TUCOWS INC /PA/ - Quarter Report: 2022 March (Form 10-Q)

PART I.    FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Consolidated Financial Statements

Tucows Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars)

(unaudited)

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements 

Tucows Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income

(Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts) 

(unaudited)

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements 

Tucows Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars) 

(unaudited)

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)

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 US consumers and small businesses with high-speed fixed Internet access in selected towns. The Company also offers platform services which provide solutions to support Communication Service Providers ("CSPs") including subscription and billing management, network orchestration and provisioning, individual developer tools, and other professional services. 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, 2022 and the results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods ended March 31, 2022 and 2021. 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, 2021 included in Tucows' 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2022 (the “2021 Annual Report”). There have been no material changes to our significant accounting policies and estimates during the three months ended March 31, 2022 as compared to the significant accounting policies and estimates described in our 2021 Annual Report, except as described in Note 13 - Segment Reporting. 

3. Recent Accounting Pronouncements:

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting (“ASU 2020-04”), which provides optional guidance for a limited period of time to ease the potential burden of reference rate reform on financial reporting.  The amendments in ASU 2020-04 apply to contract modifications that replace a reference rate affected by reference rate reform and contemporaneous modifications of other contract terms related to the replacement of the reference rate. The following optional expedients for applying the requirements of certain Topics or Industry Subtopics in the Codification are permitted for contracts that are modified because of reference rate reform and that meet certain scope guidance:

The amendments in ASU 2020-04 are effective for all entities as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. The Company is currently charged interest and standby fees associated with its Second Amended 2019 Credit Facility (as defined below) based on LIBOR which are partially hedged by interest rate swaps, which are also based on LIBOR. Both the Second Amended 2019 Credit Facility and the interest rate swaps will need to be amended when an alternative reference rate is chosen, at which time we may adopt some of the practical expedients provided by ASU 2020-04.

4. Acquisitions:

On October 1, 2021, the Company acquired the domain registry related assets of UNR Corp., UNR Inc. and Uni Naming and Registry Ltd. (each a seller and collectively "UNR"). For more information, see Note 3 - Acquisitions of the 2021 Annual Report. 

On November 8, 2021, the Company acquired 100% of Simply Bits, LLC via an Agreement and Plan of Merger with one of our wholly owned subsidiaries. For more information, see Note 3 - Acquisitions of the 2021 Annual Report. 

5. Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities:

The Company is exposed to certain risks relating to its ongoing business operations. The primary risks managed by using derivative instruments are foreign exchange rate risk and interest rate risk.

Since October 2012, the Company has employed 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, taxes, 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. In May 2020, the Company entered into a pay-fixed, receive-variable interest rate swap with a Canadian chartered bank to limit the potential interest rate fluctuations incurred on its future cash flows related to variable interest payments on the Second Amended 2019 Credit Facility. The notional value of the interest rate swap was $70 million.

The Company does not use hedging forward contracts for trading or speculative purposes. The foreign exchange contracts typically mature between one and eighteen months, and the interest rate swap matures in June 2023.

The Company has designated certain of these foreign exchange transactions as cash flow hedges of forecasted transactions under ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) (“ASC Topic 815”). For certain contracts, 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 and cash flows attributable to the risk of being hedged are expected to completely offset at inception and on an ongoing basis. The Company has also designated the interest rate swap as a cash flow hedge of expected future interest payments. Accordingly, for the foreign exchange and interest rate swap contracts, unrealized gains or losses on the effective portion of these contracts have been included within other comprehensive income and reclassified to earnings when the hedged transaction is recognized in earnings. Cash flows from hedging activities are classified under the same category as the cash flows from the hedged items in the consolidated statements of cash flows. The fair value of the contracts, as of  March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, is recorded as derivative instrument assets or liabilities. For certain contracts where the hedged transactions are no longer probable to occur, the loss on the associated forward contract is recognized in earnings.

As of March 31, 2022, the notional amount of forward contracts that the Company held to sell U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars was $13.7 million, of which $13.7 million met the requirements of ASC Topic 815 and were designated as hedges.

