TUCOWS INC /PA/ - Quarter Report: 2015 March (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 10-Q

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2015

OR

For the transition period from           to          

Commission file number 1-32600

TUCOWS INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

96 Mowat Avenue,

Toronto, Ontario M6K 3M1, Canada

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

(416) 535-0123

(Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate 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 ☒  No ☐

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 definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

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

As of May 6, 2015, there were 11,019,983 outstanding shares of common stock, no par value, of the registrant. 

 
TUCOWS INC.

Form 10-Q Quarterly Report

INDEX

TRADEMARKS, TRADE NAMES AND SERVICE MARKS

Tucows®, EPAG®, Hover®, OpenSRS®, Platypus®, Ting® and YummyNames® are registered trademarks of Tucows Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other service marks, trademarks and trade names of Tucows Inc. or its subsidiaries may be used in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Quarterly Report”). All other service marks, trademarks and trade names referred to in this Quarterly Report are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, any trademarks referred to in this Quarterly Report may appear without the ® or TM symbol, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we or the owner of such trademark, as applicable, will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our or its rights, or the right of the applicable licensor, to these trademarks.

PART I.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Consolidated Financial Statements

Tucows Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Dollar amounts in U.S. dollars)

(unaudited) 

Commitments and contingencies (note 13)

See accompanying notes to unaudited consolidated financial statements

Tucows Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income

(Dollar amounts in U.S. dollars)

(unaudited)

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements

Tucows Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Dollar amounts in U.S. dollars)

(unaudited)

See accompanying notes to unaudited consolidated financial statements

NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE COMPANY:

Tucows Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation (referred to throughout this report as the “Company”, “Tucows”, “we”, “us” or through similar expressions), together with our consolidated subsidiaries, is a global distributor of Internet services, including domain name registration, security and identity products through digital certificates, email and mobile telephony and fixed Internet access services. The Company’s Internet Services are distributed through its global Internet-based distribution network of Internet Service Providers, web hosting companies and other providers of Internet services to end-users

We were incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in November 1992 under the name Infonautics, Inc. In August 2001, we completed our acquisition of Tucows Inc., a Delaware corporation, and we changed our name from Infonautics, Inc. to Tucows Inc. Our principal executive office is located in Toronto, Ontario and we have other offices in the Netherlands, Germany and the United States. Our common stock is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol “TCX” and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “TC”.

2. BASIS OF PRESENTATION:

The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated balance sheets, and the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income and cash flows reflect all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position of Tucows and its subsidiaries as at March 31, 2015 and the results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods ended March 31, 2015 and 2014. The results of operations presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations that may be expected for future periods.

The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared by Tucows in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosure normally included in the Company's annual audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes have been condensed or omitted. These interim consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes follow the same accounting policies and methods of application used in the annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Company's audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2014 included in Tucows' 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 11, 2015.

There have been no material changes to our significant accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2015 as compared to the significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014.

For purposes of clarification, significant accounting policies regarding revenue recognition and derivative financial instruments are included below:

(a) Revenue recognition

The Company’s revenues are derived from domain name registration fees on both a wholesale and retail basis, the sale of domain names, the provisioning of other Internet services and advertising and other revenue. Amounts received in advance of meeting the revenue recognition criteria described below are recorded as deferred revenue.

The Company earns registration fees in connection with each new, renewed and transferred-in registration and from providing provisioning of other Internet services to resellers and registrars on a monthly basis. Service has been provided in connection with registration fees once the Company has confirmed that the requested domain name has been appropriately recorded in the registry under contractual performance standards.

Domain names are generally purchased for terms of one to ten years. Registration fees charged for domain name registration and provisioning services are recognized on a straight-line basis over the life of the contracted term. Other Internet services that are provisioned for annual periods or longer, are recognized on a straight-line basis over the life of the contracted term. Other Internet services that are provisioned on a monthly basis are recognized as services are provided.

For arrangements with multiple deliverables, the Company allocates revenue to each deliverable if the delivered item(s) has value to the customer on a standalone basis and, if the arrangement includes a general right of return relative to the delivered item, delivery or performance of the undelivered item(s) is considered probable and substantially in the control of the Company. The fair value of the selling price for a deliverable is determined using a hierarchy of (1) Company specific objective and reliable evidence, then (2) third-party evidence, then (3) best estimate of selling price. The Company allocates any arrangement fee to each of the elements based on their relative selling prices.

Revenue generated from the sale of domain names, earned from transferring the rights to domain names under the Company’s control, are recognized once the rights have been transferred and payment has been received in full.

