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FORM 10-K INDEX
PART IV



UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549


FORM 10-K

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

(Mark One)

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

 

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003

 

 

OR

o

 

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

Commission File No. 000-30271


PEC SOLUTIONS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation or organization)
  54-1339972
(IRS Employer Identification No.)

12730 Fair Lakes Circle, Fairfax, Virginia 22033
(Address of principal executive offices, zip code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (703) 679-4900
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Common Stock, $0.01 par value
(Title of Each Class)

        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 ý 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. o

        Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ý No o

        The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $198,975,964 based upon the closing price on the Nasdaq National Market on the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter (June 30, 2003).

        Number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of February 27, 2004 was: 27,308,207 shares.

Documents Incorporated By Reference:

        Part III—Proxy Statement for the 2004 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on May 19, 2004. Such proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after the Registrant's fiscal year ended December 31, 2003.





FORM 10-K
INDEX

        

 
   
PART I
ITEM 1   Business
ITEM 2   Properties
ITEM 3   Legal Proceedings
ITEM 4   Submission Of Matters To a Vote of Security Holders

PART II
ITEM 5   Market for the Company's Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters
ITEM 6   Selected Financial Data
ITEM 7   Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
ITEM 7A   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
ITEM 8   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
ITEM 9   Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
ITEM 9A   Controls and Procedures

PART III
ITEM 10   Directors and Executive Officers of the Company
ITEM 11   Executive Compensation
ITEM 12   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management
ITEM 13   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions
ITEM 14   Principal Accounting Fees and Services

PART IV
ITEM 15   Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, and Reports on Form 8-K
    Signatures

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PART I

Item 1. Business

Overview

        PEC Solutions, Inc. (www.pec.com) is a professional services firm providing high-end solutions that help government clients harness the power of the Internet and other advanced technologies to improve mission performance. We specialize in Web-Enabling Government® by providing secure, interoperable technology solutions for clients in homeland security, law enforcement, intelligence, defense, and civilian agencies within the federal government and at state and local levels. As a total solutions provider, we address the full technology lifecycle, including formulating technology strategies, creating business solutions, performing long-term operational management and continuing enhancement of the solution.

        Our clients have included every cabinet-level department of the federal government as well as numerous additional entities at the federal, state and local levels. This group includes a cross-section of civil, law enforcement, intelligence and judicial government organizations. Our largest clients include the Drug Enforcement Administration, EDS, the prime contractor for the Navy Marine Corps Intranet ("NMCI") program, the Department of Homeland Security, the Veterans Benefits Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. Since 1999, we have provided more than $585 million of services in the government market and have increased revenues at approximately a 34% compound annual growth rate.

        PEC Solutions, Inc. was originally incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia as Performance Engineering Corporation ("PEC") on June 25, 1985. On January 1, 2000, PEC was reincorporated under the laws of Delaware as PEC Solutions, Inc.

Industry Background

        Government has emerged in recent years as one of the leading purchasers of advanced technology solutions. The federal government's 2004 approved budget allocates $56.3 billion for information technology spending. According to INPUT, a research firm that tracks federal government spending trends, the federal government will spend $13.9 billion on information technology services by 2008, up from $10.3 billion in 2004. This represents a five-year compound annual growth rate of 6.56 percent.

Efforts to Improve Homeland Security and Mount Counter-Terrorism Programs will Stimulate Government Technology Spending

        We believe that the events of September 11, 2001, resulted in escalating priorities relating to the needs of the nation's law enforcement infrastructure, and in the broader areas of national defense and homeland security. The President's 2004 budget provides continued strong support for federal information technology spending. Much of the spending focuses on homeland security and electronic government. We believe that high-end technology solutions providers, with strong legacy practices and client bases in the agencies and government verticals relating to homeland security, law enforcement, intelligence and defense, could experience increases in demand as the federal market moves forward.

Government Reform is Driving Growth in Advanced Technology Spending

        We believe that political pressures and budgetary constraints are forcing government agencies at all levels to improve their processes and services and to operate more like commercial enterprises. Organizations throughout the federal, state and local governments are investing heavily in information technology to improve effectiveness, enhance productivity and extend new services in order to deliver

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increasingly responsive and cost-effective public services. We believe that Internet technologies provide an ideal solution to meet government's needs.

        Changes over the mid to late 1990's in federal government contract procurement and compliance regulations have streamlined the government's buying practices, resulting in a more commercial approach to the procurement and management of technologies and services. As a result, procurement lead times have decreased and government buyers now have greater flexibility to purchase services on the basis of distinguishing corporate capabilities and successful past performance. Federal government entities now are able to award contracts based on factors other than price alone, if they judge that the government would receive a greater value. In addition, the General Services Administration's extension of basic government-wide contract vehicles for procuring technology components and services, the GSA Schedules, makes purchasing technology services easier and faster. Federal government buyers can now order services directly from pre-approved providers instead of using a time-consuming bid solicitation process. We believe that these changes have improved our ability to successfully pursue business in the government market. There are currently no proposed changes to government procurement regulations that we believe will materially affect our business in the immediate future.

Government's Need to Outsource Technology Programs

        Government organizations rely heavily on outside contractors to provide skilled resources to accomplish technology programs. We believe that this reliance will continue to intensify due to political and budgetary pressures in many government agencies and due to the difficulties government faces in recruiting and retaining highly skilled technology professionals in a competitive labor market. In concert with its transition to more commercial practices, government is increasingly outsourcing technology programs as a means of simplifying the implementation and management of the technology, so that government workers can focus on their mission.

Technology Services Providers in the Government Sector

        Engagements in the government market can be broadly classified into four categories based on the type of services provided. Many companies provide a mix of services across these categories.

        First, at the low end, providing information technology staff augmentation at low hourly rates typically involves placing staff in client facilities. These engagements typically exhibit low operating margins and slow growth.

        Second, large-scale systems integration and outsourcing engagements typically involve assuming responsibility for acquiring, assembling and operating large inventories of equipment and software. Major portions of these engagements involve reselling commodity technologies at highly competitive fixed unit prices. These engagements typically exhibit moderate growth, but low operating margins.

        Third, large-scale systems development engagements involve providing full-service solutions that combine hardware, software development, system engineering and operations. These engagements typically exhibit moderate growth and operating margins.

        Fourth, at the high end, engagements involving high-value management consulting and development and integration of complex systems in core mission areas use specialized or emerging technologies such as the Internet and advanced security. These engagements typically exhibit strong growth and operating margins.

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Challenges in the Government Technology Services Sector

        Technology services providers face a unique combination of challenges when providing services to the government. These include:

Our Solution

        We are a high-end technology solutions provider that addresses the needs and particular challenges of the evolving government market by combining the following key elements in our solutions:

Total Solutions Provider Capabilities

        As a total solutions provider, we address the full technology lifecycle through our deep technical capabilities and extensive government domain knowledge. We possess a wide range of the specialized skills needed for government technology engagements including: strategic technology consulting; program management; system architectural design; network engineering; applications development; and systems integration, deployment and operational support. We relieve our clients of the details of the application and management of technologies so they can focus on their core competencies and mission. Our mission-critical solutions integrate an organization's back-office processes and legacy systems with customized applications, and enhance the interoperability and accessibility of critical enterprise data.

Extensive Government Domain Experience

        Our founders, who have worked together for more than 20 years in the government marketplace, have substantial technical and management backgrounds. Our management maintains close working relationships with our clients and an active role in our projects, resulting in consistent contract performance and broad recognition of our managers. Our consulting staff is knowledgeable in the government sector application of technology management policy formulation, acquisition strategy, business process re-engineering and best-value procurement methods.

Deep Technology Expertise

        We have expertise in the critical underlying infrastructure technologies necessary to support fully web-based enterprises, including security, intranets, applications development and enterprise management. We have direct experience with the legacy automation architectures found in government agencies, allowing us to craft solutions that take advantage of the substantial investments our clients have in legacy systems. Our employees have experience with emerging technologies, web-enabling tools and vendors such as Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, IBM/Lotus, IBM/Tivoli, Entrust and Linux.

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Reusable Solution Sets

        For portions of our business, we develop reusable solution sets that can be reapplied to requirements commonly encountered in our markets. We develop the software code and components comprising these reusable solution sets based on our government domain expertise. These solutions enable us to give our clients the benefit of our knowledge and experience in addressing complex mission challenges and to develop and implement solutions more quickly and efficiently. We focus our efforts on customizing solutions to meet our clients' specific needs and to deliver reliable solutions based on components that have been tested and perfected through repeated use.

The PEC Philosophy—Flexibility and Objectivity

        We retain the maximum possible flexibility in the systems and components that we use in our solutions by maintaining both strong established product credentials and substantial hands-on experience with emerging products. We focus on providing strategic and high-end technical service contributions to large programs, while assisting our clients to assemble, contract with and manage the vendors of commodity program elements. By remaining independent of specific vendors, we are able to work with providers that best serve the interests of our clients.

Our Strategy

        Our strategy is to continue to grow by capitalizing on our leadership position in the government technology solutions market. Our strategies for obtaining this objective include:

Maintaining Our Technology Leadership Position

        We will continue to focus on high-end engagements that require specialized knowledge of emerging technologies. We intend to maintain our technology leadership by recruiting employees who will add to our inventory of technology skills and by refining the skills and capabilities of our existing staff through training, certification and hands-on laboratory experimentation. We seek to work closely with our technology partners to share expertise and innovations and to stay well ahead of competitors in the practical aspects of applying and integrating emerging technologies.

Increasing Federal Government Market Penetration

        We endeavor to capitalize on our long-term relationships with government clients and our reputation within the government market to cross-sell our full range of services to our existing client base and to expand into organizations in the federal government for which we have not already performed services. We pursue these opportunities through a continued active sales and marketing effort and by continuing to promote the success stories stemming from our aggressive application of government technology solutions. We also strive to leverage our relationships with our technology providers and their sales resources to obtain new federal government clients.

Enhancing the PEC Solutions Brand and Culture

        We are implementing an aggressive program to build the identity and awareness of the PEC Solutions brand in order to improve our visibility in the marketplace and to attract the best and brightest employees. We seek to hire and retain outstanding professionals, provide incentives to achieve corporate goals and maintain a culture that fosters innovation. We will continue to emphasize professional development and training of our employees. We maintain an active internal communications program to promote a team culture and foster high employee morale. We also continue to emphasize our corporate technology infrastructure to facilitate the sharing of knowledge among our employees.

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Expanding Our Presence in State and Local Government and Selected Commercial Markets

        We attempt to leverage our domain expertise and deep technology skills for providing services to state and local governments. We also explore available opportunities to expand our business of web-enabling private sector organizations that operate in highly regulated industries and that have significant interactions with the government agencies with which we work. We believe our existing solution sets, such as case management systems, criminal suspect booking stations, and land and financial records automation, are applicable to projects at the state and local level, as well as at private sector organizations.

Undertaking a Disciplined Acquisition Program

        We are seeking to broaden our capabilities and client base and extend our geographic presence in state and local government markets by acquiring select businesses. Acquired businesses will perform similar technical work for organizations outside our current client base, will support solution sets that are consistent with and extend our web-enabling strategy, or will be located in geographic areas strategic to significant state and local governments and programs.

Our Services

        As a provider of government technology solutions, we offer a variety of services across the full technology lifecycle. These services include:

Strategy and Design

        We help clients develop the operational vision for integrated mission solutions, and formulate the business and execution plans for realizing imaginative, integrated and aggressive technology solutions. We develop sophisticated enterprise architectures—the technology blueprints and systematic guidance that allow enterprises to incrementally develop, migrate to and operate large-scale systems. By re-engineering government processes, we move organizations to an eGovernment environment. We perform economic analyses to weigh the costs of technology investment against the operational benefits expected from such technology implementation. We provide support to organizations that are executing programs to privatize large-scale information systems operations, or are undertaking far-reaching changes in their business models, such as migrating from appropriated to fee-for-service financial models.

Solutions Development and Implementation

        We develop, engineer and integrate computer hardware, commercial software, reusable solution sets, custom-built applications and networks to create integrated business solutions for our clients. Our emphasis on Internet technology allows us to combine leading-edge technologies with disciplined and effective system development methodologies. Our methods are designed to ensure that the technology fits with business processes and that users realize process improvement. We distinguish ourselves by addressing the core technical and business challenges in migrating large government enterprises to integrated eGovernment solutions. We build:

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Ongoing Systems Management and Enhancement

        We provide long-term, ongoing support for our solutions including the operation, management and enhancement actions necessary to keep solutions up-to-date with evolving business processes and technologies. We use sophisticated tools to reduce the burden and costs of maintaining large complex intranets, and to enhance whole systems without the need to deploy engineers and field service technicians to the operating locations of an enterprise. We operate highly automated enterprise technology management processes that support integration, configuration management, software distribution and user support, and allow clients to outsource the responsibilities for maintaining their technology infrastructures and applications. The results are reduced operating costs for our clients and improved performance and reliability.

Recent Developments

        On January 28, 2004, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the class action complaint that had been filed against us and certain of our officers. Plaintiffs have filed notice of appeal. In addition, an independent committee of the Board, which had received a demand letter to investigate the same charges, concluded after its investigation and based on its business judgement to reject the demand letter.

Sales and Marketing

        Our marketing efforts are focused on creating awareness of opportunities in government technology innovation, establishing PEC Solutions as a leader in this new category and building the PEC Solutions brand.

        We market and sell our services through multiple channels by using our business development staff, leveraging existing client relationships, capitalizing on our task order contracts, responding to competitive solicitations, attending marketing events and engaging in other public relations activities. We employ marketing research services to identify and track potential contract opportunities. We also cultivate relationships with leading-edge technology vendors, such as Microsoft and IBM, and prime contractors, such as EDS, to identify and obtain project leads consistent with our capabilities.

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        We employ a team selling approach, whereby our business developers collaborate with our service delivery professionals and management to identify prospects, conduct sales and manage client relationships. Our Director of Strategic Programs initiates and coordinates the activities of our business development staff. We allocate business developers to each of our business units who pursue new clients and programs across their market segments. Each current client is assigned to a relationship manager who is responsible for ensuring client satisfaction and successful project performance, and identifying new business opportunities with the client.

Culture, People and Recruiting

        We have developed a corporate culture that promotes excellence in job performance, respect for the ideas and judgment of our colleagues and recognition of the value of the unique skills and capabilities of our professional staff. We seek to attract highly qualified and ambitious staff. We strive to establish an environment in which all employees can make their best personal contribution and have the satisfaction of being part of a unique team. We believe that we have successfully attracted and retained highly skilled employees because of the quality of our work environment, the professional challenge of our assignments, and the financial and career advancement opportunities we make available to our staff.

        We occupy state-of-the-art facilities that are conducive to highly technical and collaborative work, while providing individual privacy. In our solutions centers, we configure large networks of leading-edge equipment and software, and provide our engineers and developers with advanced tools to evaluate and apply new technologies. We believe that the location, environment and amenities provided by our new Fair Lakes campus facility will contribute to our ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees.

        As of December 31, 2003, we had 1,223 personnel. Of our total personnel, 1,107 were consulting and service delivery professionals, and 116 were management and administrative personnel performing corporate marketing, human resources, finance, accounting, legal, internal information systems and administrative functions. None of our personnel is represented by a collective bargaining unit. As of March 15, 2004, comparative numbers were 1,220, 1,101 and 119, respectively.

        In addition to standard company benefits, we provide:

        We invest heavily in technical staff recruiting resources and hiring programs. Each of our business units is staffed with a dedicated recruiter, and we aggressively use a variety of recruiting methods, including advertising, job fairs, open houses and Internet-based career placement services. We also offer substantial awards and recognition to our current employees for referrals, which has been particularly effective in identifying and recruiting talented staff.

        We have developed an active and effective college recruiting program that draws on management staff and recent college hires from across our company to attract graduating students with strong academic backgrounds in our core disciplines. We currently target colleges and universities in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia with this program, and perform on-campus recruiting during the spring and fall recruiting seasons at five universities.

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Competition

        Our current competitors include, and may in the future include, the following:

        Many of our competitors have long operating histories and strong client relationships, greater financial, technical, marketing and public relations resources, larger client bases and greater brand or name recognition than we have.

        We believe that the major competitive factors in our market relate to a company's distinctive technical capabilities, successful past contract performance, reputation for quality and key management and marketing staff. Under best-value procurement methods, price is an important, but secondary, factor in the selection of a technology service provider.

Intellectual Property Rights

        Our success is dependent, in part, upon our proprietary processes, components and other intellectual property rights. We do not have any patents or patent applications pending. We rely on a combination of trade secret, nondisclosure and other contractual agreements, and copyright and trademark laws, to protect our proprietary rights. Existing trade secret and copyright laws afford us only limited protection. We enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees and our contractors and limit access to and distribution of our proprietary information. There can be no assurance that the steps we have taken in this regard will be adequate to deter misappropriation of our proprietary information or that we will be able to detect unauthorized use and take appropriate steps to enforce our intellectual property rights.

        A portion of our business involves the development of software applications for specific client engagements. Although ownership of client-specific software is generally retained by the client, we retain some rights to the applications, processes and intellectual property developed in connection with client engagements.

Backlog

        Our current funded backlog is approximately $76 million. Our contracts typically are funded incrementally, and therefore the funded backlog only represents that portion of the contract value. Funding occurs as work progresses. The federal civilian budget normally is signed before the end of the calendar year. The 2003 and 2004 Federal civilian budgets were not signed until the end of February 2003 and January 2004, respectively, which adversely effected the funding of contracts. Our average contract/task performance period runs between 10 to 12 months. Our backlog is typically subject to large variations from quarter to quarter as existing contracts/tasks are renewed or new contracts are awarded. Additionally, all federal government contracts, whether or not funded, may be terminated at the convenience of the government.

Environmental Issues

        We have not incurred any costs associated with environmental issues.

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Risk Factors

Risk Factors Related to Our Business

Substantially all of our revenues would be threatened if our relationships with agencies of the federal government were harmed

        Our largest clients are agencies of the federal government. If the federal government in general, or any significant government agency, uses less of our services or terminates its relationship with us, our revenues would decline substantially, and our business would be seriously harmed. During 2003, contracts with the federal government and contracts with prime contractors of the federal government accounted for approximately 93% of our revenues. During that same period, our ten largest clients, all agencies of the federal government, generated approximately 61% of our revenues, with the top five clients accounting for 41% of our revenues. We believe that federal government contracts are likely to continue to account for a significant portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future. The volume of work that we perform for a specific client, however, is likely to vary from year to year, and a significant client in one year may not use our services as extensively, or at all, in a subsequent year.

Major changes to the government's fundamental organization could negatively impact revenues

        The recent establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, the largest government reorganization since 1947, required new and enhanced oversight of technology spending programs at the numerous and disparate agencies being rolled into the new organization. In some cases, certain technology projects are being temporarily halted until an Office of Management and Budget review can be held to determine that technology spending will not be duplicated and thus wasted. This can materially impact our ability to begin or proceed on work for clients affected by the reorganization. Any future reorganization, or delays in technology spending that might result as the reorganization is implemented, could adversely impact company revenues.

Our government contracts may be terminated prior to their completion, and if we do not replace them, our operating results may be harmed

        We derive substantially all of our revenues from government contracts that typically are awarded through competitive processes and span a one year base period and one or more option years. The unexpected termination or non-renewal of one or more of our significant contracts could result in significant revenue shortfalls. Our clients generally have the right not to exercise the option periods. In addition, our contracts typically contain provisions permitting an agency to terminate the contract on short notice, with or without cause.

        Following termination, if the client requires further services of the type provided in the contract, there is frequently a competitive re-bidding process. We may not win any particular re-bid or be able to successfully bid on new contracts to replace those that have been terminated. Even if we do win the re-bid, we may experience revenue shortfalls in periods where we anticipated revenues from the contract rather than its termination and subsequent re-bidding. These revenue shortfalls could harm operating results for those periods.

Our lack of long-term contracts with clients and our relatively fixed operating expenses expose us to greater risk of incurring losses

        Our clients retain us on an engagement-by-engagement basis, rather than under long-term contracts. We incur costs based on our expectations of future revenues. Our operating expenses are relatively fixed and cannot be reduced on short notice to compensate for unanticipated variations in the number or size of engagements in progress. These factors make it difficult for us to predict our

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revenues and operating results. If we fail to predict our revenues accurately, it may seriously harm our financial condition and results of operation.

A reduction in or the termination of our services could lead to underutilization of our employees and could harm our operating results

        Our employee compensation expenses are relatively fixed. Therefore, if a client defers, modifies or cancels an engagement or chooses not to retain us for additional phases of a project, our operating results will be harmed unless we can rapidly re-deploy our employees to other engagements in order to minimize underutilization.

Failing to maintain strong relationships with prime contractors could result in a decline in our revenues

        We derived approximately 23% of our revenues during 2003 through our relationships with prime contractors, which, in turn, have contractual relationships with end-clients. One of our prime contractors, EDS (NMCI), accounted for approximately 9.5% of our revenues during 2003. We expect to continue to depend on these relationships for a material portion of our revenues in the foreseeable future. If any of these prime contractors eliminate or reduce their engagements with us, or have their engagements eliminated or reduced by their end-clients, we will lose a source of revenues, which, if not replaced, will adversely affect our operating results.

We must recruit and retain qualified professionals to succeed in our labor-intensive business

        Our future success depends in large part on our ability to recruit and retain qualified professionals skilled in complex information technology services and solutions, including encryption and other security systems. Such personnel are in great demand and are likely to remain a limited resource in the foreseeable future. Competition for qualified professionals is intense. Any inability to recruit and retain a sufficient number of these professionals could hinder the growth of our business.

We may lose money on fixed-price contracts if we miscalculate the resources we need to complete the contract

        We derived approximately 24% of our revenues in 2003 from fixed-price contracts. We anticipate a material portion of our future engagements will continue to be contracted at a fixed price. Unlike time and materials contracts, for which we are reimbursed based on our actual expenditures of resources, fixed-price contracts require us to price our contracts by predicting our expenditures in advance. If we miscalculate the resources we need to complete fixed-price engagements, our operating results could be seriously harmed because we are not compensated for the higher costs.

We could lose revenues and clients and expose our Company to liability if we fail to meet client expectations

        We create, implement and maintain technology solutions that are often critical to our clients' operations. If our technology solutions or other applications have significant defects or errors or fail to meet our clients' expectations, we may:

        While many of our contracts limit our liability for damages that may arise from negligent acts, errors, mistakes or omissions in rendering services to our clients, we cannot be sure that these contractual provisions will protect us from liability for damages if we are sued. Furthermore, our

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general liability insurance coverage may not continue to be available on reasonable terms or in sufficient amounts to cover one or more large claims, or the insurer may disclaim coverage as to any future claim. The successful assertion of any large claim against us could seriously harm our business. Even if not successful, such claims could result in significant legal and other costs and may be a distraction to management.

Security breaches in sensitive government systems could result in the loss of clients and negative publicity

        Many of the systems we develop involve managing and protecting information involved in law enforcement and other sensitive government functions. A security breach in one of these systems could cause serious harm to our business, could result in negative publicity and could prevent us from having further access to such critically sensitive systems or other similarly sensitive areas for other governmental clients. Losses that we could incur from such a security breach could exceed the policy limits that we have for "errors and omissions" or product liability insurance.

If we cannot obtain the necessary security clearances, we may not be able to perform classified work for the government and our revenues may suffer

        Government contracts require us, and some of our employees, to maintain security clearances. If we lose or are unable to obtain security clearances, the client can terminate the contract or decide not to renew it upon its expiration. As a result, to the extent we cannot obtain the required security clearances for our employees working on a particular engagement, we may not derive the revenue anticipated from the engagement, which, if not replaced with revenue from other engagements, could seriously harm our operating results.

We depend on our senior management team, and the loss of any member may adversely affect our ability to obtain and maintain clients

        We believe that our success will depend on the continued employment of our senior management team, including David Karlgaard, our Chief Executive Officer, Paul Rice, our Chief Operating Officer and Alan Harbitter, our Chief Technology Officer. This dependence is particularly important to our business because personal relationships are a critical element of obtaining and maintaining client engagements. If one or more members of our senior management team was unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, such persons would be difficult to replace and our business could be seriously harmed. Furthermore, clients or other companies seeking to develop in-house capabilities may hire away some of our key employees. Employee defections to clients or competitors would not only result in the loss of key employees but could also result in the loss of a client relationship or a new business opportunity. Any losses of client relationships could seriously harm our business.

We may not be able to successfully identify, manage and integrate future acquisitions, which may harm our operating results

        We may use a portion of the proceeds from public offerings and operations to acquire companies or businesses that are complementary to ours. However, we have no immediate plans or current agreements to acquire any additional companies or businesses, and we cannot assure you that we will identify appropriate acquisition candidates. If we do identify an appropriate acquisition candidate, we cannot assure you that we would be able to successfully negotiate the terms of an acquisition, finance the acquisition or integrate the acquired business into our existing business. Negotiations of potential acquisitions and the integration of an acquired business could disrupt our business by diverting management away from day-to-day operations. Further, failure to successfully integrate any acquisition may cause significant operating inefficiencies and adversely affect our profitability. Consummating a merger could require us to raise additional funds through additional equity or debt financing. Additional equity financing could result in further dilution of the per share value of your stock.

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Additional debt financing could force us to accept contractual limitations that could harm our ability to grow.

Audits of our government contracts may result in a reduction in revenues we receive from those contracts or may result in civil or criminal penalties that could harm our reputation

        Federal government agencies routinely audit government contracts. These agencies review a contractor's performance on its contract, pricing practices, cost structure and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. An audit could result in a substantial adjustment to our revenues because any costs found to be improperly allocated to a specific contract will not be reimbursed, while improper costs already reimbursed must be refunded. If a government audit uncovers improper or illegal activities, we may be subject to civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspension or debarment from doing business with federal government agencies. In addition, we could suffer serious reputational harm if allegations of impropriety were made against us.

We may be liable for penalties under a variety of procurement rules and regulations, and changes in government regulations could slow our growth or reduce our profitability

        We must comply with and are affected by federal government regulations relating to the formation, administration and performance of government contracts. These regulations affect how we do business with our clients and may impose added costs on our business. Any failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could result in contract termination, price or fee reductions or suspension or debarment from contracting with the federal government. Further, the federal government may reform its procurement practices or adopt new contracting methods relating to the GSA schedule or other government-wide contract vehicles. If we are unable to successfully adapt to those changes, our business could be seriously harmed.

Our failure to adequately protect our confidential information and proprietary rights may harm our competitive position

        While our employees execute confidentiality agreements, we cannot guarantee that this will be adequate to deter misappropriation of our confidential information. In addition, we may not be able to detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property in order to take appropriate steps to enforce our rights. If third parties infringe or misappropriate our copyrights, trademarks or other proprietary information, our competitive position could be seriously harmed. In addition, other parties may assert infringement claims against us or claim that we have violated their intellectual property rights. Such claims, even if not true, could result in significant legal and other costs and may be a distraction to management.

Changes to federal government procurement rules and regulations could impact revenues

        While the government procurement changes of the mid-1990s generally benefited companies servicing the federal government (such as government agencies being able to award outsourcing contracts based on "best value" over lowest price), any future changes that sought to limit or reduce government outsourcing, perhaps, for example, bringing more technology systems work "in-house," could have a negative impact on company revenues.

Continued involvement in Iraq, or other nations, could impact federal government spending on our civilian and defense programs

        Although our work focuses primarily on our clients' mission-critical programs, continued involvement in Iraq or a war in another country could change the federal government's spending

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priorities for domestic and military programs. Spending on our clients' programs could also be negatively impacted by Congress's unwillingness to pass the necessary appropriation bills required to pay for a war effort.

Risks Factors Related to the Government Technology Solutions Market

Competition could result in price reductions, reduced profitability and loss of market share

        Competition in the market for government technology solutions is intense. If we are unable to differentiate our services from those of our competitors, our revenue growth and operating margins may decline. Many of our competitors are larger and have greater financial, technical, marketing and public relations resources, larger client bases and greater brand or name recognition than us. Our larger competitors may be able to provide clients with additional benefits, including reduced prices. We may be unable to meet those prices, which may cause us to lose business and market share. Alternatively, we could decide to meet the lower prices, which could harm our profitability. If we fail to compete successfully, our business could be seriously harmed.

        Our current competitors include, and may in the future include, the following:

        Current and potential competitors also have established or may establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties to increase their ability to address client needs. Accordingly, it is possible that new competitors or alliances among competitors may emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share. In addition, some of our competitors may develop services that are superior to, or have greater market acceptance than, the services that we offer.

Our business will be harmed if government agencies are unwilling to replace or supplement expensive legacy systems

        Government agencies have spent substantial resources over an extended period of time to develop computer systems and to train their personnel to use them. These agencies may be reluctant to abandon or supplement these legacy systems with Internet and other advanced technology systems because of the cost of developing them or the additional cost of re-training their personnel. Such reluctance would make it more difficult to acquire new engagements which would harm our business prospects.

Our growth will be harmed if a viable market for government technology services is not sustained

        We cannot be certain that a viable government market for Internet and other advanced technology services will be sustainable. If this market is not sustained and we are unable to refocus our services on the private sector market or other in-demand technologies, our growth would be negatively affected. Although government agencies have recently increased focus on and funding for technology initiatives, we cannot be certain that these initiatives will continue in the future. Budget cutbacks or political changes could result in a change of focus or reductions in funding for technology initiatives, which, in turn, could seriously harm our revenues.

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Risks Related to the Ownership of Our Common Stock

Our quarterly revenues and operating results could be volatile and may cause our stock price to fluctuate

        Our quarterly revenues and operating results may fluctuate significantly in the future. In particular, if the federal government does not adopt a budget for its fiscal year beginning on October 1, federal agencies may be forced to suspend our contracts due to a lack of funding. Consequently, we may realize lower revenues in the quarter ending December 31. Further, the rate at which the Federal government procures technology may be negatively affected following changes in Presidential administrations and in senior government officials. As a result, our operating results could be volatile and difficult to predict and period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be a good indication of our future performance.

        A significant portion of our operating expenses, such as personnel and facilities costs, are fixed in the short term. Therefore, any failure to generate revenues according to our expectations in a particular quarter could result in reduced income in the quarter. In addition, our quarterly operating results may not meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors, which in turn may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

Our officers and directors directly own 53.0% of our stock and can control matters submitted to stockholders for their approval

        Our directors and executive officers directly own, in the aggregate, 53.0% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these stockholders will be able to exercise control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership may also have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of PEC Solutions.

We have various mechanisms in place that may prevent a change in control that stockholders may consider favorable

        Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of PEC Solutions that stockholders may consider favorable. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws:

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        In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years after the person becomes an interested stockholder.

Website Access to Reports

        Our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and other information, including our Ethics Policy, can be found on the PEC Solutions website (www.pec.com). Information on our website does not constitute part of this report.

        We make available free of charge, on or through our Internet website, as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed or furnished to the SEC, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934.

Item 2. Properties

        Our operations occupy approximately 365,000 square feet of space located in Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church and Norfolk, Virginia; Baltimore and Columbia, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; San Diego, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Trevose, Pennsylvania. We also have employees working at client sites throughout the United States. The large majority of the space is office space, all of which is leased. For lease commitment information, reference is made to Note 15 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. Existing facilities are considered to be generally suitable and adequate for our present needs. We have a 48% equity interest in the company that owns our newest building in Fairfax, Virginia. Future contracts may require us to lease additional office space in other cities located in the United States.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

        On and after March 18, 2003, several purported class action complaints were filed against us and certain of our officers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The complaints allege that between October 22, 2002 and March 14, 2003, the defendants made, or were aware of, false and misleading statements which had the effect of inflating the market price of our stock, in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaints were consolidated into a single action on June 13, 2003. The complaint was dismissed by the Court on January 28, 2004. Plaintiffs have filed notice of appeal. In addition, a stockholder's legal counsel sent a letter of demand that the Board of Directors investigate the same charges addressed in the class action suit. An independent committee of the Board concluded after its investigation and based on its business judgement to reject the demand letter.

        On September 11, 2003, we instituted a lawsuit in the United States District Court of Minnesota against NCS Pearson, Inc. for improperly withholding payment of funds owed to us under a subcontract, we contend that NCS Pearson has no legal basis to justify the withholding of payment and we are seeking recovery of $6.3 million in unpaid receivables plus interest and costs. The proceedings are moving according to schedule.

Item 4. Submission of Matters To a Vote of Security Holders

        None

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PART II

Item 5. Market for the Company's Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters

        At February 27, 2004, we had approximately 7,100 holders of record of our common stock. We had 27,308,207 shares of common stock outstanding. Our stock began trading on the Nasdaq National Market on April 20, 2000 under the symbol "PECS". The following high and low sale prices indicated for our common stock are as reported on the Nasdaq National Market during each of the quarters indicated.

 
  High
  Low
2003 Quarter Ended:            
December 31   $ 18.760   $ 13.780
September 30   $ 22.990   $ 14.406
June 30   $ 16.380   $ 11.730
March 31   $ 33.140   $ 9.050

2002 Quarter Ended:

 

 

 

 

 

 
December 31   $ 38.250   $ 21.940
September 30   $ 27.690   $ 17.050
June 30   $ 28.690   $ 18.750
March 31   $ 44.440   $ 22.050

        In April 2000, we commenced and completed a firm commitment underwritten initial public offering of 3,000,000 shares of our common stock at a price of $9.50 per share. The shares were registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-95331), which was declared effective on April 19, 2000. The public offering was underwritten by a syndicate of underwriters led by Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation, Chase Securities Inc., Legg Mason Wood Walker, Incorporated; and DLJdirect Inc. as their representatives. After deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $2 million and expenses of approximately $0.9 million, we received net proceeds of $25.6 million. We have used approximately $23 million of this amount to fund acquisitions and the balance to fund a portion of our investment in the limited liability company that owns our corporate headquarters building.

        We expect to retain future earnings, if any, for use in the operation and expansion of the business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

        None

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Item 6. Selected Financial Data

        Our selected consolidated financial data for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002, 2001 2000 and 1999 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. The 2003, 2002 and 2001 information should be read in conjunction with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior period financial statements to conform to the presentation used in our December 31, 2003, consolidated financial statements.

 
  1999
  2000
  2001
  2002
  2003
 
  (in thousands of dollars, except per share data)

Operating Results:                              
Revenues   $ 53,202   $ 68,305   $ 109,213   $ 182,185   $ 172,043
Gross profit (a)     22,793     30,996     48,797     74,908     69,681
Operating income     8,975     10,211     19,262     34,878     27,922
Net income     5,639     7,272     13,067     22,254     17,241
Earnings per share (b)(c)                              
  Basic     0.33     0.34     0.54     0.84     0.64
  Diluted     0.24     0.30     0.47     0.75     0.58
Financial Position:                              
Cash and cash equivalents   $ 7,981   $ 14,656   $ 30,436   $ 21,176   $ 33,401
Working capital     13,311     43,182     83,627     93,336     106,256
Total assets     24,400     61,400     141,707     192,291     210,371
Long-term obligations (including long-term debt and capital leases)             2,937     22,822     23,062
Total stockholders' equity     15,283     50,700     118,428     147,344     168,582
Cash dividends declared per common share   $ 0.023                

(a)
Gross profit represents revenues less direct costs, which consist primarily of project personnel salaries and benefits and direct expenses incurred to complete projects.

(b)
Per share amounts for all periods presented have been adjusted to reflect the 3 for 1 stock split in January 2000 and the 2 for 1 stock split in March 2000.

(c)
See footnote 3. "Goodwill and Intangibles" of the financial statements to see the impact of acquisitions on the financial results.

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

        This Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation section includes "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While forward-looking statements sometimes are presented with numerical specificity, they are based on various assumptions made by management regarding future circumstances over many of which we have little or no control. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect" and similar expressions. We caution readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation, those relating to future business prospects, revenues, working capital, liquidity, and income, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that would cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements include the concentration of our revenues from the U.S. Government and its agencies and departments (the "Government"), risks involved in contracting with the government, difficulties we may have in attracting, retaining and managing professional and administrative staff, fluctuations in quarterly results,

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risks related to acquisitions, risks related to competition and our ability to continue to win and perform efficiently on Government contracts, and other risks and factors identified from time to time in the reports we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including those identified under the caption "Risk Factors" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated or projected.

Overview

        We are a professional services firm specializing in high-end solutions that help government organizations capitalize on the Internet and other advanced technologies. We migrate paper-intensive procedures to web-enabled processes using eGovernment solutions that help our clients enhance their productivity and improve the services they offer to the public. As a total solutions provider, we address the full technology lifecycle, including formulating technology strategies, creating business solutions, performing long-term operational management and continuing enhancement of the solution.

        As part of our growth strategy, we have completed acquisitions of Viking Technology, Inc. ("Viking") on August 28, 2000, Troy Systems, Inc. ("Troy") on November 20, 2001 and the contracts and employees of Vector Research, Inc. ("Vector") on June 14, 2002. These business combinations were accounted for as purchases. See "Acquisitions".

        In 2003, our revenues were adversely affected by the late passage and signing of both the 2003 and 2004 federal civilian budgets.

        We derive substantially all of our revenues from fees for consulting services. We generate these fees from contracts with various payment arrangements, including time and materials contracts, fixed-price contracts and cost-reimbursable contracts. During 2003, revenues from these contract types were approximately 58%, 24% and 18%, respectively, of total revenues. We expect this approximate mix of business to continue in 2004. We typically issue invoices monthly to manage outstanding accounts receivable balances. We recognize revenues on time and materials contracts as the services are provided. We recognize revenues on fixed-price contracts using the percentage of completion method as services are performed over the life of the contract, based on the costs we incur in relation to the total estimated costs. We recognize and make provisions for any anticipated contract losses. However, if the contract has a service element, revenues are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the contract. In certain arrangements, we enter into contracts that include the delivery of a combination of two or more of our service offerings. Typically, such multiple-element arrangements incorporate the design, development or modification of systems and an ongoing obligation to manage, staff, maintain, host or otherwise run solutions and systems provided to the client. Such contracts are divided into separate units of accounting and the total arrangement fee is allocated to each unit based on its relative fair value. Revenue is recognized separately, and in accordance with our revenue recognition policy, for each element. Fixed- price contracts are attractive to clients, and while subject to increased risks, provide opportunities for increased margins. We recognize revenue on cost-reimbursable contracts as services are provided. These revenues are equal to the costs incurred in providing these services plus a proportionate amount of the fee earned. While our margins are lower on cost-reimbursable contracts we have historically recovered all of our costs on these contracts, which means we have lower risk.

        Our historical revenue growth is attributable to various factors, including an increase in the size and number of projects for existing and new clients. Existing clients from the previous fiscal year generated approximately 93% of our revenues in 2003, approximately 86% of our revenues in 2002 and approximately 71% of our revenues in 2001. We manage our client development efforts through each of our strategic service groups, each having specific client responsibility and focus. As of December 31, 2003, we had 1,223 personnel and on February 27, 2004 we had xx personnel.

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        In 2003, we derived approximately 23% of our revenue through relationships with prime contractors, which contract directly with the end-client and subcontract with us. With the exception of the EDS (NMCI) subcontract, in most of these engagements, we retain full responsibility for the end-client relationship and direct and manage the activities of our contract staff.

        During 2003, we had one customer that accounted for more than 10% of our total revenue. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Special Projects Division accounted for 11% of the revenue.

        Our most significant expense is direct costs, which consist primarily of project personnel salaries and benefits, and direct expenses incurred to complete projects. Our direct costs as a percentage of revenues are also related to the utilization rate of our consulting employees. We manage utilization by frequently monitoring project requirements and timetables. The number of consulting employees assigned to a project will vary according to the size, complexity, duration and demands of the project.

        General and administrative expenses consist primarily of costs associated with our executive management, finance and administrative groups, human resources, unassigned consulting employees, employee training, occupancy costs, depreciation and amortization, travel and all other branch and corporate costs.

        Sales and marketing expenses include the costs of sales and marketing personnel and costs associated with marketing and bidding on future projects.

        Other income consists primarily of interest income earned on our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and income from our investment in our corporate headquarters building.

Acquisitions

        On August 28, 2000, we acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of Viking for $2.0 million cash plus the assumption of debt in a business combination accounted for as a purchase. Viking was a provider of integrated software and advanced technology solutions to state and local law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical service agencies. The excess of purchase price over the fair value of the net assets was approximately $3.6 million. At the time of the acquisition, Viking had 20 personnel.

        On November 20, 2001, we acquired all of the outstanding common shares of Troy for $15.3 million of cash and common stock valued at $3.0 million in a business combination accounted for as a purchase. Troy derived revenue from system development, networking, engineering, integration services, and information systems security and its primary customer was the federal government. The excess of purchase price over the fair value of the net assets was approximately $9.9 million. At the time of the acquisition, Troy had 354 personnel.

        On June 14, 2002, we acquired the contracts and employees of Vector for $5.7 million cash plus the assumption of $0.1 million in accrued liabilities. Vector was a provider of technology development and engineering services to the federal government. The excess of purchase price over fair value of the net assets was approximately $4.3 million. At the time of the acquisition, Vector had 41 personnel.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Estimates

        The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires that management make estimates and assumptions affecting the assets and liabilities (including contingent assets and liabilities) reported at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the revenues and expenses reported for the periods presented. Actual amounts could differ from those estimates. Management bases its estimates on historical experience, current data, information related to performance and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the

21



circumstances. Those measurements that are most affected by management's estimates of future events are:

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Results of Operations

        The following table sets forth certain financial data as a percentage of total revenues for the periods indicated.

 
  Year Ended December 31,
 
 
  2001
  2002
  2003
 
Statement of Operations Data:              
Revenues   100.0%   100.0%   100.0%  
Direct costs   55.3   58.9   59.5  
   
 
 
 
  Gross profit (a)   44.7   41.1   40.5  
   
 
 
 
Operating costs and expenses:              
  General and administrative expenses   22.3   18.6   20.7  
  Sales and marketing expenses   4.0   3.0   3.1  
  Amortization of goodwill and intangibles   0.7   0.4   0.5  
   
 
 
 
  Total operating costs and expenses   27.0   22.0   24.3  
   
 
 
 
Operating income   17.7   19.1   16.2  
Investment and other income   1.9