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Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

 

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

 

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 0-18291

 


 

U.S. HOME SYSTEMS, INC.

(Name of Issuer Specified in Its Charter)

 

Delaware   75-2922239
(State of Incorporation)   (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

750 State Highway 121 Bypass, Suite 170

Lewisville, Texas

 

75067

(Zip Code)

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)    

 

(214) 488-6300

(Issuer’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

 


 

Securities registered under Section 12 (b) of the Exchange Act:

None

 

Securities registered under Section 12 (g) of the Exchange Act:

$.001 Par Value Common Stock

(Title of Class)

 

Indicate by check mark whether the issuer (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act 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 ¨

 

As of March 18, 2005, 7,889,843 shares of the Issuer’s $.001 par value common stock were outstanding.

 

The aggregate market value of the shares of common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant computed by reference to the closing price as of the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, June 30, 2004, was $40,343,120.

 

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. ¨

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an “accelerated filer” (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12-b2). Yes ¨ No x

 

The following documents are incorporated by reference: Portions of the Registrant’s proxy statement pertaining to the Registrant’s 2005 annual meeting of stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.

 



Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page

PART I

   1

BUSINESS

   1

Overview

   1

Our Business Strategies

   2

Expand Our Product Distribution and Grow Our Business Through Our Relationship with The Home Depot

   2

Build Market Share through Strategic Acquisitions and Organic Growth

   2

Grow Our Consumer Finance Segment

   3

Home Improvement Business

   3

Products and Services

   3

Kitchen Refacing

   3

Bathroom Refacing

   3

Replacement Windows

   3

Wood Decks

   3

Marketing and Sales

   4

Manufacturing and Installation

   5

Kitchen, Baths and Windows

   5

Wood decks

   5

Competition

   6

Raw Materials

   6

Warranties

   6

Customer Payment

   6

Seasonality

   7

Our Material Agreements

   7

The Home Depot Relationship

   7

The Universal Forest Products License Agreement

   8

The Universal Forest Products Supply Agreement

   8

Century 21 Agreement

   8

The Renewal by Andersen Corporation Relationship

   9

Our Consumer Finance Business

   9

General

   9

Underwriting and Credit Policies

   10

Service and Collection

   10

Portfolio Characteristics

   10

Marketing and Sales

   11

Competition

   11

Environmental and Government Regulations

   11

Employees

   12

Risks Factors

   12

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

   17

PROPERTIES

   18

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

   18

SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

   18

PART II

   19

MARKET FOR COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND DIVIDEND POLICY

   19

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

   20

 

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     Page

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATION

   21

Overview

   21

Results of Operations

   22

Results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2004 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2003

   22

Management’s Summary of Results of Operations

   23

Interior Products

   23

Exterior Products

   24

Consumer Finance

   26

Home Improvement Operations – Detailed Review

   26

Consumer Finance Segment

   29

Discontinued Operations

   31

Results of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2003 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2002

   32

Home Improvement Operations

   33

Consumer Finance Segment

   35

Off-balance Sheet Arrangements

   37

Liquidity and Capital Resources

   37

Critical Accounting Policies

   41

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

   41

Inventories

   42

Finance Receivables Held for Investment and Loan Losses

   42

Goodwill

   42

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

   42

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

   43

CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

   43

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

   43

PART III

   44

DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

   44

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

   44

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

   44

Equity Compensation Plans

   44

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

   45

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

   45

PART IV

   45

EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, SCHEDULES AND REPORTS ON FORM 8-K

   45

SIGNATURES

   51

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

   F-1

INDEX OF EXHIBITS

   IOE-1

 

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PART I

 

BUSINESS

 

Overview

 

We are engaged in two lines of business, the home improvement business and the consumer finance business. In our home improvement business, we manufacture or procure, design, sell and install custom quality, specialty home improvement products. These products are marketed under nationally recognized brands such as The Home Depot Installed Decks, The Home Depot Kitchen and Bathroom Refacing, Century 21 Home Improvements, Century 21 Cabinet Refacing, and under our Facelifters brand. Our home improvement products are marketed through a variety of sources including television, direct mail, marriage mail, magazines, newspaper inserts, home shows, selected neighborhood canvassing, and in-store displays at selected The Home Depot stores. Our home improvement operations include two reporting segments, the interior products segment and the exterior products segment. In our interior products segment, our product lines include kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and cabinet refacing products, countertops, replacement windows and patio doors. In our exterior products segment, our product line includes wood decks and related accessories.

 

We manufacture certain of our kitchen cabinet refacing products, bathroom cabinetry and custom countertops at our Charles City, Virginia facility. We operate 21 kitchen and bath sales and installation centers (three of which also provide replacement window products) in 12 states serving 15 major U.S. remodeling markets and maintain a marketing center in Boca Raton, Florida. We manufacture the components for our wood decks utilizing non-arsenic pressure treated lumber at our Woodbridge, Virginia, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, Westboro, Massachusetts and Bridgeport, Connecticut facilities, which also serve as deck sales and installation centers.

 

Our consumer finance business purchases retail installment obligations, or RIOs, from residential remodeling contractors throughout the United States, including RIOs originated by our own home improvement operations. As of December 31, 2004, we owned and serviced a RIO portfolio having a principal balance of approximately $41.0 million with a weighted average remaining term of approximately 106 months. We do not purchase RIOs that have a principal balance of more than $50,000 or a term longer than 240 months. The availability of this financing program provides our home improvement operations with a consistent and reliable financing source and enables us to offer a broad range of credit products to our customers and other remodeling contractors.

