UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
þ
|
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |
| For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005 |
or
o
|
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 33-97090 |
ACG HOLDINGS, INC.
| Delaware | 62-1395968 | |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| 100 Winners Circle, Brentwood, Tennessee | 37027 | |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) | |
| Registrants telephone number including area code | (615) 377-0377 |
AMERICAN COLOR GRAPHICS, INC.
| New York | 16-1003976 | |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| 100 Winners Circle, Brentwood, Tennessee | 37027 | |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) | |
| Registrants telephone number including area code | (615) 377-0377 |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ 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 registrants 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. þ
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes o No þ
Aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common stock of ACG Holdings, Inc. held by non-affiliates: Not applicable.
ACG Holdings, Inc. has 160,067 shares outstanding of its common stock, $.01 Par Value, as of May 31, 2005 (all of which are privately owned and not traded on a public market).
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
INDEX
1
PART I
Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this Report) contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements reflect our managements views and assumptions as of the date of this Report regarding future events and operating performance. Statements that are not of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are contained throughout this Report including Items 1, 3, 7 and 7A hereof. Some of the forward-looking statements in this Report can be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as believes, intends, expects, may, will, estimates, should, could, anticipates, plans, or other comparable terms. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which may be beyond the control of ACG Holdings, Inc. (Holdings), together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, American Color Graphics, Inc. (Graphics), that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
You should understand that the following important factors and assumptions could affect our future results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements:
| | a failure to achieve expected cost reductions or to execute other key strategies, | |||
| | fluctuations in the cost of paper, ink and other key raw materials used, | |||
| | changes in the advertising and print markets, | |||
| | actions by our competitors, particularly with respect to pricing, | |||
| | the financial condition of our customers, | |||
| | downgrades of our credit ratings, | |||
| | our financial condition and liquidity and our leverage and debt service obligations, | |||
| | the general condition of the United States economy, | |||
| | interest rate and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, | |||
| | the level of capital resources required for our operations, | |||
| | changes in the legal and regulatory environment, | |||
| | the demand for our products and services, and | |||
| | other risks and uncertainties, including the matters set forth in this Report generally and those described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. | |||
All forward-looking statements in this Report are qualified by these cautionary statements and are made only as of the date of this Report. We do not undertake any obligation, other than as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Consequently, such forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as our current plans, estimates and beliefs. We do not undertake and specifically decline any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect any future events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
We are one of the leading printers of advertising inserts and newspaper products in the United States developed from a business that commenced operations in 1926. We believe our success is a result of the strong and longstanding relationships that we have developed with our customers by providing high quality, on-time and consistent solutions and our network of facilities, which provides distribution efficiencies and short turnaround times. Customers for our print services include approximately 200 national and regional retailers and approximately 160 newspapers.
We are also one of the most technologically advanced providers of premedia services in the United States. Our premedia services segment provides our customers with a complete solution for the preparation and management of materials for printing, including the capture, manipulation, storage, transmission and distribution of images.
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Advertising Inserts. Our principal focus is on the printing of retail advertising inserts. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005 (Fiscal Year 2005) retail advertising inserts accounted for 83% of our total print segment sales, in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004 (Fiscal Year 2004), accounted for 86% and in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003 (Fiscal Year 2003), accounted for 87%.
Customers in the advertising insert segment of the print industry, particularly large national accounts, have increasingly demanded more sophisticated distribution capabilities, higher quality and greater flexibility from print service providers. This demand has resulted in the continued consolidation among printers within the industry. Heatset offset has become the dominant technology for printing advertising inserts due to its reliability, high print quality and flexibility. The industry is also experiencing the increasing interest of newspapers to outsource their commercial printing, inserting and product mailings. As a result of these factors, we believe that the key factors for success in the advertising insert segment of the printing industry are price, quality, reliability, and proximity to customers target markets, as well as strong customer service capabilities that foster lasting relationships.
Premedia Services. Premedia services consist of a number of necessary steps in the production and management of materials for printing, including the design creation and capture, manipulation, storage, transmission and distribution of images, the majority of which leads to the production of a four-color image in a format appropriate for use by printers.
Unlike the advertising insert segment of the printing industry, the premedia services segment remains highly fragmented, with a large number of service providers and many in-house departments at larger retailers. We believe that premedia services are increasingly becoming a part of the total mix of services that print customers demand, and most of our major competitors in the print services segment offer premedia services. We believe that the key factors for success in the premedia services segment are the ability to provide comprehensive services, including both print services and managed premedia services, as well as technology leadership, which enhances customer loyalty and helps establish new print customer relationships.
