Back to GetFilings.com

Table of Contents

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

OR

Commission file number 0-23886

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

One Front Street, 15th Floor, San Francisco, California 94111
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

(415) 677-8990
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

Table of Contents

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

Report on Form 10-Q for the Quarterly Period
Ended September 30, 2002

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2

Table of Contents

PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

Presented herein are the Registrant’s balance sheets as of September 30, 2002 and December 31, 2001, statements of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2002 and 2001, and statements of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2002 and 2001.

3

Table of Contents

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

Balance Sheets

(Unaudited)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

4

Table of Contents

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

Statements of Operations

(Unaudited)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

5

Table of Contents

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

6

Table of Contents

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

Notes to Unaudited Financial Statements

(1)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

	(a)		Nature of Operations
			Cronos Global Income Fund XV, L.P. (the “Partnership”) is a limited partnership organized under the laws of the State of California on August 26, 1993, for the purpose of owning and leasing marine cargo containers, special purpose containers and container related equipment worldwide to ocean carriers. To this extent, the Partnership’s operations are subject to the fluctuations of world economic and political conditions. Such factors may affect the pattern and levels of world trade. The Partnership believes that the profitability of, and risks associated with, leases to foreign customers is generally the same as those of leases to domestic customers. The Partnership’s leases generally require all payments to be made in United States currency.
			Cronos Capital Corp. (“CCC”) is the general partner and, with its affiliate Cronos Containers Limited (the “Leasing Company”), manages the business of the Partnership. CCC and the Leasing Company also manage the container leasing business for other partnerships affiliated with CCC. The Partnership shall continue until December 31, 2012, unless sooner terminated upon the occurrence of certain events.
			The Partnership commenced operations on February 22, 1994, when the minimum subscription proceeds of $2,000,000 were received from over 100 subscribers (excluding from such count Pennsylvania residents, the general partner, and all affiliates of the general partner). The Partnership offered 7,500,000 units of limited partnership interest at $20 per unit or $150,000,000. The offering terminated on December 15, 1995, at which time 7,151,569 limited partnership units had been sold.
	(b)		Leasing Company and Leasing Agent Agreement
			A Leasing Agent Agreement exists between the Partnership and the Leasing Company, whereby the Leasing Company has the responsibility to manage the leasing operations of all equipment owned by the Partnership. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Leasing Company is responsible for leasing, managing and re-leasing the Partnership’s containers to ocean carriers, and has full discretion over which ocean carriers and suppliers of goods and services it may deal with. The Leasing Agent Agreement permits the Leasing Company to use the containers owned by the Partnership, together with other containers owned or managed by the Leasing Company and its affiliates, as part of a single fleet operated without regard to ownership. Since the Leasing Agent Agreement meets the definition of an operating lease in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 13, it is accounted for as a lease under which the Partnership is lessor and the Leasing Company is lessee.
			The Leasing Agent Agreement generally provides that the Leasing Company will make payments to the Partnership based upon rentals collected from ocean carriers after deducting direct operating expenses and management fees to CCC and the Leasing Company. The Leasing Company leases containers to ocean carriers, generally under operating leases which are either master leases or term leases (mostly one to five years). Master leases do not specify the exact number of containers to be leased or the term that each container will remain on hire but allow the ocean carrier to pick up and drop off containers at various locations, and rentals are based upon the number of containers used and the applicable per-diem rate. Accordingly, rentals under master leases are all variable and contingent upon the number of containers used. Most containers are leased to ocean carriers under master leases; leasing agreements with fixed payment terms are not material to the financial statements. Since there are no material minimum lease rentals, no disclosure of minimum lease rentals is provided in these financial statements.

(Continued)

7

Table of Contents

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

Notes to Unaudited Financial Statements

	(c)		Basis of Accounting
			The Partnership utilizes the accrual method of accounting. Net lease revenue is recorded by the Partnership in each period based upon its leasing agent agreement with the Leasing Company. Net lease revenue is generally dependent upon operating lease rentals from operating lease agreements between the Leasing Company and its various lessees, less direct operating expenses and management fees due in respect of the containers specified in each operating lease agreement.
	(d)		Container Rental Equipment
			SFAS No. 144, “Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets,” was adopted by the Partnership effective January 1, 2002, without a significant impact on its financial statements. In accordance with SFAS No. 144, container rental equipment is considered to be impaired if the carrying value of the asset exceeds the expected future cash flows from related operations (undiscounted and without interest charges). If impairment is deemed to exist, the assets are written down to fair value. An analysis is prepared each quarter projecting future cash flows from container rental equipment operations. Current and projected utilization rates, per-diem rental rates, direct operating expenses, fleet size and container disposals are the primary variables utilized by the analysis. Additionally, the Partnership evaluates future cash flows and potential impairment by container type rather than for each individual container, and as a result, future losses could result for individual container dispositions due to various factors, including age, condition, suitability for continued leasing, as well as the geographical location of containers when disposed. There were no impairment charges to the carrying value of container rental equipment for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2002 and 2001.
			Depreciation policies are also evaluated to determine whether subsequent events and circumstances warrant revised estimates of useful lives. Container rental equipment is depreciated using the straight-line basis. Effective June 1, 2001, the estimated depreciable life was changed from a twelve-year life to a fifteen-year life and the estimated salvage value was changed from 30% to 10% of the original equipment cost. The effect of these changes is an increase to depreciation expense of approximately $147,000 and $119,000 for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2002 and 2001, respectively. The change in depreciation expense was approximately $89,000 for the three-month period ended September 30, 2001.
	(e)		Use of Estimates
			The financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP), which requires the Partnership to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
			The most significant estimates included within the financial statements are the container rental equipment estimated useful lives and residual values, and the estimate of future cash flows from container rental equipment operations, used to determine the adequacy of the carrying value of container rental equipment in accordance with SFAS No. 144. Considerable judgement is required in estimating future cash flows from container rental equipment operations. Accordingly, the estimates may not be indicative of the amounts that may be realized in future periods. As additional information becomes available in subsequent periods, reserves for the impairment of the container rental equipment carrying values may be necessary based upon changes in market and economic conditions.