As of December 31, 2021, the notional amount of forward contracts that the Company held to sell U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars was $25.2 million, of which $25.2 million met the requirements of ASC Topic 815 and were designated as hedges.

As of March 31, 2022, we had the following outstanding forward contracts to trade U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars:

As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the notional amount of the Company's interest rate swap designated as a cash flow hedge was $70 million. 

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, 2022 (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars)

In addition to the above, for those foreign currency forward contracts not designated as hedges, the Company recorded the following fair value adjustments on settled and outstanding contracts (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars):

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 $130.4 million as of  March 31, 2022 and $130.4 million as of December 31, 2021. The Company's goodwill relates 83% ($107.7 million) to its Domain Services operating segment, 17% ($22.7 million) to its Fiber Internet Services operating segment and nil to its Platform Services operating segment.

Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to an annual impairment test, or more frequently if impairment indicators are present. No impairment was recognized during the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021.

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, 2022 and March 31, 2021, the Company assessed that all 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 two to fifteen years.

Net book value of acquired intangible assets consist of the following (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars):

The following table shows the estimated amortization expense for each of the next 5 years, assuming no further additions to acquired intangible assets are made (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars): 

7. Loan Payable:

Amended 2019 Credit Facility

On  June 14, 2019, the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Tucows.com Co., Ting Fiber, Inc., Ting Inc., Tucows (Delaware) Inc. and Tucows (Emerald), LLC entered into an Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Agreement (the “Amended 2019 Credit Facility”) with Royal Bank (“RBC”), as administrative agent, and lenders party thereto (collectively with RBC, the “Lenders”) under which the Company had access to an aggregate of up to $240 million in funds, which consisted of $180 million guaranteed credit facility and a $60 million accordion facility. The Amended 2019 Credit Facility replaced the Company’s 2017 Amended Credit Facility.

In connection with the Amended 2019 Credit Facility, the Company incurred $0.3 million of fees paid to the Lenders and $0.2 million of legal fees related to the debt issuance. Of these fees, $0.4 million are 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 and $0.1 million were recorded in General and administrative expenses for the year ended  December 31, 2019. 

The obligations of the Company under the Amended 2019 Credit Agreement are secured by a first priority lien on substantially all of the personal property and assets of the Company and has a four-year term, maturing on  June 13, 2023.

Second Amended 2019 Credit Facility

On  October 26, 2021, the Company entered into a Second Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Agreement (the “Second Amended 2019 Credit Agreement”) with the Lenders and Toronto-Dominion Bank (collectively the “New Lenders”) to, among other things, increase the existing revolving credit facility from $180 million to $240 million. The Second Amended Credit Agreement provides the Company with access to an aggregate of $240 million in committed funds. The Second Amended Credit Agreement also provides for two additional interest rate tiers if the Company exceeds a 3.50x Total Funded Debt to Adjusted EBITDA Ratio.

In connection with the Second Amended 2019 Credit Facility, the Company incurred $0.3 million of fees related to the debt issuance, 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. 

Credit Facility Terms

The Second Amended 2019 Credit Facility is revolving with interest only payments with no scheduled repayments during the term.

The Second Amended 2019 Credit Facility contains customary representations and warranties, affirmative and negative covenants, and events of default. The Second Amended 2019 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 Adjusted EBITDA Ratio of 4.50:1.00 until  March 31, 2023 and 4.00:1.00 thereafter; and (ii) minimum Interest Coverage Ratio of 3.00:1.00. During the three months ended March 31, 2022, and the three months ended March 31, 2021 the Company was in compliance with these covenants. The Second Amended 2019 Credit Facility agreement definition of Adjusted EBITDA which is used to calculate the Company's compliance with covenants was amended in March of 2022 to align to the definition of Adjusted EBITDA used in Note 13 – Segment Accounting

Borrowings under the Second Amended 2019 Credit Facility will accrue interest and standby fees based on the Company’s Total Funded Debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio and the availment type as follows: 

The following table summarizes the Company’s borrowings under the credit facilities (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars): 

The following table summarizes our scheduled principal repayments as of  March 31, 2022 (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars):

8. Income Taxes:

The Company's provision for income taxes for interim periods is determined by using an estimated annual effective tax rate, adjusted for discrete items arising during the quarter. At each quarter, the Company updates the estimated annual effective tax rate and makes a year-to-date adjustment to the provision. The estimated annual effective tax rate is subject to volatility due to several factors, including accurately forecasting the Company's net income before tax and taxable income or loss and the mix of tax jurisdictions to which they relate, intercompany transactions, and changes in statutes, regulations, and case law.