The Company derives revenues from the provisioning of mobile phone and fixed Internet access services through its Ting website. These revenues are recognized once services have been provided. Revenues for wireless services are billed based on the actual amount of monthly services utilized by each customer during their billing cycle on a postpaid basis. The Company’s billing cycle for each customer is computed based on the customer’s activation date. As a result, the Company estimates the amount of revenues earned but not billed from the end of each billing cycle to the end of each reporting period. In addition, revenues associated with the sale of wireless devices and accessories to subscribers is recognized when title and risk of loss is transferred to the subscriber and shipment has occurred. Incentive marketing credits given to customers are recorded as a reduction of revenue.

The Company also generates advertising and other revenue through its online libraries of shareware, freeware and online services presented on its website. Advertising revenue includes revenue derived from cost-per action advertising links we display on third party websites who provide syndicated pay-per-click advertising on OpenSRS Domain Expiry Stream domains and the Company’s Portfolio Domains. In addition, the Company uses third party partners to derive pay-per-click advertising on the Tucow.com website. Advertising revenue is recognized on a monthly basis based on the number of cost-per-action services that were provided in the month.

In those cases where payment is not received at the time of sale, additional conditions for recognition of revenue are that the collection of the related accounts receivable is reasonably assured and the Company has no further performance obligations. The Company records costs that reflect expected refunds, rebates and credit card charge-backs as a reduction of revenues at the time of the sale based on historical experiences and current expectations.

The Company establishes provisions for possible uncollectible accounts receivable and other contingent liabilities which may arise in the normal course of business. Historically, credit losses have been within the Company’s expectations and the provisions the Company has established have been appropriate. However, the Company has, on occasion, experienced issues which have led to accounts receivable not being fully collected. Should these issues occur more frequently, additional provisions may be required.

(b) Property and equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided on a straight-line basis so as to depreciate the cost of depreciable assets over their estimated useful lives at the following rates:

The Company reviews the carrying values of its property and equipment for potential impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. If the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of the group of assets and its eventual disposition is less than its carrying amount, it is considered to be impaired. The amount of the impairment loss recognized is measured as the amount by which the carrying value of the asset exceeds the fair value of the asset, with fair value being determined based upon discounted cash flows or appraised values, depending on the nature of the assets.

Additions to the fiber network are recorded at cost, including all material, labour, vehicle and installation and construction costs and certain indirect costs associated with the construction of cable transmission and distribution facilities. While the Company’s capitalization is based on specific activities, once capitalized, costs are tracked by fixed asset category at the fiber network level and not on a specific asset basis. For assets that are retired, the estimated historical cost and related accumulated depreciation is removed.

Costs associated with initial customer installation include materials, labour, vehicle and installation and construction costs and certain indirect costs. Indirect costs are associated with the activities of the Company’s personnel who assist in connecting and activating the new service and consist of compensation and other costs associated with these support functions.

The costs of disconnecting service at a customer’s dwelling or reconnecting service to a previously installed dwelling are charged to operating expense in the period incurred. Costs for repairs and maintenance are charged to operating expense as incurred, while plant and equipment replacement and betterments, including replacement of cable drops from pole to the dwelling, are capitalized.

(c) Derivative Financial Instruments

During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and the year ended December 31, 2014 ("Fiscal 2014"), we used derivative financial instruments to manage foreign currency exchange risk. We account for these instruments in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” ("Topic 815"), which requires that every derivative instrument be recorded on the balance sheet as either an asset or liability measured at its fair value as of the reporting date. Topic 815 also requires that changes in our derivative financial instruments’ fair values be recognized in earnings, unless specific hedge accounting and documentation criteria are met (i.e. the instruments are accounted for as hedges). We recorded the effective portions of the gain or loss on derivative financial instruments that were designated as cash flow hedges in accumulated other comprehensive income in our accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Any ineffective or excluded portion of a designated cash flow hedge, if applicable, is recognized in net income.

For certain contracts, the Company has not complied with the documentation standards required for its forward foreign exchange contracts to be accounted for as hedges and has, therefore, accounted for such forward foreign exchange contracts at their fair values with the changes in fair value recorded in net income.

The fair value of the forward exchange contracts are determined using an estimated credit adjusted mark-to-market valuation which takes into consideration the Company's and the counterparty's credit risk. The valuation technique used to measure the fair values of the derivative instruments is a discounted cash flow technique, with all significant inputs derived from or corroborated by observable market data, as no quoted market prices exist for the derivative instruments. Our discounted cash flow techniques use observable market inputs, such as foreign currency spot and forward rates.

