NETSOL TECHNOLOGIES INC - Annual Report: 2018 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

[X] ANNUAL REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2018

or

[  ] TRANSITION REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File Number 0-22773

NETSOL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant specified in its charter)

23975 Park Sorrento, Suite 250,

Calabasas, CA 91302

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

(818) 222-9195

(Issuer’s telephone number including area code)

SECURITIES REGISTERED UNDER SECTION 12(b) OF THE EXCHANGE ACT:

COMMON STOCK, $.01 PAR VALUE

THE NASDAQ CAPITAL MARKET

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined by Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes [  ] No [X]

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 [X]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the past 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 [X] 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 (§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 [X] No [  ]

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers in response to Item 405 of Regulation S-K(§229.405) 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 definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act (Check one):

(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 Act). Yes [  ] No [X]

The aggregate market value of the Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $47,371,503 based upon the closing price of the stock as reported on NASDAQ Capital Market ($4.71 per share) on December 31, 2017, the last business day of the registrant’s second quarter. As of September 21, 2018, there were 11,502,616 shares of common stock outstanding and no shares of its Preferred Stock issued and outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

(None)

ANNUAL REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES ACT OF 1934

TABLE OF CONTENTS AND CROSS REFERENCE SHEET

NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating to the development of the Company’s products and services and future operation results, including statements regarding the Company that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” variations of such words, and similar expressions, identify forward looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward looking. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could affect the Company’s actual results include the progress and costs of the development of products and services and the timing of the market acceptance. Forward looking statements may appear throughout this report, including without limitation, the following sections: Item 1 “Business,” and Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Given these risk and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

As used herein, “NetSol,” “we”, “our,” and similar terms include NetSol Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

PART 1

ITEM 1 - BUSINESS

GENERAL

NetSol Technologies, Inc. (NasdaqCM: NTWK) is a worldwide provider of IT and enterprise software solutions. We believe that our solutions constitute mission critical applications for clients, as they encapsulate end-to-end business processes, facilitating faster processing and increased transactions.

The Company’s primary source of revenue is the licensing, customization, enhancement and maintenance of its suite of financial applications under the brand name NFS™ (NetSol Financial Suite) and NFS Ascent™ for leading businesses in the global lease and finance industry.

NetSol’s clients include Dow-Jones 30 Industrials and Fortune 500 manufacturers and financial institutions, global vehicle manufacturers, and enterprise technology providers, all of which are serviced by NetSol delivery locations around the globe.

Founded in 1997, NetSol is headquartered in Calabasas, California. While the Company follows a global strategy for sales and delivery of its portfolio of solutions and services, it continues to maintain regional offices in the following locations:

The Company continues to maintain services, solutions and/or sales specific offices in the USA, England, Pakistan, Thailand, China, Indonesia and Australia.

OUR BUSINESS

Company Business Model

NetSol believes that strong technology solutions with provable returns on investment are required to sell to its globally competitive and mature marketplace. NetSol believes that people are the drivers of success and we invest in hiring, training and retaining top-notch staff to ensure not only successful selling but also the ongoing satisfaction of our clients. Taken together, this “selling and attentive servicing” approach creates a distinctive advantage for NetSol and a unique value for our customers. NetSol continues to underpin this effective business model with a combination of careful cost arbitrage, subject matter expertise, domain experience, scalability and proximity with our global and regional customers.

Niche Market Focus

By specializing in leasing and financing solutions, we have gained footholds in several global locations and a market leading position in the captive auto-finance segment and a growing presence in the general asset finance space.

Subject Matter Expertise

Our dual expertise in enterprise technology implementation and financial application development has helped us emerge as a global contender in the lease and finance industry and secure a broad footprint throughout the major markets of North America, Asia Pacific and Europe. The Asia Pacific operating region has particularly benefitted from the organic growth in the fast-developing leasing automation industry, which is still nascent by Western standards.

Domain Experience

NetSol has a strong presence in the captive auto-finance domain. With a collective experience of over two decades in Asia Pacific and over three decades in North America and Europe, NetSol is one of a few global competitors in this niche industry.

Proximity with Global and Regional Customers

The Company has offices across the world, located strategically to maintain close contact and proximity with its customers in various key markets. This has helped in strengthening customer relationships and building a deeper understanding of local market dynamics. Simultaneously, the Company is able to extend services and even development support through a combination of local/onsite and central/off-site resources. This approach allows the Company to offer blended rates to its customers by employing a unique and cost effective global development model.

While our business model is built around the development, implementation and maintenance of our suite of financial applications, under NFS™, NetSol has employed the same facilities and competencies to extend its offerings into related segments, including:

Our global operation is broken down into three regions: North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. All of the subsidiaries are seamlessly integrated to function effectively with global delivery capabilities, cross selling to multinational asset finance companies, leveraging a centralized marketing and pre-sales organization and, a network of employees connected across the globe to support local and global customers and partners.

OUR SOLUTIONS

NetSol Financial Suite™

NetSol’s offerings include its flagship global solution, NFS™. A robust suite of four software applications that is an end-to-end solution for the asset finance industry covering the complete leasing and finance cycle starting from quotation origination through end of contract transactions and including digital channel support with intuitive mobile applications. The four applications under NFS™ have been designed and developed for a highly flexible setting and are capable of dealing with multinational, multi-company, multi-asset, multi-lingual, multi-distributor and multi-manufacturer environments. Each application is a complete system in itself and can be used independently to address specific sub-domains of the leasing/financing cycle. When used together, they fully automate the entire leasing/financing cycle for companies of any size, including those with multi-billion-dollar portfolios.

NFS Ascent™, the Company’s next generation platform, offers a technologically advanced solution for the auto and equipment finance and leasing industry. NFS Ascent’s™ architecture and user interfaces were designed based on the Company’s collective experience with global Fortune 500 companies over the past 40 years combined with UX design concepts. The platform’s framework allows auto captive and asset finance companies to rapidly transform legacy driven technology into a state-of-the-art IT and business process environment. At the core of the NFS Ascent™ platform is a lease accounting and contract processing engine, which allows for an array of interest calculation methods, as well as robust accounting of multi-billion-dollar lease portfolios in compliance with various regulatory standards. NFS Ascent™, with its distributed and clustered deployment across parallel application and high-volume data servers, enables finance companies to process voluminous data in a hyper speed environment.

NFS Ascent™ has been developed using the latest tools and technologies and its n-tier SOA architecture allows the system to greatly improve a myriad of areas including, but not limited to, scalability, performance, fault tolerance and security. We believe that the transition from NFS™ to NFS Ascent™ allows:

NFS™ and NFS Ascent™ have the following as their constituent applications:

Loan Origination System (LOS)

Point of Sale (POS)

POS is a front office processing system for companies in the financial sector. It provides a quotation system which also incorporates a simulation for all kinds of financial products using a powerful built-in loan calculator.

Credit Application Processing System (CAP)

CAP provides companies in the financial sector with an environment to handle the incoming credit applications from dealers, agents, brokers and the direct sales force. CAP automatically gathers information from different interfaces like credit rating agencies, evaluation guides, and contract management systems and gives the applications a score against a user defined point scoring system. This automated workflow permits the credit team members to make their decisions more quickly and accurately. CAP is a database independent online system developed in Microsoft’s .Net framework. It can be run from any computer system with normal specifications, which is a key benefit for clients.

Contract Management System (CMS)

CMS provides comprehensive business functionality that enables its users to effectively and smoothly manage and maintain a contract with the most comprehensive details throughout its life cycle. It provides interfaces with external systems such as banks and accounting systems. CMS effectively maintains details of all business partners that do business with the company including, but not limited to, customers, dealers, debtors, guarantors, insurance companies and banks.

Wholesale Finance System (WFS)

WFS automates and manages the floor plan/bailment activities of dealerships through a finance company. The design of the system is based on the concept of one asset/one loan to facilitate asset tracking and costing. The system covers credit limit, payment of loan, billing and settlement, stock auditing, online dealer and auditor access, and ultimately the pay-off functions.

Dealer Auditor Access System (DAAS)

DAAS is a web-based solution that can be used in conjunction with WFS or any third party wholesale finance system. It addresses the needs of dealer, distributor and auditor access in a wholesale financing arrangement.

Fleet Management System (FMS)

FMS is designed to efficiently handle all fleet management needs. FMS is easily integrated with CMS and WFS as well as with any third-party contract management system to ensure a single comprehensive system. FMS key features include: a detailed tracking of information on every driver and vehicle; customizable reports; periodic reporting on fleet related aspects; internet based access to information; integration with third party software; and, linkage to GPS for real time tracking.

NFS Digital

NFS Digital enables a sales force for a finance and leasing company to access different channels like point of sale, field investigation and auditing as well as allowing end customers to access their contract details through a self-service mobile application.

Mobile Account

The powerful mAccount is a self-service mobile solution. It empowers the dealer with a commanding backend system and allows the customer to setup a secured account and view information 24/7 to keep track of contract status, reducing inbound calls for customer queries and improving turnaround time for repayments.

Mobile Point of Sale

The application mPOS is a web and mobile enabled platform featuring a customizable home screen dashboard along with multiple quotation, application submission, work queues and detailed reporting to empower dealer networks in making the right decisions at the right time, in turn optimizing productivity.

Mobile Dealer

Mobile Platform mDealer provides more visibility and control over inventories – with minimal effort. Dealers can view their use of floor plan facility, stock status and financial conditions, while entering settlement requests or relocating assets.

Mobile Auditor

The mAuditor schedules visits, records audit exceptions and tracks assets for higher levels of transparency, in real time.

Mobile Field Investigator

By using Mobile Field Investigator (mFI), the applicant has access to powerful features that permit detailed verification on the go. The application features a reporting dashboard that displays progress stats, action items and latest notifications, enabling the client to achieve daily goals while tracking performance.

