Information On Business Segments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Information On Business Segments [Abstract]

Information On Business Segments

15. Information on Business Segments

The Company's business segments are aligned along geographic markets. The Company's three business segments consist of ACCO Brands Americas, ACCO Brands International and Computer Products Group.

ACCO Brands Americas and ACCO Brands International

These two segments manufacture, source and sell traditional office products and supplies and document finishing solutions. ACCO Brands Americas comprises the North, Central and South American markets and ACCO Brands International comprises the rest of the world, principally Europe, Australia and Asia-Pacific.

Examples of our traditional office products and supplies are staplers, staples, punches, ring binders, trimmers, sheet protectors, hanging file folders, clips and fasteners, data binders, dry-erase boards, dry-erase markers, easels, bulletin boards, overhead projectors, transparencies, laser pointers and screens. These products are sold under leading brands including Quartet^®, Rexel, Swingline^®, Wilson Jones^®, Marbig, NOBO, ACCO^®, Derwent and Eastlight. Examples of our document finishing solutions are binding, lamination and punching equipment, binding and lamination supplies, report covers, archival report covers and shredders. These products are sold primarily under the GBC^® brand. We also provide machine maintenance and repair services sold under the GBC brand. Included in the ACCO Brands Americas segment are personal organization tools, including time management products, primarily sold under the Day-Timer^® brand name.

The customer base to which our products are sold is made up of large global and regional resellers of our products. It is through these large resellers that the Company's products reach the end consumer. Our customer base includes commercial contract stationers, office products superstores, wholesalers, distributors, mail order and internet catalogs, mass merchandisers, club stores and independent dealers. The majority of sales by our customers are to business end-users, which generally seek premium office products that have added value or ease of use features and a reputation for reliability, performance and professional appearance. Some of our document finishing products are sold directly to high volume end-users and commercial reprographic centers and indirectly to lower-volume consumers worldwide. Approximately two-thirds of the Day-Timer business is sold through the direct channel, which markets product through periodic sales catalogs and ships product directly to our end-user customers. The remainder of the business sells to large resellers and commercial dealers.

Computer Products Group

The Computer Product Group designs, distributes, markets and sells accessories for laptop and desktop computers and smart phones and tablets. These accessories primarily include security locks, power adapters, input devices such as mice and keyboards, laptop computer carrying cases, hubs and docking stations, ergonomic devices and technology accessories for smart phones and tablets. The Computer Products Group sells mostly under the Kensington, Microsaver^® and ClickSafe^® brand names, with the majority of its revenue coming from the U.S. and Western Europe.

All of our computer products are manufactured to our specifications by third-party suppliers, principally in Asia, and are stored and distributed from our regional facilities. Our computer products are sold primarily to consumer electronics retailers, information technology value-added resellers, original equipment manufacturers and office products retailers.

Financial information by reportable segment is set forth below.

Net sales by business segment for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 are as follows:

(in millions of dollars)	2011		2010		2009
ACCO Brands Americas	$	684.9	$	688.3	$	671.5
ACCO Brands International		443.2		419.3		398.8
Computer Products Group		190.3		177.0		163.0
Net sales	$	1,318.4	$	1,284.6	$	1,233.3

Operating income by business segment for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 are as follows (a):

(in millions of dollars)	2011			2010			2009
ACCO Brands Americas (b)	$	50.7		$	56.3		$	38.6
ACCO Brands International (b)		45.6			31.5			23.0
Computer Products Group		47.1			43.0			31.7
Segment operating income		143.4			130.8			93.3
Corporate		(28.2	)		(21.1	)		(17.9	)
Operating income		115.2			109.7			75.4
Interest expense		77.2			78.3			67.0
Equity in earnings of joint ventures		(8.5	)		(8.3	)		(4.4	)
Other expense, net		3.6			1.2			5.4
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	$	42.9		$	38.5		$	7.4

(a) Operating income as presented in the segment table above is defined as: i) net sales; ii) less cost of products sold; iii) less advertising, selling, general and administrative expenses; iv) less amortization of intangibles; and v) less restructuring, and intangible asset impairment charges.

(b) The table below summarizes the intangible asset impairment charges during 2009. For further information of the impairment charges see Note 8, Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets.

(in millions of dollars)	2009
Segment:
ACCO Brands Americas	$	0.9
ACCO Brands International		0.8
Computer Products Group		—
Total Continuing Operations	$	1.7

Segment assets:

The following table presents the measure of segment assets used by the Company's chief operating decision maker.

	December 31,
(in millions of dollars)	2011		2010
ACCO Brands Americas (c)	$	304.8	$	320.3
ACCO Brands International (c)		250.3		269.2
Computer Products Group (c)		85.5		82.7
Total segment assets		640.6		672.2
Assets of discontinued operations		—		33.1
Unallocated assets		468.9		437.3
Corporate (c)		7.2		7.0
Total assets	$	1,116.7	$	1,149.6

(c) Represents total assets, excluding: goodwill and identifiable intangibles resulting from business acquisitions, intercompany balances, cash, deferred taxes, prepaid pension assets, prepaid debt issuance costs and joint ventures accounted for on an equity basis.

As a supplement to the presentation of segment assets presented above, the table below presents segment assets, including the allocation of identifiable intangible assets and goodwill resulting from business combinations (d).

	December 31,
(in millions of dollars)	2011		2010
ACCO Brands Americas (d)	$	476.7	$	497.6
ACCO Brands International (d)		328.9		350.3
Computer Products Group (d)		100.4		98.3
Total segment assets		906.0		946.2
Assets of discontinued operations		—		33.1
Unallocated assets		203.5		163.3
Corporate (d)		7.2		7.0
Total assets	$	1,116.7	$	1,149.6

(d) Represents total assets, excluding: intercompany balances, cash, deferred taxes, prepaid pension assets, prepaid debt issuance costs and joint ventures accounted for on an equity basis.

Property, plant and equipment, net by geographic region are as follows:

(in millions of dollars)	2011		2010
U.S.	$	76.2	$	86.6
U.K.		23.8		24.2
Australia		17.5		18.3
Portugal		5.5		6.8
Other countries		24.2		27.3
Property, plant and equipment	$	147.2	$	163.2

Net sales by geographic region are as follows (e):

(in millions of dollars)	2011		2010		2009
U.S.	$	621.3	$	633.0	$	619.6
Australia		143.0		137.0		120.1
U.K.		115.6		107.3		105.7
Canada		105.2		97.8		87.6
Other countries		333.3		309.5		300.3
Net sales	$	1,318.4	$	1,284.6	$	1,233.3

(e) Net sales are attributed to geographic areas based on the location of the selling company.

Major Customers

Sales to the Company's five largest customers totaled $508.2 million, $496.4 million and $466.4 million in the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Our sales to Staples, Inc. were $175.9 million (13%), $166.8 million (13%) and $159.8 (13%) in the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Our sales to Office Depot Inc. were $138.9 million (11%), $141.0 (11%) and $137.0 (11%) in the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Sales to no other customer exceeded 10% of annual sales.

A significant percentage of the Company's sales is to customers engaged in the office products resale industry. Concentration of credit risk with respect to trade accounts receivable is partially mitigated because a large number of geographically diverse customers make up each operating companies' domestic and international customer base, thus spreading the credit risk. At December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, the Company's top five trade account receivables totaled $116.0 million, $118.9 million and $107.3 million, respectively.