Competitive Strengths
We believe our continued success, strong customer relationships and leading market position are primarily the result of the following competitive strengths:
Leading Provider of Print Solutions to Our Customers. We believe our success in serving our customers results primarily from the strong relationships that we have developed with them by providing high quality print and premedia services solutions at competitive prices. We take a proactive approach in adapting our offerings to the specific needs of our customers. We also provide our print customers with comprehensive post-press services, such as mailing and freight management. In our premedia services segment, we believe that we are one of a small number of companies that can provide a full range of premedia services, and we use those capabilities to primarily support our print sales. We also manage 14 facilities for customers at their offices, which enable us to develop strong relationships with them. We believe that our commitment to technology leadership and our ability and willingness to customize and improve our solutions for our customers significantly enhance our ability to develop and maintain lasting relationships.
Strong, Diverse Customer Base. The core of our customer base consists of growing, national companies with whom we have strong, long-standing relationships. We also have a broad customer base consisting of geographically diverse companies in a wide variety of industries. We provide printing services to approximately 160 newspapers and approximately 200 national and regional retailers, including hardware and home improvement retailers such as The Home Depot, electronics and appliance retailers such as Best Buy, general merchandisers such as Wal-Mart, drug store chains, such as Walgreens, grocery chains such as Jewel Foods, and clothing retailers such as Federated Department Stores. None of these customers represent more than 10% of our sales. In addition, many of our print customers also use our premedia services. Overall, the customers of our premedia services segment are diverse and include large and medium-sized companies in the retail, publishing, catalog and packaging industries.
High Quality Assets and Investments in Technology. We believe that our 44 web heatset offset, nine flexographic and two coldset offset printing presses are generally among the most advanced in the industry. Through our comprehensive maintenance program, we are committed to extending the life and enhancing the reliability of these valuable assets. We also strive to incorporate new technology in our presses as it develops, and to acquire auxiliary equipment when needed, to improve our process controls and print quality, as well as to satisfy customer requirements. For example, our continued investment in pre-press, in-line and post-press technology has enabled us to both strengthen existing and develop new partnerships with our customers. In the premedia services segment, customers are continuously seeking ways to shorten their production cycles and reduce their costs. We believe that our equipment and software are among the most advanced available and position us well to address these requirements. We continuously strive to upgrade our equipment and
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integrate or develop more advanced software. For example, we offer a variety of solutions which provide our customers with better control of color, increased process control, shorter time to market and lower production costs.
National Scope with Regional Focus. In our print division, we believe our seven printing plants in the United States and one plant in Canada form a broad and efficient production and distribution network. These plants are located within convenient distribution distance of a large number of major cities in the United States. Over the last few years, we have continued to restructure our print operations through specific initiatives which have enhanced our production and distribution networks flexibility, turnaround times and logistical capabilities, allowing us to better distribute print products in a timely manner. These qualities have been and are instrumental to our continued success in serving our customers, whose demands are increasingly complex. For instance, a number of our national customers routinely use numerous versions of the same advertising insert, which are adapted by region of the country. By coupling the flexibility of our heatset offset presses and our comprehensive logistical capabilities, we have become one of the few printers that can reliably meet the demands of large national and regional accounts. In our premedia services division, we believe that our six stand-alone production facilities allow us to provide strong customer service nationwide. They also provide us with access to highly skilled technical personnel, provide redundancy and extra capacity during peak periods and allow for short turnaround times.
Competitive Cost Structure. We believe that we are one of the lowest cost producers of retail advertising inserts, and we intend to continue to reduce our overall operating costs. In our print business, we have reduced and are continuing to work to reduce the variable and fixed costs of production at our print facilities and our selling, general and administrative expenses. This has been accomplished through benefits related to strategic restructuring programs and disciplined cost containment initiatives. We have also used our economies of scale to reduce the cost of raw materials and enter into long-term agreements with our suppliers. In our premedia services business, we have reduced and are continuing to reduce our operating expenses primarily through the application of certain digital premedia production methodologies, facility consolidation and continued cost containment.
Strong Management Team. The seven members of our senior management team collectively have approximately 105 years of service with us, and have worked together for us as a team for over eleven years. Our management team maintains a sharp focus on our customers, growth, quality and continued cost reduction, resulting in a strong competitive position and a well-defined strategy for the future.
Our Strategy
We are committed to enhancing the strong and longstanding relationships that we have with our existing customers and to building relationships with new customers by providing high quality, on-time and consistent solutions. As we work to meet our customers needs we are also committed to further reducing our operating costs. More specifically, our strategy consists of:
Growing Print Volumes Profitably through the Strength of our Customer Relationships. A significant number of our major customers are growing companies. We are committed to growing with our existing customers and adding new accounts on a profitable basis. We will continue to focus on providing excellent customer service, high quality print and premedia services solutions and reliable delivery of materials, all of which strengthen our customer relationships. We are also actively pursuing long-term printing and premedia opportunities similar to arrangements we have executed with certain of our customers.