Regional NFS™ Offerings

While NFS Ascent™ is designed to be a truly global solution ready for customization in any market, the Company has historically provided products tailored to various markets. As such, we offer the following additional regional products:

LeasePak

In North America, NetSol Technologies Americas, Inc. (NTA) has and continues to develop the LeasePak CMS product which is now tailored to be an offering on the Microsoft Azure™ cloud. LeasePak streamlines the lease and loan management lifecycle, enabling superior portfolio management, flexible financial products (lease or loan terms) and sophisticated financial analysis and management to reduce operating costs, simply accounting and improve profits. It is scalable from a basic offering to a collection of highly specialized add on modules for systems, portfolios and accounting methods for virtually all sizes and complexity of operations. It is the centerpiece of vehicle leasing infrastructure at leading Fortune 500 banks and Automotive Captives, as well as for some of the industry’s leading independent lessors. It handles every aspect of the lease or loan lifecycle, including credit application origination, credit adjudication, pricing, documentation, booking, payments, customer service, collections, midterm adjustments, and end-of-term options for asset disposition and remarketing.

LeasePak Cloud - SaaS

NTA also offers the LeasePak Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) business line, which provides high performance with a reduced total cost of ownership. SaaS offers a proven deployment option whereby customers only require access to the internet to use the software. With an elastic cloud price, revenue stream predictability and improved return on investment for customers, management believes that its SaaS customers will experience the performance, the reliability and the speed usually associated with a highly scalable private cloud. LeasePak-SaaS targets small and mid-sized leasing and finance companies.

LeaseSoft

In addition to offering NFS Ascent™ to the European market, NTE has some regional offerings, including:

Implementation Process

The implementation process of our products can span from three to eighteen months depending upon the complexity and scope. The implementation process also includes related software services such as configuration, data migration, training and any other additional third-party interfaces. Even after implementation, customers seek enhancements and additions to improve their business processes. NetSol charges these efforts in a man-day rate. Post implementation, NetSol consultants may remain at the client site to assist the customer in smooth operations. After this phase, the regular maintenance and support services phase for the implemented software begins. In addition to the daily rate paid by the customer for each consultant, the customer also pays for all the transportation related expenses, boarding of the consultants, and a living allowance. NetSol’s involvement in all of the above steps is priced to bring value to our customers and increase our profitability from our interactions.

Pricing and Revenue Streams

The Company’s revenue streams occur through the following three main areas:

License fees in a single market can vary based on relatively low cost for a simple SaaS arrangement to a multi-million dollar fee for multiple module implementations. There are various attributes which determine the level of complexity, a few of which are: number of contracts; size of the portfolio; business strategy of the customer; internal business processes followed by the customer; number of business users; and branch network of the customer. The Company recognizes revenue from license contracts without major customization when a non-cancelable, non-contingent license agreement has been signed, delivery of the software has occurred, the fee is fixed or determinable, and collectability is probable. However, revenue from sale of licenses with major customization, modification, and development is recognized on a percentage of completion basis. Implementation related services, including configuration, data migration and third-party interfaces are recognized in accordance with the percentage of completion method. Maintenance and support related services are then provided on a continued basis. The annual maintenance fee, which typically is an agreed upon percentage of overall monetary value of the license, then becomes an ongoing revenue stream realized on yearly basis. Revenue from software services includes fixed price contracts and is recognized in accordance with the percentage of completion method using the output measure of “Unit of Work Completed.”

Joint Ventures

NetSol-Innovation

In November 2004, the Company entered into a joint venture agreement with 1insurer (formerly the Innovation Group) forming NetSol-Innovation (Pvt) Ltd., (“NetSol-Innovation”), a Pakistani company. NetSol-Innovation provides support services enabling 1insurer to scale solution delivery operations in key growth markets. NetSol-Innovation operations are centered in NetSol’s delivery center in Lahore, Pakistan. NetSol owns a majority of the venture. The entities share in the profits of the joint venture on the basis of their shareholding. The outsourcing model between 1insurer and NetSol involves services pertaining to business analyses, configuration, testing, software quality assurance, technical communication, research and development regarding its insurance platform, client support as well as project management for development of software for 1insurer. Beginning in 2016, 1Insurer began to wind down its operations, resulting in a slowdown of outsourcing to NetSol-Innovation. We anticipate that the NetSol-Innovation operations will be absorbed into our Pakistan operations in the near future.

Virtual Lease Services

Virtual Lease Services (VLS) is a joint venture partnership with NTE and Investec Bank. NetSol owns a majority of the venture. VLS provides an asset finance services proposition complementing our core solutions offerings. VLS provides three core services, covering business process outsourcing (BPO), provision of standby servicing to the securitization markets, and audit services. The cornerstone of VLS’s range of services is the BPO offering which provides portfolio management to a range of businesses, including start-ups, growth businesses, and those in run down mode. The BPO service also supports portfolio acquirers. VLS carries a Fitch ABS Primary Servicer Rating of “ABPS3+”.

Alliances

Daimler South East Asia Pte. Ltd. (“DSEA”), (through the regional office Daimler Financial Services (“DFS”) Africa Asia Pacific), has established a “Centre of Competence” (“CoC”) in Singapore to facilitate the regional companies in NFS™ related matters. The DSEA CoC is powered by highly qualified technical and business personnel. In conjunction with our Asia Pacific region, the CoC supports DFS companies in twelve different countries in Asia and Africa and this list can increase as more DFS companies from other countries opt for NFS Ascent™. In July 2004, the Company entered into a Frame Agreement with DFS for the Asia Pacific and Africa region. This agreement was renewed in 2008, 2010, 2013 and most recently in January 2016. The agreement serves as a guideline for managing the business relationship with DFS and the use of licensed NFS^TM products by DFS and its affiliated companies.

Technical Affiliations

The Company is a Microsoft Certified Silver Partner and an Oracle Certified Partner.

Marketing and Selling

NetSol management continues its optimism that the Company will experience ever increasing opportunities for its product and services offerings in 2018 and beyond. The objective of the Company’s marketing program is to create and sustain preference and loyalty for NetSol. Marketing is performed at the corporate and business unit levels. The corporate marketing department has overall responsibility for communications, advertising, public relations and the website. In addition, corporate marketing oversees central marketing and communications programs for use by each of the business units.

Our dedicated marketing personnel, within the regions, undertake a variety of marketing activities, including sponsoring focused client events to demonstrate our skills and products, sponsoring and participating in targeted conferences and holding private briefings with individual companies. We believe that the industry focus of our sales professionals and our business unit marketing personnel enhances their knowledge and expertise in these industries and will generate additional client engagements.

The Markets

NetSol provides its services primarily to clients in global commercial industries. In the global commercial area, the Company’s service offerings are marketed to clients in a wide array of industries including, automotive, software, banks, higher education and financial services.

The Asian continent, including Australia and New Zealand, from the perspective of marketing, are targeted by the Asia Pacific Region from its Bangkok, Beijing and Lahore facilities. The marketing for our core offerings in the Americas and Europe is carried out from our Los Angeles Area and London Metropolitan area offices, respectively.

People and Culture

The Company believes it has developed a strong corporate culture that is critical to its success. Its key values are delivering world-class quality software, client-focused timely delivery, leadership, long-term relationships, creativity, openness and transparency and professional growth. The services provided by NetSol require proficiency in many fields, such as software engineering, project management, business analysis, technical writing, sales and marketing, and communication and presentation skills.

Due to the growing demand for our core offerings and IT services, retention of technical and management personnel is essential. We have enhanced the compensation structure for our technical teams and senior management to stay ahead of global and regional competition. As a result, we have improved IT employee turnover from 22% in 2017 to 14% in 2018 with a goal to improve the turnover level to under 10% during the 2019 fiscal year and onwards. In addition, we are committed to improving key performance indicators such as efficiency, productivity and revenue per employee.

To encourage all employees to build on our core values, we reward teamwork and promote individuals that demonstrate these values. We believe that our growth and success are attributable in large part to the high caliber of our employees and our commitment to maintain the values on which our success has been based. We support gender diversity on a global basis. NetSol is an equal opportunity employer with the largest concentration of female employees in Lahore, Pakistan and our U.S. headquarters.

NetSol believes it should give back to the community and employees as much as possible. Certain of our subsidiaries are located in regions where basic services are not readily available. Where possible, NetSol acts to not only improve the quality of life of its employees but also the standard of living in these regions. Examples of such programs are:

There is significant competition for employees with the skills required to perform the services we offer. The Company runs an elaborate training program for different cadre of employees to cover technical skills and business domain knowledge, as well as communication, management and leadership skills. The Company believes that it has been successful in its efforts to attract and retain the highest level of talent available, in part because of the emphasis on core values, training and professional growth. We intend to continue to recruit, hire and promote employees who share our vision.

As of June 30, 2018, we had approximately 1,356 employees; comprised of 976 IT project and technical personnel; and 380 non-IT personnel. The IT project and technical personnel include 805 employees dedicated to NFS and NFS Ascent™, 56 employees dedicated to the joint venture with 1insurer and 115 employees supporting the regional offerings as well as IT consulting and services. None of our employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement.

Competition

Neither a single company, nor a small number of companies, dominate the IT market in the space in which the Company competes. A substantial number of companies offer services that overlap and are competitive with those offered by NetSol. Some of these are large computer manufacturers and computer consulting firms that have greater financial resources than NetSol and, in some cases, may have greater capacity to perform services similar to those provided by NetSol.

In the NFS™ business space, the barriers to entry are getting higher. The products are becoming more cutting-edge while richness in functionality is paramount. Older companies have prolonged the life of their legacy products by creating web-based front ends, while the core of the systems has not been re-engineered. In the case of NFS™, we compete chiefly against leading suppliers of IT solutions to the financial industry, including names such as White Clarke, Cassiopae, LineData, FIS, International Decision Systems (IDS), Data Scan, Alfa, 3i Infotech, Finnone and Nucleus Software.

In the IT based business services areas, we compete with both smaller local firms and many global IT services providers, including names such as Wipro, InfoSys, Satyam Infoway, HCL and TCS (Tata Consulting).