3. NEW ACCOUNTING POLICIES:

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Adopted

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers ("ASU 2014-09"), which is a comprehensive revenue recognition standard that will supersede nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP.  The new standard provides a single principles-based, five-step model to be applied to all contracts with customers, which steps are to (1) identify the contract(s) with the customer, (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract, (3) determine the transaction price, (4) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract and (5) recognize revenue when each performance obligation is satisfied. More specifically, revenue will be recognized when promised goods or services are transferred to the customer in an amount that reflects the consideration expected in exchange for those goods or services.  ASU 2014-09 will be effective, reflecting the one-year proposed deferral, for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017 (January 1, 2018 for the Company).  Early adoption of the standard is permitted but not before the original effective date. Companies can transition to the standard either retrospectively or as a cumulative-effect adjustment as of the date of adoption. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASU 2014-09 will have on its consolidated financial statements and the selected method of transition to the new standard.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-05, Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement ("ASU 2015-05"), which provides guidance in determining whether fees for purchasing cloud computing services (or hosted software solutions) are considered internal-use software or should be considered a service contract.  The cloud computing agreement that includes a software license should be accounted for in the same manner as internal-use software if customer has contractual right to take possession of the software during the hosting period without significant penalty and it is feasible to either run the software on customer’s hardware or contract with another vendor to host the software. Arrangements that don’t meet the requirements for internal-use software should be accounted for as a service contract. ASU 2015-05 will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015 (January 1, 2016 for the Company).  Early adoption of the standard is permitted.  The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASU 2015-05 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

4. Acquisitions and Divestitures:

Acquisitions

On February 27, 2015, Ting Fiber, Inc., one of our wholly owned subsidiaries, acquired a 70% ownership interest in the newly formed Ting Virginia, LLC and its acquired subsidiaries, Blue Ridge Websoft, LLC (doing business as Blue Ridge InternetWorks), Fiber Roads, LLC and Navigator Network Services, LLC (the “BRI Group”) for a consideration of approximately $3.6 million, subject to additional customary adjustments as anticipated in the purchase agreement, primarily related to estimated working capital levels at closing. The purchase price was satisfied through our releasing $3.1 million from the escrow accounts established during Fiscal 2014 and an additional payment of $0.4 million made at closing. Ting Virginia, LLC is an independent Internet service provider in Charlottesville, Virginia, doing business primarily as Blue Ridge InternetWorks. The BRI Group provides high speed internet access, Internet hosting and network consulting services to over 3,000 customers in central Virginia. The purchase price was primarily satisfied through an advance under our 2012 DLR Loan facility.

Ting Fiber Inc. and the selling shareholders (the “Minority Shareholders”) also agreed to certain put and call options with regard to the remaining 30% interest in Ting Virginia, LLC retained by the Minority Shareholders. On the second anniversary of the closing date, Ting Fiber, Inc. may exercise a call option to purchase an additional 20% ownership interest in Ting Virginia, LLC. Contingent upon the exercise of the call option by Ting Fiber, Inc. the Minority Shareholders may exercise a put option within 7 days following the exercise of the call option by Ting Fiber, Inc., to sell their remaining 10% ownership interest in Ting Virginia LLC. The consideration to be exchanged for the shares acquired or sold under the options shall be $100,000 per percentage point of the equity interest acquired.

In addition, on the fourth anniversary of the closing date, the Minority Shareholders may exercise a put option under which the Ting Fiber Inc. shall be irrevocably obligated to purchase the Minority Shareholders’ remaining interest for $120,000 per percentage point of the equity interest acquired for a total of $3,600,000.

The Company has determined that the put options described above are embedded within the non-controlling interest shares that are subject to the put options. The redemption feature requires classification of the Minority Shareholders’ Interest in the Consolidated Balance Sheets outside of equity under the caption “Redeemable non-controlling interest”. The present value of the liability at the acquisition date is $3,000,000.

The preliminary purchase consideration is comprised as follows:

The following table represents the purchase price allocation based on the estimated fair values of the assets

The goodwill recorded on the acquisition is expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

The fair value of current assets acquired includes accounts receivable with a fair value of $0.2 million. All accounts receivable acquired at acquisition are expected to be collectable.

The acquisition had no significant impact on revenues and net earnings for the three months ended March 31, 2015. There was also no significant impact on the Company’s revenues and net income on a pro forma basis for all periods presented.