For the three months ended March 31, 2022, the Company recorded an income tax expense of$1.1 million on net loss before income taxes of $1.9 million, using an estimated effective tax rate for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 (“Fiscal 2022”) adjusted for certain minimum state taxes.  Our effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2022 is also adversely impacted by a change in the geographical mix of income and current tax on foreign earnings. 

Comparatively, for the three months ended  March 31, 2021, the Company recorded an income tax expense of $1.1 million on income before income taxes of $3.2 million, using an estimated effective tax rate for the fiscal year ending  December 31, 2021 (“Fiscal 2021”) adjusted for certain minimum state taxes as well as the inclusion of a $0.2 million tax expense related to stock based compensation. Our effective tax rate for the three months ended  March 31, 2021 is also impacted by discrete adjustments resulting from finalization of prior period tax filings, foreign exchange and mark-to-market adjustments.  

9. Basic and Diluted Earnings per Common Share:

The following table reconciles the numerators and denominators of the basic and diluted earnings per common share computation (Dollar amounts in thousands of US dollars, except for share data):

For the three months ended March 31, 2022 the Company recorded a net loss, thus all outstanding options were considered anti-dilutive and excluded from the computation of diluted income per common share.  For the three months ended March 31, 2021 4,004 outstanding options were not included in the computation of diluted income per common share because the options’ exercise price was greater than the average market price of the common shares for the period.

10. Revenue:

Significant accounting policy

The Company’s revenues are derived from (a) the provisioning of retail fiber Internet services in our Fiber Internet Services segment, (b) the CSP solutions and professional services in our Platform Services segment; and from (c) domain name registration contracts, other domain related value-added services, domain sale contracts, and other advertising revenue in our Domain Services segment. Certain revenues are disclosed under the Corporate category as they are considered none-core business activities including Mobile Retail Services, Transition Services Agreement ("TSA") revenue and eliminations of intercompany 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 13 – Segment Reporting.

The Company generates Fiber Internet Services revenues primarily through the provisioning of fixed high-speed Internet access, Ting Internet.

Fiber Internet services (Ting Internet) contracts provide customers Internet access at their home or business through the installation and use of our fiber optic network. Ting 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.

Ting 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 Internet customers is computed based on the customer’s activation date. In addition, revenues associated with the sale of 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.

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.

The Company generates Platform Services revenues by providing billing and provisioning platform services to Communication Service Providers ("CSPs") to whom we also provide other professional services. 

Platform service agreements contain both platform services and professional services. Platform services offer a variety of solutions that support CSPs, including subscription and billing management, network orchestration and provisioning, and individual developer tools. Consideration under platform service arrangements includes both a variable component that changes each month depending on the number of subscribers hosted on the platform, as well as fixed payments and credits. Variable consideration sometimes includes minimum contractual payments, which are considered substantive minimum commitments. The Company uses the variable allocation exception to allocate variable consideration received to the services which the variable consideration relates to. Platform services represent a single promise to provide continuous access (i.e. a stand-ready performance obligation) to the platform. As each month of providing access to the platform is substantially the same and the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits as access is provided, the performance obligation is comprised of a series of distinct service periods. Professional services provided under platform service arrangements can include implementation, training, consulting or software development/modification services. Revenues related to professional services are distinct from the other promises in the contract(s) and are recognized as the related services are performed. Consideration is allocated between the platform services and professional services performance obligations by estimating the standalone selling price (“SSP”) of each performance obligation. The Company estimates the SSP of professional services based on observable standalone sales. The SSP of platform services is derived using the residual approach by estimating the total contract consideration and subtracting the SSP of professional services. Total contract consideration is estimated at contract inception, considering any constraints that may apply and updating the estimates as new information becomes available.

