TUCOWS INC /PA/ - Quarter Report: 2018 March (Form 10-Q)

 

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

 

FORM 10-Q

 

☒

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

 

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2018

 

OR

 

☐

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

 

For the transition period from           to          

 

Commission file number 1-32600

 

TUCOWS INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

Pennsylvania	23-2707366
(State or Other Jurisdiction of	(I.R.S. Employer
Incorporation or Organization)	Identification No.)

 

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, 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.

 

Large accelerated filer ☐	Accelerated filer ☒
Non-accelerated filer ☐	Smaller reporting company ☐
(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)
	Emerging Growth company ☐

                                              

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 ☒

 

As of May 7, 2018, there were 10,594,645 outstanding shares of common stock, no par value, of the registrant.

 

 

 

TUCOWS INC.

Form 10-Q Quarterly Report

INDEX

 

PART I FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1.	Consolidated Financial Statements	3
	Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited) as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017	3
	Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (unaudited) for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017	4
	Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited) for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017	5
	Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)	6
Item 2.	Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	22
Item 3.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	39
Item 4.	Controls and Procedures	41
PART II OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1.	Legal Proceedings	42
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	42
Item 2.	Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds	42
Item 3.	Defaults Upon Senior Securities	42
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	42
Item 5.	Other Information	42
Item 6.	Exhibits	43
Signatures		44

 

TRADEMARKS, TRADE NAMES AND SERVICE MARKS

  

Tucows®, EPAG®, Hover®, OpenSRS®, Platypus®, Ting®, eNom®, Roam®, Roam Mobility®, Bulkregister® 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.

 

 

 

		March 31,				December 31,
		2018				2017*
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	16,587,886			$	18,049,164
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $169,420 as of March 31, 2018 and $168,409 as of December 31, 2017			12,685,140				12,376,104
Inventory			2,898,383				2,944,246
Prepaid expenses and deposits			14,710,902				14,185,586
Derivative instrument asset, current portion (note 5)			21,515				-
Prepaid domain name registry and ancillary services fees, current portion			95,019,044				103,302,472
Income taxes recoverable			2,625,063				3,003,873
Total current assets			144,547,933				153,861,445
Derivative instrument asset, long-term portion (note 5)			4,588				-
Prepaid domain name registry and ancillary services fees, long-term portion			20,640,539				23,700,931
Property and equipment			28,688,762				24,620,298
Contract costs (note 11)			1,378,336				-
Intangible assets (note 6)			56,047,310				58,414,178
Goodwill (note 6)			90,053,483				90,053,483
Total assets		$	341,360,951			$	350,650,335
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable		$	9,343,179			$	7,026,282
Accrued liabilities			7,171,475				6,412,578
Customer deposits			12,980,327				15,255,305
Deferred rent, current portion			21,048				20,991
Loan payable, current portion (note 7)			18,289,853				18,289,853
Deferred revenue, current portion			122,203,880				129,154,622
Accreditation fees payable, current portion			1,226,544				1,174,733
Income taxes payable			984,707				1,226,157
Total current liabilities			172,221,013				178,560,521
Deferred revenue, long-term portion			28,779,438				31,426,906
Accreditation fees payable, long-term portion			277,022				288,755
Deferred rent, long-term portion			129,885				129,777
Loan payable, long-term portion (note 7)			54,127,120				58,634,174
Deferred gain			300,580				429,400
Deferred tax liability (note 8)			20,116,385				19,833,678
Redeemable non-controlling interest (note 4 (a))			-				1,136,390
Stockholders' equity (note 13)
Preferred stock - no par value, 1,250,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding			-				-
Common stock - no par value, 250,000,000 shares authorized; 10,592,115 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2018 and 10,583,879 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2017			15,426,104				15,368,161
Additional paid-in capital			2,547,140				2,166,768
Retained earnings			47,418,839				42,675,805
Accumulated other comprehensive income			17,425				-
Total stockholders' equity			65,409,508				60,210,734
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity		$	341,360,951			$	350,650,335

