10-Q 1 d10q.htm FORM 10-Q Form 10-Q
Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


FORM 10-Q

 


(Mark One)

x Quarterly Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the quarterly period ended June 30, 2006

 

¨ 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: 001-32898

 


China BAK Battery, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 


 

Nevada   88-0442833

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

BAK Industrial Park

No. 1 BAK Street

Kuichong Town, Longgang District

Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

  518119
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

(86 755) 897-70093

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 


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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large Accelerated Filer  ¨    Accelerated Filer  ¨    Non-Accelerated Filer  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

APPLICABLE ONLY TO CORPORATE ISSUERS

As of August 16, 2006, 48,882,146 shares of China BAK Battery, Inc. common stock, par value $0.001 per share, were outstanding.

 



Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

  

Item 1. Financial Statements

   1

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

   15

Item 3.  Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

   27

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

   27

PART II — OTHER INFORMATION

  

Item 1.  Legal Proceedings

   28

Item 1A.  Risk Factors

   28

Item 2.  Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

   44

Item 3.  Defaults Upon Senior Securities

   44

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

   44

Item 5.  Other Information

   44

Item 6.  Exhibits

   46


Table of Contents

PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1 Financial Statements

China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Condensed interim consolidated balance sheets

as of September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006

(In US$)

 

     Note   

September 30,

2005

  

June 30,

2006

          
          (as restated)    (Unaudited)

Assets

        

Current assets

        

Cash and cash equivalents

      $ 33,055,784    $ 6,332,156

Pledged deposits

   2      19,392,280      18,956,943

Trade accounts receivable, net

        43,863,782      56,946,471

Inventories

   3      21,696,226      52,609,555

Prepayments and other receivables

        2,155,570      1,633,835
                

Total current assets

        120,163,642      136,478,960

Property, plant and equipment, net

        65,751,208      90,933,828

Lease prepayments, net

        3,154,799      3,143,546

Intangible assets, net

        53,379      65,332

Amounts due from related parties

        271,873      —  

Deferred tax assets

        91,294      158,892
                

Total assets

      $ 189,486,195    $ 230,780,558
                

See accompanying notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

 

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China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Condensed interim consolidated balance sheets

as of September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006 (continued)

(In US$)

 

     Note   

September 30,

2005

  

June 30,

2006

        
          (as restated)   

(Unaudited)

Liabilities

        

Current liabilities

        

Short-term bank loans

   4    $ 39,545,230    $ 53,154,235

Accounts and bills payable

        45,118,786      54,994,812

Accrued expenses and other payables

        14,279,591      13,342,057
                

Total current liabilities

        98,943,607      121,491,104

Deferred tax liabilities

        233,445      294,429
                

Total liabilities

        99,177,052      121,785,533
                

Commitments and contingencies

   6      
                

Shareholders’ equity

        

Ordinary shares US$ 0.001 par value; 100,000,000 authorized; 48,878,396 issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006

        48,878      48,878

Additional paid-in-capital

        67,415,501      69,427,746

Statutory reserves

        3,034,141      4,825,576

Retained earnings

        18,805,368      32,437,170

Accumulated other comprehensive income

        1,005,255      2,255,655
                

Total shareholders’ equity

        90,309,143      108,995,025
                

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

      $ 189,486,195    $ 230,780,558
                

See accompanying notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

 

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China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Condensed interim consolidated statements of income

and comprehensive income

for the three months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006

(Unaudited)

(In US$)

     Three months ended June 30,  
     2005     2006  
     (as restated)        

Net revenues

   $ 24,154,543     $ 33,397,236  

Cost of revenues

     (17,598,450 )     (24,898,674 )
                

Gross profit

   $ 6,556,093     $ 8,498,562  
                

Operating expenses:

    

Research and development costs

   $ (128,835 )   $ (477,429 )

Sales and marketing expenses

     (1,078,181 )     (1,040,694 )

General and administrative expenses

     (1,443,226 )     (1,962,106 )
                

Total operating expenses

   $ (2,650,242 )   $ (3,480,229 )
                

Operating income

   $ 3,905,851     $ 5,018,333  

Finance costs, net

     (77,646 )     (297,226 )

Other expenses

     (8,745 )     (966 )
                

Income before income taxes

     3,819,460       4,720,141  

Income taxes

     (318,430 )     (42,938 )
                

Net income

     3,501,030       4,677,203  

Other comprehensive income - Foreign currency translation adjustment

     6       363,270  
                

Comprehensive income

   $ 3,501,036     $ 5,040,473  
                

Net income per share:

    

-Basic

   $ 0.09     $ 0.10  
                

-Diluted

   $ 0.09     $ 0.09  
                

Weighted average number of ordinary shares:

    

-Basic

     40,978,533       48,878,396  
                

-Diluted

     41,173,311       49,275,493  
                

See accompanying notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

 

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China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Condensed interim consolidated statements of income

and comprehensive income

for the nine months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006

(Unaudited)

(In US$)

 

     Nine months ended June 30,  
     2005     2006  
     (as restated)        

Net revenues

   $ 75,159,215     $ 97,720,714  

Cost of revenues

     (58,004,178 )     (69,903,949 )
                

Gross profit

     17,155,037       27,816,765  
                

Operating expenses:

    

Research and development costs

     (314,626 )     (1,436,314 )

Sales and marketing expenses

     (2,772,290 )     (3,541,845 )

General and administrative expenses

     (4,066,049 )     (6,151,115 )
                

Total operating expenses

     (7,152,965 )     (11,129,274 )
                

Operating income

     10,002,072       16,687,491  

Finance costs, net

     (522,126 )     (993,037 )

Gain on trading securities

     —         279,260  

Other expenses

     (53,748 )     (38,865 )
                

Income before income taxes

     9,426,198       15,934,849  

Income taxes

     (745,194 )     (511,612 )
                

Net income

   $ 8,681,004     $ 15,423,237  
                

Other comprehensive (loss) / income

    

- Foreign currency translation adjustment

     (1,464 )     1,250,400  
                

Comprehensive income

   $ 8,679,540     $ 16,673,637  
                

Net income per share:

    

-Basic

   $ 0.23     $ 0.32  
                

-Diluted

   $ 0.23     $ 0.31  
                

Weighted average number of ordinary shares:

    

-Basic

     37,013,072       48,878,396  
                

-Diluted

     37,042,273       49,167,445  
                

See accompanying notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

 

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China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Condensed interim consolidated statements of shareholders’ equity

for the nine months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006

(In US$)

     Note    Ordinary shares    Additional
paid-in-capital
   Statutory
reserves
   Retained
earnings
    Accumulated
other
comprehensive
income/(loss)
   

Total

share-

holders’

equity

 
      Number of
shares
   amount             

Balance as of October 1, 2004 (as restated)

      31,225,642    $ 31,226    $ 12,052,845    $ 1,724,246    $ 6,621,539     $ (170 )   $ 20,429,686  

Net income

      —        —        —        —        8,681,004       —         8,681,004  

Reverse acquisition

   1    1,152,458      1,152      —        —        (2,824 )     —         (1,672 )

Issuance of ordinary shares, net of transaction costs of 1,471,371

      8,600,433      8,600      15,520,029      —        —         —         15,528,629  

Appropriation to statutory reserves

      —        —        —        728,622      (728,622 )     —         —    

Foreign currency translation adjustment

      —        —        —        —        —         (1,464 )     (1,464 )
                                                     

Balance as of June 30, 2005 (as restated, unaudited)

      40,978,533    $ 40,978    $ 27,572,874    $ 2,452,868    $ 14,571,097     $ (1,634 )   $ 44,636,183  
                                                     

Balance as of October 1, 2005 (as restated)

      48,878,396      48,878      67,415,501      3,034,141      18,805,368       1,005,255       90,309,143  

Net income

      —        —        —        —        15,423,237       —         15,423,237  

Share-based compensation

      —        —        2,012,245      —        —         —         2,012,245  

Appropriation to statutory reserves

      —        —        —        1,791,435      (1,791,435 )     —         —    

Foreign currency translation adjustment

      —        —        —        —        —         1,250,400       1,250,400  
                                                     

Balance as of June 30, 2006 (unaudited)

      48,878,396    $ 48,878    $ 69,427,746    $ 4,825,576    $ 32,437,170     $ 2,255,655     $ 108,995,025  
                                                     

See accompanying notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

 

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China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Condensed interim consolidated statements of cash flows

for the three months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006

(Unaudited)

(In US$)

     Three months ended June 30,  
     2005     2006  
     (as restated)        

Cash flow from operating activities

    

Net income

   $ 3,501,030     $ 4,677,203  

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities:

    

Depreciation and amortisation

     832,069       1,621,328  

Bad debt expense

     598,627       53,796  

Deferred income taxes

     31,760       (15,976 )

Share-based compensation

     —         595,984  

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

    

Trade accounts receivable

     (6,964,108 )     643,443  

Inventories

     (968,669 )     (6,693,208 )

Prepayments and other receivables

     26,569       1,228,460  

Accounts and bills payable

     4,473,769       (2,047,753 )

Accrued expenses and other payables

     351,958       (424,437 )
                

Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities

   $ 1,883,005     $ (361,160 )
                

Cash flow from investing activities

    

Purchases of property, plant and equipment

   $ (8,508,106 )   $ (17,702,246 )

Purchases of intangible assets

     —         (18,343 )
                

Net cash used in investing activities

   $ (8,508,106 )   $ (17,720,589 )
                

See accompanying notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

 

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China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Condensed interim consolidated statements of cash flows

for the three months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006 (continued)

(Unaudited)

(In US$)

     Three months ended June 30,  
     2005     2006  
     (as restated)        

Cash flow from financing activities

    

Proceeds from borrowings

   $ 49,958,621     $ 30,194,912  

Repayment of borrowings

     (41,319,704 )     (20,515,234 )

(Increase) / decrease in pledged deposits

     (11,517,394 )     6,288,046  

Amounts received from related parties

     266,512       —    
                

Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities

   $ (2,611,965 )   $ 15,967,724  
                

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

   $ (1,451 )   $ 523,367  
                

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

   $ (9,238,517 )   $ (1,590,658 )

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of period

     10,886,298       7,922,814  
                

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of period

   $ 1,647,781     $ 6,332,156  
                

Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information

    

Cash received during the period for:

    

Bills receivable discounted to bank

   $ 2,260,109     $ 607,608  
                

Cash paid during the period for:

    

Bills discounting charges

   $ 28,965     $ 1,629  
                

Income taxes

   $ 252,862     $ 476,831  
                

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized

   $ 91,742     $ 641,533  
                

See accompanying notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

 

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China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Condensed interim consolidated statements of cash flows

for the nine months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006

(Unaudited)

(In US$)

     Nine months ended June 30,  
     2005     2006  
     (as restated)        

Cash flow from operating activities

    

Net income

   $ 8,681,004     $ 15,423,237  

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities:

    

Depreciation and amortisation

     2,361,309       4,296,487  

Bad debt expense

     944,114       731,447  

Share-based compensation

     —         2,012,245  

Deferred income tax

     73,718       (6,615 )

Gain on trading securities

     —         (279,260 )

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

    

Trade accounts receivable

     (17,272,957 )     (13,775,711 )

Inventories

     16,442,224       (30,913,329 )

Prepayments and other receivables

     (65,277 )     483,310  

Accounts and bills payable

     4,254,872       12,171,109  

Accrued expenses and other payables

     7,767       1,225,619  
                

Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities

     15,426,774       (8,631,461 )
                

Cash flow from investing activities

    

Purchases of property, plant and equipment

     (24,768,119 )     (32,664,516 )

Purchases of intangible assets

     —         (20,664 )

Purchase of trading securities

     —         (3,702,014 )

Proceeds from disposal of trading securities

     —         3,981,274  
                

Net cash used in investing activities

   $ (24,768,119 )   $ (32,405,920 )
                

See accompanying notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

 

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China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Condensed interim consolidated statements of cash flows

for the nine months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006 (continued)

(Unaudited)

(In US$)

     Nine months ended June 30,  
     2005     2006  
     (as restated)        

Cash flow from financing activities

    

Proceeds from borrowings

   $ 71,346,584     $ 60,379,121  

Repayment of borrowings

     (62,947,204 )     (47,334,249 )

(Increase) / decrease in pledged deposits

     (14,953,162 )     435,337  

Amounts received from related parties

     615,616       271,873  

Repayment to Changzhou Lihai Investment Consulting Co., Ltd.

     (1,812,316 )     —    

Proceeds from issuance of capital stock, net

     15,528,629       —    

Contribution from shareholders acquiring shares of BAK International Limited

     11,500,000       —    

Distribution to shareholders in connection with acquisition of shares of China BAK Battery, Inc.

     (11,500,000 )     —    
                

Net cash provided by financing activities

     7,778,147       13,752,082  
                

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

     (1,197 )     561,671  
                

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

     (1,564,395 )     (26,723,628 )

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of period

     3,212,176       33,055,784  
                

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of period

   $ 1,647,781     $ 6,332,156  
                

Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information

    

Cash received during the period for:

    

Bills receivable discounted to bank

   $ 9,998,584     $ 13,972,340  
                

Cash paid during the period for:

    

Bills discounting charges

   $ 191,466     $ 195,551  
                

Income taxes

   $ 390,876     $ 196,487  
                

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized

   $ 530,387     $ 1,333,725  
                

See accompanying notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

 

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China BAK Battery, Inc. and subsidiaries

Notes to the condensed interim consolidated financial statements

for the nine months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006

(Unaudited)

1. Principal Activities, Basis of Presentation and Organization

Principal Activities

        China BAK Battery, Inc. (the “Company” or “China BAK”) was incorporated in the State of Nevada on October 4, 1999 as a limited liability company, as Medina Copy, Inc. The Company changed its name to Medina Coffee, Inc. (“Medina Coffee”) on October 6, 1999 and subsequently changed its name to China BAK Battery, Inc. on February 14, 2005. The Company and its subsidiaries (hereinafter, collectively referred to as the “Group”) are principally engaged in the manufacture, commercialization and distribution of a wide variety of standard and customized lithium ion (known as “Li-ion” or “Li-ion cell”) rechargeable battery cells for use in cellular telephones, as well as various other portable electronic applications, including high-power handset telephones, laptop computers, power tools, digital cameras, video camcorders, MP3 players, electric bicycles, hybrid/electric motors, and general industrial applications.

        Since May 31, 2006, the Company’s common stock has been listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “CBAK.” Prior to that date, the Company’s common stock has been quoted on the Over-the-Counter Electronic Bulletin Board under the symbol “CBBT.OB.”

Basis of Presentation and Organization

        As of June 30, 2006, the Company’s subsidiaries consisted of: i) BAK International Limited (“BAK International”), a wholly owned limited liability company incorporated in Hong Kong on December 29, 2003 as BATCO International Limited and subsequently changed its name to BAK International Limited on November 3, 2004; ii) Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd. (“Shenzhen BAK”), a wholly owned limited liability company established on August 3, 2001 in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”); and iii) BAK Electronic (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (“BAK Electronic”), a wholly owned limited liability company established by BAK International and commenced operation in August 2005 in the PRC.

