10-K 1 form10-k.htm

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

FORM 10-K

 

 

 

[X] ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018

 

[  ] 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: 0-25790

 

 

 

PCM, INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   95-4518700
(State or other jurisdiction of   (IRS Employer
incorporation or organization)   Identification Number)

 

1940 East Mariposa Avenue, El Segundo, CA 90245

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

 

(310) 354-5600

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

 

(Former address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

 

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of Each Class   Name of Exchange on Which Registered
Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share   The NASDAQ Global Market

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

 

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes [  ] No [X]

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes [  ] No [X]

 

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 has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes [X] No [  ]

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. [  ]

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer [  ]   Accelerated filer [X]
Non-accelerated filer [  ]   Smaller reporting company [X]
Emerging growth company [   ]    

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. [  ]

 

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

 

As of June 30, 2018, the aggregate market value of the Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $119.6 million, based upon the closing sales price of the registrant’s Common Stock on such date, as reported on the Nasdaq Global Market. Shares of Common Stock held by each executive officer, director and each person owning more than 10% of the outstanding Common Stock of the registrant have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates of the registrant. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

 

As of March 13, 2019, the registrant had 12,245,979 shares of common stock outstanding.

 

Documents Incorporated By Reference Into Part III:

 

Portions of the definitive Proxy Statement for the Registrant to be filed in connection with its 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report.

 

 

 

   
 

 

PCM, INC.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

  Page
PART I  
     
  ITEM 1 — Business 3
     
  ITEM 1A — Risk Factors 13
     
  ITEM 1B — Unresolved Staff Comments 29
     
  ITEM 2 — Properties 29
     
  ITEM 3 — Legal Proceedings 29
     
  ITEM 4 — Mine Safety Disclosures 29
     
PART II  
     
  ITEM 5 — Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 30
     
  ITEM 6 — Selected Financial Data 32
     
  ITEM 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 34
     
  ITEM 7A — Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk 51
     
  ITEM 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 52
     
  ITEM 9 — Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 84
     
  ITEM 9A — Controls and Procedures 84
     
  ITEM 9B — Other Information 84
     
PART III  
     
  ITEM 10 — Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 85
     
  ITEM 11 — Executive Compensation 86
     
  ITEM 12 — Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters 86
     
  ITEM 13 — Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 86
     
  ITEM 14 — Principal Accounting Fees and Services 86
     
PART IV  
     
  ITEM 15 — Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 87
     
  ITEM 16 — Form 10-K Summary 92
     
SIGNATURES 93

 

   
 

 

PART I

 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Such statements include statements regarding our expectations, hopes or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to, statements regarding our strategy, competition, markets, vendors, expenses, new services and technologies, growth prospects, financing, revenue, margins, operations, litigation and compliance with applicable laws. In particular, the following types of statements are forward-looking:

 

  our ability to execute and benefit from our business strategies, including but not limited to, business strategies related to and strategic investments in our internal organization and focus on practice groups and sales of end-point solutions, advanced technologies, managed services and software solutions, leveraging our key vendor partner relationships, identifying and driving further operational efficiencies or successfully effecting our acquisition strategies including integrating our most recent acquisitions, and expanding our international capabilities;
  our use of management information systems and their need for future support or upgrade;
  our expectations regarding the timing, costs and benefits of our ongoing or planned IT systems and communications infrastructure upgrades;
  our expectations regarding the business impact and accounting treatment of recent acquisitions, including any additional charges that may be taken in future periods;
  our expectations that the transfer of certain customer contracts to potentially non-consolidated partners may have a negative impact on our consolidated net sales in future periods;
  our expectations regarding key personnel and our ability to hire new and retain such individuals;
  our expectations regarding the impact of our transition of certain outsourced services to our captive support operations;
  our expectations regarding the impact of cost reductions on our results in future periods;
  our expectations regarding our operations in newly opened geographies, including the United Kingdom;
  our competitive advantages and growth opportunities;
  our ability to increase revenues and profitability;
  our expectation regarding general economic uncertainties and the related potential negative impact on our profit and profit margins, as well as our financial condition, liquidity and future cash flows;
  our expectations to continue our efforts to increase the productivity of our sales force and reduce costs;
  our plans to invest in and enhance programs and training to align us with our key vendor partners;
  our ability to generate vendor supported marketing;
  our expectations regarding our future capital needs and the availability of working capital, liquidity, cash flows from operations and borrowings under our credit facility and other long-term debt;
  the expected results or profitability of any of our individual business units in future periods;
  the expected impact of customer implementations or rollouts on our individual business units in future periods;
  the impact on accounts receivable from our efforts to focus on sales in our Commercial and Public Sector segments;
  our ability to penetrate the public sector market;
  our beliefs relating to the benefits to be received from our international operations, including in Canada, the Philippines, and the UK, including the impact of taxes and labor costs in such operations;
  our belief regarding our exposure to currency exchange and interest rate risks;
  our ability to attract new customers and stimulate additional purchases from existing customers, including our expectations regarding future marketing and advertising levels and the effect on sales;
  our ability to leverage our market position and purchasing power and offer a wide selection of products at competitive prices;
  our expectations regarding the ability of our marketing programs or campaigns to stimulate additional purchases or to maximize product sales;
  our ability to limit risk related to price reductions;
  our belief regarding the effect of seasonal trends and general economic conditions on our business and results of operations across all of our segments;
  our expectations regarding competition and the industry trend toward consolidation;
  the anticipated impact of reductions in sales to certain large enterprise customers;
  our expectations regarding the impact of investments we are making in the area of sales headcount, software and advanced technology solutions;
  our expectations regarding the payment of dividends and our intention to retain any earnings to finance the growth and development of our business;
  our expectations with respect to changes in our unrecognized tax benefits;

 

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  our compliance with laws and regulations;
  our beliefs regarding the applicability of tax statutes, regulations and governmental tax regulatory positions;
  our expectations regarding the impact of accounting pronouncements;
  our expectations regarding any future repurchases of our common stock, including the financing of any such repurchases;
  our belief that backlog is not useful for predicting our future sales;
  our expectations regarding the impact and outcome of pending litigation and other dispute resolution proceedings;
  our belief that our existing distribution facilities are adequate for our current and foreseeable future needs; and
  the likelihood that new laws and regulations will be adopted with respect to the Internet, privacy and data security that may impose additional restrictions or burdens on our business, and our implementation of compliance procedures and the costs associated with compliance with such laws and regulations.

 

Forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in any such statement. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements include the risks described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this report. All forward-looking statements in this document are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and, except as otherwise required by law, we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or other information contained herein to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date hereof.

 

***

 

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS

 

PCM, Inc. is a leading multi-vendor provider of technology solutions, including hardware products, software and services, offered through our dedicated sales force, ecommerce channels and technology services teams. Since our founding in 1987, we have served our customers by offering products and services from vendors such as Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Lenovo, Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec, Synnex and VMware. We provide our customers with comprehensive solutions incorporating leading products and services across a variety of technology practices and platforms such as cloud, security, data center, networking, collaboration and mobility. Our sales and marketing efforts allow our vendor partners to reach multiple customer segments including small, medium and enterprise businesses, state, local and federal governments and educational institutions.

 

In recent years, we have completed several strategic acquisitions to increase the capabilities, scale and value we provide our customers and partners, as follows:

 

  En Pointe: In April 2015, we acquired certain assets of En Pointe Technologies, one of the nation’s largest independent IT solutions providers, headquartered in Southern California. This acquisition has significantly enhanced our relationships with several key vendor partners, provided incremental advanced technical certifications and operational expertise in key practice areas, and has provided our consolidated business significantly increased scale, especially in the enterprise and public sector spaces.
     
  Acrodex: In October 2015, we acquired Acrodex, Inc., an Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) based solution provider. Acrodex provides full end-to-end infrastructure solutions primarily to Canadian based commercial and governmental customers from initial plan and design, through procurement and installation, to full support and on-going management. Acrodex’s core business areas include software value-added reseller services, software asset management and hardware sales and services, including client device products, servers, storage, networks, printers and a full complement of accessories and devices. Services are a significant component to Acrodex’s product mix and include managed services, cloud-based services, consulting, IT management and other IT service areas. This acquisition enhances our ability to provide full solutions to customers across the United States and Canada.
     
  TigerDirect: In December 2015, we acquired certain Business to Business (B2B) assets of Systemax’s North American Technology Group (NATG), including the TigerDirect brand, the right to hire approximately 400 B2B sales representatives located across the United States and Canada, all rights to the NATG B2B customer list, certain B2B customer and vendor contracts, trademarks and other intellectual property rights and certain fixed assets and equipment. We believe that this acquisition provided additional scale and opportunity to PCM in the SMB space.
     
  Stratiform: In December 2016, we acquired Stratiform, Inc., a Calgary, Alberta (Canada) based provider of cloud IT solutions that includes consulting, professional, and managed services to clients across Canada. Stratiform, an innovative Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, expands our existing capabilities in Microsoft cloud technology, including Azure Cloud solutions, Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility Suite.
     
  Stack Technology: In September 2017, PCM UK, our UK based subsidiary, completed the acquisition of Stack Technology, headquartered in Liverpool, United Kingdom, which specializes in the selection, implementation and management of leading IT solutions, with offerings encompassing all aspects of cloud-based solutions, security, virtualization, data services, unified communications, and infrastructure.
     
  Provista Technology: In December 2017, PCM UK completed the acquisition of Provista Technology, which is highly regarded in its expertise across a range of technologies and manufacturers including Cisco, Avaya, Cisco Meraki, Huawei, Checkpoint, and other leading vendors, with offerings encompassing all aspects of Cloud Networking, Cloud Video, Hyperconvergence, Security, Collaboration, Secure Wireless and IP LAN, WAN & Data Center Networks. We believe this acquisition will further enhance PCM UK’s expertise and vendor accreditations in the United Kingdom as a Cisco Gold Partner, allowing PCM UK and its subsidiaries to offer further consultancy, integration and supply of services and solutions across the UK marketplace while replicating many existing offerings from our North American organization.
     
  Epoch Universal: In January 2018, we completed the acquisition of certain assets of Epoch Universal, Inc., an end-to-end IT solutions provider that is highly regarded in its expertise across a wide range of solutions including Unified Collaboration, Networking and Security, Wireless, Data Center and Virtualization, Cloud and other advanced technologies. Epoch Universal employees hold advanced Cisco and VMware certifications enabling fully integrated enterprise solutions, including managed and professional services, to customers across the United States.

 

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In connection with our recent acquisitions and our resulting entrance into selling products, services and solutions in the Canadian and the United Kingdom (“UK”) markets, we formed two new operating segments called Canada and United Kingdom. Our Canada segment includes our operations related to these Canadian market activities, beginning as of the respective dates of the Acrodex and Tiger Direct acquisitions in 2015 and Stratiform in late 2016, as discussed above. Our United Kingdom segment includes the results of our subsidiary PCM Technology Solutions UK, Ltd (“PCM UK”), which was formed in connection with our entrance into the UK market in the first quarter of 2017 and serves as our hub for the UK and the rest of Europe. For more information about our segments, see below under “Segment Reporting Data.”

 

Investment in Non-Consolidated Affiliate

 

Based on various supplier diversity policies and requirements of certain customers whose contracts we acquired rights to in connection with the En Pointe transaction, beginning in the first quarter of 2017, our financial results do not consolidate the financial results of sales made under some customer contracts we purchased in the En Pointe acquisition, which are now held by a partner which qualifies for certification as a minority and women owned business in accordance with customer supplier diversity policies. We hold a 49% passive equity interest in this partner and we have accounted for our investment in this partner using the equity method of accounting beginning in the first quarter of 2017. We refer to this entity as the non-controlled entity or NCE. We record our results from our 49% equity interest in the NCE’s operations as “Equity income from unconsolidated affiliate” in our consolidated statement of operations.

 

Our Strategy

 

Expand Advanced Solutions Capabilities and Sales

 

Our Advanced Solutions strategy is focused on the creation and delivery of advanced solutions primarily in the following areas:

 

  Cloud
  Security
  Data Center
Networking
  Collaboration
  Professional & Consulting Services
  Managed Services

 

Our customers are increasingly consuming technology in different and evolving ways. As a result, they are utilizing more complex solutions, including advanced technology hardware and software products, particularly related to cloud, security, data center, networking and collaboration. It is a key part of our strategy to tailor our offerings to leverage these market dynamics. We believe we have significant opportunities for growth and increased profitability by continuing to invest in, and enhance, our advanced solutions portfolio.

 

Our Advanced Solutions resources include pre-sales, engineering, and post sales delivery teams. To better support our customers and as a reflection of our focus on customer satisfaction, we have invested heavily in growing the number of certified engineers, technicians and project managers providing on-site and remote support to our clients. These professionals, who collectively hold thousands of technical certifications, support a wide variety of technology solutions and, along with our strong industry relationships with our key vendor partners, are augmented by a nationwide network of service providers, which act as our subcontractors to increase our reach into all of our geographical markets and allow us to deliver the most appropriate solutions for our customers. Our technology services, whether they are delivered by us or through our partners, complement our offerings and allow us to develop complete solutions to meet our customers’ needs. We intend to continue to invest in sales and technical competencies to drive advanced solutions-centric sales to our growing customer base. We have continued to add specializations with our top partners in an effort to better align us with their respective growth strategies.