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		Three months ended March 31,
		2018				2017*
Net revenues (note 10)		$	95,795,691			$	69,568,062
Cost of revenues (note 10)
Cost of revenues			68,972,220				49,310,712
Network expenses			2,574,087				2,343,196
Depreciation of property and equipment			1,131,143				590,347
Amortization of intangible assets (note 6)			499,032				380,162
Total cost of revenues			73,176,482				52,624,417
Gross profit			22,619,209				16,943,645
Expenses:
Sales and marketing			8,364,787				7,219,322
Technical operations and development			2,094,689				1,694,141
General and administrative			4,531,412				3,457,343
Depreciation of property and equipment			101,072				166,317
Amortization of intangible assets (note 6)			1,831,730				1,380,809
Loss (gain) on currency forward contracts (note 5)			(3,093	)			(34,425	)
Total expenses			16,920,597				13,883,507
Income from operations			5,698,612				3,060,138
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net			(895,962	)			(867,993	)
Other income, net			123,960				128,897
Total other income (expense)			(772,002	)			(739,096	)
Income before provision for income taxes			4,926,610				2,321,042
Provision for income taxes (note 8)			1,182,918				(125,449	)
Net income before redeemable non-controlling interest			3,743,692				2,446,491
Redeemable non-controlling interest			(26,336	)			(125,764	)
Net income attributable to redeemable non-controlling interest			26,336				125,764
Net income for the period			3,743,692				2,446,491
Other comprehensive income, net of tax
Unrealized income on hedging activities (note 5)			17,425				186,229
Net amount reclassified to earnings (note 5)			-				(80,620	)
Other comprehensive income net of tax of $5,585 and $60,079 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017 (note 5)			17,425				105,609
Comprehensive income for the period		$	3,761,117			$	2,552,100
Basic earnings per common share (note 9)		$	0.35			$	0.23
Shares used in computing basic earnings per common share (note 9)			10,588,718				10,474,647
Diluted earnings per common share (note 9)		$	0.35			$	0.23
Shares used in computing diluted earnings per common share (note 9)			10,792,613				10,776,515

---

 

		Three months ended March 31,
		2018				2017*
Cash provided by:
Operating activities:
Net income for the period		$	3,743,692			$	2,446,491
Items not involving cash:
Depreciation of property and equipment			1,232,215				756,664
Amortization of debt discount and issuance costs			69,533				67,105
Amortization of intangible assets			2,330,762				1,760,971
Change in capitalized contract costs			25,272				-
Deferred income taxes (recovery)			(47,034	)			1,199,661
Excess tax benefits on share-based compensation expense			(143,969	)			(989,332	)
Amortization of deferred rent			165				4,032
Loss on disposal of domain names			37,478				9,789
Other income			(128,820	)			(128,820	)
Loss (gain) on change in the fair value of forward contracts			(3,093	)			(17,949	)
Stock-based compensation			578,182				317,820
Change in non-cash operating working capital:
Accounts receivable			(309,036	)			41,721
Inventory			45,863				170,996
Prepaid expenses and deposits			(525,316	)			(3,557,508	)
Prepaid domain name registry and ancillary services fees			11,343,820				(5,489,422	)
Income taxes recoverable			264,829				(2,660,528	)
Accounts payable			2,132,453				(3,446,427	)
Accrued liabilities			758,897				1,830,922
Customer deposits			(2,274,978	)			(83,591	)
Deferred revenue			(9,598,210	)			10,240,649
Accreditation fees payable			40,078				(71,327	)
Net cash provided by operating activities			9,572,783				2,401,917
Financing activities:
Proceeds received on exercise of stock options			7,201				19,869
Payment of tax obligations resulting from net exercise of stock options			(147,068	)			(712,234	)
Proceeds received on loan payable			-				86,998,000
Repayment of loan payable			(4,571,843	)			(6,258,278	)
Payment of loan payable costs			(4,125	)			(591,175	)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities			(4,715,835	)			79,456,182
Investing activities:
Additions to property and equipment			(5,116,854	)			(3,692,893	)
Acquisition of a portion of the minority interest in Ting Virginia, LLC (note 4(a))			(1,200,000	)			(2,000,000	)
Acquisition of Enom Incorporated, net of cash (note 4(b))			-				(76,237,460	)
Acquisition of intangible assets			(1,372	)			-
Net cash (used in) investing activities			(6,318,226	)			(81,930,353	)
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents			(1,461,278	)			(72,254	)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period			18,049,164				15,105,075
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period		$	16,587,886			$	15,032,821
Supplemental cash flow information:
Interest paid		$	901,344			$	872,645
Income taxes paid, net		$	1,337,123			$	2,342,916
Supplementary disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities:
Property and equipment acquired during the period not yet paid for		$	397,661			$	250,847