Many of the competitors of NetSol have longer operating histories, larger client bases, and longer relationships with clients, greater brand or name recognition and significantly greater financial, technical, and public relations resources than NetSol. Existing or future competitors may develop or offer services that are comparable or superior to ours at a lower price, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Customers

NetSol customers include world renowned auto manufacturers through their finance arms and large regional banks. NetSol is a strategic business partner for Daimler (which consists of a group of many companies in different countries), which accounts for 36.3% of our revenue.

Global Operations and Geographic Data

The Company divides its operations into three regions: the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The regions consist of individual subsidiaries which operate as autonomous companies and are strategically managed on a regional basis.

The Americas

At NTA, Mr. Jeffrey Bilbrey, formerly a NetSol Technologies, Inc. independent board member for three years and also Vice President at Majesco Software and Services, serves as President. Mr. Bilbrey brings 24 years of software product management, consulting services delivery and technology business operational leadership to NTA. His focus is to expand the presence of NetSol in the Americas region while assuring elevated service levels to all existing clients.

Europe

Mr. Asad Ghauri is the President of Asia Pacific (APAC) and Group Managing Director of Europe. Mr. Ghauri has a long history of experience in the Company, including a tenure as a board of director member, and vast experience in leading our APAC unit. We believe this experience will be utilized to lead growth in Europe.

VLS is led by Ms. Louise Ikonomides. As Managing Director and founding shareholder of VLS, Ms. Ikonomides has been with VLS since its inception in 1999.

Asia Pacific Region

NetSol Technologies, Ltd., a majority owned subsidiary of the parent company is located in Lahore, Pakistan and is headed by Mr. Salim Ghauri as its CEO. Mr. Ghauri is a co-founder of NetSol Technologies and has been with the Company since 1996.

NetSol Beijing is headed by Mr. Umar Qadri as President. Mr. Qadri has been with NetSol for over six years where he has gained valuable experience in both technology and management.

The Global Sales Division is headed by Mr. Naeem Ghauri as President of Sales from the NetSol Thai offices located in Bangkok, Thailand. Mr. Ghauri has been with NetSol since 1999 and has over 29 combined years of experience in business and IT. He is also a member of the board of directors of the parent Company.

The Asia Pacific region including Australia/New Zealand and the Middle East, is targeted from the APAC region offices located in Beijing, China; Bangkok, Thailand; Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan. While Lahore continues to be a mainstay of the Company’s delivery and research and development, Bangkok’s expanded sales operation and client relations facility has grown into a back-up to the Lahore facility. With the continued growth of the Chinese market, our Beijing office continues to expand as both a sales and support facility. Finally, the Asia Pacific region maintains and will establish offices through the region as is necessary to support its customers and to explore potential new markets.

Our APAC Region accounted for approximately 79% of our revenues in 2018, and our European and North American regions accounted for approximately 15% and 7%, respectively, of our revenues in 2018. Information regarding financial data by geographic areas is set forth in Item 7 and Item 8 of this Annual Report on form 10-K. See note 19 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8.

Intellectual Property

The Company relies upon a combination of nondisclosure and other contractual arrangements, as well as common law trade secret, copyright and trademark laws to protect its proprietary rights. The Company enters into confidentiality agreements with its employees, generally requires its consultants and clients to enter into these agreements, and limits access to and distribution of its proprietary information. The NetSol “N” logo and name, as well as the NFS logo and product name have been copyrighted and trademark registered in Pakistan. The NetSol “N” logo and BestShoring® name has been registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. An application has been filed to trademark the NFS Ascent™ with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is currently being processed. The Company intends to trademark and copyright its intellectual property as necessary and in the appropriate jurisdictions.

Governmental Approval and Regulation

Current Company operations do not require specific governmental approvals. Like all companies, including those with multinational subsidiaries, we are subject to the laws of the countries in which the Company maintains subsidiaries and conducts operations. Pakistani law allows a tax exemption on income from exports of IT services and products up to 2025. While foreign based companies may invest in Pakistan, repatriation of their investment, in the form of dividends or other methods, requires approval of the State Bank of Pakistan.

Available Information

Our website is located at www.netsoltech.com, and our investor relations website is located at http://ir.netsoltech.com. The following filings are available through our investor relations website after we file with the SEC: Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and our Proxy Statements for our annual meetings of stockholders. These filings are also available for download free of charge on our investor relations website. We also provide a link to the section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov that has all of our public filings, including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, all amendments to those reports, our Proxy Statements and other ownership related filings. Further, a copy of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is located at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room can be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.

We webcast our earnings calls and certain events we participate in or host with members of the investment community on our investor relations website. Additionally, we provide notifications of news or announcements regarding our financial performance, including SEC filings, investor events, press and earnings releases, and blogs as part of our investor relations website. Investors and others can receive notifications of new information posted on our investor relations website by signing up for e-mail alerts. Further corporate governance information, including our committee charters and code of conduct, is also available on our investor relations website at http://ir.netsoltech.com/governance-docs. The content of our websites are not intended to be incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.

ITEM 1A - RISK FACTORS

Not Applicable

ITEM 2 - PROPERTIES

Our corporate headquarters are located in Calabasas, California where we lease 5,000 square feet of office space. We own our Lahore Technology Campus which consists of approximately 140,000 square feet of computer and general office space. This includes the newly constructed building having a covered area of approximately 90,000 square feet with the capacity to house approximately 1,000 resources. In addition, we maintain leased office space in the UK, China, Australia, Thailand and Indonesia. Our NTA office has been consolidated with the corporate headquarters. We believe our existing facilities, both owned and leased, are in good condition and suitable for the conduct of our business.

ITEM 3 - LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

None

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 SECURITY

(a) MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

MARKET INFORMATION - Common stock of NetSol Technologies, Inc. is listed and traded on NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol “NTWK”.

The table shows the high and low intra-day prices of the Company’s common stock as reported on the composite tape of the NASDAQ for each quarter during the last two fiscal years.

RECORD HOLDERS - As of September 21, 2018, the number of holders of record of the Company’s common stock was 86.

DIVIDENDS - The Company has not paid dividends on its Common Stock in the past two fiscal years.

SECURITIES AUTHORIZED FOR ISSUANCE UNDER EQUITY COMPENSATION PLAN

The table shows information related to our equity compensation plans as of June 30, 2018:

(b) RECENT SALES OF UNREGISTERED SECURITIES

None.

(c) ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

On February 27, 2018, the Company announced that it had continued the stock repurchase program permitting the Company to repurchase up to 500,000 of its shares of common stock commencing February 27, 2018 and continuing through June 30, 2018. The following table provides the repurchases made from February 27, 2018 through June 30, 2018.

ITEM 6 – SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

Not applicable.

ITEM 7- MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion is intended to assist in understanding our financial position and results of operations for the year ended June 30, 2018. It should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

A few of our highlights for fiscal year 2018 were:

Our success, in the near term, will depend on the Company’s ability to: (a) continue to grow revenues and improve profits, (b) adequately capitalize for growth in various markets and verticals, (c) make progress in the North American and European markets and, (d) continue to increase sales and marketing efforts in every market we operate.

Marketing and Business Development Activities

Management has developed, and the board of directors has ratified, an aggressive growth strategy aimed at increasing competitiveness, enhancing global delivery capabilities and increasing financial strength to become a leading global IT institution in the leasing and finance space.

The growth strategy contemplates the following enhanced activities and initiatives to accomplish these goals:

Growth Prospects for NFS Ascent™

Growth prospects for NFS Ascent™ are linked to the maturing of the product portfolio and its growing customer base across different geographic and product markets. NetSol is eyeing key international markets for growth in sales. Its sales strategy now carefully balances expansion into new geographic markets, including the Americas, Europe, and further penetration of our leading position in Asia Pacific.

Growth in North America is expected to come from the potential market for replacement of legacy systems. NFS Ascent™ is aimed at providing a highly flexible and robust solution based on the latest technology and advanced architecture for the North American customers looking to replace their legacy systems. We believe that NFS Ascent™ can provide substantial competitive disruption to the market’s lagging technology provided by incumbent vendors. The existing customer base may also represent latent demand for increased service and maintenance revenues by offering business process optimization, customization and upgrade services.

Growth in Europe will come from the introduction of NFS Ascent™, which will allow NTE to support larger organizations than those typically selecting the existing LeaseSoft product set, and also opens the door for European expansion. This is designed to attract larger license and professional services revenues across a wider geography. In addition, leveraging the core strengths of NFS Ascent™ will increasingly provide opportunities in the automotive sector where NTE is currently underrepresented.

Growth in NetSol’s traditionally strong base in Asia Pacific is expected through diversification across market segments to include new customers in related banking and commercial lending areas. At the same time, the existing customer base is tapped for increased service and maintenance revenues by offering enhanced features and new solutions to emerging customer needs. In addition, there is a potential for NFS Ascent™ in Asia Pacific in the form of existing customers who are looking for replacement of their current system.

In China, NetSol is a leader in the leasing and finance enterprise solution domain. With this position, NetSol continues to enjoy demand for the current NFS™ solution, as well as NFS Ascent™. NetSol will continue strengthening its position within existing multinational auto manufacturers, as well as, local Chinese captive finance and leasing companies. The Chinese auto leasing market is young and low on consumer penetration in comparison with the giant U.S. market. We see a tremendous opportunity to grow demand for our products widely and in new markets in China such as Shanghai. Although not represented in our fiscal year 2018 financial results, in August 2018, NetSol signed a five-year contract with a major global auto captive to implement Ascent™ retail and wholesale platforms in China which was valued at approximately $30 million.

In Thailand, NetSol established a sales headquarters and client service center. The NetSol Thai operation is the hub for NetSol Global markets and directly supports all APAC markets including China, Indonesia and Australia. Our operation in Bangkok serves a very robust and growing market for leasing companies and regional banks.

MATERIAL TRENDS AFFECTING NETSOL

Management has identified the following material trends affecting NetSol.

