Note 12 - Stockholders’ Equity

Share repurchase program

On December 12, 2017, the Company issued a press release announcing that the Board of Directors of the Company had approved a 10b-18 share repurchase program to repurchase up to $5 million of its outstanding common stock. Under the repurchase program, shares of the Company’s common stock may be repurchased from time to time over the next 12 months. The program expired on December 8, 2018 and no shares have been repurchased under the program.

On June 4, 2019, the Board of Directors of the Company adopted a 10b-18 share repurchase program to repurchase up to $2 million of its common stock. The share repurchase authorization permits shares to be repurchased from time to time at the discretion of the Company’s management, in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The program is effective as of June 5, 2019 and will expire on June 4, 2020. During the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company repurchased 0 shares of its common stock. On December 11, 2019, the Company closed out this repurchase program. As of December 31, 2019, the Company repurchased a total of 172,740 shares of its common stock.

Warrants

The following is a summary of the warrant activity for the three months ended March 31, 2020:

	Number of Warrants		Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term in Years

Outstanding at January 1, 2020		171,667	$	13.55		0.92
Exercisable at January 1, 2020		171,667	$	13.55		0.92
Granted		-		-		-
Exercised / surrendered		-		-		-
Expired		-		-		-
Outstanding at March 31, 2020		171,667	$	13.55		0.67
Exercisable at March 31, 2020		171,667	$	13.55		0.67

Shares Issued to Consultants

On June 30, 2017, the Company entered into a consulting agreement with a consultant for business advisory service for a term of 12 months. The Company agreed to compensate the consultant a one-time amount of $10,000 worth of shares of the Company’s common stock based on the price per share on June 30, 2017. The Company also granted the consultant $10,000 worth of shares of the Company’s common stock per month starting from July 1, 2017 for a period of 12 months. The shares were issued pursuant to Nova LifeStyle, Inc.’s 2014 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) approved by the Board of Directors (“Board”) of the Company on May 13, 2014 and ratified at the annual shareholder meeting on June 30, 2014. The Plan was registered under Form S-8 on July 30, 2014. On June 12, 2018, the Company renewed the agreement with the consultant for an additional year and agreed to compensate the consultant $10,000 worth of shares of the Company’s common stock per month starting from July 1, 2018 for a period of 12 months. The shares will be issued pursuant to the Plan. On January 31, 2019, the Company terminated the agreement. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company recorded $10,000 as consulting expense.

On November 16, 2018, the Company entered into a consulting agreement with a consultant for consulting and strategy services effective on November 16, 2018 for one year. The Company agreed to grant the consultant 20,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. Twenty-five percent (25%) of those shares vested on February 15, 2019 and 25% on May 15, 2019; 25% vested on August 15, 2019 and the remaining 25% vested on November 15, 2019. The fair value of 20,000 shares was $90,000 which was calculated based on the stock price of $4.50 per share on November 16, 2018 and was amortized over the service term. The shares were issued pursuant to the Plan. During the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company amortized $0 and $22,500 as consulting expenses, respectively.

On December 1, 2018, the Company entered into a consulting agreement with a consultant for business advisory services effective as of January 1, 2019 and ending on December 31, 2019. The Company granted the consultant $15,000 worth of shares of the Company’s common stock per month starting from January 1, 2019 for 12 months. The shares were granted pursuant to the Plan. On January 1, 2019, the consultant terminated the agreement for personal reasons.

On November 16, 2019, the Company entered into a consulting agreement with a consultant for consulting and strategy services effective on November 16, 2019 for a one year term. The Company agreed to grant the consultant 20,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. Twenty-five percent (25%) of those shares vested on February 15, 2020, 25% will vest on May 15, 2020; 25% will vest on August 15, 2020 and the remaining 25% will vest on November 15, 2020. The fair value of 20,000 shares was $51,000 which was calculated based on the stock price of $2.55 per share on November 18, 2019 and will be amortized over the service term. The shares would be issued pursuant to the Plan. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company amortized $12,750 as consulting expenses.

