VALUE LINE INC - Annual Report: 2005 (Form 10-K)
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
10-K
x |
Annual
Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
|
Securities
Exchange Act of
1934
|
|
For
the
fiscal year ended April 30, 2005
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 0-11306
VALUE
LINE, INC.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
New
York
|
13-3139843
|
(State
or other jurisdiction of
|
(IRS
Employer Identification
|
incorporation
or organization)
|
Number)
|
220
East
42nd Street, New York, NY 10017-5891
(Address
of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's
telephone number, including area code: (212) 907-1500
Securities
registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
None
Securities
registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Common
Stock, $.10 par value
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 and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements
for the
past 90 days.
Yes x
No o
Indicate
by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of
Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the
best
of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements
incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment
to this
Form 10-K. x
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in
Rule
12b-2 of the Act). Yes o
No x
The
aggregate market value of the registrant's voting and non-voting common stock
held by non-affiliates at October 31, 2004, was $48,877,000. There were
9,981,600 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock outstanding at June 9,
2005.
DOCUMENTS
INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None
Part
I
Item
1.
BUSINESS.
Value
Line, Inc. (the "Company"), a New York corporation, was organized in 1982 and
is
the successor to substantially all of the operations of Arnold Bernhard &
Company, Inc. ("AB&Co."). As of June 9, 2005, AB & Co. owned
approximately 86.5% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common
stock.
The
Company's primary businesses are producing investment related periodical
publications through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Value Line Publishing, Inc.
("VLP"), and providing investment advisory services to mutual funds,
institutions and individual clients. VLP publishes in both print and electronic
formats The Value Line Investment SurveyÒ,
one of
the nation's major periodical investment services, as well as The Value Line
Investment Survey - Small and Mid-Cap Edition, The Value Line 600, Value Line
Select, The Value Line Mutual Fund Survey, The Value Line No-Load Fund Advisor,
The Value Line Special Situations Service, The Value Line Options Survey and
The
Value Line Convertibles Survey. VLP also provides current and historical
financial databases (DataFile, Estimates & Projections, Convertibles, Mutual
Funds and other services) in standard computer formats and markets investment
analysis software, The Value Line Investment Analyzer, Value Line ETF Survey,
Mutual Fund Survey for
Windows®,
Value
Line Daily Options Survey, Value Line Electronic Convertibles and Value Line
Research Center. These electronic products are available on CD-ROM and directly
on the Company’s internet site, www.valueline.com.
The
Company's print and electronic services are marketed from time to time through
media, direct mail and the internet to retail and institutional
investors.
The
Company is the investment adviser for the Value Line Family of Mutual Funds,
which on April 30, 2005, include 14 open-end investment companies with various
investment objectives. In addition, the Company manages investments for private
and institutional clients. The Company is registered with the Securities and
Exchange Commission as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers
Act
of 1940.
In
addition to VLP, the Company's other wholly-owned subsidiaries include a
registered broker-dealer, Value Line Securities, Inc., and an advertising
agency, Vanderbilt Advertising Agency, Inc. These subsidiaries primarily provide
services used by the Company in its investment management and publishing
businesses. Compupower Corporation, another subsidiary, serves the subscription
fulfillment needs of the Company's publishing operations. Value Line
Distribution Center, Inc. (“VLDC”) handles all of the mailings of the
publications to the Company’s subscribers. Additionally, VLDC provides office
space for Compupower
2
Corporation’s
computer operations center. The name "Value Line," as used to describe the
Company, its products, and its subsidiaries, is a registered trademark of the
Company. As used herein, except as the context otherwise requires, the term
"Company" includes the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries.
A.
Investment Information and Publications.
VLP
publishes investment related publications and produces electronic products
described below:
l.
Publications:
The
Value
Line Investment Survey is a weekly investment related periodical that in
addition to various timely articles on current economic, financial and
investment matters ranks common stocks for future relative performance based
primarily on computer-generated statistics of financial results and stock market
performance. A combined Index on our Web site allows the subscriber to easily
locate a specific stock among the approximately 3,500 stocks covered in the
Small and Mid-Cap Edition and in the standard edition of The Value Line
Investment Survey. Two of the more important evaluations for each stock covered
are "Timeliness(tm)"
and
"Safety(tm).”
Timeliness(tm)
relates
to the probable relative price performance of one stock over the next six to
twelve months, as compared to the rest of the approximately 1,700 covered
stocks. Rankings are updated each week and range from Rank 1 for the expected
best performing stocks to Rank 5 for the expected poorest performers. "Safety"
Ranks are a measure of risk and are based on the issuer's relative financial
strength and its stock's price stability. "Safety" ranges from Rank 1 for the
least risky stocks to Rank 5 for the riskiest. VLP employs approximately 81
analysts and statisticians who prepare articles of interest for each periodical
and who evaluate stock performance and provide future earnings estimates and
quarterly written evaluations with more frequent updates when
relevant.
The
Small
and Mid-Cap Edition of The Value Line Investment Survey is a weekly publication
introduced in 1995 that provides detailed descriptions of approximately 1,800
small- and medium-capitalization stocks, many listed on NASDAQ, beyond the
approximately 1,700 stocks of larger-capitalization companies traditionally
covered in The Value Line Investment Survey - Standard Edition. Like The Value
Line Investment Survey, the Small and Mid-Cap Edition has its own "Summary
&
Index" providing updated performance ranks and other data, as well as "screens"
of key financial performance measures. The "Ratings and Reports" section,
providing updated reports on about 140 stocks each week, has been organized
to
correspond closely to the industries reviewed in the Standard Edition of The
Value Line Investment Survey. A combined Index, published quarterly, allows
the
subscriber to easily locate a specific stock among the approximately 3,500
stocks covered.
The
Small
and Mid-Cap Edition includes a number of unique as well as standard features.
One unique feature, The Performance Ranking System, incorporates many of the
elements of the Value Line Timeliness(tm)
Ranking
System, modified to accommodate the approximate 1,800 stocks in the Small and
Mid-Cap Edition. The Performance(tm)
Rank is
based on earnings growth and price momentum and is designed to predict relative
price performance over the next six to twelve months.
3
The
principal difference between the Small and Mid-Cap Edition and The Value Line
Investment Survey’s Standard Edition is that the Small and Mid-Cap Edition does
not include Value Line’s financial forecasts or analysts' comments or a
Selection & Opinion section. These modifications allow VLP to offer this
service at a relatively low price.
The
Value
Line Mutual Fund Survey is published once every three weeks and was introduced
in 1993. It provides full-page profiles of about 700 mutual funds and condensed
coverage of more than 1,250 funds. Every three weeks subscribers receive an
updated issue, containing over 200 fund reports, plus a "Performance &
Index" providing current rankings and performance figures for the full universe
of more than 2,000 funds, as well as articles on investment trends and issues
concerning mutual fund investors. The Value Line Mutual Fund Survey also
includes annual profiles and analyses on 100 of the nation's major fund
families. Funds are ranked for both risk and overall risk-adjusted performance
using strictly quantitative means. A large binder is provided to house the
fund
reports.
The
Value
Line No-Load Fund Advisor is a 36-page monthly newsletter for investors who
wish
to manage their own portfolios of no- and low-load, open-end mutual funds.
It
was introduced in 1994. Each issue features strategies for maximizing total
return, and model portfolios for a range of investor profiles. It also includes
information about retirement planning, industry news, and specific fund reviews.
A full statistical review, including latest performance, rankings and sector
weightings, is updated each month on 600 leading no-load and low-load
funds.
The
Value
Line Special Situations Service, published twice a month, concentrates on
fast-growing, smaller companies whose stocks are perceived by VLP analysts
as
having exceptional appreciation potential. It was introduced in
1951.
The
Value
Line Options Survey, a semi-monthly periodical service published 24 times a
year, evaluates and ranks the expected performance of the most active options
listed on United States exchanges (approximately 80,000). It was introduced
in
1973. An electronic version of this publication, The Value Line Daily Options
Survey (available over the Internet), was introduced during the latter part
of
fiscal 1995. An enhanced version was introduced in 2002. New features include
an
interactive database and a new spreadsheet.
The
Value
Line Convertibles Survey, a semi-monthly periodical service published 24 times
a
year, evaluates and ranks approximately 600 convertible securities (bonds and
preferred stocks) and approximately 80 warrants for future market performance.
It was introduced in 1972. The information is also available
online.
Value
Line Select, a monthly publication, was first published in January 1998. As
a
stock recommendation service with an exclusive circulation, it focuses each
month on one company that VLP analysts, economists and statisticians recommend
as an investment. Recommendations are backed by in-depth research and are
subject to ongoing monitoring.
The
Value
Line 600 is a monthly service, which contains full-page reports on approximately
600 stocks. Its reports provide information on many actively traded, larger
capitalization issues as well as some smaller growth stocks. Since it was
introduced in fiscal 1996, it has proven to be popular among investors who
want
the same type of analysis provided in the full Investment Survey, but who don’t
want or need coverage of the large number of companies contained in that
publication. Readers also receive supplemental reports as well as a monthly
Index, which includes updated statistics.
4
2.
Electronic Products:
Value
Line Investment Analyzer 3.0 on CD-ROM is a powerful menu-driven software
program with fast filtering, ranking, reporting and graphing capabilities
utilizing over 300 data fields for about 8,000 stocks, industries and indices,
including the 1,700 stocks covered in VLP’s benchmark publication, The Value
Line Investment Survey. The product was introduced in June 1996. The current
version permits users to update data from the Company’s Internet site
(www.valueline.com).
Value
Line Investment Analyzer 3.0 provides over 300 search fields and more than
200
charting and graphing variables for comparative research. In addition to
containing digital replicas of the entire Value Line Investment Survey, the
Analyzer includes daily data updates through its seamless integration with
the
Value Line Web site (www.valueline.com). The software includes a portfolio
module that lets users create and track their own stock portfolios and up to
ten
years of historical financial data for scrutinizing performance, risk and yield.
Value
Line Mutual Fund Survey for
Windows®,
a
monthly
CD-ROM product with weekly internet updates, is the electronic version of the
Value Line Mutual Fund Survey. The program features powerful sorting
and filtering analysis tools. It includes features
such as
style attribution analysis, portfolio stress tester, portfolio rebalancing,
correlation of fund returns and hypothetical assets.
Windows
is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Value Line, Inc. and Microsoft
Corp. are not affiliated companies.
Value
Line DataFile contains current and historic annual and quarterly financial
records for about 8,500 active companies and over 5,000 companies that no longer
exist in numerous industries, including air transport, industrial services,
beverage, machinery, bank, insurance and finance, savings and loan associations,
toys, and securities brokers. DataFile has over 400 annual and over 80 quarterly
fields for each of the companies included in the database. DataFile is sold
to
the institutional market. Value Line DataFile II, which includes less historical
data is also available. This version complies with Microsoft Access format
for
small businesses. During fiscal 1997, Value Line introduced the Value Line
Mutual Fund DataFile. It covers about 13,000 mutual funds with up to 20 years
of
historical data which consists of almost 200 data fields. VLP also offers an
Estimates and Projections File, with year-ahead and three- to five-year
estimates of financial performance and projections of stock-price ranges on
companies covered in the Value Line Investment Survey, as well as a Convertible
Securities File and custom services.
The
Total
Return Service is a customized data service. It was developed to help publicly
traded companies meet the SEC's mandated executive-compensation disclosure
requirements. The service consists of a line graph comparing the total return
of
a public company's stock over the last five years to a published equity market
index and a published or constructed industry index.
3.
Value
Line Internet:
Most
Value Line products and services are available from the Company’s Web site
www.valueline.com.
The
site includes a multimedia section that features daily market reports and
updates on stocks, options, mutual funds and convertibles as well as webcasting
of daily analyst
5
commentary
and developments on companies in the news. In addition, the Company’s Web site
includes tools to chart and filter stocks and mutual funds along with tools
to
build a portfolio, customize a report and receive Value Line reports.
The
Value
Line Research Center, an internet-only service, includes on-line access to
certain of the Company’s leading publications covering stocks, mutual funds, and
options and convertible securities as well as special situation stocks. This
service includes full subscriptions to The Value Line Investment Survey, The
Value Line Mutual Fund Survey, The Value Line Daily Options Survey, The Value
Line Investment Survey Small and Mid-Cap Edition, The Value Line Convertibles
Survey, The Special Situations Service and Value Line ETF Survey.
B.
Investment Management.
As
of
April 30, 2005, the Company was the investment adviser for 14 mutual funds
registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Value Line Securities,
Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, acts as principal underwriter
and distributor for the Value Line Funds. State Street Bank and Trust Company,
an unaffiliated entity, acts as custodian of the Funds' assets and provides
fund
accounting and administrative services to the Value Line Funds. Shareholder
services for the Value Line Funds are provided by Boston Financial Data
Services, an unaffiliated entity associated with State Street Bank and Trust
Company.