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1. Organization of the Company: 

 

Tucows Inc. (referred to throughout this report as the “Company”, “Tucows”, “we”, “us” or through similar expressions) provides simple useful services that help people unlock the power of the Internet. The Company provides U.S. consumers and small businesses with mobile phone services nationally and high-speed fixed Internet access in selected towns. The Company is also a global distributor of Internet services, including domain name registration, digital certificates, and email. It provides these services primarily through a global Internet-based distribution network of Internet Service Providers, web hosting companies and other providers of Internet services to end-users.

 

 

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, 2018 and the results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods ended March 31, 2018 and 2017. 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 United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the Company's annual audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes have been condensed or omitted. Other than the exception noted below, 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, 2017 included in Tucows' 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 6, 2018 (the “2017 Annual Report”). There have been no material changes to our significant accounting policies and estimates during the three months ended March 31, 2018 as compared to the significant accounting policies and estimates described in our 2017 Annual Report, except for the adoption of Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (“ASU 2014-09”).  See Note 3 for more information.

 

 

3. Recent accounting pronouncements:

  

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Adopted

 

On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Updates ("ASU") No. 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business and ASU 2015-16, Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments. The adoption of these updates did not have a significant impact on the consolidated financial statements.  We also adopted ASU 2014-09 and the impact of such adoption is described in more detail below.

 

ASU 2014-09: Adoption of Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)

 

On  January 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASU 2014-09 using the modified retrospective method by recognizing the cumulative effect of initially applying ASU 2014-09 as an adjustment to the opening balance of equity as at January 1, 2018. The results for reporting periods beginning after  January 1, 2018 are presented under ASU 2014-09, while prior period amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting policy, under ASC 605, Revenue Recognition (Topic 605).  The adoption of Topic 606 did not affect the Company’s cash flows from operating, investing, or financing activities. Furthermore, the impact on timing of revenue recognition was not material as the treatment of revenue for services rendered over time is consistent under Topic 606 and Topic 605. The details of the significant changes and quantitative impact of the changes are set out below. For a more comprehensive description of how the Company recognizes revenue under the new revenue standard in accordance with its performance obligations, see note 10.

 

The Company previously recognized commission fees related to Ting Mobile, Ting Internet, eNom domain registration and eNom domain related value-added service contracts as selling expenses when they were incurred. Under ASU 2014-09, when these commission fees are deemed incremental and are expected to be recovered, the Company capitalizes as an asset such commission fees as costs of obtaining a contract. These commission fees are amortized into income consistently with the pattern of transfer of the good or service to which the asset relates.  The estimation of the amortization period for the costs to obtain a contract required judgement.

 

 

Under Topic 606, the Company has applied the following practical expedients: 

	a)	When the amortization period for costs incurred to obtain a contract with a customer is less than one year, the Company has elected to apply a practical expedient to expense the costs as incurred; and
	b)	For mobile and internet access services, where the performance obligation is part of contracts that have an original expected duration of one year or less (typically one month), the Company has elected to apply a practical expedient to not disclose revenues expected to be recognized in the future related performance obligations that are unsatisfied (or partially unsatisfied).

   

On January 1, 2018 as a result of adopting ASU 2014-09, the Company recorded a contract cost asset of $1.4 million with a corresponding increase to opening retained earnings and deferred tax liability of $1.1 million and $0.3 million, respectively, due to the deferral of costs of obtaining contracts. The impact of the changes to the Company’s financial statements in the current period are as follows:

 

 

 

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

  

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) (“ASU 2016-02”).  ASU 2016-02 requires lessees to recognize the assets and liabilities that arise from leases on the balance sheet. More specifically, ASU 2016-02 requires the recognition on the balance sheet of a lease liability to make lease payments by lessees and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. The new guidance will also require significant additional disclosure about the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows from leases. The new guidance is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, which begins on January 1, 2019 for the Company. The amendments should be applied at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach with earlier application permitted as of the beginning of an interim or annual reporting period. The Company will adopt this guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and is in the process of evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-02 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

 

 

 

4. Acquisitions:

 

(a)

Blue Ridge Websoft

 

On February 27, 2015, Ting Fiber, Inc., one of the Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries, acquired a 70% ownership interest in Ting Virginia, LLC and its subsidiaries, Blue Ridge Websoft, LLC (doing business as Blue Ridge Internet Works), Fiber Roads, LLC and Navigator Network Services, LLC (the "BRI Group") for consideration of approximately $3.5 million.

