NOVATION COMPANIES, INC. - Quarter Report: 2021 March (Form 10-Q)

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

For the Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2021

For the Transition Period From        to       

Commission File Number 001-13533

NOVATION COMPANIES, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (816) 237-7000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted 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 such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court. Yes ☒ No ☐

The number of shares of the Registrant's Common Stock outstanding on May 12, 2021 was 116,655,893.

NOVATION COMPANIES, INC.

FORM 10-Q

For the Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Note 1. Condensed Consolidated Financial Statement Presentation

Description of Operations – Novation Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company,” “Novation,” “we,” or “us”), through Healthcare Staffing, Inc. ("HCS"), our wholly-owned subsidiary, provides outsourced health care staffing and related services in the State of Georgia. Our common stock, par value $0.01 per share, is traded on the OTC Pink marketplace of the OTC Markets Group, Inc. under the symbol “NOVC”.

Liquidity and Going Concern – During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company incurred a net loss of $1.4 million and generated negative operating cash flow of $0.3 million. As of March 31, 2021, the Company had an overall shareholders deficit of $82.4 million, an aggregate of $1.0 million in cash and cash equivalents and total liabilities of $93.9 million. Of the $1.0 million in cash, $0.3 million is held by the Company's subsidiary NovaStar Mortgage LLC ("NMLLC"). This cash is available only to pay general creditors and expenses of NMLLC. Prior to executing the Amendment with the Noteholders in August 2019 (Note 5), the Company had a significant on-going obligation to pay interest under its senior notes agreement at LIBOR plus 3.5% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears until maturity on March 30, 2033, leading to a significant annual cash outflow. HCS has also experienced lower than anticipated cash flows in general due to increased costs and decrease in business from certain customers. These items have led to substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. 

Management continues to work toward expanding HCS’s customer base by increasing revenue from existing customers, looking at methods to reduce overall operating costs, both at HCS and the corporate level, and targeting new customers that have not previously been served by HCS. As disclosed in Note 5 to the condensed consolidated financial statements, the Company was successful in amending the senior note agreements to lower the interest rate and receive future credit for cash interest payments made in 2019 in exchange for the issuance of common stock and warrants. Based on the terms of the amendment, the Company is not required to make cash interest payments on the senior notes from August 2019 through March 2022, leading to significant cash savings for the Company. This amendment to the Note Purchase Agreement and waiver of interest payments through April 2022 has significantly improved our forecasted cash position over the next year.

In late March 2020, HCS started experiencing a reduction in Community Service Board ("CSB") customer needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in the layoff of approximately 8% of the Company’s employees. As HCS relies on providing healthcare staffing services to generate income, this has decreased our service fee income, and direct cost of services, accordingly. While the majority of these employees were rehired when customer demand returned, there have been some permanent loss of staffing opportunities based on changes to programs and services offered by CSBs. In addition, there is still concern at the Company about the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on our services for the foreseeable future.

Our historical operating results and poor cash flow suggest substantial doubt exists related to the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Furthermore, there is still significant uncertainty regarding the future impact that COVID-19 will have on our business. Based on these uncertainties, there is no guarantee the Company's cash position will cover current obligations. As a result, we have not been able to alleviate the substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern for at least one year after the date that these condensed consolidated financial statements are issued.

Earnings Per Share – For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, potentially dilutive securities excluded from the computations of diluted weighted-average shares outstanding were 3.1 million and 4.5 million shares of restricted common stock, respectively.

Condensed Consolidated Financial Statement Presentation – The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expense during the period. The Company uses estimates and judgments in assessing the recoverability of its long-lived assets, impairments, and accounting for income taxes, including the determination of the timing of the establishment or release of the valuation allowance related to the deferred tax asset balances and reserves for uncertain tax positions. While these condensed consolidated financial statements and footnotes reflect the best estimates and judgments of management at the time, actual results could differ significantly from those estimates, and the amounts could be material.

The Company's condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all necessary adjustments have been made, which were of a normal and recurring nature, for a fair presentation of the condensed consolidated financial statements. The Company's condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included herein and the consolidated financial statements of the Company and the notes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 (the "2020 Form 10-K").

Note 2. Revenue; Accounts and Unbilled Receivables

Staffing services include the augmentation of customers' workforce with our contingent employees performing services under the customer's supervision, which provides our customers with a source of flexible labor at a competitive cost. Customer contracts are typically annual contracts but may be terminated upon 60 days' notice for any reason.

The Company recognizes revenue when control of the promised services is transferred to customers and for the amount that reflects the consideration we are entitled to receive in exchange for those services. Furthermore, revenue is recognized over time based on a fixed amount for each hour of staffing service provided as our customers benefit from our services and as we provide them.