Total
net
assets of the Value Line Funds at April 30, 2005, were:
(in
thousands)
|
||||
The
Value Line Fund, Inc.
|
$
|
192,580
|
||
Value
Line Income and Growth Fund, Inc.
|
230,108
|
|||
The
Value Line Special Situations Fund, Inc.
|
367,407
|
|||
Value
Line Leveraged Growth Investors, Inc.
|
279,220
|
|||
The
Value Line Cash Fund, Inc.
|
159,814
|
|||
Value
Line U.S. Government Securities Fund, Inc.
|
114,313
|
|||
Value
Line Centurion Fund, Inc.
|
306,180
|
|||
The
Value Line Tax Exempt Fund, Inc.
|
135,444
|
|||
Value
Line Convertible Fund, Inc.
|
38,670
|
|||
Value
Line Aggressive Income Trust
|
47,756
|
|||
Value
Line New York Tax Exempt Trust
|
25,650
|
|||
Value
Line Strategic Asset Management Trust
|
712,537
|
|||
Value
Line Emerging Opportunities Fund, Inc.
|
394,635
|
|||
Value
Line Asset Allocation Fund, Inc.
|
123,668
|
|||
$
|
3,127,982
|
Advisory
fee rates vary among the funds and may be subject to certain limitations. Each
mutual fund may use "Value Line" in its name only so long as the Company acts
as
its investment adviser.
Value
Line Asset Management ("VLAM"), a division of the Company, manages pension
funds
and institutional and individual portfolios. VLAM has investment advisory
agreements with its clients which call for payments to the Company calculated
on
the basis of the market value of the assets under management. VLAM engages
third
party solicitors who are paid ongoing fees based on the market value of assets
raised by their efforts.
6
C.
Wholly-Owned Operating Subsidiaries.
1.
Vanderbilt Advertising Agency, Inc.:
Vanderbilt
Advertising Agency, Inc. ("Vanderbilt") places advertising for the Company's
publications, investment advisory services, and mutual funds. Commission income
generated by Vanderbilt serves to reduce the Company's advertising
expenses.
2.
Compupower Corporation:
Compupower
provides computerized subscription fulfillment services for the Company as
well
as subscriber relations services for Company publications. Additionally,
Compupower also provides microfiche and imaging services to the Company and
its
affiliates.
3.
Value
Line Securities, Inc.:
Value
Line Securities, Inc. ("VLS") is registered as a broker-dealer under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is a member of the National Association
of
Securities Dealers, Inc. VLS acts as the underwriter and distributor of the
Value Line Funds with the exception of the Strategic Asset Management and
Centurion Funds which are available through Guardian Insurance Company. Shares
of the Value Line Funds are sold to the public without a sales charge (i.e.,
on
a "no-load" basis). VLS receives service and distribution fees, pursuant to
SEC
rule 12b-1, from certain Value Line Funds which are used to offset marketing
and
distribution costs for these funds. VLS
earned brokerage commission income on securities transactions executed by VLS
on
behalf of the funds that were cleared on a fully disclosed basis through
non-affiliated brokers who received a portion of the gross commission. Pending
a
review of effecting trades for the Value Line Funds, VLS in November 2004
suspended effectuation of trades through VLS for any of the Value Line
Funds.
4.
Value
Line Distribution Center, Inc.:
Value
Line Distribution Center, Inc. (“VLDC”) handles all of the mailings of the
publications to the Company’s subscribers. Additionally, VLDC provides office
space for the Compupower Corporation’s subscriber relations and data processing
departments.
D.
Other
Businesses.
The
Company publishes the Value Line Arithmetic Composite and the Value Line
Geometric Composite, daily indices of the stock market performance of the
approximately 1,700 common stocks contained in The Value Line Investment Survey.
The calculation of both indices is done by a third party. The Company receives
fees in connection with these activities.
Licensing
Business:
The
Company has licensed for a fee certain trademarks and proprietary information
for a series of unit investment trusts and closed-end fund
products.
7
I.
Closed -End Fund Licensed Product Offerings
|
Assets
|
|||
A.
First Trust Value Line 100 Closed-End Trust
|
$
|
305,000,000
|
||
B.
First Trust Value Line Dividend Closed-End Trust
|
$
|
530,000,000
|
||
C.
First Trust Value Line & Ibbotson Equity Allocation Fund
|
$
|
150,000,000
|
||
II.
Other Investment Products Including Unit Investment Trusts
|
$
|
900,000,000
|
Value
Line collects a licensing fee from each of the UIT’s and the closed-end funds
primarily based upon the market value of assets invested in each
portfolio.
E.
Investments.
From
time
to time, the Company invests in the Value Line Funds, fixed income government
obligations and other marketable securities.
F.
Employees.
At
April
30, 2005, the Company and its subsidiaries employed 240 people.
The
Company, its affiliates, officers, directors and employees may from time to
time
own securities which are also held in the portfolios of the Value Line Funds
or
recommended in the Company's publications. Analysts covering stocks may not
own
stocks they cover. The Company has imposed rules upon itself requiring monthly
reports of securities transactions by employees for their respective accounts
and restricting trading in various types of securities in order to avoid
possible conflicts of interest.
G.
Principal Business Segments.
The
information with respect to revenues from external customers and profit and
loss
of the Company's identifiable principal business segments is incorporated herein
by reference to Note 11 of the Notes to the Company's Consolidated Financial
Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The
Company's assets identifiable to each of its principal business segments were
as
follows:
April
30,
|
||||||||||
2005
|
2004
|
2003
|
||||||||
(in
thousands)
|
||||||||||
Investment
Periodicals
|
||||||||||
&
Related Publications
|
$
|
14,871
|
$
|
14,592
|
$
|
18,648
|
||||
Investment
Management
|
44,409
|
74,786
|
227,786
|
|||||||
Corporate
Assets(1)
|
39,585
|
177,546
|
380
|
|||||||
$
|
98,865
|
$
|
266,924
|
$
|
246,814
|
(1)
|
Corporate
Assets increased to $177,546,000 at April 30, 2004 in preparation
for
payment in May 2004 of the Company’s ordinary dividend of $.25 per share
and a special dividend declared by the Board of Directors during
April
2004 of $17.50 per share.
|
8
H.
Competition.
The
investment management and the investment information and publications industries
are very competitive. There are many competing firms and a wide variety of
product offerings. Some of the firms in these industries are substantially
larger and have greater financial resources than the Company. The Company
believes that it is one of the world's largest independent securities research
organizations and that it publishes one of the world's largest investment
periodical services in terms of number of subscriptions, annual revenues and
number of equity research analysts.
I.
Executive Officers.
The
following table lists the names, ages (at June 9, 2005), and principal
occupations and employment during the past five years of the Company's Executive
Officers. All officers are elected to terms of office for one year. Each of
the
following has held an executive position with the companies indicated for at
least five years.
Name
|
Age
|
Principal
Occupation or Employment
|
||
Jean
Bernhard Buttner
|
70
|
Chairman
of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company
and
AB&Co. Chairman of the Board and President of each of the Value Line
Funds.
|
||
|
||||
Samuel
Eisenstadt
|
82
|
Senior
Vice President and Research Chairman.
|
||
David
T. Henigson
|
47
|
Vice
President; Director of Compliance; Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer
and Chief Compliance Officer of each of the Value Line Funds; Vice
President of AB&Co.
|
||
Howard
A. Brecher
|
51
|
Vice
President and Secretary; Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and
General
Counsel of AB&Co.
|
||
Stephen
R. Anastasio
|
46
|
Chief
Financial Officer since 2003; Corporate Controller.
|
||
Mitchell
E. Appel
|
34
|
Treasurer
since June 2005. Chief Financial Officer, Circle Trust Company (January
2003 - May 2005), Vice President, Orbitex Financial Services Group,
Treasurer of Orbitex Group of Funds, 2000 - 2002 .
|
||
WEB
SITE
ACCESS TO SEC REPORTS
The
Company’s Web site address is www.valueline.com.
The
Company’s annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current
reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports are available free
of
charge on the Financial Info page of the Company’s Web site as soon as
reasonably practicable after the reports are filed electronically with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
9
Item
2.
PROPERTIES.
On
June
4, 1993, the Company entered into a lease agreement for approximately 77,000
square feet that provided for the relocation of its office space to 220 East
42nd Street, New York, New York. On September 14, 2000, the Company amended
its
New York lease for office space and returned to the landlord 6,049 sq. ft.
of
excess capacity. The Company now leases approximately 71,000 square feet of
office space at 220 East 42nd
Street
in
New York. During January 1996, a subsidiary of the Company purchased for cash
an
approximately 85,000 square feet warehouse facility for $4,100,000. That
facility consolidated into a single location the distribution operations for
the
various Company publications and the fulfillment operations of Compupower
Corporation. The remaining building capacity provides warehouse space, a
disaster recovery site and is available for future business expansion. The
Company believes the capacity of these facilities is sufficient to meet the
Company's current and expected future requirements.
Item
3.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
By
letter
dated June 15, 2005, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission
requested the Company as part of a preliminary inquiry to provide documents
relating to, among other things, trades for the Company's proprietary accounts,
and the effectuation and execution of trades through VLS for the Value Line
Funds. The Company intends to cooperate with the preliminary
inquiry.
Item
4.
SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS.
No
matters were submitted to a vote of the stockholders during the fourth quarter
of the fiscal year ended April 30, 2005.
Part
II
Item
5.
MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER
MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
The
Registrant's Common Stock is traded on the over-the-counter market and is quoted
in the Nasdaq National Market System. The approximate number of record holders
of the Registrant's Common Stock at April 30, 2005 was 61. Over-the-counter
price quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down
or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions. The range
of the bid and asked quotations and the dividends paid on these shares during
the past two fiscal years were as follows:
10
High
|
Low
|
Dividend
|
||||||||||||||
Quarter
Ended
|
Bid
|
Asked
|
Bid
|
Asked
|
Declared
Per
Share
|
|||||||||||
July
31, 2004
|
$
|
64.260
|
$
|
69.500
|
$
|
29.500
|
$
|
31.320
|
$
|
25
|
||||||
October
31, 2004
|
$
|
38.110
|
$
|
39.480
|
$
|
32.960
|
$
|
35.530
|
$
|
.25
|
||||||
January
31, 2005
|
$
|
41.760
|
$
|
41.760
|
$
|
35.950
|
$
|
35.950
|
$
|
25
|
||||||
April
30, 2005
|
$
|
41.500
|
$
|
42.500
|
$
|
38.500
|
$
|
38.750
|
$
|
.25
|
||||||
July
31, 2003
|
$
|
54.7900
|
$
|
55.7700
|
$
|
45.6600
|
$
|
46.0000
|
$
|
.25
|
||||||
October
31, 2003
|
$
|
50.1600
|
$
|
51.5000
|
$
|
47.6900
|
$
|
48.1000
|
$
|
.25
|
||||||
January
31, 2004
|
$
|
50.8100
|
$
|
50.9900
|
$
|
48.1000
|
$
|
49.0000
|
$
|
.25
|
||||||
April
30, 2004
|
$
|
66.5200
|
$
|
74.2000
|
$
|
48.1000
|
$
|
48.6000
|
$
|
17.75
|
Item
5(c). PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS.
ISSUER
PURCHASES OF EQUITY
SECURITIES
|
||||
Period
|
(a) Total
Number
of
Shares
(or
Units)
Purchased
|
(b) Average
Price
Paid
Per
Share
(or
Unit)
|
(c)
Total Number of
Shares
(or Units)
Purchased
as Part
of
Publicly
Announced
Plans
or Programs
|
(d)
Maximum Number
(or
Approximate Dollar
Value)
of Shares (or
Units)
that May Yet Be
Purchased
Under the
Plans
or Programs
|
February
1,
2005
through
February
28,
2005
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
March
1, 2005
through
March
31,
2005
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
April
1, 2005
through
April
30,
2005
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
Total
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
There
were no purchases of the Company’s equity securities by the Company or any
affiliated purchaser during the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2005. All
purchases in prior periods were made by Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc., an
affiliate of the issuer, in open-market transactions pursuant to public
announcements and disclosure.
11
Item
6.
SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.
Earnings
per share for each of the fiscal years shown below are based on the weighted
average number of shares outstanding.
Years
ended April 30,
|
||||||||||||||||
2005
|
2004
|
2003
|
2002
|
2001
|
||||||||||||
(in
thousands, except per share amounts)
|
||||||||||||||||
Revenues:
|
||||||||||||||||
Investment periodicals |
$
|
52,713
|
$
|
52,497
|
$
|
52,469
|
$
|
53,114
|
$
|
56,042
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Investment
management
fees
and services
|
$
|
31,765
|
$
|
32,773
|
$
|
29,600
|
$
|
34,329
|
$
|
42,349
|
||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Total
revenues
|
$
|
84,478
|
$
|
85,270
|
$
|
82,069
|
$
|
87,443
|
$
|
98,391
|
||||||
Income
from
operations
|
$
|
27,084
|
$
|
24,739
|
$
|
24,095
|
$
|
29,186
|
$
|
37,811
|
||||||
Net
income
|
$
|
21,318
|
$
|
20,350
|
$
|
19,987
|
$
|
20,323
|
$
|
24,091
|
||||||
Earnings
per
share,
basic and
fully
diluted
|
$
|
2.14
|
$
|
2.04
|
$
|
2.00
|
$
|
2.04
|
$
|
2.41
|
||||||
Total
assets
|
$
|
98,865
|
$
|
266,924
|
$
|
246,814
|
$
|
268,735
|
$
|
270,992
|
||||||
Cash
dividends
declared
per share
|
$
|
1.00
|
$
|
18.50
|
$
|
1.00
|
$
|
1.00
|
$
|
1.00
|
12
Item
7.
MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL
CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
Fiscal
2005
Operating
Results
Net
income for the twelve months ended April 30, 2005 of $21,318,000 or $2.14 per
share was 5% above net income of $20,350,000 or $2.04 per share in fiscal 2004.