Positive trends:

Negative trends:

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Our financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). Preparing financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses. These estimates and assumptions are affected by management’s application of accounting policies. Critical accounting policies for us include revenue recognition and multiple element arrangements, intangible assets, software development costs, and goodwill.

REVENUE RECOGNITION

The Company derives revenues from the following sources: (1) software licenses, (2) services, which include implementation and consulting services, and (3) maintenance, which includes post contract support.

The Company recognizes revenue from license contracts without major customization when a non-cancelable, non-contingent license agreement has been signed, delivery of the software has occurred, the fee is fixed or determinable, and collectability is probable. Delivery is considered to have occurred upon electronic transfer of the license key that provides immediate availability of the product to the purchaser. Determining whether and when some of these criteria have been satisfied often involves assumptions and judgments that can have a significant impact on the timing and amount of revenue the Company reports.

If an arrangement does not qualify for separate accounting of the software license and consulting transactions, then new software license revenue is generally recognized together with the consulting services based on contract accounting using either the percentage-of-completion or completed contract method. Contract accounting is applied to any arrangements: (1) that include milestones or customer specific acceptance criteria that may affect collection of the software license fees; (2) where services include significant modification or customization of the software; (3) where significant consulting services are provided for in the software license contract without additional charge or are substantially discounted; or (4) where the software license payment is tied to the performance of consulting services.

Revenue from consulting services is recognized as the services are performed for time-and-materials contracts. Revenue from training and development services is recognized as the services are performed.

Revenue from maintenance agreements is recognized ratably over the term of the maintenance agreement, typically one year.

Multiple Element Arrangements

The Company may enter into multiple element revenue arrangements in which a customer may purchase a number of different combinations of software licenses, consulting services, maintenance and support, as well as training and development.

Vendor specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) of fair value for each element is based on the price for which the element is sold separately. The Company determines the VSOE of fair value of each element based on historical evidence of the Company’s stand-alone sales of these elements to third-parties or from the stated renewal rate for the elements contained in the initial software license arrangement. When VSOE of fair value does not exist for any undelivered element, revenue is deferred until the earlier of the point at which such VSOE of fair value exists or until all elements of the arrangement have been delivered. The only exception to this guidance is when the only undelivered element is maintenance and support or other services, then the entire arrangement fee is recognized ratably over the performance period.

COST OF REVENUES

Cost of revenues includes salaries and benefits for technical employees, consultant costs, amortization of capitalized computer software development costs, depreciation of computer and equipment, travel costs, and indirect costs such as rent and insurance.

ALLOWANCE FOR DOUBTFUL ACCOUNTS

The Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses inherent in its accounts receivable portfolio. In establishing the required allowance, management regularly reviews the composition of accounts receivable and analyzes customer credit worthiness, customer concentrations, current economic trends and changes in customer payment patterns. Reserves are recorded primarily on a specific identification basis. Account balances are charged off against the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote.

INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Intangible assets consist of product licenses, renewals, enhancements, copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and customer lists. Intangible assets with finite lives are amortized over the estimated useful life and are evaluated for impairment at least on an annual basis and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. We assess recoverability by determining whether the carrying value of such assets will be recovered through the discounted expected future cash flows. If the future discounted cash flows are less than the carrying amount of these assets, we recognize an impairment loss based on the excess of the carrying amount over the fair value of the assets.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COSTS

Costs incurred to internally develop computer software products or to enhance an existing product are recorded as research and development costs and expensed when incurred until technological feasibility for the respective product is established. Thereafter, all software development costs are capitalized and reported at the lower of unamortized cost or net realizable value. Capitalization ceases when the product or enhancement is available for general release to customers.

The Company makes on-going evaluations of the recoverability of its capitalized software projects by comparing the amount capitalized for each product to the estimated present value of future net income from the product. If such evaluations indicate that the unamortized software development costs exceed the present value of expected future net income, the Company writes off the amount which the unamortized software development costs exceed such present value. Capitalized and purchased computer software development costs are being amortized ratably based on the projected revenue associated with the related software or on a straight-line basis.

SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

The Company records stock compensation in accordance with ASC 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation. ASC 718 requires companies to measure compensation cost for stock employee compensation at fair value at the grant date and recognize the expense over the employee’s requisite service period. The Company recognizes in the statement of operations the grant-date fair value of stock options and other equity-based compensation issued to employees and non-employees. We estimate the grant date fair value of our stock options using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the assumptions of expected term, expected volatility, risk-free interest rate and expected dividend. Each of these assumptions is subjective and generally requires significant judgment to determine. We estimate the volatility using our own common stock data.

GOODWILL

Goodwill represents the excess of the aggregate purchase price over the fair value of the net assets acquired in a purchase businesses combination. Goodwill is reviewed for impairment on an annual basis, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of goodwill may be impaired. The goodwill impairment test is a two-step test. Under the first step, the fair value of the reporting unit is compared with its carrying value (including goodwill). If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, step two does not need to be performed. If the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value, an indication of goodwill impairment exists for the reporting unit and the enterprise must perform step two of the impairment test (measurement). Under step two, an impairment loss is recognized for any excess of the carrying amount of the reporting unit’s goodwill over the implied fair value of that goodwill. The implied fair value of goodwill is determined by allocating the fair value of the reporting unit in a manner similar to a purchase price allocation. The residual fair value after this allocation is the implied fair value of the reporting unit goodwill.

The source of the Company’s goodwill relates to the acquisition of four companies. NetSol PK operates in the Asia Pacific region; CQ Systems (now NetSol Technologies Europe Limited) and VLS both operate in Europe; and McCue Systems (now NetSol Technologies Americas, Inc.) operates in the North American region. All these geographies are considered as different reporting segments. Goodwill arising from the acquisition of these companies has been allocated to their respective geographical segments to which they relate. While identifying reporting segments, we take into consideration the reports reviewed by the CEO (chief operating decision maker). As our financial reports are analyzed on this regional basis, we have defined this as segment reporting for purposes of goodwill impairment testing. The Company tests for goodwill impairment at each reporting unit.

Recent Accounting Pronouncement

See Note 2 “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of Part II of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a full description of recent accounting pronouncements, including the expected dates of adoption.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2018 COMPARED TO THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2017

The following table sets forth the items in our consolidated statement of operations for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 as a percentage of revenues.

A significant portion of our business is conducted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. We operate in several geographical regions as described in Note 19 “Segment Information and Geographic Areas” within the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. Weakening of the value of the U.S. dollar compared to foreign currency exchange rates generally has the effect of increasing our revenues but also increasing our expenses denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Similarly, strengthening of the U.S. dollar compared to foreign currency exchange rates generally has the effect of reducing our revenues but also reducing our expenses denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. We plan our business accordingly by deploying additional resources to areas of expansion, while continuing to monitor our overall expenditures given the economic uncertainties of our target markets. In order to provide a framework for assessing how our underlying businesses performed excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations, we compare the changes in results from one period to another period using constant currency. In order to calculate our constant currency results, we apply the current period results to the prior period foreign currency exchange rates. In the table below, we present the change based on actual results in reported currency and in constant currency.

Net revenues for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 by segment are as follows:

Revenues

License fees

License fees for the year ended June 30, 2018 were $6,598,254 compared to $18,218,912 for the year ended June 30, 2017 reflecting a decrease of $11,620,658 with a change in constant currency of $11,356,747. The decrease in license revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 compared to 2017 is primarily due to the $16,345,000 of license revenue recognized for the DFS, 12 country NFS Ascent™ contract in financial year 2017. This license revenue for fiscal year 2017 was recognized based on our customizing and configuring NFS Ascent™ per DFS requirements. During fiscal year 2018, we had NFS Ascent™ Digital license revenue of approximately $2,600,000 and NFS Ascent™ CAP and CMS license revenue of approximately $2,600,000. We also had license revenues through sales of our regional offerings in the U.S. and the U.K. of approximately $1,300,000.

License fees – related party

License fees from related party for the year ended June 30, 2018 were $261,513 compared to $246,957 for the year ended June 30, 2017 reflecting an increase of $14,556 with a change in constant currency of $7,851.

Maintenance fees

Maintenance fees for the year ended June 30, 2018, were $14,382,309 compared to $14,157,367 for the year ended June 30, 2017 reflecting an increase of $224,942 with a change in constant currency of $358,477. Maintenance fees begin once a customer has “gone live” with our product. The increase was due to the start of new maintenance agreements from customers who went live with our product during the latter stages of fiscal year 2017 and into fiscal year 2018. We anticipate maintenance fees to gradually increase as we implement both our NFS legacy product and NFS Ascent™.

Maintenance fees – related party

Maintenance fees from related party for the year ended June 30, 2018, were $418,444 compared to $311,359 for the year ended June 30, 2017, reflecting an increase of $107,085 with a change in constant currency of $80,601.

Services

Services income for the year ended June 30, 2018, was $33,611,982 compared to $24,798,899 for the year ended June 30, 2017, reflecting an increase of $8,813,083 with a change in constant currency of $9,719,867. The increase was primarily due to the increase in services revenue of $9,173,393 associated with the DFS, 12 country NFS Ascent™ implementation. Services revenue is derived from services provided to both current customers as well as services provided to new customers as part of the implementation process.

Services – related party

Services income from related party for the year ended June 30, 2018 was $5,657,756 compared to $7,632,774 for the year ended June 30, 2017 reflecting a decrease of $1,975,018 with a change in constant currency of $1,904,965. The decrease in related party service revenue is due to a decrease in revenue from our joint venture with 1insurer of approximately $2,380,000 or $2,219,000 on a constant currency basis and a decrease of approximately $286,000 or $240,000 on a constant currency basis due to services performed for WRLD3D, offset by an increase in service revenue of approximately $690,000 or $554,000 on a constant currency basis related to services performed for Investec.

