protect its technology. Other than trademarks for CRMZ and FRISK, the Company does not currently have any issued patents or registered copyrights or trademarks.

 

The Company has a policy to require employees and consultants to execute confidentiality and technology ownership agreements upon the commencement of their relationships with the Company. There can be no assurance that the steps taken by the Company will be adequate to prevent misappropriation of its technology or other proprietary rights, or that the Company’s competitors will not independently develop technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to the Company’s technology. There can be no assurance that the Company’s trademark applications will result in any trademark registrations, or that, if registered, any registered trademark will be held valid and enforceable if challenged.

In addition, to the extent the Company becomes involved in litigation to enforce or defend its intellectual property rights; such litigation can be a lengthy and costly process causing diversion of effort and resources by the Company and its management with no guarantee of success.

ITEM 8.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and

Stockholders of CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc.:

We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, and the related statements of income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the years then ended. CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc.’s management is responsible for these financial statements. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal controls over financial reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, and its results of operations and cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

/s/ CohnReznick LLP

Jericho, New York

March 29, 2016

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

CREDITRISKMONITOR.COM, INC.

STATEMENTS OF INCOME

Years Ended December 31, 2015 and 2014

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

CREDITRISKMONITOR.COM, INC.

STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Years Ended December 31, 2015 and 2014

		2015				2014
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income		$	493,217			$	370,554
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Deferred income taxes			62,469				(39,405	)
Depreciation and amortization			218,621				221,452
Stock-based compensation			127,839				125,519
Unrealized loss on marketable securities			42,753				38,093
Deferred rent			1,768				(2,553	)
Loss on retirement of fixed assets			--				96
Tax benefits from stock option plans			(133,176	)			(92,790	)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable, net			151,282				(371,128	)
Other current assets			(100,163	)			157,337
Other assets			(10,317	)			(29	)
Deferred revenue			(176,072	)			920,784
Accounts payable			(58,991	)			50,780
Accrued expenses			10,351				(49,350	)
Net cash provided by operating activities			629,581				1,329,360
Cash flows from investing activities:
(Purchase) sale of marketable securities			1,075,212				(3,510	)
Purchase of property and equipment			(276,308	)			(136,205	)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities			798,904				(139,715	)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Dividend paid to stockholders			(412,402	)			(402,450	)
Settlement of fractional shares in stock split paid to stockholders			(411	)			--
Proceeds from exercise of stock options			39,583				51
Tax benefit from stock option plans			133,176				92,790
Net cash used in financing activities			(240,054	)			(309,609	)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents			1,188,431				880,036
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year			7,529,468				6,649,432
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year		$	8,717,899			$	7,529,468
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Cash paid during the year for:
Income taxes		$	455,356			$	246,195

		2015				2014
Cash		$	674,260			$	756,691
Money market funds			8,043,639				6,772,777
		$	8,717,899			$	7,529,468

		Adjusted Cost				Gross Unrealized Holding Gains				Gross Unrealized Holding Losses				Fair Value
2015:
Marketable equity security		$	269,053			$	--			$	(23,579	)		$	245,474
2014:
U.S. Treasury Note, due 11/15/2015		$	1,210,503			$	--			$	(95,047	)		$	1,115,456
Marketable equity security			268,014				--				( 20,031	)			247,983
		$	1,478,517			$	--			$	(115,078	)		$	1,363,439

		2015				2014
Current:
Federal		$	276,315			$	294,520
State			87,149				83,532
Deferred:
Federal			34,978				(31,524	)
State			27,492				(7,880	)
		$	425,934			$	338,648

		2015				2014
Computed "expected" expense		$	312,511			$	241,129
Permanent differences			41,476				41,612
State and local income tax expense			75,663				49,930
True-up of deferred taxes			(6,126	)			5,977
Other			2,410				--
Income tax expense		$	425,934			$	338,648