        BAK International, a non-operating holding company that had substantially the same shareholders as Shenzhen BAK, entered into a share swap transaction with Shenzhen BAK on November 6, 2004 for the purpose of the subsequent reverse acquisition of the interest of China BAK as described below. Pursuant to the terms of the transaction, the parties exchanged all outstanding shares of their capital stock for $11.5 million in cash, and as a result, BAK International became the parent company of Shenzhen BAK. Certain shareholders of Shenzhen BAK, representing ownership interests of approximately 1.85%, elected not to acquire shares in BAK International. The non-participating shareholders of Shenzhen BAK sold their right to acquire their proportional ownership interests in BAK International for cash, and the proportionate interests in BAK International to which the non-participating shareholders were entitled were acquired by the transferees. After the share swap transaction between BAK International and the shareholders of Shenzhen BAK was complete, there were 31,225,642 shares of BAK International stock outstanding, exactly the same as the number of shares of capital stock of Shenzhen BAK outstanding immediately prior to the share swap, and the shareholders of BAK International were substantially the same as the shareholders of Shenzhen BAK prior to the share purchases. Consequently, the share purchases between BAK International and the shareholders of Shenzhen BAK have been accounted for as a reverse acquisition of Shenzhen BAK with no adjustment to the historical basis of the assets and liabilities of Shenzhen BAK, and the operations were consolidated as though the transactions occurred as of the beginning of the first accounting period presented in the accompanying condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

        On January 20, 2005, BAK International executed a private placement of its common stock with unrelated investors whereby it issued an aggregate of 8,600,433 shares of common stock for gross proceeds of $17,000,000. In conjunction with this financing, Mr. Li Xiangqian, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company agreed to place 2,179,550 shares of common stock owned by him into an escrow account, of which 50% are to be released to the investors in the private placement if audited net income of the Group for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005 is not at least $12,000,000, and the remaining 50% are to be released to investors in the private placement if audited net income of the Group for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006 is not at least $27,000,000. If the audited net income of the Group for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2005 and 2006 reached the above-mentioned targets, the 2,179,550 shares would be released to Mr. Li Xiangqian (the “Escrow Arrangement”).

        This escrow arrangement constitutes a compensatory plan to Mr. Li Xiangqian in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 123 (revised 2004) “Share-Based Payment” (“SFAS 123R”). A compensation charge would be recorded in the financial statements of the Company should the performance threshold be achieved and these shares be released to Mr. Li Xiangqian. However, as the Company determined that it would not meet the performance threshold for fiscal year ending September 30, 2006 after consideration of the compensation charge, the shares are not deemed to be earned and no compensation charge has been recognized during the interim periods.

        Also on January 20, 2005, the Company completed a share swap transaction with the shareholders of BAK International. The swap was consummated under Nevada law pursuant to the terms of a Securities Exchange Agreement entered by and among China BAK, BAK International and the shareholders of BAK International

 

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on January 20, 2005. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company issued 39,826,075 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, to the shareholders of BAK International (including 31,225,642 shares to the original shareholders and 8,600,433 shares to new investors), representing approximately 97.2% of the Company’s post-exchange issued and outstanding common stock, in exchange for 100% of the outstanding capital stock of BAK International.

The share swap transaction has been accounted for as a capital-raising transaction of the Company whereby the historical financial statements and operations of Shenzhen BAK are consolidated using historical carrying amounts. The 1,152,458 shares of China BAK outstanding prior to the stock exchange transaction were accounted for at the net book value at the time of the transaction, which was a deficit of $1,672. The accompanying condensed interim consolidated financial statements reflect the capital-raising transaction of the Company as if the transaction occurred as of the beginning of the first period presented.

The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“US GAAP”).

The interim results of operations are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006. The Company’s consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2005 has been taken from the Company’s audited balance sheet as of the date. All other financial statements contained herein are unaudited and, in the opinion of management, contain all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring accruals) necessary for a fair presentation of financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented. The Company’s accounting policies and certain other disclosure are set forth in the notes to the consolidated financial statements contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB/A for the year ended September 30, 2005. These financial statement should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

This basis of accounting differs in certain material respects from that used for the preparation of the books of account of the Company’s principal subsidiaries, which are prepared in accordance with the accounting principles and the relevant financial regulations applicable to enterprises with limited liabilities established in the PRC (“PRC GAAP”) or in Hong Kong, the accounting standards used in the places of their domicile. The accompanying condensed interim consolidated financial statements reflect necessary adjustments not recorded in the books of account of the Company’s subsidiaries to present them in conformity with US GAAP.

2. Pledged Deposits

Pledged Deposits at September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006 consist of the following:

 

     September 30,
2005
  

June 30,

2006

Pledged deposits with banks for:

     

General banking facilities

   $ 6,426,100    $ —  

Bills payable

     12,966,180      18,956,943
             
     $19,392,280    $ 18,956,943
             

3. Inventories

Inventories at September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006 consist of the following:

 

     September 30,
2005
  

June 30,

2006

Raw materials

   $ 9,323,864    $ 18,165,266

Work-in-progress

     2,698,554      6,188,136

Finished goods

     9,673,808      28,256,153
             
     $21,696,226    $ 52,609,555
             

A floating charge was levied on the Company’s inventories with carrying value of $7,661,888 and $10,005,503 as of September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006 respectively as collateral under certain loan agreements (see Note 4).

 

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4. Short-term Bank Loans

The Company obtained several short-term loan facilities from the financial institutions in the PRC. These facilities were secured by the Company’s assets with the following carrying values:

 

    

September 30,

2005

  

June 30,

2006

Pledged deposits

   $ 6,426,100    $ —  

Inventories

     7,661,888      10,005,503

Machinery and equipment, net

     8,221,587      7,761,337
             
     $22,309,575    $ 17,766,840
             

As of September 30, 2005 and June 30 2006, the Company had several short-term bank loans with aggregate outstanding balances of $39,545,230 and $53,154,235 respectively. The loans were primarily obtained for general working capital, carried interest rates ranging from 5.22% to 5.85%, and had maturity dates ranging from 4 to 12 months. Each loan is guaranteed by Mr. Li Xiangqian, Chairman of the Company. Mr. Li Xiangqian did not receive any compensation for acting as guarantor.

During the three and nine month periods ended June 30, 2006, interest expenses of $36,096 and $426,711 were capitalized to property, plant and equipment respectively.

Certain shares of the Company were pledged by Mr. Li Xiangqian in order to secure these short-term bank loans as at September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006 respectively.

5. Share-based Compensation

Prior to October 1, 2005, the Company applied the intrinsic-value-based method of accounting prescribed by Accounting Principles Board Opinions No. 25 “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees” (“APB 25”) and related interpretations including Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) Interpretation (“FIN”) No. 44, Accounting for Certain Transactions involving Stock Compensation, an interpretation of APB 25, to account for its fixed-plan stock options. Under this method, compensation expense is recorded only if on the date of grant the market price of the underlying stock exceeded the exercise price. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123 “Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation” (“SFAS 123”) established accounting and disclosure requirements using a fair-value-based method of accounting for stock-based employee compensation plans. As permitted by the accounting standards, the Company has elected to apply the intrinsic-value-based method of accounting described above, and has adopted only the disclosure requirements of SFAS 123, as amended.

In December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS 123R, which requires companies to measure and recognize compensation expenses for all stock-based payment at grant-date fair value, with the cost recognized over the vesting period (or the requisite service period). This statement replaces SFAS 123 and supersedes APB 25.

The Company has used the “modified prospective method” for recognizing the expense over the remaining vesting period for awards that were outstanding but unvested at October 1, 2005. Under the modified prospective method, the Company has not adjusted the financial statements for periods ending prior to September 30, 2005. Under the modified prospective method, the adoption of SFAS 123R applies to new awards and to awards modified, repurchased, or cancelled after September 30, 2005, as well as to the unvested portion of awards outstanding as of October 1, 2005.

SFAS 123R also requires us to estimate forfeitures in calculating the expense related to stock-based compensation.

Compensation cost arising from stock-based awards is recognized as expense using the straight-line method over the vesting period. As of June 30, 2006, there was approximately $3,679,000 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock-based awards, which we expect to recognize over remaining weighted average vesting terms of 2 years. For the nine months ended June 30, 2006, our total stock-based compensation expense was approximately $1,969,000. We have not recorded any income tax benefit related to stock-based compensation in either of the nine-month periods ended June 30, 2006.

The Company grants share options to officers, employees and consultants to reward for services and restricted ordinary shares to its non-employee directors.

In May 2005, the Board of Directors adopted the China BAK Battery, Inc. 2005 Stock Option Plan (the “Plan”). The Plan authorizes the issuance of up to 4,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The exercise price of the options granted, pursuant to the Plan, must be at least equal to the fair market value of the Company’s ordinary shares at the date of the grant. The Plan will terminate on May 16, 2055.

Pursuant to the Plan, the Company issued 2,000,000 options with an exercise price of $6.25 per share on May 16, 2005. The exercise price equals to the market price of the Company’s shares at the date of grant. No new grant, exercise or forfeiture of current outstanding options, incurred during the nine month ended June 30, 2006.

As of June 30, 2006, there was unrecognized compensation cost of $3,679,737 related to non-vested share options. This cost is expected to be recognized over the next two years. The Company is expected to issue new shares to satisfy share option exercises.

Aggregate numbers of non-vested shares issued under the Plan were 1,830,000 as of June 30, 2006. No changes of non-vested shares issued under the Plan occurred for the nine months ended June 30, 2006. The weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted during 2005 was $3.67 per share. The Company recorded non-cash share-based compensation expense of $1,969,120 for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 in respect of share options granted in 2005, which was allocated to cost of revenues, sales and marketing expenses, general and administrative expenses and research and development costs respectively.

The following table illustrates the effect on net income and net income per share for the nine months ended June 30, 2005 as if our stock-based compensation had been determined based on the fair value at the grant dates:

 

    

Nine Months Ended

June 30, 2005

 

Net income, as reported

   $ 8,681,004  

Deduct: Total stock-based employee compensation expenses determined under the fair value, net of related tax effects

     (356,081 )
        

Pro forma net income

   $ 8,324,923  
        

Net income per share:

  

As reported—basic and diluted

   $ 0.23  
        

Pro forma—basic

   $ 0.23  
        

                —diluted

   $ 0.22  
        

 

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Pursuant to the Plan, the Company issued 2,000,000 options with an exercise price of $6.25 per share on May 16, 2005. In accordance with the vesting provisions of the grants, the options will become vested and exercisable under the following schedule:

 

Numbers of Share    Percentage of Options Issued     Initial Vesting Date
800,000    40 %   July 1, 2007
600,000    30 %   January 1, 2008
600,000    30 %   July 1, 2008
          
2,000,000    100 %  
          

A summary of share option plan activity for the nine months period ended June 30, 2006 is presented below:

 

     Number of
shares
  

Weighted average

exercise price

per share

  

Weighted average

remaining

contractual term

Outstanding as of October 1, 2005

   1,830,000    $ 6.25   

Granted

   —        —     

Exercised

   —        —     

Forfeited or expired

   —        —     
                

Outstanding as of June 30, 2006

   1,830,000    $ 6.25    5.5 years
                

Exercisable as of June 30, 2006

   —        —      —  
                

The fair value of each option award is estimated on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes Option Valuation Model that uses the assumptions noted in the following table. The expected volatility was based on the historical volatilities of the Company’s listed common stock in the United States and other market information. The Company uses historical data to estimate share option exercises and employee departure behaviour used in the valuation model. The expected terms of share options granted is derived from the output of the option pricing model and represents the period of time hat share options granted are expected to be outstanding. Since the share options once exercised will primarily trade in the U.S. capital market, the risk-free rate for periods within the contractual term of the share option is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant

 

Expected volatility

   59.85 %

Expected dividends

   Nil  

Expected terms

   6 years  

Risk-free interest rate

   4.13 %

The fair value of share warrants granted to the company’s financial advisors and other external parties in connection with the share issuance in 2005 has been recorded within equity as a cost of the offering, and therefore, the issuance of the share warrants does not have any impact on the shareholders’ equity.

On May 12, 2006, the Board of Directors adopted the China BAK Battery, Inc. Compensation Plan for Non-employee Directors (“the Plan 2006”). The Plan 2006 authorizes the issuance of 5,000 restricted shares of the Company’s ordinary shares to each of the three eligible directors in addition to their annual retainer fee. Such restricted shares entitle the relevant non-employee directors to all rights of ordinary shares ownership except that the shares may not be sold, transferred, pledged, exchanged or otherwise disposed of during the vesting period.

On May 12, 2006, the Company granted 5,000 restricted shares to each of the three newly approved independent directors with a fair value of $11.5 per share pursuant to the Plan 2006. The eligible directors shall vest in their rights under the restricted shares according to the following schedule:

 

(i) 25% of the restricted share granted will immediately vest on the grant date; and

 

(ii) The remaining 75% of the restricted shares will vest in three equal quarterly installments on the last day of each subsequent quarter or in three equal quarterly installments on the last day of each calendar quarter beginning on the last day of the first full calendar quarter after the grant date.

As of June 30, 2006, the Company had unrecognized stock-based compensation of approximately $130,000 associated with these restricted shares granted to non-employee directors. The first 25% of the restricted shares were issued as fully paid ordinary shares to the three independent directors on July 19, 2006.

6. Commitments and Contingencies

(i) Capital Commitments

As of September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006, the Company had the following capital commitments:

 

     September 30,
2005
   June 30,
2006

For construction of buildings

   $ 1,062,953    $ 2,160,682
             

(ii) Land Use Rights and Property Ownership Certificate

According to relevant PRC laws and regulations, a land use right certificate, along with government approvals for land planning, project planning, and construction, needs to be obtained before construction of a building is commenced. A property ownership certificate shall be granted by the government upon application under the condition that the aforementioned certificate and government approvals are obtained.

The Company has not yet obtained the land use right certificate relating to the premises occupied by the Company, BAK Industrial Park. However, the Company is in the process of applying to obtain the land use right certificate. The local government of Kuichong Township of Longgang District of Shenzhen has, however, granted permission for Shenzhen BAK to commence the construction of the new production plant.

 

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Management believes that Shenzhen BAK will ultimately be granted a land use right certificate, and that there should be no legal barriers for the Company to obtain a property ownership certificate for the premises presently occupied by the Company in BAK Industrial Park. However, in the event that the Company fails to obtain the land use right certificate relating to BAK Industrial Park, there is a risk that the buildings constructed will need to be vacated as illegitimate constructions and the Company might be subject to penalties and fines. However, management believes that this possibility, while present, is remote.

As of June 30, 2006, the Company had unpaid land lease fee amounting to $3.0 million, which the Company expects to pay upon grant of government approval.

The Company is not able to insure its manufacturing facilities since it has not yet received its land use right certificate. The Company intends to procure such insurance once it has received the certificate.

(iii) Guarantee

In order to secure the supplies of certain raw materials and upon the request of suppliers, the Company has guaranteed bank debt of certain suppliers which are summarized as follows:

 

    

September 30,

2005

   June 30,
2006

Guaranteed for Shenzhen Tongli - a non-related party

   $ 3,608,502    $ 4,266,095

Guaranteed for Shenzhen Zhenda - a non-related party

     1,235,788      1,247,396
             
   $ 4,844,290    $ 5,513,491
             

Management has assessed the fair value of the obligation arising from the above financial guarantees and considered it is immaterial to the consolidated financial statements. Therefore, no obligation in respect of the above guarantee were recognized as of September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006.

(iv) Outstanding Discounted Bills

From time to time, the Company factors bills receivable to banks. At the time of the factoring, all rights and privileges of holding the receivables are transferred to the banks. The Company removes the asset from its books and records a corresponding expense for the amount of the discount. The Company remains contingently liable on the amount outstanding in the event the bill issuer defaults.

The Company’s outstanding discounted bills at September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006 are summarized as follows:

 

     September 30,
2005
   June 30,
2006
     

Bank acceptance bills

   $ 3,287,140    $ 5,292,114

Commercial acceptance bills

     741,473      3,300,851
             
   $ 4,028,613    $ 8,592,965
             

 

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

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the condensed interim consolidated financial statements and notes included in Item 1 of Part I of this report on Form 10-Q. Except for the historical information contained herein, this report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are one of the largest manufacturers of lithium-ion battery cells in China and the world, as measured by production output. Our battery cells are the principal component of rechargeable lithium-based batteries used to power the following applications:

 

    cellular phones - customer segments include both the OEM and replacement battery manufacturers;

 

    notebook computers;

 

    cordless power tools; and

 

    portable consumer electronics, such as digital media devices, portable media players, portable audio players, portable gaming devices and PDAs.

Our products are packed into batteries by third-party battery pack manufacturers in accordance with the specifications of manufacturers of portable electronic end applications. We conduct all of our operations in China, in close proximity to China’s electronics manufacturing base and its rapidly growing market.

Historically, we have primarily manufactured prismatic lithium-ion cells for the cellular phone replacement battery market and OEM market. Our products are packed into batteries by third-party battery pack manufacturers in accordance with the specifications of manufacturers of portable electronic applications.

