Accounting policies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

2. Accounting policies

Basis of presentation:

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company’s (i) wholly-owned subsidiaries, Aquilex, Inc., Cayman Water Company Limited (“Cayman Water”), Consolidated Water (Belize) Limited (“CW-Belize”), Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited (“OC-Cayman”), DesalCo Limited (“DesalCo”), Consolidated Water Cooperatief, U.A. (“CW-Cooperatief”), Consolidated Water U.S. Holdings, Inc. (“CW-Holdings”) and Aguas de Rosarito S.A.P.I. de C.V. (“AdR”); and (ii) majority-owned subsidiaries Consolidated Water (Bahamas) Ltd. (“CW-Bahamas”), Aerex Industries, Inc. (“Aerex”), Consolidated Water (Asia) Pte. Limited, PT Consolidated Water Bali (“CW-Bali”), and N.S.C. Agua, S.A. de C.V. (“NSC”). The Company’s investment in its affiliate Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. (“OC-BVI”) is accounted for using the equity method of accounting. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The accompanying interim condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited. These condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (which are of a normal recurring nature) that, in the opinion of management, are necessary to fairly present the Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows as of and for the periods presented. The results of operations for these interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for future periods, including the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018.

These condensed consolidated financial statements and notes are presented in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) relating to interim financial statements and in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”). Certain information and note disclosures normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with US GAAP have been condensed or omitted in these condensed financial statements pursuant to SEC rules and regulations, although the Company believes that the disclosures made herein are adequate to make the information not misleading. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Foreign currency:

The Company’s reporting currency is the United States dollar (“US$”). The functional currency of the Company and its foreign operating subsidiaries (other than NSC, AdR, CW-Cooperatief and CW-Bali) is the currency for each respective country. The functional currency for NSC, AdR, CW-Cooperatief and CW-Bali is the US$. NSC and AdR conduct business in US$ and Mexican pesos, CW-Cooperatief conducts business in US$ and euros, and CW-Bali conducts business in US$ and Indonesian rupiahs. The exchange rates for the Cayman Islands dollar, the Belize dollar and the Bahamian dollar are fixed to the US$. The exchange rates for conversion of Mexican pesos, euros and rupiahs into US$ vary based upon market conditions. Net foreign currency gains (losses) arising from transactions and re-measurements were ($145,297) and $104,804 for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and ($41,742) and $169,951 for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and are included in “Other income (expense) - Other” in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income.

Cash and cash equivalents:

Cash and cash equivalents consist of demand deposits at banks and highly liquid deposits at banks with an original maturity of three months or less. Cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 include $13.6 million and $15.9 million, respectively, of certificates of deposit with an original maturity of three months or less.

Transfers from the Company’s Bahamas and Belize bank accounts to Company bank accounts in other countries require the approval of the Central Bank of the Bahamas and Belize, respectively. As of June 30, 2018, the equivalent United States dollar cash balances for deposits held in the Bahamas and Belize were approximately $6.3 million and $5.8 million, respectively.

Comparative amounts:

Certain amounts reported in the financial statements issued in prior periods have been reclassified herein to conform to the current period’s presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on consolidated net income.

Revenue recognition:

Revenues are recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to the Company’s customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services.

The following table presents the Company’s revenues disaggregated by revenue source (unaudited).

	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2018		2017		2018		2017
Retail revenues	$	6,268,023	$	6,064,016	$	12,699,371	$	12,540,620
Bulk revenues		8,488,850		8,043,921		16,717,365		15,734,323
Services revenues		122,912		119,204		246,676		249,456
Manufacturing revenues		992,430		1,056,047		1,545,198		2,435,895
Total revenues	$	15,872,215	$	15,283,188	$	31,208,610	$	30,960,294

Retail revenues

The Company produces and supplies water to end-users, including residential, commercial and government customers in the Cayman Islands under an exclusive retail license issued to Cayman Water by the Cayman Islands government to provide water in two of the three most populated and rapidly developing areas on Grand Cayman Island. CW-Bali owns and operates a desalination plant in Bali, Indonesia that sells water to resort and residential properties. Customers are billed on a monthly basis based on metered consumption and bills are typically collected within 30 to 35 days after the billing date. Receivables not collected within 45 days subject the customer to disconnection from water service. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, bad debts represented less than 1% of the Company’s total annual retail sales.

The Company recognizes revenues from water sales at the time water is supplied to the customer’s facility or storage tank. The amount of water supplied is determined based upon water meter readings performed at the end of each month. All retail water contracts are month-to-month contracts and revenue is recorded as invoiced.

Bulk revenues

The Company produces and supplies water to government-owned distributors in the Cayman Islands, Belize and the Bahamas.

OC-Cayman provides bulk water to the Water Authority-Cayman (“WAC”), a government-owned utility and regulatory agency, under various agreements. The WAC in turn distributes such water to properties in Grand Cayman outside of Cayman Water’s retail license area.

In Belize, CW-Belize is the exclusive provider of water in Ambergris Caye to Belize Water Services Ltd. (“BWSL”), a government-controlled entity which distributes the water through its own pipeline system to residential, commercial and tourist properties. BWSL distributes the Company’s water primarily to residential properties, small hotels, and businesses that serve the tourist market.

The Company sells bulk water in the Bahamas through its majority-owned subsidiary CW-Bahamas to the Water and Sewerage Corporation of the Bahamas (“WSC”), which distributes such water through its own pipeline system to residential, commercial and tourist properties on the Island of New Providence. The Company also sells water to a private resort on Bimini.

The Company has elected the “right to invoice” practical expedient for revenue recognition on its bulk water sale contracts and recognizes revenue in the amount to which the Company has a right to invoice.

Manufacturing revenues

The Company, through its 51% owned subsidiary Aerex, is a custom and specialty manufacturer of water treatment-related systems and products and provides design, engineering, management, operating and other services applicable to commercial, municipal and industrial water production. Substantially all of Aerex’s customers are U.S. companies.

The Company recognizes manufacturing revenues over time under the input method using costs incurred (which represents work performed) to date relative to total estimated costs at completion to measure progress toward satisfying its performance obligations as such measure best reflects the transfer of control of the promised good to the customer. Contract costs include labor, material and overhead. The Company follows this method since it can make reasonably dependable estimates of the revenue and costs applicable to various stages of a contract. Under this input method, the Company records revenue and recognizes profit or loss as work on the contract progresses. The Company estimates total project costs and profit to be earned on each long-term, fixed price contract prior to commencement of work on the contract and updates these estimates as work on the contract progresses. The cumulative amount of revenue recorded on a contract at a specified point in time is that percentage of total estimated revenue that incurred costs to date comprises of estimated total contract costs. If, as work progresses, the actual contract costs exceed estimates, the profit recognized on revenue from that contract decreases. The Company recognizes the full amount of any estimated loss on a contract at the time the estimates indicate such a loss. Any costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings are classified as current assets. Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts, if any, are classified as current liabilities.

Practical Expedients and Exemptions

The Company does not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for (i) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less and (ii) contracts for which the Company recognizes revenue at the amount to which it has the right to invoice for services performed.