		2015				2014
Deferred tax assets:
Stock option expense		$	--			$	29,012
Accrued vacation			68,280				35,378
Mark-to-market			9,510				55,132
Bad debt expense			12,100				--
Deferred rent			1,740				--
Other			14,892				30,866
Total deferred tax assets			106,522				150,388
Deferred tax liabilities:
Stock option expense			(13,221	)			--
Goodwill amortization			(788,308	)			(777,965	)
Fixed asset depreciation			(111,154	)			(116,114	)
Total deferred tax liabilities			(912,683	)			(894,079	)
Net deferred tax liabilities		$	(806,161	)		$	(743,691	)

		Number of Shares				Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding at January 1, 2014			841,750			$	1.7095
Exercised			(198,900	)			0.7805
Forfeited			(14,300	)			5.2804
Granted			--				--
Outstanding at December 31, 2014			628,550			$	1.9222
Exercised			(341,250	)			0.8630
Forfeited			(1,950	)			2.3154
Granted			52,000				2.0385
Outstanding at December 31, 2015			337,350			$	3.0092

		2015				2014
Data and product costs		$	11,780			$	11,780
Selling, general and administrative costs			116,059				113,739
		$	127,839			$	125,519

		2015
Risk-free interest rate			1.73	%
Expected dividend yield			1.89	%
Expected volatility factor			2.50
Expected life of the option (years)			9

			Options Outstanding												Options Exercisable
Range of Exercise Prices			Number Outstanding				Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (in years)				Weighted Average Exercise Price				Number Exercisable				Weighted Average Exercise Price
$ 1.00 - $ 2.00				39,000				1.70			$	1.8308				39,000			$	1.8308
$ 2.01 - $ 3.00				118,300				7.65			$	2.1937				-				-
$ 3.01 - $ 6.00				180,050				4.45			$	3.8003				-				-
				337,350				5.25			$	3.0092				39,000			$	1.8308

		2015				2014
Computer equipment and software		$	1,352,071			$	1,098,832
Furniture and fixtures			225,144				222,894
Leasehold improvements			188,476				168,433
Capital lease			90,043				90,043
			1,855,734				1,580,202
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization			(1,460,708	)			(1,242,863	)
		$	395,026			$	337,339

		Operating Leases
2016		$	166,592
2017			170,147
2018			174,876
2019			180,272
2020			107,027
Total minimum lease payments		$	798,914

		2015				2014
Net income		$	493,217			$	370,554
Weighted average common shares outstanding – basic			10,627,676				10,395,297
Potential shares exercisable under stock option plans			326,463				563,063
LESS: Shares which could be repurchased under treasury stock method			(162,983	)			(251,577	)
Weighted average common shares outstanding – diluted			10,791,156				10,706,783

Net income per share:
Basic		$	0.05			$	0.04
Diluted		$	0.05			$	0.03

Name	Age	Principal Occupation/Position Held with Company	Officer or Director Since
Jerome S. Flum	75	Chairman of the Board/Chief Executive Officer	1983
William B. Danner	59	President/Chief Operating Officer	2005
Lawrence Fensterstock	65	Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer/Secretary	1999
Andrew J. Melnick	74	Director	2005
Jeffrey S. Geisenheimer	50	Director	2005
Joshua M. Flum	46	Director	2007
Richard J. James	76	Director	1992

SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
Name and Principal Position		Year				Salary				Bonus (1)				Option Awards (2)				All Other Compensation				Total
Jerome S. Flum, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer			2015 2014			$ $	170,000 164,760			$ $	40,000  33,750			$ $	-0-  -0-			$ $	-0-  -0-			$ $	210,000 198,510
William B. Danner, President			2015 2014			$ $	204,600 198,600			$ $	65,000  48,750			$ $	10,911  10,911			$ $	-0-  -0-			$ $	280,511 258,261
Lawrence Fensterstock, Senior Vice President			2015 2014			$ $	170,000 164,760			$ $	63,000  47,250			$ $	740  740			$ $	-0- -0-			$ $	233,740 212,750

OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT FISCAL YEAR-END
Name		Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable				Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Un-exercisable				Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Unearned Options (#)				Option Exercise Price ($)				Option Expiration Date
William B. Danner			-0- -0-				13,000 6,500				-0- -0-			$ $	5.58 2.32				01-14-21 07-11-22
Lawrence Fensterstock			-0-				2,600				-0-			$	2.32				07-11-22