Performance Obligations — A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. The Company’s customer contracts have a single performance obligation to transfer the individual goods or services, and it is not separately identifiable from other promises in the contracts and is, therefore, not distinct. Performance obligations are satisfied at the point in time the HCS employees work on behalf of the customer. Contract costs include compensation, benefits and overhead when appropriate. Because of the nature of the contracts and the fact that revenue is earned at the time the employee works for the customer, no contract estimates are necessary.

Contract Balances — The timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections results in accounts receivable and unbilled receivables (the "contract assets"). The Company bills customers generally every other week based on the work performed during the two-week period ended the week prior to billing. Generally, billing occurs after revenue recognition, resulting in contract assets. The Company does not receive advances or deposits from its customers.

Disaggregation of Revenue — All revenue is generated from customers that provide healthcare services in Georgia. The following is a disaggregation of the Company’s revenue, unaudited, in thousands, into categories that best depict how the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenues and cash flows are affected by economic factors.

Accounts and unbilled receivables are summarized as follows, in thousands:

During the three months ended March 31, 2021, 66% of service fee income was generated from three customers. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, 59% of service fee income was generated from three customers. As of March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, 59% and 67% of accounts and unbilled receivables were due from three and four customers, respectively. At March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, 89% and 97% of accounts and unbilled receivables were due from 12 CSB customers, respectively.

Note 3. Intangible Assets

Note 4. Leases

Our leases consist primarily of office space. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less, and leases which are on a month-to-month basis, are not recorded on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. For these leases we recognize lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company does not have any finance leases.

Most leases include one or more options to renew, with renewal terms that can extend the lease term from one to three years or more. The exercise of lease renewal options is at our discretion. Our lease agreements do not contain any variable lease payments, residual value guarantees or restrictive covenants. The components of lease expense for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 were immaterial.

As our leases do not provide an implicit interest rate, we use our incremental current borrowing rate in determining the present value of lease payments.

Maturities of lease liabilities were as follows (in thousands):

Other information related to the Company's operating leases was as follows (in thousands):

Note 5. Borrowings

Note Refinancing and 2017 Notes — As of March 31, 2021, the Company has $85.9 million in aggregate borrowings outstanding under three senior secured promissory notes, as amended in 2019 (the “2017 Notes”). The unpaid principal amounts of the 2017 Notes bear interest at the following rates until the maturity date on March 30, 2033, with interest payable quarterly in arrears as follows: 1% per annum from April 1, 2019 through December 31, 2023; 2% per annum from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2028; and 10% per annum from January 1, 2029 through the maturity date. Commencing with the delivery to the Noteholders of the financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, the Company is required to remit 50% of excess cash flow each year to the Noteholders to be applied as a principal reduction to the outstanding balance of the debt. The Company did not have excess cash flow in 2020, therefore did not make any cash payments in 2021 towards the principal balance of the debt. The 2017 Notes generally rank senior in right of payment to any existing or future subordinated indebtedness of the Credit Parties (as defined below). The Company may at any time upon 30 days’ notice to the Noteholders redeem all or part of the 2017 Notes at a redemption price equal to 101% of the principal amount redeemed plus any accrued and unpaid interest thereon. The 2017 Notes were entered into on July 27, 2017 as a result of a refinancing of the Company’s then outstanding senior notes with the same aggregate principal amount through the execution of the Senior Secured Note Purchase Agreement, dated as of the same date (as amended, the “Note Purchase Agreement”), with NHI and HCS as guarantors (together with the Company, collectively, the “Credit Parties”).

On April 1, 2019 and on July 1, 2019, the Company made payments under the 2017 Notes totaling $2.6 million. The actual aggregate amounts due for those dates totaled $0.4 million. Under the terms of the Amendment, the Company is permitted to apply the payment surplus of $2.2 million against future quarterly interest payments. Therefore, the Company will not have another quarterly interest payment due until April 1, 2022. The Note Purchase Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants, including but not limited to certain financial covenants. Under the terms of the Amendment, the financial covenants have been waived until the quarter ending December 31, 2021. The Note Purchase Agreement also contains customary events of default, including but not limited to payment defaults, cross defaults with certain other indebtedness, breaches of covenants and bankruptcy events. In the case of an event of default, the Noteholders may, among other remedies, accelerate the payment of all obligations under the Note Purchase Agreement and the 2017 Notes. The Credit Parties entered into a Pledge and Security Agreement, dated as of the same date, pursuant to which each of the Credit Parties granted a first priority lien generally covering all of its assets, other than accounts receivable and inventory, for the benefit of the Noteholders, to secure the obligations under the Note Purchase Agreement and the 2017 Notes.