Gross Profit

The gross profit was $29,206,917, for the year ended June 30, 2018 as compared with $28,407,936 for the year ended June 30, 2017. This is an increase of $798,981 with an increase in constant currency of $1,445,329. The gross profit percentage for the year ended June 30, 2018 also increased to 47.9% from 43.5% for the year ended June 30, 2017. The cost of sales was $31,723,341 for the year ended June 30, 2018 compared to $36,958,332 for the year ended June 30, 2017 for a decrease of $5,234,991 and on a constant currency basis a decrease of $4,540,245. As a percentage of sales, cost of sales decreased from 56.5% for the year ended June 30, 2017 to 52.1% for the year ended June 30, 2018.

Salaries and consultant fees decreased by $2,789,061 from $24,645,223 for the year ended June 30, 2017 to $21,856,162 for the year ended June 30, 2018 and on a constant currency basis decreased $2,167,324. The decrease in salaries and consultant fees is due to right sizing of technical employees at key locations including Pakistan, Thailand, China, UK and North America. We had 1,234, 1,081 and 976 technical employees as of June 30, 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively. As a percentage of sales, salaries and consultant expense decreased from 37.7% for the year ended June 30, 2017 to 35.9% for the year ended June 30, 2018.

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased to $4,610,737 compared to $5,448,059 for the year ended June 30, 2017 or a decrease of $837,322 and on a constant currency basis a decrease of $644,642. Depreciation and amortization expense decreased as some products became fully amortized.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses were $26,152,006 for the year ended June 30, 2018 compared to $29,409,150, for the year ended June 30, 2017 for a decrease of 11.1% or $3,257,144 and on a constant currency basis a decrease of 10.0% or $2,933,015. As a percentage of sales, it decreased from 45.0% to 42.9%. The decrease in operating expenses was primarily due to decreases in selling and marketing expenses, salaries and wages and depreciation.

Selling and marketing expenses decreased $2,125,753 or 21.8% and on a constant currency basis a decrease of $1,997,529 or 20.5%. The decrease in selling and marketing expenses is due to reduction in staff, decrease in our salaries and commissions, travel expenses, and business development costs to market and sell NFS Ascent™ globally.

Provision for bad debt decreased by approximately $947,021 or $937.458 on a constant currency basis as certain accounts were estimated to be uncollectible in 2017.

General and administrative expenses were $16,254,067 for the year ended June 30, 2018 compared to $16,747,550 at June 30, 2017 or a decrease of $493,483 or 3.0% and on a constant currency basis a decrease of $337,858 or 2.0%. During the year ended June 30, 2018, salaries decreased by approximately $611,293 or $534,245 on a constant currency basis due to decrease in the number of employees, minimal annual raises, and fewer grants of shares and options. Professional services decreased by approximately $67,062 or $78,952 on a constant currency basis and other general and administrative expenses increased by approximately $184,872 or approximately $275,339 on a constant currency basis.

Income/Loss from Operations

Income from operations was $3,054,911 for the year ended June 30, 2018 compared to loss of $1,001,214 for the year ended June 30, 2017. This represents an increase of $4,056,125 with an increase of 4,378,344 on a constant currency basis for the year ended June 30, 2018 compared with the year ended June 30, 2017. As a percentage of sales, income from operations was 5.0% for the year ended June 30, 2018 compared to loss of 1.5% for the year ended June 30, 2017.

Other Income and Expense

Other income was $4,968,094 for the year ended June 30, 2018 compared to $196,729 for the year ended June 30, 2017. This represents an increase of $4,771,365 with an increase of $5,150,298 on a constant currency basis. The increase is primarily due to the foreign currency exchange transactions. The majority of the contracts with NetSol PK are either in U.S. dollars or Euros; therefore, the currency fluctuations will lead to foreign currency exchange gains or losses depending on the value of the PKR compared to the U.S. dollar and the Euro. In December 2017, Pakistan’s central bank withdrew its support of the PKR, which caused the PKR to drop in value. During the year ended June 30, 2018, we recognized a gain of $5,010,383 in foreign currency exchange transactions compared to $306,819 for the year ended June 30, 2017. During the year ended June 30, 2018, the value of the U.S. dollar and the Euro increased 16.3% and 18.9%, respectively, compared to the PKR. During year ended June 30, 2017, the value of the U.S. dollar decreased 0.6% and value of the Euro increased 1.6% compared to the PKR.

Non-controlling Interest

For the year ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, the net income attributable to non-controlling interest was $2,843,090 and $3,241,594, respectively. The increase in non-controlling interest is primarily due to the increase in net income of NetSol PK offset by a decrease in net income of NetSol Innovation.

Net Income/Loss attributable to NetSol

Net income was $4,306,888 for the year ended June 30, 2018 compared to a net loss of $4,978,030 for the year ended June 30, 2017. This is an increase of $9,284,918 with an increase of $9,815,025 on a constant currency basis, compared to the prior year. For the year ended June 30, 2018, net income per share was $0.38 for basic and diluted shares. For the year ended June 30, 2017, net loss per share was $0.46 for basic and diluted shares.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Regulation S-K Item 10(e), “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures in Commission Filings,” defines and prescribes the conditions for use of non-GAAP financial information. Our measures of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA per basic and diluted share meet the definition of a non-GAAP financial measure.

We define the non-GAAP measures as follows:

We use non-GAAP measures internally to evaluate the business and believe that presenting non-GAAP measures provides useful information to investors regarding the underlying business trends and performance of our ongoing operations as well as useful metrics for monitoring our performance and evaluating it against industry peers. The non-GAAP financial measures presented should be used in addition to, and in conjunction with, results presented in accordance with GAAP, and should not be relied upon to the exclusion of GAAP financial measures. Management strongly encourages investors to review our consolidated financial statements in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure in evaluating the Company.

The non-GAAP measures reflect adjustments based on the following items:

EBITDA: We report EBITDA as a non-GAAP metric by excluding the effect of net interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization from net income because doing so makes internal comparisons to our historical operating results more consistent. In addition, we believe providing an EBITDA calculation is a more useful comparison of our operating results to the operating results of our peers.

Stock-based compensation expense: We have excluded the effect of stock-based compensation expense from the non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA per basic and diluted share calculations. Although stock-based compensation expense is calculated in accordance with current GAAP and constitutes an ongoing and recurring expense, such expense is excluded from non-GAAP results because it is not an expense which generally requires cash settlement by NetSol, and therefore is not used by us to assess the profitability of our operations. We also believe the exclusion of stock-based compensation expense provides a more useful comparison of our operating results to the operating results of our peers.

Non-controlling interest: We add back the non-controlling interest in calculating gross adjusted EBITDA and then subtract out the income taxes, depreciation and amortization and net interest expense attributable to the non-controlling interest to arrive at a net adjusted EBITDA.

Our reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures of adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP earnings per basic and diluted share to the most comparable GAAP measures for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 are as follows:

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Our cash position was $22,088,853 at June 30, 2018, compared to $14,172,954 at June 30, 2017.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $15,714,322 for the year ended June 30, 2018 compared to $454,365 for the year ended June 30, 2017. At June 30, 2018, we had current assets of $57,350,896 and current liabilities of $22,507,633. We had accounts receivable of $16,149,733 at June 30, 2018 compared to $8,228,141 at June 30, 2017. We had revenues in excess of billings of $15,492,447 at June 30, 2018 compared to $24,380,632 at June 30, 2017 of which $1,206,669 and $5,173,538 are shown as long term as of June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The long-term portion was discounted by $238,576 and $310,331 at June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, using the discounted cash flow method with interest rates ranging from 3.87% to 4.43% which is NetSol PK’s weighted average borrowing rates. During the year ended June 30, 2018, our revenues in excess of billings were reclassified to accounts receivable pursuant to billing requirements detailed in each contract. The combined totals for accounts receivable and revenues in excess of billings decreased by $966,593 from $32,608,773 at June 30, 2017 to $31,642,180 at June 30, 2018. The decrease is due to progress billings to customers. Accounts payable and accrued expenses, and current portions of loans and lease obligations amounted to $7,873,809 and $8,595,919, respectively at June 30, 2018. The average days sales outstanding for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 were 192 and 165 days, respectively. The days sales outstanding have been calculated by taking into consideration the average combined balances of accounts receivable and revenue in excess of billings.

Net cash used by investing activities amounted to $3,693,684 for the year ended June 30, 2018, compared to $2,727,740 for the year ended June 30, 2017. We had net purchases of property and equipment of $1,506,197 compared to $1,422,185 for the comparable period last fiscal year. For the year ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, we invested $1,923,500 and $200,000, respectively, in a short-term convertible note receivable from WRLD3D. For the year ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, we invested $230,000 and $1,105,555, respectively, in WRLD3D. We used $33,987 and $nil for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, to purchase shares of NetSol PK on the open market.

Net cash used in financing activities was $1,016,766 compared to $4,377,249 provided by financing activities, for the years ended June 30, 2018, and 2017, respectively. The year ended June 30, 2018 included the cash inflow of $312,311 from the exercising of stock options and warrants compared to $866,438 for the year ended June 30, 2017. During the year ended June 30, 2018, we purchased 171,074 shares of our common stock from the open market for $750,714 compared to 7,500 shares of common stock for $38,885 for the same period last year. The year ended June 30, 2018, included cash inflow of $1,365,250 from bank proceeds compared to $6,184,635 for the same period last year. During the year ended June 30, 2018, we had net payments for bank loans and capital leases of $1,626,109 compared to $554,048 for the year ended June 30, 2017. We are operating in various geographical regions of the world through its various subsidiaries. Those subsidiaries have financial arrangements from various financial institutions to meet both their short and long-term funding requirements. These loans will become due at different maturity dates as described in Note 14 of the financial statements. We are in compliance with the covenants of the financial arrangements and there is no default which may lead to early payment of these obligations. We anticipate paying back all these obligations on their respective due dates.