Operating income of $27,084,000 for the twelve months ended April 30, 2005
was
9% above operating income of $24,739,000 for the same period of the last fiscal
year. Operating income of $8,534,000 for the three months ended April 30, 2005
was 17% higher than operating income of $7,300,000 for the comparable period
of
the last fiscal year. Retained Earnings of $30,798,000 at April 30, 2005 were
58% higher than Retained Earnings of $19,459,000 at April 30, 2004.
Subscription
revenues of $52,713,000 for the twelve months ended April 30, 2005 were level
with revenues for the same period of the prior fiscal year. Revenues from all
electronic publications were up 9% over the previous year while licensing fees
were up 123% for the twelve months ended April 30, 2005. Revenues from all
print
products were down 5% compared to the last fiscal year’s level. Investment
management fees and service revenues of $31,765,000 for the twelve months ended
April 30, 2005 were 3% below the prior fiscal year’s revenues of $32,773,000,
primarily because beginning November 2004, VLS suspended its business of
effecting trades for any of the Value Line funds, from which it had earned
net
commission revenues.
Operating
expenses for the twelve months ended April 30, 2005 of $57,394,000 were 5%
below
the last fiscal year’s expenses of $60,531,000. Total advertising and
promotional expenses of $20,455,000 were 6% below the prior year’s expenses of
$21,821,000. The decrease in advertising expenses resulted primarily from the
postponement of direct mail expenses until fiscal 2006. Salaries and employee
benefit expenses of $19,445,000 were 6% below expenses of $20,764,000 recorded
in the prior fiscal year as a result of staff reductions in the mutual fund
product and asset management divisions. Production and distribution costs for
the twelve months ended April 30, 2005 of $8,589,000 were 8% below expenses
of
$9,300,000 at April 30, 2004. The decline in expenses was primarily due to
lower
paper, printing and distribution costs that resulted in part from a decrease
in
circulation to the print and electronic versions of our products. Office and
administrative expenses of $8,905,000 were 3% higher than the prior fiscal
year’s expenses of $8,646,000. The increase in administrative expenses was
primarily due to an increase in professional fees including expenses to settle
an action in the New York Supreme Court with a small mutual fund company
relating to a proposed transaction and higher rent expenses resulting from
scheduled lease escalations. The increases in administrative expenses were
offset by lower depreciation of fixed assets and lower software licensing and
hardware maintenance fees.
The
Company’s income from securities transactions, net, of $8,278,000 for the twelve
months ended April 30, 2005 was slightly above securities transactions income
of
$8,266,000 for the same period of the last fiscal year. Income from securities
transactions, net, for the twelve months ended April 30, 2005 included dividend
and interest income of $602,000 and capital gains of $7,676,000 from sales
of
equity securities from the Company’s short-term trading and
13
available
for sale portfolios, which compares to dividend and interest income of
$4,259,000 and capital gains of $4,017,000 from sales of securities from the
Company’s short-term trading and available for sale portfolios for the same
period of the last fiscal year. The lower dividend and interest income during
fiscal 2005 was a result of sales of the Company’s fixed income securities
during the latter part of fiscal 2004 in preparation for payment on May 19,
2004
of a special dividend of $17.50 per share to all common stockholders of record
as of May 7, 2004. Income from securities transactions, net, for the twelve
months ended April 30, 2005 also includes $433,000 from the sale of shares
received under the terms of a contract with a vendor.
Liquidity
and Capital Resources
The
Company had working capital as of April 30, 2005 of $45,401,000 including cash
and short-term securities at market value of $82,245,000.
The
Company’s cash flow from operations of $36,590,000 for the twelve months ended
April 30, 2005 was 371% higher than fiscal 2004’s cash flow of $7,771,000. The
rise in cash flow from operations was primarily due to the liquidation of the
Company’s trading securities portfolio and higher net income. Net cash outflows
of $24,071,000 from investing activities during the twelve months of fiscal
2005
primarily resulted from purchases of fixed income securities. Net cash inflows
of $170,102,000 during fiscal 2004 resulted primarily from sales of fixed income
securities in preparation for payment on May 19, 2004 of a special dividend
in
the amount of $174,678,000.
From
time
to time, AB&Co., the Company’s controlling shareholder, has purchased
additional shares of Value Line, Inc. in the market when and as AB&Co. has
determined it to be appropriate. As stated several times in the past, the public
is reminded that AB&Co. may make additional purchases from time to time in
the future.
Management
believes that the Company’s cash and other liquid asset resources used in its
business together with the future cash flows from operations will be sufficient
to finance current and forecasted operations. Management anticipates no
borrowing for fiscal year 2006.
Fiscal
2004
Operating
Results
Net
income for the twelve months ended April 30, 2004 of $20,350,000 or $2.04 per
share was 2% above net income of $19,987,000 or $2.00 per share for the same
period in fiscal 2003. Operating income of $24,739,000 for the twelve months
ended April 30, 2004 was 3% above operating income of $24,095,000 for the same
period of the last fiscal year. Operating income of $7,300,000 for the three
months ended April 30, 2004 was 7% higher than operating income of $6,843,000
for the comparable period of the last fiscal year. Income from securities
transactions for the twelve months of fiscal 2004 was 25% above income from
securities transactions for the same period of fiscal 2003. Revenues of
$85,270,000 for the twelve months ended April 30, 2004 were 3% higher than
revenues of $82,245,000 in the prior fiscal year. Revenues of $22,045,000 for
the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 were 11% above revenues of $20,201,000 for
the
three months ended April 30, 2003.
14
During
fiscal 2004, the Company’s stock outperformed the major market indices. Value
Line, Inc.’s. stock was up 34% for the twelve months ended April 30, 2004. In
April 2004, the Board of Directors of the Company declared a distribution from
its Retained Earnings in the form of a special dividend of $17.50 per share
or
$174,678,000 to all shareholders of record as of May 7, 2004. The purpose of
the
dividend was to return to all shareholders, in the form of cash, a significant
portion of the earnings of the Company from its successful operations over
the
past number of years, at a time when shareholders can enjoy the present
favorable tax rates on dividends. Despite this significant distribution, Value
Line remains exceptionally strong financially with $35,298,000 of Shareholders’
Equity as of April 30, 2004 after declaration of the special
dividend.
Subscription
revenues of $52,497,000 for the twelve months ended April 30, 2004 were
approximately equal to those for the same period of the prior fiscal year.
Although total revenues from all print products for the twelve months ended
April 30, 2004 were down 4% since the last fiscal year, revenues from all
electronic publications were up over 12% in fiscal 2004. Subscription revenues
of $13,728,000 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 were 7% above revenues
of
$12,874,000 for the three months ended April 30, 2004. While total revenues
from
all print products for the three months ended April 30, 2004 were level with
the
revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003, revenues from all electronic
publications were 11% above revenues for the comparable quarter of the last
fiscal year. Investment management fees and services revenues of $32,773,000
for
the twelve months ended April 30, 2004 were 10% above the prior fiscal year’s
revenues of $29,776,000. Investment management fees and services revenues of
$8,715,000 for the three months ended April 30, 2004 were 19% above the revenues
of $7,327,000 recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003.
Operating
expenses for the twelve months ended April 30, 2004 of $60,531,000 were 4%
above
the last year’s expenses of $58,150,000. Total advertising and promotional
expenses of $21,821,000 were 7% above the prior year’s expenses of $20,418,000
primarily due to additional costs associated with marketing two of the Company’s
equity mutual funds, increases in media advertising, higher fund supermarket
fees related to sales of the Value Line mutual funds shares, and increased
postage rates for direct mail. Successful direct mail campaigns resulted in
an
increase in subscription activity since April 2003 with total new full term
subscription orders rising 11% from the level during the twelve months of the
prior fiscal year. Salaries and employee benefit expenses of $20,764,000 were
4%
above expenses of $19,938,000 recorded in the prior fiscal year. Production
and
distribution expenses for the twelve months ended April 30, 2004 of $9,300,000
were 3% below expenses of $9,576,000 for the twelve months ended April 30,
2003.
The decline in expenses was primarily due to lower paper, printing and
distribution costs that resulted from a migration in circulation from print
to
electronic versions of our products and management’s decision to discontinue
issuing print copies of the Reference Library to trial subscribers of
The
Value Line
Investment Survey and
The
Value Line
Investment Survey Small and Mid-Cap Stock Edition.
These
decreases in production and distribution expenses were offset by higher
commissions fee expenses in connection with the Company’s brokerage operation.
Office and administrative expenses of $8,646,000 were 5% above the last year’s
expenses of $8,218,000. The net increase in administrative expenses was
primarily due to higher rent expenses resulting from scheduled lease increases,
higher bank collection fees associated with an increase in the Company’s
publishing credit card business, and increases in professional fees.
The
Company’s securities portfolios produced a gain of $8,266,000 for the twelve
months ended April 30, 2004 versus a gain of $6,626,000 for the same period
of
the last fiscal year. The Company’s trading portfolio produced a gain of
$3,008,000 during the twelve months ended April 30, 2004 versus losses of
$940,000 during the same period of the last fiscal year. Income from securities
transactions for the twelve months ended
15
April
30,
2004 also included dividend and interest income of $4,259,000 and capital gains
of $1,087,000 from sales of securities from the Company’s long-term portfolio of
equity and fixed income securities. This compares to dividend and interest
income of $4,361,000 and capital gains of $3,211,000 from sales of securities
from the Company’s long-term portfolio for the same period of the last fiscal
year.
Liquidity
and Capital Resources
The
Company had working capital as of April 30, 2004 of $36,699,000 including liquid
assets consisting of cash and securities of $244,446,000, used in its business.
Working capital has been reduced by the declaration of a $17.50 special dividend
payable May 19, 2004 to all shareholders of record on May 7, 2004.
The
Company’s cash flow from operations of $7,771,000 for the twelve months ended
April 30, 2004 was $8,681,000 lower than fiscal 2003’s cash flow of $16,452,000.
The decrease in cash flow from operations was primarily the result of additional
investments in the Company’s short-term equity trading portfolio. The decrease
was partially offset by a rise in cash flow from other operating activity
primarily an 11% increase in total new full term subscription orders, an
increase of 9% in the Company’s investment management business, and containment
of expenses. Net cash inflows of $170,102,000 from investing activities during
the twelve months of fiscal 2004 resulted primarily from sales of fixed income
securities in preparation for payment on May 19, 2004 of a special dividend
in
the amount of $174,678,000. Net cash outflows of $113,702,000 for investing
activities for the twelve months of fiscal 2003 were due largely to the
Company’s decision last fiscal year to re-deploy its cash and equity holdings
into Government debt obligations with higher effective yields.
From
time
to time, AB&Co., the Company’s controlling shareholder, has purchased
additional shares of Value Line, Inc. in the market when and as AB&Co. has
determined it to be appropriate. As stated several times in the past, the public
is reminded that AB&Co. may make additional purchases from time to time in
the future.
Management
believes that the Company’s cash and other liquid asset resources used in its
business together with the future cash flows from operations will be sufficient
to finance current and forecasted operations. Management anticipates no
borrowing for fiscal year 2005.
Safe
Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995
This
report contains statements (including certain projections and business trends)
accompanied by such phrases as “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “anticipate”,
“will”, “intend” and other similar or negative expressions, that are
“forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those projected
as
a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the
following:
·
|
demand
for and market acceptance of new and existing
products;
|
·
|
renewals
of subscriptions for the Company’s
products;
|
·
|
adaptation
of the Company’s products to new
technologies;
|
·
|
fluctuations
in the Company’s assets under management due to broadly based changes in
the values of equity and debt securities, redemptions by investors
and
other factors;
|
·
|
competitive
product and pricing pressures;
|
·
|
the
impact of government regulation on the Company’s business and the
uncertainties of litigation and regulatory initiatives and inquiries;
and
|
·
|
other
risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed
from
time to time in our SEC filings.
|
16
Any
forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the Company
undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Off-Balance
Sheet Arrangements
The
Company has no off-balance sheet arrangements.
Contractual
Obligations
Below
is
a summary of certain contractual obligations (in thousands):
Contractual
Obligations |
Total
|
Less
than 1 Year
|
1-3
years
|
3-5
years
|
After
5
Years |
|||||||||||
Operating
Lease
Obligations
|
$
|
4,745
|
$
|
1,788
|
$
|
2,957
|
—
|
—
|
||||||||
Purchase
Obligations
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
|||||||||||
Other
Long-term
Obligations
reflected
on
Balance
Sheet
|
$
|
40,092
|
$
|
29,748
|
$
|
10,344
|
—
|
—
|
||||||||
TOTAL
|
$
|
44,837
|
$
|
31,536
|
$
|
13,301
|
—
|
—
|
17
Item
7A.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.
Market
Risk Disclosures
Value
Line, Inc.’s Consolidated Balance Sheet includes a substantial amount of assets
and liabilities whose fair values are subject to market risks. Value Line’s
significant market risks are primarily associated with interest rates and equity
prices. The following sections address the significant market risks associated
with Value Line’s business activities.
Interest
Rate Risk
Value
Line’s management prefers to invest in highly liquid debt securities with
extremely low credit risk. Value Line’s strategy is to acquire securities that
are attractively priced in relation to the perceived credit risk. Management
recognizes and accepts that losses may occur. To limit the price fluctuation
in
these securities from interest rate changes, Value Line’s management invests
primarily in short-term obligations maturing in 1 to 5 years.