Improving Customer and Service Mix. We expect to continue to adjust the mix of our customers and services within our print segment. We consistently monitor our customer and service mix to optimize profitability and asset utilization. As part of this process, we target customers who have geographic and service needs that match our capabilities. This approach allows us to provide better service to our customers, while generating higher margins. Also as part of this process, we target accounts, such as grocery and drug store chains, that generate weekly, non-seasonal demand for retail advertising insert printing services and enable us to maximize the use of our equipment throughout the year. In our premedia services division, we continue to pursue large-scale managed service opportunities, where we can work on-site with our customers to prepare materials for press, foster strong long-term relationships and enhance sales of our print solutions. We will continue to focus on high value-added, new business opportunities, particularly projects that utilize the full breadth of the services and technologies we offer.
Continuing to Reduce Costs. We have a disciplined approach to cost reduction that is implemented on a plant-by-plant basis, and we are aggressively working to further reduce costs in our manufacturing operations. Our cost reduction programs include savings resulting from various restructuring initiatives that we put into place over the past several years as well as numerous other specific cost reduction initiatives and efficiency improvements which have been implemented. In our premedia services business, our use of advanced technology, facility consolidation and continued cost containment
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initiatives will enable us to reduce our capital costs and improve our digital premedia workflow, which we expect to further enhance the productivity of our employees and reduce the overall cost structure in this segment. In addition, we are continually working to further reduce our selling, general and administrative expenses.
Expanding our Printing Solutions through Disciplined Capital Expenditures. We are committed to providing our customers with the solutions they need at competitive prices. We will continue to be proactive in adapting our offerings to the specific needs of our customers, but we will do so only through a disciplined program of capital expenditures. We will expand our production capacity through the careful addition of equipment when opportunities support such an expansion. In our premedia services segment, we believe that investments in new technology have allowed and will continue to allow us to better market our service offerings to existing and new customers, including customers in our print segment who increasingly use shared service offerings.
Print Segment
Our print business, which accounted for approximately 88%, 89% and 90% of our sales in Fiscal Years 2005, 2004 and 2003, respectively, produces advertising inserts, comics and other publications.
Advertising Inserts. Retail advertising inserts accounted for 83% of print sales in Fiscal Year 2005, 86% of print sales in Fiscal Year 2004 and 87% of print sales in Fiscal Year 2003. We believe that we are one of the largest printers of retail advertising inserts in the United States. We print retail advertising inserts for approximately 200 retailers throughout the United States. Advertising inserts are preprinted advertisements, generally in color, that display products sold by a particular retailer or manufacturer, usually for a specific sale period. Advertising inserts are used extensively by many different retailers, including discount, department, supermarket, home center, drug and automotive stores. Inserts are an important and cost effective means of advertising for these merchants. Advertising inserts are primarily distributed through insertion in newspapers, but are also distributed by direct mail or in-store by retailers. As a result, advertising inserts are both time sensitive and seasonal.
Comics. Comics accounted for 10% of print sales in Fiscal Year 2005, 8% of print sales in Fiscal Year 2004 and 7% of print sales in Fiscal Year 2003. We believe that we are one of the largest printers of comics in the United States. Comics consist of Sunday newspaper comics, comic insert advertising and comic books. We print Sunday comics for approximately 160 newspapers in the United States and Canada and print a significant share of the annual comic book requirements of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.
Other Publications. Other publications, including local newspapers, TV guide listings and other publications, accounted for 7% of print sales in Fiscal Year 2005 and 6% in Fiscal Years 2004 and 2003.
Print Production. Our network of eight print plants in the United States and Canada is strategically well positioned to service our customers, providing us with distribution efficiencies and short turnaround times, two factors that we believe will allow our continuing success in servicing large national and regional accounts. There are primarily three printing processes used to produce advertising inserts and newspaper supplements: offset lithography (heatset and cold), rotogravure and flexography. We principally use heatset offset and flexographic web printing equipment in our print operations. Our printing equipment currently consists of 44 heatset offset presses, two coldset offset presses and nine flexographic presses, 52 of which we own. Most of our advertising inserts, publications and comic books are printed using the offset process, while substantially all of our Sunday newspaper comics and comic advertising inserts are printed using the flexographic process.