Shares and Warrants Issued through Private Placement

Private Placement on May 28, 2015

On May 28, 2015, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with certain purchasers (the “Purchasers”) pursuant to which the Company offered to the Purchasers, in a registered direct offering, an aggregate of 594,102 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share. Of these, 400,000 shares were sold to the Purchasers at a negotiated purchase price of $10.00 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of $4,000,002, before deducting fees to the placement agent and other estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. In accordance with the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Company exchanged outstanding 2014 Series A Warrants with their holders for 132,006 shares of common stock, and exchanged the outstanding 2014 Series C Warrants with their holders for 62,096 shares of common stock.

In a concurrent private placement, the Company also sold to the Purchasers a warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s common stock for each share purchased for cash in the offering, pursuant to that certain Common Stock Purchase Warrant, by and between the Company and each Purchaser (the “2015 Warrants”). The 2015 Warrants became exercisable beginning on the six month anniversary of the date of issuance (the “Initial Exercise Date”) at an exercise price of $13.55 per share and will expire on the five year anniversary of the Initial Exercise Date. The purchase price of one share of the Company’s common stock under the 2015 Warrants is equal to the exercise price.

The warrants issued in the private placement described above are exercisable for a fixed number of shares, and are classified as equity instruments under ASC 815-40-25-10. The Company accounted for the warrants issued in the 2015 private placement based on the fair value method under ASC Topic 505, and the fair value of the warrants was calculated using the Black-Scholes model under the following assumptions: estimated life of 5 years, volatility of 107%, risk-free interest rate of 1.55% and dividend yield of 0%. No estimate of forfeitures was made as the Company has a short history of granting options and warrants. The fair value of the warrants issued to investors at grant date was $3,147,530.

Shares and Options Issued to Independent Directors

On November 7, 2018, the Company entered into stock option agreements under the 2014 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan with the three independent members of the board of directors. The Company agreed to grant the Company’s three independent directors options to purchase an aggregate of 60,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $5.90 per share, with a term of 5 years. Twenty-five percent (25%) of those stock options vested on November 30, 2018, 25% vested on February 28, 2019, 25% on May 31, 2019, and the remaining 25% vested on August 31, 2019. The fair value of the stock options granted is estimated on the date of the grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model (“BSOPM”) as described above. The fair value of the options was calculated using the following assumptions: estimated life of ten years, volatility of 84%, risk free interest rate of 3.07%, and dividend yield of 0%. The fair value of 60,000 stock options was $240,105 at the grant date. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company recorded $60,026 as directors’ stock compensation expenses.

On November 4, 2019, the Company entered into stock option agreements under the 2014 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan with the three independent members of the board of directors. The Company agreed to grant the Company’s three independent directors options to purchase an aggregate of 60,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $2.80 per share, with a term of 5 years. Twenty-five percent (25%) of those stock options vested on November 30, 2019, 25% vested on February 28, 2020, 25% on May 31, 2020, and the remaining 25% will vest on August 31, 2020. The fair value of the stock options granted is estimated on the date of the grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model (“BSOPM”) as described above. The fair value of the options was calculated using the following assumptions: estimated life of ten years, volatility of 87%, risk free interest rate of 1.60%, and dividend yield of 0%. The fair value of 60,000 stock options was $114,740 at the grant date. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company recorded $28,685 as directors’ stock compensation expenses.

Shares Issued to Employees and Service Providers

On February 27, 2018, the Company renewed an employment agreement with the Company’s Corporate Secretary for a term of one year. The Company agreed to grant an award of 6,000 restricted Stock Units to the officer pursuant to the Company’s 2014 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan. The fair value of these shares was $68,100, which was calculated based on the stock price of $11.35 per share on February 27, 2018, the date the awards were determined by the Compensation Committee of the Board. 25% of those shares vested on February 27, 2018, 25% on March 31, 2018, 25% on June 30, 2018 and the remaining 25% vested on September 30, 2018. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company amortized $10,821 as stock compensation.

On December 13, 2018, the Company extended an employment agreement with the Company’s Corporate Secretary for a term of one year. The Company agreed to grant an award of 6,000 restricted Stock Units to the officer pursuant to the Company’s 2014 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan. The fair value of these shares was $23,100, which was calculated based on the stock price of $3.85 per share on December 13, 2018, the date the awards were determined by the Compensation Committee of the Board. Twenty-five percent (25%) of those shares vested on December 13, 2018, 25% on March 31, 2019, 25% on June 30, 2019 and the remaining 25% vested on September 30, 2019. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company amortized $5,775 as stock compensation.