Under the terms of the 2019 Amendment, which qualified as a troubled debt restructuring at that time, the Company issued to the Noteholders 9,000,000 shares of common stock of the Company and ten-year warrants allowing the Noteholders to purchase up to 22,250,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.01 per share. These warrants can be exercised at any time prior to expiration. At the time of the amendment, the outstanding principal balance of the notes were reduced by the fair value of the common stock and warrants issued by the Company, resulting in debt premium of $0.9 million, offset by accrued interest of $0.5 million. The Company will amortize the debt premium and prepaid interest over the amended term of the Note Purchase Agreement using the effective interest method.

The carrying value of the 2017 Notes is as follows (in thousands):

Note 6. Commitments and Contingencies

Contingencies — Prior to 2016, the Company originated, purchased, securitized, sold, invested in and serviced residential nonconforming mortgage loans and mortgage securities. The Company has received indemnification and loan repurchase demands with respect to alleged violations of representations and warranties (“defects”) and with respect to other alleged misrepresentations and contractual commitments made in loan sale and securitization agreements. These demands have been received substantially beginning in 2006 and have continued into recent years. Prior to the Company ceasing the origination of loans in its mortgage lending business, it sold loans to securitization trusts and other third parties and agreed to repurchase loans with material defects and to otherwise indemnify parties to these transactions. Beginning in 1997 and ending in 2007, affiliates of the Company sold loans to securitization trusts and third parties with the potential of such obligations. The aggregate original principal balance of these loans was $43.1 billion at the time of sale or securitization. The remaining principal balance of these loans is not available as these loans are serviced by third parties and may have been refinanced, sold or liquidated. Claims to repurchase loans or to indemnify under securitization documents have not been acknowledged as valid by the Company. In some cases, claims were made against affiliates of the Company that have ceased operations and have no or limited assets. The Company has not repurchased any loans or made any such indemnification payments since 2010.

Historically, repurchases of loans or indemnification of losses where a loan defect has been alleged have been insignificant and any future losses for alleged loan defects have not been deemed to be probable or reasonably estimable; therefore, the Company has recorded no reserves related to these claims. The Company does not use internal groupings for purposes of determining the status of these loans. The Company is unable to develop an estimate of the maximum potential amount of future payments related to repurchase demands because the Company does not have access to information relating to loans sold and securitized and the number or amount of claims deemed probable of assertion is not known nor is it reasonably estimated. Further, the validity of claims received remains questionable. Also, considering that the Company completed its last sale or securitization of loans during 2007, the Company believes that it will be difficult for a claimant to successfully validate any additional repurchase demands. Management does not expect that the potential impact of claims will be material to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Pending Litigation — The Company is a party to various legal proceedings. Except as set forth below, these proceedings are of an ordinary and routine nature. Any legal fees associated with these proceedings are expensed as incurred.

Although it is not possible to predict the outcome of any legal proceeding, in the opinion of management, other than the active proceedings described in detail below, proceedings and actions against the Company should not, individually, or in the aggregate, have a material effect on the Company’s financial condition, operations and liquidity. Furthermore, due to the uncertainty of any potential loss as a result of pending litigation and due to the Company's belief that an adverse ruling is not probable, the Company has not accrued a loss contingency related to the following matters in its condensed consolidated financial statements. However, a material outcome in one or more of the active proceedings described below could have a material impact on the results of operations in a particular quarter or fiscal year. 