The
fair
values of Value Line’s fixed maturity investments will fluctuate in response to
changes in market interest rates. Increases and decreases in prevailing interest
rates generally translate into decreases and increases in fair values of those
instruments. Additionally, fair values of interest rate sensitive instruments
may be affected by prepayment options, relative values of alternative
investments, and other general market conditions.
The
following table summarizes the estimated effects of hypothetical increases
and
decreases in interest rates on assets that are subject to interest rate risk.
It
is assumed that the changes occur immediately and uniformly to each category
of
instrument containing interest rate risks. The hypothetical changes in market
interest rates do not reflect what could be deemed best or worst case scenarios.
Variations in market interest rates could produce significant changes in the
timing of repayments due to prepayment options available. For these reasons,
actual results might differ from those reflected in the table. Dollars are
in
thousands.
Estimated
Fair Value after
|
||||||||||||||||
Hypothetical
Change in Interest Rates
|
||||||||||||||||
(bp
= basis points)
|
||||||||||||||||
Fair
|
50bp
|
50bp
|
100bp
|
100bp
|
||||||||||||
Fixed
Income Securities
|
Value
|
increase
|
decrease
|
increase
|
decrease
|
|||||||||||
As
of April 30, 2005
|
||||||||||||||||
Investments
in securities with fixed maturities
|
$
|
39,065
|
$
|
38,927
|
$
|
39,253
|
$
|
38,911
|
$
|
39,326
|
||||||
As
of April 30, 2004
|
||||||||||||||||
Investments
in securities with fixed maturities
|
$
|
1
|
$
|
1
|
$
|
1
|
$
|
1
|
$
|
1
|
During
the last quarter of fiscal year 2004, the Company sold virtually all of its
long-term holdings of fixed maturity investments and transferred the proceeds
to
cash in preparation for payment of a special $17.50 per share dividend, declared
on April 23, 2004. The sale greatly
18
reduced
the Company’s exposure to risks associated with interest rate changes.
Management regularly monitors the maturity structure of the Company’s
investments in fixed maturity U.S. government debt obligations in order to
maintain an acceptable price risk associated with changes in interest
rates.
Equity
Price Risk
The
carrying values of investments subject to equity price risks are based on quoted
market prices or management’s estimates of fair value as of the balance sheet
dates. Market prices are subject to fluctuation and, consequently, the amount
realized in the subsequent sale of an investment may significantly differ from
the reported market value. Fluctuation in the market price of a security may
result from perceived changes in the underlying economic characteristics of
the
issuer, the relative price of alternative investments and general market
conditions. Furthermore, amounts realized in the sale of a particular security
may be affected by the relative quantity of the security being
sold.
Value
Line invests a significant level of its assets in equity securities, primarily
the Value Line family of equity mutual funds. Each mutual fund invests in a
variety of equity positions of various companies thereby diversifying Value
Line’s risk. The Company’s objectives include maintenance of a greater weighting
in large and mid capitalization companies in its equity portfolio to moderate
price risk. Value Line has also utilized derivative financial instruments in
the
past to minimize market price risk, although no such derivative financial
instruments were utilized during fiscal 2005 and 2004.
The
table
below summarizes Value Line’s equity price risks as of April 30, 2005 and 2004
and shows the effects of a hypothetical 30% increase and a 30% decrease in
market prices as of those dates. The selected hypothetical changes do not
reflect what could be considered the best or worst case scenarios. Dollars
are
in thousands.
Hypothetical
|
Estimated
Fair
Value after Hypothetical |
Hypothetical
Percentage Increase (Decrease) in
|
|||||||||||
Equity
Securities
|
Fair
Value
|
Price
Change
|
Change
in Prices
|
Shareholders’Equity
|
|||||||||
As
of April 30, 2005
|
$
|
37,209
|
30%
increase
|
$
|
48,372
|
25.3
|
%
|
||||||
|
30% decrease |
$
|
26,046
|
(25.3
|
)%
|
||||||||
As
of April 30, 2004
|
$
|
46,356
|
30%
increase
|
$
|
60,259
|
39.4
|
%
|
||||||
|
30% decrease |
$
|
32,447
|
(39.4
|
)%
|
Although
the absolute risk associated with equity price changes is not significantly
different for the Company’s equity securities holdings at fiscal year end April
30, 2005 as compared to April 30, 2004, the percentage increase/decrease in
shareholders’ equity has more dramatically changed as a result of the lower
shareholders’ equity balance that resulted from the declaration of the special
$17.50 special dividend during the quarter ended April 30, 2004.
19
Item
8.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.
The
following consolidated financial statements of the registrant and its
subsidiaries are included as a part of this Form 10K:
Page
Numbers
|
|
Report
of independent accountants
|
30
|
Consolidated
balance sheets--April 30, 2005 and 2004
|
31
|
Consolidated
statements of income and retained earnings
|
|
--years
ended April 30, 2005, 2004 and 2003
|
32
|
Consolidated
statements of cash flows
|
|
--years
ended April 30, 2005, 2004 and 2003
|
33
|
Consolidated
statement of changes in shareholders’ equity
|
|
--years
ended April 30, 2005, 2004 and 2003
|
34
|
Notes
to the consolidated financial statements
|
35
|
Supplementary
schedules
|
48
|
Quarterly
Results (Unaudited):
(in
thousands, except per share amounts)
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Total Revenues |
Income From |
Net Income |
Earnings Per |
||||||||||
2005,
by Quarter -
|
|||||||||||||
First
|
$
|
21,380
|
$
|
6,245
|
$
|
5,941
|
$
|
0.60
|
|||||
Second
|
20,922
|
5,868
|
5,798
|
0.58
|
|||||||||
Third.
|
21,058
|
6,437
|
4,657
|
0.46
|
|||||||||
Fourth
|
21,118
|
8,534
|
4,922
|
0.50
|
|||||||||
Total
|
$
|
84,478
|
$
|
27,084
|
$
|
21,318
|
$
|
2.14
|
|||||
|
|||||||||||||
2004,
by Quarter -
|
|||||||||||||
First
|
$
|
21,057
|
$
|
5,572
|
$
|
4,998
|
$
|
0.50
|
|||||
Second
|
20,670
|
5,827
|
5,525
|
0.55
|
|||||||||
Third
|
21,498
|
6,040
|
4,904
|
0.49
|
|||||||||
Fourth
|
22,045
|
7,300
|
4,923
|
0.50
|
|||||||||
Total
|
$ |
85,270
|
$
|
24,739
|
$
|
20,350
|
$
|
2.04
|
|||||
2003,
by Quarter -
|
|||||||||||||
First.
|
$
|
20,505
|
$
|
4,975
|
$
|
3,000
|
$
|
0.30
|
|||||
Second
|
20,386
|
6,379
|
4,524
|
0.45
|
|||||||||
Third
|
21,153
|
5,898
|
5,671
|
0.57
|
|||||||||
Fourth.
|
20,025
|
6,843
|
6,792
|
0.68
|
|||||||||
Total
|
$
|
82,069
|
$
|
24,095
|
$
|
19,987
|
$
|
2.00
|
20
Item 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.
There
have been no disagreements with the independent accountants on accounting
and financial disclosure matters.
Item
9A.
CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
(a)
|
Evaluation
of Disclosure Controls and
Procedures.
|
The
Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an
evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company's "disclosure controls and
procedures" (as defined in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rules 13a-15(e)
or 15d-15(e)) as of April 30, 2005, as required by paragraph (b) of Exchange
Act
Rules 13a-15 or 15d-15. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Financial Officer are engaged in a comprehensive effort to review, evaluate
and
improve the Company's controls; however, management does not expect that the
Company's disclosure controls or its internal controls over financial reporting
will prevent all possible errors and fraud. A control system, no matter how
well
designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance
that
the control system’s objectives would be met.
Based
upon the controls evaluation performed, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Financial Officer have concluded that as of April 30, 2005, the Company's
disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable
assurance that material information relating to the Company and its consolidated
subsidiaries is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time
periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and
forms.
(b)
|
Changes
in Internal Controls.
|
In
the
course of the evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures, the Chief
Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer considered certain internal
control areas in which the Company has made and is continuing to make changes
to
improve and enhance controls. Based upon that evaluation, the Chief Executive
Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Company concluded that there were
no
changes in the Company's internal controls over financial reporting identified
in connection with the evaluation required by paragraph (d) of Exchange Act
Rules 13a-15 or 15d-15 that occurred during the fourth quarter that have
materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the
Company's internal controls over financial reporting.
Item
9B.
OTHER INFORMATION.
There
were no matters required to be disclosed by the Company in a report on Form
8-K
during the Company's fourth fiscal quarter of the year ended April 30,
2005.
21
Part
III
Item
10.
DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT.
(a)
Names
of Directors, Age as of
|
Director
|
|
June
9, 2005 and Principal Occupation
|
Since
|
|
Jean
Bernhard Buttner* (70). Chairman of the Board, President, and
Chief
Executive Officer of the Company and Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc.
Chairman
of the Board and President of each of the Value Line
Funds.
|
1982
|
|
Harold
Bernard, Jr. (74). Attorney-at-law. Retired Administrative Law Judge,
National
Labor Relations Board. Director of Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc.
Judge
Bernard is a cousin of Jean Bernhard Buttner.
|
1982
|
|
Samuel
Eisenstadt (82). Senior Vice President and Research Chairman of the
Company.
|
1982
|
|
Herbert
Pardes, MD (71). President and CEO of New York-
Presbyterian Hospital.
|
2000
|
|
Edward
J. Shanahan (61). President and Headmaster, Choate Rosemary Hall
(boarding
school); Director, Foundation for Greater Opportunity (not-for-profit
charter
school).
|
2004
|
|
Howard
A. Brecher* (51). Vice President and Secretary of the Company; Director,
Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and General Counsel of Arnold
Bernhard & Co., Inc.; Assistant Treasurer and Secretary of each of the
Value
Line Funds since 2005.
|
1992
|
|
David
T. Henigson* (47). Vice President and Director of Compliance of
theCompany; Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer of each of the
Value
Line Funds;
Vice President and Director of Arnold Bernhard & Co.,
Inc.
|
1992
|
|
Edgar
A. Buttner (42). Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
since 2003;
Research Associate, McLean Hospital, 2002-2003; Postdoctoral Fellow,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997-2001; Director of Arnold
Bernhard & Co., Inc. Dr. Buttner is the son of Jean Bernhard
Buttner.
|
2003
|
|
Marianne
Asher (39). Private investor, graduate somatic counselor; Director
of
Arnold
Bernhard & Co., Inc. Mrs. Asher is a daughter of Jean Bernhard
Buttner.
|
2004
|
|
*
Member
of the Executive Committee
Except
as
noted, the directors have held their respective positions for at least five
years.
(b)
|
The
information pertaining to Executive Officers is set forth in Part
I under
the caption
|
"Executive
Officers of the Registrant."
22
Audit
Committee
The
Company has a standing Audit Committee performing the functions described in
Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the members of
which
are: Harold Bernard, Jr., Dr. Herbert Pardes and Edward J.
Shanahan.
Audit
Committee Financial Expert
The
Board
of Directors has determined that no member of the Audit Committee is an “audit
committee financial expert” (as defined in the rules and regulations of the
Securities and Exchange Commission). The Board of Directors believes that the
experience and financial sophistication of the members of the Audit Committee
are sufficient to permit the members of the Audit Committee to fulfill the
duties and responsibilities of the Audit Committee. All members of the Audit
Committee meet the Nasdaq Stock Market’s audit committee financial
sophistication requirements.
Code
of
Ethics
The
Company has adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Code of Ethics that applies
to its principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal
accounting officer.
Procedures
for Shareholders to Nominate Directors
There
have been no material changes to the procedures by which shareholders of the
Company may recommend nominees to the Company's Board of Director implemented
after the disclosure of those procedures contained in the proxy statement for
the Company's 2004 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Section 16(a)
Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a)
of the Securities Exchange Act requires the Company's executive officers and
directors, and persons who own more than ten percent of a registered class
of
our equity securities, to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership
on
Forms 3, 4 and 5 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Executive
officers, directors and greater than ten percent shareowners are required by
Securities and Exchange Commission regulations to furnish the Company with
copies of all Forms 3, 4 and 5 they file.
Based
on
the Company's review of the copies of such forms that it has received and
written representations from certain reporting persons confirming that they
were
not required to file Forms 5 for specified fiscal years, the Company believes
that all its executive officers, directors and greater than ten percent
beneficial owners complied with applicable SEC filing requirements during fiscal
2005.
23
Item
11.
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.
Information
required by this item will be filed as an amendment to this Form
10-K.
Item
12.
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT.
The
following table sets forth information as of June 9, 2005 as to shares of the
Company's Common Stock held by persons known to the Company to be the beneficial
owners of more than 5% of the Company's Common Stock.