 

Our Advanced Solutions strategy also focuses on providing services spanning the entire information technology life cycle, from the initial design to implementation and continuing management. These services include professional and consulting and managed services. Our professional and consulting services are used to design, deploy, implement and manage complex solutions surrounding our customers’ needs across their organizations. We leverage technology and expertise to solve our customers’ complex needs and to help them reduce their operational costs. We also provide managed services and support for the data center, network, and software applications that our customers use. We further provide our customers with multi-lingual 24x7x365 service desk support, and in the field, we perform break-fix maintenance support and staff augmentation services. We are focused on the creation and delivery of private, public and hybrid cloud solutions and remote systems monitoring and management through our own captive and our partners’ data centers.

 

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We have invested heavily in our managed services capabilities in order to help customers with the assessment, migration, integration and managed services necessary to simplify the cloud adoption process. We offer cloud-based solutions by utilizing our three hybrid cloud data centers near Columbus, Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia, as well as a global network of partners. We maintain Network Operating Centers (NOCs) within each of our data centers to provide 24x7x365 monitoring and management of customers’ systems wherever they are located. We believe that the operation of our own data centers provides incremental value to our customers that is unmatched in our space.

 

We also have made significant investments to help our customers optimize their software environments and to better understand their needs, evaluate their existing assets and assist them with implementation and migration strategies. We offer our customers expertise in the following areas:

 

  Local Support Staff
  Licensing Expertise
  Cloud Solutions Specialists
  Microsoft Professional Services
  Microsoft Contract Support
  24x7x365 Cloud Help Desk
  Agreement Onboarding
  Agreement Lifecycle Services
  Strategic Funding Access
  Market Intelligence
  Cost Analysis & Licensing Assessments
  Cloud Envisioning Sessions
  Software Asset Management

 

We believe our strategic focus in advanced solutions expands and enhances our capabilities to service our customers’ needs and drives conversations regarding all of our technology solution offerings. We intend to leverage our existing resources, continue to train our sales account executives and provide a high level of support to our customers.

 

Increase Our Core Sales of End Point Solutions

 

Our End Point Solutions strategy is focused on the delivery of solutions in the following areas:

 

  Mobility
  Desktop
  Digital Signage
  POS
  Print
  Field & Lifecycle Services

 

We maintain pre-sales, engineering and post sales delivery resources focused on driving sales in the core end point technologies that customers demand. By leveraging our inside and field sales teams across the United States and Canada, and our e-Commerce and logistics capabilities, we are able to more effectively and efficiently tailor unique offerings to our diverse customer base. We seek to drive growth through our efforts to expand our relationships with our existing customers as well as by seeking new customers through targeted account acquisition efforts. We are expanding our sales reach across the United States by adding account executives to our inside and field sales teams in an effort to achieve enhanced market penetration.

 

We place significant strategic emphasis on increasing the productivity and tenure of our sales force by enhancing our training and tools, optimizing our technical pre-sales resources and other support functions, expanding our reach into higher value customer opportunities and realigning our commercial account executives and corporate and enterprise accounts under a more unified brand and go to market strategy. Through these efforts we intend to better equip our account executives to evaluate, understand and deliver profitable technology solutions that address our customers’ technology needs with a superior customer experience in a changing technology environment.

 

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Leverage our Strong Partnerships with Key Vendors

 

We believe it is important to leverage our strong relationships with key OEM and publisher vendor partners such as Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Lenovo, Microsoft, Oracle, Samsung, Symantec, Synnex and VMware and other key partners on a company-wide basis. We believe our long-standing relationships with our key vendor partners give us increased visibility and legitimacy in the minds of our customers and provide us key insights related to new and existing technology solutions, roadmaps for such offerings and other critical industry dynamics. These insights help to ensure that our sales and marketing organizations are knowledgeable and well positioned to profitably understand, market, sell and deliver these technologies to our customers, allowing us to meet our customers’ evolving and increasingly complex technology needs.

 

We also intend to continue to invest in and enhance our training programs, our compensation plans and our marketing activities related to each of our key vendor partners. These investments and enhancements are central to our strategic efforts intended to add additional value to these partners by maintaining and enhancing our ability to efficiently and effectively market, sell, deliver and incorporate their products and services into our comprehensive solutions with a high degree of customization.

 

Identify and Drive Further Operational Efficiencies

 

We utilize a centralized infrastructure for our back-office capabilities. In order to free our sales and marketing organizations to increase their focus on our existing and prospective customers, we maintain centralized IT, finance, human resources, and other support functions. We believe that leveraging a centralized model for these critical back-office functions drives a more efficient overall cost structure and allows us to more cost effectively introduce new tools to our sales and marketing organizations. As an additional part of our strategy to drive cost advantages and operational efficiencies, we also have located a significant number of personnel related to these functions internationally and intend to continue with this strategy. As an additional key part of our strategy to identify and drive operational efficiencies, we are currently upgrading many of our disparate IT systems to SAP. We believe the implementation and upgrade should help us to gain further efficiencies across our organization.

 

Selectively Pursue and Integrate Strategic Acquisitions

 

One element of our business strategy involves the potential expansion through opportunistic acquisitions of businesses, assets, personnel or technologies that allow us to complement our existing operations and expand our market coverage or add new business capabilities. The technology solutions industry has undergone significant consolidation and change over the past 15-20 years and while we believe that the fragmented nature of the industry, industry consolidation trends, and accelerated rate of change in the industry may continue to present acquisition opportunities for us, these trends may also make acquisitions more competitive.

 

We continually evaluate and explore strategic opportunities as they arise, including business combination transactions, strategic partnerships and the purchase or sale of assets. We may choose to pursue acquisitions for several reasons. For instance, we may pursue acquisitions that will broaden our technology solutions’ capabilities, enable us to further penetrate or enter new geographies we deem attractive, expand or enhance vendor relationships or provide increased economies of scale. We evaluate acquisition opportunities based on our assessment of several factors, including the perceived value of the opportunity, our available financing sources, potential synergies of the acquisition target with our business and the opportunity costs of any such investment. The implementation of our acquisition strategy depends on the availability of suitable acquisition candidates at reasonable prices and our ability to resolve challenges associated with integrating acquired businesses into our existing business.

 

Our ability to complete acquisitions in the future will depend on our ability to fund such acquisitions with our internally available cash, cash generated from operations, amounts available under our existing credit facilities, additional borrowings or from the issuance of additional securities.

 

Expand International Capabilities

 

Many of our commercial enterprise customers continue to increase their international technology fulfillment needs related to many of the technology solutions we sell. Historically, our business has been focused on the United States and more recently has expanded across Canada and the UK. In order meet our customers’ international needs, we also have recently made investments to establish our ability to provide technology solutions to some countries throughout the world beyond the United States, Canada and the UK. Expanding these capabilities will continue to be a key strategic focus in the near term.

 

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Our Sales and Marketing Approach

 

Sales Activities. Our account executives handle a variety of customer needs, including, assessment and support for complex technology solutions, operations and procurement processes, ongoing customer service and other value-added services. They are responsible for assisting customers in purchasing decisions, answering product pricing and availability questions and processing product orders, but more importantly, for proactively reaching out to existing and prospective clients to assess opportunities to sell them value-added technology services and solutions. Our account executives profile accounts, identify and build relationships with key decision makers and influencers within their account base and are responsible for growing the depth of hardware products, software and service offerings we sell to our customers. Account executives have the authority to vary prices within specified parameters in order to be competitive. Our account executives also utilize a support team which is focused on non-selling administrative support activities, leaving our account executives incremental time to sell and prospect. We further support our account executives with systems used for order entry, customer tracking and relationship management, product availability and fulfillment schedules and which support their ability to sell across multiple product categories.

 

We believe that the success of our account executives is substantially dependent on the quality of our recruiting and training programs. Upon hiring, our account executives undergo an initial sales training program focusing on the use of our systems, technology solutions, including hardware products, software and service offerings, sales techniques and customer service. To ensure that they are able to effectively sell all of our offerings, account executives attend regular training sessions to stay up-to-date on new technologies. Account executives are also supported by pre-sales personnel who assist them with technology specific questions and solutions support. We also require the account executives to acquire certain sales technical certifications for key technologies to ensure they are credible and competent in selling complex services and solutions.

 

We frequently enhance our tools that are used to support our sales activities. Generally, these tools enable our account executives and sales managers to utilize a number of metrics and analytics from which incremental opportunities can be identified within specific customer accounts or an account executive’s entire book of business. These capabilities provide a solid foundation from which our account executives can expand their customer account penetration and drive incremental revenue and profitability.

 

Marketing Activities. We design our marketing programs to attract new customers and to stimulate additional purchases by existing customers. Our marketing programs are tailored for the specific needs of our various customer segments and within the end point and advanced solutions businesses. We utilize sophisticated analytic tools designed to manage marketing campaigns using different media channels and to optimize campaigns through advanced data mining techniques. The analytic tools combine optimization techniques with multiple models to more effectively match offers to individuals and businesses in an effort to provide the most profitable results.

 

Vendor Supported Marketing. We provide vendor supported custom marketing campaigns that may include outbound call campaigns, customer webinars and events, lead campaigns, email marketing, promotional offers, the sale of advertising space in our catalogs and on our websites and trade-in and trade-up programs. We also work collaboratively with our vendor partners and use vendor funding to help offset portions of the costs of marketing promotions, direct mail offers, customer trainings and events and e-marketing or sales incentives. These marketing activities are based on market opportunity and vendors’ strategies. We also develop marketing campaigns designed to maximize product sales and we receive additional funds from our vendors in the form of volume incentive rebates and other programs.

 

Online Marketing. eCommerce marketing programs and capabilities, such as affiliate marketing, search engine optimization, email and search engine marketing, are essential components of our customer acquisition and retention strategy. We operate several websites, including pcm.com, pcmg.com, macmall.com, tigerdirect.com, tigerdirect.ca, pcmcanada.com, stratiform.com and abreon.com. Our websites offer features such as online ordering, access to inventory availability and a large product selection with detailed product information. We also maintain and operate commercial, customized extranets to provide businesses and their employees with an online purchasing channel with custom catalogs, pricing, security, asset management and workflow configurable to our customers’ needs. These extranet sites are designed to enhance sales productivity by allowing customers to perform routine tasks online, freeing our associated account executive’s time for other tasks.

 

Other Direct Marketing. We selectively mail catalogs to existing and prospective customers, utilize online advertising methodologies and, to a limited extent, advertise in certain major magazines, radio and local television programs. We also send direct marketing mailers to selected target audiences to drive sales to new and existing customers. We create our marketing materials in-house with our own design team and production artists. We believe the in-house preparation of catalogs, advertisements, and promotional materials streamlines the production process, provides greater flexibility and creativity in catalog production and results in significant cost savings over outside production.

 

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Products and Merchandising

 

We screen and select new products and vendors based on evolving customer technology solution needs, the expected market opportunity and related technology adoption trends within our targeted customer markets. We also consider product attributes like features, quality, sales trends, price, margins, market development funds and vendor warranties.

 

Through our large sales force and frequent emails, website updates and catalog mailings, we believe we are able to quickly introduce new products and replace slower selling products. We also use various marketing materials, web training and local events to educate our customers on solutions and more complex technologies and to provide other content to describe technology applications and how they will benefit the customer. Through these materials and activities, we showcase the full breadth of the products and solutions we sell in an effort to provide our customers with a single source for all their technology needs.

 

The following table sets forth our net billed sales by major categories as a percentage of total net billed sales for the periods presented, determined based upon our internal product code classifications.

 

   Years Ended December 31, 
   2018   2017   2016 
Software(1)   29%   28%   28%
Notebooks & Tablets   17    20    19 
Desktops   8    7    7 
Delivered services   8    7    6 
Networking   8    6    7 
Manufacturer service and warranty(1)   6    6    6 
Displays   5    4    4 
Accessories   3    4    4 
Storage   3    3    4 
Servers   3    3    2 
Printers   2    2    2 
Input devices   2    2    2 
Other(2)   6    8    9 
Total   100%   100%   100%
 
(1) Software, including software licenses, maintenance and enterprise agreements, and manufacturer service and warranties are shown, for purposes of this table, on a gross sales billed to customers basis, net of returns and do not reflect the net down impact related to revenue recognition for sales of such products.
(2) All other includes power, supplies, consumer electronics, memory, iPod/MP3 and miscellaneous other items.

 

Purchasing and Inventory

 

Effective purchasing is a key element of our strategy to provide technology products and solutions at competitive prices. We believe that our high volume of sales results in increased purchasing power with our primary suppliers, resulting in volume discounts, favorable product return and price protection policies and certain other vendor consideration. A substantial portion of our business is dependent on sales of Microsoft and HP Inc. products as well as products purchased from other vendors including Apple, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ingram Micro, Lenovo, Synnex and Tech Data. Our top sales of products by manufacturer as a percent of our gross billed sales were as follows for the periods presented:

 

   Years Ended December 31, 
   2018   2017   2016 
Microsoft   15%   15%   15%
HP Inc.   10    10    10 

 

We are also linked electronically with approximately 29 distributors and manufacturers, which allows our account executives to view applicable product availability online and drop-ship those products directly to customers. These arrangements allow us to reduce inventory carrying costs, achieve higher order fill rates and improve inventory turns.