In the heatset offset process, the desired printed images are distinguished chemically from the non-image areas of a metal plate. This process allows the image area to attract solvent-based ink, which is then transferred from the plate to a rubber blanket and then to the paper surface, which we also refer to as the web. Once printed, the web goes through an oven that evaporates the solvents from the ink, thereby setting the ink on the paper. In the cold offset process, inks are set by the absorption of solvents into the paper. Due to the drying process, the heatset offset process can be utilized on a wide variety of papers. Generally, heatset offset presses have the ability to provide a more colorful and attractive product than cold offset presses.
The flexographic process differs from offset printing in that it utilizes relief image plates and water-based (as opposed to solvent-based) inks. The flexographic image area results from application of ink to the raised image surface on the plate, which is transferred directly to the paper. Once printed, the water-based inks are rapidly dried. Our flexographic printing generally can provide vibrant color reproduction at a lower cost than heatset offset printing. The strengths of flexography compared with the rotogravure and offset processes are faster press set-up times, reduced paper waste, reduced energy use
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and maintenance costs, and environmental advantages due to the use of water-based inks and the use of less paper. Faster press set-up times make the process particularly attractive to commercial customers with shorter runs and extensive product versioning.
In addition to press capacity, certain equipment parameters are critical to competing in the advertising insert market, including cut-off length, folder capabilities and certain in-line and off-line finishing capabilities. Cut-off length is one of the determinants of the size of the printed page. Folder capabilities for advertising inserts must include a wide variety of page sizes, page counts and page layouts. Finally, some advertising inserts require gluing or stitching of the product, adding cards, trimming and numbering. These production activities generally are done in-line with the press to meet the expedited delivery schedules required by many customers. We believe that our mix and configuration of presses and press services allows for efficient tailoring of printing services to customers product needs.
In combination with our national account status with the United States Postal Service and our experience in such areas as list services, addressing accuracy and postal service, we are able to offer distribution and mailing services that help to maximize the advertising impact and financial return for our customers.
Premedia Services Segment
Our premedia services business accounted for approximately 12%, 11% and 10% of our Fiscal Year 2005, 2004 and 2003 sales, respectively. We believe we are one of the largest full-service providers of premedia services in the United States (based upon revenues) and a technological leader in this industry. Our premedia services business commenced operations in 1975. We provide these services within our print plants, our six stand-alone service locations and through our 14 managed services sites, which are premedia services facilities at a customer location.
We assist customers in the capture, manipulation, storage, transmission and distribution of images. The majority of this work leads to the production of a four-color image in a format appropriate for use by printers as well as other forms of media. We make page changes, including type changes, and combine digital page layout information with electronically captured and color-corrected four-color images. From these digital files, proofs, final corrections, and finally, four-color films or digital files are produced for each page. The final four-color films or digital files enable printers to prepare plates for each color resulting in the appearance of full color on the printed page generated. Our revenue from these traditional services is being supplemented by additional revenue sources including digital asset management, managed services, computer-to-plate services, creative services, conventional and digital photography, consulting and training services, multimedia and Internet services, and software and data-base management. We have been a leader in implementing these new technologies, which enables us to reduce unit costs and effectively service the increasingly complex demands of our customers more quickly than many of our competitors. We have also been one of the leaders in the integration of electronic page make-up, desktop computer-based design and layout, and digital cameras into premedia production.
Customers and Distribution
Customers. We sell our print products and services to a large number of customers, primarily retailers and newspapers. All of our products are produced in accordance with customer specifications. We perform approximately 50% of our print work, including the printing of retail advertising inserts, Sunday comics and comic books, under contracts ranging in term from one year to ten years. Many of the contracts automatically extend for one year unless there has been notice to the contrary from either of the contracting parties within a certain number of days before the end of any term. For the balance of our print work, we obtain varying time commitments from our customers ranging from job-to-job to annual allocations.
Our premedia services customers consist of retailers, newspaper and magazine publishers, catalog sales organizations, printers, consumer products companies, packaging manufacturers, advertising agencies and direct mail advertisers. Our customers typically have a need for high levels of technical expertise, short turnaround times and responsive customer service. In addition to our historical regional customer base, our premedia services business is increasingly focused on larger, national accounts that have a need for a broad range of fully integrated services and communication capabilities requiring leading edge technology.
The print and premedia services businesses have historically had certain common customers and our ability to cross-market is an increasingly valuable tool as computer-to-plate, regional versioning, electronic digital imaging, managed services and speed to market become more important to our customers. We believe cross-marketing enables us to provide more comprehensive solutions for our customers premedia and printing needs.
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No single customer accounted for sales in excess of 10% of our consolidated sales in Fiscal Year 2005. Our top ten customers accounted for approximately 43% of our consolidated sales in Fiscal Year 2005.
Distribution. We distribute our print products primarily by truck to customer-designated locations (primarily newspapers and customer retail stores) and via mail. Distribution costs are generally paid by the customer, and most shipping is by common carrier. Our premedia services business generally distributes its products via electronic transmission, overnight express, or other methods of personal delivery.