 

Since October 2003, our home improvement operations have engaged in an aggressive expansion program in connection with our agreements with The Home Depot. We believe our relationship with The Home Depot is a significant factor to the achievement of our business strategy and long-term growth. Our current business strategy is to become a principal vendor of wood decks, and kitchen and bath refacing products to The Home Depot in designated markets. During 2005 we intend to concentrate our efforts and to allocate our personnel and capital resources to continue the expansion of the roll out of wood decks, and kitchen and bath refacing products in designated The Home Depot stores.

 

Our principal offices are located at 750 State Highway 121 Bypass, Suite 170, Lewisville, Texas 75067, and our telephone number is (214) 488-6300. Our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol “USHS”. Except as otherwise indicated by the context, references in this annual report to “we”, “us”, “our”, or the “Company” are to the combined business of U.S. Home Systems, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

 

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Our Business Strategies

 

Our objective is to grow our home improvement and consumer finance businesses. We intend to pursue this objective through the following business strategies:

 

Expand Our Product Distribution and Grow Our Business Through Our Relationship with The Home Depot

 

In selected markets, we market and sell our wood decks and our kitchen and bathroom refacing solutions to The Home Depot customers. We currently offer our wood deck products and services in over 240 Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern The Home Depot stores. In October 2004, The Home Depot awarded us ten additional markets, primarily in the Midwest United States, in which we will sell, furnish and install our wood deck systems to The Home Depot customers. In support of our plan to expand our relationship with The Home Depot in these ten new markets, we entered into a Supply and Rebate Agreement (Supply Agreement) with Universal Forest Products, Inc. (Universal) whereby we granted a limited license to Universal to manufacture pre-engineered component deck parts and related accessory products for us. As a result of the Supply Agreement, it will not be necessary for us to open manufacturing plants to accomplish our roll out into these new markets. Additionally, in certain markets where we have existing interior products operations, or where expansion markets are common to both our interior and exterior products, which include Milwaukee, St. Louis and Minneapolis, we plan to leverage a single infrastructure for our products. Consequently, we believe that the Supply Agreement will substantially reduce our capital outlay and start up expenses in these new markets. We anticipate that our deck products and services will be offered to The Home Depot customers in approximately 485 The Home Depot stores by year end 2005.

 

We are also the exclusive provider of kitchen and bathroom refacing products and related installation services in approximately 323 The Home Depot stores in designated markets in California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington. In September 2004, we expanded our kitchen refacing service agreement with The Home Depot to add the Phoenix, St. Louis, Las Vegas and Milwaukee markets (which comprise approximately 75 The Home Depot stores). We will begin offering our kitchen refacing products to The Home Depot customers in these markets in the first quarter of 2005. By the end of 2005, we anticipate that our kitchen refacing products and services will be available to customers in approximately 395 The Home Depot stores.

 

Our relationship with The Home Depot provides us with a significant distribution channel for our products. By combining the brand name recognition and distribution presence of The Home Depot with our manufacturing and installation programs, we believe we have the opportunity to profitably grow sales of our wood decks, kitchen and bathroom refacing products. We will continue to seek opportunities to expand our relationship with The Home Depot into new geographic markets and to add new products in our The Home Depot distribution channel.

 

Build Market Share through Strategic Acquisitions and Organic Growth

 

As we enter new markets under The Home Depot name, we may consider strategic acquisitions that will provide us sales, marketing, installation or manufacturing synergies, as well as additional products which we may be able to offer The Home Depot customers. We believe that an opportunity exists to acquire related and complementary businesses in the fragmented residential remodeling industry. The residential remodeling industry is characterized by a proliferation of small local competitors, a need for growth capital, and a potential for significant economies of scale.

 

Although our current business strategy is to dedicate our capital and human resources to grow our business through our relationship with The Home Depot, we may seek other opportunities to enter new markets where we do not service The Home Depot through strategic acquisitions and organic growth. Since 2001, we have made several acquisitions, the most significant of which were First Consumer Credit, Inc. or FCC, and USA Deck. We believe our expansion through acquisitions has been managed and controlled, and each acquisition has been effectively integrated into our operations.

 

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Grow Our Consumer Finance Segment

 

We recently changed our consumer finance business model to implement a strategy of holding RIOs that we purchase from residential remodeling contractors rather than packaging them for sale to credit institutions. We believe this new strategy provides us with the opportunity to earn finance charges for the life of the RIO, as opposed to the lesser, one-time premium that we previously earned upon the sale of our RIO portfolios. We executed on this strategy by entering into a $75 million secured credit facility that has enabled us to accumulate approximately $41.0 million of RIOs at December 31, 2004. This credit facility will increase our ability to finance RIOs and originate relationships with new contractors. Our new strategy provides us with the flexibility to offer sales-enhancing credit programs to our home improvement customers as well as the customers of our existing residential remodeling contractors.

 

Home Improvement Business

 

Products and Services

 

In our home improvement business, we manufacture or procure, design, sell and install custom quality, specialty home improvement products. Our specialty product lines include kitchen refacing, bathroom refacing, replacement windows and wood decks.