 

Many of our vendor partners provide us with volume incentive rebates and market development funds to assist in the active marketing and sales of their products. Such funds help offset portions of the costs incurred to market their products. As is customary in our industry, we have no long-term supply contracts with any of our vendors. Substantially all of our contracts with our vendors are terminable upon 30 days’ notice or less.

 

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We attempt to manage our inventory to optimize order fill rate and customer satisfaction, while limiting inventory risk. Inventory levels may vary from period to period, due in part to increases or decreases in sales levels, our practice of making large-volume purchases when we deem the terms of such purchases to be attractive and the addition of new manufacturers and products. We have negotiated agreements with many of our vendors that contain price protection provisions intended to reduce our risk of loss due to manufacturer price reductions; however, rights vary by product line, have conditions and limitations and generally can be terminated or changed at any time.

 

The market for technology solutions is characterized by rapid technological change and growing diversity. We believe that our success depends in large part on our ability to identify and obtain the right to market hardware products, software and services that meet the changing requirements of the marketplace and to obtain sufficient quantities to meet changing demands. There can be no assurance that we will be able to identify and offer technology solutions necessary to remain competitive or avoid losses related to excess or obsolete inventory.

 

Backlog

 

Our backlog generally represents open, cancelable orders and may vary significantly from period to period. We do not believe that backlog is useful for predicting our future sales.

 

Distribution

 

For the U.S. market, we operate an 84,640 square foot warehouse facility in Lewis Center, Ohio, which includes a 20,000 square foot configuration center, a 20,254 square foot warehouse facility in Irvine, California and a 126,000 square foot warehouse in Worthington, Ohio, which currently includes a 5,000 square foot configuration center. While our Lewis Center and Irvine warehouses have primarily functioned as custom configuration and distribution centers for our commercial customers, our Worthington warehouse serves as the primary distribution center for general stock and use by all segments of our business.

 

For the Canadian market, we operate an approximately 20,500 square foot warehouse in Edmonton, Alberta, which includes a 1,000 square foot configuration center, a 10,750 square foot warehouse in Calgary, Alberta, which includes a 750 square foot configuration center, and a 9,185 square foot warehouse in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

 

We believe that our warehousing and distribution facilities and relationships are adequate for our current and foreseeable future needs. Our warehouse and distributor partners also provide us with electronic purchasing and drop shipping systems for products that we do not maintain in stock in our directly owned inventory. Approximately 29 distributors and manufacturers are linked to us electronically to provide inventory availability and pricing information. We transmit orders electronically for immediate shipment via an electronic interchange to the selected distributor after considering inventory availability, service level, price and location. This capability has historically allowed us to ship a high percentage of orders on the same day that they are received and we expect to continue to leverage these capabilities.

 

Management Information and Communication Systems

 

We have committed significant resources to the development of sophisticated computer systems that are used to manage our business. Our computer systems support phone and web-based sales, marketing, purchasing, accounting, customer service, warehousing and distribution, and facilitate the preparation of daily operating control reports which are designed to provide concise and timely information regarding key aspects of our business. The systems allow us to, among other things, monitor sales trends, make informed purchasing decisions, and provide product availability and order status information. In addition to the main computer systems, we have systems of networked computers across all of our locations. We also use our management information systems to manage our inventory. We believe that in order to remain competitive, we will need to upgrade our management information systems on a regular basis, which could require significant capital expenditures.

 

Our success is dependent on the accuracy and proper utilization of our management information systems and our communications systems. In addition to the costs associated with system upgrades, the transition to and implementation of new or upgraded solutions can result in system delays or failures. We currently operate one of our management information systems using an HP3000 Enterprise System, which was supported by HP until December 2010. We currently contract with a third party service provider specializing in maintenance and support of this system to provide us adequate support until we finalize the upgrade of this system to SAP, which is more fully described in Part II, Item 7 of this report under “ERP Upgrades.” Any interruption, corruption, degradation or failure of our management information systems or communications systems could adversely impact our ability to receive and process customer orders on a timely basis.

 

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Many of our systems are located in our data centers in El Segundo, California, Columbus, Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia. These data centers now provide geographic redundancy for certain critical systems.

 

Competition

 

The business of selling information technology hardware products, software and services is highly competitive. We compete with a variety of companies that can be divided into several broad categories:

 

  other technology solution providers and direct marketers, including CDW, Insight Enterprises, Presidio and Connection;
  large value added resellers such as CompuCom Systems, Pomeroy IT Solutions and World Wide Technology;
  government resellers such as CDWG and GovConnection;
  computer retail stores and resellers, including superstores such as Best Buy, Office Depot and Staples;
  hardware and software vendors such as Apple, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc. and Dell Technologies that sell or are increasing sales directly to end users;
  online resellers, such as Amazon.com;
  software focused resellers such as Soft Choice and SHI; and
  other direct marketers and value added resellers of information technology hardware products, software and services, such as Amazon Business and Web Services, and Google Business Services, among others.

 

Barriers to entry are relatively low in the direct marketing industry, and the risk of new competitors entering the market is high.

 

Competition in our market is based on various factors, including but not limited to, price, product selection, quality and availability, ease of doing business, customer service, and brand recognition.

 

The manner in which technology solutions are distributed and sold is continually changing, and new methods of sales and distribution have emerged. Information technology resellers are consolidating operations and acquiring or merging with other resellers to achieve economies of scale and increased efficiency. Our largest manufacturers have sold, and continue to sell, their products directly to customers. To the extent additional manufacturers adopt this selling format, it could adversely affect our sales and profitability. In addition, traditional retailers have entered and may increase their penetration into direct marketing and the commercial market. Industry reconfiguration and consolidation could cause the industry to become even more competitive, further increase pricing pressures and make it more difficult for us to maintain our operating margins or to increase or maintain the same level of net sales or gross profit.

 

Although many of our competitors have greater financial resources than we do, we believe that our ability to offer our customers a wide selection of technology solutions, at competitive prices, with prompt delivery and a high level of customer satisfaction, together with good relationships with our vendors and suppliers, allows us to compete effectively. We compete not only for customers, but also for favorable product allocations and cooperative advertising support from our vendor partners. Some of our competitors could enter into exclusive distribution arrangements with our vendors and deny us access to their products and solutions, devote greater resources to marketing and promotional campaigns and devote substantially more resources to their websites and systems development than we can. New technologies and the continued enhancement of existing technologies also may increase competitive pressures on us. An increase in competition could require us to adopt competitive pricing or advertising strategies that may have an adverse effect on our operating results. There can be no assurance that we can continue to compete effectively against existing or new competitors that may enter the market.

 

Intellectual Property

 

We rely on a combination of laws and contractual restrictions with our employees, customers, suppliers, affiliates and others to establish and protect our proprietary rights. Despite these precautions, it is possible that third parties may copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property, including using our trademarks or domain names, without authorization. Although we regularly assert our intellectual property rights when we learn that they are being infringed, these claims can be time-consuming and may require litigation and administrative proceedings to be successful. We have numerous trademarks and service marks that we consider to be material to the successful operation of our business. We have registrations in the United States and in numerous foreign jurisdictions.

 

Third parties have asserted, and may in the future assert, that our business methods or the technologies we use infringe their intellectual property rights. We may be subject to intellectual property claims and legal proceedings in the ordinary course of our business. If we are forced to defend against any third-party infringement claims, we could face expensive and time-consuming litigation and be required to pay monetary damages, which could include treble damages and attorneys’ fees for any infringement that is found to be willful, and either be enjoined or required to pay ongoing royalties with respect to any business methods or technologies that are found to be infringing. Further, as a result of infringement claims either against us or against those who license technology to us, we may be required, or deem it advisable, to develop non-infringing business methods or technology, which could be costly and time-consuming, or enter into costly royalty or licensing agreements.

 

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Third parties have in the past, and may in the future, hire employees who have had access to our proprietary technologies, processes and operations. This exposes us to the risk that former employees will misappropriate our intellectual property.

 

Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Any litigation, regardless of outcome or merit, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management and technical resources, which could materially harm our business.

 

Segment Reporting Data

 

Operating segment and principal geographic area data for 2018, 2017 and 2016 are summarized in Note 14 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of this report, which is incorporated herein by reference.

 

We currently operate in four reportable segments: Commercial, Public Sector, Canada and United Kingdom. Our reportable operating segments are primarily aligned based upon our reporting of results as used by our chief operating decision maker in evaluating the operating results and performance of our company. We include corporate related expenses such as legal, accounting, information technology, product management and other administrative costs that are not otherwise included in our reportable operating segments in Corporate & Other.

 

Employees

 

At December 31, 2018, we had 3,954 full-time and 86 part-time employees, consisting of 2,219 in the United States, 906 in the Philippines, 703 in Canada, 198 in the United Kingdom and 14 in India. We emphasize recruiting and training high-quality personnel and, to the extent practical, promote people to positions of increased responsibility from within the company. Many employees initially receive training appropriate for their position, followed by varying levels of training in computer technology, communication and leadership. New account executives participate in an intensive sales training program, during which time they are introduced to our business ethics and philosophy, available resources, products and services, as well as basic and advanced sales skills. Training for specific product lines and continuing education programs are conducted on a regular basis, supplemented by vendor-sponsored training programs for account executives and technical support personnel.

 

We consider our employee relations to be good. None of our employees is represented by a labor union, and we have experienced no work stoppages.

 

Regulatory and Legal Matters

 

Our businesses are subject to various regulatory and legal requirements, such as the Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule and other related regulations promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission and other laws and regulations applicable to commerce on the Internet and laws and regulations of the federal government related to our procurement of products and services and our sales to the government. These laws and regulations may cover taxation of eCommerce, user privacy, marketing and promotional practices (including electronic communications with our customers and potential customers), database protection, pricing, content, copyrights, distribution, electronic contracts and other communications, consumer protection, product safety, the provision of online payment services, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights, data security, unauthorized access (including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act), and the characteristics and quality of products and services.

 

While we believe we are currently in compliance with such laws and regulations and have sought to implement processes, programs and systems in an effort to achieve compliance with existing laws and regulations applicable to our businesses, many of these laws and regulations are unclear and have yet to be interpreted by courts, or may be subject to conflicting interpretations by courts. No assurances can be given that new laws or regulations will not be enacted or adopted, or that our processes, programs and systems will be sufficient to comply with present or future laws or regulations, which might adversely affect our operations. Moreover, changing technologies and the growth and evolution of Internet commerce has and may continue to prompt calls for more stringent consumer protection, privacy and data protection laws that, if enacted, could impose additional restrictions or burdens on us and other companies.

 

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Based upon current law, some of our affiliated companies currently collect and remit sales and use tax only on sales of products or services to residents of the states in which they have a physical presence or have voluntarily registered. Various state taxing authorities have sought to impose on companies with no physical presence in the taxing state the burden of collecting state sales and use taxes on the sale of products or services shipped or sold to those states’ residents, and it is possible that such a requirement could be imposed in the future. In addition, a number of bills may be introduced or are pending before federal and state legislatures that would potentially expand our tax collection or reporting responsibility. Until these legislative efforts have run their course and the courts have considered and resolved some cases involving these tax collection and reporting issues, there can be no assurance that future laws or interpretations of existing laws imposing taxes or other regulations on direct marketing or Internet commerce would not substantially impair our growth or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

In addition, we and our subsidiaries may be subject to state or local taxes on income or (in states such as Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Washington or the District of Columbia) on gross receipts or a similar measure earned in a state even though we and our subsidiaries may have no physical presence in the state. State and local governments may seek to impose such taxes in cases where they believe the taxpayer may have a significant economic presence by reason of significant sales to customers located in the states. The responsibility to pay income and gross receipts taxes has also been the subject of court actions and various legislative efforts. There can be no assurance that these taxes will not be imposed upon us and our subsidiaries.

 

Available Information

 

Our corporate website address is www.pcm.com. We are subject to the informational requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and file or furnish reports, proxy statements, and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We make our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to these reports, if any, available free of charge on our corporate website as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. We have also adopted a code of conduct and ethics that applies to our directors, officers and employees which is available on our website. The information contained on our website is not part of this report or incorporated by reference herein.

 

***

 

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

 

This report and other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission contain forward looking statements that are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about us, our future performance, our business, our beliefs and our management’s assumptions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties facing our business which are set forth below. The risks described below are not the only ones facing us. Our business is also subject to risks that affect many other companies, such as employment relations, general economic conditions, geopolitical events and international operations. Further, additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial also may impair our business, operations, liquidity and stock price materially and adversely.

 

Our success is in part dependent on the accuracy and proper utilization of our management information and communications systems.

 

We have committed significant resources to the development of sophisticated systems that are used to manage our business. Our systems support phone and web-based sales, marketing, purchasing, accounting, customer service, warehousing and distribution, and facilitate the preparation of daily operating control reports which are designed to provide concise and timely information regarding key aspects of our business. The systems allow us to, among other things, monitor sales trends, make informed purchasing decisions, and provide product availability and order status information. In addition to the main computer systems, we have systems of networked computers across all of our locations. We also use our management information systems to manage our inventory. We believe that in order to remain competitive, we will need to upgrade our management information and communications systems on a regular basis, which could require significant capital expenditures.