 

On February 1, 2017, under the terms of a call option in the agreement, Ting Fiber, Inc. acquired an additional 20% interest in Ting Virginia, LLC from the selling shareholders (the “Minority Shareholders”) for consideration of $2.0 million.

 

On February 13, 2018, the Company entered into an agreement Minority Shareholders pursuant to which the Minority Shareholders could immediately exercise their put option to sell their remaining 10% ownership interest in Ting Virginia, LLC for $1.2 million to the Company.  The put option was exercised on February 13, 2018 and the Company paid $1.2 million for the remaining 10% ownership interest and Ting Virginia, LLC became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. 

 

 

(b)

eNom, Incorporated

 

On January 20, 2017, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Tucows (Emerald), LLC, Rightside Group, Ltd., and Rightside Operating Co., pursuant to which Tucows (Emerald), LLC purchased from Rightside Operating Co. all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of eNom, Incorporated (“eNom”), a domain name registrar business. The purchase price was $77.8 million, which represented the agreed upon purchase of $83.5 million less an amount of $5.7 million related to the working capital deficiency acquired.

 

 

5. 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 certain of these transactions as cash flow hedges of forecasted transactions under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging. For certain contracts, as the critical terms of the hedging instrument and 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 and 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, 2018, is recorded as derivative instrument assets. For certain contracts where the hedged transactions are no longer probable to occur, the loss on the associated forward contract is reclassified from AOCI to earnings.

 

As of March 31, 2018, the notional amount of forward contracts that the Company held to sell U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars was $12.8 million, of which $11.3 million were designated as hedges as compared to the period as of December 31, 2017 when the Company held nil contracts to trade U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars.

 

As of  March 31, 2018, we had the following outstanding forward exchange contracts to trade U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars: 

 

 

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

 

The effect of these derivative instruments on our consolidated financial statements 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, 2018:

 

  

Effects of derivative instruments on income and other comprehensive income (OCI) for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017 are as follows:

 

  

 

In addition to the above, for those foreign currency forward contracts not designated as hedges, the Company recorded a gain of $3,093 for the change in fair value of outstanding contracts for the three months ended March 31, 2018, in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income. The Company has recorded a total gain of $34,425 for the change in fair value of outstanding contracts and the settlement of contracts  not designated as hedges for the three months ended March 31, 2017, in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income. 

 

 

6. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets:

 

Goodwill

 

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

 

 

The Company's Goodwill balance is $90.1 million as of March 31, 2018 ( December 31, 2017 – $90.1 million). The Company's goodwill relates 98% ($87.9 million) to its Domain Services operating segment and 2% ($2.2 million) to its Network Access Services operating segment.

 

Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to an annual impairment test, or more frequently if impairment indicators are present.

 

Other Intangible Assets:

 

Intangible assets consist of acquired brand, technology, customer relationships, surname domain names, direct navigation domain names and network rights. The Company considers its intangible assets consisting of surname domain names and direct navigation domain names as indefinite life intangible assets. The Company has the exclusive right to these domain names as long as the annual renewal fees are paid to the applicable registry. Renewals occur routinely and at a nominal cost. The indefinite life intangible assets are not amortized but are subject to impairment assessments performed throughout the year. As part of the normal renewal evaluation process during the periods ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017, the Company assessed that certain domain names that were originally acquired in the June 2006 acquisition of Mailbank.com Inc. that were up for renewal, should be renewed.   

 

Intangible assets, comprising brand, technology, customer relationships and network rights are being amortized on a straight-line basis over periods of four to fifteen years.

 

A summary of acquired intangible assets for the three months ended March 31, 2018 is as follows:

 

 

The following table shows the estimated amortization expense in future periods, assuming no further additions to acquired intangible assets are made:

 

  

As of March 31, 2018, the accumulated amortization for the definite life intangible assets was $17.6 million.