Other professional services consist of professional service arrangements with platform services customers which are billed based on separate Statement of Work (“SOW”) arrangements for bespoke feature development. Revenues for professional services contracted through separate SOWs are recognized at a point-in-time when the final acceptance criteria have been met. 

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 rateably 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, website hosting and hosted email provide our resellers and retail registrant customers with 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 (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars):

During the three months ended March 31, 2022 and the three months ended March 31, 2021 no customer accounted for more than 10% of total revenue.

At March 31, 2022, one customer represented 46% of accounts receivables. 

The following is a summary of the Company’s cost of revenue from each significant revenue stream (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars): 

Contract Balances

The following tables provide information about contract assets and 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.

Some of the Company’s long-term contracts with customers are billed in advance of service, such as domain contracts and some professional service contracts. Consideration received from customers related to performance obligations which have not yet been satisfied are contract liabilities and recorded as deferred revenues.

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. 

Significant changes in deferred revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2022 were as follows (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars): 

Deferred revenue:

The Company receives consideration for long-term mobile platform service contracts, which we collect variably each month depending on the number of subscribers hosted on the platform (subject to certain minimums) as well as through certain fixed platform fees and credits. Contract assets are recorded for services delivered under long-term mobile platform services contracts, to the extent that the services delivered exceed the services which have been billed to the customer at the reporting date. Contract assets are transferred to receivables when the rights to consideration become unconditional. All contract assets transfer to receivables within three months of when they are recognized.

Contract assets:

Remaining Performance Obligations:

For retail 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).

Although domain registration contracts are deferred over the lives of the individual contracts, which can range from one to ten years, approximately 80 percent of our deferred revenue balance related to domain contracts is expected to be recognized within the next twelve months.

Deferred revenue related to Exact hosting contracts is also deferred over the lives of the individual contracts, which are expected to be fully recognized within the next twelve months. 

Professional service revenue related to platform services may be deferred over the period not exceeding the term of the contract. 

11. Costs to obtain and fulfill a Contract

Deferred costs of fulfillment

Deferred costs to fulfill contracts primarily consist of domain registration costs which have been paid to a domain registry, and are capitalized as deferred costs of fulfillment. These costs are deferred and amortized over the life of the domain which generally ranges from one to ten years. The Company also defers certain technology design and data migration costs it incurs to fulfil its performance obligations contained in our platform services arrangements. For the three months ended March 31, 2022, the Company deferred $45.1 million and amortized $43.2 million of contract costs. There was no impairment loss recognized in relation to the costs capitalized during the three months ended March 31, 2022. Amortization expense of deferred costs is included in cost of revenue.

The breakdown of the movement in the deferred costs of fulfillment balance for the three months ended March 31, 2022 is as follows (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars). 

12. Leases

We lease datacenters, corporate offices and fiber-optic cables under operating leases. The Company does not have any leases classified as finance leases.

Our leases have remaining lease terms of 1 year to 20 years, some of which may include options to extend the leases for up to 5 years, and some of which may include options to terminate the leases within 1 year.

The components of lease expense were as follows (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars): 

Lease Cost is presented in general and administrative expenses and network expenses within our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income.

Information related to leases was as follows (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars):

Maturity of lease liability as of  March 31, 2022 (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars):

Operating lease payments include payments under the non-cancellable term, without any additional amounts related to options to extend lease terms that are reasonably certain of being exercised.

As of March 31, 2022, we have not entered into lease agreements that have not yet commenced. 

The Company has elected to use the single exchange rate approach when accounting for lease modifications. Under the single exchange rate approach, the entire right of use asset is revalued at the date of modification in the Company’s functional currency provided the re-measurement is not considered a separate contract or if the re-measurement is related to change the lease term or assessment of a lessee option to purchase the underlying asset being exercised.