Name
and Address of
Beneficial Owner |
Numberof
Shares BeneficiallyOwned |
Percentage
of Shares Beneficially
Owned
(1) |
|||||
Arnold
Bernhard
|
8,631,032
|
86.47
|
%
|
||||
&
Co., Inc.(1)
|
|||||||
220
East 42nd Street
|
|||||||
New
York, NY 10017
|
|||||||
(1)
|
Jean
Bernhard Buttner, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive
Officer of the Company, owns all of the outstanding voting stock
of Arnold
Bernhard & Co., Inc.
|
The
following table sets forth information as of June 9, 2005, with respect to
shares of the Company's Common Stock owned by each director of the Company,
by
each executive officer listed in the Summary Compensation Table and by all
officers and directors as a group.
|
|
|
|||||
Name
and Address of
Beneficial Owner |
Number
of Shares BeneficiallyOwned |
Percentage
of
Shares Beneficially
Owned
(1) |
|||||
Jean
Bernhard Buttner
|
100(1
|
)
|
*
|
||||
Harold
Bernard, Jr.
|
450
|
*
|
|||||
Howard
A. Brecher
|
200
|
*
|
|||||
Samuel
Eisenstadt
|
100
|
*
|
|||||
David
T. Henigson
|
150
|
*
|
|||||
Dr.
Herbert Pardes
|
100
|
*
|
|||||
Edward
J. Shanahan
|
-0-
|
*
|
|||||
Stephen
R. Anastasio
|
100
|
*
|
|||||
Edgar
A. Buttner
|
100
|
*
|
|||||
Marianne
Asher
|
-0-
|
*
|
|||||
All
directors and executive
officers
as a group (10 persons)
|
1,300(1
|
)
|
*
|
||||
*Less
than one percent
(1)
|
Excludes
8,631,032 shares (86.47% of the outstanding shares) owned by Arnold
Bernhard & Co., Inc. Jean Bernhard Buttner owns all of the outstanding
voting stock of Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc. Substantially all of the
non-voting stock of Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc. is held by members of
the Buttner family.
|
24
Securities
Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
As
of the
date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, there were no securities of the Company
authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans.
Item
13.
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS.
Arnold
Bernhard & Co., Inc. utilizes the services of officers and employees of the
Company to the extent necessary to conduct its business. The Company and Arnold
Bernhard & Co., Inc. allocate costs for office space, equipment and supplies
and support staff pursuant to a servicing and reimbursement arrangement. During
the years ended April 30, 2005, 2004, and 2003, the Company was reimbursed
$689,000, $489,000 and $527,000, respectively, for payments it made on behalf
of
and services it provided to AB&Co.. At April 30, 2005 and 2004, Receivable
from affiliates included a Receivable from AB&Co. of $107,000 and $70,000,
respectively. For the years ended April 30, 2005, 2004, and 2003, the Company
made payments to AB&Co. for federal income tax amounting to $12,115,000,
$10,650,000 and $9,500,000, respectively. At April 30, 2005 accrued taxes
payable included a federal tax liability owed to the Company from AB&Co. in
the amount of $145,000. At April 30, 2004 accrued taxes payable included a
federal tax liability owed to Parent in the amount of $390,000. In addition,
a
tax-sharing arrangement allocates the tax liabilities of the two companies
between them. The Company pays to Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc. an amount
equal to the Company's liability as if it filed separate tax
returns.
The
Company acts as investment adviser and manager for fourteen open-ended
investment companies, the Value Line Family of Funds. The Company earns
investment management fees based upon the average daily net asset values of
the
respective funds. Effective July 1, 2000, the Company received service and
distribution fees under rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 from
twelve of the fourteen mutual funds for which Value Line is the adviser.
Effective September 18, 2002, the Company began receiving service and
distribution fees under rule 12b-1 from the remaining two funds, for which
Value
Line, Inc. is the adviser. The Company also earned brokerage commission income
on securities transactions executed by Value Line Securities, Inc. on behalf
of
the funds that were cleared on a fully disclosed basis through non-affiliated
brokers, who received a portion of the gross commission. Pending a review
of effecting trades for the Value Line Funds, VLS in November 2004
suspended effectuation of trades through VLS for any of the Value Line
Funds. For the years ended April 30, 2005, 2004, and 2003, investment
management fees, service and distribution fees and brokerage commission income
amounted to $30,206,000, $30,851,000, and $28,022,000, respectively. These
amounts include service and distribution fees of $9,609,000, $9,638,000, and
$7,968,000, respectively. The related receivables from the funds for management
advisory fees and service and distribution fees included in Receivable from
affiliates were $2,406,000 and $2,448,000 at April 30, 2005 and 2004,
respectively.
25
Item
14.
PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.
Audit
and
Non-Audit Fees
For
the
fiscal year ended April 30, 2005 and 2004, fees for services provided by
Horowitz & Ullmann, P.C. were as follows:
|
2005
|
2004
|
|||||
Audit
fees
|
$
|
129,450
|
$
|
125,625
|
|||
Audit-related
fees
|
$
|
51,790
|
$
|
31,360
|
|||
Tax
fees
|
$
|
89,430
|
$
|
93,840
|
|||
All
other fees
|
$
|
0
|
$
|
0
|
Audit
Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures
The
Audit
Committee of the Company's Board of Directors approves all services provided
by
the Horowitz & Ullmann, P.C. prior to the provision of those services and
has not adopted any pre-approval policies and procedures.
Part
IV
Item
15.
EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
(a)
1.
Financial Statements
See Item 8.
2.
Schedules
Schedule
XIII - Other Investments. (Reg. S-X, Article 5)
All
other
Schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the required
information
is shown in the financial statements or notes thereto.
(b)
Exhibits
3.1
|
Articles
of Incorporation of the Company, as amended through April 17,
1983, are
incorporated by reference to the Registration Statement - Form
S-1 of
Value Line, Inc. Part II, Item 16.(a) 3.1 filed with the Securities
and
Exchange Commission on April 7, 1983.
|
3.2
|
Certificate
of Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation dated October 24,
1989 is
incorporated by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10K for
the year
ended April 30, 1990.
|
10.8
|
Form
of tax allocation arrangement between the Company and AB&Co.
incorporated by reference to the Registration Statement - Form
S-1 of
Value Line, Inc. Part II, Item 16.(a) 10.8 filed with the Securities
and
Exchange Commission on April 7,
1983.
|
10.9
|
Form
of Servicing and Reimbursement Agreement between the Company
and
AB&Co., dated as of November 1, 1982 incorporated by reference
to the
Registration Statement - Form S-1 of Value Line, Inc. Part
II, Item 16.(a)
10.9 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April
7,
1983.
|
26
10.10
|
Value
Line, Inc. Profit Sharing and Savings Plan as amended and restated
effective May 1, 1989, including amendments through April 30,
1995,
incorporated by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year
ended April 30, 1996.
|
10.13
|
Lease
for the Company's premises at 220 East 42nd Street, New York,
N.Y.
incorporated by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year
ended April 30, 1994.
|
14
|
Code
of Business Conduct and Code of Ethics incorporated by reference
to
Exhibit 14 to the Form 8-K filed on December 1, 2004.
|
21
|
Subsidiaries
of the Registrant.
|
31
|
Rules
13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) Certifications.
|
32
|
Section
1350
Certifications.
|
27
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended April 30, 2005, to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned,
thereunto duly authorized.
VALUE
LINE, INC.
(Registrant)
|
||
|
|
|
By: | /s/ Jean Bernhard Buttner | |
Jean Bernhard Buttner |
||
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer |
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has
been
signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.
|
||
By: | /s/ Jean Bernhard Buttner | |
Jean Bernhard Buttner |
||
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer |
|
||
By: | /s/ Stephen R. Anastasio | |
Stephen R. Anastasio |
||
Chief Financial Officer |
Dated: July 29, 2005 |
28
Pursuant
to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended April 30, 2005, to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned as
Directors of the Registrant.
/s/Jean
Bernhard Buttner
|
/s/
Howard A. Brecher
|
Jean
Bernhard Buttner
|
Howard
A. Brecher
|
/s/Harold
Bernard, Jr.
|
/s/Samuel
Eisenstadt
|
Harold
Bernard, Jr.
|
Samuel
Eisenstadt
|
/s/Edward
J. Shanahan
|
/s/David
T. Henigson
|
Edward
J. Shanahan
|
David
T. Henigson
|
/s/Dr.
Herbert Pardes
|
/s/Edgar
A. Buttner
|
Dr.
Herbert Pardes
|
Edgar
A. Buttner
|
/s/Marianne
Asher
|
|
Marianne
Asher
|
|
Dated:
July 29, 2005
|
29
[LETTERHEAD
OF
HOROWITZ
& ULLMANN, P.C.]
Certified
Public Accountants
Report
of Independent Accountants
To
the
Board of Directors
and
Shareholders of
Value
Line, Inc.
We
have
audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Value Line, Inc. and
Subsidiaries as of April 30, 2005 and 2004 and the related consolidated
statements of income and retained earnings, changes in stockholders’ equity, and
cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended April 30, 2005.
These
financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management; our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based
on
our audits.
We
conducted our audits of these statements in accordance with the standards of
the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit
includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles
used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a
reasonable basis for the opinion expressed below.
In
our
opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all
material respects, the financial position of Value Line, Inc. and Subsidiaries
at April 30, 2005 and 2004, and the results of their operations, changes in
stockholders’ equity, and their cash flows for each of the three years in the
period ended April 30, 2005, in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America.
Our
audits of the consolidated financial statements referred to above also included
an audit of the Financial Statement Schedules listed in Item 15 (a) of Form
10-K. In our opinion, these Financial Statement Schedules present fairly, in
all
material respects, the information set forth therein when read in conjunction
with the related consolidated statements.
/s/
Horowitz & Ullmann, P.C
New York, NY
New York, NY
July
14,
2005
30
Value
Line, Inc.
Consolidated
Balance Sheets
(in
thousands, except share amounts)
Apr.
30, 2005
|
Apr.
30, 2004
|
||||||
|
(restated
* )
|
||||||
Current
Assets:
|
|
|
|||||
Cash
and cash equivalents (including short term investments
of $5,654 and
$177,682, respectively)
|
$
|
5,971
|
$
|
178,108
|
|||
Trading
securities
|
—
|
19,981
|
|||||
Securities
available for sale
|
76,274
|
46,357
|
|||||
Receivable
from clearing brokers
|
—
|
5,356
|
|||||
Accounts
receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts
of $52, and $40,
respectively
|
3,096
|
1,842
|
|||||
Receivable
from affiliates
|
2,557
|
2,920
|
|||||
Prepaid
expenses and other current assets
|
1,468
|
1,911
|
|||||
Deferred
income taxes
|
32
|
104
|
|||||
Total
current assets
|
89,398
|
256,579
|
|||||
Long
term assets:
|
|||||||
Property
and equipment, net
|
5,984
|
6,545
|
|||||
Capitalized
software and other intangible assets, net
|
3,483
|
3,800
|
|||||
Total
long term assets
|
9,467
|
10,345
|
|||||
Total
assets
|
$
|
98,865
|
$
|
266,924
|
|||
|
|
||||||
Liabilities
and Shareholders' Equity
|
|||||||
Current
Liabilities:
|
|||||||
Accounts
payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities
|
$
|
4,331
|
$
|
3,619
|
|||
Accrued
salaries
|
1,247
|
1,576
|
|||||
Dividends
payable
|
2,495
|
177,172
|
|||||
Accrued
taxes payable
|
—
|
422
|
|||||
Unearned
revenue
|
29,748
|
29,407
|
|||||
Deferred
income taxes
|
6,176
|
7,684
|
|||||
Total
current liabilities
|
43,997
|
219,880
|
|||||
Long
term liabilities:
|
|||||||
Unearned
revenue
|
10,344
|
11,464
|
|||||
Deferred
charges
|
381
|
282
|
|||||
Total
long term liabilities
|
10,725
|
11,746
|
|||||
Shareholders'
Equity:
|
|||||||
Common
stock, $.10 par value; authorized 30,000,000 shares;
issued 10,000,000
shares
|
1,000
|
1,000
|
|||||
Additional
paid-in capital
|
991
|
991
|
|||||
Retained
earnings
|
30,798
|
19,459
|
|||||
Treasury
stock, at cost (18,400 shares on 4/30/05 & 4/30/04)
|
(354
|
)
|
(354
|
)
|
|||
Accumulated
other comprehensive income, net of tax
|
11,708
|
14,202
|
|||||
Total
shareholders' equity
|
44,143
|
35,298
|
|||||
Total
liabilities and shareholders' equity
|
$
|
98,865
|
$
|
266,924
|
*
See
independent auditor's report and accompanying notes to the consolidated
financial statements.
31
Value
Line, Inc.
Consolidated
Statements of Income and Retained Earnings
(in
thousands, except per share amounts)
Years
ended April 30,
|
||||||||||
2005
|
2004
|
2003
|
||||||||
Revenues:
|
||||||||||
Investment
periodicals and related publications
|
$
|
52,713
|
$
|
52,497
|
$
|
52,469
|
||||
Investment
management fees & services
|
31,765
|
32,773
|
29,600
|
|||||||
Total
revenues
|
84,478
|
85,270
|
82,069
|
|||||||
Expenses:
|
||||||||||
Advertising
and promotion
|
20,455
|
21,821
|
20,418
|
|||||||
Salaries
and employee benefits
|
19,445
|
20,764
|
19,938
|
|||||||
Production
and distribution
|
8,589
|
9,300
|
9,400
|
|||||||
Office
and administration
|
8,905
|
8,646
|
8,218
|
|||||||
Total
expenses
|
57,394
|
60,531
|
57,974
|
|||||||
Income
from operations
|
27,084
|
24,739
|
24,095
|
|||||||
Income
from securities transactions, net
|
8,278
|
8,266
|
6,626
|
|||||||
Income
before income taxes
|
35,362
|
33,005
|
30,721
|
|||||||
Provision
for income taxes
|
14,044
|
12,655
|
10,734
|
|||||||
Net
income
|
$
|
21,318
|
$
|
20,350
|
$
|
19,987
|
||||
Retained
earnings, at beginning of year
|
19,459
|
183,768
|
173,760
|
|||||||
Dividends
declared
|
(9,979
|
)
|
(184,659
|
)
|
(9,979
|
)
|
||||
Retained
earnings, at end of year
|
$
|
30,798
|
$
|
19,459
|
$
|
183,768
|
||||
Earnings
per share, basic and fully diluted
|
$
|
2.14
|
$
|
2.04
|
$
|
2.00
|
||||
Weighted
average number of common shares
|
9,981,600
|
9,981,600
|
9,981,600
|
See
independent auditor's report and accompanying notes to the consolidated
financial statements.