 

Kitchen Refacing: Kitchen remodeling includes replacement kitchen cabinetry and kitchen cabinet refacing. Cabinet refacing is a remodeling technique in which existing cabinetry framework is retained but all exposed surfaces are changed. Under our cabinet refacing system, cabinet doors, drawers, drawer fronts, and drawer boxes are replaced, all hardware is replaced, and all exposed cabinet surfaces are covered with matching veneer or laminate. We also provide laminate and Corian countertops, matching valances, molding, replacement sinks, faucets, add-on or replacement cabinets, space organizers, lazy susans and slide-out shelving. Our cabinet refacing products, excluding wood doors and wood drawer fronts, Corian countertops, sinks, hardware and faucets, are manufactured in our Charles City, Virginia facility. Cabinet refacing provides consumers with a lower-cost alternative to total cabinet replacement.

 

Bathroom Refacing: Our bathroom remodeling products include acrylic tub liners and wall surrounds, vanity cabinetry refacing and replacement vanity cabinets, bowls, faucets, commodes and shower doors. With the exception of the vanity cabinetry refacing and the replacement vanity cabinets, we purchase these bathroom remodeling products from unaffiliated suppliers and perform all installation services.

 

Replacement Windows: We purchase our replacement vinyl windows from unaffiliated non-branded suppliers and perform the installation services for our customers.

 

Wood Decks: We are an exclusive provider of wood decks and related accessories to The Home Depot customers in selected markets. We have developed a solution for the fabrication and installation of wood decks and deck enclosures. We believe that we are the only U.S. company that has developed and applied the concepts of modular designed, pre-engineered, factory built, quality decks that are typically installed in one to two days. We operate a sales, manufacturing and lumber treatment facility in Woodbridge, Virginia and two additional wood deck sales centers collectively serving the Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: and Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia markets. We also operate three regional sales, manufacturing and installation centers in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, Westboro, Massachusetts and Bridgeport, Connecticut and a deck sales and installation center in Chicago, Illinois to support our wood deck sales to The Home Depot customers in these markets. Our The Home Depot customers are able to choose from one of our 12 Designer Deck models or customize their own deck of choice.

 

The major components of a Designer Deck system include:

 

   

Our Wood-on-Wood Understructure and Foundation: Outdoor decks are exposed to constant “wet to dry” and “freezing to thawing” cycles, which cause expansion and contraction not present in interior

 

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construction. These extreme climate-related conditions could cause problems such as cracking, buckling and structural failure when decks are constructed using joist hangers. Using our patented Wood-on-Wood understructure (no metal joist hangers) and pre-cured foundation system, we are able to solve these problems and provide a safe, durable deck for our customers.

 

    Invisanail Deck Flooring: Due to our use of pre-engineered and manufactured components, we are able to eliminate unsightly and dangerous nail heads that often rust and rise up from a deck’s surface. We accomplish this through our patented Invisanail fastening technique in which deck modules are nailed and fastened underneath the deck. This unique fastening system eliminates nail head exposure on the surface of a deck, creating a safer and more attractive deck.

 

The following chart summarizes the percentage of our consolidated revenues that each of our product lines accounted for during the last three fiscal years.

 

    

Percent of Revenues

Year ended

December 31,


 

Product Lines


   2004

    2003

    2002

 

Kitchen Refacing

   56 %   52 %   72 %

Bathroom Refacing

   12 %   14 %   13 %

Replacement Windows

   1 %   2 %   3 %

Wood Decks

   24 %   26 %   2 %

 

Marketing and Sales

 

Our home improvement products are marketed under nationally recognized brands such as The Home Depot Installed Decks, The Home Depot Kitchen and Bathroom Refacing, Century 21 Home Improvements, Century 21 Cabinet Refacing, and under our Facelifters brand.

 

The following chart summarizes the brands under which our products are marketed.

 

Product Lines


  

Brands(1)


Kitchen Refacing

  

The Home Depot Kitchen Refacing

Century 21 Home Improvements

Century 21 Cabinet Refacing

Facelifters

Bathroom Refacing

  

The Home Depot Bathroom Refacing

Century 21 Home Improvements

Century 21 Cabinet Refacing

Facelifters

Replacement Windows

   Century 21 Home Improvements

Wood Decks

   The Home Depot Installed Decks

(1) Brands vary by geographical market.

 

We market our home improvement products through a variety of sources including television, direct mail, in-store displays, marriage mail, magazines, newspaper inserts, home shows and selected neighborhood canvassing. We maintain a marketing center in Boca Raton, Florida where we receive in-bound calls in response to our media advertising for kitchen and bathroom products, and we make outbound calls to selected prospects who have requested to be contacted. Our marketing center personnel follow prepared scripts and schedule in-home sales presentations.

 

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Although not contractually required to promote or advertise our products, The Home Depot is currently marketing our products by including them in its “You Can Do It. We Can Help” program. We provide in-store displays in each The Home Depot store including full color brochures. In addition to this in-store marketing campaign, we also conduct neighborhood canvassing programs and advertising in other forms of media.

 

Our sales representatives conduct their in-home sales presentation in accordance with our structured marketing programs. We utilize computer software to monitor responses and sales results of our sales staff, including tabulating results of in-home presentations on a daily basis. Such information provides data upon which we evaluate each sales representative’s performance. We continually strive to improve the rate at which our sales professionals convert appointments into sales orders.

 

Manufacturing and Installation

 

We manufacture cabinet refacing, custom countertops, bathroom cabinetry, and wood deck products and perform the installation of these products for our customers.

 

Kitchen, Baths and Windows: We manufacture our cabinet fronts, including cabinet doors, drawers, drawer fronts and laminate countertops, and cabinets faced with high-pressure laminate or thermo foil at our facility in Charles City, Virginia. Certain components, including wood cabinet doors, wood drawer fronts, Corian countertops, sinks, hardware and faucets, acrylic tub liners and wall surrounds, and vinyl replacement windows, are purchased from third-party suppliers.