 

 

7. Loan payable:

 

2017 Amended Credit Facility

 

On January 20, 2017, the Company entered into an amended and restated secured Credit Agreement (the “2017 Amended Credit Agreement”) with Bank of Montreal (“BMO” or the “Administrative Agent”), Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Nova Scotia (collectively with “Lenders”) under which the Company increased its access to funds to an aggregate of $140 million. This amendment and restatement to the Company’s 2016 Credit Facility (defined below), among other things, reduced the existing Tucows non-revolving facility (such existing non-revolving facility, together with other existing facilities, the “Existing Facilities”) from $40.0 million to $35.5 million, and established a new non-revolving credit facility of $84.5 million (the “Facility D”). The Company immediately drew down $84.5 million under Facility D to fund the acquisition of eNom (note 4(b)). The “2016 Credit Facility” refers to the credit facility established under the Company’s secured credit agreement (the “2016 Credit Agreement”) among the Company, BMO and the Lenders, dated as of August 18, 2016.

 

 

 In connection with the 2017 Amended Credit Agreement, the Company incurred $0.6 million of fees paid to lenders and debt issuance costs, which have been reflected as a reduction to the carrying amount of the loan payable and will be amortized over the term of the credit facility agreement.

 

The obligations of the Company under the 2017 Amended Credit Facility are secured by a first priority lien on substantially all of the personal property and assets of the Company.

 

The 2017 Amended Credit Facility has a four-year term. Under the 2017 Amended Credit Facility, the Company has access to an aggregate of up to $140 million in funds that are available as follows:

 

●

a $5 million revolving credit facility (“Facility A”);

●

a $15 million revolving reducing term facility (“Facility B”);

●

a $35.5 million non-revolving facility (“Facility C”); and

●

a $84.5 million non-revolving facility (“Facility D”).

  

Borrowings under the 2017 Amended Credit Facility accrue interest and standby fees at variable rates based on borrowing elections by the Company and the Company’s Total Funded Debt to EBITDA as described below. The purpose of Facility A is for general working capital and general corporate requirements, while Facility B and Facility C support share repurchases, acquisitions and capital expenditures associated with the Company’s Fiber to the Home program (“FTTH”). Facility D was provided and used for the acquisition of eNom.

 

The repayment terms for Facility A require monthly interest payments with any final principal payment becoming due upon maturity of the 2017 Amended Credit Facility. Under the repayment terms for Facility B, at December 31st of each year, balances drawn during the year that remain outstanding will become payable on a quarterly basis commencing the first quarter of the following year, for the period of amortization based on the purpose of the draw. For Facilities C and D, each draw will become payable beginning the first full quarter post initial draw for the period of amortization based on the purpose of the draw. The amortization periods for Facilities B, C and D are based on the purposes of the draws as follows: draws for share repurchases are repaid over four years, draws for acquisitions over five years and draws for FTTH capital expenditures over seven years. The 2017 Amended Credit Facility also includes a mechanism that is triggered based on the Company’s Total Funded Debt to EBITDA calculation at the end of each fiscal year. If Total Funded Debt to EBITDA exceeds 2.25:1 at December 31 of each year during the term, the Company is obligated to make a repayment of 50% of Excess Cash Flow as defined under the agreement.

 

The 2017 Amended Credit Facility contains customary representations and warranties, affirmative and negative covenants, and events of default. The 2017 Amended Credit Facility requires that the Company 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 Ratio of 2.50:1 until September 30, 2018 and 2.25:1 thereafter; and (ii) minimum Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio of 1.20:1. Further, the Company’s maximum annual Capital Expenditures cannot exceed $50.0 million per year, which limit will be reviewed on an annual basis. In addition, funded share repurchases are not to exceed $20 million, or up to $40 million so long as the total loans related to share repurchases do not exceed 1.5 times of trailing twelve months EBITDA. As at and for the periods ending March 31, 2018, and March 31, 2017, the Company was in compliance with these covenants.

 

On  January 24, 2018, the Company entered into the Second Interim Amendment to First Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Second Interim Amendment”) with BMO and the Lenders. The Second Interim Amendment provides that certain defined terms in Section 1.01 of the Credit Agreement are added and updated to reflect the inclusion of liabilities to Sprint Mobile similar to the previous inclusion of T-Mobile liabilities. The Second Interim Amendment also permits Tucows to retain bank accounts with Silicon Valley Bank with the aggregate amount held in such accounts not to exceed $3.0 million.