Sales and Marketing
Our print and premedia services divisions each have their own highly skilled sales forces that work together to maximize our sales leverage by offering our customers multiple solutions utilizing the products and services of both our print and premedia services divisions. Each sales force is trained in the specific requirements of the market it serves to further allow us to maximize our sales success and works closely with our customers to help them successfully market their products.
Our print division employs 28 sales professionals who are divided into two regions, the south and east region and the north and west region. These groups all specialize in the retail, newspaper and comic book markets. The premedia services division employs 14 sales professionals who focus in the retail and commercial, publications and catalog, and packaging markets.
Competition
Commercial printing in the United States is a large, highly fragmented, capital-intensive industry and we compete with numerous national, regional and local printers. We believe that our largest competitors are Vertis, Inc. and Quebecor World Inc., and to a lesser degree, R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company. A trend of industry consolidation in recent years can be attributed to customer preferences for larger printers with a greater range of services, capital requirements and competitive pricing pressures. We believe that competition in the print business is based primarily on quality and service at a competitive price.
Our premedia services segment competes with numerous premedia services firms on both a national and regional basis. The industry is highly fragmented, primarily consisting of smaller local and regional companies, with only a few national full-service premedia services companies such as us, none of which has a significant nationwide market share.
Raw Materials
The primary raw materials used in our print business are paper and ink. We purchase most of our paper, ink and related products under long-term supply contracts. Raw materials used in our premedia services processes include digital media, limited film usage and proofing substrate materials. In both of our business segments, there is an adequate supply of the necessary materials available from multiple vendors. We are not dependent on any single supplier and have had no significant problems in the past obtaining necessary raw materials.
Seasonality
Some of our print and premedia services business is seasonal in nature, particularly those revenues that are derived from advertising inserts. Generally, our sales from advertising inserts are highest during the following advertising periods: the Spring advertising season from March to May, the Back-to-School advertising season from July to August, and the Thanksgiving/Christmas advertising season from October to December. Sales of Sunday newspaper comics are not subject to significant seasonal fluctuations. Our strategy includes and will continue to include the mitigation of the seasonality of our print business by increasing our sales to customers whose own sales are less seasonal, such as food and drug companies, which utilize advertising inserts more frequently.
Backlog
Because our print and premedia services products are required to be delivered soon after final customer orders are received, we do not experience any backlog of unfilled customer orders.
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Our Employees
As of May 31, 2005, we had a total of approximately 2,010 employees. Approximately 141 employees are represented by a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our relations with our employees to be excellent.
Governmental and Environmental Regulations
We are subject to regulation under various federal, state and local laws relating to employee safety and health, and to the generation, storage, transportation, disposal and emission into the environment of hazardous substances. We believe that we are in material compliance with such laws and regulations. Although compliance with such laws and regulations in the future is likely to entail additional capital expenditures, we do not anticipate that such expenditures will be material. See Legal Proceedings Environmental Matters appearing elsewhere in this Report.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
We operate in 14 locations in 10 states and Canada. We own seven print plants in the United States and one in Canada. Our premedia services business has six stand-alone production locations, all of which are leased. The premedia services division also operates 14 premedia services facilities on the premises of our customers. In addition, we maintain one small executive office in Connecticut and our headquarters facility in Brentwood, Tennessee, both of which are leased. We believe that our plants and facilities are adequately equipped and maintained for present and planned operations.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We have been named as a defendant in several legal actions arising from our normal business activities. In the opinion of management, any liabilities that may arise from such actions will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
Environmental Matters
Graphics, together with over 300 other persons, was designated by the U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency as a potentially responsible party, or a PRP, under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, which we refer to as CERCLA or Superfund, at
a solvent recovery operation that closed in 1989. Although liability under CERCLA may be imposed
on a joint and several basis and our ultimate liability is not precisely determinable, the PRPs
have agreed in writing that Graphics share of removal costs is approximately 0.583%; therefore we
believe that our share of the anticipated remediation costs at such site will not be material to
our business or consolidated financial statements as a whole.
Graphics received written notice, dated May 10, 2004, of its potential liability in connection with
the Gibson Environmental Site at 2401 Gibson Street, Bakersfield, California. Gibson
Environmental, Inc. operated the (six acre) Site as a storage and treatment facility for used oil
and contaminated soil from June 1987 through October 1995. Graphics received the notice and a
Settlement Offer from LECG, a consultant representing approximately 60 companies comprising the
Gibson Group Trust. We have begun our investigation into this matter but we believe our potential
liability in connection with this Site will not be material to our business or financial statements
as a whole.
