RECEIVABLES

6 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2013

Receivables [Abstract]

Loans, Notes, Trade and Other Receivables Disclosure [Text Block]

(2) RECEIVABLES

Receivables, net consist of the following accounts receivable (in thousands):

	October 31, 2013		April 30, 2013
Media Services operations:
Subscription Fulfillment Services	$	12,370	$	12,751
Newsstand Distribution Services, net of estimated returns		26,742		33,956
Product Packaging and Fulfillment Services and Other		4,129		2,675
		43,241		49,382
Less allowance for doubtful accounts		(2,043)		(2,179)
	$	41,198	$	47,203
Real estate operations and corporate	$	10	$	107

Newsstand Distribution Services accounts receivable are net of estimated magazine returns to Newsstand Distribution Services of $89,166,000 and $75,897,000 at October 31, 2013 and April 30, 2013.

During the fourth quarter of 2013, Mercury Retail Services (“Mercury”), a wholesaler and customer of Kable Distribution Services, Inc. (“Kable Distribution”), announced that it was encountering liquidity issues and presented a restructuring plan to all national magazine distributors. Based on this information,  Kable Distribution recorded a charge to operations of $2,000,000 in the fourth quarter of 2013, which was substantially all of the estimated net accounts receivable due to Kable Distribution from Mercury based on expectations at that time of Mercury’s payment of amounts owed to Kable Distribution and estimates of future magazine return activity.  As a result of cash payments received from Mercury, higher magazine return activity than expected and an updated estimate of future magazine returns, Kable Distribution revised its original estimate of bad debt expense and reduced the reserve by $300,000 during the quarter ended October 31, 2013.