 

Our success is dependent on the accuracy and proper utilization of our management information systems and our communications systems. In addition to the costs associated with system upgrades, the transition to and implementation of new or upgraded solutions can result in system delays or failures. We currently operate one of our management information systems using an HP3000 Enterprise System, which was supported by HP until December 2010. We currently contract with a third party service provider specializing in maintenance and support of this system to provide us adequate support until we finalize the upgrade of this system to the SAP platform historically utilized by the En Pointe business. Any interruption, corruption, degradation or failure of our management information systems or communications systems could adversely impact our ability to receive and process customer orders on a timely basis.

 

In addition to our systems upgrades that are currently being implemented, we also regularly upgrade our systems in an effort to better meet the information requirements of our users, and believe that to remain competitive, it will be necessary for us to upgrade these systems on a regular basis in the future. The implementation of any upgrades is complex, in part, because of the wide range of processes and the multiple systems that may need to be integrated across our business.

 

In connection with any system upgrades, we generally create a project plan to provide a reasonable allocation of resources to the project; however, execution of any such plan, or a divergence from it, may result in cost overruns, project delays or business interruptions. Furthermore, any divergence from any such project plan could affect the timing or the extent of benefits we may expect to achieve from the system or any process efficiencies. Any such project delays, business interruptions or loss of expected benefits could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

Any disruptions, delays or deficiencies in the design, operation or implementation of our various systems, or in the performance of our systems, particularly any disruptions, delays or deficiencies that impact our operations, could adversely affect our ability to effectively run and manage our business, including our ability to receive, process, ship and bill for orders in a timely manner or our ability to properly manage our inventory or accurately present our inventory availability or pricing. We do not currently have a redundant or back-up telephone system, nor do we have complete redundancy for our management information systems. Any interruption, corruption, deficiency or delay in our management information systems, including those caused by natural disasters, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

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Changes and uncertainties in the economic climate could negatively affect the rate of information technology spending by our customers, which would likely have an impact on our business.

 

As a result of the ongoing economic uncertainties, the direction and relative strength of the U.S. and Canadian economies remain a considerable risk to our business, operating results and financial condition. This economic uncertainty could also increase the risk of uncollectible accounts receivable from our customers. During previous economic downturns in the U.S., Canada, the UK and elsewhere, customers generally reduced, often substantially, their rate of information technology spending. Additionally, economic conditions and the level of consumer confidence has limited technology spending. Future changes and uncertainties in the economic climate in the U.S., Canada, the UK and elsewhere could have a similar negative impact on the rate of information technology spending of our current and potential customers, which would likely have a negative impact on our business, operating results and financial condition, and could significantly hinder our growth and prevent us from achieving our financial performance goals.

 

Our earnings and growth rate could be adversely affected by negative changes in economic or geopolitical conditions.

 

We are subject to risks arising from adverse changes in domestic and global economic conditions and unstable geopolitical conditions. If economic growth in the United States, Canada, the UK or other countries slows or declines, current and prospective customer spending rates could be significantly reduced. This could result in reductions in sales of our products, longer sales and payment cycles, slower adoption of new technologies and increased price competition, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Weak general economic conditions or uncertainties in geopolitical conditions could adversely impact our revenue, expenses and growth rate. In addition, our revenue, margins and earnings could deteriorate in the future as a result of unfavorable economic or geopolitical conditions.

 

Our revenue is dependent on sales of products from a small number of key manufacturers, and a decline in sales of products from these manufacturers could materially harm our business.

 

Our revenue is dependent on sales of products from a small number of key manufacturers and software publishers, including Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Lenovo, Microsoft, Oracle, Samsung, Symantec and VMware. For example, products manufactured by Microsoft represented approximately 15% of our net sales in each of the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 and products manufactured by HP Inc. represented approximately 10% of our net sales in each of the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017. A decline in sales of any of our key manufacturers’ products, whether due to decreases in supply of or demand for their products, termination of any of our agreements with them, or otherwise, could have a material adverse impact on our sales and operating results.

 

Certain of our vendors provide us with incentives and other assistance that reduce our operating costs, and any decline in these incentives and other assistance could materially harm our operating results.

 

Certain of our vendors, including OEMs, software publishers and distribution partners, provide us with trade credit or substantial incentives in the form of discounts, credits and cooperative advertising. We have agreements with many of our vendors under which they provide us, or they have otherwise consistently provided us, with market development funds to finance portions of our advertising, marketing and distribution costs based upon the amount of coverage we give to their respective products in our catalogs or other advertising and marketing mediums. Any termination or interruption of our relationships with one or more of these vendors, or modification of the terms or discontinuance of our agreements and market development fund programs and arrangements with these vendors, could adversely affect our operating income and cash flow. For example, the amount of vendor consideration we receive from a particular vendor may be impacted by a number of events outside of our control, including acquisitions, divestitures, management changes or economic pressures affecting such vendor, any of which could materially affect the amount of vendor consideration we receive from such vendor.

 

We do not have long-term supply agreements or guaranteed price or delivery arrangements with our vendors.

 

In most cases we have no guaranteed price or delivery arrangements with our vendors. As a result, we have experienced and may in the future experience inventory shortages on certain products. Furthermore, our industry occasionally experiences significant product supply shortages and customer order backlogs due to the inability of certain manufacturers to supply certain products as needed. We cannot assure you that suppliers will maintain an adequate supply of products to fulfill our orders on a timely basis, or at all, or that we will be able to obtain particular products on favorable terms or at all. Additionally, we cannot assure you that product lines currently offered by suppliers will continue to be available to us. A decline in the supply or continued availability of the products of our vendors, or a significant increase in the price of those products, could reduce our sales and negatively affect our operating results.

 

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Substantially all of our agreements with vendors are terminable within 30 days.

 

Substantially all of our vendor agreements are terminable upon 30 days’ notice or less. Vendors that currently sell their products or services through us could decide to sell, or increase their sales of, their products or services directly or through other resellers or channels. Any termination, interruption or adverse modification of our relationship with a key vendor or a significant number of other vendors would likely adversely affect our operating income, cash flow and future prospects.

 

Our success is dependent in part upon the ability of our vendors to develop and market products that meet changes in market demand, as well as our ability to sell popular products from new vendors.

 

The products and services we sell are generally subject to rapid technological change and related changes in marketplace demand. Our success is dependent in part upon the ability of our vendors to develop and market products and services that meet these changes in market demand. Our success is also dependent on our ability to develop relationships with and sell products and services from new vendors that address these changes in market demand. To the extent products that address changes in marketplace demand are not available to us, or are not available to us in sufficient quantities or on acceptable terms, we could encounter increased price and other competition, which would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We may not be able to maintain existing vendor relationships or preferred provider status with our vendors, or business sources, which may affect our ability to offer a broad selection of products at competitive prices and negatively impact our results of operations.

 

We purchase products and services for resale both directly from manufacturers and software publishers and indirectly through distributors and other sources, all of whom we consider our vendors. We also maintain certain qualifications and preferred provider status with several of our vendors, which provides us with preferred pricing, vendor training and support, preferred access to products and services, and other significant benefits. We also benefit from our involvement with, or qualification as a preferred provider for, large contract vehicles or organizations as other indirect sources of business. In many cases, vendors require us to meet certain minimum standards in order to retain these qualifications and preferred provider status. If we do not maintain our existing relationships or preferred provider certifications or authorizations, or if we fail to build new relationships with vendors on acceptable terms, including favorable pricing, vendor consideration or reseller qualifications, we may not be able to offer a broad selection of products and services or continue to offer products and services from these vendors at competitive prices or at all. From time to time, vendors may be acquired by other companies, terminate our right to sell some or all of their products, modify or terminate our preferred provider or qualification status, change the applicable terms and conditions of sale or reduce or discontinue the incentives or vendor consideration that they offer us. For example, one of our major vendors adopted heightened sales growth and dedicated sales personnel standards for its preferred provider designation. Our failure to meet these heightened standards could cause us to lose preferred provider status with the vendor. Any termination of our preferred provider status with any of our major vendors, or our failure to build new vendor relationships, could have a negative impact on our operating results. Additionally, some products are subject to manufacturer, publisher or distributor allocation, which limits the number of units of those products that are available to us and may adversely affect our operating results.

 

Part of our business strategy includes the opportunistic acquisition of other companies, and we may have difficulties integrating acquired companies into our operations in a cost-effective manner, if at all.

 

One element of our business strategy involves the potential expansion through opportunistic acquisitions of businesses, assets, personnel or technologies that allow us to complement our existing operations, expand our market coverage, enter new geographic markets, or add new business capabilities. We continually evaluate and explore strategic opportunities as they arise, including business combination transactions, strategic partnerships, and the purchase or sale of assets. Our acquisition strategy depends on the availability of suitable acquisition candidates at reasonable prices and our ability to resolve challenges associated with integrating acquired businesses into our existing business. Since 2015, we completed four strategic acquisitions and are focused on integrating these acquisitions into our operations. No assurance can be given that the benefits or synergies we may expect from acquisitions will be realized to the extent or in the time frame we anticipate. We may lose key employees, customers, distributors, vendors and other business partners of the companies we acquire after announcement of acquisition plans. In addition, acquisitions may involve a number of risks and difficulties, including expansion into new geographic markets and business areas in which our management has limited prior experience, the diversion of management’s attention to the operations and personnel of the acquired company, the integration of the acquired company’s personnel, operations and management information (ERP) systems, changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners, differing regulatory requirements in new geographic markets and new business areas, and potential short-term adverse effects on our operating results. These challenges can be magnified as the size of the acquisition increases. Any delays or unexpected costs incurred in connection with the integration of acquired companies or otherwise related to acquisitions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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Acquisitions may require large one-time charges and can result in increased debt or other contingent liabilities, adverse tax consequences, deferred compensation charges, the recording and later amortization of amounts related to deferred compensation and certain purchased intangible assets, and the refinement or revision of fair value acquisition estimates following the completion of acquisitions, any of which items could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may record goodwill in connection with an acquisition and incur goodwill impairment charges in the future. Any of these charges could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

 

An acquisition could absorb substantial cash resources, require us to incur or assume debt obligations, or involve our issuance of additional equity securities. If we issue equity securities in connection with an acquisition, we may dilute our common stock with securities that have an equal or a senior interest in our company. If we incur additional debt to pay for an acquisition, it may significantly reduce amounts that would otherwise be available under our credit facility, increase our interest expense, leverage and debt service requirements and could negatively impact our ability to comply with applicable financial covenants in our credit facility or limit our ability to obtain credit from our vendors. Acquired entities also may be highly leveraged or dilutive to our earnings per share, or may have unknown liabilities. In addition, the combined entity may have lower revenues or higher expenses and therefore may not achieve the anticipated results. Any of these factors relating to acquisitions could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We cannot assure you that we will be able to identify suitable acquisition opportunities, consummate any pending or future acquisitions or that we will realize any anticipated benefits from any such acquisitions. Even if we do find suitable acquisition opportunities, we may not be able to consummate the acquisitions on commercially acceptable terms, and any decline in the price of our common stock may make it significantly more difficult and expensive to initiate or consummate additional acquisitions. We cannot assure you that we will be able to implement or sustain our acquisition strategy or that our strategy will ultimately prove profitable.

 

Narrow margins magnify the impact of variations in operating costs and of adverse or unforeseen events on operating results.

 

We are subject to intense price competition with respect to the technology offerings we provide. As a result, our gross and operating margins have historically been narrow, and we expect them to continue to be narrow. We have recently experienced increasing price competition, which has a negative impact on our margins. Narrow margins magnify the impact of variations in operating costs and of adverse or unforeseen events on operating results. Future increases in costs such as the cost of merchandise, wage levels, shipping rates, freight costs and fuel costs may negatively impact our margins and profitability. We are not always able to raise the sales price to offset cost increases. If we are unable to maintain our margins in the future, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, because price is an important competitive factor in our industry, we cannot assure you that we will not be subject to increased price competition in the future. If we become subject to increased price competition in the future, we cannot assure you that we will not lose market share, that we will not be forced to reduce our prices and further reduce our margins, or that we will be able to compete effectively.

 

We experience variability in our net sales and net income on a quarterly basis as a result of many factors.

 

We experience variability in our net sales and net income on a quarterly basis as a result of many factors. These factors include:

 

  the relative mix of hardware products, software and services sold during the period;
  the general economic environment and competitive conditions, such as pricing;
  the timing of procurement cycles by our business, government and educational institution customers;
  seasonality in customer spending and demand for technology offerings we provide;
  variability in vendor programs;
  the introduction of new and upgraded products, services or solutions;
  changes in prices from our suppliers;

 

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  promotions;
  the loss or consolidation of significant suppliers or customers;
  our ability to control costs;
  the timing of our capital expenditures;
  the condition of our industry in general;
  customer acceptance of new purchasing models;
  deferral of customer orders in anticipation of new offerings;
  product or solution enhancements or operating system changes;
  any inability on our part to obtain adequate quantities of products, services or solutions;
  delays in the release by suppliers of new products, services or solutions and inventory adjustments;
  our expenditures on new business ventures and acquisitions;
  performance of acquired businesses;
  adverse weather conditions that affect supply or customer response;
  distribution or shipping to our customers; and
  geopolitical events.