The Company acquired new classes of assets in this acquisition, namely fiber network and vehicles. The Company has accordingly, in connection with its depreciation policies, added additional disclosure in note 2 (b) above.

5. Other assets:

Other assets are comprised of the following:

6. Derivative instruments and hedging activities:

Foreign currency forward contracts

In October 2012, the Company entered into a hedging program with a Canadian chartered bank to limit the potential foreign exchange fluctuations incurred on its future cash flows related to a portion of payroll, rent and payments to Canadian domain name registry suppliers that are denominated in Canadian dollars and are expected to be paid by its Canadian operating subsidiary. As part of its risk management strategy, the Company uses derivative instruments to hedge a portion of the foreign exchange risk associated with these costs. The Company does not use these forward contracts for trading or speculative purposes. These forward contracts typically mature between one and eighteen months.

The Company has designated these transactions as cash flow hedges of forecasted transactions under ASC Topic 815. As the critical terms of the hedging instrument, and of the entire hedged forecasted transaction, are the same, in accordance with ASC Topic 815, the Company has been able to conclude that changes in fair value or cash flows attributable to the risk of being hedged are expected to completely offset at inception and on an ongoing basis. Accordingly, unrealized gains or losses on the effective portion of these contracts have been included within other comprehensive income. The fair value of the contracts, as of March 31, 2015, is recorded as derivative instrument liabilities.

As of March 31, 2015, the notional amount of forward contracts that the Company held to sell U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars was $19.5 million, of which $16.5 million met the requirements of ASC Topic 815 and were designated as hedges (March 31, 2014 - $20.1 million of which $15.6 million were designated as hedges).

Fair value of derivative instruments and effect of derivative instruments on financial performance

The effect of these derivative instruments on our consolidated financial statements as of, and for the three months ended March 31, 2015, were as follows (amounts presented do not include any income tax effects).

Fair value of derivative instruments in the consolidated balance sheets

Movement in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income ("AOCI") balance for the three months ended March 31, 2015:

Effects of derivative instruments on income and other comprehensive income (OCI) for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014 are as follows:

In addition to the above, for those foreign currency forward contracts not designated as hedges, the Company has recorded a loss of $0.1 million upon settlement and a loss of $0.2 million for the change in fair value of outstanding contracts for the three months ended March 31, 2015, in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income. The Company has recorded a loss of $0.1 million upon settlement and a loss of $0.1 million for the change in fair value of outstanding contracts for the three months ended March 31, 2014, in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income.

7. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets:

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of purchase price over the fair value of tangible or identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed in our acquisitions.

Goodwill consists of the following:

The Company’s goodwill relates predominantly to its Domain Services operating segment.

On February 27, 2015, Ting Fiber, Inc., one of our wholly owned subsidiaries, acquired a 70% ownership interest in the BRI Group. Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to an annual impairment test.

Other Intangible Assets:

Intangible assets consist of network rights, brand, customer relationships, surname domain names, non-competition agreements and our portfolio of domain names. As reflected in the table below, these balances are being amortized on a straight-line basis over the life of the intangible assets, except for the surname domain names and portfolio domain names, which have been determined to have an indefinite life and which are tested annually for impairment.

A summary of acquired intangible assets for the three months ended March 31, 2015 is as follows:

As of March 31, 2015, the accumulated amortization for the definite life intangibles was $5.7 million.

With regard to indefinite life intangible assets, as part of our normal renewal process we assessed that certain domain names that were acquired in the June 2006 acquisition of Mailbank.com Inc. that were up for renewal should not be renewed. Accordingly, for the three months ended March 31, 2015, domain names, with a book value of $12,493 (three months ended March 31, 2014 - $0.3 million), were not renewed and were recorded as an impairment of indefinite life intangible assets. 

8. LOAN PAYABLE:

The Company has credit agreements (collectively the “Amended Credit Facility”) with the Bank of Montreal (the “Bank” or “BMO”) that were amended on November 19, 2012, and which provide it with access to two revolving demand loan facilities (the “2012 Demand Loan Facilities”), a treasury risk management facility and an operating demand loan.

Two Revolving Demand Loan Facilities.

The 2012 Demand Loan Facilities are governed by the terms of the Offer Letter, dated as of November 19, 2012, by and between the Company and the Bank and filed with the SEC on November 21, 2012.