32
Value
Line, Inc.
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows
(in
thousands)
Years
ended April 30,
|
||||||||||
2005
|
2004
|
2003
|
||||||||
Cash
flows from operating activities:
|
|
|
|
|||||||
Net
income
|
$
|
21,318
|
$
|
20,350
|
$
|
19,987
|
||||
Adjustments
to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating
activities:
|
||||||||||
Depreciation
and amortization
|
2,506
|
2,726
|
3,274
|
|||||||
Gains
on sales of trading securities and
|
||||||||||
securities
available for sale
|
(8,802
|
)
|
(3,075
|
)
|
(2,242
|
)
|
||||
Unrealized
(gains)/losses on trading securities
|
1,128
|
(942
|
)
|
(75
|
)
|
|||||
Deferred
income taxes
|
(371
|
)
|
193
|
(1,690
|
)
|
|||||
Changes
in assets and liabilities:
|
||||||||||
Proceeds
from sales of trading securities
|
43,385
|
41,549
|
4,227
|
|||||||
Purchases
of trading securities
|
(22,024
|
)
|
(55,406
|
)
|
(4,591
|
)
|
||||
(Decrease)/increase
in unearned revenue
|
(779
|
)
|
2,292
|
(2,060
|
)
|
|||||
Increase/(decrease)
in deferred charges
|
15
|
(344
|
)
|
73
|
||||||
(Decrease)/increase
in accounts payable and accrued expenses
|
796
|
1,043
|
(552
|
)
|
||||||
(Decrease)/increase
in accrued salaries
|
(329
|
)
|
186
|
(469
|
)
|
|||||
(Decrease)/increase
in accrued taxes payable
|
(294
|
)
|
(191
|
)
|
486
|
|||||
Decrease/(increase)
in prepaid expenses and other current assets
|
595
|
(667
|
)
|
(40
|
)
|
|||||
(Increase)/decrease
in accounts receivable
|
(917
|
)
|
667
|
(33
|
)
|
|||||
Decrease/(increase)
in receivable from affiliates
|
363
|
(610
|
)
|
157
|
||||||
Total
adjustments
|
15,272
|
(12,579
|
)
|
(3,535
|
)
|
|||||
Net
cash provided by operations
|
36,590
|
7,771
|
16,452
|
|||||||
Cash
flows from investing activities:
|
||||||||||
Proceeds
from sales of equity securities
|
12,671
|
5,788
|
39,598
|
|||||||
Purchases
of equity securities
|
(1,039
|
)
|
(1,425
|
)
|
(6,894
|
)
|
||||
Proceeds
from sales of fixed income securities
|
9,019
|
229,127
|
57,471
|
|||||||
Purchases
of fixed income securities
|
(43,092
|
)
|
(61,210
|
)
|
(202,040
|
)
|
||||
Acquisition
of property and equipment
|
(194
|
)
|
(271
|
)
|
(229
|
)
|
||||
Expenditures
for capitalized software
|
(1,436
|
)
|
(1,907
|
)
|
(1,608
|
)
|
||||
Net
cash (used in)/provided by investing activities
|
(24,071
|
)
|
170,102
|
(113,702
|
)
|
|||||
Cash
flows from financing activities:
|
||||||||||
Proceeds
from sales of treasury stock
|
—
|
—
|
45
|
|||||||
Dividends
paid
|
(184,656
|
)
|
(9,982
|
)
|
(9,979
|
)
|
||||
Net
cash used in financing activities
|
(184,656
|
)
|
(9,982
|
)
|
(9,934
|
)
|
||||
Net
(decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
|
(172,137
|
)
|
167,891
|
(107,184
|
)
|
|||||
Cash
and cash equivalents at beginning of year
|
178,108
|
10,217
|
117,401
|
|||||||
Cash
and cash equivalents at end of period
|
$
|
5,971
|
$
|
178,108
|
$
|
10,217
|
See
independent auditor's report and accompanying notes to the consolidated
financial statements.
33
VALUE
LINE, INC.
STATEMENT
OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
FOR
THE THREE YEARS ENDED APRIL 30, 2005, 2004 AND
2003
Number of
common |
Par
value of common |
Additional paid-in |
Treasury Stock |
Comprehensive income |
Retained earnings |
Accumulated other |
Total
|
||||||||||||||||||
Balance
at April 30, 2002
|
9,980,125
|
$
|
1,000
|
$
|
975
|
($383
|
)
|
$
|
173,760
|
$
|
20,653
|
$
|
196,005
|
||||||||||||
Comprehensive
income
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
income
|
$
|
19,987
|
19,987
|
19,987
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Other
comprehensive income, net of tax:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Change
in unrealized gains on securities
|
(10,680
|
)
|
(10,680
|
)
|
(10,680
|
)
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive
income
|
$
|
9,307
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise
of stock options
|
1,475
|
16
|
29
|
45
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Dividends
declared
|
(9,979
|
)
|
(9,979
|
)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Balance
at April 30, 2003
|
9,981,600
|
$
|
1,000
|
$
|
991
|
($354
|
)
|
$
|
183,768
|
$
|
9,973
|
$
|
195,378
|
||||||||||||
Comprehensive
income
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
income
|
$
|
20,350
|
20,350
|
20,350
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Other
comprehensive income, net of tax:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Change
in unrealized gains on securities
|
4,229
|
4,229
|
4,229
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive
income
|
$
|
24,579
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Dividends
declared
|
(184,659
|
)
|
(184,659
|
)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Balance
at April 30, 2004
|
9,981,600
|
$
|
1,000
|
$
|
991
|
($354
|
)
|
$
|
19,459
|
$
|
14,202
|
$
|
35,298
|
||||||||||||
Comprehensive
income
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
income
|
$
|
21,318
|
21,318
|
21,318
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Other
comprehensive income, net of tax:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Change
in unrealized gains on securities
|
(2,494
|
)
|
(2,494
|
)
|
(2,494
|
)
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive
income
|
$
|
18,824
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Dividends
declared
|
(9,979
|
)
|
(9,979
|
)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Balance
at April 30, 2005
|
9,981,600
|
$
|
1,000
|
$
|
991
|
($354
|
)
|
$
|
30,798
|
$
|
11,708
|
$
|
44,143
|
See
independent auditor's report and accompanying notes to the
consolidated
financial statements.
34
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note
1-Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies:
Value
Line, Inc. (the "Company") is incorporated in New York State and carries on
the
investment periodicals and related publications and investment management
activities formerly performed by Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc. (the "Parent")
which owns approximately 86% of the issued and outstanding common stock of
the
Company.
Principles
of consolidation: The consolidated financial statements include the accounts
of
the Company and all of its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts
and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Revenue
recognition: Subscription revenues are recognized ratably over the terms of
the
subscriptions. Accordingly, the amount of subscription fees to be earned by
servicing subscriptions after the date of the balance sheet is shown as unearned
revenue (see note 17).
Investment
management fees (except 12b-1 fees) and brokerage commission income are recorded
as the related services are performed (see note 3).
Valuation
of Securities:
The
Company's securities classified as available for sale consist of shares of
the
Value Line Mutual Funds and government debt securities accounted for in
accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.115, "Accounting
for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities".The securities are valued
at market with unrealized gains and losses on these securities reported, net
of
applicable taxes, as a separate component of Shareholders' Equity. Realized
gains and losses on sales of the securities available for sale are recorded
in
earnings on trade date and are determined on the identified cost method.
The
Company classifies its securities available for sale as current assets. It
does
so to properly reflect its liquidity and to recognize the fact that it has
assets available for sale to fully satisfy its current liabilities should the
need arise (see note 17).
Trading
securities held by the Company are valued at market with unrealized gains and
losses included in earnings.
Market
valuation of securities listed on a securities exchange and over-the-counter
securities traded on the NASDAQ national market is based on the closing sales
prices on the last business day of each month. In the absence of closing sales
prices for such securities, and for other securities traded in the
over-the-counter market, the security is valued at the midpoint between the
latest available and representative asked and bid prices.
Valuation
of open-ended mutual fund shares are based upon the daily net asset values
of
the shares as calculated by such funds.
The
market value of the Company's fixed maturity government debt obligations are
valued utilizing quoted prices at the end of each day provided by an outside
pricing service.
Advertising
expenses: The Company expenses advertising costs as incurred.
Reclassification:
Certain items in the prior year financial statements have been reclassified
to
conform to the current year presentation.
35
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Income
Taxes:
The
Company computes its income tax provision in accordance with the provisions
of
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109, "Accounting
for
Income Taxes". Deferred tax liabilities and assets are recognized
for the
expected future tax consequences of events that have been reflected
in the
Consolidated Financial Statements. Deferred tax liabilities and assets
are determined based on the differences between the book values and
the tax
bases of particular assets and liabilities, using tax rates currently
in
effect for the years in which the differences are expected to
reverse.
Earnings
per share: Earnings per share are based on the weighted average number of
shares
of common stock and common stock equivalents outstanding during each
year.
Cash
and
Cash Equivalents: For purposes of the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows,
the Company considers all cash held at banks and short term liquid
investments with an original maturity of less than three months to
be cash
and cash equivalents. As of April 30, 2005 and 2004, cash equivalents
included $5,546,000 and $122,319,000, respectively, invested in the Value
Line
money market funds.
Use
of
Estimates: The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates
and
assumptions that affect certain reported amounts and disclosures.
Accordingly, actual results could differ from those
estimates.
Note
2-Supplementary Cash Flow Information:
Cash
payments for income taxes were $14,666,000, $12,755,000, and $11,480,000
in
fiscal 2005, 2004, and 2003, respectively. Interest payments of $7,000,
$18,000, and $49,000 were made in fiscal 2005, 2004, and 2003,
respectively.
Note
3-Related Party Transactions:
The
Company acts as investment adviser and manager for fourteen open-ended
investment companies, the Value Line Family of Funds (see Note 4).
The
Company earns investment management fees based upon the average daily
net
asset values of the respective funds. Effective July 1, 2000, the
Company
received service and distribution fees under rule 12b-1 of the
Investment Company Act of 1940 from twelve of the fourteen mutual
funds for
which Value Line is the adviser. Effective September 18, 2002, the
Company
began receiving service and distribution fees under rule 12b-1 from
the
remaining two funds, for which Value Line, Inc. is the adviser. The
Company
also earned brokerage commission income on securities transactions executed
by Value Line Securities, Inc. on behalf of the funds that cleared
on a
fully disclosed basis through non-affiliated brokers, who received
a
portion of the gross commission. Pending a review of effecting trades for
the
Value Line Funds, VLS in November 2004 suspended effectuation of trades
through VLS for any of the Value Line Funds. For the years ended April
30,
2005, 2004, and 2003, investment management fees, service and distribution
fees and brokerage commission income amounted to $30,206,000,
$30,851,000, and $28,022,000, respectively. These amounts include
service
and distribution fees of $9,609,000, $9,638,000, and $7,968,000,
respectively. The related receivables from the funds for
management advisory fees and service and distribution fees included
in
Receivable from affiliates were $2,406,000, and $2,448,000 at April
30,
2005 and 2004, respectively.
36
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
For
the
years ended April 30, 2005, 2004, and 2003, the Company was reimbursed
$689,000, $489,000 and $527,000, respectively, for payments it made
on
behalf of and services it provided to the Parent. At April 30, 2005
and
2004, Receivable from affiliates included a Receivable from the Parent
of
$107,000 and $70,000, respectively. For the years ended April 30, 2005, 2004,
and 2003, the Company made payments to the Parent for federal income
tax
amounting to $12,115,000, $10,650,000 and $9,500,000, respectively.
At
April 30, 2005 accrued taxes payable included a federal tax liability
owed
to the Company from the Parent in the amount of $145,000. At April 30,
2004 accrued taxes payable included a federal tax liability owed to
Parent
in the amount of $390,000. These data are in accordance with the
tax
sharing arrangement described in Note 6.
Note
4-Investments:
Trading
Securities:
There
were no trading securities held at April 30, 2005. Securities held by the
Company at April 30, 2004 had an aggregate cost of $18,854,000 and
a market
value of $19,981,000.
Net
realized trading gains amounted to $2,502,000 during the year ended April
30,
2005. Net realized trading gains amounted to $2,084,000 during the
year
ended April 30, 2004. Net realized trading losses amounted to $969,000
during fiscal 2003.
The
net
changes in trading securities for the period ended April 30, 2005 was a loss
of
$1,128,000.
The
net
changes in unrealized gains for the periods ended April 30, 2004 and 2003
of
$942,000 and $75,000, respectively, were included in the Consolidated
Statement of Income.