At the request of our customers that order prismatic battery packs, we also engage pack battery manufacturers to assemble our prismatic cells into batteries for a fee and then sell battery packs to these customers both for the cellular phone battery replacement market and OEM markets. We expect that sales of prismatic battery packs in such a manner will represent a decreasing percentage of our revenues going forward.

We have recently expanded our product offerings by adding two new product lines:

 

    High-power, lithium-phosphate cells for use in cordless power tools. We began commercial production of lithium-phosphate cells during the fourth quarter of calendar year 2005 for use in cordless power tools manufactured by DeWalt, a subsidiary of Black & Decker, Inc., a leading power tools manufacturer.

 

    Lithium polymer cells for use in ultra-portable electronic devices, such as high-end cellular phones, Bluetooth headsets, digital medial players and digital audio players. We began commercial production of lithium polymer cells in September 2005.

Demand for Lithium-Based Batteries

All of our products are lithium-based rechargeable battery cells. Rechargeable lithium-based battery cells, compared to other types of rechargeable battery cells based on nickel cadmium or nickel metal hydride chemistries, have a higher energy density, meaning a greater energy capacity relative to a given battery cell’s weight and size. As a result, use of lithium-based batteries has risen significantly in portable electronic products. As the cost/power ratio of lithium-based batteries continues to improve, it is expected that its usage will also extend into other applications. End-product applications that are driving the demand for rechargeable lithium-based batteries include cellular phones, notebook computers, cordless power tools and portable consumer electronics.

Cellular Phones. Demand for batteries for cellular phones is driven by two factors. The first is the sales of new cellular phones. An OEM of cellular phones includes a battery with a new cellular phone. There is also a replacement market for cellular phone batteries. Demand in the replacement market is in turn driven by a number of factors. Often a consumer will purchase a second battery to carry as a spare. In addition, lithium-ion batteries have a finite life, so over time consumers will need to purchase a battery to replace the failed battery in their phone. As the number of active cellular phone subscribers increases, the number of replacement batteries sold increases. A market characteristic unique to the Chinese cellular phone market is that cell phones are often sold and resold during their useful life. Over time these cell phones require a replacement battery. Our customers for cellular phone battery cells fall into two segments:

OEM: The OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) manufacture mobile phone handsets. They purchase batteries to support their production of new cellular phones. They also purchase batteries to serve the replacement market which they sell under their own brand name.

Independent Battery Manufacturers: These third party manufacturers compete against the OEM for a share of the replacement market. They typically sell their products under their own brand name or a private label.

 

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Notebook computers. Sales of notebook computers is driven by the increasing demand for mobile computing and the improved power and functionality of notebook computers. Lithium-based batteries have almost completely replaced nickel metal hydride batteries for notebook computers due to the increasing power of lithium-based batteries and demand for smaller, lighter notebook computers.

Power tools. Power tools such as drills, saws and grinders are used for both commercial and personal use. Due to high power requirements, many power tools have historically used small combustion engines, used heavier nickel metal hydride batteries or relied on external power sources. Recently, manufacturers, Milwaukee, Black & Decker, Bosch, Metabo and Ridgid have begun using lithium-ion battery technology. Recently, the DeWalt division of Black & Decker began marketing a power tool product line that uses nano lithium phosphate technology in its batteries. This technology has resulted in increased the power of the batteries to 36 volts. The market for portable high-powered power tools is rapidly growing and has prompted many users, both commercial and personal, to replace or upgrade their current power tools.

Portable consumer electronics. This category includes digital audio players (such as MP3 players), digital still cameras, digital video cameras, portable DVD players, PDAs, portable gaming systems and Bluetooth devices. There is a rapid trend to use lithium based batteries in portable consumer electronics (both rechargeable and non-rechargeable) due to a desire for smaller, longer lasting devices.

Pricing Pressure

Portable electronic devices such as cellular phones and notebook computers are subject to declines in average selling prices from time to time due to evolving technologies, industry standards and consumer preferences. As a result, manufacturers of these electronic devices expect us as suppliers to cut our costs and lower the price of our products, particularly when they place substantial orders with us. We have reduced the price of our products in the past in order to meet market demand and expect to continue to face market-driven downward pricing pressures in the future. Our ability to maintain our cost-effectiveness will be critical to our future success in an increasingly price-sensitive market. We seek to achieve this by ramping up our production capacity to give us greater economies of scale through a higher bargaining power to secure a supply of materials and equipment at a lower cost, and a larger base for spreading out our fixed cost allocation. We believe this will provide incremental long-term growth opportunities, but in the short-term, will also require us to incur substantial capital expenditures.

Seasonality of Operating Results

Historically, our revenues were not materially impacted by seasonal variations. During the first several years of our operation, manufacturing capacities fell short of customer requirements. As such, seasonality was minimal. Over the past year, we significantly increased manufacturing capacities to meet or exceed customer demand. Since we increased our manufacturing capacities, our revenues are now affected by seasonal variations in customer demand. We expect to experience seasonal lows in the demand for our products during the months of April to July, reflecting our customers’ decreased purchases. On the other hand, we will generally experience seasonal peaks during the months of September to March, primarily as a result of increased purchases from our customers in anticipation of increased demand for consumer electronics. The months of October and February tend to be seasonally low sales months due to plant closures for the Chinese New Year and national holidays in the PRC.

 

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Revenue

Our revenues represent the invoiced value of our products sold, net of value added taxes, or VAT, sales returns, trade discounts and allowances. We are subject to VAT, which is levied on most of our products at the rate of 17% on the invoiced value of our products. Provision for sales returns are recorded as a reduction of revenue in the same period that revenue is recognized. The provision for sales returns represents our best estimate of the amount of goods that will be returned from our customers based on historical sales returns data.

The following table sets forth the breakdown of our revenues by battery cell type for the periods indicated.

 

     Three Months Ended June 30,    Nine Months Ended June 30,
     2005    2006    2005    2006
     (in thousands)

Prismatic cells

           

Steel-case cells

   $ 14,493    $ 12,271    $ 40,005    $ 45,522

Aluminum-case cells

     5,032      10,467      18,386      33,515

Battery packs

     4,448      2,951      15,924      8,224

Cylindrical cells(1)

     182      62      844      97

High-power lithium-phosphate cells

     —        7,447      —        9,976

Lithium polymer cells

     —        199      —        387
                           

Total

   $ 24,155    $ 33,397    $ 75,159    $ 97,721
                           

(1) These refer to cylindrical cells produced using primarily a manual manufacturing process that were sold for use with portable DVD players.

Our revenues have increased significantly during the nine months ended June 30, 2006, in part because of increased shipments as we ramped up our production capacity to meet customer demands for our products.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues consist primarily of material costs, employee remuneration for staff engaged in production activity, share-based compensation, depreciation and related expenses that are directly attributable to the production of products. Cost of revenues also includes write-downs of inventory to lower of cost or market.

The cost of raw materials for aluminum-case cells is generally higher than that of steel-case cells. Cost of revenues from the sales of battery packs also includes the fees we pay to pack manufacturers for assembling our prismatic cells into battery packs.

As we begin commercial production of cylindrical cells for notebook computers using a more automated manufacturing process, we expect to incur higher depreciation expenses related to the more sophisticated and expensive machinery and equipment used to produce cylindrical cells.

 

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Operating Expenses

Research and Development Costs. Research and development costs primarily comprise of remuneration for R&D staff, share-based compensation, depreciation and maintenance expenses relating to R&D equipment, and R&D material costs.

Sales and Marketing. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of remuneration for staff involved in selling and marketing efforts, including staff engaged in the packaging of goods for shipment, advertising cost, depreciation, share-based compensation and travel and entertainment expenses. We do not pay slotting fees to retail companies for displaying our products, engage in cooperative advertising program, participate in buy-down programs or similar arrangements. No material estimates are required by management to determine our actual marketing or advertising costs for any period.

General and Administrative. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee remuneration, share-based compensation, professional fees, insurance, payroll taxes and benefits, general office expenses, depreciation and bad debt expenses.

Finance Costs, Net. Finance costs consist primarily of interest income, interest on bank loans, net of capitalized interest, and bank charges.

Income Taxes. Under applicable income tax laws and regulations, an enterprise located in Shenzhen, including the district where our operations are located, is subject to a 15% enterprise income tax. Further, according to PRC laws and regulations, foreign invested manufacturing enterprises are entitled to, starting from their first profitable year, a two-year exemption from enterprise income tax followed by a three-year 50% reduction in its enterprise income tax rate. Our PRC subsidiaries, Shenzhen BAK and BAK Electronic, are each entitled to a two-year exemption from enterprise income tax and a reduced enterprise income tax rate of 7.5% for the following three years from its first profitable year. As such, for the first two calendar years ended December 31, 2003, Shenzhen BAK was exempted from any enterprise income tax. Between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2006, Shenzhen BAK is subject to the enterprise income tax rate of 7.5%. BAK Electronic, established in August 2005, is eligible for the same preferential tax treatment applicable to Shenzhen BAK and currently is exempt from any enterprise income tax because of tax losses.

In addition, due to the additional capital invested in Shenzhen BAK in both 2005 and 2006, Shenzhen BAK was granted a lower income tax rate of 3.309% and 1.7% in calendar year 2005 and 2006 respectively.

Furthermore, to encourage foreign investors to introduce advanced technologies to China, the PRC government has offered additional tax incentives to enterprises that are classified as a foreign invested enterprises with advanced technologies. According to an official notice issued by the Shenzhen Municipal Trade and Industry Bureau, Shenzhen BAK received such designation in August 2005. As a result, as long as Shenzhen BAK maintains this designation, it may apply to the tax authority to extend its current reduced tax rate of 7.5% for another three years, until December 31, 2009.

Our company is subject to U.S. tax at the statutory rate of 35%. We have not made provisions for any U.S. tax because we have determined that we have no U.S. taxable income.

Our Hong Kong subsidiary, BAK International, is subject to Hong Kong profits tax at the rate of 17.5%. However, because it does not have any assessable income derived from or arising in Hong Kong, it has not paid any Hong Kong profits tax.

Results of Operations

The following sets forth certain of our income statement information for the three months and nine months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006.

 

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     Three Months Ended June 30,     Nine Months Ended June 30,  
     2005     2006     2005     2006  
     (as restated)           (as restated)        
     (in thousands, except percentages)  

Statement of Income Data

                    

Revenues

   $ 24,154    100.0 %   $ 33,397    100.0 %   $ 75,159    100.0 %   $ 97,721    100.0 %

Cost of revenues

     17,598    72.9       24,899    74.6       58,004    77.2       69,904    71.5  
                                                    

Gross profit

     6,556    27.1       8,498    25.4       17,155    22.8       27,817    28.5  

Operating expenses:

                    

Research and development costs

     129    0.5       477    1.4       315    0.4       1,436    1.5  

Sales and marketing expenses

     1,078    4.5       1,041    3.1       2,772    3.7       3,542    3.6  

General and administrative expenses

     1,443    6.0       1,962    5.9       4,066    5.4       6,152    6.3  
                                                    

Total operating expenses

     2,650    11.0       3,480    10.4       7,153    9.5       11,130    11.3  
                                                    

Operating income

     3,906    16.2       5,018    15.0       10,002    13.3       16,687    17.1  

Finance costs, net

     78    0.3       297    0.9       522    0.7       993    1.0  

Other expenses (income)

     9    (1)     1    (1)     54    (1)     39    (1)

Gain on trading securities

                                280    0.3  

Income taxes

     318    1.3       43    0.1       745    1.0       512    0.5  
                                                    

Net income

   $ 3,501    14.5 %   $ 4,677    14.0 %   $ 8,681    11.6 %   $ 15,423    15.8 %
                                                    

(1) Less than 0.1%

Comparison of the nine months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to the nine months ended June 30, 2005.

Revenues. Revenues increased to $97.7 million for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $75.2 million for same period of the prior year, an increase of $22.5 million or 30.0%.

 

    Revenues from the sales of steel-case cells increased to $45.5 million in the nine months ended June 30, 2006 from $40.0 million in the same period in 2005, an increase of $5.5 million or 13.8%, due to an increase in sales volume by 21.1%, offset by a decrease in average selling price by 6.1% primarily attributable to the pricing pressure in an increasingly competitive market.

 

    Revenues from the sales of aluminum-case cells increased to $33.5 million in the nine months ended June 30, 2006 from $18.4 million in the same period in 2005, an increase of $15.1 million or 82.3%, due to an increase in sales volume by 90.4% driven by increased sales in the OEM market, offset by a decrease in the average selling price by 4.4% attributable to pricing pressure in a competitive market.

 

    Revenues from sales of battery packs decreased to $8.2 million in the nine months ended June 30, 2006 from $15.9 million in the same period in 2005, due to both a decrease in sales volume by 20.8% and a decrease in average selling price by 53.4%. The decrease in average selling price is primarily attributable to the pricing pressure in an increasingly competitive market.

 

    We also sold $10.0 million of high-power lithium-ion cells and $387,000 of lithium polymer cells in the nine months ended June 30, 2006, our first sales of these products.

Cost of Revenues. Cost of revenues increased to $69.9 million for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $58.0 million for the same period in 2005, an increase of $11.9 million or 20.5%. The increase in cost of revenue was attributable to an increase in units of products sold offset by a decrease in unit costs for prismatic cells and for battery packs. The decrease in unit manufacturing costs is primarily the result of a decrease in the cost of raw materials generally, an increase in efficiency in our use of raw materials and our manufacturing yields resulting from our improvement in process technology and an increase in sales volume giving us a larger base to spread out our fixed cost allocation. By product breakdown:

 

    unit cost of revenue for steel-case cells, decreased by 12.6%;

 

    unit cost of revenue for aluminum-case cells, decreased by 16.1%;

 

    unit cost of manufacturing battery packs, decreased by 37.1%.

 

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As a result, gross profit for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 was $27.8 million or 28.5% of revenues as compared to gross profit of $17.2 million or 22.8% of revenues for the same period in 2005.

Research and Development Costs. Research and development costs increased to $1.4 million for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $315,000 for the same period in 2005. Share-based compensation included in research and development expenses was $618,000 for the nine months ended June 30, 2006. We adopted SFAS 123R since the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2005 on a modified prospective approach. Pursuant to SFAS 123R, we measured the employee share-based compensation at grant-date fair value and recognized over the vesting period. Prior to adoption of SFAS 123R, we adopted the intrinsic value method under SFAS 123 and APB 25, pursuant to which, no employee share-based compensation cost was recognized during fiscal year 2005 since the share options were issued on May 16, 2005. Depreciation expenses increased by $171,000 as we purchased more equipments for our R&D efforts. Salaries related to research increased to $445,000 from $98,000 for the same period of the prior year, an increase of $347,000, primarily due to hiring more experienced research employees.

Sales and Marketing Expenses. Sales and marketing expenses increased to $3.5 million for the nine month period ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $2.8 million for the same period in 2005, an increase of $0.7 million or 27.8%. As a percentage of revenues, sales and marketing expenses have decreased slightly to 3.6% for the nine months ended June 30, 2006, from 3.7% for the same period in 2005. Share-based compensation was $280,000 for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 due to the above-mentioned adoption of SFAS 123R on October 1, 2005. Higher sales volumes increased packaging and transportation costs by $89,000. Depreciation charges also increased by $139,000 due to the facilities expansion in the nine months ended June 30, 2006.

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses increased to $6.2 million, or 6.3% of revenues, for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $4.1 million, or 5.4% of revenues, for the same period in 2005, an increase of $2.1 million or 51.3%. Share-based compensation included in general and administrative expenses was $995,000 for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 due to the above-mentioned adoption of SFAS 123R on October 1, 2005. Professional fees and expenses increased $455,000 from the first half of last year, reflecting the additional costs of operating as a public company. Social insurance also increased by $211,000 due to the increase of base salary and the number of employees.

Operating Income. As a result of the above, operating income totaled $16.7 million for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to operating income of $10.0 million for the same period of the prior year, an increase of $6.7 million or 66.8%. As a percentage of revenues, operating income was 17.1% for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to 13.3% for the same period of the prior year.