 

 Borrowings under the 2017 Amended Credit Facility will accrue interest and standby fees based on the Company’s Total Funded Debt to EBITDA ratio and the availment type as follows:

 

 

 

The following table summarizes the Company’s borrowings under the credit facilities:

 

 

 

The following table summarizes our scheduled principal repayments as of March 31, 2018:

 

 

 

Other Credit Facilities

 

Prior to the Company entering into the 2016 Credit Facility, the Company had credit agreements (collectively the “Amended Credit Facility”) with BMO that were amended on November 19, 2012, and which provided it with access to two revolving demand loan facilities (the “2012 Demand Loan Facilities”), a treasury risk management facility, an operating demand loan and a credit card facility. The Company continues to have access to the treasury risk management facility and credit card facility, with the remaining loan facilities having been extinguished.

  

The treasury risk management facility under the Amended Credit Facility 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, 2018, the Company held contracts in the amount of $12.8 million to trade U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars (note 5).

 

In Q4, 2017, the Company entered into a corporate credit card program with the Bank of Nova Scotia and the Lenders. The program provides that BMO and the Bank of Nova Scotia may establish corporate credit card facilities with the Company in an amount of up to $5 million.

 

 

 

 

8. Income taxes

 

For the three months ended March 31, 2018, we recorded an income tax expense of $1.2 million on income before income taxes of $4.9 million, using an estimated effective tax rate for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018 (“Fiscal 2018”) adjusted for certain minimum state taxes as well as the inclusion of a $0.1 million tax recovery related to ASU 2016-09, which requires all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies related to employee share-based payments to be recognized through income tax expense. Comparatively, for the three months ended March 31, 2017, the Company recorded an income tax recovery of $0.1 million on income before taxes of $2.3 million, using an estimated effective tax rate for the 2017 fiscal year and adjusted for the $1.0 million tax recovery impact related to ASU 2016-09.

 

In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, management 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. Management considers projected future taxable income, uncertainties related to the industry in which the Company operates, and tax planning strategies in making this assessment.

 

 

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, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

 

 

9. Basic and diluted earnings per common share:

 

Basic earnings per common share has been calculated on the basis of net income for the period divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during each year. Diluted earnings per share gives effect to all dilutive potential common shares outstanding at the end of the year assuming that they had been issued, converted or exercised at the later of the beginning of the year or their date of issuance. 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 share equivalents or the proceeds of the exercise of options. 

 

The following table reconciles the numerators and denominators of the basic and diluted earnings per common share computation:

 

 

For the three months ended March 31, 2018, outstanding options to purchase 333,300 common shares were not included in the computation of diluted income per common share because all such options’ exercise price was greater than the average market price of the common shares for the period as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2017, where 28,500 outstanding options were not included in the computation.

 

During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, no common shares were repurchased and cancelled under the terms of our stock repurchase programs announced in February 2018, ending in February 2019 or March 2017, ended in March 2018.

 

 

10. Revenue

 

Significant accounting policy

 

The Company’s revenues are derived from (a) the provisioning of mobile and fiber Internet services; and from (b) domain name registration contracts, other domain related value-added services, domain sale contracts, and other advertising revenue. Amounts received in advance of meeting the revenue recognition criteria described below are recorded as deferred revenue. All products are generally sold without the right of return or refund.

 

Revenue is measured based on consideration specified in a contract with a customer and excludes any sales incentives and amounts collected on behalf of third parties. The Company recognizes revenue when it satisfies a performance obligation by transferring control over a product or service to a customer.

 

Nature of goods and services

 

The following is a description of principal activities – separated by reportable segments – from which the Company generates its revenue. For more detailed information about reportable segments, see Note 12.

 

(a)

Network Access Services

 

The Company generates Network Access Services revenues primarily through the provisioning of mobile services. Other sources of revenue include the provisioning of fixed high-speed Internet access as well as billing solutions to Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”).

 

Ting wireless usage contracts grant customers access to standard talk, text and data mobile services. Ting mobile contracts are billed based on the actual amount of monthly services utilized by each customer during their billing cycle and charged to customers on a postpaid basis. Voice minutes, text messages and megabytes of data are each billed separately based on a tiered pricing program. The Company recognizes revenue for Ting mobile usage based on the actual amount of monthly services utilized by each customer.