We typically fund the cash requirements for our operations in the U.S. through our license, services, and maintenance agreements, intercompany charges for corporate services, and through the exercise of options and warrants. As of June 30, 2018, we had approximately $22.1 million of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of which approximately $20.9 million is held by our foreign subsidiaries. As of June 30, 2017, we have approximately $14.2 million of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of which approximately $11.6 million is held by our foreign subsidiaries. The Tax Act, which was passed on December 22, 2017, imposes a one-time repatriation tax on deemed repatriation of historical earnings of foreign subsidiaries. At June 30, 2018, we calculated the deemed repatriation earnings to be $14,130,337 which was fully offset with our net operating loss carry forwards.

We remain open to strategic relationships that would provide value added benefits. The focus will remain on continuously improving cash reserves internally and reduced reliance on external capital raise.

As a growing company, we have on-going capital expenditure needs based on our short term and long-term business plans. Although our requirements for capital expenses vary from time to time, for the next 12 months, we anticipate needing working capital of $2 to $3 million for APAC, U.S. and European new business development activities and infrastructure enhancements.

While there is no guarantee that any of these methods will result in raising sufficient funds to meet our capital needs or that even if available will be on terms acceptable to us, we will be very cautious and prudent about any new capital raise given the global market uncertainties. However, we are very conscious of the dilutive effect and price pressures in raising equity-based capital.

Financial Covenants

Our UK based subsidiary, NTE, has an approved overdraft facility of £300,000 ($394,737) which requires that the aggregate amount of invoiced trade debtors (net of provisions for bad and doubtful debts and excluding intra-group debtors) of NTE, not exceeding 90 days old, will not be less than an amount equal to 200% of the facility. The Pakistani subsidiary, NetSol PK has an approved facility for export refinance from Askari Bank Limited amounting to Rupees 500 million ($4,107,451) and a running finance facility of Rupees 75 million ($616,1188) which requires NetSol PK to maintain a long-term debt equity ratio of 60:40 and the current ratio of 1:1. NetSol PK also has an approved export refinance facility of Rs. 350 million ($2,875,216) and a running finance facility of Rs. 150 million ($1,232,235) from Samba Bank Limited. During the tenure of loan, these two facilities require NetSol PK to maintain at a minimum a current ratio of 1:1, an interest coverage ratio of 4 times, a leverage ratio of 2 times, and a debt service coverage ratio of 4 times.

As of the date of this report, we are in compliance with the financial covenants associated with our borrowings. The maturity dates of the borrowings of respective subsidiaries may accelerate if they do not comply with these covenants. In case of any change in control in subsidiaries, they may have to repay their respective credit facilities.

Dividends and Redemption

It has been our policy to invest earnings in growth rather than distribute earnings as common stock dividends. This policy, under which common stock dividends have not been paid since our inception is expected to continue, but is subject to regular review by the Board of Directors.

Contractual Obligations

Our contractual obligations are as follows:

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not maintain any off-balance sheet arrangements, transactions, obligations or other relationships with unconsolidated entities that would be expected to have a material current or future effect upon our financial condition or results of operations.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

We are exposed to financial market risks, including changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates.

Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

Economic Exposure

We transact business in various foreign currencies and have significant international revenues, as well as costs denominated in foreign currencies. This exposes us to the risk of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Since the majority of the Company’s operations are based in the Asia Pacific region where the Pakistan Rupee is continuously losing its value against the US Dollar and we don’t have any imports; therefore, we believe it is counter-productive to hedge this exposure. The devaluation of the Pakistan Rupee results in a foreign exchange gain to the Company.

Transaction Exposure

Our exposure to foreign currency transaction gains and losses is the result of certain net receivables due from our foreign subsidiaries and customers being denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of the subsidiary, primarily the Euro, Yuan, Baht and the Pakistan Rupee. Our foreign subsidiaries conduct their businesses in local currency. Since the majority of the operations of the Company are based in the Asia Pacific region where the Pakistan Rupee is continuously losing its value against the US Dollar and we don’t have any imports; therefore, we believe it is counter-productive to hedge this exposure.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

The Consolidated Financial Statements that constitute Item 8 are included at the end of this report on page F-1.

ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

NetSol’s financial statements for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2018 and June 30, 2017, did not contain an adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles.

In connection with the audit of NetSol’s financial statements for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2018 and June 30, 2017, there were no disagreements, disputes, or differences of opinion with KSP Group, Inc. (“KSP”) on any matters of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope and procedures, which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of KSP would have caused KSP to make reference to the matter in its report.

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act, as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based upon that evaluation, the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management has the responsibility to establish and maintain adequate internal controls over our financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Our internal controls are designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of our external financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Due to inherent limitations of any internal control system, management acknowledges that there are limitations as to the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting and therefore recognize that only reasonable assurance can be gained from any internal control system. Accordingly, our internal control system may not detect or prevent material misstatements in our financial statements and projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Under the supervision and participation of management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we have performed an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting as of June 30, 2018. This assessment was based on the criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013), issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on the results of our assessment, the Company has determined that as of June 30, 2018, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting are effective.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Except for the control procedures related to the cloud-based ERP system implemented company-wide during the quarter, there have been no changes in our internal controls over financial reporting during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018, that have materially affected, or are reasonable likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a – 15(f) and 15d – 15(f)).

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION

NONE

PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, requires that the Company’s directors and executive officers and persons owning more than 10% of the outstanding Common Stock, file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Executive officers, directors and beneficial owners of more than 10% of the Company’s Common Stock are required by SEC regulation to furnish the Company with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file.

Based solely on copies of such forms furnished as provided above, or written representations that no such forms were required, the Company believes that during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, all Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to its executive officers, directors and beneficial owners of more than 10% of its Common Stock were complied with.

CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board of Directors

At the 2017 Annual Shareholders Meeting, held in June 2018, a seven-member board stood for election. The members were elected and, according to the bylaws of the Company, shall retain their position as directors until the next meeting. The board of directors is made up of: Mr. Najeeb U. Ghauri (Chairman of the Board) Mr. Eugen Beckert, Mr. Naeem U. Ghauri, Mr. Shahid Javed Burki, Mr. Mark Caton, Mr. Henry Tolentino and Ms. Malea Farsai.

Committees

The Audit committee is made up of Mr. Burki as Chairman, and Mr. Caton, Mr. Beckert and Mr. Tolentino as members. The Compensation committee consists of Mr. Caton as Chairman and Mr. Beckert, Mr. Burki and Mr. Tolentino as members. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee consists of Mr. Beckert as chairman and Mr. Burki, Mr. Caton and Mr. Tolentino as members. Mr. Tolentino did not join the committees as a member until August 2018.

The table below provides the membership for each of the committees during Fiscal Year 2018.

DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The following table sets forth the names and ages of the current directors and executive officers of the Company, the principal offices and positions with the Company held by each person and the date such person became a director or executive officer of the Company. The Board of Directors elects the executive officers of the Company annually. Each year the stockholders elect the Board of Directors. The executive officers serve varying terms until their death, resignation or removal by the Board of Directors. In addition, there was no arrangement or understanding between any executive officer and any other person pursuant to which any person was selected as an executive officer.

The directors and executive officers of the Company are as follows:

Business Experience of Officers and Directors:

NAJEEB U. GHAURI is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of NetSol. He has been a Director of the Company since 1997, Chairman since 2003 and Chief Executive Officer from January 1998 to September 2002 and from October 2006 to present. Mr. Ghauri is a co-founder of NetSol Technologies, Inc.

He was responsible for NetSol listing on NASDAQ in 1999, the NetSol subsidiary listing on KSE (Karachi Stock Exchange) in 2005, and the NetSol listing on the NASDAQ Dubai exchange in 2008. Mr. Ghauri served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer from 1999 to 2001 and as the Chief Financial Officer from 2001 to 2005. As CEO, Mr. Ghauri is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Company, as well as the Company’s overall growth and expansion plan. Mr. Najeeb Ghauri, as the CEO, was instrumental in the substantial increase in revenue for fiscal year end 2015. In addition, Mr. Ghauri traveled overseas multiple times to execute the largest contract for the Company, worth over $100 million, in December 2015. In 2017, Mr. Ghauri spearheaded a global initiative to become a leaner and more cost-efficient company. This initiative saved in excess of $7 Million in the 2018 fiscal year to enhance the bottom lines and key margins.

Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Ghauri was part of the marketing team of Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) (now acquired by BP), a Fortune 500 company, from 1987-1997. Prior to ARCO, he spent nearly five years with Unilever as brand and sales managers. Mr. Ghauri attended Eastern Illinois University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management/Economics in 1978. He also received an M.B.A. in Marketing Management from Claremont Graduate School in California in 1981. Mr. Ghauri was elected Vice Chairman of US Pakistan Business Council in 2006, a Washington D.C. based council of US Chamber of Commerce. He is also very active in several philanthropic activities in emerging markets and is a founding director of Pakistan Human Development Fund, a non-profit organization, a partnership with UNDP to promote literacy, health services and poverty alleviation in Pakistan. He is also a board member of the US Pakistan Business Council located in Washington, D.C. Mr. Ghauri has participated in NASDAQ opening and/or closing bell ceremonies in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

ROGER ALMOND was appointed Chief Financial Officer on September 9, 2013. Since 2007, Roger Almond held the position of Senior Manager at Pickard & Green Certified Public Accountants where he and his team was responsible for assisting national and international companies with their financial reporting requirements to the SEC. Roger Almond’s duties also included overseeing multiple entity consolidations, converting financial data to US GAAP, preparing financials statements, footnotes and MD&A. Prior to his current position, Roger Almond held the position of Assurance Manager at Grant Thornton LLP, in Los Angeles, California from 2003-2006; and from November 1999 to August 2003. He was the Chief Financial Officer of Keysor Century Corporation located in Saugus, California.

Roger Almond received his BS in Accounting from Brigham Young University in 1991 and he is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in California. He has also completed executive management courses at UCLA in 2001.

PATTI L. W. MCGLASSON joined NetSol as General Counsel in January 2004 and was elected to the position of Secretary in March 2004. She was appointed Senior Vice President, Corporate and Legal Affairs in 2013.