 

Our planned operating expenditures each quarter are based on sales forecasts for the quarter. If our sales do not meet expectations in any given quarter, our operating results for the quarter may be materially adversely affected. Our narrow margins may magnify the impact of these factors on our operating results. We believe that period-to-period comparisons of our operating results are not necessarily a good indication of our future performance. In addition, our results in any quarterly period are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for a full fiscal year. In future quarters, our operating results may be below the expectations of public market analysts or investors and as a result the market price of our common stock could be materially adversely affected.

 

Our focus on commercial and public sector sales presents numerous risks and challenges, and may not improve our profitability or result in expanded market share.

 

An important element of our business is focused on commercial and public sector sales and related market share growth. In competing in these markets, we face numerous risks and challenges, including competition from a wider range of sources and the need to continually develop and enhance strategic relationships. We cannot assure you that our focus on commercial and public sector sales will result in expanded market share or increased profitability. Furthermore, revenue from our public sector business is derived from sales to federal, state and local governmental departments and agencies, as well as to educational institutions, through various contracts and open market sales. Government contracting is a highly regulated area, and noncompliance with government procurement regulations or contract provisions could result in civil, criminal, and administrative liability, including substantial monetary fines or damages, termination of government contracts, and suspension, debarment or ineligibility from doing business with the government. The effect of any of these possible actions by any governmental department or agency with which we contract could adversely affect our business or results of operations. Moreover, contracting with governmental departments and agencies involves additional risks, such as longer payment terms, limited recourse against the government agency in the event of a business dispute, requirements that we provide representations, warranties and indemnities related to our offerings, the potential lack of a limitation of our liability for damages from our product sales or our provision of services to the department or agency, and the potential for changes in statutory or regulatory provisions that negatively affect the profitability of such contracts. Similarly, many large commercial businesses also require us to regularly enter into complex contractual relationships involving various risks and uncertainties such as requirements that we provide representations, warranties and indemnities to our customers and potential lack of limitation of our liability for damages under some of such contracts. Additionally, our operating results from our Commercial segment are impacted by certain commercial customer diverse supplier requirements and relationships we maintain with third party diverse supplier partners. Changes in any of these diverse supplier customer requirements or failure of our diverse supplier relationships to satisfy any such requirements at any time could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

 

Our strategy and investments in increasing the productivity of our account executives, and our focus on sales and delivery of technology solutions may not improve our profitability or result in expanded market share.

 

We have made and are currently making efforts to increase our market share by investing in training and retention of our sales force. We have also incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant expenses resulting from infrastructure investments related to our sales force. Our customers are increasingly consuming IT in different and evolving ways and utilizing more elaborate solutions. In response, we are investing in our capabilities and portfolio and are working with our customers to identify areas where they can gain efficiencies by outsourcing to us traditional technology functions. Specifically, we are focused on and investing in solutions, including around centers (which includes storage and security solutions), cloud computing, collaboration, virtualization, secure mobility, borderless networks and enterprise software solutions. We cannot assure you that any of our investments in our sales force or sales support resources or our focus on our services and solutions capabilities and portfolio will result in expanded market share or increased profitability in the near or long term.

 

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Our financial performance could be adversely affected if we are not able to retain and increase the experience of our sales force or if we are not able to maintain or increase their productivity.

 

Our sales and operating results may be adversely affected if we are unable to increase the average tenure of our account executives or if the sales volumes and profitability achieved by our account executives do not increase with their increased experience.

 

Existing or future government and tax laws and regulations and related risks could expose us to liabilities or costly changes in our business operations, and could reduce demand for our products and services.

 

We may be subject to state or local taxes on income, gross receipts, sales or use or a similar measure. State and local governments may seek to impose such taxes in cases where they believe the taxpayer may have a significant economic presence by reason of significant sales to customers located in the states. The responsibility to pay or collect taxes has also been the subject of court actions and various legislative efforts. There can be no assurance that these taxes will not be imposed upon us and our subsidiaries in a manner that could materially adversely impact our financial condition or results of operations.

 

We are subject to a number of general business laws and regulations, including laws and regulations specifically governing companies that do business over the Internet. These laws and regulations may cover user privacy, marketing and promotional practices (including electronic communications with our customers and potential customers), data protection and privacy, pricing, content, copyrights, distribution, contracts and other communications, consumer protection, product safety, the provision of online payment services, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights, unauthorized access (including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act), and the characteristics and quality of products and services. Additionally, some of our subsidiaries which are government contractors or subcontractors are subject to laws and regulations related to companies that sell to the government, including but not limited to regulations of the Department of Labor and laws and regulations related to our procurement of products and services and our sales to the government.

 

In addition, we may be subject to federal, state or local taxes on income, gross receipts, sales or use or a similar measure. State and local governments may seek to impose such taxes in cases where they believe the taxpayer may have a sufficient economic presence by reason of sales or services to customers located in the applicable jurisdiction. The responsibility to pay or collect taxes has been the subject of court actions and various legislative efforts. There can be no assurance that these taxes or tax collection obligations will not be imposed upon us and our subsidiaries in a manner that could materially adversely impact our financial condition or results of operations.

 

While we have sought to implement processes, programs and systems in an effort to achieve compliance with existing laws and regulations applicable to our business, many of these laws and regulations are unclear and have yet to be interpreted by courts, or may be subject to conflicting interpretations by courts or regulatory agencies. Further, no assurances can be given that new laws or regulations will not be enacted or adopted, or that our processes, programs and systems will be sufficient to comply with present or future laws or regulations, which might adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was approved by Congress and signed into law in December 2017. This legislation made significant changes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Such changes include a reduction in the corporate tax rate and limitations on certain corporate deductions and credits, among other changes. Certain of these changes could have a negative impact on our business. Moreover, further legislative and regulatory changes may be more likely in the current political environment, particularly to the extent that Congress and the U.S. presidency are controlled by the same political party and significant reform of the tax code has been described publicly as a legislative priority. Significant further changes to the tax code could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Such existing and future laws and regulations may also impede our business. Additionally, it is not always clear how existing laws and regulations apply to our businesses. Unfavorable resolution of these issues may expose us to liability and costly changes in our business operations, and could reduce customer demand for our offerings.

 

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Additionally, although historically only a small percentage of our total sales in any given quarter or year are made to customers outside of the continental United States, we recently entered the Canadian market with our acquisitions in Canada, which subjected us to laws and regulations applicable to companies doing business in the multiple Canadian provinces. We also commenced operations in the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 2017. Further, there is a possibility that other foreign jurisdictions may take the position that our business is subject to their laws and regulations, which could impose restrictions or burdens on us and expose us to tax and other potential liabilities and could also require costly changes to our business operations with respect to those jurisdictions. In some cases, our sales related to foreign jurisdictions could also be subject to export control laws and foreign corrupt practice laws and there is a risk that we could face allegations from U.S. or foreign governmental authorities alleging our failure to comply with the requirements of such laws subjecting us to costly litigation and potential significant governmental penalties or fines.

 

If goodwill or intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.

 

The purchase price allocation for our historical acquisitions resulted in a material amount allocated to goodwill and intangible assets. In accordance with GAAP, we review our intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. We review the fair values of our goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite useful lives and test them for impairment annually or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate an impairment may have occurred. Factors that may be considered a change in circumstances indicating that the carrying value of our goodwill or intangible assets may not be recoverable include a decline in stock price and market capitalization, reduced future cash flow estimates, and slower growth rates in our industry. We may be required to record a significant non-cash charge to earnings in our consolidated financial statements during the period in which any impairment of our goodwill or intangible assets is determined, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

 

If significant negative industry or economic trends, including decreases in our market capitalization, slower growth rates or lack of growth in our business occurs in the future it may indicate that impairment charges are required. If we are required to record any impairment charges, this could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial statements. In addition, the testing of goodwill for impairment requires us to make significant estimates about the future performance and cash flows of our company, as well as other assumptions. These estimates can be affected by numerous factors, including changes in economic, industry or market conditions, changes in underlying business operations, future reporting unit operating performance, existing or new product market acceptance, changes in competition, or changes in technologies. Any changes in key assumptions, or actual performance compared with those assumptions, about our business and future prospects or other assumptions could affect the fair value of one or more reporting units, resulting in an impairment charge.

 

We may not be able to maintain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis.

 

Our ability to maintain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis given our planned business strategy depends upon a number of factors discussed in these risk factors, including our ability to effectively compete in the marketplace with our competitors. Our ability to maintain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis will also depend on our ability to manage and control operating expenses and to generate and sustain adequate levels of revenue. Many of our expenses are fixed in the short term, and we may not be able to quickly reduce spending if our revenue is lower than what we project. In addition, we may find that our business plan costs more to execute than what we currently anticipate. Some of the factors that affect our ability to maintain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis are beyond our control, including general economic trends and uncertainties.

 

Our operating results are difficult to predict and may adversely affect our stock price.

 

Our operating results have fluctuated in the past and are likely to vary significantly in the future based upon a number of factors, many of which we cannot control. We operate in a highly dynamic industry and future results could be subject to significant fluctuations. These fluctuations could cause us to fail to meet or exceed financial expectations of investors or analysts, which could cause our stock price to decline rapidly and significantly. Revenue and expenses in future periods may be greater or less than revenue and expenses in the immediately preceding period or in the comparable period of the prior year. Therefore, period-to-period comparisons of our operating results are not necessarily a good indication of our future performance. Some of the factors that could cause our operating results to fluctuate include:

 

  changes in the mix of products, services or solutions that we sell;
  the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to any expansion of our business operations and infrastructure;
  price competition that results in lower sales volumes, lower profit margins, or net losses;
  the availability of vendor programs, authorizations or certifications;
  our ability to attract and retain key personnel and the related costs,

 

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  fluctuations in the demand for our products, services or solutions or overstocking or under-stocking of our products;
  economic conditions;
  changes in the amounts of information technology spending by our customers;
  the amount and timing of advertising and marketing costs;
  fluctuations in levels of inventory theft, damage or obsolescence that we incur;
  our ability to successfully integrate operations and technologies from any past or future acquisitions or other business combinations;
  revisions or refinements of fair value estimates relating to acquisitions or other business combinations;
  changes in the number of visitors to our websites or our inability to convert those visitors into customers;
  technical difficulties, including system or Internet failures;
  introduction of new or enhanced products, services or solutions;
  fluctuations in warehousing and shipping costs; and
  foreign currency exchange rates.

 

If we fail to accurately predict and manage our inventory risks, our margins may decline as a result of required inventory write downs due to lower prices obtained from older or obsolete products.

 

We derive a significant amount of our gross sales from products sold out of owned inventory at our directly operated and distributor partner warehouse and distribution facilities. We assume the inventory damage, theft and obsolescence risks, as well as price erosion risks for products that are sold out of such inventory. These risks are especially significant because many of the products we sell are characterized by rapid technological change, obsolescence and price erosion, and because at times we may stock large quantities of particular types of inventory. There can be no assurance that we will be able to identify and offer products necessary to remain competitive, maintain our margins, or avoid or minimize losses related to excess and obsolete inventory. We currently have limited return rights with respect to products we purchase from some of our largest vendor partners, but these rights vary by product line, are subject to specified conditions and limitations and can be terminated or changed at any time. We also recently have decided to move more of our inventory warehousing and distribution functions to third party distributor partners in replacement of our historic directly operated facility in Memphis Tennessee. Moving these operations to third party facilities will result in greater dependence on these third parties for portions of our warehousing and distribution needs. As a result, we will now be subject to third party contractual relationships for these replaced operations, which could result in future cost increases and other contractual risk allocations which we have not historically faced and may not be able control.

 

We may need additional financing and may not be able to raise additional financing on favorable terms or at all, which could increase our costs, limit our ability to grow and dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders.

 

We require substantial working capital to fund our business. We believe that our current working capital, including our existing cash balance, together with our expected future cash flows from operations and available borrowing capacity under our existing credit facility, which functions as a working capital line of credit, will be adequate to support our current operating plans for at least the next twelve months. However, if we need additional financing, such as for acquisitions or expansion of our business or the businesses of our subsidiaries or to finance our operations during a significant downturn in sales or an increase in operating expenses, there are no assurances that adequate financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. We may in the future seek additional financing from public or private debt or equity financings to fund additional expansion, or take advantage of strategic opportunities or favorable market conditions. There can be no assurance such financings will be available on terms favorable to us or at all. To the extent any such financings involve the issuance of equity securities, existing stockholders could suffer dilution. If we raise additional financing through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of the rights of our common stock and our stockholders will experience dilution of their ownership interests. If additional financing is required but not available, we would have to implement further measures to conserve cash and reduce costs. However, there is no assurance that such measures would be successful. Our failure to raise required additional financing could adversely affect our ability to maintain, develop or enhance our product offerings, take advantage of future strategic opportunities, respond to competitive pressures or continue operations.