 

With the exception of our operations in California, and occasional warranty and other service work, independent contractors who meet our qualifications perform most of our kitchen, bath and window installations. Contractors employ their own personnel and are required to maintain their own vehicles, equipment, tools, licenses, workers compensation coverage and general liability insurance. Contractors assume full financial risk in their performance of an installation. We issue to our contractors a work order, which specifies all work to be performed pursuant to the sales agreement, for each of our remodeling projects. The contractor can then pick up all necessary materials for the project at our local branch office. In our California operations, we utilize employee installation crews.

 

Kitchen, bath and window installations are generally completed within 55 to 60 days after a sales agreement is signed, and within three to five workdays from commencement of the installation. Upon completion, the installation crew obtains a certificate of completion signed by the customer and returns all documentation and excess materials to us. We pay the installer upon receipt of the completion certificate for each job. Fees paid by us to subcontractors for an installation are based upon an amount negotiated between the contractor and us. We have specific pay rates for our employee installation crews.

 

Wood decks: To serve our deck customers in selected The Home Depot markets, we manufacture the components of our deck products at our manufacturing facilities located in Woodbridge, Virginia, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, Westboro, Massachusetts and Bridgeport, Connecticut.

 

In September 2004, we granted to Universal Forest Products, or Universal, a limited license to manufacture pre-engineered component deck parts and related accessory products to support our expansion into The Home Depot markets in the Midwest United States. We anticipate that our agreement with Universal will substantially reduce the capital outlay required to expand our deck operations in the new The Home Depot markets. We also intend to purchase pre-engineered deck component parts from Universal to support, on an as needed basis, sales of decks to The Home Depot customers in our other The Home Depot markets.

 

We have developed a patented system for the fabrication and installation of high quality decks. Included in the manufacturing process are our patented factory built Wood-on-Wood understructure and foundation, our Invisanail deck flooring system, our railing systems manufactured to customers’ specifications and our

 

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pre-assembled stairway and accessories product lines. Our deck patents include “Invisanail,” a unique fastening system in which deck modules are nailed from underneath to prevent the checking and cracks that often mar top-nailed decks. In addition, the module deck components we fabricate drop into understructure notches, eliminating the need for metal joist hangers.

 

Our decks are installed by our employee installation crews, typically comprised of three members. All of our crew members are trained thoroughly prior to performing installations, including completing a seven-part training course covering all aspects of Designer Deck installation. Our unique system of deck manufacturing and installation reduces the need for highly skilled, custom deck carpenters. Rather, we emphasize training professional deck assemblers, a strategy that enables us to expand into new geographic markets without the higher cost, and often scarcity, of skilled labor. Deck installations are typically completed within 60 days from the receipt of the order, and usually completed in two days upon commencement of the installation.

 

Competition

 

We face significant competition in our respective markets. Reputation, price, workmanship and level of service are among the differentiating factors within the industry. We compete with numerous home improvement contractors and home center retailers in each of the markets in which we operate, including Sears, Sam’s Warehouse Club and Lowe’s and, in some markets, The Home Depot. As we implement our business strategy, we anticipate that we will face greater competition from home center retailers who have significantly more capital resources than we have. Increased competition could result in pricing pressures, fewer customer orders, reduced gross margins, loss of market share and decreased demand for our products and services. In addition to home improvement contractors and home centers, competition for our deck products comes from other specialty or franchise wood deck contractors, both pressure treated and other types, as well as non-wood alternatives, such as composites and plastics.

 

Raw Materials

 

We are not dependent upon a single source for our principal raw materials, and such raw materials have, historically, been readily available. Raw materials used in the manufacturing and installation process, including solid surface countertops, are purchased from several suppliers at prices that are periodically negotiated. We believe that such materials are, and will continue to be, available from numerous suppliers at competitive prices. We purchase lumber utilized in our lumber treatment and deck manufacturing facility in Woodbridge, Virginia, and pre-treated lumber for our Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, Westboro, Massachusetts and Bridgeport, Connecticut facilities from local suppliers at current market prices which are subject to price fluctuations. We believe that we will be able to purchase an adequate supply of non-arsenic treated lumber from local suppliers at competitive prices in the new markets we enter pursuant to the roll-out of our deck program with The Home Depot.

 

Warranties

 

For our kitchen and bathroom products, in addition to the manufacturer’s warranty for defective materials, we provide each customer a one-year limited warranty covering workmanship and, under certain of our agreements, a limited warranty covering defective materials. For our window products, in addition to the manufacturers warranty for defective materials, we provide a warranty for labor. We require each of our independent contractors to correct defective workmanship for a 12-month period.

 

For our deck products, we provide a one-year warranty covering defective workmanship, a three-year warranty on structure and a limited lifetime warranty against rot, decay and termites.

 

Customer Payment

 

Our customers, including The Home Depot, pay for their home improvement products and services upon completion of the project. Except for The Home Depot, payments are made in cash, by personal check, or credit cards, or by financing facilitated by FCC. The Home Depot pays us by check. FCC does not facilitate financing for The Home Depot customers.

 

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Seasonality

 

Our business is subject to seasonal trends. The generation of sales orders for our kitchen, bath and replacement window products typically declines in the last six weeks of the year during the holiday season, which negatively impacts our first quarter revenues and net income. The generation of sales orders for our wood deck products typically declines in the last quarter of the year through the first two months of the following year, which negatively impacts our fourth and first quarter revenues and net income, respectively.