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION
Name		Fees Earned or Paid in Cash				Option Awards(1)				Total
Andrew J. Melnick		$	3,000			$	1,850			$	4,850
Jeffrey S. Geisenheimer		$	3,000			$	1,850			$	4,850
Joshua M. Flum		$	3,000			$	7,584			$	10,584
Richard J. James		$	3,000			$	1,850			$	4,850

Name of Beneficial Owner		Amount and Nature of Beneficial Ownership(1)				Percent of Class
Santa Monica Partners, L.P./ La’Dadande Limited Partnership/ Lawrence J. Goldstein(2) 1865 Palmer Avenue Larchmont, NY 10538			815,901				7.58%
Arosa Investment Management LLC(3) 540 N Dearborn Street Chicago, IL 60610			633,950				5.89%
Flum Partners (4)			5,641,134				52.42%
Jerome S. Flum			6,238,776(5)(6)				57.97%
William B. Danner			169,936				1.58%
Lawrence Fensterstock			140,818				1.31%
Andrew J. Melnick			52,000				-----*
Jeffrey S. Geisenheimer			121,448				1.13%
Joshua M. Flum			45,500				-----*
Richard J. James			60,450				-----*
All directors and executive officers (as a group (7 persons))			6,828,928(5)(6)				63.46%

Plan category		Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights				Weighted average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights				Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in first column)
Equity compensation plans approved by stockholders			337,350			$	3.01				1,001,650
Total			337,350			$	3.01				1,001,650

		Fiscal Year Ended December 31,
		2015				2014
Audit fees (1)		$	95,000			$	92,500
Audit related fees (2)			-				-
Tax fees (3)			10,000				10,000
All other fees			-				-
Total fees		$	105,000			$	102,500

	Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	22
Balance Sheets - December 31, 2015 and 2014	23
Statements of Income - Years Ended December 31, 2015 and 2014	24
Statements of Stockholders’ Equity – Years Ended December 31, 2015 and 2014	25
Statements of Cash Flows - Years Ended December 31, 2015 and 2014	26
Notes to Financial Statements	27

2	-	Copy of the Asset Purchase Agreement dated December 29, 1998. (1)
3(i)	-	Copy of the Company’s Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation dated as of May 7, 1999. (3)
3(ii)	-	Copy of the Company’s By-Laws as amended April 27, 1987 and May 11, 1999. (5)
10-C	-	Copy of Company’s 1998 Long-Term Incentive Plan. (2)
10-D	-	Copy of Company’s 2009 Long-Term Incentive Plan. (6)
14	-	CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. Code of Ethics for Principal Executive Officer and Senior Financial Officers. (4)
31.1*	-	Certification of Chief Executive Officer.
31.2*	-	Certification of Chief Financial Officer.
32.1*	-	Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2*	-	Certification of Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
101.INS	-	XBRL Instance Document
101.SCH	-	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL	-	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF	-	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LAB	-	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PRE	-	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

Date: March 29, 2016	By:	/s/	Jerome S. Flum
			Jerome S. Flum
			Chairman of the Board and
			Chief Executive Officer

Date: March 29, 2016	By:	/s/	Jerome S. Flum
			Jerome S. Flum
			Chairman of the Board and
			Chief Executive Officer
			(Principal Executive Officer)

Date: March 29, 2016	By:	/s/	Lawrence Fensterstock
			Lawrence Fensterstock
			Chief Financial Officer
			(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

Date: March 29, 2016	By:	/s/	Andrew J. Melnick
			Andrew J. Melnick
			Director

Date: March 29, 2016	By:	/s/	Jeffrey S. Geisenheimer
			Jeffrey S. Geisenheimer
			Director

Date: March 29, 2016	By:	/s/	Joshua M. Flum
			Joshua M. Flum
			Director

Date: March 29, 2016	By:	/s/	Richard J. James
			Richard J. James
			Director