Under the terms of the Amended Credit Facility, our prior demand loan facilities have been amended to provide an aggregate of $14 million in funds available through the 2012 Demand Loan Facilities, which consist of a demand loan revolving facility (the “2012 DLR Loan”) and a demand loan revolving reducing facility (the “2012 DLRR Loan”). The 2012 DLR Loan accrues interest at the Bank’s U.S. Base Rate plus 1.25%. The Company may elect to pay interest on the 2012 DLRR Loan either at the Bank’s U.S. Base Rate plus 1.25% or LIBOR plus 2.50%. Aggregate advances under the 2012 Demand Loan Facilities may not exceed $14 million and no more than $2 million of such advances may be used to finance repurchases of Company common stock. The 2012 Demand Loan Facilities are subject to an undrawn aggregate standby fee of 0.20% following the first draw, which such fee is payable quarterly in arrears.

Repayment of advances under the 2012 DLR Loan consist of interest only payments made monthly in arrears and prepayment is permitted without penalty. The outstanding balance under the 2012 DLR Loan as of December 31st of each year is to be fully repaid within 30 days of December 31st through an equivalent advance made under the 2012 DLRR Loan. Advances under the 2012 DLRR Loan will be made annually and solely for such purpose. Each advance under the 2012 DLRR Loan is to be repaid in equal monthly principal payments plus interest, over a period of four years from the date of such advance.

On January 7, 2015, the Company successfully concluded a modified “Dutch auction tender offer”, which was funded from available cash. Under the terms of the offer, the Company repurchased an aggregate of 193,907 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $18.50 per share, for a total of $3,587,280, excluding transaction costs of approximately $70,000. At March 31, 2015, the outstanding balance under the 2012 DLR Loan was $3.5 million (December 31, 2014 - Nil).

During the three months ended March 31, 2015 no amounts were drawn down on the 2012 DLRR Loan. At March 31, 2015, the 2012 DLRR Loan was fully repaid. This financing arrangement remain available to fund future operations of the Company, with no set expiry date.

Treasury Risk Management Facility 

The Amended Credit Facility also provides for a $3.5 million settlement risk line to assist the Company with hedging Canadian dollar exposure through foreign exchange forward contracts and/or currency options. Under the terms of the Amended Credit Facility, the Company may enter into such agreements at market rates with terms not to exceed 18 months. As of March 31, 2015, the Company held contracts in the amount of $19.5 million to trade U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars.

Operating Demand Loan

The Amended Credit Facility also provides the Company with a $1.0 million operating demand loan facility to assist in meeting its operational needs (the “Operating Demand Loan”). The Operating Demand Loan accrues interest at the Bank’s U.S. Base Rate plus 1.25%. Interest is payable monthly in arrears with any borrowing under the Operating Demand Loan fluctuating widely with periodic clean-up, at a minimum on an annual basis. The Company has also agreed to pay to the Bank a monthly monitoring fee of US$500 with respect to this loan. The Operating Demand Loan is payable on demand at any time, at the sole discretion of the Bank, with or without cause, and the Bank may terminate the Operating Demand Loan at any time. As of March 31, 2015, the Company had no amounts outstanding under its Operating Demand Loan.

General Terms

The Company’s Amended Credit Facility contains customary representations and warranties, affirmative and negative covenants, and events of default. The Company’s obligations under the Amended Credit Facility are guaranteed and secured by a security interest in substantially all of its assets. The Amended Credit Facility also requires that the Company comply with certain customary non-financial covenants and restrictions. In addition, the Company has agreed to comply with the following financial covenants at all times, which are to be calculated on a rolling four quarter basis: (i) Maximum Total Funded Debt to EBITDA of 2.00:1; and (ii) Minimum Fixed Charge Coverage of 1.20:1. Further, its Maximum Annual Capital Expenditures cannot exceed $3.6 million per year, which limit will be reviewed on an annual basis. As at and for the period ended, March 31, 2015, the Company was in compliance with these covenants. As at and for the period ended, March 31, 2014, the Company was in compliance with these covenants.

9. INCOME TAXES

For the three months ended March 31, 2015, the Company recorded a provision for income taxes of $1.6 million on income before income taxes of $4.4 million, using an estimated effective tax rate for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015 adjusted for certain minimum state taxes. Comparatively, for the three months ended March 31, 2014, the Company recorded a provision for income taxes of $0.3 million on income before taxes of $0.7 million, using an estimated effective tax rate for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2014.

In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, the Company considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the years in which those temporary differences become deductible. The Company considers projected future taxable income, uncertainties related to the industry in which we operate, and tax planning strategies in making this assessment.

The Company follows the provisions of FASB ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes to account for income tax exposures. The application of this interpretation requires a two-step process that separates recognition of uncertain tax benefits from measurement thereof.