13. Segment Reporting: 

Reportable operating segments:

We are organized and managed based on three operating segments which are differentiated primarily by their services, the markets they serve and the regulatory environments in which they operate.  No operating segments have been aggregated to determine our reportable segments.

During the first quarter of 2022, the Company completed a reorganization of its reporting structure into three operating and reportable segments: Fiber Internet Services, Platform Services and Domain Services. Previously, the Company disclosed the three operating and reportable segments: Fiber Internet Services, Mobile Services and Domain Services. The retail portion of the previously disclosed Mobile Services, including the earn-out of the sale of legacy subscribers are now included within Corporate and ISP platform revenues and related results previously included within the Fiber Internet Services are now included within Platform Services.  

The change to our reportable operating segments was the result of a shift in our business and management structures that was completed during the first quarter of 2022. The operations supporting what was previously known as our Mobile Services segment have become increasingly operationally distinct between our mobile retail services and our platform services.  As a result, commencing in the first quarter of 2022, our Chief Executive Officer ("CEO"), who is also our chief operating decision maker, reviews the operating results of Fiber Internet Services, Platform Services and Domains Services as three distinct segments in order to make key operating decisions as well as evaluate segment performance. Certain revenues and expenses disclosed under the Corporate category are excluded from segment EBITDA results as they are centrally managed and not monitored by or reported to our CEO by segment, including Mobile Retail Services, eliminations of intercompany transactions, portions of Finance and Human Resources that are centrally managed, Legal and Corporate IT.

Our reportable operating segments and their principal activities consist of the following:

1.     Fiber Internet Services - This segment derives revenue from the retail high speed Internet access to individuals and small businesses primarily through the Ting website.  Revenues are generated in the United States.

2.     Platform Services – This segment derives revenue from platform and other professional services related to communication service providers, including Mobile Network Operators and Internet Service Providers, and are primarily generated in the United States.       

3.    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. Domain Services revenues are attributed to the country in which the contract originates, primarily Canada and the United States. 

Our segmented results include shared services allocations, including a profit margin, from Corporate for Finance, Human Resources and other technical services, to the operating units.  In addition, Platform Services charges Fiber Internet Services a subscriber based monthly charge services rendered. Financial impacts from these allocations and cross segment charges are eliminated as part of the Corporate results. 

Key measure of segment performance:

The CEO, as the chief operating decision maker, regularly reviews the operations and performance by segment. The CEO reviews segment revenue, gross margin and adjusted EBITDA (as defined below) as (i) key measures of performance for each segment and (ii) 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 “Note 2 – Significant Accounting Policies”, and “Note 10 – Revenue”.

Our key measures of segment performance and their definitions are:

1.     Segment gross margin - net revenues less Direct cost of revenues attributable to each segment.  

2.     Segment adjusted EBITDA - segment gross margin as well as the recurring gain on sale of Ting Customer Assets, less network expenses and certain operating expenses attributable to each segment, such as sales and marketing, technical operations and development, general and administration expenses but excludes gains and losses from unrealized foreign currency, stock-based compensation and transactions that are one-time in nature and not indicative of on-going performance, including acquisition and transition costs. Certain revenues and expenses disclosed under the Corporate category are excluded from segment EBITDA results as they are centrally managed and not monitored by or reported to our CEO by segment, including Mobile Retail Services, eliminations of intercompany transactions, portions of Finance and Human Resources that are centrally managed, Legal and Corporate IT.

Our comparative period financial results have also been reclassified to reflect the current key measures of segment performance. 

The Company believes that both segment gross margin and adjusted EBITDA measures are important indicators of the operational strength and performance of its segments, by identifying those items that are not directly a reflection of each segment’s performance or indicative of ongoing operational and profitability trends.  Segment gross margin and segment adjusted EBITDA both exclude depreciation of property and equipment, amortization of intangibles assets, impairment of indefinite life intangible assets that are included in the measurement of income before provision for income taxes pursuant to generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP").  Accordingly, adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for net income, cash flow provided by operating activities and other measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. 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 “Note 2 – Significant Accounting Policies”, and “Note 10 – Revenue”.