Based upon an analysis of Graphics volumetric share of waste contributed to these sites, we maintain a reserve of approximately $0.1 million in connection with these liabilities in our consolidated balance sheet at March 31, 2005. We believe this amount is adequate to cover such liabilities.
ITEM 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS
None.
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PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANTS COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
There is no established public market for the common stock of either Holdings or Graphics.
Holders
As of May 31, 2005, there were approximately 100 record holders of Holdings common stock. Holdings is the sole shareholder of Graphics common stock.
Dividends
There have been no cash dividends declared on any class of common equity for the two most recent fiscal years. See restrictions on Holdings ability to pay dividends and Graphics ability to transfer funds to Holdings in note 1 to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Report.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
During the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2004, a former officer exercised options to purchase 1,125 shares of Holdings common stock for $.01/share. During the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2003, a former officer exercised options to purchase 518 shares of Holdings common stock for $.01/share. During the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2003, certain officers exercised options to purchase an aggregate of 20,012 shares of Holdings common stock for $.01/share. The securities that were sold were exempt from registration on the basis that all such officers are accredited investors as defined by the rules of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Set forth below is selected financial data for and as of the fiscal years ended March 31, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001. The balance sheet data as of March 31, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and the statements of operations data for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001 are derived from the audited consolidated financial statements for such periods and at such dates. The selected financial data below, for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001, also reflects our digital visual effects business (Digiscope) as a discontinued operation.
This data should be read in conjunction with Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Report.
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ACG Holdings, Inc.
Selected Financial Data
| Fiscal Year Ended March 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Statements of Operations Data: |
||||||||||||||||||||
Sales |
$ | 449,513 | 471,102 | 517,139 | 539,208 | 600,021 | ||||||||||||||
Cost of sales |
403,641 | 409,321 | 445,493 | 460,283 | 501,338 | |||||||||||||||
Gross profit |
45,872 | 61,781 | 71,646 | 78,925 | 98,683 | |||||||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative expenses |
28,824 | 32,734 | 37,614 | 38,523 | 44,471 | |||||||||||||||
Restructuring costs and other charges (a) |
10,037 | 8,140 | 1,722 | 12,920 | | |||||||||||||||
Operating income |
7,011 | 20,907 | 32,310 | 27,482 | 54,212 | |||||||||||||||
Interest expense, net |
34,050 | 34,166 | 28,584 | 29,806 | 32,929 | |||||||||||||||
Loss on early extinguishment of debt (b) |
| 3,196 | | | | |||||||||||||||
Other expense |
313 | 489 | 1,503 | 624 | 1,154 | |||||||||||||||
Income tax expense (benefit) (c) |
(1,685 | ) | 11,441 | 1,559 | (5,073 | ) | (4,927 | ) | ||||||||||||
Income (loss) from continuing operations |
(25,667 | ) | (28,385 | ) | 664 | 2,125 | 25,056 | |||||||||||||
Discontinued operations: (d) |
||||||||||||||||||||
Loss from operations, net of $0 tax |
| 12 | 979 | 1,403 | 633 | |||||||||||||||
Loss on disposal, net of $0 tax |
| 444 | | | | |||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) |
$ | (25,667 | ) | (28,841 | ) | (315 | ) | 722 | 24,423 | |||||||||||
Balance Sheet Data (at end of period): |
||||||||||||||||||||
Working capital (deficit) |
$ | (11,571 | ) | (15,772 | ) | (29,820 | ) | (865 | ) | 15,288 | ||||||||||
Total assets |
$ | 258,898 | 267,913 | 278,441 | 280,513 | 302,202 | ||||||||||||||
Long-term debt and capitalized leases, including current installments |
$ | 309,951 | 298,298 | 231,757 | 252,792 | 261,706 | ||||||||||||||
Stockholders deficit |
$ | (212,740 | ) | (188,775 | ) | (107,699 | ) | (96,020 | ) | (85,867 | ) | |||||||||
Other Data: |
||||||||||||||||||||
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities |
$ | (3,575 | ) | 21,163 | 45,647 | 38,216 | 40,913 | |||||||||||||
Net cash used by investing activities |
$ | (7,172 | ) | (13,118 | ) | (27,446 | ) | (16,493 | ) | (19,006 | ) | |||||||||
Net cash provided (used) by financing activities |
$ | 10,822 | (7,924 | ) | (22,680 | ) | (17,189 | ) | (21,968 | ) | ||||||||||
Capital expenditures (including lease obligations entered into) |
$ | 6,907 | 15,966 | 28,652 | 24,550 | 25,271 | ||||||||||||||
Ratio of earnings to fixed charges (e) |
| | 1.07 | x | | 1.58 | x | |||||||||||||
EBITDA (f) |
$ | 29,749 | 41,054 | 54,279 | 56,654 | 87,111 | ||||||||||||||
10
NOTES TO SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
| (a) | In March 2005, we approved a restructuring plan for our premedia services segment, which was designed to improve operating efficiencies and overall profitability. We recorded $1.5 million of costs under this plan in Fiscal Year 2005. | |||