Finance Costs, Net. Finance costs, net, increased to $993,000 for the nine month period ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $522,000 for the same period of the prior year, an increase of $471,000 or 90.2%. We had $53.2 million in short term loans as of June 30, 2006 as compared to $37.5 million outstanding as of June 30, 2005.

Other Expenses/gain on trading securities. Other expenses were $39,000 for the nine month period ended June 30, 2006, as compared to $54,000 for the same period of 2005. In addition, we recognized income from the sales of trading securities in the nine months ended June 30, 2006 from BAK International’s short-term investment in financial instruments during the period.

Net Income. As a result of the foregoing, we increased our net income to $15.4 million for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 from $8.7 million for the same period of the prior year.

Comparison of the three months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to the three months ended June 30, 2005.

Revenues. Revenues increased to $33.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $24.2 million for same period of the prior year, an increase of $9.2 million or 38.3%.

 

    Revenues from the sales of steel-case cells decreased to $12.3 million in the three months ended June 30, 2006 from $14.5 million in the same period in 2005, a decrease of $2.2 million or 15.3%, due to both a decrease in sales volume by 6.3% and a decrease in average selling price by 10.6% primarily attributable to the pricing pressure in an increasingly competitive market.

 

    Revenues from the sales of aluminum-case cells increased to $10.5 million in the three months ended June 30, 2006 from $5.0 million in the same period in 2005, an increase of $5.4 million or 108.0%, due to an increase in sales volume of 124.3% driven by increased sales in the OEM market, offset by a decrease in the average selling price by 7.8% attributable to pricing pressure in a competitive market.

 

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    Revenues from sales of battery packs decreased to $3.0 million in the three months ended June 30, 2006 from $4.4 million in the same period in 2005, due to a decrease in the average selling price by 50.5%, offset by a increased sales volume by 30.4%. The decrease in average selling price is primarily attributable to the pricing pressure in an increasingly competitive market, with the high rate of decrease reflecting the amplified effect of pricing pressures in both the prismatic cell and the battery pack markets. The increase in sales volume is primarily attributable to the increase in market share because of the decrease in selling price.

 

    We also sold $7.4 million of high-power lithium-ion cells and $199,000 of lithium polymer cells in the three months ended June 30, 2006.

Cost of Revenues. Cost of revenues increased to $24.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $17.6 million for the same period in 2005, an increase of $7.3 million or 41.5%. The increase in cost of revenue was attributable to an increase in units of products sold offset by a decrease in unit costs for prismatic cells and for battery packs. The decrease in unit manufacturing costs is primarily the result of a decrease in the cost of raw materials generally, an increase in efficiency in our use of raw materials and our manufacturing yields resulting from our improvement in process technology and an increase in sales volume giving us a larger base to spread out our fixed cost allocation. By product breakdown:

 

    unit cost of revenue for steel-case cells, decreased by 2.1%;

 

    unit cost of revenue for aluminum-case cells, decreased by 10.7%;

 

    unit cost of manufacturing battery packs decreased by 65.7%.

As a result, gross profit for the three months ended June 30, 2006 was $8.5 million or 25.4% of revenues as compared to gross profit of $6.6 million or 27.1% of revenues for the same period in 2005.

Research and Development Costs. Research and development costs increased to $477,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $129,000 for the same period in 2005. Share-based compensation included in research and development expenses was $130,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2006 due to the above-mentioned adoption of SFAS No. 123R. Depreciation expenses increased by $65,000 as we purchased more equipment for our R&D efforts. Salaries related to research increased to $273,000 from $41,000 for the same period of the prior year, an increase of $232,000, primarily due to hiring more experienced research employees.

Sales and Marketing Expenses. Sales and marketing expenses decreased to $1.0 million for the three month period ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $1.1 million for the same period in 2005, an decrease of $37,000 million or 3.4%. As a percentage of revenues, sales and marketing expenses have decreased to 3.1% for the three months ended June 30, 2006, from 4.5% for the same period in 2005. Share-based compensation was $63,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2006 due to the above-mentioned adoption of SFAS No. 123R.

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses increased to $2.0 million, or 5.9% of revenues, for the three months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $1.4 million, or 6.0% of revenues, for the same period in 2005, an increase of $519,000 million or 36%. Share-based compensation included in general and administrative expenses was $350,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2006 due to the above-mentioned adoption SFAS No. 123R. Professional fees and expenses increased $245,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2006, as compared with the same period in 2005, reflecting the additional costs of operating as a public company. Bad debt expense totaled approximately $58,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to the bad debt expense of approximately $599,000 as the result of management strengthening the collection of accounts receivable during the period.

Operating Income. As a result of the above, operating income totaled $5.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to operating income of $3.9 million for the same period of the prior year, an increase of $1.1 million or 28.5%. As a percentage of revenues, operating income was 15% for the three months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to 16.2% for the same period of the prior year.

 

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Finance Costs, Net. Finance costs, net increased to $297,000 for the three month period ended June 30, 2006 as compared to $78,000 for the same period of the prior year, an increase of $219,000. We had $53.2 million in short term bank loans as of June 30, 2006 as compared to $37.5 million outstanding as of June 30, 2005.

Other Expenses. Other expenses were $1,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2006, as compared to $9,000 for the same period in 2005.

Net Income. As a result of the foregoing, we increased our net income to $4.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2006 from $3.5 million for the same period in 2005.

Capital Resources and Liquidity

We have historically financed our liquidity requirements from a variety of sources, including short-term loans and bills payable under bank credit agreements, sales of bills receivable and issuance of capital stock. As of June 30, 2006, we had cash and cash equivalents of $6.3 million, as compared to $33.1 million as of September 30, 2005. In addition, we had pledged deposits amounting to $19.0 million and $19.4 million at June 30, 2006 and September 30, 2005, respectively. Typically, banks will require borrowers to maintain deposits of approximately 20% to 100% of the outstanding loan balances. The individual bank loans have maturities ranging from 5 to 12 months which coincides with the periods the cash remains pledged to the banks.

The following table sets forth a summary of our cash flows for the periods indicated:

 

     Nine Months Ended
June 30,
 
     2005     2006  
     (as restated,
unaudited)
    (unaudited)  
     (in thousands)  

Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities

   $ 15,427     $ (8,632 )

Net cash used in investing activities

     (24,768 )     (32,406 )

Net cash provided by financing activities

     7,778       13,752  

Effect of exchange rate on cash and cash equivalents

     (1 )     562  

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalent

     (1,564 )     (26,724 )

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of period

     3,212       33,056  

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of period

     1,648       6,332  

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $8.6 million in the nine months ended June 30, 2006 compared with net cash provided by operating activities of $15.4 million in the same period in 2005. The negative cash flow was mainly the result of an increase in inventory levels as we increased our production output in the nine months ended June 31, 2006, and also an increase in the level of our accounts receivable offset by an increase in accounts and bills payable.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities increased from $24.8 million in the nine months ended June 30, 2005 to $32.4 million in the same period in 2006, reflecting an increase in our purchases of equipment, primarily attributable to the construction of the facility to house a new cylindrical cell production line.

Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $7.8 million in the nine months ended June 30, 2005 compared to $13.8 million in the same period in 2006. This was mainly attributable to (i) a $4.6 million increase in net proceeds from borrowing due to more loans being secured for working capital purposes in the nine months ended June 30, 2006, and (ii) $15 million and $1.8 million decrease to cash deposited to bank as collateral and repayment of other borrowing. The impact of these cash outflow was offset by receipt of $15.6 million cash proceed from capital raising in January 2005. No capital raising was undertaken in the nine months ended June 30, 2006. As of June 30, 2006, the principal outstanding amounts under our credit facilities and lines of credit were as follows:

 

     Maximum Amount
Available
   Amount Borrowed
     (in thousands)

Credit Facilities:

     

Agricultural Bank of China

   $ 50,028    $ 46,471

Shenzhen Development Bank

     18,760      14,212

China Construction Bank

     12,507      8,129

Shenzhen Commercial Bank

     6,253      6,253

 

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     Maximum Amount
Available
   Amount Borrowed
     (in thousands)

China CITIC Bank

     16,321      564
             

Subtotal—Credit Facilities

   $ 103,869    $ 75,629
             

 

     Amount Borrowed
     (in thousands)

Lines of Facilities:

  

Agricultural Bank of China

     2,435

Shenzhen Development Bank

     208

Shenzhen Commercial Bank

     5,217

China CITIC Bank

     3,743

China Merchants Bank

     902
      

Subtotal—Other Borrowings

     12,505
      

Total Principal Outstanding

   $ 88,134
      

The above principal outstanding amounts under credit facilities included short-term bank loans of $53 million and bills payable of $35 million.

For the purpose of presentation, the effect of increase in bills payable balances is included in operating activities in the statements of cash flows due to their nature.

During the three months ended June 30, 2006, we repaid nine bank loan agreements totaling $20.5 million, and entered into seven new bank loan agreements totaling $30.1 million with existing lenders. The seven new facilities provide for monthly interest payments at fixed annual interest rates from 5.22% to 5.85%, with principal repayments at maturities during the last calendar quarter of 2006 and the second calendar quarter of 2007.

On April 21, 2006, we renewed the Comprehensive Credit Facility Agreement of Maximum Amount (“Commercial Bank Credit Facility”) with Shuibei Branch, Shenzhen Commercial Bank. We may borrow up to RMB 50 million under the Commercial Bank Credit Facility, which expires on April 21, 2007. Under the Commercial Bank Credit Facility, we borrowed RMB 50 million on April 28, 2006, bearing interest at an annual rate of 5.265% and maturing on April 21, 2007.

On April 5, 2006, we renewed the Comprehensive Credit Facility Agreement of Maximum Amount with Longgang Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank. Under the Credit Facility, we may borrow up to RMB 150 million, which expires on April 29, 2007. Under the Credit Facility, on April 28, 2006, we entered into a loan agreement with Shenzhen Development Bank, which provides for $12.5 million at a fixed interest annual interest rate of 5.85% and expires pursuant to its terms on April 28, 2007.

On January 11, 2006, Shenzhen BAK repaid in full its loan from the Agricultural Bank of China, originally entered into on July 29, 2005 for up to $6,178,942 and maturing January 29, 2006. The principal balance at the time of repayment was $6,178,942.

On February 22, 2006, Shenzhen BAK renewed its outstanding loan from China Construction Bank in the amount of $3,726,847 under an Application Letter for Drawing for Bank Loan Facility. The new loan agreement provides for a term of six months, with interest accruing at an annual rate of 5.481%, payable monthly, and principal payable at maturity. The principal and interest terms of the loan renewal are the same as those terms under the original loan.

We had a working capital surplus of $15.0 million as of June 30, 2006, as compared to $21.0 million as of September 30, 2005, a decrease of $6.0 million. This decrease was primarily attributable to increase in short-term bank loans. We had short-term bank loans maturing in less than one year of $53.2 million as of June 30, 2006, as compared to $39.5 million as of September 30, 2005, an increase of $13.7 million.

Capital Expenditures

We made capital expenditures of $17.7 million in the nine months ended June 30, 2006. Our capital expenditures were used primarily to purchase plant and equipment to expand our production capacity.

We have completed the construction of 174,784 square meters of new facilities comprised of manufacturing facilities, warehousing and packaging facilities, dormitory space and administrative offices at the BAK Industrial Park. Of that space, 107,388 square meters are new manufacturing facilities. We have completed construction and put into use an additional administrative area, production facility, four manufacturing facilities, a warehouse and packaging facility, two dormitories and one dining hall. At present, we have no significant payment obligations related to these facilities, although we continue to make payments regarding the construction of the facility as costs arise.

Currently, the facilites under construction include a manufacturing facility, a dormitory, a dinning hall and a conference room, totaling 43,394 square meters. We anticipate finishing a major portion of BAK Industrial Park by the end of calendar year 2006.

We do not hold the land use right to the tract of property on which we have constructed our manufacturing facilities and other related facilities. According to the relevant PRC laws and regulations, a land use right certificate, along with government approvals for land planning, project planning, and construction must be

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obtained before the construction of any building is commenced. An ownership certificate will be granted by the government upon application under the condition that the aforementioned certificate and government approvals are obtained.

We have begun construction of our facilities with the approval of the local government of Kuichong Township of Longgang District of Shenzhen, which we understand does not have the authority to grant us the land use rights certificate. Under our agreement with the Kuichong Township government, we have to pay for a 50-year land use rights certificate at an agreed unit price, which in the aggregate amounted to $4.0 million as of September 30, 2004 and $3.2 million as of September 30, 2005, following an adjustment of the site area after a land survey. Out of the $3.2 million, $0.3 million has been paid to the Kuichong Township government. We have been actively negotiating with the Shenzhen municipal government with a view to resolving the lack of authority issue, but we cannot assure you that we will be able to acquire the land use right by purchasing it directly from the Shenzhen municipal government on the same terms, or if at all. In the meantime, we have recognized a net payable purchase price of $2.9 million for the land use rights on the assumption that it will be on the same terms as those agreed with the Kuichong Township government.

Contractual Obligations and Commercial Commitments

The following table sets forth our contractual obligations and commercial commitments as of June 30, 2006:

 

     Payment Due by Period
     Total    Less than
1 Year
   1-3
Years
   3-5
Years
   More than
5 Years
     (in thousands)

Short-term bank loans

   53,154    53,154    —      —      —  

Bills payable

   34,981    34,981    —      —      —  

Operating lease obligations

   132    73    59    —      —  

Capital commitments

   2,161    2,161    —      —      —  

Future interest payment on short-term bank loans

   1,479    1,479    —      —      —  
                        

Total

   91,907    91,848    59    —      —  
                        

Other than the contractual obligations and commercial commitments set forth above, we did not have any other long-term debt obligations, operating lease obligations, capital commitments, purchase obligations or other long-term liabilities as of June 30, 2006.

Off-Balance Sheet Transactions

In the ordinary course of business practices in China, we enter into transactions with banks or other lenders where we guarantee the debt of other parties. These parties may be related to or unrelated to us. Conversely, our debt with lenders may also be guaranteed by other parties which may be related or unrelated to us.

Under US GAAP, these transactions may not be recorded on our balance sheet or may be recorded in amounts different than the full contract or notional amount of the transaction. Our primary off balance sheet arrangements would result from our loan guaranties in which Shenzhen BAK would provide contractual assurance of the debt, or guarantee the timely re-payment of principal and interest of the guaranteed party.

Typically, no fees are received for this service. Thus in those transactions, Shenzhen BAK would have a contingent obligation related to the guaranty of payment in the event the underlying loan is in default.

Transactions described above require accounting treatment under FASB Interpretation 45, Guarantor’s Accounting and Disclosure Requirements for Guarantees, Including Indirect Guarantees of Indebtedness of Others (“FIN 45”). Under that standard, we would be required to recognize the fair value of guarantees issued or modified after December 31, 2002 for non-contingent guaranty obligations, and also a liability for contingent guaranty obligations based on the probability that the guaranteed party will not perform under the contractual terms of the guaranty agreement.

We have assessed the liabilities arising from these guarantees and considered they are immaterial to the consolidated financial statements. Therefore, no liabilities in respect of the guarantees were recognized as of June 30, 2006. We had guaranteed the timely re-payment of principal and interest of two parties to a bank. The maximum amount of our exposure for those guarantees at June 30, 2006 and September 30, 2005 were $5.5 million and $4.8 million respectively.

From time to time, we factor bills receivable from time to time to banks. At the time of the factoring, all rights and privileges of holding the receivables are transferred to the banks. We remove the asset from our books and records a corresponding expense for the amount of the discount. We remain contingently liable on the amount outstanding in the event the bill issuer defaults.

 

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Critical Accounting Policies

Our consolidated financial information has been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, which requires us to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that affect (1) the reported amounts of our assets and liabilities, (2) the disclosure of our contingent assets and liabilities at the end of each fiscal period and (3) the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during each fiscal period. We continually evaluate these estimates based on our own historical experience, knowledge and assessment of current business and other conditions, our expectations regarding the future based on available information and reasonable assumptions, which together form our basis for making judgments about matters that are not readily apparent from other sources. Since the use of estimates is an integral component of the financial reporting process, our actual results could differ from those estimates. Some of our accounting policies require a higher degree of judgment than others in their application.