 

Economic volatility and geopolitical uncertainty could result in disruptions of the capital and credit markets. Problems in these areas could have a negative impact on our ability to obtain future financing if we need additional funds, such as for acquisitions or expansion, to fund changes in our sales or an increase in our operating expenses, or to take advantage of strategic opportunities or favorable market conditions. We may seek additional financing from public or private debt or equity issuances; however, there can be no assurance that such financing will be available at acceptable terms, if at all. Also, there can be no assurance that the cost or availability of future borrowings, if any, under our credit facility or in the debt markets will not be impacted by disruptions in the capital and credit markets.

 

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Rising interest rates could negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.

 

A significant portion of our working capital requirements and our real estate acquisitions have historically been funded through borrowings under our working capital credit facility or through long term notes. These facilities bear interest at variable rates tied to the LIBOR or prime rate, and the long term notes generally have initial terms of between five and seven years. If the variable interest rates on our borrowings increase, we could incur greater interest expense than we have in the past. Rising interest rates, and our increased interest expense that would result from them, could negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.

 

We may be subject to claims regarding our intellectual property, including our business processes, or the products, services or solutions we sell, any of which could result in expensive litigation, distract our management or force us to enter into costly royalty or licensing agreements.

 

Third parties have asserted, and may in the future assert, that our business or the technologies we use or sell infringe on their intellectual property rights. As a result, we may be subject to intellectual property legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of our business. We cannot predict whether third parties will assert additional claims of infringement against us in the future or whether any future claims will prevent us from offering popular products or operating our business as planned. If we are forced to defend against any third-party infringement claims, whether they are with or without merit or are determined in our favor, we could face expensive and time-consuming litigation, which could result in the imposition of a preliminary injunction preventing us from continuing to operate our business as currently conducted throughout the duration of the litigation or distract our technical and management personnel. If we are found to infringe, we may be required to pay monetary damages, which could include treble damages and attorneys’ fees for any infringement that is found to be willful, and either be enjoined or required to pay ongoing royalties with respect to any technologies found to infringe. Further, as a result of infringement claims either against us or against those who license technology to us, we may be required, or deem it advisable, to develop non-infringing technology, which could be costly and time consuming, or enter into costly royalty or licensing agreements. Such royalty or licensing agreements, if required, may be unavailable on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. If a third party successfully asserts an infringement claim against us and we are enjoined or required to pay monetary damages or royalties or we are unable to develop suitable non-infringing alternatives or license the infringed or similar technology on reasonable terms on a timely basis, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially harmed. Similarly, we may be required incur substantial monetary and diverted resource costs in order to protect our intellectual property rights against infringement by others.

 

Furthermore, we sell products, services and solutions manufactured, published and distributed by third parties, some of which may be defective. If any product, service or solution that we sell were to cause physical injury or damage to property, the injured party or parties could bring claims against us as the retailer of the product or solution. Our insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover every claim that could be asserted. If a successful claim were brought against us in excess of our insurance coverage, it could expose us to significant liability. Even unsuccessful claims could result in the expenditure of funds and management time and could decrease our profitability.

 

Costs and other factors associated with pending or future litigation could materially harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

From time to time we receive claims and become subject to litigation, including consumer protection, employment, intellectual property and other litigation and government or third party audits related to the conduct of our business. Additionally, we may from time to time institute legal proceedings against third parties to protect our interests. For example, we are currently involved in several disputes related to the En Pointe acquisition. These proceedings are described under the heading “Legal Proceedings” in Part I, Item 1, Note 10 to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements of this report. Any litigation, arbitration, audit, investigation or other dispute resolution process that we become a party to could be costly and time consuming and could divert our management and key personnel from our business operations. In connection with any such matters, we may be subject to significant damages or equitable remedies relating to the operation of our business and could incur significant costs in asserting, defending, or settling any such matters. We cannot determine with any certainty the costs or outcome of such pending or future matters, and they may materially harm our business, results of operations or financial condition.

 

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We may fail to expand our hardware product, software or service categories and offerings, our websites or our processing systems in a cost-effective and timely manner as may be required to efficiently operate our business.

 

We may be required to expand or change our hardware product, software or service categories or offerings, our websites or our processing systems in order to compete in our highly competitive and rapidly changing industry or to efficiently operate our business. Any failure on our part to expand or change the way we do business in a cost-effective and timely manner in response to any such requirements would likely adversely affect our operating results, financial condition or future prospects. Additionally, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in implementing any such changes when and if they are required.

 

We have generated substantial portions of our revenue in the past from the sale of computer hardware, software and accessories and consumer electronics products. Expansion into new hardware product, software and service categories, including for example our efforts to grow managed and advanced technology services and solutions, may require us to incur significant marketing expenses, develop relationships with new vendors and comply with new regulations. In addition, demand for the solutions we sell to our customers could decrease if we are unable to adapt in areas like cloud technology, IaaS, SaaS, PaaS, SDN or other emerging technologies. We may lack the necessary expertise in a new category or offering to realize the expected benefits of that new category or offering. These requirements could strain our managerial, financial and operational resources. Additional challenges that may affect our ability to expand into new hardware product, software or service categories and offerings include our ability to:

 

  establish or increase awareness of our new brands and categories and offerings;
  acquire, attract and retain customers at a reasonable cost;
  achieve and maintain a critical mass of customers and orders across all of our categories and offerings;
  attract a sufficient number of new customers to whom any new categories and offerings are targeted;
  successfully market our new categories or offerings to existing customers;
  maintain or improve our margins and fulfillment costs;
  attract and retain vendors to provide expanded lines of business to our customers on terms that are acceptable to us; and
  manage our inventory in new categories and offerings.

 

We cannot be certain that we will be able to successfully address any or all of these challenges in a manner that will enable us to expand our business in a cost-effective or timely manner. If our new categories or offerings are not received favorably, or if our suppliers fail to meet our customers’ expectations, our results of operations would suffer and our reputation and the value of the applicable new brand and our other brands could be damaged. The lack of market acceptance of our new categories or our inability to generate satisfactory revenue from any such expanded categories or offerings to offset their cost could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

The evolution of cloud-based offerings may negatively impact our sales of hardware products, software and related services.

 

Our customers are increasingly able to access technology solutions necessary to their operations through cloud-based offerings. Increasing demand for cloud-based offerings may reduce demand for certain of our existing technology solution offerings. We are investing in our cloud-based capabilities, including products and services related to our own direct and third-party cloud-based offerings, such as our hybrid cloud data center and NOC services, Azure Cloud solutions, Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility Suite. Our agreements with these vendor partners may impose obligations on our company to indemnify such partners from misuse of the contracted services by our customers. We expect to continue to increasingly invest in our cloud-based capabilities in support of anticipated customer evolution towards cloud-based solutions. There can be no assurance that our investments in cloud-based offerings will result in improved sales or profitability, avoid unforeseen liabilities in connection with those cloud-based services, or allow us to offset any reductions in sales of our more traditional hardware product, software and related service offerings which may result from our customers’ increased adoption of cloud-based solutions. Any such reductions in sales or increase in liabilities may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

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We may not be able to attract and retain key personnel such as senior management, sales and services personnel or information technology specialists.

 

Our future performance will depend to a significant extent upon the efforts and abilities of certain key management and other personnel, including Frank F. Khulusi, our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, as well as other executive officers and senior management. The loss of service of one or more of our key management members could have a material adverse effect on our business. Our success and plans for future growth will also depend in part on our management’s continuing ability to hire, train and retain skilled personnel in all areas of our business such as sales, services and IT personnel. For example, our management information systems and processes require the services of employees with extensive knowledge of these systems and processes and the business environment in which we operate, and in order to successfully implement and operate our systems and processes we must be able to attract and retain a significant number of information technology specialists. We may not be able to attract, train and retain the skilled personnel required to, among other things, implement, maintain, and operate our information systems and processes or to offer and support our managed and advanced technology solutions, and any failure to do so would likely have a material adverse effect on our operations.

 

If we fail to achieve and maintain adequate internal controls, we may not be able to produce reliable financial reports in a timely manner or prevent financial fraud.

 

We monitor and periodically test our internal control procedures. We may from time to time identify deficiencies which we may not be able to remediate in a timely or cost-effective manner. In addition, if we fail to achieve and maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting. Effective internal controls, particularly those related to revenue recognition, are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important in helping prevent financial fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports on a timely basis or prevent financial fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our stock could drop significantly.

 

Any inability to effectively manage our growth and achieve economies of scale may prevent us from successfully expanding our business.

 

The growth of our business has required us to make significant additions in personnel and has significantly increased our working capital requirements. Although we have experienced significant sales growth in the past, such growth should not be considered indicative of future sales growth. Such growth has resulted in new and increased responsibilities for our management personnel and has placed and continues to place significant strain upon our management, operating and financial systems, and other resources. Any future growth, whether organic or through acquisition, may result in increased strain. There can be no assurance that current or future strain will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Also crucial to our success in managing our growth will be our ability to achieve additional economies of scale. We cannot assure you that we will be able to achieve such economies of scale, and the failure to do so could have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

Our advertising and marketing efforts may be costly and may not achieve desired results.

 

We incur substantial expense in connection with our advertising and marketing efforts. Although we target our advertising and marketing efforts on current and potential customers who we believe are likely to be in the market for the products we sell, we cannot assure you that our advertising and marketing efforts will achieve our desired results. In addition, we periodically adjust our advertising expenditures in an effort to optimize the return on such expenditures. Any decrease in the level of our advertising expenditures which may be made to optimize such return could adversely affect our sales.

 

We are exposed to the credit risk of some of our customers and to credit exposures in weakened markets, which could negatively impact our business, operating results and financial condition.

 

Business customers who qualify are provided credit terms and while we monitor individual customer payment capability and maintain reserves we believe are adequate to cover exposure for doubtful accounts, we have exposure to credit risk in the event that customers fail to meet their payment obligations. Additionally, to the degree that there may be tightness in the credit markets that makes it more difficult for some customers to obtain financing, those customers’ ability to meet their payment obligations to us could be adversely impacted, which in turn could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

 

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Increased product returns or a failure to accurately predict product returns could decrease our revenue and impact profitability.

 

We make allowances for product returns in our consolidated financial statements based on historical return rates. We are responsible for returns of certain products shipped from our distribution center, as well as products that are shipped to our customers directly from our vendors. If our actual product returns significantly exceed our allowances for returns, our revenue and profitability could decrease. In addition, because our allowances are based on historical return rates, the introduction of new merchandise categories, new products, changes in our product mix, or other factors may cause actual returns to exceed return allowances, perhaps significantly. In addition, any policies that we adopt that are intended to reduce the number of product returns may result in customer dissatisfaction and fewer repeat customers.

 

Our business may be harmed by fraudulent activities.

 

We have received in the past, and anticipate that we will receive in the future, communications from customers due to purported fraudulent activities, including fraudulent activities on our websites such as fraudulent credit card transactions. Negative publicity generated as a result of fraudulent conduct by third parties could damage our reputation and diminish the value of our brand name. Fraudulent activities could also subject us to losses and could lead to scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators regarding the operation of our businesses, including the operation of our websites. We expect to continue to receive requests from customers for reimbursement due to purportedly fraudulent activities or threats of legal action against us if no reimbursement is made.

 

Breaches of data security could significantly impact our business and expose us to material costs and liability.

 

We are subject to data security laws that are becoming more widespread and burdensome, and increasingly require notification of security breaches to affected individuals, regulators and other third parties. At the same time, cyber attacks and other efforts by bad actors to steal personal information or company proprietary information, and to disrupt service, are on the rise. Our systems contain personal, financial and other information that is entrusted to us by our customers and employees, as well as financial, proprietary, and other confidential information relating to our business. Despite the security measures we have in place, security breaches involving our systems or the systems of our third-party vendors may occur, and could result in system and service disruptions or the theft or disclosure of personal or confidential information. In addition to risks we face from cyber attacks or security attacks directly targeted at our systems, we offer our products, services and solutions to companies, such as healthcare or financial institutions, under contracts which may expose us to significant liabilities for data breaches or losses which could arise out of or result from products, services or solutions we may sell to these institutions. As newer and more sophisticated technologies evolve, and the portfolio of the service providers we share confidential information with grows, we could be exposed to increased risks from breaches in security, including those from human error, negligence or mismanagement or from illegal or fraudulent acts, such as cyberattacks. The occurrence of any of these security breaches, or the claim that our company has suffered such a security breach, whether accurate or not, could result in adverse publicity, loss of customer confidence, increased costs, reduced sales and profits, criminal penalties, and civil liabilities. In addition, in order to ensure customer confidence in our solutions and services, we may choose to remediate actual or perceived security concerns by implementing further security measures which could require us to expend significant resources. The FTC and state consumer protection authorities have brought a number of enforcement actions against U.S. companies for alleged deficiencies in companies’ data security practices, and they may continue to bring such actions. Enforcement actions, which may or may not be based upon actual cyber attacks, security breaches, or other disclosures of personal information, present an ongoing risk to us, could result in a loss of customers, damage to our reputation and monetary damages. This liability could also include claims for other misuses of personal information, including for unauthorized marketing purposes. Other liability could include claims alleging misrepresentation or violation of our privacy and data security practices. Any such liability could decrease our profitability and materially adversely affect our financial condition.