Information by reportable segments (with the exception of disaggregated revenue, which is discussed in “Note 10 – Revenue”), which is regularly reported to the chief operating decision maker, and the reconciliations thereof to our income before taxes, are set out in the following tables (Dollar amounts in thousands of US dollars): 

¹ Acquisition and other costs represent transaction-related expenses, transitional expenses, such as redundant post-acquisition expenses, primarily related to our acquisitions, including Simply Bits in November 2021. Expenses include severance or transitional costs associated with department, operational or overall company restructuring efforts, including geographic alignments.

(b)           The following is a summary of the Company’s property and equipment by geographic region (Dollar amounts in thousands of US dollars): 

(c)           The following is a summary of the Company’s amortizable intangible assets by geographic region (Dollar amounts in thousands of US dollars): 

(d)           Valuation and qualifying accounts (Dollar amounts in thousands of US dollars):

14. Stockholders' Equity:

The following table summarizes stockholders' equity transactions for the three-month period ended (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars): 

2022 Stock Buyback Program

On  February 10, 2022, the Company announced that its Board 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 11, 2022 and is expected to terminate on or before  February 10, 2023. For the three months ended March 31, 2022, the Company did not repurchase shares under this program.

2021 Stock Buyback Program

On  February 9, 2021, the Company announced that its Board 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 10, 2021 and was terminated on  February 9, 2022. For the three months ended March 31, 2022, and the three months ended March 31, 2021 the Company did not repurchase shares under this program.

2020 Stock Buyback Program

On February 12, 2020, the Company announced that its Board had approved a stock buyback program to repurchase up to $40 million of its common stock in the open market. The $40 million buyback program commenced on February 13, 2020 and terminated on February 12, 2021. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company did not repurchase shares under this program. 

15. Share-based Payments:

Stock options

The fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. 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 Tucows Inc. common shares at the date of grant.

Details of stock option transactions for the three months ended  March 31, 2022 and  March 31, 2021 are as follows (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts):

As of March 31, 2022, the exercise prices, weighted average remaining contractual life of outstanding options and intrinsic values were as follows (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts):

Total unrecognized compensation cost relating to unvested stock options at March 31, 2022, prior to the consideration of expected forfeitures, is approximately $8.3 million and is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.7 years.

The Company recorded stock-based compensation of $1.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, and $1.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021, respectively. 

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

16. Fair Value Measurement:

For financial assets and liabilities recorded in our financial statements at fair value we utilize 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.

Equity investments without readily determinable fair value include ownership rights that do not provide the Company with control or significant influence. Such equity investments are recorded at cost, less any impairment, and adjusted for subsequent observable price changes as of the date that an observable transaction takes place. Subsequent adjustments are recorded in other income (expense), net.

The following table provides a summary of the fair values of the Company’s derivative instruments measured at fair value on a recurring basis as at March 31, 2022 (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars):

The following table provides a summary of the fair values of the Company’s derivative instruments measured at fair value on a recurring basis as at December 31, 2021 (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars):

17. Other income:

On August 1, 2020, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “DISH Purchase Agreement”), by and between the Company and DISH Wireless L.L.C.(“DISH”). Under the DISH Purchase Agreement and in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth therein, the Company sold to DISH its mobile customer accounts that are marketed and sold under the Ting brand (other than certain customer accounts associated with one network operator) (“Transferred Assets”) and derecognized intangible assets and capitalized contract costs associated with the Transferred Assets in the amount of $3.5 million. For a period of 10 years following the execution of the DISH Purchase Agreement, DISH will pay a monthly fee to the Company generally equal to an amount of net revenue received by DISH in connection with the transferred customer accounts minus certain fees and expenses, as further set forth in the DISH Purchase Agreement. The gain is presented net of the original cost base of the Transferred Assets. The Company earned $4.8 million and $5.4 million under the DISH Purchase Agreement during the three months ended March 31, 2022 and the three months ended March 31, 2021, respectively. 