When reviewing our financial statements, you should consider (1) our selection of critical accounting policies, (2) the judgment and other uncertainties affecting the application of those policies, and (3) the sensitivity of reported results to changes in conditions and assumptions. We believe the following accounting policies involve the most significant judgment and estimates used in the preparation of our financial statements.

Recoverability of Long-Lived Assets

Our business is capital intensive and has required, and will continue to require, significant investments in property, plant and equipment. As of September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006, the carrying amount of property, plant and equipment, net was $65.8 million and $90.9 million, respectively. We assess the recoverability of property, plant and equipment to be held and used by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset or group of assets to the future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset or group of assets. If such assets are considered impaired, the impairment recognized is measured as the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets.

A prolonged general economic downturn and, specifically, a continued downturn in the battery cell industry as well as other market factors could intensify competitive pricing pressure, create an imbalance of industry supply and demand, or otherwise diminish volumes or profits. Such events, combined with changes in interest rates, could adversely affect our estimates of future net cash flows to be generated by our long-lived assets. Consequently, it is possible that our future operating results could be materially and adversely affected by additional impairment charges related to the recoverability of our long-lived assets.

Inventory Obsolescence

We review our inventory for potential impairment on a quarterly or more frequent basis as deemed necessary. Such review includes, but is not limited to, reviewing the levels of inventory versus customer requirements and obsolescence. The review and evaluation also considers the potential sale of impaired inventory at lower than market prices. If it is determined that inventory items are impaired, we adjust our reserves to cover the estimated amount of the impairment. Though management considers these reserves adequate and proper, changes in sales volumes due to unexpected economic or competitive conditions are among the factors that could materially affect the adequacy of this reserve.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The allowance for doubtful accounts is our best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in our accounts receivable. We determine the allowance based on historical write-off experience, customer specific facts and economic conditions. Bad debt expense is included in the general and administrative expenses. We review outstanding account balances individually for collectibility. Account balances are charged off against the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote. As of September 30, 2005 and June 30, 2006, we had not charged off any balances as we had yet to exhaust all means of collection.

Stock-Based Compensation

We have adopted the alternate intrinsic value method recognition provision of SFAS 123. Pursuant to the requirements of SFAS No. 123, we disclose the pro forma effect of application of the preferred fair value method recognition provision. Further, effective October 1, 2005, we adopted the provisions of SFAS 123R, which requires the use of the fair value method of accounting for share-based compensation. Under the fair value based method, compensation cost related to employee stock options or similar equity instruments is measured at the grant date based on the value of the award and is recognized over the service period, which is usually the vesting period. We determine fair value using the Black-Scholes model. Under this model, certain assumptions, including the risk-free interest rate, the expected life of the options and the estimated fair value of our ordinary shares and the expected volatility, are required to determine the fair value of the options. If different assumptions had been used, the fair value of the options would have been different from the amount we computed and recorded, which would have resulted in either an increase or decrease in the compensation expense.

 

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Changes in Accounting Standards

In December 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No. 123R, “Share-Based Payment” which became effective for us on October 1, 2005. SFAS 123R revises SFAS 123 and supersedes APB 25. SFAS 123R requires all public and non-public companies to measure and recognize compensation expense for all stock-based payments for services received at the grant-date fair value, with the cost recognized over the vesting period (or the requisite service period). We adopted SFAS 123R since the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2005 using a modified prospective approach.

In December 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No. 151, “Inventory Costs, an amendment of ARB No. 43, Chapter 4,” (“SFAS 151”) which became effective for us on October 1, 2005. This standard clarifies that abnormal amounts of idle facility expense, freight, handling costs and wasted material should be expensed as incurred and not included in inventory. In addition, this standard requires that the allocation of fixed production overhead costs to inventory be based on the normal capacity of the production facilities. The impact of the adoption of SFAS 151 has not been material.

Exchange Rates

The financial records of BAK International, Shenzhen BAK and BAK Electronic are maintained in Renminbi. In order to prepare our financial statements, we have translated amounts in RMB into amounts in U.S. dollars. The amounts of our assets and liabilities on our balance sheets are translated using the closing exchange rate as of the date of the balance sheet. Revenues, expenses, gains and losses are translated using the average exchange rate prevailing during the period covered by such financial statements. Adjustments resulting from the translation, if any, are included in our cumulative other comprehensive income (loss) in our shareholders’ equity section of our balance sheet. All other amounts that were originally booked in RMB and translated into U.S. dollars, were translated using the closing exchange rate on the date of recognition. Consequently, the exchange rates at which the amounts in those comparisons were computed varied from year to year.

The exchange rates used to translate amounts in RMB into US dollars in connection with the preparation of our financial statements were as follows:

 

     RMB per US Dollar
     2006    2005

Balance sheet items as of June 30

   7.9956    N/A

Amounts included in the statement of operations, statement of changes in stockholders’ equity and statement of cash flows for the three months and nine months ended June 30

   8.04914    8.2765

Balance sheet items as of September 30

   N/A    8.0920

Renminbi is not readily convertible into U.S. dollars in the foreign exchange markets. The foreign exchange rate between the RMB and the U.S. dollar had been stable at approximately RMB 8.28 to $1.00 for the last few years. On July 21, 2005, the Central Bank of China announced that it would allow the RMB to move to a flexible exchange rate with a maximum daily variance against the U.S. dollar of 0.3%. No provision has been made in the accompanying financial statements for the change in currency policy, nor has any determination been made, as to the potential impact, this may have on our future operations. As a result, the stated exchange rates may not accurately reflect the amount in U.S. dollars into which RMB could be actually converted at the date or during the periods reflected in the foregoing table.

 

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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Interest Rate Risk

We are exposed to interest rate risk primarily with respect to our short-term bank loans. Although the interest rates, based on the banks’ prime rates, are fixed for the terms of the loans, the terms are typically five to twelve months and interest rates are subject to change upon renewal. There were no material changes in interest rates for short-term bank loans renewed during the nine months ended June 30, 2006. A hypothetical 1.0% increase in the annual interest rates for all of our credit facilities at June 30, 2006 would decrease net income before provision for income taxes by $531,542 or 3.3% for the nine months ended June 30, 2006. Management monitors the banks’ prime rates in conjunction with our cash requirements to determine the appropriate level of debt balances relative to other sources of funds. We have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to interest rate risk.

Foreign Exchange Risk

Although our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar, approximately 68.3% of our revenues and 90% of our costs and expenses for the nine months ended June 30, 2006 are denominated in RMB, with the balance denominated in U.S. dollars. Approximately 93.9% of our assets except for cash were denominated in RMB as of June 30, 2006. As a result, we are exposed to foreign exchange risk as our revenues and results of operations may be affected by fluctuations in the exchange rate between U.S. dollars and RMB. If the RMB depreciates against the U.S. dollar, the value of our Renminbi revenues, earnings and assets as expressed in our U.S. dollar financial statements will decline. We record transactions denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar by translating them into U.S. dollars at the applicable exchange rates on the transaction dates. Assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated into U.S. dollars at the applicable exchange rate on the balance sheet date. Any resulting exchange differences are recorded in other comprehensive income or loss. An average appreciation (depreciation) of the RMB against the U.S. dollar of 5% would increase (decrease) our comprehensive income by $5.2 million based on our outstanding revenues, costs and expenses, assets and liabilities denominated in RMB as of June 30, 2006. As of June 30, 2006, our accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) was $2.3 million. We have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign exchange risk.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As required by Rule 13a-15 under the Securities Exchange Act, management has evaluated, with the participation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report on Form 10-Q. In addition, management has performed the same evaluation as of the date of filing this quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Disclosure controls and procedures refer to controls and other procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding our required disclosure. In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management was required to apply its judgment in evaluating and implementing possible controls and procedures.

Management conducted its evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures under the supervision of our chief executive officer and our chief financial officer.

First Restatement

In the course of the SEC review of registration statements on Form SB-2 (File Nos. 333-122209 and 333-130247), we restated on January 30, 2006, pursuant to Amendment No.1 to our annual report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005, our consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2004, our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income, our consolidated statements of cash flows and our consolidated statements of changes in shareholders’ equity for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, and also extended or modified certain notes to these consolidated financial statements. This restatement resulted arose out of accounting errors relating to (1) misclassification of cash transactions, (2) incorrect charging to our statements of income and comprehensive income and comprehensive income for fiscal 2003 and 2004 for deficit attributable to 1,152,456 shares outstanding prior to our reverse merger on January 20, 2005, and (3) incorrect presentation of depreciating expenses in the statement of income and comprehensive income. The restatement in an increase in net cash from financing activities, a decrease in the number of common stock outstanding and a corresponding increase in paid-in capital, and a decrease in gross profit for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004 by $1,635,971, or approximately 11%.

Second Restatement

In the course of the SEC review of the registration statements referred to above, we determined that beginning with fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2005, we would no longer be considered a “small business issuer.” We restated on March 29, 2006, pursuant to Amendment No.2 to our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2005, our consolidated statement of income and comprehensive income and our consolidated statement of cash flows for the three months ended December 31, 2005 to reflect the prospective adoption of SFAS No. 123R relating to the accounting for stock- based compensation commencing in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending September 30, 2006. Pursuant to the restatement, we incurred an incremental share-based compensation expense of $711,512 in the quarter ended December 31, 2005. This restatement resulted in, among other things, a decrease in gross profit and net income per share for the first quarter of our fiscal year 2006.

Third Restatement

As reported in the current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on August 4, 2006, we changed our independent registered public accounting firm from Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP to KPMG. We engaged KPMG on May 15, 2006 to audit the Company’s financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003, 2004 and 2005. During the course of the audit, KPMG notified our accounting staff of misstatements in our previously reported financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003, 2004 and 2005 that required correction relating to: (1) the overstatement of interest expense because of an error in the application of accounting principles relating to interest capitalization, and the related understatement of property, plant and equipment, construction in progress and depreciation expenses; (2) the incorrect charging to shareholders’ equity for fiscal year 2005 the provision for staff and workers’ bonus and welfare fund instead of charging it to the statements of income and comprehensive income; (3) the overstatement of the provision for contributions to a social insurance plan because of a misinterpretation of the applicable PRC laws; (4) the understatement of our accumulated foreign-currency translation adjustment for fiscal 2005 included in comprehensive income and overstatement of our additional paid-in capital due to a calculation error during consolidation; (5) other misstatements identified, which were individually not material, include of amounts related to amortization of lease prepayments, prepayments and other receivables, accrued expenses and other payables, cost of revenues, general and administrative expenses, finance costs, other expenses, and certain cash flow items, and (6) the consequential understatements or overstatements of income tax expenses. The net restatement adjustments resulting from these accounting misstatements resulted in an increase in our net income and net income per share for the fiscal years 2003, 2004 and 2005, respectively.

Management’s Determination on Disclosure controls and procedure

Management has determined that the above-mentioned three restatements related to control deficiencies that in turn resulted from material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s Auditing Standard No. 2 defines a material weakness as a significant deficiency, or combination of significant deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected. As a result of existence of the material weaknesses, as described below, our chief executive officer and our chief financial officer have concluded that, as of June 30, 2006, quarterly Form 10-Q, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at a reasonable assurance level.

For the purposes of this quarterly report on Form 10-Q, we re-closed our financial statements for the three months and nine months ended June 30, 2005 and 2006 and Management believes that the financial statements included in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q fairly present in all material respects our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented.

Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Internal control over financial reporting refers to a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer and effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with the U.S. GAAP and includes those policies and procedures that:

 

    pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets;

 

    provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with the U.S. GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and members of our board of directors; and

 

    provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.

Internal control over financial reporting cannot provide absolute assurance of achieving financial reporting objectives because of its inherent limitations. Internal control over financial reporting is a process that involves human diligence and compliance and is subject to lapses in judgment and breakdowns resulting from human failures. Internal control over financial reporting also can be circumvented by collusion or improper override. Because of such limitations, there is a risk that material misstatements may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis by internal controls over financial reporting. However, these inherent limitations are known features of the financial reporting process, and it is possible to design into the process safeguards to reduce, though not eliminate, this risk.

Material Weaknesses

Management has determined that the above-mentioned three restatements resulted from the following material weaknesses:

 

    a lack of sufficient accounting staff with adequate training and familiarity with the application of the U.S. GAAP;

 

    a lack of sufficient internal control over financial reporting designed to ensure proper preparation of the financial statements under the U.S. GAAP; and

 

    a lack of controls and procedures for review and examination of financial statements prepared in accordance with the U.S. GAAP.

Remediation Measures

We are committed to maintaining an effective internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. To remediate the material weaknesses described above, we have taken and continue to take the following steps:

 

    Beginning April 2006, hired accounting staff familiar with the U.S. GAAP and financial accounting and auditing experience with a “Big Four” public accounting firm to prepare consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

 

    Required draft financial statements to be reviewed by senior accountants with more than ten-year auditing experience.

 

    Increased training of all accounting personnel on U.S. GAAP: basic accounting personnel to participate in training programs concerning general accounting policies and principles provided by governmental agencies and professional firms; key accounting personnel to participate in special training programs provided by professional accounting firms retained by us on the difference between U.S. GAAP and PRC GAAP, recent developments in accounting policies, and previous errors in preparation and disclosure of our financial statements.

 

    Retained experienced accountants and external consultants to advise us on accounting treatment of complicated transactions and matters unfamiliar to our accounting staff, such as accounting for share-based compensation.

 

    Retained experienced PRC domestic counsel to advise us on applicable PRC laws and regulations, and international counsel to ensure that our accounting treatment and disclosures comply with the SEC rules and the requirements under U.S. GAAP.

 

    Engaged experienced external consultants with expertise in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, internal control over financial reporting, auditing and risk control to help us design and implement internal control procedures regarding financial reporting and disclosures.

 

    Established flow charts illustrating detailed procedures relating to our business, internal control, risk control matrix, and testing methods.

 

    Established in March 2006 an internal auditing department, which directly reports to our audit committee and is responsible for inspecting and evaluating the implementation of all internal control and procedures in respect of financial reporting.

 

    Established in June 2006 disclosure committee responsible for reviewing, analyzing and examining our financial statements and disclosure items, a requirement that must be complied with prior to the publication of our financial statements and disclosure items.

We have taken, and continue to take, these remediation measures to address the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Although we believe that these material weaknesses have not been fully resolved as of the date of filing of this quarterly report on Form 10-Q, we are carrying out measures to fully remedy all material weaknesses by the end of fiscal year ending September 30, 2006. We are in the process of evaluating, implementing and testing our internal control procedures in anticipation of the compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006.

Except for the foregoing remediation measures, there have been no material changes in our disclosure controls and procedures, or our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2006 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting.

 

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PART II — OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

None.

Item 1A . Risk Factors

Risks Related to Our Business

Our limited operating history may not serve as an adequate basis to evaluate our future prospects and results of operations.

We have a limited operating history. We are engaged in the business of developing, manufacturing and selling of lithium-based rechargeable battery cells used for a wide range of portable electronic applications. We were established in Shenzhen, China in August 2001 and commenced operations in June 2002. Our limited operating history may not provide a meaningful basis for you to evaluate our business, financial performance and prospects. We may not be able to:

 

    maintain our leading position in the cellular phone battery replacement market;

 

    retain existing customers or acquire new customers;

 

    diversify our revenue sources by successfully developing and selling our products in the global cellular phone OEM market, notebook computer battery market and other markets;

 

    keep up with evolving industry standards and market developments;

 

    respond to competitive market conditions;

 

    maintain adequate control of our expenses;

 

    manage our relationships with our suppliers;

 

    attract, train, retain and motivate qualified personnel; or

 

    protect our proprietary technologies.

If we are unsuccessful in addressing any of these challenges, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

We are primarily dependent on sales of lithium-ion battery cells for the cellular phone battery replacement market. A reduction in the volume or average price of lithium-ion battery cells that we sell for this market would cause our overall revenue to decline.