 

Extreme weather conditions in the markets we serve occasionally impact our revenues and net income.

 

Our Material Agreements

 

The Home Depot Relationship. In August 2003, we entered into a one-year pilot program with The Home Depot to be the exclusive provider of kitchen cabinet refacing products and related installation services in approximately 240 The Home Depot stores in designated markets in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. In May 2004, we amended our kitchen products agreement with The Home Depot to extend the term to May 2006 and to add approximately 83 stores to this program in designated markets in Michigan and Minnesota. In September 2004, we expanded our kitchen cabinet refacing service agreement with The Home Depot to add the Phoenix, St. Louis, Las Vegas and Milwaukee markets (which comprise approximately 75 The Home Depot stores). We will begin offering our kitchen refacing products to The Home Depot customers in these markets in the first quarter of 2005. By the end of 2005, we anticipate that our kitchen refacing products and services will be available to customers in approximately 395 The Home Depot stores. During the term of the program, we are not allowed to enter into any similar agreements with specified competitors of The Home Depot. The agreement may be terminated by either party with thirty days’ written notice upon a breach by either party of any obligation under the pilot program agreement it such breach is not remedied within 30 days. Unless the agreement is terminated or extended, it will automatically renew on a month-to-month basis.

 

In February 2004, we entered into a one-year pilot program with The Home Depot whereby we will provide custom designed, installed bathtub liners and wall surrounds and related services to approximately 130 The Home Depot stores in the Los Angeles and San Diego, California and Denver Colorado markets. In May 2004 we amended this agreement with the Home Depot to extend the term to May 2006 and to add approximately 193 stores to this program in designated markets in California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington. The terms of our bathroom refacing agreement are similar to our kitchen refacing agreement with The Home Depot, except that the marketing fee which The Home Depot receives in this program is slightly higher than as provided in our kitchen refacing program with The Home Depot. Our bathroom refacing pilot program provides that we will be the exclusive provider to The Home Depot customers in the designated stores of our bathroom products and services.

 

In August 2003, as a result of the completion of a pilot program with The Home Depot in selected Mid-Atlantic markets, we amended our wood deck sales and installation agreement with The Home Depot to extend the term of the agreement to October 2005 and to add new markets. Pursuant to the agreement, we sell, furnish and install wood deck systems to The Home Depot customers in over 240 The Home Depot stores in the metropolitan areas of Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Maryland, Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia, Boston, Massachusetts, Hartford, Connecticut and the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On October 5, 2004, we further amended our deck agreement with The Home Depot to add ten additional markets, primarily in the Midwest United States, in which we will sell, furnish and install wood deck systems to The Home Depot customers. We began offering our deck products to The Home Depot customers in the Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison market in January 2005 and expect the rollout in the other nine markets to be completed by year end 2005. We anticipate that our deck products and services will be available to The Home Depot customers in approximately 485 The Home Depot stores by year end 2005. Additionally, the amended agreement provides that our subsidiary, USA Deck, will be the exclusive provider of wood deck products and installation services for The Home Depot in the markets served by USA Deck. We have agreed to refrain from offering our wood deck products in any The Home Depot markets, including markets which our products are not currently being sold, to

 

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other retailers, or other parties, or under the name or trademarks of any other party, without The Home Depot’s consent. Our deck agreement automatically renews for additional one year terms. Either party may terminate the agreement at any time by giving the other party not less than sixty days written notice of intent to terminate as of January 1 of the calendar year following the date of the notice.

 

Although not required by the terms of our agreements, The Home Depot assists us with the marketing of our products and services by including them in its marketing programs and by providing us with sales leads generated by our in-store displays and The Home Depot marketing programs. We also provide in-store displays of our products and services, and training to The Home Depot sales personnel for marketing of our products and services, and we follow up sales leads with in-home visits to potential customers. Sales contracts generated with The Home Depot customer leads are between the customer and The Home Depot. However, we provide the products, labor and installation services necessary to complete customer orders generated by The Home Depot sales leads and we are required to make necessary repairs to address any customer complaints or warranty claims. Each of our The Home Depot agreements provides that The Home Depot will receive a marketing fee, similar to a sales commission, based upon a specified percentage of the gross revenues collected from customers as payment for our products and services. We record this fee as a marketing expense in our financial statements.

 

The Universal Forest Products License Agreement. In 2003, we entered into a Proprietary Information Licensing Agreement, or the Licensing Agreement, with Universal Forest Products, Inc., or Universal. The seven year Licensing Agreement provided Universal the exclusive use of certain of our intellectual property including manufacturing and installation methods, deck design methods, marketing and sales methods, trademarks, and the right to fabricate and manufacture decks under our patents. The Licensing Agreement was limited to certain geographical markets in which Universal provides wood deck solutions to The Home Depot customers pursuant to a separate agreement between Universal and The Home Depot. The Licensing Agreement required Universal to pay us royalties based upon Universal’s sales from these products. During the second through seventh year of the Licensing Agreement, Universal agreed to pay us a guaranteed minimum royalty if certain annual sales of deck products were not obtained by Universal. In addition, Universal paid us an up-front licensing assistance fee of $150,000.

 

On September 27, 2004, Universal and we mutually agreed to terminate the Licensing Agreement. Pursuant to the termination provisions, Universal paid us a termination fee of $25,000. Effective with termination of the Licensing Agreement, we recognized as other revenues the remaining unamortized balance of the initial licensing fee.