18. Contingencies:

From time to time, the Company has legal claims and lawsuits in connection with its ordinary business operations. The Company vigorously defends such claims. While the final outcome with respect to any actions or claims outstanding or pending as of  March 31, 2022 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.

ITEM 2.     MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

CAUTIONARY 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” and “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 competition we expect to encounter as our business develops and competes in a broader range of Internet services; the Company's foreign currency requirements, specifically for the Canadian dollar; Platform Services, and fixed Internet access subscriber growth and retention rates; our belief regarding the underlying platform for our domain services, our expectation regarding the trend of sales of domain names and advertising; our expectations regarding portfolio revenue, our belief that, by increasing the number of services we offer, we will be able to generate higher revenues; our expectation regarding litigation; 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; our expectations regarding cash from operations to fund our business; the impact of cancellations of or amendments to market development fund programs under which we receive funds, our expectation regarding our ability to manage realized gains/losses from foreign currency contracts; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, operations and financial performance; and general business conditions and economic uncertainty. 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:

As previously disclosed the under the caption “Item 1A Risk Factors” in our 2021 Annual Report, data protection regulations may impose legal obligations on us that we cannot meet or that conflict with our ICANN contractual requirements.

This list of factors that may affect our future performance and financial and competitive position and 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 as required by law. 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 of our customers’ experience as they access the Internet (at home or on the go) and while using Internet services such as domain name registration, email and other Internet related services. During the first quarter of 2022, the Company completed a reorganization of its reporting structure into three operating and reportable segments: Fiber Internet Services, Platform Services and Domain Services. Previously, we disclosed the three operating and reportable segments: Fiber Internet Services, Mobile Services and Domain Services. The change to our reportable operating segments was the result of a shift in our business and management structures that was initiated in 2021 and completed during the first quarter of 2022. The operations supporting what was previously known as our Mobile Services segment have become increasingly operationally distinct between our mobile retail services and our platform services. Through the reorganization of our reporting structure, the Mobile Services segment was changed to the Platform Services segment, which no longer includes the 10-year payment stream on transferred legacy subscribers earned as part of the DISH Purchase Agreement as well as the retail sale of mobile phones, retail telephony services and transition services, all of which are not considered a part of our core business operations with the shift from Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) to Platform Service provider. The Platform Services segment includes our platform and professional services offerings (now branded as Wavelo), as well as the billing solutions to Internet services providers ("ISPs") (branded as Platypus), that was previously reported under the Fiber Internet Services segment. The Fiber Internet Services segment now only contains the operating results of our retail high speed Internet access operations, excluding the billing solutions moved to the new Platform Services segment. The product offerings included in the Domain Services segment remains unchanged. The three segments are differentiated primarily by their services, the markets they serve and the regulatory environments in which they operate.

Our management 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 management regularly reviews revenues, operating results and performance for each of our service offerings in order to gain more depth and understanding of the key business metrics driving our business. Commencing in the first quarter of 2022, our Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who is also our chief operating decision maker, reviewed the operating results of Fiber Internet Services, Platform Services and Domains Services as three distinct segments in order to make key operating decisions as well as evaluate segment performance. Accordingly, effective January 1, 2022 we report Fiber Internet Services, Platform Services and Domain Services revenue separately. The 10-year payment stream on transferred legacy subscribers as well as retail sale of mobile phones, retail telephony services and transition services will be excluded from segment EBITDA results as they are no longer centrally managed and not monitored by or reported to our CEO by segment. 

For the three months ended March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2021, we reported revenue of $81.1 million and $70.9 million, respectively.  

Fiber Internet Services

Fiber Internet Services, primarily branded as Ting Internet, Cedar, and Simply Bits includes the provision of fixed high-speed Internet access services to select towns throughout the United States, with further expansion underway to both new and existing markets. Our primary sales channel is through the Ting website. The primary focus of this segment is to provide reliable Gigabit Internet services to consumer and business customers. Revenues are all generated in the U.S. and are provided on a monthly basis and have no fixed contract terms.