We derived a substantial portion of our revenues from the sales of our lithium-ion battery cells for the cellular phone battery replacement market, respectively. While we intend to diversify our revenue sources by expanding to the global cellular phone OEM market, notebook computers and high-power electrical tool markets, we expect that sales of battery cells used for the cellular phone battery replacement market will continue to comprise a significant portion of our revenues in the near future. Accordingly, any decrease in the demand for our battery cells in the replacement market resulting from success of competing products, slower than expected growth of sales in the replacement market or other adverse developments relating to the replacement market may materially and adversely affect our business and cause our overall revenue to decline. In addition, our expansion to the global cellular phone battery OEM market and other markets may not increase our revenue to a level that would enable us to materially reduce our dependence on sales of battery cells for the cellular phone replacement market.

Our business depends on the growth in demand for portable electronic devices.

As the market demand for portable electronic devices is directly related to the demand for our products, a fast growing portable electronic device market will be critical to the success of our business. In anticipation of an expected increase in demand for portable electronic devices such as cellular phones and notebook computers in next few years, we have expanded our manufacturing capacity. However, the markets we have targeted, including those of PRC, may not achieve the level of growth we expect. If this market fails to achieve our expected level of growth, we will have excess production capacity and may not be able to generate enough revenue to maintain our profitability.

 

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Our future success depends on the success of manufacturers of the end applications that use our products.

As we expand to the battery markets for global OEM cellular phones, notebook computers and other portable electronic devices, our future success depends on whether end application manufacturers are willing to use batteries from our product lines. To secure acceptance of our products, we must constantly develop and introduce more reliable and cost-effective battery cells with enhanced functionality to meet evolving industry standards. Our failure to gain acceptance of our products from these manufactures could materially and adversely affect our future success.

Even if a manufacturer decides to use batteries that incorporate our products, the manufacturer may not be able to market and sell its products successfully. The manufacturer’s inability to market and sell its products successfully, whether from lack of market acceptance or otherwise, could materially and adversely affect our business and prospects because this manufacturer may not order new products from us. If we cannot achieve the expected level of sales, we will not be able to make enough profits to offset the expenditures we have incurred to expand our production capacity, nor will we be able to grow our business. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future success would be materially and adversely affected.

We experience fluctuations in quarterly operating results.

Our quarterly operating results have fluctuated in the past and will likely fluctuate in the future. The demand for our products is driven largely by demand for the end applications that are powered by our products. Accordingly, the rechargeable battery industry is affected by market conditions that are often outside our control. Our results of operations may fluctuate significantly from period to period due to a number of factors, including seasonal variations in consumer demand for batteries and their end applications, capacity ramp up by competitors, industry-wide technological changes, the loss of a key customer and the postponement, rescheduling or cancellation of large orders by a key customer. As a result of these factors and other risks discussed in this section, you should not rely on period-to-period comparisons to predict our future performance.

Our failure to keep up with rapid technological changes and evolving industry standards may cause our products to become obsolete and less marketable, resulting in our loss of market share to our competitors.

The lithium-based battery market is characterized by changing technologies and evolving industry standards, which are difficult to predict. This, coupled with frequent introduction of new products and models, has shortened product life cycles and may render our products obsolete or unmarketable. Our ability to adapt to evolving industry standards and anticipate future standards will be a significant factor in maintaining and improving our competitive position and our prospects for growth. To achieve this goal, we have invested and plan to continue investing significant financial resources in our R&D infrastructure. Research and development activities, however, are inherently uncertain, and we might encounter practical difficulties in commercializing our research results. Accordingly, our significant investment in our R&D infrastructure may not bear fruit. On the other hand, our competitors may improve their technologies or even achieve technological breakthroughs that would render our products obsolete or less marketable. Therefore, our failure to effectively keep up with the rapidly technological changes and evolving industry standards by introducing new and enhanced products may cause us to lose our market share and to suffer a decrease in our revenue.

Failure to successfully obtain OEM certification from international cellular phone brand owners may materially and adversely affect our future growth.

We intend to leverage our position in the cellular phone battery replacement market and to expand to the global cellular phone OEM market. To achieve this goal, we must first be qualified by international brand owners. We have started the process with Motorola, Nokia as well as other international brand owners. Since international brand owners have very stringent requirements, the qualification process can be lengthy and costly for new component suppliers such as us. Our failure to obtain qualifications from international brand owners would have a material adverse effect on our ability to execute our business plan and achieve the level of growth we have planned.

 

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We may not be able to manage our expansion of operations effectively.

We were established in August 2001 and have grown rapidly since. We are in the process of significantly expanding our business in order to meet the increasing demand for our products, as well as to capture new market opportunities. As we continue to grow, we must continue to improve our operational and financial systems, procedures and controls, increase manufacturing capacity and output, and expand, train and manage our growing employee base. In order to fund our on-going operations and our future growth, we need to have sufficient internal sources of liquidity or access to additional financing from external sources. Furthermore, our management will be required to maintain and strengthen our relationships with our customers, suppliers and other third parties. As a result, our continued expansion has placed, and will continue to place, significant strains on our management personnel, systems and resources. We will also need to further strengthen our internal control and compliance functions to ensure that we will be able to comply with our legal and contractual obligations and minimize our operational and compliance risks. Our current and planned operations, personnel, systems, internal procedures and controls may not be adequate to support our future growth. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, we may not be able to take advantage of market opportunities, execute our business strategies or respond to competitive pressures.

We may not be able to substantially increase our manufacturing output in order to maintain our cost competitiveness.

We believe that our ability to provide cost-effective products is one of the most significant factors that contributed to our current success and will be essential for our future growth. We believe this is one of our competitive advantages over our Japanese and Korean competitors. In order to continue doing so, we will need to increase our manufacturing output to a level that will enable us to substantially reduce the cost of our products on a per unit basis through economies of scale. However, our ability to substantially increase our manufacturing output is subject to significant constraints and uncertainties, including:

 

    the need to raise significant additional funds to purchase and prepay raw materials or to build additional manufacturing facilities, which we may be unable to obtain on reasonable terms or at all;

 

    delays and cost overruns as a result of a number of factors, many of which may be beyond our control, such as increases in raw material prices and problems with equipment vendors;

 

    delays or denial of required approvals by relevant government authorities;

 

    diversion of significant management attention and other resources; and

 

    failure to execute our expansion plan effectively.

If we are unable to increase our manufacturing output because of any of the risks described above, we may be unable to maintain our competitive position or achieve the growth we expect. Moreover, even if we expand our manufacturing output, we may not be able to generate sufficient customer demand for our products to support our increased production output.

We are and will continue to be subject to rapidly declining average selling prices, which may harm our revenue and gross profits.

Portable consumer electronics such as cellular phones and notebook computers are subject to rapid declines in average selling prices due to rapidly evolving technologies, industry standards and consumer preferences. As a result, manufacturers of these electronic devices expect us as suppliers to cut our costs and lower the price of our products in order to mitigate the negative impact on their own margins. We have reduced the price of our products in the past in order to meet market demand and expect to continue to face market-driven downward pricing pressures in the future. Our revenue and profitability will suffer if we are unable to offset any declines in our average selling prices by developing new or enhanced products on a timely basis with higher selling prices or gross profit margins, increasing our sales volumes or reducing our costs.

 

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We have had material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting, which relate primarily to the disclosure and presentation of financial information under U.S. GAAP. We have restated our financial statements three times. We cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses will not be identified in the future. Our failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in material misstatements in our financial statements which could require us to restate financial statements, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on our stock price.

In the course of the SEC review of registration statements on Form SB-2 (File Nos. 333-122209 and 333-130247), we restated our consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2004, our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income, our consolidated statements of cash flows and our consolidated statements of changes in shareholders equity for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, and also extended or modified certain notes to these consolidated financial statements. This restatement arose out of accounting errors relating to (1) misclassification of cash transactions, (2) incorrect charging to our statements of income and comprehensive income and comprehensive income for fiscal 2003 and 2004 for deficit attributable to 1,152,456 shares outstanding prior to our reverse merger on January 20, 2005, and (3) incorrect presentation of depreciation expenses in the statement of income and comprehensive income. The restatement resulted in an increase in net cash from financing activities, a decrease in the number of common stock outstanding and a corresponding increase in paid-in capital, and a decrease in gross profit for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004 by $1,635,971, or approximately 11%.

In the course of the SEC review of the registration statements referred to above, we determined that beginning with fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2005, we would no longer be considered a “small business issuer.” We restated our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2005, our consolidated statement of income and comprehensive income and our consolidated statement of cash flows for the three months ended December 31, 2005 to reflect the prospective adoption SFAS No. 123R relating to the accounting for stock-based compensation commencing in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending September 30, 2006. Pursuant to the restatement, we incurred an incremental share-based compensation expense of $711,512 in the quarter ended December 31, 2005. This restatement resulted in, among other things, a decrease in gross profit and net income per share for the first quarter of our fiscal year 2006.

As reported in the current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on August 4, 2006, we changed our independent registered public accounting firm from Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP to KPMG. We engaged KPMG on May 15, 2006 to carry out an audit of our financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003, 2004 and 2005. During the course of the audit, KPMG notified our accounting staff of misstatements in our previously reported financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003, 2004 and 2005 that required correction relating to: (1) the overstatement of interest expense because of an error in the application of accounting principles relating to interest capitalization, and the related understatement of property, plant and equipment, construction in progress and depreciation expenses; (2) the incorrect charging to shareholders’ equity for fiscal year 2005 the provision for staff and workers’ bonus and welfare fund instead of charging it to the statements of income and comprehensive income; (3) the overstatement of the provision for contributions to a social insurance plan because of a misinterpretation of the applicable PRC laws; (4) the understatement of our accumulated foreign-currency translation adjustment for fiscal 2005 included in comprehensive income and overstatement of our additional paid-in capital due to a calculation error during consolidation; (5) other misstatements identified, which were individually not material, include amounts related to amortization of lease prepayments, prepayments and other receivables, accrued expenses and other payables, cost of revenues, general and administrative expenses, finance costs, other expenses, and certain cash flow items, and (6) the consequential understatements or overstatements of income tax expenses. The net restatement adjustments resulted in an increase in our net income and earnings per share in the relevant periods.

Management has determined that the restatements referred to above resulted from material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. These material weaknesses relate primarily to the disclosure and presentation of financial information in accordance with U.S. GAAP. See “Item 4 Controls and Procedures” for a more detailed discussion of these material weaknesses.

 

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We cannot assure you that additional significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting will not be identified in the future. Any failure to maintain or implement required new or improved controls, or any difficulties we encounter in their implementation, could result in additional significant deficiencies or material weaknesses, cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements. Any such failure could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual auditor attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that will be required when the SEC’s rules under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 become applicable to us beginning with our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006. The existence of a material weakness could result in errors in our financial statements that could result in another restatement of financial statements, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, leading to a decline in our stock price.

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and the trading price of our common stock.

We are subject to the reporting obligations under the U.S. securities laws. The SEC, under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, has adopted rules requiring public companies to include a report of management on such companies’ internal control over financial reporting in their annual reports that contain an assessment by management of the effectiveness of their internal control over financial reporting at a reasonable assurance level. In addition, an independent registered public accounting firm for a public company must attest to and report on management’s assessment of the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting. These requirements will first apply to our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006.

Management has determined that as of the fiscal quarter June 30, 2006 and as of the date of filing of this report, the restatements, as described in “Item 4 Controls and Procedures,” resulted from material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. To remediate these material weaknesses, which relate primarily to the disclosure and presentation of financial information in accordance with U.S. GAAP, we have taken and continue to take a number of remediation measures, as described in “Item 4 Controls and Procedures.” However, we cannot assure you that we can fully remediate all our material weaknesses or address additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies that may subsequently arise by the year end date of fiscal year 2006, so that our management can conclude that we will have an effective internal control over financial reporting as of the fiscal year end for our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year 2006. If we cannot implement the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, our independent auditors may not be able to provide a written attestation as to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, in which event, our independent auditors may issue a disclaimer of their audit opinion. Our failure to achieve and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting may result in sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities, such as the SEC, and loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which in turn could harm our business and negatively impact the trading price of our common stock. Furthermore, we anticipate that we will incur considerable costs and use significant management and other resources in an effort to comply with Section 404 and other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

We became a public company through our acquisition by a non-operating public shell company, where we were the accounting acquirer and assumed all liabilities of our predecessor entity.

Our January 2005 share exchange with Medina Coffee, Inc. was accounted for as a reverse merger in which Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd. was deemed to be the accounting acquirer and Medina Coffee, which was originally incorporated in 1999, was deemed to be the legal acquirer. Accordingly, we have assumed all the liabilities of Medina Coffee. Medina Coffee was incorporated for the purposes of engaging in the retail coffee business and at the time of the share exchange, Medina Coffee had no substantial operations, assets or liabilities. We cannot guarantee that we will not become subject to any liabilities related to the conduct by Medina Coffee of its business prior to its acquisition by us that may subsequently arise.

 

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We are dependent on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our revenues and this dependence is likely to continue.

We have been dependent on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue. Our top five customers accounted for approximately 34.5% and 39.9% of our revenues in the years ended September 30, 2005 and for the nine months ended June 30, 2006, respectively. Dependence on a few customers could make it difficult to negotiate attractive prices for our products and could expose us to the risk of substantial losses if a single dominant customer stops purchasing our products. We expect that a limited number of customers will continue to contribute to a significant portion of our sales in the near future. Our ability to maintain close relationships with these top customers is essential to the growth and profitability of our business. If we fail to sell our products to one or more of these top customers in any particular period, or if a large customer purchases fewer of our products, defers orders or fails to place additional orders with us, or if we fail to develop additional major customers, our revenue could decline, and our results of operations could be adversely affected.

We do not have long-term purchase commitments from our customers, which may result in significant uncertainties and volatility with respect to our revenue from period to period.

We do not have long-term purchase commitments from our customers and the term of our sales contracts with our customers is typically one year. Furthermore, these contracts leave certain major terms such as price and quantity of products open to be determined in each purchase order. These contracts also allow parties to readjust the contract price for substantial changes in market conditions. As a result, if our customers hold stronger bargaining power than us or the market conditions are in their favor, we may not be able to enjoy the price downside protection or upside gain. Furthermore, our customers may decide not to continue placing purchase orders with us in the future at the same level as in prior periods. As a result, our results of operations may vary from period to period and may fluctuate significantly in the future.

We may not be able to accurately plan our production based on our sales contracts, which may result in excess product inventory or product shortages.

Our sales contracts typically provide for a non-binding, three-month forecast on the quantity of products that our customers may purchase from us. We typically have only a 15-day lead time to manufacture products to meet our customers’ requirements once our customers place orders with us. To meet the short delivery deadline, we generally make significant decisions on our production level and timing, procurement, facility requirements, personnel needs and other resources requirements based on our estimate in light of this forecast, our past dealings with such customers, market conditions and other relevant factors. Our customers’ final purchase orders may not be consistent with our estimates. If the final purchase orders substantially differ from our estimates, we may have excess product inventory or product shortages. Excess product inventory could result in unprofitable sales or write-offs as our products are susceptible to obsolescence and price declines. Producing additional products to make up for any product shortages within a short time frame may be difficult, making us unable to fill out the purchase orders. In either case, our results of operations would fluctuate from period to period.

We depend on third parties to supply key raw materials to us. Failure to obtain sufficient supply of these raw materials in a timely fashion and at reasonable costs could significantly delay our production and shipments, which would cause us to breach our sales contracts with our customers.

We purchase from Chinese domestic suppliers certain key raw materials such as electrolytes, electrode materials and import separators, a key component of battery cells from foreign countries. We purchase raw materials on the basis of purchase orders. In the absence of firm and long-term contracts, we may not be able to obtain sufficient supply of these raw materials from our existing suppliers or alternates in a timely fashion or at a reasonable cost. Our failure to secure sufficient supply of key raw materials in a timely fashion would result in a significant delay in our production and shipments, which may cause us to breach our sales contracts with our customers. Furthermore, failure to obtain sufficient supply of these raw materials at a reasonable cost could also harm our revenue and gross profit margins.