 

Laws or regulations relating to privacy and data protection may adversely affect the growth of our business or our marketing efforts and expose us to material costs and liability.

 

We market to names in our proprietary customer database and to potential customers whose names we obtain from rented or exchanged mailing lists. Worldwide public concern regarding personal privacy has subjected the rental and use of customer mailing lists and other customer information to increased scrutiny and regulation. As a result, we are subject to increasing regulation relating to privacy and the use of personal information. For example, we are subject to various telemarketing and anti-spam laws that regulate the manner in which we may solicit future suppliers and customers. Such regulations, along with increased governmental or private enforcement, may increase the cost of operating and growing our business. In addition, several states have proposed legislation that would limit the uses of personal information gathered online or require online services to establish privacy policies. The Federal Trade Commission has adopted regulations regarding the collection and use of personal identifying information obtained from children under 13 years of age. Bills proposed in Congress would expand online privacy protections already provided to adults. Moreover, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union and elsewhere, laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), are becoming increasingly protective of consumer privacy, with a trend toward requiring companies to establish procedures to notify users of privacy and security policies, to obtain consent from users for collection and use of personal information, and to provide users with the ability to access, correct and delete personal information stored by companies. Such privacy and data protection laws and regulations, and efforts to enforce such laws and regulations, may restrict our ability to collect, use or transfer demographic and personal information from users, which could be costly or harm our marketing efforts. Further, any violation of domestic or foreign privacy or data protection laws and regulations, including the U.S. national do-not-call list and CAN-SPAM Act, the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, GDPR and the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, may subject us to fines, penalties and damages, which could decrease our revenue and profitability.

 

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The growth and demand for online commerce has and may continue to result in more stringent consumer protection laws that impose additional compliance burdens on online companies. We also could incur additional costs and liability exposures if new laws or regulations regarding the use of personal information are introduced. These privacy protection laws could result in substantial compliance costs and could decrease our profitability. Further, additional regulation of the Internet may lead to a decrease in Internet usage, which could adversely affect our business. Growing public concern about privacy and the collection, distribution and use of information about individuals may subject us to increased regulatory scrutiny or litigation. In the past, the FTC has investigated companies that have used personally identifiable information without permission or in violation of a stated privacy policy. If we are accused of violating the stated terms of our privacy policy, we may face a loss of customers or damage to our reputation and may be forced to expend significant amounts of financial and managerial resources to defend against these accusations, face potential liability and be subject to extended regulatory oversight in the form of a long-term consent order.

 

The security risks of eCommerce may discourage customers from purchasing products, services or solutions from us.

 

In order for the eCommerce market to be successful, we and other market participants must be able to transmit confidential information securely over public networks. Third parties may have the technology or know-how to breach the security of customer transaction data. Any breach could cause customers to lose confidence in the security of our websites and choose not to purchase from our websites. If someone is able to circumvent our security measures, he or she could destroy or steal valuable information or disrupt our operations. Concerns about the security and privacy of transactions over the Internet could inhibit the growth of Internet usage and eCommerce.

 

Credit card fraud could decrease our revenue and profitability.

 

We do not carry insurance against the risk of credit card fraud, so the failure to adequately control fraudulent credit card transactions could reduce our revenues or increase our operating costs. We may in the future suffer losses as a result of orders placed with fraudulent credit card data even though the associated financial institution approved payment of the orders. Under current credit card practices, we may be liable for fraudulent credit card transactions. If we are unable to detect or control credit card fraud, or if credit card companies require more burdensome terms or refuse to accept credit card charges from us, our revenue and profitability could decrease.

 

Our facilities and systems are vulnerable to natural disasters or other catastrophic events.

 

Our headquarters, customer service center and a part of our infrastructure, including computer servers, are located near Los Angeles, California and in other areas that are susceptible to earthquakes, floods, wildfires, severe weather and other natural disasters. Our owned and third party distribution facilities, which house the product inventory from which a material amount of our orders may be shipped, are located in areas that are susceptible to natural disasters and extreme weather conditions such as earthquakes, fire, floods and major storms. Our operations in the Philippines are also in an area that is periodically subject to extreme weather. A natural disaster or other catastrophic event, such as an earthquake, fire, flood, severe storm, break-in, terrorist attack or other comparable events in the areas in which we operate could cause interruptions or delays in our business and loss of data or render us unable to accept and fulfill customer orders in a timely manner, or at all. Our systems, including our management information systems, websites and communications systems, are not fully redundant, and we do not have redundant geographic locations or earthquake insurance. Further, power outages in any locations where our systems are located could disrupt our operations. Our business interruption insurance may not adequately compensate us for losses that may occur.

 

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We rely on independent shipping companies to deliver the products we sell.

 

We rely upon third party carriers, especially FedEx and UPS, for timely delivery of our product shipments. As a result, we are subject to carrier disruptions and increased costs due to factors that are beyond our control, including employee strikes, inclement weather and increased fuel costs. Any failure to deliver products to our customers in a timely and accurate manner may damage our reputation and brand and could cause us to lose customers. We do not have a written long-term agreement with any of these third party carriers, and we cannot be sure that these relationships will continue on terms favorable to us, if at all. If our relationship with any of these third party carriers is terminated or impaired, or if any of these third parties are unable to deliver products for us, we would be required to use alternative carriers for the shipment of products to our customers. We may be unable to engage alternative carriers on a timely basis or on terms favorable to us, if at all. Potential adverse consequences include:

 

  reduced visibility of order status and package tracking;
  delays in order processing and product delivery;
  increased cost of delivery, resulting in reduced margins; and
  reduced shipment quality, which may result in damaged products and customer dissatisfaction.

 

Furthermore, shipping costs represent a significant operational expense for us. Any future increases in shipping rates could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We may not be able to compete successfully against existing or future competitors, which include some of our largest vendors.

 

The business of direct marketing of the technology offerings we provide is highly competitive and driven in large part by price, products and services availability, speed and accuracy of delivery and performance, effectiveness of sales and marketing programs, credit availability, ability to tailor specific solutions to customer needs, quality and breadth of product lines and services, availability of talented sales and service personnel and the availability of technical information. We compete with other solution providers, including CDW, Insight Enterprises, Presidio and Connection. In addition, we compete with large value added resellers such as CompuCom Systems and World Wide Technology, and computer retail stores and resellers, including superstores such as Best Buy and Staples, certain hardware and software vendors such as Apple and Dell Computer that sell or are increasing sales directly to end users, online resellers such as Amazon.com, government resellers such as CDWG and GovConnection, software focused resellers such as SoftwareOne, Soft Choice and Software House International and other direct marketers and value added resellers of hardware, software, technology services and computer-related and electronic products, including Amazon Business and Web Services, and Google Business Services. In the technology solution provider and resale industries, barriers to entry are relatively low and the risk of new competitors entering the market is high. Certain of our existing competitors have substantially greater financial resources than we have. There can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to compete effectively against existing competitors, consolidations of competitors or new competitors that may enter the market.

 

Furthermore, the manner in which our technology offerings are distributed and sold is changing, and new methods of sale and distribution have emerged and serve an increasingly large portion of the market. Computer hardware and software OEM vendors have sold, and may intensify their efforts to sell, their products directly to end users. From time to time, certain OEM vendors have instituted programs for the direct sale of large quantities of hardware and software to certain large business accounts. These types of programs may continue to be developed and used by various vendors. Software publishers also may attempt to increase the volume of software products distributed electronically directly to end users’ personal computers. Any of these competitive programs, if successful, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

We are exposed to the risks of business and other conditions in Asia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

 

All or portions of certain of the products we sell are produced, or have major components produced, in Asia. We engage in U.S. dollar denominated transactions with U.S. divisions and subsidiaries of companies located in that region as well. We also entered the Canadian market in 2015 with our Acrodex and Systemax acquisitions and the UK market in 2017. As a result, we may be indirectly affected by risks associated with international events, including economic and labor conditions, such as fluctuating oil prices, political instability, tariffs and taxes, availability of products, natural disasters and currency fluctuations in the U.S. dollar versus the regional currencies. In the past, countries in Asia have experienced volatility in their currency, banking and equity markets. In addition, the referendum in the UK electing to withdraw from the European Union has created significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the UK and the European Union, including with respect to the laws and regulations that will apply as the UK determines which European Union laws to replace or replicate in the event of a withdrawal. Future volatility in any of these international markets could adversely affect the supply and price of the products we sell and their components and ultimately, our results of operations.

 

26
 

 

We also maintain an office in the Philippines and have historically received third party back office support from Pakistan, as a result of our En Pointe acquisition, and we may increase our offshore operations in the future. Establishing and transitioning offshore operations may entail considerable expense before we realize cost savings, if any, from these initiatives. The risks associated with doing business overseas and international events could prevent us from realizing the expected benefits from our international operations or any other offshore operations that we may establish.

 

The increasing significance of our foreign operations exposes us to risks that are beyond our control and could affect our ability to operate successfully.

 

In order to enhance the cost-effectiveness of our operations, we have increasingly sought to shift portions of our operations to jurisdictions with lower cost structures than that available in the United States. The transition of even a portion of our business operations to new facilities in a foreign country involves a number of logistical and technical challenges that could result in operational interruptions, which could reduce our revenues and adversely affect our business. We may encounter complications associated with the set-up, migration and operation of business systems and equipment in a new facility. This could result in disruptions that could damage our reputation and otherwise adversely affect our business and results of operations.

 

To the extent that we shift any operations or labor offshore to jurisdictions with lower cost structures, we may experience challenges in effectively managing those operations as a result of several factors, including time zone differences and regulatory, legal, cultural and logistical issues. Additionally, the relocation of labor resources may have a negative impact on our existing employees, which could negatively impact our operations. If we are unable to effectively manage our offshore personnel and any other offshore operations, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

 

We cannot be certain that any shifts in our operations to offshore jurisdictions will ultimately produce the expected cost savings. We cannot predict the extent of government support, availability of qualified workers, future labor rates, or monetary and economic conditions in any offshore locations where we may operate. Although some of these factors may influence our decision to establish or increase our offshore operations, there are inherent risks beyond our control, including:

 

  political unrest or uncertainties;
  wage inflation;
  exposure to foreign currency fluctuations;
  tariffs and other trade barriers; and
  foreign regulatory restrictions and unexpected changes in regulatory environments.

 

We will likely be faced with competition in these offshore markets for qualified personnel, and we expect this competition to increase as other companies expand their operations offshore. If the supply of such qualified personnel becomes limited due to increased competition or otherwise, it could increase our costs and employee turnover rates. One or more of these factors or other factors relating to foreign operations could result in increased operating expenses and make it more difficult for us to manage our costs and operations, which could cause our operating results to decline and result in reduced revenues.

 

International operations expose us to currency exchange risk and we cannot predict the effect of future exchange rate fluctuations on our business and operating results.

 

We have operation centers in Canada and the Philippines that have historically provided back-office administrative support and customer service support, and we recently began selling technology solutions in the Canadian market in connection with three business acquisitions and launched a new business in the United Kingdom in 2017. Our international operations are sensitive to currency exchange risks. We have currency exposure arising from both sales and purchases denominated in foreign currencies, as well as intercompany transactions. Significant changes in exchange rates between foreign currencies in which we transact business and the U.S. dollar may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Historically, we have not entered into any hedging activities, and, to the extent that we continue not to do so in the future, we may be vulnerable to the effects of currency exchange-rate fluctuations.

 

In addition, our international operations also expose us to currency fluctuations as we translate the financial statements of our foreign operations to the U.S. dollar. Although the effect of currency fluctuations on our financial statements has not generally been material in the past, there can be no guarantee that the effect of currency fluctuations will not be material in the future.

 

27
 

 

We are subject to risks associated with consolidation within our industry.

 

Many technology solution providers are consolidating operations and acquiring or merging with other providers to achieve economies of scale, expanded product and service offerings, and increased efficiency. The current industry reconfiguration and the trend towards consolidation could cause the industry to become even more competitive, further increase pricing pressures and make it more difficult for us to maintain our operating margins or to increase or maintain the same level of net sales or gross profit. Declining prices, resulting in part from technological changes, may require us to sell a greater number of products, services or solutions to achieve the same level of net sales and gross profit. Such a trend could make it more difficult for us to continue to increase our net sales and earnings growth. In addition, growth in the information technology market has slowed. If the growth rate of the information technology market were to further decrease, our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.

 

If we are unable to provide satisfactory customer service and support, we could lose customers or fail to attract new customers.

 

Our ability to provide satisfactory levels of customer service depends, to a large degree, on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of our customer service and support operations. Any material disruption or slowdown in our order processing systems resulting from labor disputes, telephone or Internet failures, upgrading our management information systems, power or service outages, natural disasters or other events could make it difficult or impossible to provide adequate customer service and support. Furthermore, we may be unable to attract and retain adequate numbers of competent customer service representatives and relationship managers for our business customers, each of which is essential in creating a favorable interactive customer experience. If we are unable to continually provide adequate staffing and training for our customer service and support operations, our reputation could be seriously harmed and we could lose customers or fail to attract new customers. In addition, if our e-mail and telephone call volumes exceed our present system capacities, we could experience delays in placing orders, responding to customer inquiries and addressing customer concerns. Because our success depends largely on keeping our customers satisfied, any failure to provide high levels of customer service would likely impair our reputation and decrease our revenues.