The Company had approximately $0.1 million of total gross unrecognized tax benefit as of March 31, 2015 and as of December 31, 2014, which if recognized would favorably affect its income tax rate in future periods. The unrecognized tax benefit relates primarily to prior year Pennsylvania state franchise taxes. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to income taxes in income tax expense. The Company did not have significant interest and penalties accrued at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively.

10. OTHER LIABILITIES:

In February 2015, the Company waived its rights under the formerly proposed joint venture to operate the .online registry and instead entered into a Joint Marketing agreement with its venture partners under which its original capital contributions have been returned and a set of go-forward marketing arrangements have been created instead. These marketing arrangements have resulted in the Company receiving a gain of $1.5 million, which will be recognized evenly over the three-year term of the marketing agreement once .online is generally available.

11. BASIC AND DILUTED EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE:

Basic earnings per common share has been calculated by dividing net income for the period by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during each period. Diluted earnings per share has been calculated by dividing net income for the period by the weighted average number of common shares and potentially dilutive common shares outstanding during the period. In computing diluted earnings per share, the treasury stock method is used to determine the number of shares assumed to be purchased from the conversion of common shares equivalents or the proceeds of option exercises.

The following table is a summary of the basic and diluted earnings per common share:

For the three months ended March 31, 2015, outstanding options to purchase 116,600 common shares were not included in the computation of diluted income per common share because all such options had exercise prices greater than the average market price of the common shares.

During the three months ended March 31, 2015, 193,907 common shares were repurchased and cancelled under the terms of a modified Dutch auction tender offer announced in December 2014.

During the three months ended March 31, 2015, 214,089 common shares were repurchased and cancelled under the terms of our stock repurchase program announced in February 2015.

During the three months ended March 31, 2014, 6,092 common shares were repurchased and cancelled under the terms of our stock repurchase program announced in March 2014.

The computation of earnings per share and diluted earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 include reductions in the number of shares outstanding due to these repurchases.

12. SEGMENT REPORTING:

(a)           We are organized and managed based on two segments, which are differentiated primarily by their services, the markets they serve and the regulatory environments in which they operate. The two segments are Domain Services and Network Access Services and are described as follows:

The Chief Executive Officer is the chief operating decision maker and regularly reviews the operations and performance by segment. The chief operating decision maker reviews gross margin as a key measure of performance for each segment and to make decisions about the allocation of resources. Sales and marketing expenses, technical operations and development expenses, general and administrative expenses, depreciation of property and equipment, loss on disposition of property and equipment, amortization of intangibles, loss (gain) on currency forward contracts, other income (expense), and provision for income taxes, are organized along functional lines and are not included in the measurement of segment profitability. Total assets and total liabilities are centrally managed and are not reviewed at the segment level by the chief operating decision maker.

Information by reportable segments, which is regularly reported to the chief operating decision maker is as follows:

(b)           The following is a summary of the Company’s revenue earned from each significant revenue stream: 

During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, no customer accounted for more than 10% of total revenue. As at March 31, 2015 and 2014, no customer accounted for more than 10% of accounts receivable.

(c)           The following is a summary of the Company’s cost of revenues from each significant revenue stream:

(d)           The following is a summary of the Company’s property and equipment by geographic region:

(e)           The following is a summary of the Company’s amortizable intangible assets by geographic region:

(f)           The following is a summary of the Company’s deferred tax asset, net of valuation allowance, by geographic region:

(g)           Valuation and qualifying accounts:

13. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES:

The Company is involved in various legal claims and lawsuits in connection with its ordinary business operations. The Company intends to vigorously defend these claims. While the final outcome with respect to any actions or claims outstanding or pending as of March 31, 2015 cannot be predicted with certainty, management does not believe that the resolution of these claims, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position.

14. STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY:

The following unaudited table summarizes stockholders' equity transactions for the three month period ended March 31, 2015: 

On January 8, 2015, the Company announced that it successfully concluded a modified “Dutch auction tender offer” that was previously announced on December 8, 2014. Under the terms of the offer, the Company repurchased an aggregate of 193,907 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $18.50 per share, for a total of $3,587,280, excluding transaction costs of approximately $70,000. The purchase price and all transaction costs were funded from available cash. All shares purchased in the tender offer received the same price and all shares repurchased were immediately retired. As a result of the completion of the tender offer, as of January 7, 2015, the Company had 11,135,825 shares issued and outstanding.