Securities
Available for Sale:
Equity
Securities:
The
aggregate cost of the equity securities classified as available for sale,
which
are invested in the Value Line mutual funds, was $19,169,000 and the
market
value was $37,209,000 at April 30, 2005. The aggregate cost of the
securities at April 30, 2004 was $24,502,000 and the market value was
$46,353,000. The total gains for equity securities with net gains
included
in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income on the Consolidated Balance
Sheet are $18,157,000 and $21,850,000, net of deferred taxes of $6,355,000
and
$7,648,000, as of April 30, 2005 and 2004, respectively. Losses on
equity
securities included in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income for
the
fiscal years ended April 30, 2005 was $117,000.
There
were no losses on equity securities included in Accumulated Other Comprehensive
Income for fiscal year 2004. The decrease in gross unrealized gains
on
these securities of $3,810,000 and the increase of $8,066,000, net
of
deferred taxes of $1,344,000 and $2,823,000, were included in Shareholders'
Equity at April 30, 2005 and 2004, respectively.
Realized
capital gains from the sales of securities available for sale were $6,177,000,
$1,441,000 and $2,609,000 of which $5,738,000, $1,413,000 and $1,997,000
of
capital gains were reclassified out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive
Income into earnings during fiscal years ended April 30, 2005, 2004,
and 2003, respectively. The proceeds received from the sales of these
securities during the fiscal years ended April 30, 2005, 2004, and
2003
were $12,671,000, $9,751,000 and $39,598,000, respectively. Proceeds
and
capital gains for fiscal 2005 include $433,000 from the sale of shares of
common
stock, received from a vendor in a negotiated contract. An additional
$74,000 is being held in escrow until January 2006.
37
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Government
Debt Securities:
The
Company's investments in debt securities are available for sale and valued
at
market value. The aggregate cost and fair value at April 30, 2005
for U.S.
government debt securities classified as available for sale were as
follows:
(In
Thousands)
|
||||||||||
Historical
Cost
|
Fair
Value
|
Gross
Unrealized
Holding
Losses
|
||||||||
Maturity
|
|
|
||||||||
Due
in less than 2 years
|
$
|
34,506
|
$
|
34,481
|
($25
|
)
|
||||
Due
in 2-5 years
|
4,587
|
4,584
|
(3
|
)
|
||||||
Total
investment in debt securities
|
$
|
39,093
|
$
|
39,065
|
($28
|
)
|
The
aggregate cost and fair value at April 30, 2004 for U.S. government debt
securities classified as
available for sale were as follows:
(In
Thousands)
|
||||||||||
Historical
Cost
|
Fair
Value
|
Gross
Unrealized
Holding
Gains
|
||||||||
Maturity
|
|
|
|
|||||||
Due
in 1-2 years
|
$
|
1
|
$
|
1
|
$
|
0
|
||||
Total
investment in debt securities
|
$
|
1
|
$
|
1
|
$
|
0
|
The
unrealized loss of $28,000 in U.S. government debt securities was included
in
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income on the Consolidated Balance Sheets
as of
April 30, 2005. There are no gains or losses on U.S. government debt securities
included in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income on the Consolidated
Balance
Sheets as of April 30, 2004.
The
average yield on the U.S. Government debt securities classified as available
for
sale at April 30, 2005 and April 30, 2004 was 3.62% and 2.59%,
respectively.
Proceeds
from sales of government debt securities classified as available for sale
during
fiscal 2005 were$9,019,000. There were no related gains or losses.
Proceeds
from sales of government debt securities classified as available for sale
during
fiscal 2004 were$230,210,000 and the related loss on sales, which were
reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
in
the Balance Sheet, was $354,000. Proceeds from sales of government debt
securities available for sale during fiscal 2003 were $57,471,000 and the
related gain on sales, which were reclassified from Accumulated
Other Comprehensive Income on the Balance Sheet, was $602,000.
For
the
years ended April 30, 2005, 2004, and 2003, income from securities transactions
also included $239,000, $247,000,and $832,000 of dividend income; $363,000,
$4,012,000, and $3,529,000 of interest income; and $7,000, $18,000 and
$49,000
of related interest expense, respectively.
38
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note
5-Property and Equipment:
Property
and equipment are carried at cost. Depreciation and amortization are provided
using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets,
or
in the case of leasehold improvements, over the remaining terms of the
leases.
For income tax purposes, depreciation of furniture and equipment is computed
using accelerated methods and buildings and leasehold improvements are
depreciated over prescribed, extended tax lives.
Property
and equipment consist of the following:
April
30,
|
|||||||
2005
|
2004
|
||||||
(in
thousands)
|
|||||||
Land
|
$
|
726
|
$
|
726
|
|||
Building
and leasehold improvements
|
7,834
|
7,834
|
|||||
Furniture
and equipment
|
10,752
|
10,569
|
|||||
19,312
|
19,129
|
||||||
Accumulated
depreciation and amortization
|
(13,328
|
)
|
(12,584
|
)
|
|||
$
|
5,984
|
$
|
6,545
|
Note
6-Federal, State and Local Income Taxes:
The
Company computes its income tax provision in accordance with the provisions
of
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109, "Accounting for Income
Taxes".
The
provision for income taxes includes the following:
Years
ended April 30,
|
||||||||||
2005
|
2004
|
2003
|
||||||||
Current:
|
(in
thousands)
|
|||||||||
Federal
|
$
|
11,860
|
$
|
10,453
|
$
|
10,383
|
||||
State
and local
|
2,555
|
2,056
|
2,041
|
|||||||
14,415
|
12,509
|
12,424
|
||||||||
Deferred:
|
||||||||||
Federal
|
(361
|
)
|
134
|
(1,704
|
)
|
|||||
State
and local
|
(10
|
)
|
12
|
14
|
||||||
(371
|
)
|
146
|
(1,690
|
)
|
||||||
Provision
for income taxes
|
$
|
14,044
|
$
|
12,655
|
$
|
10,734
|
Deferred
taxes are provided for temporary differences between the financial reporting
basis and the tax basis of the Company's assets and liabilities. The tax
effect
of temporary differences giving rise to the Company's deferred tax
(liability)/asset are as follows:
39
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Years
ended April 30,
|
||||||||||
2005
|
2004
|
2003
|
||||||||
(in
thousands)
|
||||||||||
Unrealized
gains on securities held for sale
|
($6,304
|
)
|
($7,648
|
)
|
($5,370
|
)
|
||||
Unrealized
gains on trading securities
|
—
|
(395
|
)
|
(65
|
)
|
|||||
Depreciation
and amortization
|
(356
|
)
|
(101
|
)
|
(294
|
)
|
||||
Deferred
professional fees
|
342
|
348
|
340
|
|||||||
Deferred
charges
|
183
|
151
|
308
|
|||||||
Other,
net
|
(41
|
)
|
65
|
(127
|
)
|
|||||
($6,176
|
)
|
($7,580
|
)
|
($5,208
|
)
|
Included
in deferred income taxes in total current assets are deferred state and
local
income taxes of
$32,000 and $104,000 at April 30, 2005 and 2004, respectively.
The
provision for income taxes differs from the amount of income tax determined
by
applying the applicable
U.S. statutory income tax rate to pretax income as a result of the
following:
Years
ended April 30,
|
||||||||||
2005
|
2004
|
2003
|
||||||||
(in
thousands)
|
||||||||||
Tax
expense at the U.S. statutory rate
|
$
|
12,377
|
$
|
11,552
|
$
|
10,752
|
||||
Increase
(decrease) in tax expense from:
|
||||||||||
State
and local income taxes, net of
|
||||||||||
federal
income tax benefit
|
1,654
|
1,344
|
1,336
|
|||||||
Effect
of tax exempt income and dividend
|
||||||||||
deductions
|
(88
|
)
|
(278
|
)
|
(95
|
)
|
||||
Other,
net
|
101
|
37
|
(1,259
|
)
|
||||||
Provision
for income taxes
|
$
|
14,044
|
$
|
12,655
|
$
|
10,734
|
The
provision for income taxes has been reduced by approximately $1,257,000
for the
fiscal year ended April 30, 2003, primarily resulting from the favorable
disposition of a pending tax audit, which was concluded during the
year.
The
Company is included in the consolidated federal income tax return
of the Parent.
The Company has a tax sharing arrangement which requires it to make
tax payments
to the Parent equal to the Company's liability as if it filed a separate
return.
40
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note 7-Employees' Profit Sharing and Savings Plan:
Substantially
all employees of the Company and its subsidiaries are members of
the Value Line,
Inc. Profit Sharing and Savings Plan (the "Plan"). In general, this
is a
qualified, contributory plan which provides for a discretionary annual
Company
contribution which is determined by a formula based upon the salaries
of
eligible employees and the amount of consolidated net operating income
as
defined in the Plan. Plan expense, included in salaries and employee
benefits in
the Consolidated Statements of Income and Retained Earnings, for
the years ended
April 30, 2005, 2004, and 2003 was $1,082,000, $1,217,000, and $862,000,
respectively.
Note
8-Incentive Stock Options:
On
April
17, 1993, the Incentive Stock Option Plan expired. On the date of
expiration,
22,550 options available for grant were cancelled. Information on
the Incentive
Stock Option Plan for the three years ended April 30, 2005, is as
follows:
Number
of Shares |
Option Prices |
||||||
Outstanding
at April 30, 2002
|
1,475
|
$
|
29.75
|
||||
Granted
|
—
|
||||||
Exercised
|
(1,475
|
)
|
$
|
29.75
|
|||
Cancelled
|
—
|
||||||
Outstanding
at April 30, 2003
|
—
|
||||||
Granted
|
—
|
||||||
Exercised
|
—
|
||||||
Cancelled
|
—
|
||||||
Outstanding
at April 30, 2004
|
—
|
||||||
Granted
|
—
|
||||||
Exercised
|
—
|
||||||
Cancelled
|
—
|
||||||
Outstanding
at April 30, 2005
|
—
|
At
April
30, 2005, all of the options under the option plan were exercised.
Of the common
stock held in treasury at April 30, 2002, 1,475 shares were issued
during fiscal
2003 for the exercise of stock options.
41
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note
9-Treasury Stock:
Treasury
stock, at cost, for the three years ended April 30, 2005, consists
of the
following:
Shares
|
Amount
|
||||||
(in
thousands)
|
|||||||
Balance
April 30, 2002
|
19,875
|
$
|
383
|
||||
Exercise
of incentive stock options
|
(1,475
|
)
|
(29
|
)
|
|||
Balance
April 30, 2003
|
18,400
|
$
|
354
|
||||
Exercise
of incentive stock options
|
—
|
—
|
|||||
Balance
April 30, 2004
|
18,400
|
$
|
354
|
||||
Exercise
of incentive stock options
|
—
|
—
|
|||||
Balance
April 30, 2005
|
18,400
|
$
|
354
|
Note
10-Lease Commitments:
On
June
4, 1993, the Company entered into a 15 year lease agreement to
provide primary
office space. The lease includes free rental periods as well as
scheduled base
rent escalations over the term of the lease. The total amount of
the base rent
payments is being charged to expense on the straight-line method
over the term
of the lease. The Company has recorded a deferred charge on its
Consolidated
Balance Sheets to reflect the excess of annual rental expense over
cash payments
since inception of the lease. On September 14, 2000, the Company
amended its
lease for primary office space and returned to the landlord approximately
6,000
square feet of excess office capacity, reducing the Company's future
minimum
lease payments, accordingly.
Future
minimum payments, exclusive of forecasted increases in real estate
taxes and
wage escalations, under operating leases for office space, with
remaining terms
of one year or more, are as follows:
Year
ended April 30:
|
(in
thousands)
|
|||
2006
|
1,788
|
|||
2007
|
1,788
|
|||
2008
|
1,148
|
|||
Thereafter
|
21
|
|||
$
|
4,745
|
Rental
expense for the years ended April 30, 2005, 2004 and 2003 under operating
leases
covering office space was $1,799,000, $1,544,000, and $1,350,000,
respectively.
42
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note
11-Business Segments:
The
Company operates two reportable business segments: Publishing and Investment
Management Services. The publishing segment produces investment related
periodicals in both print and electronic form. The investment management
segment
provides advisory services to mutual funds, institutional and individual
clients
as well as brokerage services for the Value Line family of mutual funds.
The
segments are differentiated by the products and services they offer.
The
accounting policies of the segments are the same as those described in
the
summary of significant accounting policies. The Company allocates all revenues
and expenses, except for depreciation and income from securities transactions
related to corporate assets, between the two reportable segments.