 

The Universal Forest Products Supply Agreement. In September 2004, we entered into a Supply and Rebate Agreement, or the Supply Agreement, with Universal whereby we granted a limited license to Universal to manufacture pre-engineered component deck parts and related accessory products for us. Either party may terminate the Supply Agreement by giving the other party 30 days’ written notice of its election to terminate.

 

Universal agreed to rebate to us annually an amount equal to 1% of our purchases of deck products and to pay us an advance of $75,000 against future rebates which will be credited against the advance until actual rebates equal the advance. If the Supply Agreement is terminated by us prior to our having earned the rebate advance, the unearned portion shall be repaid to Universal.

 

We believe that the Supply Agreement will eliminate the need to build and equip a manufacturing facility required by us to expand our deck operations in The Home Depot markets which we will enter in 2005. We also intend to purchase pre-engineered deck component parts from Universal to support, on an as needed basis, sales of decks to The Home Depot customers in certain markets currently being served by us.

 

Century 21 Agreement. In March 1997, we entered into a license agreement with TM Acquisition Corp., granting us the exclusive right to use certain “CENTURY 21” trademarks in connection with our marketing, selling, furnishing and installation of kitchen cabinet and bathroom refacing products and services, and

 

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replacement window products and services in certain designated markets, The agreement expires in March 2007 unless earlier terminated pursuant to the terms of the agreement, which includes our failure to meet minimum revenue requirements as described in the agreement. As compensation for the use of the trademarks, we are obligated to pay TM Acquisition Corp. a royalty based upon our sales of our products and services in the specified markets. We do not expect that this agreement will be renewed when it expires in 2007.

 

The Renewal by Andersen Corporation Relationship. On September 26, 2001, we entered into a retailer agreement, or the Retailer Agreement, with Renewal by Andersen Corporation, or RbA, to be the exclusive retailer of RbA brand window and patio door products in the Los Angeles market under the trade name “Renewal by Andersen of Southern California.” The agreement was scheduled to expire on December 31, 2006, subject to earlier termination in accordance with its terms. On November 11, 2004, we and RbA mutually agreed to terminate the Retailer Agreement to be effective as of December 31, 2004. In light of our current business strategy to become a principal vendor of wood decks, and kitchen and bath refacing products to The Home Depot, we believe that the sale and installation of RbA window and patio doors in a single designated market is not compatible with our current business and growth strategy.

 

We have agreed that for a period of two years from the completion date of an RbA product installation for a customer, we will perform (or have others perform) any services necessary to fulfill our installation warranty for our RbA customers. Except for our two-year service obligation for which we have accrued $25,000, neither we nor RbA shall have any liability to the other party for any compensation, loss recoupment or damage, asserted on any basis, as a result of the termination of the RbA Agreement.

 

As a result of the termination of the RbA agreement, our consolidated financial statements for all prior periods have been adjusted to reflect the RbA operating results as a discontinued operation. For the years ended December 31, 2004, 2003 and 2002, sales of RbA products were $4,859,000, $4,611,000 and $2,142,000, respectively.

 

Our Consumer Finance Business

 

General

 

We purchase RIOs from residential remodeling contractors throughout the United States, including RIOs originated by our own home improvement operations. The availability of this financing program provides our home improvement operations with a consistent and reliable source for our customers’ financing needs and enables us to offer a broad range of credit products to our customers and residential remodeling contractors that we believe may not otherwise be available to them from traditional financing sources.

 

In the first quarter of 2003, we changed our consumer finance business model to implement a strategy of holding RIOs we purchase from pre-approved residential remodeling contractors rather than packaging them for sale to credit institutions. We expect this strategy will provide us with greater earnings potential in the long-term, because we will earn finance charges for the life of the RIO, as opposed to the lesser, one-time premium that we previously earned upon the sale of the RIOs. To facilitate this change, in February 2003, we entered into a $75 million secured credit facility. The credit facility provides us with a capital source to further expand our consumer finance business by increasing the amount of RIOs financed for existing residential remodeling contractors and by originating relationships with new contractors. The credit facility also provides us the flexibility to offer sales-enhancing credit programs to our home improvement customers as well as the customers of our residential remodeling contractors. The credit facility provides financing for 90% of the amount of eligible RIOs purchased, and we are required to provide the remaining 10%. The credit facility is secured by the RIOs. We only purchase RIOs for owner-occupied single family and multi-family units. We do not purchase loans associated with commercial properties.

 

Our credit facility restricts us from purchasing RIOs from home improvement contractors unless the contractors meet certain eligibility standards as specified in our credit facility. The RIOs we purchase must also

 

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meet certain minimum credit and other underwriting criteria as provided in our credit facility. Additionally, we must provide our lender with a monthly statement reporting the amount of secured and unsecured RIOs, charge offs, delinquencies and other portfolio characteristics. We believe that our compliance with the underwriting, collection and reporting requirements under our credit facility coupled with our internal credit and collection policies provides us with adequate controls to effectively manage credit risks relating to our RIO portfolio.

 

Prior to obtaining the credit facility, we typically held RIOs for less than three months before selling our portfolio of RIOs to financial institutions under negotiated purchase commitments, We earned a one-time premium upon each sale and, in most cases, retained the collection and servicing of the RIOs for the purchaser. Although our strategy is to now hold RIOs for the remaining term of the obligation, we may sell a portion of our RIOs from time to time as we deem necessary to obtain additional working capital or to pay down our credit facility.

 

Underwriting and Credit Policies

 

Prior to approving the purchase of each RIO, we utilize underwriting criteria primarily based upon a customer’s credit score as reflected on reports issued by several credit reporting agencies. In addition to a customer’s credit and bankruptcy scores, we evaluate job stability, time in residence and, if a secured RIO, property value.