(Continued)

8

Table of Contents

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

Notes to Unaudited Financial Statements

	(f)		Financial Statement Presentation
			These financial statements have been prepared without audit. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) have been omitted. It is suggested that these financial statements be read in conjunction with the financial statements and accompanying notes in the Partnership’s latest annual report on Form 10-K.
			The interim financial statements presented herewith reflect all adjustments of a normal recurring nature which are, in the opinion of management, necessary to a fair statement of the financial condition and results of operations for the interim period presented. The results of operations for such interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

(2)		Net Lease Receivables Due from Leasing Company
		Net lease receivables due from the Leasing Company are determined by deducting direct operating payables and accrued expenses, base management fees payable, and reimbursed administrative expenses payable to CCC and its affiliates from the rental billings earned by the Leasing Company under operating leases to ocean carriers for the containers owned by the Partnership, as well as proceeds earned from container disposals. Net lease receivables at September 30, 2002 and December 31, 2001 were as follows:

(Continued)

9

Table of Contents

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

Notes to Unaudited Financial Statements

(3)		Net Lease Revenue
		Net lease revenue is determined by deducting direct operating expenses, base management fees and reimbursed administrative expenses to CCC and its affiliates from the rental revenue earned by the Leasing Company under operating leases to ocean carriers for the containers owned by the Partnership. Net lease revenue for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2002 and 2001 were as follows:

(4)		Operating Segment
		An operating segment is a component of an enterprise that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses, whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise’s chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and about which separate financial information is available. Management operates the Partnership’s container fleet as a homogenous unit and has determined that as such it has a single reportable operating segment.
		The Partnership derives its revenues from leasing marine cargo containers. As of September 30, 2002, the Partnership operated 25,143 twenty-foot, 8,500 forty-foot and 2,103 forty-foot high-cube marine dry cargo containers, 460 twenty-foot and 99 forty-foot high-cube refrigerated cargo containers, and 225 twenty-four thousand-liter tanks. A summary of gross lease revenue, by product, for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2002 and 2001 follows:

Due to the Partnership’s lack of information regarding the physical location of its fleet of containers when on lease in the global shipping trade, it is impracticable to provide geographic area information.

(Continued)

10

Table of Contents

CRONOS GLOBAL INCOME FUND XV, L.P.

Notes to Unaudited Financial Statements

(5)		New Accounting Pronouncements
		In August 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No. 143, “Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations”, which is effective for all fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2002. This standard requires a company to record the fair value of a liability for an asset retirement obligation in the period in which it is incurred, and a corresponding increase in the carrying value of the related long-lived asset. The Partnership is currently evaluating the impact that SFAS No. 143 will have on its financial statements.
		In June 2002, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS 146, “Accounting for Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities,” which addresses accounting for restructuring and similar costs. SFAS 146 supersedes previous accounting guidance, principally Emerging Issues Task Force Issue No. 94-3. SFAS 146 requires that the liability for costs associated with an exit or disposal activity be recognized when the liability is incurred. Under Issue 94-3, a liability for an exit cost was recognized at the date of the Partnership’s commitment to an exit plan. SFAS 146 also establishes that the liability should initially be measured and recorded at fair value. Accordingly, SFAS 146 may affect the timing of recognizing future restructuring costs as well as the amounts recognized. The Registrant believes that SFAS 146 will not have a significant impact on its financial position or results of operations.

******

11

Table of Contents

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

It is suggested that the following discussion be read in conjunction with the Registrant’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K.

General

A Leasing Agent Agreement exists between the Registrant and the Leasing Company, whereby the Leasing Company has the responsibility to manage the leasing operations of all equipment owned by the Registrant. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Leasing Company is responsible for leasing, managing and re-leasing the Registrant’s containers to ocean carriers, and has full discretion over which ocean carriers and suppliers of goods and services it may deal with. The Leasing Agent Agreement permits the Leasing Company to use the containers owned by the Registrant, together with other containers owned or managed by the Leasing Company and its affiliates, as part of a single fleet operated without regard to ownership. At September 30, 2002, 96% of the original equipment remained in the Registrant’s fleet, unchanged from December 31, 2001. The following chart summarizes the composition of the Registrant’s fleet (based on container type) at September 30, 2002.