On February 11, 2015, the Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program to repurchase up to $20 million of its common stock in the open market. Purchases will be made exclusively through the facilities of the NASDAQ Capital Market. The stock buyback program commenced on February 16, 2015 and will terminate on or before February 15, 2016. The Company repurchased 214,089 shares under this program during the three months ended March 31, 2015 for a total of $4,055,056.

On March 5, 2014, the Company announced a stock buyback program. Under this buyback program, the Company may repurchase up to $20 million of the Company's common stock over the 12-month period that commenced on March 4, 2014. The Company repurchased 6,092 shares under this program during the three months ended March 31, 2014 for a total of $82,286.

15. SHARE-BASED PAYMENTS

(a)    Stock options

The fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, consistent with the guidance on stock compensation. Because option-pricing models require the use of subjective assumptions, changes in these assumptions can materially affect the fair value of the options. The assumptions presented in the table below represent the weighted average of the applicable assumption used to value stock options at their grant date. The Company calculates expected volatility based on historical volatility of the Company's common shares. The expected term, which represents the period of time that options granted are expected to be outstanding, is estimated based on historical exercise experience. The Company evaluated historical exercise behavior when determining the expected term assumptions. The risk-free rate assumed in valuing the options is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant for the expected term of the option. The Company determines the expected dividend yield percentage by dividing the expected annual dividend by the market price of our common shares at the date of grant.

Details of stock option transactions for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014 are as follows:

As of March 31, 2015, the exercise prices, weighted average remaining contractual life and intrinsic values of outstanding options were as follows:

Total unrecognized compensation cost relating to unvested stock options at March 31, 2015, prior to the consideration of expected forfeitures, was approximately $1,228,825 and is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.4 years.

The Company recorded stock-based compensation of $125,048 and $100,977 for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

The Company has not capitalized any stock-based compensation expense as part of the cost of an asset.

16. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENT

ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” establishes a valuation hierarchy for disclosure of the inputs to valuation used to measure fair value. This hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three broad levels. Level 1 inputs are quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 inputs are quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets or inputs that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly through market corroboration, for substantially the full term of the financial instrument. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs based on the Company's own assumptions used to measure assets and liabilities at fair value. A financial asset or liability's classification within the hierarchy is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

The following table provides a summary of the fair values of the Company's derivative instrument assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis at March 31, 2015:

The following table provides a summary of the fair values of the Company's derivative instrument assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis as at December 31, 2014:

The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accreditation fees payable, customer deposits, loan payable and accrued liabilities approximate their fair values due to the relatively short periods to maturity of the instruments.

Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements by us with regard to our expectations as to financial results and other aspects of our business that involve risks and uncertainties and may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “should,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,” “estimate,” “expect”, “intend” and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this report include statements regarding, among other things, the Company's foreign currency requirements, specifically for the Canadian dollar; Ting mobile subscriber growth and retention rates, the number of new, renewed and transferred-in domain names we register as our business develops and competes; the effect of a potential global top level domain (“gTLD”) expansion by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) on the number of domains we register and the impact it may have on related revenues; our belief that the market for domain name registration will trend upward gradually and may be affected by market volatility; our belief that, by increasing the number of services we offer, we will be able to generate higher revenues; the revenue that our parked page vendor relationships may generate in the future; the effectiveness of our intellectual property protection, including our ability to license proprietary rights to network partners and to register additional trademarks and service marks; the potential impact of current and pending claims on our business; our valuations of certain deferred tax assets; our expectation to collect our outstanding receivables, net of our allowance for doubtful accounts; our expectation regarding fluctuations in certain expense and cost categories; our expectations regarding our unrecognized tax benefit and the timing or completion of certain audits of our US, Canadian and German tax returns; our expectations regarding cash from operations to fund our business; our expectation regarding increased competition due to the introduction of new gTLDs by ICANN; the impact of cancellations of or amendments to market development fund programs under which we receive funds; and our belief that a slowing economy may lead to a decrease in advertising spending. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Many factors affect our ability to achieve our objectives and to successfully develop and commercialize our services including:

This list of factors that may affect our future performance and financial and competitive position and also the accuracy of forward-looking statements is illustrative, but it is by no means exhaustive. Accordingly, all forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based on information available to us as of the date of this document, and we assume no obligation to update these cautionary statements or any forward-looking statements except to the extent of any obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or the Securities Act of 1933. These statements are not guarantees of future performance.

We qualify all the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q by the foregoing cautionary statements.