Platform Services

Platform Services, primarily branded as Wavelo and Platypus includes the provision of full-service platforms and professional services providing a variety of solutions that support Communication Services providers ("CSPs"), including subscription and billing management, network orchestration and provisioning, and individual developer tools. Wavelo's focus is to provide accessible telecom software to CSPs globally, minimizing network and technical barriers and improving internet access worldwide. Wavelo's suite of flexible, cloud-based software simplifies the management of mobile and internet network access, enabling CSPs to better utilize their existing infrastructure, focus on customer experience and scale their businesses faster. Wavelo launches as a proven asset for CSPs, with DISH using Wavelo’s Mobile Network Operating System ("MONOS") software to drive additional value within its Digital Operator Platform since early 2021. More recently, Ting Internet has also integrated Wavelo’s Internet Service Operating System ("ISOS") software to enable faster subscriber growth and footprint expansion. Wavelo revenues are all generated in the U.S. and our customer agreements have set contract lengths with the underlying CSP. Similarly, Platypus revenues are largely generated in the U.S., with a small portion earned in Canada and other countries.

Domain Services

Domain Services includes wholesale and retail domain name registration services, as well as value added services derived through our OpenSRS, eNom, Ascio, EPAG and Hover brands. We earn revenues primarily from the registration fees charged to resellers in connection with new, renewed and transferred domain name registrations. In addition, we earn revenues from the sale of retail domain name registration and email services to individuals and small businesses. Domain Services revenues are attributed to the country in which the contract originates, which is primarily in Canada and the U.S for OpenSRS and eNom brands. Ascio domain services contracts and EPAG agreements primarily originate in Europe.

Our primary distribution channel is a global network of approximately 35,000 resellers that operate in over 150 countries and who typically provide their customers, the end-users of Internet-based services, with solutions for establishing and maintaining an online presence.  Our primary focus is serving the needs of this network of resellers by providing the broadest portfolio of generic top-level domain (“gTLD”) and the country code top-level domain options and related services, a white-label platform that facilitates the provisioning and management of domain names, a powerful Application Program Interface, easy-to-use interfaces, comprehensive management and reporting tools, and proactive and attentive customer service. Our services are integral to the solutions that our resellers deliver to their customers. We provide “second tier” support to our resellers by email, chat and phone in the event resellers experience issues or problems with our services. In addition, our Network Operating Center proactively monitors 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. Our business model is characterized primarily by non-refundable, up-front payments, which lead to recurring revenue and positive operating cash flow.

Wholesale, primarily branded as OpenSRS, eNom, EPAG and Ascio, derives revenue from its domain service and from providing value-added services. The OpenSRS, eNom, EPAG and Ascio domain services manage 25.0 million domain names under the Tucows, eNom, EPAG and Ascio ICANN registrar accreditations 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, WHOIS privacy, publishing tools and other value-added services. All of these services are made available to end-users through a network of 35,000 web hosts, ISPs, and other resellers around the world. In addition, we also derive revenue by monetizing domain names which are near the end of their lifecycle through advertising or auction sale.

Retail, primarily the Hover and eNom portfolio of websites, including eNom, and eNom Central, derive revenues from the sale of domain name registration, email services to individuals and small businesses. Retail also includes our Personal Names Service – based on over 36,000 surname domains – that allows roughly two-thirds of Americans to purchase a surname-based email address. The retail segment includes the sale of the rights to its portfolio of surname domains used in connection with our Realnames email service as well as our Exact Hosting Service, that provides Linux hosting services for websites of individuals and small businesses.

KEY BUSINESS METRICS AND NON-GAAP MEASURES

We regularly review a number of business metrics, including the following key metrics and non-GAAP measures, 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 tables set forth the key business metrics which we believe are the primary indicators of our performance for the periods presented:

Adjusted EBITDA

Tucows reports all financial information in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Along with this information, to assist financial statement users in an assessment of our historical performance, we typically disclose and discuss a non-GAAP financial measure, adjusted EBITDA, on investor conference calls and related events that exclude certain non-cash and other charges as we believe that the non-GAAP information enhances investors’ overall understanding of our financial performance. Please see discussion of adjusted EBITDA in the Results of Operations section below.