 

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We face intense competition from other battery cell manufacturers, many of which have significantly greater resources.

The market for battery cells used for portable electronic devices such as cellular phones is intensely competitive and is characterized by frequent technological changes and evolving industry standards. We expect competition to become more intense. Increased competition may result in a decline in average selling prices, causing a decrease in gross profit margins. We have faced and will continue to face competition from manufacturers of traditional rechargeable battery cells, such as nickel-cadmium batteries, from manufacturers of rechargeable battery cells of more recent technologies, such as nickel-metal hydride and liquid electrolyte, other manufacturers of lithium-ion battery cells, as well as from companies engaged in the development of batteries incorporating new technologies. Other manufacturers of lithium-ion battery cells currently include Sanyo Electric Co., Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), GS Group, NEC Corporation, Hitachi Ltd., LG Chemical Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., BYD Co. Ltd., Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint Stock Co., Ltd., Henan Huanyu Group and Harbin Coslight Technology International Group Co., Ltd.

Many of these existing competitors have greater financial, personnel, technical, manufacturing, marketing, sales and other resources than we do. As a result, these competitors may be in a stronger position to respond quickly to market opportunities, new or emerging technologies and evolving industry standards. Many of our competitors are developing a variety of battery technologies, such as lithium polymer and fuel cell batteries, which are expected to compete with our existing product line. Other companies undertaking R&D activities of solid-polymer lithium-ion batteries have developed prototypes and are constructing commercial scale production facilities. It is possible that our competitors will be able to introduce new products with more desirable features than ours and their new products will gain market acceptance. If our competitors successfully do so, we may not be able to maintain our competitive position and our future success would be materially and adversely affected.

We depend on third-party battery pack manufacturers to incorporate our products into battery packs to make batteries ready for use in various portable consumer electronics. If these factories fail to properly assemble our products and battery packs, resulting in defective batteries, our reputation could be severely damaged and our sales could be materially and adversely affected.

We manufacture only battery cells, which is a key and the most valuable component of a battery. Battery cells need to be incorporated into battery packs to constitute batteries ready for use in various portable consumer electronics. Some of our end application customers may ask us to designate certain third-party battery pack manufacturers to assemble our products into batteries. While assembly is a fairly straightforward process as it does not involve much complex technologies, unless assembled properly, the batteries could malfunction. If the battery pack manufacturers with whom we cooperated fail to assemble batteries properly and cause a large number of batteries to be defective due to reasons unrelated to the quality of our products, our reputation could be severely damaged. If these battery pack manufacturers are unable to assemble a sufficient number of batteries to meet the requirements of our end application customers and we cannot timely find qualified alternative battery pack manufacturers, our sales could be materially and adversely affected.

Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our senior executives and other key personnel, and our business may be severely disrupted if we lost their services.

Our future success heavily depends on the continued service of our senior executives and other key employees. In particular, we rely on the expertise and experience of our chief executive office and president, Mr. Xiangqian Li, our chief operating officer and chief technical officer, Dr. Huanyu Mao. If one or more of our senior executives are unable or unwilling to continue to work for us in their present positions, we may have to spend a considerable amount of time and costs in searching, recruiting and integrating the replacements into our operations, which would substantially divert our management’s attention from our business and severely disrupt our business. This may also adversely affect our ability to execute our business strategy. Moreover, if any of our senior executives joins a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose customers, suppliers, know-how and key personnel. Each of our executive officers has entered into an employment agreement with us, which contains non-competition and confidentiality clauses. However, if any dispute arises between our executive officers and us, it is hard to predict the extent to which any of these agreements could be enforced in China, where these executive officers reside, in light of the uncertainties with China’s legal system.

 

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The success of our business depends on our ability to attract, train and retain highly skilled employees and key personnel.

Because of the highly specialized, technical nature of our business, we must attract, train and retain a sizable workforce comprising highly skilled employees and other key personnel. Since our industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talent, we may have to pay higher salaries and wages and provide greater benefits in order to attract and retain highly skilled employees or other key personnel that we will need to achieve ours strategic objectives. As we are still a relatively young company and our business has grown rapidly, our ability to train and integrate new employees into our operations may not meet the requirements of our growing business. Our failure to attract, train or retain highly skilled employees and other key personnel in numbers that are sufficient to satisfy our needs would materially and adversely affect our business.

Manufacturing or use of our products may cause accidents, which could result in significant production interruption, delay or claims for substantial damages.

Due to the high energy density inherent in lithium-based batteries, our batteries can pose certain safety risks, including the risk of fire. Although we incorporate safety procedures in the research, development, manufacture and transportation of batteries that are designed to minimize safety risks, the manufacture or use of our products may still cause accidents. Any accident, whether occurring at the manufacturing facilities or from the use of our products, may result in significant production interruption, delays or claims for substantial damages caused by personal injuries or property damages.

We extend relatively long payment terms to our customers.

As is customary in the our industry in the PRC, we extend relatively long payment terms and provide generous return policies to our customers. As a result of the size of many of our orders, these extended terms may adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to fund our operations out of our operating cash flow. In addition, although we attempt to establish appropriate reserves for our receivables, those reserves may not prove to be adequate in view of actual levels of bad debts. The failure of our customers to pay us timely would negatively affect our working capital, which could in turn adversely affect our cash flow.

Our customers often place large orders for products, requiring fast delivery, which impacts our working capital. If our customers do not incorporate our products into their products and sell them in a timely fashion, for example, due to excess inventories, sales slowdowns or other issues, they may not pay us in a timely fashion, even on our extended terms. Our customers’ failure to pay may force us to defer or delay further product orders, which may adversely affect our cash flows, sales or income in subsequent periods.

We manufacture and market lithium-based battery cells only. If a viable substitute product or chemistry emerges and gains market acceptance, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected.

We manufacture and market lithium-based battery cells only. As we believe that the market for lithium-based batteries has good growth potential, we have focused our R&D activities on exploring new chemistry and formula to enhance our product quality and features while reducing cost. Some of our competitors are conducting R&D on alternative battery technologies, such as fuel cells. If any viable substitute product emerges and gains market acceptance because it has more enhanced features, more power, more attractive pricing, or better reliability, the market demand for our products may be reduced, and accordingly our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

 

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We face risks associated with the marketing, distribution and sale of our products internationally, and if we are unable to effectively manage these risks, they could impair our ability to expand our business abroad.

For the nine months ended June 30, 2006, we derived 31.7% of our sales from outside Mainland China. The marketing, international distribution and sale of our products expose us to a number of risks, including:

 

    fluctuations in currency exchange rates;

 

    difficulty in engaging and retaining distributors that are knowledgeable about, and can function effectively in, overseas markets;

 

    increased costs associated with maintaining marketing efforts in various countries;

 

    difficulty and cost relating to compliance with the different commercial and legal requirements of the overseas markets in which we offer our products;

 

    inability to obtain, maintain or enforce intellectual property rights; and

 

    trade barriers such as export requirements, tariffs, taxes and other restrictions and expenses, which could increase the prices of our products and make us less competitive in some countries.

Defects in our products could result in a loss of customers and decrease in revenue, unexpected expenses and a loss of the market share.

We have purchased certain product liability insurance from some PRC-based insurance companies to provide against any claims against us based on our product quality. If any of our products is found to have reliability, quality or compatibility problems, we will be required to accept returns, provide replacement, provide refund, or pay damages. As our insurance policy imposes a ceiling for maximum coverage and high deductibles, we may not be able to obtain from our insurance policy an amount enough to compensate our customers for damages they suffered attributable to the quality of our products. Moreover, as our insurance policy also excludes certain types of claims from its coverage and if any of our customers’ claims against us falls into those exclusions, we would not receive any amount from our insurance policy at all. In either case, we may still be required to incur substantial amounts to indemnify our customers in respect of their product quality claims against us, which would materially and adversely affect the results of our operations and severely damage our reputation.

We may be exposed to infringement or misappropriation claims by third parties, which, if determined adversely to us, could cause our loss of significant rights and inability to continue providing our existing product offerings.

Our success also depends largely on our ability to use and develop our technology and know-how without infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties. The validity and scope of claims relating to lithium-ion battery technology patents involve complex scientific, legal and factual questions and analysis and, therefore, may be highly expensive and time-consuming. If there is a successful claim of infringement against us, we may be required to pay substantial damages to the party claiming infringement, develop non-infringing technologies or enter into royalty or license agreements that may not be available at acceptable terms, if at all. Our failure to develop non-infringing technologies or license the proprietary rights on a timely basis would harm our business. Protracted litigation could result in our customers, or potential customers, deferring or limiting their purchase or use of our products until resolution of such litigation. Parties making the infringement claim may also obtain an injunction that can prevent us from selling our products or using technology that contains the allegedly infringing contents. Any intellectual property litigation could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation and financial condition.

 

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We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position.

We rely on a combination of patent, trademark and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality agreements to protect our intellectual property rights. As of June 30, 2006, we owned 50 patents in China and had 171 pending patent applications in China. We had 26 registered trademarks in China that cover various categories of goods and services. Some of our trademarks, such as BAK, are also registered trademarks in the United States, European Union, Korea, Russia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. There is a possibility that not all the pending patent applications will result in issue of patents or, if issued, that it will sufficiently protect our intellectual property rights. Implementation of PRC intellectual property-related laws has historically been lax, primarily because of ambiguities in the PRC laws and difficulties in enforcement. Accordingly, intellectual property rights and confidentiality protections in China may not be as effective as in the United States or other countries. Policing unauthorized use of proprietary technology is difficult and expensive. The steps we have taken may not be adequate to prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights. Reverse engineering, unauthorized copying or other misappropriation of our proprietary technologies could enable third parties to benefit from our technologies without paying us any royalties. Though we are not currently involved in any litigation with respect to intellectual property, we may need to enforce our intellectual property rights through litigation.

We do not hold land use right for our BAK Industrial Park where our facilities are located, nor did we obtain the required construction and zoning permits for our manufacturing facilities and other related facilities situated on the land.

We do not hold the land use right to the tract of property on which we have constructed our new manufacturing facilities and other related facilities. Under relevant PRC laws and regulations, because we do not have the land use right for the underlying land, we were not eligible to apply for the required construction or zoning permits for the facilities we later built on the land, including our manufacturing facilities, and therefore we are not deemed to be the rightful owner for all these facilities. While we have been actively negotiating with the Shenzhen municipal government with a view to resolving this issue, we may not be able to purchase the land use right to the underlying land from the Shenzhen municipal government on commercially reasonable terms, or if at all. Even if we manage to acquire the land use right, we cannot assure you that we will not be subject to any fine or other penalty for our past non-compliance with construction and zoning requirements. If we are unsuccessful in acquiring the land use right, we could be forced to halt our production, vacate our current premises, and lose all of our facilities situated on the land without any compensation, which would adversely and materially affect our business, results of operations and our financial condition.

Compliance with environmental regulations can be expensive, and our failure to comply with these regulations may result in adverse publicity and a material adverse effect on our business.

As a manufacturer, we are subject to various Chinese environmental laws and regulations on air emission, waste water discharge, solid wastes and noise. Although we believe that our operations are in substantial compliance with current environmental laws and regulations, we may not be able to comply with these regulations at all times as the PRC environmental legal regime is evolving and becoming more stringent. Therefore, if the PRC imposes more stringent regulations in the future, we will have to incur additional substantial costs and expenses in order to comply with new regulations, which may negatively affect our results of operations. If we fail to comply with any of the present or future environmental regulations in material aspects, we may suffer from negative publicity and may be required to pay substantial fines, suspend or even cease operations. Failure to comply with PRC environmental laws and regulations may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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We have significant short-term debt obligations, which mature in less than one year. Failure to extend those maturities of, or to refinance, that debt could result in defaults, and in certain instances, foreclosures on our assets.

As June 30, 2006, we had $53.0 million of short-term loans and $35.0 million of bills payable maturing in less than one year, a substantial portion of which was secured by certain of our assets that amounted to $36.7 million. Our deposits, inventory, machinery and equipment worth $17.8 million secured the short-term bank loans, and our deposits worth of $18.9 million secured the bills payable. Failure to obtain extensions of the maturity dates of, or to refinance, these obligations or to obtain additional equity financing to meet these debt obligations would result in an event of default with respect to such obligations and could result in the foreclosure on the collateral. The sale of such collateral at foreclosure would significantly disrupt our ability to produce products for our customers in the quantities required by customer orders or deliver products in a timely fashion, which could significantly lower our revenues and profitability. We may be able to refinance or obtain extensions of the maturities of all or some of such debt only on terms that significantly restrict our ability to operate, including terms that place additional limitations on our ability to incur other indebtedness, to pay dividends, to use our assets as collateral for other financings, to sell assets or to make acquisitions or enter into other transactions. Such restrictions may adversely affect our ability to finance our future operations or to engage in other business activities. If we finance the repayment of our outstanding indebtedness by issuing additional equity or convertible debt securities, such issuances could result in substantial dilution to our stockholders.

We have limited insurance coverage against damages or loss we might suffer.

The insurance industry in China is still in an early stage of development and business interruption insurance available in China offers limited coverage compared to that offered in many developed countries. We do not carry business interruption insurance and therefore any business disruption or natural disaster could result in substantial damages or losses to us. In addition, there are certain types of losses (such as losses from forces of nature) that are generally not insured because they are either uninsurable or because insurance cannot be obtained on commercially reasonable terms. Should an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits occur, our business could be materially adversely effected. Further, we have not been able to insure any of our manufacturing facilities since we have not yet received the applicable land use rights certificate. If we were to suffer any losses or damages to our manufacturing facilities, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Adverse changes in political and economic policies of the PRC government could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of China, which could reduce the demand for our products and materially and adversely affect our competitive position.

All of our business operations are conducted in China and a significant portion of our sales are made in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects are affected significantly by economic, political and legal developments in China. The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including:

 

    the amount of government involvement;

 

    the level of development;

 

    the growth rate;

 

    the control of foreign exchange; and

 

    the allocation of resources.

 

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While the Chinese economy has grown significantly in the past 20 years, the growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may also have a negative effect on us. We cannot predict the future direction of economic reforms or the effects that such measures may have on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Any adverse change in the economic conditions, in government policies or in laws and regulations in China could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth, which in turn could lead to a reduction in demand for our products and consequently have a material adverse effect on our business.

We may be unable to enforce our legal rights due to policies regarding the regulation of foreign investments in China.

The PRC’s legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes, in which system decided legal cases have little value as precedents unlike the common law system prevalent in the United States. The PRC does not have a well-developed, consolidated body of laws governing foreign investment enterprises. As a result, the administration of laws and regulations by government agencies are subject to considerable discretion and variation on the part of the PRC government, including its courts, and may be subject to influence by external forces unrelated to the legal merits of a particular matter. China’s regulations and policies with respect to foreign investments are evolving. Definitive regulations and policies with respect to such matters as the permissible percentage of foreign investment and permissible rates of equity returns have not yet been published. As a result, we may not be aware of any violations of these policies and rules until some time after the violation. Statements regarding these evolving policies have been conflicting and any such policies, as administered, are likely to be subject to broad interpretation and discretion and to be modified, perhaps on a case-by-case basis. The uncertainties regarding such regulations and policies present risks that may affect our ability to achieve our business objectives. If we are unable to enforce any legal rights we may have under our contracts or otherwise, our ability to compete with other companies in our industry could be materially and negatively affected. In addition, any litigation in China may be protracted and result in substantial cost and diversion of resources and management attention.