In the role of General Counsel, Ms. McGlasson is responsible for leading NetSol’s legal department company-wide. She is also responsible for the implementation of the Company’s internal corporate governance and policy plans, ethics and business conduct. She oversees all board meetings in her executive position as corporate secretary.

Ms. McGlasson has nearly 27 years of experience in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, business and cross-border transactions and securities law. Immediately prior to joining NetSol, Patti practiced at Vogt & Resnick, law corporation. She was admitted to practice in California in 1991.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1987 from the University of California, San Diego and, her Juris Doctor and Masters in Law in Transnational Business from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, in 1991 and 1993, respectively. As part of her Masters in Law in Transnational Business, she interned at the law firm of Loeff Claeys Verbeke in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 1991.

NAEEM GHAURI has been a Director of the Company since 1999 and was the Company’s Chief Executive Officer from August 2001 to October 2006. Mr. Ghauri was also a co-founder of the Company. Currently, Mr. Ghauri serves as the President and Head of Global Sales of NetSol as well as the director of NetSol (UK) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company located in London, England. While instrumental in numerous transactions, his most significant and recent contribution to the revenue of the Company was his role in overseeing and leading the closing of the largest contract to date for the Company worth $100 million signed in December 2015. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Ghauri was Program Director for Mercedes-Benz Finance Ltd., from 1994-1999. Mr. Ghauri supervised over 200 project managers, developers, analysis and users in nine European Countries.

EUGEN BECKERT was appointed to the Board of Directors in August 2001. A native of Germany, Mr. Beckert received his Master’s in Engineering and Economics from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. Mr. Beckert was with Mercedes-Benz AG/Daimler Benz AG from 1973, working in technology and systems development. In 1992, he was appointed director of Global IT (CIO) for Debis Financial Services, the services division of Daimler Benz. From 1996 to 2000, he acted as director of Processes and Systems (CIO) for Financial Services of DaimlerChrysler Asia Pacific Services. During this period, he was instrumental to having the LeaseSoft products of NetSol developed and introduced in several countries as a pilot customer. From 2001 to 2004, he served as Vice President in the Japanese company of DCS. Mr. Beckert retired from DaimlerChrysler in November 2006. Mr. Beckert is chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees.

SHAHID JAVED BURKI was first appointed to the Board of Directors in February 2003. Before joining the World Bank in 1974 he was a member of the Civil Service of Pakistan. He had a distinguished career with the World Bank from 1974 to 1999 where he held a number of senior positions including Chief of Policy Planning (1974-1981); Director of International Relations Department (1981-87); Director of China Department (1987-94); and Vice President of Latin America and the Caribbean Region (1994-99). In 1996-97 he took leave of absence from the World Bank to take up the position of Finance Minister of Pakistan Upon taking early retirement from the Bank, he took up the position of Chief Executive Officer of EMP Financial Advisors, a consulting company linked with the Washington based EMP Global, a private equity firm and worked there until 2005.

Mr. Burki was educated at Government College, Lahore from where he received M.Sc. in Physics; at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar from where he received M.A. (Hons) in Economics; at Harvard University as a Mason Fellow from where he received M.P.A. and also studied for Ph.D. in Economics (not completed). In 1997, he received a Diploma in Advanced Management from Harvard University’s Business School.

Mr. Burki is currently Chairman of the Institute of Public Policy, a think tank associated with the Beacon House National University, Lahore, Pakistan. He also spends some time each year as Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National Singapore University. Mr. Burki is the Chairman of the Shahid Javed Burki Institute of Public Policy located in Lahore, Pakistan. Mr. Burki has authored several books and articles on development issues including Rising Powers, Global Governance, in 2017; Changing Perceptions, Altered Reality: Pakistan’s Economy Under Musharraf, 1999-2006 (Oxford University Press, 2007; Pakistan Under Bhutto (Macmillan, 1990; and Study of Chinese Communes (Harvard University Press, 1969););); He is currently working on a collection of essays, Pakistan at 70, to be published later this year by Routledge, London. Mr. Burki is a chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. Mr. Burki is the Company’s Financial Expert on the Audit Committee.

MARK CATON joined the board of directors in 2007. Mr. Caton is currently President of Ciena Financial, Inc. a diversified financial services company, a position he has held since 2006. Prior to joining Ciena, Mr. Caton was President of NetSol Technologies USA, responsible for US sales, from June 2002 to December 2003. Mr. Caton was employed by ePlus from 1997 to 2002 as Senior Account Representative. He was a member of the UCLA Alumni Association Board of Directors and served on the Board of Directors of NetSol from 2002-2003.

Mr. Caton is a Chairman of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit and Nominating Committees. Mr. Caton received his BA from UCLA in psychology in 1971.

MALEA FARSAI was nominated and elected to the Board of Directors for the first time in June 2018. Before joining NetSol in March 2000, Ms. Farsai practiced at the law firm of Horwitz and Beam where she represented both domestic and international private and public companies from technology to apparel in various transactions. She also worked on formation of business startups and IPOs. Ms. Farsai was on the team that took the Company public and is the one who listed NetSol on NASDAQ in 1999 and has maintained its listing since then to current. After nearly two decades with NetSol, she continues to work, part time, as the Company’s Corporate Counsel and is responsible for all the Company’s insurance needs, both domestically and internationally. Having knowledge of the Company since its inception, she is also responsible for some of the Company’s corporate governance, SEC reporting and NASDAQ compliance.

Ms. Farsai received her B.A. degree from University of California, Irvine and her J.D. in 1996 from WSU. Malea has been a member of the California State Bar since 1996. She sits on the board of various charitable organizations in Los Angeles.

HENRY TOLENTINO was nominated and elected to the Board of Directors for the first time in June 2018. Tolentino brings more than 30 years of experience in the auto finance industry working with global manufacturers such as Toyota and General Motors. Mr. Tolentino has held several executive positions at Toyota Leasing (Thailand) Co., Ltd., including most recently as president from 2006 to 2014 and then served as an advisor from 2015 to 2016. Prior to Toyota Leasing, Mr. Tolentino spent more than 10 years with Toyota Motor Credit Corporation, USA. He began his career in the auto finance industry with General Motors Acceptance Corporation. Mr. Tolentino joined the advisory board of NetSol in September 2017 where he provided strategic advice to the senior management of the Company. Henry is a member of the Audit, Compensation and Nomination and Corporate Governance Committees. He resides in Thailand.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Code of Business Conduct & Ethics

The Company adopted its Code of Business Conduct & Ethics, as amended and restated on September 9, 2013, applicable to every officer, director and employee of the Company, including, but not limited to the Company’s principal executive officer, principal financial officer, and principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions. Our Code of Business Conduct & Ethics has been posted on our website and may be viewed at http://ir.netsoltech.com/governance-docs.

Audit Committee

The Company has an audit committee whose members are the independent directors of the Company, specifically, Mr. Beckert, Mr. Burki, Mr. Tolentino and, Mr. Caton. Mr. Burki is the current chairman of the audit committee.

Audit Committee Financial Expert

The Company has identified its audit chairperson, Mr. Shahid Javed Burki as its audit committee financial expert. Mr. Burki is an independent board member as the term is defined in the Nasdaq Listing Rules. Mr. Burki’s experience as Finance Minister of Pakistan, Chief Executive Officer of EMP Financial Advisors, his various roles at the World Bank, and his tenure as both an audit committee member and chair for the Company, provides him with an understanding of generally accepted accounting principles and financial reporting. Additionally, this experience provides an ability to assess the general application of accounting principles in connection with the accounting for estimates, accruals and reserves; experience analyzing financial statements that were comparable in the breadth and complexity of issues that can be reasonably expected to be raised by the Company’s financial statements; an understanding of internal control over financial reporting; and an understanding of audit committee functions.

ITEM 11- EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Introduction

Our Compensation Committee is responsible for establishing and overseeing compensation programs that comply with NetSol’s executive compensation philosophy. As described in this Compensation Discussion and Analysis (“CD&A”), the Compensation Committee follows a disciplined process for setting executive compensation. This process involves analyzing factors such as company performance, individual performance, strategic goals and competitive market data to arrive at each element of compensation. The Compensation Committee approves compensation decisions for all executive officers. An independent compensation consultant helps the Compensation Committee by providing advice, information, and an objective opinion. This CD&A will focus on the compensation awarded to NetSol’s “named executive officers”—the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and General Counsel, Corporate Secretary. You can find more complete information about all elements of compensation for the named executive officers in the following discussion and in the Summary Compensation table that appears on page 37.

Fiscal 2018 Executive Compensation Highlights and Governance

This section identifies the most significant decisions and changes made regarding NetSol’s executive compensation in fiscal year 2018.

Shareholder Approval of Compensation

At the last annual general meeting held on June 12, 2018, shareholders expressed support for our executive compensation programs, with 62% of votes cast at the meeting voting to ratify the compensation of our named executive officers. Although the advisory shareholder vote on executive compensation is non-binding, the Compensation Committee has considered, and will continue to consider, the outcome of the vote and the sentiments of our shareholders when making future compensation decisions for the named executive officers. Based on the results from our last annual general meeting, the Compensation Committee believes shareholders support the Company’s executive compensation philosophy and the compensation paid to the named executive officers.

Taking into account the results of this vote and out-reach to our shareholders, the Compensation Committee determined to change its executive compensation program to more meaningfully explain the Compensation Committee’s compensation decisions and to tie long term incentives of the Chief Executive Officer to performance criteria. Based on the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders vote on the Frequency of Say on Pay voting, we will continue to provide our stockholders with an annual opportunity to cast an advisory vote on the compensation programs for our named executive officers.

Governance and Evolving Compensation Practices

The Compensation Committee and the Board are aware of evolving practices in executive compensation and corporate governance. In response, we have adopted and/or maintained certain policies and practices that are in keeping with “best practices” in many areas. For example:

● The Compensation Committee engages an independent compensation consultant to evaluate our chief executive officer’s executive compensation practices in comparison to a peer group.