 

We utilize credit scores generated by several credit reporting agencies as a credit evaluation tool. The credit score allows financial institutions to make credit-related decisions based on the likelihood that the credit obligations of a borrower will be paid as expected. The credit score is a predictive measure that represents the probability that a borrower will timely repay the credit obligation over a given time period and is primarily based on the individual borrower’s credit history.

 

Although we may have a security interest in the customer’s property, we primarily rely on the creditworthiness of the customer. Our unsecured RIO customers are subject to more stringent underwriting standards and require higher credit scores than our secured RIO customers.

 

Upon receipt of a RIO application from an approved contractor, we thoroughly review all items for accuracy. The customer and the contractor sign a certificate confirming completion of the project and satisfaction of the customer with the associated residential improvement work. We contact every applicant via telephone to independently confirm contract terms and successful project completion.

 

Service and Collection

 

We historically negotiated commitments with banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions for the sale of our RIO portfolios. We currently buy and hold RIOs, collecting finance charges and servicing them for the life of the RIO.

 

Portfolio Characteristics

 

At December 31, 2004, we owned and serviced a RIO portfolio having a principal balance of approximately $41.0 million. Approximately $30.1 million, or 73% of our RIO portfolio, was secured by the underlying residential property and the remaining 27% of the portfolio is unsecured. Of the $41.0 million portfolio, approximately $7.3 million was originated by our own home improvement operations. As of December 31, 2004, the weighted average credit score for our portfolio was 660 and our average RIO balance was approximately $6,296 with a weighted average maturity of 106 months. Our credit facility prohibits us from purchasing a secured RIO with a principal balance of more than $50,000 or a term longer than 240 months or an unsecured RIO with a balance of more than $20,000 or term longer than 180 months. In addition, we are prohibited under our credit facility from purchasing an unsecured RIO with a credit score less than 640 or a secured RIO with a credit score of less than 580.

 

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Marketing and Sales

 

Sales representatives conduct our principal consumer finance marketing and sales activities. We call on prospective contractors and participate in industry trade shows. We maintain relationships with over 100 home improvement contractors, which generally supply a consistent flow of RIO purchase opportunities. We plan to further expand our core business by developing new relationships with additional home improvement and remodeling contractors.

 

Competition

 

The home improvement consumer finance industry occupies a niche market that involves extending credit to customers of residential remodeling contractors. Many regional and local banks and other entities extend this type of credit to consumers through various credit programs. Our consumer finance business competes with three general groups of home improvement financing providers: regional and local banks; larger national financial institutions; and specialty/niche companies.

 

Regional and Local Banks: Regional and local banks represent the largest of the three groups and tend to focus on highly qualified, solid “A” rated customers as measured by the customer’s credit score.

 

Larger National Financial Institutions: GE Credit and Key Funding, a division of Key Bank, are the major national players in this category. The interest rates for these credit products are usually higher than many of the other products in the industry, but are attractive because they are easy to obtain and use.

 

Specialty/Niche Companies: This category of companies, which includes us, offers a variety of credit products that focus upon a specific segment of the home improvement financing market either by varying rates, product structure, customers, or security. A majority of these companies act as brokers in these transactions by buying the RIOs from the contractors and then reselling them to other financial institutions. This was the model that we employed prior to implementing our current strategy of buying and holding the RIOs.

 

Environmental and Government Regulations

 

Generally, our activities and the activities of our sales representatives and contractors are subject to various federal and state laws and regulations and municipal ordinances relating to, among other things, in-home sales, consumer credit financing, advertising, the licensing of home improvement contractors, building permits, zoning regulations, environmental protection, safety and health. For example, purchasers of our products in an in-home setting are often afforded under Federal Trade Commission rules and various state consumer protection statutes relating to door-to-door sales, a “cooling off’ period of three or more business days in which to rescind their transaction. We are also subject to various state and federal laws related to telemarketing, including the National Do Not Call Registry which is part of the Federal Trade Commission Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Federal Communication’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act. We have procedures designed to comply with such laws and regulations. We do not anticipate any difficulty in complying with applicable federal, state or local laws and regulations relating to our home improvement business operations.

 

Our consumer finance business is subject to various federal and state credit and lending regulations governing installment sales and credit transactions, relating to, among other things, required permits and licenses, usury, restrictions on amount of credit transaction fees charged to consumers, allowance for cancellation by consumers for a stated period of time after the credit transaction, required delivery to consumers of detailed information of the terms of the credit transaction and written disclosures to consumers of their legal rights and remedies for breach by lender or its assigns of applicable federal and state credit and lending statutes and regulations. Our consumer finance operations are subject to, for example, the Consumer Credit Protection Act, Truth In Lending Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Home Owners Equity Protection Act and regulations issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The RIOs we purchase are also subject to the statutes and regulations relating to consumer credit sales existing in

 

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the state in which the RIO originated. Depending on the coverage afforded consumer credit sales within a state’s regulatory framework, and the structure of the credit transaction, we may also be subject to certain states’ small loan or mortgage lending statutes. We have procedures designed to comply with such laws and regulations. We do not anticipate any difficulty in complying with applicable federal, state or local laws and regulations relating to our consumer finance business.

 

Employees

 

At December 31, 2004, we had approximately 648 employees, including 39 employees engaged in marketing activities, 189 sales representatives, 192 manufacturing and installation employees, and 178 management and administrative personnel.