We currently enjoy a reduced tax rate and other government incentives, and the loss of or reduction in these benefits may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

According to relevant PRC laws and regulations, an enterprise located in Shenzhen including the district where we are currently located is subject to a 15% enterprise income tax. According to PRC laws and regulations on foreign invested enterprises, a foreign invested manufacturing enterprise is entitled to, starting from its first profitable year, a two-year exemption from its enterprise income tax followed by a three-year 50% reduction in its enterprise income tax rate. Our PRC subsidiaries, Shenzhen BAK and BAK Electronics, are each entitled to a two-year exemption from enterprise income tax from its first profitable year, and a reduced enterprise income tax rate of 7.5% for the following three years. As such, for the first two years ended December 31, 2003, Shenzhen BAK was exempted from any enterprise income tax. Between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2006, Shenzhen BAK is subject to enterprise income tax rate of 7.5%. BAK Electronics, established in August 2005, is currently exempt from any enterprise income tax because it had no business operations in fiscal 2005. In addition, due to the additional capital invested in Shenzhen BAK in 2005, Shenzhen BAK was granted a full tax exemption on 55.88% of its taxable income for calendar years 2005 and 2006, and a 50% tax exemption on 55.88% of its taxable income for calendar years from 2007 to 2009.

 

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However, the PRC government authorities could reduce or eliminate these incentives at any time in the future. There have been preliminary high-level discussions within the PRC on leveling the playing field between foreign invested enterprises and PRC domestic enterprises by phasing out preferential tax rates applicable to foreign invested enterprises. We may not be able continue to qualify as an advanced technology enterprise that will enable us to enjoy the reduced tax rate. We cannot predict whether and when we may lose, in whole or in part, the preferential tax treatment and other incentives we have now. If we lose part or all of these preferential treatments, we would be subject to a normal enterprise tax rate of 33%. Any loss of or reduction in the preferential tax treatments we have received could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on dividends and other distribution on equity paid by our subsidiaries for our cash needs

We are a holding company, and we conduct all of our operations through our two subsidiaries in PRC: Shenzhen BAK and BAK Electronics, each a limited liability company established in China. We rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries for our cash needs, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our stockholders, to service any debt we may incur and to pay our operating expenses. Current regulations in the PRC permit payment of dividends only out of accumulated profits as determined in accordance with Chinese accounting standards and regulations. According to the articles of association of our subsidiaries, each of our subsidiaries is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profit based on the Chinese accounting standards and regulations each year to its enterprise development reserve, until the balance in the reserve reaches 50% of the registered capital of the company. Funds in the reserve are not distributable to us in forms of cash dividends, loans or advances. In addition, if our PRC subsidiaries incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us, which in turn will adversely affect our cash needs.

Governmental control of currency conversion may affect the value of your investment.

The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of the RMB into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We receive substantially all of our revenues in RMB. Under our current corporate structure, our income is primarily derived from dividend payments from our PRC subsidiaries. Shortages in the availability of foreign currency may restrict the ability of our PRC subsidiaries and our affiliated entity to remit sufficient foreign currency to pay dividends or other payments to us, or otherwise satisfy their foreign currency denominated obligations. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and expenditures from trade-related transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”) by complying with certain procedural requirements. However, approval from appropriate government authorities is required where RMB is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. The PRC government may also at its discretion restrict access in the future to foreign currencies for current account transactions. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currency to satisfy our currency demands, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our stockholders.

Fluctuation in the value of the RMB may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

The value of the RMB against the U.S. dollar and other currencies may fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. On July 21, 2005, the PRC government changed its decade-old policy of pegging the value of the RMB to the U.S. dollar. Under the new policy, the RMB is permitted to fluctuate within a narrow and managed band against a basket of certain foreign currencies. This change in policy has resulted in an approximately 1.4% appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar between July 21, 2005 and June 30, 2006. While the international reaction to the RMB revaluation has generally been positive, there remains significant international pressure on the PRC government to adopt an even more flexible currency policy, which could result in a further and more significant appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar. Our revenues and costs are mostly denominated in the RMB, and a significant portion of our financial assets are also denominated in RMB. We rely entirely on dividends and other fees paid to us by our subsidiaries in China. Any significant revaluation of the RMB may materially and adversely affect our cash flows, revenues, earnings and financial position, and the value of, and any dividends payable on common stock in U.S. dollars. For example, an appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar would make any new RMB-denominated investments or expenditures more costly to us, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars into the RMB for such purposes. An appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar would also result in foreign currency translation losses for financial reporting purposes when we translate our U.S. dollar denominated financial assets into the RMB, as the RMB is our reporting currency.

 

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Recent PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident stockholders to personal liability and limit our ability to inject capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute profits to us, or otherwise adversely affect us.

SAFE issued a public notice in October 2005 requiring PRC residents to register with the local SAFE branch before establishing or controlling any company outside of China for the purpose of capital financing with assets or equities of PRC companies, referred to in the notice as an “offshore special purpose company.” PRC residents that are stockholders of offshore special purpose companies established before November 1, 2005 are required to register with the local SAFE branch before March 31, 2006. Our current beneficial owners who are PRC residents have registered with the local SAFE branch as required under the SAFE notice. The failure of these beneficial owners to timely amend their SAFE registrations pursuant to the SAFE notice or the failure of future beneficial owners of our company who are PRC residents to comply with the registration procedures set forth in the SAFE notice may subject such beneficial owners to fines and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends to our company or otherwise adversely affect our business.

You may experience difficulties in effecting service of legal process, enforcing foreign judgments or bringing original actions in China based upon U.S. laws, including the federal securities laws or other foreign laws against us or our management.

All of our current operations are conducted in China. Moreover, most of our current directors and officers are nationals or residents of China. All or a substantial portion of the assets of these persons are located outside the United States and in the PRC. As a result, it may not be possible to effect service of process within the United States or elsewhere outside China upon these persons. In addition, uncertainty exists as to whether the courts of China would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or such officers and/or directors predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state thereof, or be competent to hear original actions brought in China against us or such persons predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state thereof.

An outbreak of a pandemic avian influenza SARS or other contagious disease may have an adverse effect on the economies of certain Asian countries and may adversely affect our results of operations.

During the past three years, large parts of Asia experienced unprecedented outbreaks of avian influenza caused by the H5N1 virus which, according to a report of the World Health Organization, or WHO, in 2004, “moved the world closer than any time since 1968 to an influenza pandemic with high morbidity, excess mortality and social and economic disruption.” Currently, no fully effective avian flu vaccines have been developed and there is evidence that the H5N1 virus is evolving and an effective vaccine may not be discovered in time to protect against the potential avian flu pandemic. In the first half of 2003, certain countries in Asia experienced an outbreak of SARS, a highly contagious form of atypical pneumonia, which seriously interrupted the economic activities and the demand for goods plummeted in the affected regions. An outbreak of avian flu, SARS or other contagious disease or the measures taken by the governments of affected countries against such potential outbreaks, may seriously interrupt our production operations or those of our suppliers and customers, which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. The perception that an outbreak of avian flu, SARS or other contagious disease may occur again may also have an adverse effect on the economic conditions of countries in Asia.

Our production facilities are subject to risks of power shortages.

Many cities and provinces in the PRC have suffered serious power shortages since the second quarter of 2004. Many of the regional grids do not have sufficient power generating capacity to fully satisfy the increased demand for electricity driven by continual economic growth and persistent hot weather. Local governments have recently required local factories to temporarily shut down their operations or reduce their daily operational hours in order to reduce local power consumption levels. To date, our operations have not been affected by those administrative measures. However, there is a risk that our operations may be affected by those administrative measures in the future, thereby causing material production disruption and delay in delivery schedule. We do not have any back-up power generation system. Although we have not experienced any power outages in the past, we may be adversely affected by any power outages in the future.

 

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Risks Related to Our Common Stock

The market price for our common stock may be volatile.

The market price for our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to factors some of which may be beyond our control. Factors affecting the trading price of our common stock include:

 

    the lack of depth and liquidity of the market for our common stock;

 

    actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly operating results;

 

    announcements of new products or services by us or our competitors;

 

    changes in financial estimates by securities analysts;

 

    market conditions in our industry;

 

    changes in operations or market valuations of other companies in our industry;

 

    our sales of common stock;

 

    investor perceptions of us and our business;

 

    changes in the estimates of the future size and growth rate of our markets;

 

    market conditions in industries of our customers;

 

    announcements by our competitors of significant acquisitions;

 

    strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;

 

    recruitment or departures of key personnel;

 

    potential litigation; and

 

    overall economy, geopolitical events, terrorist activities or threats of terrorism.

In addition, the stock market in general has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the performance of listed companies. These broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. For example, the trading price of our common stock could decline in reaction to events that negatively affect other companies in our industry even if these events do not directly affect us at all.

In the past, many companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.

Our existing stockholders have significant control of our management and affairs, which they could exercise against your interests.

As of June 30, 2006, Mr. Xiangqian Li, our president and chief executive officer and chairman of our board, and our other executive officers and directors beneficially owned an aggregate of 45.1% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, our directors and executive officers, acting together, may be able to control our management and affairs, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, such as mergers, consolidation, and sale of all or substantially all of our assets. Consequently, this concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control, including a merger, consolidation or other business combination involving us, even if such a change of control would benefit our stockholders.

 

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We are obligated to indemnify our officers and directors for certain losses they suffer.

Our bylaws provide for the indemnification of our directors, officers, employees, and agents, under certain circumstances, against liabilities, attorney’s fees and other expenses incurred by them in any litigation to which they become a party arising from their association with or activities on behalf of us to the maximum extent permitted by the laws of the State of Nevada. If we are required to indemnify any persons under this policy, we may have to pay indemnity in a substantial amount which we may be unable to recover at all.

Provisions in our bylaws could entrench our board of directors and prevent a change in control.

Our bylaws (1) provide that the percentage of stockholders required to call special meetings of stockholders is 10%, subject to any contrary provision in our articles of incorporation, (ii) do not permit stockholders to fill vacancies in the board if such vacancies were not filled by the board, (iii) provide that no contract or transaction between us and one or more of our directors or officers is void if certain criteria are met and (iv) allow for the amendment of our bylaws by the board of directors rather than our stockholders, as permitted by our articles of incorporation. Collectively, these provisions may have the effect of entrenching our existing board members, discouraging or preventing a transaction including a change in control transaction where such transaction would be beneficial to our stockholders.

 

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Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

On May 12, 2006, we granted 5,000 restricted shares to each of our three newly appointed independent directors pursuant to our Compensation Plan for Non-Employee Directors. The restricted shares will vest according to the following schedule:

 

    25% will vest immediately on the grant date; and

 

    the balance 75% will vest in three equal quarterly instalments on the last day of each subsequent quarter or in three equal quarterly instalments on the last day of each calendar quarter beginning on the last day of the full calendar quarter after the grant date.

Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities

None.

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

By the written consent of holders of a majority of our shares of common stock (the “Majority Stockholders”) approved by written consent the Stock Option Plan and Compensation Plan for Non-Employee Directors of China BAK Battery, Inc. However, none of the foregoing actions will be effective until the end of the twentieth calendar day after an Information Statement under Section 14(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which includes information relating to the foregoing actions, is sent to our stockholders. This Information Statement was sent out to our stockholders on or around April 19, 2006 and the actions became effective on May 12, 2006.

Item 5. Other Information

On April 21, 2006, Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd, (“Shenzhen BAK”) renewed its Comprehensive Credit Facility Agreement of Maximum Amount (“Commercial Bank Credit Facility”) with Shuibei Branch, Shenzhen Commercial Bank. Shenzhen BAK may borrow up to RMB 50 million under the Commercial Bank Credit Facility, which expires on April 21, 2007. In connection with the Commercial Bank Credit Facility, Mr. Li Xiangqian and BAK International, Limited entered into a Guaranty Contract of Maximum Amount (the “Commercial Bank Guaranty”) on April 5, 2006, whereby Mr. Li and BAK International, Limited will provide an unconditional guaranty of joint and several liability for all indebtedness of Shenzhen BAK under the Commercial Bank Credit Facility. Under the Commercial Bank Credit Facility, Shenzhen BAK borrowed RMB 50 million on April 28, 2006, bearing interest at an annual rate of 5.265% and maturing on April 21, 2007.

On April 5, 2006, Shenzhen BAK renewed its Comprehensive Credit Facility Agreement of Maximum Amount (“Shenzhen Development Bank Credit Facility”) with Longgang Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank. Shenzhen BAK may borrow up to RMB 150 million under the Shenzhen Development Bank Credit Facility, which term is from April 29, 2006 to April 29, 2007. In connection with the Shenzhen Development Bank Credit Facility, Mr. Li Xiangqian entered into a Guaranty Contract of Maximum Amount (the “Shenzhen Development Bank Guaranty”) on April 5, 2006, whereby Mr. Li will provide an unconditional guaranty of joint and several

 

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liability for all indebtedness of Shenzhen BAK under the Shenzhen Development Bank Credit Facility, and Mr. Li pledged 19,110,093 of his shares of our common stock, and Shenzhen BAK pledged $10.0 million of inventory and $9.8 million of equipment and machinery as security for the Shenzhen Development Bank Credit Facility. Under the Shenzhen Development Bank Credit Facility, Shenzhen BAK entered into a loan agreement with Shenzhen Development Bank on April 28, 2006, which provides for RMB 100 million at a fixed interest rate of 5.85% and expires pursuant to its terms on April 28, 2007.

As previously disclosed in our 10-Q/A for the period ended December 31, 2005, by the written consent of holders of a majority of our shares of common stock (the “Majority Stockholders”), an amendment to our Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws was approved which will give our board of directors (the “Board”) the authority to determine the number of directors on the Board. Finally, the Majority Stockholders approved by written consent the Stock Option Plan and Compensation Plan for Non-Employee Directors of China BAK Battery, Inc. An Information Statement under Section 14(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Information Statement”), which included information relating to the foregoing actions, was sent to our stockholders on or about April 22, 2006. The foregoing actions became effective on May 12, 2006, the twentieth calendar day after the mailing of the Information Statement.

 

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Item 6. Exhibits.

 

Number  

Description

3.1   Articles of Incorporation of the Registrant
3.2   Bylaws of the Registrant
10.1   China BAK Battery, Inc. Stock Option Plan
10.2   China BAK Battery, Inc. Compensation Plan for Non-Employee Directors
10.3   Form of Indemnification Agreement with the Registrant’s directors
10.4   Employment Agreement between the Registrant and Xiangqian Li
10.5   Form of Employment Agreement between the Registrant and other executive officers
10.6   Comprehensive Credit Facility Agreement, dated as of April 21, 2006, by and between Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd. and Shuibei Branch, Shenzhen Commercial Bank
10.7   Guaranty Contract of Maximum Amount, dated as of April 21, 2006, by and between BAK International Limited and Shuibei Branch, Shenzhen Commercial Bank
10.8   Individual Guaranty Contract of Maximum Amount, dated as of April 21, 2006, by and between Xiangqian Li and Shuibei Branch, Shenzhen Commercial Bank
10.9   Pledge Contract of Maximum Amount, dated as of May 8, 2006, by and between Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd. and Shuibei Branch, Shenzhen Commercial Bank
10.10   Comprehensive Credit Facilities Agreement, dated as of April 5, 2006, by and between Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd. and Longgang Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank
10.11   Guaranty Contract of Maximum Amount, dated as of April 5, 2006, by and between Xiangqian Li and Longgang Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank
10.12   Pledge Contract of Maximum Amount, dated as of April 5, 2006, by and between Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd. and Longgang Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank
10.13   Pledge Contract of Maximum Amount, dated as of April 5, 2006, by and between Xiangqian Li and Longgang Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank
10.14   Mortgage Contract of Maximum Amount, dated as of April 5, 2006, by and between Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd. and Longgang Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank
10.15   Contract of Limit for Discount of Commercial Acceptance Draft, dated as of April 29, 2006, by and between Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd. and Longgang Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank
10.16   Pledge Contract of Maximum Amount, dated as of April 29, 2006, by and between Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd. and Longgang Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank
14.1   Code of Business Conduct and Ethics of the Registrant
31.1   Chief Executive Officer Certification furnished pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2   Chief Financial Officer Certification furnished pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1   Chief Executive Officer Certification furnished pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2   Chief Financial Officer Certification furnished pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 

Date: August 22, 2006     CHINA BAK BATTERY, INC.
    By:  

/s/ Li Xiangqian

      Li Xiangqian, Chief Executive Officer
      (Principal Executive Officer)
    By:  

/s/ Han Yongbin

      Han Yongbin, Chief Financial Officer
      (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)

 

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