 

 

Ting fixed Internet access contracts provide customers Internet access at their home or business through the installation and use of our fiber optic network. Fixed Internet contracts are generally prepaid and grant customers with unlimited bandwidth based on a fixed price per month basis. Because consideration is collected before the service period, revenue is initially deferred and recognized as the Company performs its obligation to provide Internet access. Though the Company does not consider the installation of fixed Internet access to be a distinct performance obligation, the fees related to installation are immaterial and therefore revenue is recognized as billed.

 

Both Ting mobile and fixed Internet access services are primarily contracted through the Ting website, for one month at a time and contain no commitment to renew the contract following each customer’s monthly billing cycle. The Company’s billing cycle for all Ting mobile and fixed Internet access customers is computed based on the customer’s activation date. In order to recognize revenue as the Company satisfies its obligations, we compute 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 and Internet hardware to subscribers are 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.

 

Our Roam Mobility brand also offers standard talk, text and data mobile services. Roam customers prepay for their usage through the Roam Mobility website. When prepayments are received the amount is deferred, and subsequently recognized as the Company satisfies its obligation to provide mobile services. In addition, revenues associated with the sale of SIM cards are 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.

 

In those cases, where payment is not received at the time of sale, revenue is not recognized at contract inception unless the collection of the related accounts receivable is reasonably assured. 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. 

 

(b)

Domain Services

   

Domain registration contracts, which can be purchased for terms of one to ten years, provide our resellers and retail registrant customers with the exclusive right to a personalized internet address from which to build an online presence. The Company enters into domain registration contracts in connection with each new, renewed and transferred-in domain registration. At the inception of the contract, the Company charges and collects the registration fee for the entire registration period. Though fees are collected upfront, revenue from domain registrations are recognized ratably over the registration period as domain registration contracts contain a ‘right to access’ license of IP, which is a distinct performance obligation measured over time. The registration period begins once the Company has confirmed that the requested domain name has been appropriately recorded in the registry under contractual performance standards.

 

Domain related value-added services like digital certifications, WHOIS privacy and hosted email provide our resellers and retail registrant customers tools and additional functionality to be used in conjunction with domain registrations. All domain related value-added services are considered distinct performance obligations which transfer the promised service to the customer over the contracted term. Fees charged to customers for domain related value-added services are collected at the inception of the contract, and revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis over the contracted term, consistent with the satisfaction of the performance obligations.

 

The Company is an ICANN accredited registrar. Thus, the Company is the primary obligor with our reseller and retail registrant customers and is responsible for the fulfillment of our registrar services to those parties. As a result, the Company reports revenue in the amount of the fees we receive directly from our reseller and retail registrant customers. Our reseller customers maintain the primary obligor relationship with their retail customers, establish pricing and retain credit risk to those customers. Accordingly, the Company does not recognize any revenue related to transactions between our reseller customers and their ultimate retail customers.

 

The Company also sells the rights to the Company’s portfolio domains or names acquired through the Company’s domain expiry stream. Revenue generated from sale of domain name contracts, containing a distinct performance obligation to transfer the domain name rights under the Company’s control, is generally recognized once the rights have been transferred and payment has been received in full.

 

Advertising revenue is derived through domain parking monetization, whereby the Company contracts with third-party Internet advertising publishers to direct web traffic from the Company’s domain expiry stream domains and Internet portfolio domains to advertising websites. Compensation from Internet advertising publishers is calculated variably on a cost-per-action basis based on the number of advertising links that have been visited in a given month. Given that the variable consideration is calculated and paid on a monthly basis, no estimation of variable consideration is required.

 

 

Disaggregation of Revenue

 

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

 

 

During the three months ended March 31, 2018, one customer accounted for 18% of total revenue, and for the three months ended March 31, 2017, no customer accounted for more than 10% of revenue. As at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, no customer accounted for more than 10% of accounts receivable.

 

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

 

 

 

 

Contract Balances

 

The following table provides information about contract liabilities (deferred revenue) from contracts with customers. The Company accounts for contract assets and liabilities on a contract-by-contract basis, with each contract presented as either a net contract asset or a net contract liability accordingly.

 

Given that Company’s long-term contracts with customers are billed in advance of service, the Company’s contract liabilities relate to amounts recorded as deferred revenues. The Company does not have material streams of contracted revenue that have not been billed.

 

 

Deferred revenue primarily relates to the portion of the transaction price received in advance related to the unexpired term of domain name registrations and other domain related value-added services, on both a wholesale and retail basis, net of external commissions.