On May 21, 2008, a purported class action case was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, by the New Jersey Carpenters' Health Fund, on behalf of itself and all others similarly situated. Defendants in the case included NovaStar Mortgage Funding Corporation (“NMFC”) and NovaStar Mortgage, Inc. ("NMI"), wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company, and NMFC's individual directors, several securitization trusts sponsored by the Company (“affiliated defendants”) and several unaffiliated investment banks and credit rating agencies. The case was removed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. On June 16, 2009, plaintiff filed an amended complaint. Plaintiff seeks monetary damages, alleging that the defendants violated Sections 11, 12 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, by making allegedly false statements regarding mortgage loans that served as collateral for securities purchased by plaintiff and the purported class members. On August 31, 2009, the Company filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's claims, which the court granted on March 31, 2011, with leave to amend. Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint on May 16, 2011, and the Company again filed a motion to dismiss. On March 29, 2012, the court dismissed plaintiff's second amended complaint with prejudice and without leave to replead. Plaintiff filed an appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the "Appellate Court"). On March 1, 2013, the Appellate Court reversed the judgment of the lower court, which had dismissed the case. Also, the Appellate Court vacated the judgment of the lower court which had held that plaintiff lacked standing, even as a class representative, to sue on behalf of investors in securities in which plaintiff had not invested, and the appellate court remanded the case back to the lower court for further proceedings. On April 23, 2013 plaintiff filed its memorandum with the lower court seeking a reconsideration of the earlier dismissal of plaintiff's claims as to five offerings in which plaintiff was not invested, and on February 5, 2015, the lower court granted plaintiff's motion for reconsideration and vacated its earlier dismissal. On March 8, 2017, the affiliated defendants and all other parties executed an agreement to settle the action, with the contribution of the affiliated defendants to the settlement fund being paid by their insurance carriers. The court certified a settlement class and granted preliminary approval to the settlement on May 10, 2017.  One member of the settlement class objected to the settlement and sought a stay of the final settlement approval hearing on the ground that it did not receive notice of the settlement and had no opportunity to timely opt out of the class.  After the court rejected the motion for a stay, the objector filed an appeal and requested a stay of the district court proceedings pending disposition of the appeal. The court of appeals denied the temporary stay of the district court proceedings and on October 19, 2018 dismissed the appeal as moot.  Following the court of appeals’ denial of the objector’s petition for rehearing, the district court on March 7, 2019 held a fairness hearing. On March 8, 2019, the district court issued a memorandum and order approving the settlement as fair, reasonable and adequate, and dismissing the action with prejudice.  Following entry of judgment, the objector filed a notice of appeal on March 26, 2019, and their opening brief was filed on June 28, 2019. The defendants answered on September 27, 2019, and the objector replied on October 18, 2019. Oral argument was held on February 19, 2020. Assuming the settlement approval becomes final, which is expected, the Company will incur no loss.  The Company believes that the affiliated defendants have meritorious defenses to the case and, if the settlement approval does not become final, expects them to defend the case vigorously. 

Note 7. Fair Value Accounting

Fair Value Measurements — The Company's valuation techniques are based upon observable and unobservable inputs. Observable inputs reflect market data obtained from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect the Company's market assumptions. These two types of inputs create the following fair value hierarchy:

The following table provides the estimated fair value of financial instruments and presents amounts that have been determined using available market information and appropriate valuation methodologies. However, considerable judgment is required to interpret market data to develop the estimates of fair value. Accordingly, the estimates presented herein are not necessarily indicative of the amounts that could be realized in a current market exchange. The use of different market assumptions or estimation methodologies could have a material impact on the estimated fair value amounts. The fair value of short-term financial assets and liabilities, such as service fees receivable, notes receivable, and accounts payable and accrued expenses are not included in the following table as their carrying value approximates their fair value.

The estimated fair values of the Company's financial instruments are (in thousands): 

The 2017 Notes in the table above are not measured at fair value in the condensed consolidated balance sheets but are required to be disclosed at fair value. The fair value of the 2017 Notes has been estimated using Level 3 methodologies, based on significant unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity, such as discounted cash flow calculations based on internal cash flow forecasts. No assets or liabilities have been transferred between levels during any period presented. The fair value is estimated by discounting future projected cash flows using a discount rate commensurate with the risks involved. The interest rate on the senior notes is 1% per annum from April 1, 2019 through December 31, 2023; 2% per annum from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2028; and 10% per annum from January 1, 2029 through the maturity date in March 2033.

Prior to the Company's acquisition of HCS in 2017, the Company originated, purchased, securitized, sold, invested in and serviced residential nonconforming mortgage loans and mortgage securities. During 2018, the Company sold all but 33 non-performing mortgage securities. The Company retains clean-up call rights associated with prior servicing activities, and has determined these clean-up call rights have no fair value as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.

Note 8. Income Taxes

Prior to 2018, the Company concluded that it was no longer more likely than not that it would realize a portion of its deferred tax assets. Therefore, as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company maintained a full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax assets of $169.1 million and $168.8 million, respectively. The Company's determination of the realizable deferred tax assets requires the exercise of significant judgment, based in part on business plans and expectations about future outcomes. In the event the actual results differ from these estimates in future periods, the Company may need to adjust the valuation allowance, which could materially impact our financial position and results of operations. The Company will continue to assess the need for a valuation allowance in future periods. Because of the full valuation allowance, the Company's effective tax rate is expected to be near 0% and therefore the income tax expense is not material for any period presented.

As of March 31, 2021, the Company had a federal NOL of approximately $730.6 million, including $250.3 million in losses on mortgage securities that have not been recognized for income tax purposes. The federal NOL may be carried forward to offset future taxable income, subject to applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"). If not used, these NOLs will expire in years 2025 through 2037. Due to tax reform enacted in 2017, NOLs created after 2017 carry forward indefinitely. The 2020 tax return has not been filed as of the date of this report. The estimated federal NOL that does not expire included in the total above is $95.5 million. States may vary in their treatment of post 2017 NOLs. The Company has state NOL carryforwards arising from both combined and separate filings from as early as 2004. The state NOL carryforwards may expire as early as 2024 and as late as 2037.