| In March 2005, we approved a restructuring plan for our print segment, to reduce manufacturing costs and improve profitability. We recorded $3.1 million of costs under this plan in Fiscal Year 2005. | ||||
| In February 2005, we approved a restructuring plan for our print and premedia services segments, to reduce overhead costs and improve operating efficiency and profitability. We recorded $3.8 million of costs under this plan in Fiscal Year 2005. | ||||
| In January 2004, we approved a restructuring plan for our print and premedia services segments, which was designed to improve operating efficiency and profitability. We recorded $5.7 million of costs under this plan in Fiscal Year 2004. We recorded $(0.7) million of costs for this plan in Fiscal Year 2005. | ||||
| In July 2003, we implemented a restructuring plan for our print and premedia services segments to further reduce our selling, general and administrative expenses. We recorded $1.8 million of costs under this plan in Fiscal Year 2004. | ||||
| In the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2003, we approved a restructuring plan for our print and premedia services segments, which was designed to improve operating efficiency and profitability. We recorded $1.2 million of costs under this plan in Fiscal Year 2003. We recorded $(0.2) million of costs for this plan in Fiscal Year 2004. | ||||
| In January 2002, we approved a restructuring plan for our print and premedia services segments, which was designed to improve asset utilization, operating efficiency and profitability. We recorded $8.6 million of costs under this plan in Fiscal Year 2002. We recorded an additional $0.7 million and $0.4 million of costs for this plan in Fiscal Year 2005 and Fiscal Year 2004, respectively. | ||||
| In addition, we recorded $1.6 million, $0.4 million, $0.5 million and $4.3 million of other charges in our print and premedia services divisions in Fiscal Year 2005, Fiscal Year 2004, Fiscal Year 2003 and Fiscal Year 2002, respectively. See note 15 to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Report for further discussion of this restructuring activity. | ||||
| (b) | As part of a refinancing transaction entered into on July 3, 2003, we recorded a loss related to early extinguishment of debt of $3.2 million, net of zero taxes. This loss related to the write-off of deferred financing costs associated with the old bank credit agreement and the 12 3/4% Senior Subordinated Notes Due 2005 (the 12 3/4% Notes). | |||
| (c) | In Fiscal Year 2005, income tax benefit relates primarily to tax benefit from losses in foreign jurisdictions and to an adjustment recorded in the third quarter of $0.4 million to reflect the tax benefit associated with a change in estimate with respect to our income tax liability. The valuation allowance increased by $9.6 million in Fiscal year 2005 as a result of changes in the deferred tax items. This increase included a $9.6 million increase related to the tax effect of temporary differences generating deferred tax assets, net of a decrease of $0.4 million related to the tax effect of the decrease in the minimum pension liability, which is a component of other comprehensive income (loss). | |||
| In the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2004, the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets was increased by $12.8 million, resulting in a corresponding debit to deferred income tax expense. This adjustment reflected a change in circumstances which resulted in a judgment that, based on the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109, Accounting for Income Taxes (SFAS 109) that restrict our ability to consider forecasts of future income, a corresponding amount of deferred tax assets may not be realized. The change in circumstances arose from our assessment of the economic climate, particularly the continuance of competitive pricing pressures in our industry, and the expected increase in annual interest costs arising from the issuance of our 10% Senior Second Secured Notes Due 2010 (the 10% Notes) in July 2003 (see note 7 to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in the Report) that provided negative evidence about our ability to realize certain deferred tax assets. We will reverse our valuation allowance into income when and to the extent sufficient evidence arises to | ||||
11
| support the realization of the related deferred tax assets. The valuation allowance increased by $18.4 million in Fiscal Year 2004 as a result of changes in the deferred tax items. This increase primarily included the $12.8 million increase discussed above and a $5.6 million increase related to the tax effect of temporary differences generating deferred tax assets, which is net of a decrease of $1.3 million related to the tax effect of the decrease in the minimum pension liability, a component of other comprehensive income (loss). In the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2004, we recorded an adjustment of $2.2 million to reflect the tax benefit associated with a change in estimate with respect to our income tax liability. | ||||
| The valuation allowance increased by $3.5 million in Fiscal Year 2003 as a result of changes in the deferred tax items. This increase is primarily due to a $5.0 million increase related to the tax effect of the minimum pension liability, which is a component of other comprehensive income (loss), partially offset by a decrease in other temporary differences generating deferred tax assets. | ||||