● We do not provide excessive executive perquisites to our named executive officers.

● Our incentive plans expressly prohibit repricing of options (directly or indirectly) without prior shareholder approval.

● Our policy on the prevention of insider trading prohibits various types of transactions involving Company stock or securities, including short sales, options trading, hedging, margin purchases and pledges.

● Our stock ownership guidelines require our executive officers to align their long-term interests with those of our stockholders.

● Beginning with our fiscal year 2018-2019, we have modified our compensation practices for our CEO to tie a significant portion to financial results both on a top line and bottom line basis.

General Compensation Overview

For 2018, compensation designed for our executive officers consisted of:

In response to discussions we have had with our shareholders and given the percentage voting in favor of our executive compensation, beginning with the 2019 fiscal year, Chief Executive Officer compensation shall consist of:

The Compensation Committee administers the cash and non-cash compensation programs applicable to our executive officers. The Compensation Committee makes all decisions about executive officer compensation for the Chief Executive Officer and the remaining named executives after discussion with our Chief Executive Officer about his direct reports. The Compensation Committee has often refined the direct reports’ compensation recommendations made by the Chief Executive Officer. Our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation is determined solely by the Compensation Committee, which, consistent with NASDAQ requirements, is comprised exclusively of independent directors, and the Chief Executive Officer does not participate in Committee decisions surrounding his compensation.

Independent Compensation Consultant

The Compensation Committee retained Compensation Resources, Inc. as its independent compensation consultant. Compensation Resources provided chief executive officer and director compensation consulting services to the Compensation Committee, including a competitive market analysis of peers and the base salary, total cash compensation and total direct compensation. Interactions with Compensation Resources was limited to the Compensation Committee Chair and interaction with executives was generally limited to discussions as required to compile information at the Compensation Committee’s direction. During fiscal year 2018, Compensation Resources did not provide any other services to the Company. Based on these factors and its own evaluation of Compensation Resources independence pursuant to the requirements approved and adopted by the SEC, the Compensation Committee has determined that the work performed by Compensation Resources does not raise any conflicts of interest.

Compensation Philosophy and Objectives

Our executive compensation philosophy calls for competitive total compensation that will reward executives for achieving individual and corporate performance objectives and will attract, motivate and retain leaders who will drive the creation of shareholder value. It incorporates elements that create shareholder value by driving financial performance, retaining a high-performing and talented executive team, and aligning the interests of the executive team with the interests of shareholders. The Compensation Committee reviews the compensation and benefit programs for executive officers, including the named executive officers, and performs an annual assessment of the Company’s executive compensation policy. In determining total compensation, the Compensation Committee considers the objectives and attributes described below.

Compensation Analysis Peer Group

After consideration of business models, company revenue and market capitalization of other companies in the Company’s technology industry segment, and with the input from Compensation Resources, Inc., the compensation consultant used by the Company at the time the study was last conducted, the Compensation Committee established the following list of peer companies to provide a comparative framework for use in setting executive compensation for 2019:

Executive Officer Base Salaries and Compensation Comparisons

Compensation plans are developed by utilizing publicly available compensation data in the information technology and software services industries. We believe that the practices of these groups of companies provide us with appropriate compensation benchmarks, because these groups of companies are in similar businesses and tend to compete with us for executives and other employees. For benchmarking executive compensation, we typically review the compensation data we have collected from these groups of companies, as well as a subset of the data from those companies that have a similar number of employees as the Company. The Compensation Committee has determined to utilize the services of a consultant for purposes of comparing our compensation program with similarly situated companies in like industries. The recommendations of these consultants will be utilized by the Compensation Committee in determining the appropriate compensation packages in addition to taking into account the unique global scale of the Company’s business. While these consultants may make general recommendations about the size and components of compensation, we anticipate our philosophy to continue on the basis of a pay-for-performance philosophy.

In establishing the compensation of our named Chief Executive Officer, we based the amounts primarily on the market data and advice provided by Compensation Resources, Inc. with respect to the compensation paid to individuals who perform substantially similar functions within the peer group companies. In connection with the other named executive officers, we also relied on the recommendations of the Chief Executive Officer’s analysis relative to those individuals’ performance and compensation. We also examined the outstanding stock options and equity grants held by the executive officers for the purpose of considering the retention value of any additional equity awards.

As a general guideline, for our named executive officers, we aim to set base salary, cash compensation and total compensation at approximately the mean market range. Our analysis determined that the base salary of our Chief Executive officer was slightly above the mean, cash compensation was generally within the mean, but the total direct compensation was below the mean. As such, it was determined to develop a long-term, performance-based element of the compensation that brought the total direct compensation within the mean.

2018 Executive Compensation Components

Base Salary

An executive’s base salary is a fixed element of the executive’s compensation intended to attract and retain executives. It is evaluated together with components of the executive’s other compensation to ensure that the executive’s total compensation is consistent with our overall compensation philosophy. Base salaries are adjusted annually by the Compensation Committee.

The base salaries were established in arms-length negotiations between the executive and the Company, considering their extensive experience, knowledge of the industry, track record, and achievements on behalf of the Company. The Company expects each named executive officer to contribute to the Company’s overall success as a member of the executive team rather than focus solely on specific objectives within the officer’s area of responsibility.

We provided a 12.4% increase in base salary for Mr. Almond and a 3% increase for Ms. McGlasson in fiscal 2018. There was no salary increase for Mr. Ghauri in 2018. Effective in 2019, Mr. Almond and Ms. McGlasson each received a 4% increase in base salary and Mr. Ghauri’s base salary was increased by 16.7%, due in part, to the peer analysis provided by our compensation consultant. The Compensation Committee set the salaries of the remaining named executive officers for 2019 based on the relative compensation of the executive team, the contributions, maturity and tenure of the executive team. The Compensation Committee determined that salary alone was an adequate basis for short term compensation, and that equity incentives would be used for the long-term elements of incentive programs for Ms. McGlasson and Mr. Almond.

Annual Bonus

Our compensation program includes eligibility for bonuses as rewarded by the Compensation Committee. All executives are eligible for annual performance-based cash bonuses in accordance with Company policies. The Compensation Committee takes into consideration the executive’s performance during the previous year to determine eligibility for discretionary bonuses. Further, the compensation committee will review, if applicable, the performance criteria set forth in an executive’s previous year’s agreement and will determine if the executive has met such criteria in order to achieve the bonus. The Company’s bonus criteria at the executive management level, is typically based on a gross revenue and income from operations targets. Cash bonuses, if any for 2018 are reflected in the summary of compensation discussed below starting on page 37. For 2019, Mr. Ghauri is eligible for cash bonuses tied to Net Revenues and Income from Operations as discussed below starting on page 35. The Compensation Committee determined that Net Revenues and Income from Operations was a proper measure for measuring Mr. Ghauri’s performance in that it encourages his participation in revenue generating activities and continues to incentivize him to monitor and maximize cost efficiency.

Long-Term Equity Incentive Compensation

We believe that long-term performance is achieved through an ownership culture that encourages long-term participation by our executives in equity-based awards. Because base salary and equity awards are such basic elements of compensation within our industry, as well as the high technology and software industries in general, and are generally expected by employees, we believe that these components must be included in our compensation mix in order for us to compete effectively for talented executives. We award time based vested stock from our Equity Incentive Plans for several reasons. First, such awards facilitate retention of our executives. Restricted stock generally vests only if the executive remains employed by the Company. Second, time-based stock awards align executive compensation with the interests of our shareholders and thereby focuses executives on increasing value for the shareholders. Time vested stock generally only provides a superior return if the stock price appreciates, and results in materially less dilution to the shareholders than options while frequently providing equivalent value to the employee at less cost to the Company than options. In determining the number of shares to be granted to executives, we take into account the individual’s position, scope of responsibility, ability to affect profits and shareholder value, past and recent performance, and the estimated value of shares at the time of grant. Assuming individual performance at a level satisfactory to the Compensation Committee, the size of total equity compensation is generally targeted at the 50th percentile for the peer group. As indicated above, market data, including compensation percentiles, were among several factors the committee reviewed in determining compensation.

Equity incentives provided to executives are determined by the Fair Market Value of our common stock on the grant date Each executive’s stock award was based on an analysis of the Compensation Committee of an appropriate overall cash compensation for each individual taking into account their position and compensation at similarly situated companies. Each executive’s stock award was based on a desired overall compensation cash value less the base salary as approved by the Compensation Committee.

In fiscal 2018, Mr. Almond and Ms. McGlasson each received 2,500 shares of common stock related to a stock grant made in September 2015. The stock grant was for 20,000 shares to each person vesting quarterly over two years. Mr. Ghauri received 8,264 shares of common stock from a grant made in September 2016, which will vest annually through 2021. The stock grant was for 82,644 shares which 50% vested immediately and the remaining 50% vesting annually from June 2017 to June 2021.

Effective for fiscal 2019, Mr. Almond will receive a grant of 10,000 shares of common stock vesting quarterly over a three-year period and Ms. McGlasson will receive a grant of 7,500 shares of common stock vesting quarterly over a two-year period. Mr. Ghauri is eligible to receive grants of shares based on the performance criteria connected to net revenues and net income from operations as discussed below. The total compensation including equity grants is designed to bring the Chief Executive Officer to the mean market average.

The Compensation Committee elected to grant Mr. Ghauri a $300,000 cash award in fiscal 2019 based on his initiative that saved the Company in excess of $7 million in fiscal year 2018.

Mr. Ghauri’s bonus for fiscal year 2019 is based on the total revenues and income from operations on a graduated basis. The following table demonstrates the graduated percentage of bonus that Mr. Ghauri will be eligible to earn based on the percentage of the goal achieved. Bonuses will be paid 60% in cash and 40% in shares of common stock valued on the date in which the bonus is earned, or June 30, 2019. Total net revenues and income from operations are based on those values reported for the year ending June 30, 2019 excluding any adjustments relating to changes in revenue recognition policy.