OVERVIEW

Our mission is to provide simple useful services that help people unlock the power of the Internet. We accomplish this by reducing the complexity our customers’ experience as they acquire, deliver or use the Internet or Internet services such as domain name registration, email and other Internet services. We are organized and managed based on two service offerings, Domain Services and Network Access Services, which are differentiated primarily by their services, the markets they serve and the regulatory environments in which they operate.

Our principal place of business is located in Canada. We report our financial results as two operating segments, Domain Services, which derives revenue from three distinct service offerings – Wholesale, Retail and Portfolio, and Network Access Services, which derives revenue from the sale of retail mobile phones and services to individuals and small businesses. Our chief operating decision maker regularly reviews our operating results on a consolidated basis, principally to make decisions about how we utilize our resources and to measure our consolidated operating performance. To assist us in forecasting growth and to help us monitor the effectiveness of our operational strategies, our chief operating decision maker regularly reviews revenue for each of our service offerings in order to gain more depth and understanding of the key business metrics driving our business. Accordingly, we report Domain Services and Network Access Services revenue separately.

Domain Services

Domain Services include wholesale and retail domain name registration services, value added services and portfolio services. We earn revenues primarily from the registration fees charged to resellers in connection with new, renewed and transferred domain name registrations; the sale of retail Internet domain name registration and email services to individuals and small businesses; and by making our portfolio of domain names available for sale or lease. Domain Services revenues are attributed to the country in which the contract originates, primarily Canada.

Our primary distribution channel is a global network of more than 13,000 resellers in more than 100 countries who typically provide their customers, the end-users of the Internet, with a critical component for establishing and maintaining an online presence. Our primary focus is serving the needs of this network of resellers by providing superior services, easy-to-use interfaces, proactive and attentive customer service, reseller-oriented technology and agile design and development processes. We seek to provide superior customer service to our resellers by anticipating their business needs and technical requirements. This includes providing easy-to-use interfaces that enable resellers to quickly and easily integrate our services into their individual business processes, and offering brandable end-user interfaces that emphasize simplicity and visual appeal. We also provide “second tier” support to our resellers by email and phone in the event resellers experience issues or problems with our services. In addition, our Network Operating Center provides proactive support to our resellers by monitoring all services and network infrastructure to address deficiencies before customer services are impacted.

We believe that the underlying platforms for our services are among the most mature, reliable and functional reseller-oriented provisioning and management platforms in our industry, and we continue to refine, evolve and improve these services for both resellers and end-users.

Wholesale, primarily branded as OpenSRS, derives revenue from its Domain Service and from providing Value-Added Services. The OpenSRS Domain Service manages 13.5 million domain names under the Tucows ICANN registrar accreditation and for other registrars under their own accreditations. Value-Added Services include hosted email which provides email delivery and webmail access to millions of mailboxes, Internet security services, publishing tools and reseller billing services. All of these services are made available to end-users through a network of over 13,000 web hosts, Internet service providers (“ISPs”), and other resellers around the world. In addition, we also derive revenue from the bulk sale of domain names and advertising from the OpenSRS Domain Expiry Stream.

Retail, primarily our Hover website, derives revenues from the sale of domain name registration and email services to individuals and small businesses. Retail also includes our Personal Names Service – based on over 40,000 surname domains – that allows roughly two-thirds of Americans to purchase an email address based on their last name.

Portfolio generates advertising revenue from our domain name portfolio and from our advertising-supported website, tucows.com. We also generate revenue by offering names in our domain portfolio for resale via our reseller network and other channels. In addition, we generate revenue from the payments for the sale of rights to gTLD strings under the New gTLD program.

Network Access Services

Network Access Services derives revenue from the sale of retail mobile phones and services to individuals and small businesses through the Ting website, as well as provides high speed Internet access, Internet hosting and network consulting to customers in Central Virginia through its acquisition of a 70% share in Ting Virginia on February 27, 2015. Ting provides customers with access to our provisioning and management tools to enable them, via the ting.com website, to purchase retail mobile phones and services. Revenues are generated in the United States and are provided on a monthly basis with no fixed contract term. Ting manages mobile telephony services for over 103,000 subscribers and has over 160,000 devices under management.

KEY BUSINESS METRICS

We regularly review a number of business metrics, including the following key metrics, to assist us in evaluating our business, measure the performance of our business model, identify trends impacting our business, determine resource allocations, formulate financial projections and make strategic business decisions. The following table sets forth, the key business metrics which we believe are the primary indicators of our performance for the periods presented:

Domain Services

Total new, renewed and transferred-in domain name registrations: