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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 10-Q

 

x QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED MARCH 31, 2004 OR

 

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM              TO             .

 

Commission file number 000-22003

 


 

US UNWIRED INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Louisiana   72-1457316
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)   (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
901 Lakeshore Drive Lake Charles, LA   70601
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip code)

 

(337) 436-9000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

 


 

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

 

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

 

There were 128,920,585 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share, outstanding at May 1, 2004.



Table of Contents
          Page

Part I —    Financial Information     
Item 1.    Financial Statements     
     Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets    3
     Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations    4
     Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows    5
     Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements    6
Item 2.    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations    17
Item 4.    Controls and Procedures    26
Part II —    OTHER INFORMATION     
Item 1.    Legal Proceedings    26
Item 3.    Defaults in Senior Securities    27
Item 6.    Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K    27
Signatures
        28

 

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Part I      Financial Information

Item 1.    Financial Statements

 

US UNWIRED INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands)

     March 31,
2004


    December 31,
2003


 
     (Unaudited)     (Note 1)  
Assets                 

Current assets:

                

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 144,328     $ 97,193  

Restricted cash

     8,173       19,358  

Subscriber receivables, net

     34,270       28,687  

Other receivables

     3,093       2,625  

Inventory

     4,309       5,615  

Prepaid expenses and other assets

     17,676       14,833  

Receivables from related parties

     641       647  

Receivables from officers

     85       85  

Current assets related to discontinued operations

     156       1,049  
    


 


Total current assets

     212,731       170,092  

Property and equipment, net

     388,119       411,518  

Goodwill

     46,705       46,705  

Intangibles, net

     31,904       40,785  

Notes receivable from unconsolidated affiliates

     1,906       1,887  

Other assets

     33,421       42,571  

Non-current assets related to discontinued operations

     150       4,770  
    


 


Total assets

   $ 714,936     $ 718,328  
    


 


Liabilities and stockholders’ deficit                 

Current liabilities:

                

Accounts payable

   $ 42,902     $ 41,377  

Accrued expenses

     81,083       77,137  

Current maturities of long term obligations

     15,585       11,145  

Current maturities of long term obligations in default

     352,120       351,697  

Current liabilities related to discontinued operations

     373       49  
    


 


Total current liabilities

     492,063       481,405  

Long term obligations, net of current maturities

     428,314       434,745  

Long term obligations in default, net of current maturities

     —         —    

Deferred gain

     31,212       30,729  

Investments in and advances to unconsolidated affiliates

     2,547       1,216  

Stockholders’ deficit:

                

Common stock

     1,288       1,288  

Additional paid in capital

     654,947       654,899  

Retained deficit

     (895,425 )     (885,765 )

Promissory note

     —         (179 )

Treasury stock

     (10 )     (10 )
    


 


Total stockholders’ deficit

     (239,200 )     (229,767 )
    


 


Total liabilities and stockholders’ deficit

   $ 714,936     $ 718,328  
    


 


 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

 

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US UNWIRED INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except per share data)

(Unaudited)

 

     For the three months ended March 31,

 
     2004

    2003

 

Revenue:

                

Subscriber

   $ 101,781     $ 91,348  

Roaming

     31,083       26,607  

Merchandise sales

     8,324       6,186  

Other revenue

     423       589  
    


 


Total revenue

     141,611       124,730  

Expense:

                

Cost of service

     68,762       77,281  

Merchandise cost of sales

     14,285       9,185  

General and administrative

     7,927       7,260  

Sales and marketing

     22,589       25,844  

Non-cash stock compensation

     45       986  

Depreciation and amortization

     29,400       29,658  

IWO asset abandonment charge

     —         12,403  
    


 


Total operating expense

     143,008       162,617  
    


 


Operating loss

     (1,397 )     (37,887 )

Other income (expense):

                

Interest expense

     (24,520 )     (20,690 )

Gain on sale of assets

     (495 )     2  
    


 


Total other expense

     (25,015 )     (20,688 )

Loss from continuing operations before equity in income of unconsolidated affiliates

     (26,412 )     (58,575 )

Equity in income of unconsolidated affiliates

     116       180  
    


 


Loss from continuing operations

     (26,296 )     (58,395 )

Discontinued operations:

                

Gain on disposal of discontinued operations

     16,183       —    
    


 


Income from discontinued operations

     451       923  
    


 


       16,634       923  
    


 


Net loss

   $ (9,662 )   $ (57,472 )
    


 


Basic and diluted loss per share

                

Continuing operations

   $ (0.20 )   $ (0.45 )

Discontinued operations

     .13       —    
    


 


     $ (0.07 )   $ (0.45 )
    


 


Weighted average outstanding common shares

     128,845       128,832  
    


 


 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

 

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UNWIRED INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in thousands)

(Unaudited)

 

    

For the three months ended

March 31,


 
     2004

    2003

 
Cash flows from operating activities                 

Net cash provided by operating activities

   $ 12,851     $ 9,959  
Cash flows from investing activities                 

Proceeds from restricted cash

     11,186       11,035  

Proceeds from sale of assets

     41,565       350  

Distribution from unconsolidated affiliates

     500       —    

Payments for the purchase of equipment

     (5,226 )     (9,829 )
    


 


Net cash provided by investing activities

     48,025       1,556  
Cash flows from financing activities                 

Principal payments of long-term debt

     (13,741 )     (172 )
    


 


Net cash used in financing activities

     (13,741 )     (172 )
    


 


Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

     47,135       11,343  

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

     97,193       61,985  
    


 


Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

   $ 144,328     $ 73,328  
    


 


 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

 

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US UNWIRED INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

March 31, 2004

(UNAUDITED)

 

1. Basis of Presentation

 

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2004 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2004.

 

The condensed consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2003 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for complete financial statements. The condensed consolidated financial statements contained herein should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in the Form 10-K for US Unwired Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2003, filed on March 2, 2004 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Certain reclassifications have been made to the financial statements for the three-month period ended March 31, 2003 to conform to the presentation of the financial statements for the three-month period ended March 31, 2004.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

In January 2003, the FASB issued FASB Interpretation No. 46, “Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities—An Interpretation of Accounting Research Bulletin (ARB) No. 51” (“FIN 46”). This interpretation clarifies how to identify variable interest entities and how a company should assess its interests in a variable interest entity to decide whether to consolidate the entity. FIN 46 applies to variable interest entities created after January 31, 2003, in which a company obtains an interest after that date. Also, FIN 46 applies at the end of the first reporting period after March 15, 2004, to variable interest entities in which a company holds a variable interest that it acquired before February 1, 2003. The adoption of this interpretation did not have a material effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

 

In May 2003, the Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) modified its previous consensus to EITF 00-21 to clarify the scope of Issue 00-21 and its interaction with other authoritative literature. As permitted under the modified consensus, the Company adopted this modified consensus effective July 1, 2003 for all revenue arrangements entered into subsequent to June 30, 2003. EITF 00-21 addresses the determination of whether an arrangement involving more than one deliverable contains more than one unit of accounting and how the related revenues should be measured and allocated to the separate units of accounting. In applying this guidance, separate contracts with the same party, entered into at or near the same time, will be presumed to be a package, and the consideration will be measured and allocated to the separate units based on their relative fair values. The Company has reviewed EITF 00-21 and determined that the sale of handsets and future service under contract should be accounted for as separate units under EITF 00-21. As a result, the total consideration under these arrangements, including any related activation fees, is allocated between these separate units based on their relative fair values.

 

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2. Description of the Organization

 

US Unwired Inc. (the Company) is principally engaged in the ownership and operation of wireless communications systems in the Gulf States and Northeast regions of the United States. The Company is a network partner of Sprint PCS and has the exclusive right to provide digital PCS services under the Sprint and Sprint PCS brand names within the Company’s service areas.

 

The Company provides digital PCS services through its wholly owned subsidiaries: Louisiana Unwired LLC (“Louisiana Unwired”) and IWO Holdings, Inc. (“IWO”). Through January 2004, the Company provided regional cellular service in southwest Louisiana through Unwired Telecom Corporation (“Unwired Telecom”).

 

In February 2004, the Company consummated the sale of its cellular operations, which included certain cellular towers, for $21.5 million and recognized a gain of $16.2 million that has been recorded as a gain on the disposal of discontinued operations. In March 2004, the Company sold 81 cellular and PCS cell site towers for $9.8 million. Concurrent with the sale, the Company entered into operating leases for a portion of the antenna space on the sold towers from the buyer for an initial term of 10 years, renewable at the option of the Company for two additional ten-year terms at an initial rental of $1.4 million per year, increasing each year by 4% of the previous year’s rental. The Company recorded a deferred gain of approximately $1.8 million that will be recognized ratably over the initial 10-year term of the operating lease. Also during the three-month period ended March 31, 2004, the Company divested of other non-core assets including certain PCS licenses and a minority interest in an unconsolidated affiliate for $10.3 million and recorded a loss of $.5 million. The Company used $11.0 million of the $41.6 million in proceeds to partially repay the US Unwired senior bank credit facility. The accompanying consolidated financial statements reflect the Company’s cellular operations as a discontinued operation.

 

3. Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

US Unwired has a senior bank credit facility and senior subordinated discount notes. IWO has a senior bank credit facility and senior notes. Under the terms of these debt instruments, funds available under the US Unwired debt can only be used by US Unwired, and funds available under the IWO debt can only be used by IWO. US Unwired is not obligated for the payment of IWO’s debt, and IWO is not obligated for the payment of US Unwired’s debt.

 

US Unwired Liquidity

 

As of March 31, 2004, US Unwired had $108.1 million in cash and cash equivalents; availability under the US Unwired senior bank credit facility of $38.3 million; and indebtedness that consisted of $62.4 million related to the US Unwired senior bank credit facility, $371.1 million related to the US Unwired senior subordinated discount notes and $10.4 million in capital leases, promissory notes and vendor financing for a total of $443.9 million. See Note 6 for commitments and contingencies that may affect US Unwired’s liquidity. US Unwired must comply with certain financial covenants of the US Unwired senior bank credit facility and the US Unwired senior subordinated discount notes, and as of March 31, 2004, was in compliance with these financial covenants.

 

Based on its operating forecasts, the Company believes that US Unwired will be able to comply with the financial covenants of the US Unwired senior bank credit facility and senior subordinated discount notes and have sufficient cash to fund its operations, debt service and capital requirements over the next twelve months. However, US Unwired’s liquidity and ability to comply with these financial covenants is dependent upon a number of factors influencing forecasts of earnings and operating cash flows. These factors include subscriber growth, average monthly revenue per user (“ARPU”), customer turnover or “churn” and cost per gross addition (“CPGA”). These performance metrics are explained in the Management Discussion and Analysis section of this filing.

 

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IWO Liquidity

 

The Company has been unable to develop a business plan for IWO that provides sufficient cash to fund operations, debt service and capital requirements in 2004. The Company has been in discussions with the IWO creditors to arrive at an acceptable restructuring to preserve liquidity but has been unable to arrive at an acceptable plan. The Company anticipates seeking protection under bankruptcy in 2004.

 

As of March 31, 2004, IWO had $36.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and $8.2 million in restricted cash set aside for the IWO senior bank credit facility; and indebtedness that consisted of $213.2 million related to the IWO senior bank credit facility and $138.9 million related to the IWO senior notes for a total of $352.1 million. A portion of the original proceeds of the IWO senior notes offering was set aside as restricted cash and used to make the first six scheduled interest payments on the IWO senior notes through January 2004.

 

In March 2004, IWO failed to make the initial $2.3 million principal payment on the IWO senior bank credit facility and since March 31, 2003, IWO has failed to make $14.2 million in interest payments on the IWO senior bank credit facility. IWO was also not in compliance with its restrictive covenants under the IWO senior bank credit facility at March 31, 2004. As a result of IWO’s failure to make scheduled principal and interest payments and the covenant violations, IWO was in default of the IWO senior bank credit facility at March 31, 2004 and the holders of the senior bank credit facility have denied IWO access to the remaining $25.2 million of availability. As a result, the Company has classified all outstanding indebtedness of both the IWO senior bank credit facility and the IWO senior notes as a current liability.

 

As a result of liquidity challenges, IWO has made the decision to reduce capital expenditures for network expansion. Included in this reduction are cell sites that IWO is required to construct to meet the build out requirements under the IWO Sprint management agreement. Failure to complete the build out of the IWO service area will place IWO in violation of the IWO Sprint management agreement. As a result, Sprint PCS could declare IWO in default and take action up to and including termination of the IWO Sprint management agreement. At March 31, 2004, IWO’s construction in progress included $5.6 million primarily related to cell sites that IWO plans to complete and management estimates that completion of these cell sites will require approximately $11.1 million in additional costs to complete construction and place these sites in operation. IWO anticipates that only a portion of these sites will be completed in 2004.

 

Due to restrictions in the US Unwired debt instruments, US Unwired cannot provide any capital or other financial support to IWO. Further, IWO creditors, IWO lenders and IWO note holders cannot place any liens or encumbrances on the assets of US Unwired. Should the holders of the IWO senior bank credit facility place IWO in default, US Unwired’s relationship with IWO may change and several alternatives exist ranging from working for the holders of the IWO senior bank credit facility and the holders of the IWO senior notes as a manager of the IWO territory, possibly subject to the approval by Sprint PCS, to no involvement with IWO at all.

 

Considering IWO’s default of the IWO loan agreements and its liquidity as discussed above, there is substantial doubt about IWO’s ability to continue as a going concern.

 

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4. Details of Certain Balance Sheet Accounts

 

Major categories of property and equipment consisted of the following:

 

     March 31, 2004

   December 31, 2003

     (In thousands)

Land

   $ 754    $ 754

Buildings and leasehold improvements

     21,839      21,829

Facilities and equipment

     574,490      599,430

Furniture, fixtures and vehicles

     29,495      9,059

Construction in progress

     12,999      14,594
    

  

       639,577      645,666

Less accumulated depreciation and amortization

     251,458      234,148
    

  

     $ 388,119    $ 411,518