 

Risks Factors

 

Termination of our initiatives with The Home Depot would reduce our revenues, net income and available liquidity

 

Since October 2003, our home improvement operations have engaged in an aggressive expansion program in connection with our agreements with The Home Depot. We believe our relationship with The Home Depot is a significant factor to the achievement of our business strategy and long-term growth. Our current business strategy is to become a principal vendor of wood decks, and kitchen and bath refacing products to The Home Depot in designated markets. During 2005 we intend to concentrate our efforts and to allocate our personnel and capital resources to continue the expansion of the roll out of wood decks, and kitchen and bath refacing products in designated The Home Depot stores.

 

During the year ended December 31, 2004 approximately 42% of our home improvement revenues were attributable to sales under our agreements with The Home Depot of which 20% of our revenues were attributable to sales and installations of wood decks, 21% were derived from kitchen cabinet refacing product sales and 1% were related to the sale of bath refacing products and services.

 

Our wood deck agreement with The Home Depot may be terminated by either party on January 1st of each year upon 60 days prior notice, and may be terminated by The Home Depot on 60 days’ notice if we fail to comply with certain service standards under the agreement. If this agreement is terminated prior to the end of its term or is not renewed at the end of its term, whether as a result of our failure to fulfill our obligations under the agreement or The Home Depot’s decision to change its business strategy, our net income and liquidity may be reduced because our revenues from this program would not be realized at anticipated levels and those revenues may not be sufficient to meet expenses incurred in connection with the roll-out. Additionally, we would be required to focus our wood deck sales efforts on new distribution channels, and it is likely that the capital investment in our wood deck manufacturing, sales and installation facilities in support of expansion of our The Home Depot relationship would be impaired, which may require a write-down of assets.

 

Pursuant to our kitchen and bath refacing agreements with The Home Depot, we will continue to expand the offering of our products in new The Home Depot markets in 2005. In order to meet the requirements of these expansion programs, we will need to establish additional sales and installation centers to support our roll-out in these new markets. If these agreements are cancelled or not renewed at the end of their term, we would be required to seek alternative channels of distribution for our kitchen cabinet and bathroom refacing products and installation services in the markets covered by these agreements. Additionally, our net income and liquidity may be reduced because our anticipated revenues from these programs would likely not be realized at anticipated levels and may not be sufficient to cover expenses incurred in connection with these programs. If these agreements are cancelled or not renewed at the end of their term our investment in additional sales centers may be impaired, which may require a write-down of assets.

 

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Lower than anticipated revenues or higher than anticipated costs associated with our agreements with The Home Depot could reduce our net income and available liquidity and limit our ability to further expand our relationship with The Home Depot

 

Lower than anticipated revenues or higher than anticipated expenses associated with our roll-out into new markets under our agreements with The Home Depot could reduce our net income and liquidity. Lower than anticipated revenues from our agreements with The Home Depot could result from an inadequate supply of prospective customer leads or reduced demand for our products. The Home Depot is not contractually required to promote or advertise our products. If we are unable to secure a sufficient quantity of prospective customers, or if sales are less than anticipated due to reduced demand for our products and services, our revenues, net income and liquidity could be adversely effected. Additionally, unanticipated delays in implementing the roll-out into new markets due to factors that may include difficulties in attracting and training an adequate work force could result in less than anticipated sales levels.

 

Higher than anticipated expenses from the roll-out into new The Home Depot markets could result from various factors, including increased or higher than anticipated labor costs, real estate costs for new sales and manufacturing facilities, or higher than anticipated expenses for machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures, product displays or inventory. If we are unable to maintain adequate liquidity, we may not be able to completely meet our obligations of our roll-out programs or take advantage of future opportunities The Home Depot may present to us.

 

Our failure to obtain a significant number of customer leads under our relationship with The Home Depot would negatively impact our revenues and earnings

 

Our home improvement operations are characterized by the need to continuously generate prospective customer leads. Historically, we have generated all our customer leads through our internal marketing efforts. Although not required by the terms of our agreements, The Home Depot assists us with the marketing of our products and services by including them in its marketing programs and by providing us with customer leads generated by our in-store displays and The Home Depot marketing programs. We provide the in-store displays of our products and services, and training to The Home Depot sales personnel for marketing of our products and services, and we follow up customer leads with in-home visits to potential customers. As part of our strategy to grow our business with The Home Depot, our revenues and income are largely dependent on our, and The Home Depot’s, marketing programs to generate prospective customer leads. While management is optimistic about the success of our current programs, and new programs we will develop, there can be no assurances that our, or The Home Depot’s, marketing programs will produce a sufficient quantity and quality of prospective customer leads. The failure to obtain a sufficient number of customer leads would have a material adverse impact on our revenues and earnings.

 

Difficulties in meeting our installation staffing needs could impair our ability to complete projects on time, which could in turn hurt customer relationships and reduce revenues

 

To fulfill our growth expectations, we must engage and retain a sufficient number of qualified installers. Historically, during periods of strong economic growth and low unemployment, we experience greater difficulty in meeting our installation needs. Our inability to engage and retain qualified installers may impede our ability to timely complete our home improvement projects which could reduce our revenues and impair our relationships with our customers and strategic partners.

 

If our agreement with Century 21 is terminated, we would lose a distribution channel for our products which could result in decreased revenues and net income

 

We market a portion of our kitchen and bath products to consumers under a license agreement with a subsidiary of Century 21 Real Estate Corporation. During the year ended December 31, 2004, approximately 33% of our home improvement revenues were derived from sales of home improvement products and services under the Century 21 brand names.