Disclosure
of Reportable Segment Profit and Segment Assets (in thousands)
April
30, 2005
|
||||||||||
Publishing
|
Investment
|
Total
|
||||||||
Management
Services
|
||||||||||
Revenues
from external customers
|
$
|
52,713
|
$
|
31,765
|
$
|
84,478
|
||||
Intersegment
revenues
|
180
|
—
|
180
|
|||||||
Income
from securities transactions
|
14
|
7,914
|
7,928
|
|||||||
Depreciation
and amortization
|
2,384
|
106
|
2,490
|
|||||||
Segment
profit
|
16,420
|
10,680
|
27,100
|
|||||||
Segment
assets
|
14,871
|
44,409
|
59,280
|
|||||||
Expenditures
for segment assets
|
1,441
|
189
|
1,630
|
April
30, 2004
|
||||||||||
Publishing
|
Investment
|
Total
|
||||||||
|
Management
Services
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Revenues
from external customers
|
$
|
52,497
|
$
|
32,773
|
$
|
85,270
|
||||
Intersegment
revenues
|
193
|
—
|
193
|
|||||||
Income
from securities transactions
|
4
|
8,262
|
8,266
|
|||||||
Depreciation
and amortization
|
2,632
|
62
|
2,694
|
|||||||
Segment
profit
|
14,391
|
10,380
|
24,771
|
|||||||
Segment
assets
|
14,592
|
74,786
|
89,378
|
|||||||
Expenditures
for segment assets
|
2,128
|
45
|
2,173
|
43
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
April
30, 2003
|
|
|
||||||||
Publishing
|
Investment
|
Total
|
||||||||
Management
|
||||||||||
Services
|
||||||||||
Revenues
from external customers
|
$
|
52,469
|
$
|
29,600
|
$
|
82,069
|
||||
Intersegment
revenues
|
180
|
—
|
180
|
|||||||
Income
from securities transactions
|
38
|
6,588
|
6,626
|
|||||||
Depreciation
and amortization
|
3,080
|
156
|
3,236
|
|||||||
Segment
profit
|
13,660
|
10,473
|
24,133
|
|||||||
Segment
assets
|
18,648
|
227,786
|
246,434
|
|||||||
Expenditures
for segment assets
|
1,571
|
37
|
1,608
|
Reconciliation
of Reportable Segment Revenues,
Operating
Profit and Assets
(in
thousands)
2005
|
2004
|
2003
|
||||||||
Revenues
|
||||||||||
Total
revenues for reportable segments
|
$
|
84,658
|
$
|
85,463
|
$
|
82,249
|
||||
Elimination
of intersegment revenues
|
(180
|
)
|
(193
|
)
|
(180
|
)
|
||||
Total
consolidated revenues
|
$
|
84,478
|
$
|
85,270
|
$
|
82,069
|
||||
Segment
profit
|
||||||||||
Total
profit for reportable segments
|
$
|
35,028
|
$
|
33,037
|
$
|
30,759
|
||||
Add:
Income from securities transactions
|
||||||||||
related
to corporate assets
|
350
|
—
|
—
|
|||||||
Less:
Depreciation related to corporate assets
|
(16
|
)
|
(32
|
)
|
(38
|
)
|
||||
Income
before income taxes
|
$
|
35,362
|
$
|
33,005
|
$
|
30,721
|
||||
Assets
|
||||||||||
Total
assets for reportable segments
|
$
|
59,280
|
$
|
89,378
|
$
|
246,434
|
||||
Corporate
assets
|
39,585
|
177,546
|
380
|
|||||||
Consolidated
total assets
|
$
|
98,865
|
$
|
266,924
|
$
|
246,814
|
Note
12-Net Capital:
The
Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Value Line Securities,
Inc., is subject to
the net capital provisions of Rule 15c3-1 under the Securities
Exchange Act of
1934, which requires the maintenance of minimum net capital
of $100,000 or
one-fifteenth of aggregate indebtedness, if larger. Additionally,
dividends may
only be declared if aggregate indebtedness is less than twelve
times net
capital.
At
April
30, 2005, the net capital, as defined, of Value Line Securities,
Inc. of
$3,363,800 exceeded required net capital by $3,263,800 and
the ratio of
aggregate indebtedness to net capital was .24 to 1.
44
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note
13-Disclosure of Credit Risk of Financial Instruments with
Off Balance Sheet
Risk:
In
the
normal course of business, the Company enters into contractual
commitments,
principally financial futures contracts for securities indices.
Financial
futures contracts provide for the delayed delivery of financial
instruments for
which the seller agrees to make delivery at a specified future
date, at a
specified price or yield. The contract or notional amount
of these contracts
reflects the extent of involvement the Company has in these
contracts. At April
30, 2005 and 2004, the Company did not have any investment
in financial futures
contracts. The Company limits its credit risk associated
with such instruments
by entering into exchange traded future contracts.
Value
Line Securities, Inc. executed, as agent, securities transactions
on behalf of
the Value Line mutual funds. If either the mutual fund or
a counter party fail
to perform, Value Line Securities, Inc. may be required to
discharge the
obligations of the nonperforming party. In such circumstances,
Value Line
Securities, Inc. may sustain a loss if the market value of
the security is
different from the contract value of the transaction.
No
single
customer accounted for a significant portion of the Company's
sales in 2005,
2004 or 2003, nor accounts receivable for 2005 or 2004.
Note
14-Comprehensive Income:
During
the fiscal year 1999, the Company adopted Financial Accounting
Standards No.
130, "Reporting Comprehensive Income". Statement No. 130
requires the reporting
of comprehensive income in addition to net income from operations.
Comprehensive
income is a more inclusive financial reporting methodology
that includes
disclosure of certain financial information that historically
has not been
recognized in the calculation of net income.
At
April
30, 2005, 2004, and 2003, the Company held both equity securities
and U.S.
Government debt securities that are classified as Available
for Sale on the
Consolidated Balance Sheets. The change in valuation of these
securities, net of
deferred taxes, has been recorded in Accumulated Other Comprehensive
Income in
the Company's Balance Sheets.
The
components of comprehensive income that are included in the
Statement of Changes
in Shareholders' Equity are as follows:
(in
thousands)
|
||||||||||
Before
|
Tax
|
Net
of
|
||||||||
Tax
|
(Expense)
|
Tax
|
||||||||
Year
ended 4-30-05
|
Amount
|
or
Benefit
|
Amount
|
|||||||
Unrealized
Gains on Securities:
|
||||||||||
Unrealized
Holding Gains/(Losses)
|
||||||||||
Arising
during the period
|
$
|
1,902
|
($666
|
)
|
$
|
1,236
|
||||
Less:
Reclassification adjustments
|
||||||||||
for
gains realized in net income
|
(5,738
|
)
|
2,008
|
(3,730
|
)
|
|||||
Other
Comprehensive income
|
($3,836
|
)
|
$
|
1,342
|
($2,494
|
)
|
||||
Year
ended 4-30-04
|
||||||||||
Unrealized
Gains on Securities:
|
||||||||||
Unrealized
Holding Gains/(Losses)
|
||||||||||
Arising
during the period
|
$
|
7,566
|
($2,649
|
)
|
$
|
4,917
|
||||
Less:
Reclassification adjustments
|
||||||||||
for
gains realized in net income
|
(1,059
|
)
|
371
|
(688
|
)
|
|||||
Other
Comprehensive income
|
$
|
6,507
|
($2,278
|
)
|
$
|
4,229
|
||||
Year
ended 4-30-03
|
||||||||||
Unrealized
Gains on Securities:
|
||||||||||
Unrealized
Holding Gains/(Losses)
|
||||||||||
Arising
during the period
|
($13,831
|
)
|
$
|
4,840
|
($8,991
|
)
|
||||
Less:
Reclassification adjustments
|
||||||||||
for
gains realized in net income
|
($2,599
|
)
|
910
|
(1,689
|
)
|
|||||
Other
Comprehensive income
|
($16,430
|
)
|
$
|
5,750
|
($10,680
|
)
|
45
Value
Line, Inc.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note
15-Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software Developed for Internal
Use:
During
fiscal year 1999, the Company adopted the provisions of the Statement
of
Position 98-1, (SOP98-1), "Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software
Developed for Internal Use". SOP 98-1 is effective for tax years ending
after
December 31, 1998.
The
SOP
98-1 requires companies to capitalize as long-lived assets many of
the costs
associated with developing or obtaining software for internal use and
amortize
those costs over the software's estimated useful life in a systematic
and
rational manner.
At
April
30, 2005 and 2004, the Company capitalized $861,000 and $1,123,000
of costs
related to the development of software for internal use. Such costs
are
capitalized and amortized over the expected useful life of the asset
which is
approximately 3 years. Amortization expense for the years ended April
30,2005,
2004 and 2003 was $940,000, $889,000, and $1,062,000, respectively.
Note
16-Contingencies:
The
Company commenced an action in New York Supreme Court, seeking damages
in an
unspecified amount, against a small mutual fund company pertaining
to a
contemplated transaction. The Company was countersued for alleged damages
in
excess of $5,000,000. The action was settled without a material adverse
effect
on the Company. A related entity of the defendant in the New York action
brought
suit against the Company and certain Directors in Federal Court in
Texas based
on the same transaction. On the Company's motion, that action has been
transferred from Texas to New York. Although the ultimate outcome of
the
litigation is subject to the inherent uncertainties of any legal proceeding,
based upon Counsel's analysis of the factual and legal issues and the
Company's
meritorious defenses, it is management's belief that the expected outcome
of
this matter will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's
consolidated results of operations and financial condition.
By
letter dated June 15, 2005, the staff of the
Securities and Exchange Commission requested the Company as part of
a
preliminary inquiry to provide documents relating to, among other things,
trades
for the Company's proprietary accounts, and the effectuation and execution
of
trades through VLS for the Value Line Funds. The Company intends
to
cooperate with the preliminary inquiry.
46
Note
17-Restatement of Financial Position:
The
Company has in the past consistently classified its unearned revenue,
which
represents the amount of subscription fees to be earned by servicing
subscriptions after the date of the balance sheet (see Note 1),as a
non-current
deferred credit. This classification recognized that the fulfillment
of this
commitment will require the use of significantly fewer current assets
than the
amount of the unearned revenues. The Company has reclassified its unearned
revenue to conform with the provisions of Accounting Research Bulletin
No. 43,
and accordingly has restated its consolidated financial statements
for the years
ended April 30, 2004 and 2003 to reflect the portion of the unearned
revenue
that will be recognized during the twelve months following the date
of the
balance sheet as a current liability. This presentation is also used
for the
year ended April 30, 2005.This presentation is in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles.
In
connection with the aforementioned reclassification of the unearned
revenue, the
Company decided to reclassify securities available for sale from non-current
to
current assets. As previously discussed, the Company uses significantly
fewer
current assets than the amount of the unearned revenues to fulfill
its
commitments to serve its subscribers. However, in the unlikely event
that the
need arises to fully satisfy its current liabilities immediately, the
Company
could do so by selling a portion of its portfolio of securities available
for
sale. Therefore, in light of the reclassification of its unearned revenue,
the
Company believes that reclassifying its available for sale securities
as current
assets will more accurately reflect the liquidity position of the Company.
The
deferred income taxes liability, which primarily represents future
taxes on the
unrealized gains on the available for sale securities has also been
reclassified
as a current liability.
Accordingly,
the accompanying consolidated financial statements, as of April 30,
2004 and
2003 and for the years then ended have been restated from those originally
reported to reflect the reclassification of unearned revenue and available
for
sale securities. The change in the classification of unearned revenue
and
available for sale securities has no impact on the Company's reported
net income
or cash flows.
Summarized
financial information illustrating the effect of the restatement on
the
Company's consolidated financial statements is as follows:
April
30, 2004
|
|||||||
As
Originally
|
|||||||
Reported
|
As
Restated
|
||||||
Financial
Position
|
|||||||
Current
Assets
|
|||||||
Securities
available for sale
|
$
|
—
|
$
|
46,357
|
|||
Long-Term
Assets
|
|||||||
Long-term
securities available for sale
|
46,357
|
—
|
|||||
Current
Liabilities
|
|||||||
Unearned
revenue
|
—
|
29,407
|
|||||
Deferred
Income Taxes
|
7,684
|
||||||
Long-Term
Liabilities
|
|||||||
Unearned
revenue
|
40,871
|
11,464
|
|||||
Deferred
Income Taxes
|
7,684
|
47
Value
Line, Inc.
|
|||||||
Schedule
XIII-Other Investments:4/30/2005
|
|||||||
Securities
Available For Sale:
|
Historical
|
Market
|
|||||
Cost
|
Value
|
||||||
Investments
In Value Line Mutual Funds
|
|||||||
The
Value Line Fund
|
569,463
|
497,873
|
|||||
The
Value Line Income & Growth Fund
|
556,405
|
511,258
|
|||||
The
Value Line Emerging Opportunity Fund, Inc.
|
6,225,491
|
13,434,320
|
|||||
The
Value Line Asset Allocation Fund, Inc.
|
11,814,390
|
22,762,400
|
|||||
Total
Investments In Value Line Mutual Funds
|
$
|
19,165,749
|
$
|
37,205,851
|
|||
Other
Investments:
|
|||||||
300
Shares of National Association of Securities Dealers,
Inc.
|
$
|
3,300
|
$
|
3,300
|
|||
Fixed
Income Investments
|
|||||||
Chicago
Illinois School Finance Muni Bond 5.375% due 6/08
|
1,244,814
|
1,245,408
|
|||||
Missouri
State Cert. Participation Muni Bond 5% due 6/08
|
3,342,565
|
3,338,495
|
|||||
Treasury
Note 2.625% due 11/07
|
5,704,898
|
5,623,406
|
|||||
Federal
Home Loan Bank 3.375% due 2/07
|
14,824,875
|
14,881,350
|
|||||
Federal
Home Loan Bank 2.50% due 4/06
|
1,000
|
989
|
|||||
Weekly
Adjustable Northern California Transmission Muni Bonds due
5/24
|
5,475,000
|
5,475,000
|
|||||
Weekly
Adjustable Energy Northwest WA Muni Bond due 7/18
|
8,500,000
|
8,500,000
|
|||||
Total
Fixed Income Investments
|
$
|
39,093,152
|
$
|
39,064,648
|
|||
Total
Securities Available For Sale
|
$
|
58,262,201
|
$
|
76,273,799
|
48