| In the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2002 (Fiscal Year 2002), the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets was reduced by $5.5 million, resulting in a corresponding credit to deferred income tax expense. This adjustment reflected a change in circumstances which resulted in a judgment that a corresponding amount of our deferred tax assets would be realized in future years. The valuation allowance decreased by $0.1 million during Fiscal Year 2002 as a result of changes in the deferred tax items. This decrease primarily included the $5.5 million decrease discussed above and a $4.2 million increase related to the tax effect of the minimum pension liability, which is a component of other comprehensive income (loss). | ||||
| For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001 (Fiscal Year 2001), income tax benefit relates primarily to an adjustment recorded in the fourth quarter to reduce the valuation allowance by $7.3 million. This adjustment reflected a change in circumstances which resulted in a judgment that a corresponding amount of our deferred tax assets would be realized in future years. The adjustment was partially offset by tax expense for income in foreign jurisdictions. The valuation allowance decreased by $12.6 million (including the $7.3 million decrease discussed above) during Fiscal Year 2001 as a result of changes in the deferred tax items. | ||||
| (d) | In June 2003, we made a strategic decision to sell the operations of our digital visual effects business, Digiscope, for a de minimis amount. This resulted in a net loss of approximately $0.4 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2003, which is net of zero income tax benefits. As a result of this sale, Digiscope has been accounted for as a discontinued operation, and accordingly, Digiscopes operations are segregated in our consolidated financial statements. Sales, cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses attributable to Digiscope for Fiscal Years 2003, 2002 and 2001 have been reclassified and presented within discontinued operations. Sales attributable to Digiscope for Fiscal Year 2004 were $0.8 million, for Fiscal Years 2003 and 2002 were $3.2 million in each year and for Fiscal Year 2001 were $6.0 million. | |||
| (e) | The ratio of earnings to fixed charges is calculated by dividing earnings (representing consolidated pretax income or loss from continuing operations) before fixed charges by fixed charges. Fixed charges consist of interest expense, net amortization of debt issuance expense, and that portion of operating lease rental expense which we deem to be representative of interest. The deficiency in earnings to cover fixed charges is computed by subtracting earnings before fixed charges, income taxes and discontinued operations from fixed charges. The deficiency in earnings required to cover fixed charges for Fiscal Years 2005, 2004 and 2002 was $27.4 million, $16.9 million and $2.9 million, respectively. | |||
12
| (f) | We have included EBITDA because we believe that investors regard EBITDA as a key measure of a leveraged companys operating performance as it removes the non-operating components of interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization from the managed operational results of our business. EBITDA is defined as earnings before net interest expense, income tax expense (benefit), depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and should not be considered an alternative to net income (loss) (or any other measure of performance under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles) as a measure of performance or to cash flows from operating, investing or financing activities as an indicator of cash flows or as a measure of liquidity. Our calculation of EBITDA may be different from the calculations used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. Certain covenants in our debt instruments are based on EBITDA, subject to certain adjustments. The following table provides a reconciliation of EBITDA to net income (loss): |
| Fiscal Year Ended March 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||
EBITDA |
$ | 29,749 | 41,054 | 54,279 | 56,654 | 87,111 | ||||||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization |
(23,051 | ) | (24,288 | ) | (24,451 | ) | (31,199 | ) | (34,686 | ) | ||||||||||
Interest expense, net |
(34,050 | ) | (34,166 | ) | (28,584 | ) | (29,806 | ) | (32,929 | ) | ||||||||||
Income tax (expense) benefit |
1,685 | (11,441 | ) | (1,559 | ) | 5,073 | 4,927 | |||||||||||||
Net income (loss) |
$ | (25,667 | ) | (28,841 | ) | (315 | ) | 722 | 24,423 | |||||||||||
The following items are included in the determination of EBITDA and net income (loss) above:
| Fiscal Year Ended March 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Restructuring costs |
$ | 8,369 | 7,768 | 1,191 | 8,638 | | ||||||||||||||
Other charges |
1,668 | 372 | 531 | 4,282 | | |||||||||||||||
Loss on early extinguishment of
debt |
| 3,196 | | | | |||||||||||||||
Loss from discontinued operations |
| 456 | 979 | 1,403 | 633 | |||||||||||||||
Total |
$ | 10,037 | 11,792 | 2,701 | 14,323 | 633 | ||||||||||||||
13
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
The most important drivers of our results of operations are:
| | the relationships we have developed with key long-term customers and the capital we have devoted to those relationships; | |||
| | the balance bet | |||