On December 14, 2019, the Company extended an employment agreement with the Company’s Corporate Secretary for a term of one year. The Company agreed to grant an award of 6,000 restricted Stock Units to the officer pursuant to the Company’s 2014 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan. The fair value of these shares was $12,780, which was calculated based on the stock price of $2.13 per share on January 31, 2020, the date the awards were determined by the Compensation Committee of the Board. Twenty-five percent (25%) of those shares vested on January 31, 2020, 25% on March 31, 2020, 25% on June 30, 2020 and the remaining 25% vested on September 30, 2020. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company amortized $3,195 as stock compensation.

Options Issued to Employees

On August 24, 2018 (the “Grant Date”), the Board approved an option grant to the Company’s CFO to purchase an aggregate of 7,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $9.25 per share, with a term of 5 years, pursuant to the Company’s 2014 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan. Fifty percent (50%) of those stock options vested immediately, and the remaining 50% vested on the six-month anniversary of the Grant Date.

The fair value of the option granted to the CFO in 2018 is recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period of the stock option award. The fair value of the options was calculated using the following assumptions: estimated life of ten years, volatility of 84%, risk free interest rate of 2.72%, and dividend yield of 0%. The fair value of 7,000 stock options was $43,680 at the grant date. During three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company recorded $21,840 as stock compensation.

On August 12, 2019, the Board approved an option grant to the Company’s CFO to purchase an aggregate of 7,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $3.85 per share, with a term of 5 years, pursuant to the Company’s 2014 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan. Fifty percent (50%) of those stock options vested immediately, and the remaining 50% vested on the six-month anniversary of the Grant Date.

The fair value of the option granted to the CFO in 2019 is recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period of the stock option award. The fair value of the options was calculated using the following assumptions: estimated life of ten years, volatility of 87%, risk free interest rate of 1.49%, and dividend yield of 0%. The fair value of 7,000 stock options was $18,318 at the grant date. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company recorded $9,159 as stock compensation.

As of March 31, 2020, unrecognized share-based compensation expense was $97,097.

Stock option activity under the Company’s stock-based compensation plans is shown below:

	Number of Shares		Average Exercise Price per Share		Aggregate Intrinsic Value⁽¹⁾		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term in Years

Outstanding at January 1, 2020		340,500	$	5.97	$	-		3.33
Exercisable at January 1, 2020		292,000		6.48	$	-		3.08

Granted		-		-		-		-
Exercised		-		-		-		-
Forfeited		-		-		-		-
Outstanding at March 31, 2020		340,500	$	5.97	$	-		3.08
Exercisable at March 31, 2020		310,500	$	6.27	$	-		2.94

(1)	The intrinsic value of the stock options at March 31, 2020 is the amount by which the market value of the Company’s common stock of $1.10 as of March 31, 2020 exceeds the exercise price of the option.

Statutory Reserves

As a U.S. holding company, the Company’s ability to pay dividends is primarily dependent on the Company receiving distributions of funds from its subsidiaries. Relevant PRC statutory laws and regulations permit payments of dividends by the Company’s PRC subsidiary, Nova Macao, only out of the subsidiary’s retained earnings, if any, as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. The results of operations reflected in the financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP differ from those reflected in the statutory financial statements of Nova Macao. Pursuant to the corporate laws of the PRC and Macao, including the PRC Regulations on Enterprises with Foreign Investment, Nova Macao is required to maintain a statutory reserve by appropriating from after-tax profit before declaration or payment of dividends. The statutory reserve represents restricted retained earnings. As a result of the Macau laws and regulations that require annual appropriations of 10% of after-tax income to be set aside prior to payment of dividends as a general statutory reserve fund until such reserve balance reaches 50% of the subsidiary’s registered capital. Nova Macao is restricted in its ability to transfer a portion of its net assets to the Company as a dividend.

Surplus Reserve Fund

At March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, Nova Macao had surplus reserves of $6,241, representing 50% of its registered capital.

Common Welfare Fund

The common welfare fund is a voluntary fund to which Nova Macao can elect to transfer 5% to 10% of its net income. This fund can only be utilized on capital items for the collective benefit of the subsidiary’s employees, such as construction of dormitories, cafeteria facilities, and other staff welfare facilities. This fund is non-distributable other than upon liquidation. Nova Macao does not participate in this voluntary fund.