 

The opening balance of deferred revenue was $160.6 million as of Jan 1, 2018. Significant changes in deferred revenue were as follows:

 

 

¹As a result of the bulk transfer of 2.65 million domain names to Namecheap on January 5th, 2018, recognized revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2018 includes $14.6 million related to previously deferred revenue for these names.

 

Remaining Performance Obligations:

 

As the Company fulfills its performance obligations, the following table includes revenues expected to be recognized in the future related performance obligations that are unsatisfied (or partially unsatisfied) as at March 31, 2018:

 

 

For mobile and internet access services, where the performance obligation is part of contracts that have an original expected duration of one year or less (typically one month), the Company has elected to apply a practical expedient to not disclose revenues expected to be recognized in the future related performance obligations that are unsatisfied (or partially unsatisfied).

 

 

 

11. Contract costs

 

We recognize an asset for the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer if we expect the period of benefit of those costs to be longer than one year and those costs are expected to be recoverable under the term of the contract. We have identified certain sales incentive programs that meet the requirements to be capitalized, and therefore, capitalized them as contract costs in the amount of $1.4 million at March 31, 2018.

 

Capitalized contract acquisition costs are amortized into operating expense based on the transfer of goods or services to which the assets relate which typically range 2 – 10 years. For the quarter ended March 31, 2018, the Company capitalized $195,408 and amortized $220,680 of contract costs, respectively, for a net expense impact of $25,272 to the Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income. There was no impairment loss recognized in relation to the costs capitalized during the three months ending March 31, 2018. The breakdown of the movement in the contract costs balance for the three months ending March 31, 2018 is as follows:

 

 

⁽¹⁾The beginning balance consists entirely of a cumulative adjustment recorded on January 1^st, 2018 as a result of the modified retrospective adoption of ASU 2014-09. See note 3 for additional information.  

 

When the amortization period for costs incurred to obtain a contract with a customer is less than one year, we have elected to apply a practical expedient to expense the costs as incurred.  These costs include our internal sales compensation program and certain partner sales incentive programs.

 

 

 

12. Segment reporting:

 

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

 

1.     Network Access Services - This segment derives revenue from the sale of mobile phones, telephony services, high speed Internet access, billing solutions to individuals and small businesses primarily through the Ting website. Revenues are generated in the U.S.

 

2.     Domain Services – This segment includes wholesale and retail domain name registration services, value added services and portfolio services. The Company primarily earns revenues 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 its portfolio of domain names available for sale or lease. Domain Services revenues are attributed to the country in which the contract originates, primarily Canada and the U.S.

 

The Chief Executive Officer (the “CEO”) is the chief operating decision maker and regularly reviews the operations and performance by segment. The CEO reviews gross profit as (a) key measure of performance for each segment and (b) 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, amortization of intangibles assets, impairment of indefinite life intangible assets, gain on currency forward contracts and other expense net 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 CEO. The Company follows the same accounting policies for the segments as those described in Notes 2, 3 and 10 to these consolidated financial statements.

 

Information by operating segments (with the exception of disaggregated revenue, which is contained in Note 10), which is regularly reported to the CEO is as follows:

 

 

 

 

(b)

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

 

 

 

(c)

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

 

   

(d)

Valuation and qualifying accounts:

 

 

 

 

13. Stockholders’ Equity:

 

The following unaudited table summarizes stockholders' equity transactions for the three-month period ended March 31, 2018: 

 

 

On February 14, 2018, the Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program to repurchase up to $40 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 14, 2018 and will terminate on or before February 13, 2019. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company did not repurchase any shares under this program.

 

On March 1, 2017, the Company announced that its Board of Directors had approved a stock buyback program to repurchase up to $40 million of its common stock in the open market. Purchases were to be made exclusively through the facilities of the NASDAQ Capital Market. The stock buyback program commenced on March 1, 2017 and terminated on February 14, 2018. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company did not repurchase any shares under this program.

 

On February 9, 2016, the Company announced that its Board of Directors had approved a stock buyback program to repurchase up to $40 million of its common stock in the open market. Purchases were to be made exclusively through the facilities of the NASDAQ Capital Market. The stock buyback program commenced on February 10, 2016 and terminated on February 9, 2017. During the three months ended March 31, 2017, the Company did not repurchase any shares under this program.