 

Following our acquisition of En Pointe, we received third party back office support in Pakistan to supplement our captive support operations in other geographies. The agreement for these outsourced services in Pakistan expired in the third quarter of 2017. We have transitioned these IT, accounting, customer service and order management and other support services to our wholly-owned service operations in the Philippines and other geographies. Any transition of historical support operations involves risks of business disruption and management distraction. We cannot be certain that any such transition in our support operations will ultimately produce the expected benefits to our business or our customers.

 

Our stock price may be volatile.

 

We believe that certain factors, such as sales of our common stock into the market by existing stockholders, fluctuations in our quarterly operating results, changes in market conditions affecting stocks of computer hardware and software manufacturers and resellers generally and companies in the Internet and eCommerce industries in particular, could cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate substantially. Other factors that could affect our stock price include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

  failure to meet investors’ expectations regarding our operating performance;
  changes in securities analysts’ recommendations or estimates of our financial performance;
  publication of research reports by analysts;
  changes in market valuations of similar companies;
  announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, commercial relationships, joint ventures or capital commitments;
  actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;
  litigation developments; and
  general economic and market conditions or other economic factors unrelated to our performance, including disruptions in the capital and credit markets.

 

The stock market in general, and the stocks of computer and software resellers, and companies in the Internet and electronic commerce industries in particular, and other technology or related stocks, have in the past experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations which have been unrelated to corporate operating performance. Such market volatility may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a public company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against that company. Such litigation, if asserted against us, could result in substantial costs to us and cause a likely diversion of our management’s attention from the operations of our company.

 

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

 

None.

 

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

 

At December 31, 2018, we operated in approximately 936,000 square feet of space primarily in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and the Philippines. We lease a total of approximately 571,000 square feet of space primarily used for office, distribution and data center purposes. We own a total of approximately 365,000 square feet of space, primarily used for our corporate headquarters, data center and warehouse purposes. Each of our facilities is utilized by one or more of our segments. Our principal facilities at December 31, 2018 are set forth in the table below:

 

Description  Sq. Ft.   Location
Midwest Regional Headquarters, Sales Office and Distribution Center(1)   144,000   Lewis Center, OH
Corporate Headquarters and Sales Office(1)   83,864   El Segundo, CA
Acrodex Headquarters and Sales Office   63,611   Edmonton, Alberta
Distribution Center   126,621   Worthington, OH
Irvine Sales Office and Distribution Center(1)   60,072   Irvine, CA
New Albany Data Center(1)   30,850   New Albany, OH
Roswell Data Center   15,700   Roswell, GA

 

 

(1)   Owned.

 

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

We are not currently a party to any material legal proceedings, other than ordinary routine litigation incidental to the business and certain other noteworthy proceedings described under the heading “Legal Proceedings” in Part II, Item 8, Note 10 to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements of this report.

 

From time to time, we receive claims of and become subject to consumer protection, employment, intellectual property and other litigation related to the conduct of our business. Any such litigation could be costly and time consuming and could divert our management and key personnel from our business operations. In connection with any such litigation, we may be subject to significant damages or equitable remedies relating to the operation of our business. Any such litigation may materially harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

 

Not applicable.

 

***

 

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PART II

 

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

 

Our common stock has been publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Market since our initial public offering on April 4, 1995 and currently trades under the symbol PCMI. As of the close of business on March 6, 2019, there were approximately 18 holders of record of our common stock.

 

We have never paid cash dividends on our capital stock and our credit facility prohibits us from paying any cash dividends on our capital stock. Therefore, we do not currently anticipate paying dividends; we intend to retain any earnings to finance the growth and development of our business.

 

Information regarding compensation plans under which our equity securities may be issued is included in Item 12 of Part III of this report through incorporation by reference to our definitive Proxy Statement to be filed in connection with our 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

 

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

 

We have a board approved discretionary stock repurchase program under which shares may be repurchased from time to time at prevailing market prices, through open market or unsolicited negotiated transactions, depending on market conditions. Our Board of Directors originally adopted the plan in October 2008 with an initial authorized maximum of $10 million. The plan was amended in September 2012 and increased to $20 million, again amended in April 2015 and increased to a total of $30 million, and again amended in August 2017 and increased to a total of $40 million. Under the program, the shares may be repurchased from time to time at prevailing market prices, through open market or unsolicited negotiated transactions, depending on market conditions. We expect that the repurchase of our common stock under the program will be financed with existing working capital and amounts available under our existing credit facility. The repurchased shares are held as treasury stock. No limit was placed on the duration of the repurchase program. There is no guarantee as to the exact number of shares that we will repurchase. Subject to applicable securities laws, repurchases may be made at such times and in such amounts as our management deems appropriate. The program can also be discontinued at any time management feels additional purchases are not warranted. We made no repurchases of shares of our common stock under this program during the three months and year ended December 31, 2018. At December 31, 2018, we had $2.5 million available for stock repurchases under the program, subject to any limitations that may apply from time to time under our existing credit facility.

 

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in any of the Company’s filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that might incorporate future filings, including this Annual Report on Form 10-K, in whole or in part, the Stock Performance Graph which follows shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any such filings except to the extent that we specifically incorporate any such information into any such future filings.

 

Stock Performance Graph

 

The performance graph below compares the cumulative total stockholder return of our company with the cumulative total return of the Nasdaq Stock Market—the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Nasdaq Retail Trade Index. The graph assumes $100 invested at the per-share closing price of our common stock and each of the indices on December 31, 2013. The stock price performance shown in this graph is neither necessarily indicative of nor intended to suggest future stock price performance.

 

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   Measurement Period (fiscal years covered) 
   12/2013   12/2014   12/2015   12/2016   12/2017   12/2018 
PCM, Inc.  $100.00   $92.70   $96.69   $219.08   $96.40   $171.47 
NASDAQ Composite   100.00    114.62    122.81    133.19    172.11    165.84 
NASDAQ Retail Trade   100.00    99.94    144.65    151.79    205.09    236.21 

 

***

 

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

 

The following selected consolidated financial data are qualified by reference to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” contained elsewhere herein.

 

The selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 presented below were derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are included elsewhere herein. The selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 along with the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 presented below were derived from our consolidated financial statements which are not included elsewhere herein.

 

   Years Ended December 31, 
   2018   2017(1)   2016(1)   2015   2014 
   (in thousands, except per share data) 
Consolidated Statements of Operations Data                         
Net sales  $2,163,960   $2,166,887   $2,239,557   $1,661,948   $1,356,362 
Cost of goods sold   1,820,018    1,842,159    1,920,630    1,437,621    1,164,295 
Gross profit   343,942    324,728    318,927    224,327    192,067 
Selling, general and administrative expenses   303,196    314,100    284,026    249,809(2)   176,362 
Operating profit (loss)   40,746    10,628    34,901    (25,482)   15,705 
Interest expense, net   9,486    7,894    6,083    3,860    3,180 
Equity income from unconsolidated affiliate   770    528             
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes   32,030    3,262    28,818    (29,342)   12,525 
Income tax expense (benefit)   9,257    667    11,158    (11,394)   5,490 
Income (loss) from continuing operations   22,773    2,595    17,660    (17,948)   7,035 
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes               (310)   (1,570)
Net income (loss)  $22,773   $2,595   $17,660   $(18,258)  $5,465 
                          

Basic and Diluted Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share

                         
Basic EPS                         
Income (loss) from continuing operations  $1.90   $0.21   $1.49   $(1.49)  $0.57 
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes               (0.03)   (0.12)
Net income (loss)  $1.90   $0.21   $1.49   $(1.52)  $0.45 
                          
Diluted EPS                         
Income (loss) from continuing operations  $1.83   $0.20   $1.41   $(1.49)  $0.55 
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes               (0.03)   (0.13)
Net income (loss)  $1.83   $0.20   $1.41   $(1.52)  $0.42 

 

 

(1) Reflects adjustments relating to our adoption of ASU 2014-09, “Revenue form Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)” on January 1, 2018. See Part II, Item 8, Note 2 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements of this report under “Adoption of New Revenue Recognition Standard” for more information.
(2) Includes a $25.4 million write-off of internally developed software work in process related to our upcoming ERP and CRM systems, in favor of an ERP and CRM systems already configured and in production at En Pointe.

 

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   At December 31, 
   2018   2017   2016   2015   2014 
   (in thousands) 
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data                         
Cash and cash equivalents  $6,032   $9,113   $7,172   $11,176   $8,892 
Working capital   19,598    (7,719)   (4,183)   (9,165)   63,425 
Total assets   720,950    740,252    630,804    600,173    389,190 
Short-term debt   3,283    3,362    15,769(1)   17,711(1)   3,741 
Line of credit   88,399    213,778    107,396    162,439    52,795 
Long-term debt, excluding current portion   29,507    32,892    18,750    21,454    22,415 
Total debt, net(2)   115,157    240,919    134,743    190,428    70,059 
Total stockholders’ equity   152,893    127,626    128,967    109,515    133,316 

 

 

(1) Short-term debt at December 31, 2016 and 2015 includes $4.6 million and $4.8 million, respectively, classified on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as “Note payable related to asset held for sale” relating to the mortgage on our Irvine property that is held for sale.
(2) Represents total of all notes payable and outstanding balance on line of credit, net of cash.

 

During 2014, we discontinued the operation of all four of our retail stores, located in Huntington Beach, Santa Monica and Torrance, California and Chicago, Illinois, and our OnSale and eCost businesses. We reflected the results of these operations, which were historically reported as a part of our MacMall segment at the time, as discontinued operations for the applicable periods presented herein in our Consolidated Balance Sheets and Consolidated Statements of Operations.

 

***

 

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

You should read the following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those described under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A and elsewhere in this report.

 

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

 

PCM, Inc. is a leading multi-vendor provider of technology solutions, including hardware products, software and services, offered through our dedicated sales force, ecommerce channels and technology services teams. Since our founding in 1987, we have served our customers by offering products and services from vendors such as Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Lenovo, Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec, Synnex and VMware. We provide our customers with comprehensive solutions incorporating leading products and services across a variety of technology practices and platforms such as cloud, security, data center, networking, collaboration and mobility. Our sales and marketing efforts allow our vendor partners to reach multiple customer segments including small, medium and enterprise businesses, state, local and federal governments and educational institutions.

 

In connection with our entrance into the UK market in the first quarter of 2017 with the formation of PCM Technology Solutions UK, Ltd (“PCM UK”), we formed a new operating segment called United Kingdom. In February 2016, we transitioned out nearly the entire management overhead of our MacMall business, thinned out its cost structure and brought it under the management and supervision of our Commercial segment. Also, in connection with our acquisitions of Acrodex and certain assets of Systemax’s North American Technology Group in the fourth quarter of 2015, which are both described more fully below under “Strategic Developments – Acquisitions,” and our resulting entrance into selling technology solutions in the Canadian market, we formed a new operating segment called Canada, which includes our operations related to these Canadian market activities. As a result, we operate in four reportable segments: Commercial, Public Sector, Canada and United Kingdom. Our reportable operating segments are primarily aligned based upon our reporting of results as used by our chief operating decision maker in evaluating the operating results and performance of our company. We include corporate related expenses such as legal, accounting, information technology, product management and other administrative costs that are not otherwise included in our reportable operating segments in Corporate & Other. All historical segment financial information provided herein has been revised to reflect our revised reportable operating segments.

 

We operate in four reportable segments: Commercial, Public Sector, Canada and United Kingdom. Our reportable operating segments are primarily aligned based upon our reporting of results as used by our chief operating decision maker in evaluating the operating results and performance of our company. We include corporate related expenses such as legal, accounting, information technology, product management and other administrative costs that are not otherwise included in our reportable operating segments in Corporate & Other.

 

We sell primarily to customers in the United States, Canada and the UK, and maintain offices in the United States, Canada and the UK, as well as in the Philippines. In 2018, we generated approximately 76% of our revenue in our Commercial segment, 12% of our revenue in our Public Sector segment, 9% of our revenue in our Canada segment and 3% of our revenue in our United Kingdom segment.

 

Our Commercial segment sells complex technology solutions to commercial businesses in the United States, using multiple sales channels, including a field relationship-based selling model, an outbound phone based sales force, a field services organization and online extranets.

 

Our Public Sector segment consists of sales made primarily to federal, state and local governments, as well as educational institutions. The Public Sector segment utilizes an outbound phone and field relationship-based selling model, as well as contract and bid business development teams and an online extranet.

 

Our Canada segment consists of sales made to customers in the Canadian market beginning as of the respective dates of our acquisition of Acrodex and certain assets of Systemax in October and December 2015, respectively, as well as the acquisition of Stratiform in December 2016.

 

Our United Kingdom segment consists of results of our UK subsidiary, PCM UK and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, which serve as our hub for the UK and the rest of Europe. PCM UK commenced its sales operations in May 2017.

 

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We experience variability in our net sales and operating results on a quarterly basis as a result of many factors. We experience some seasonal trends in our sales of technology solutions to businesses, government and educational institutions. For example, the timing of capital budget authorizations for our commercial customers can affect when these companies can procure IT products and services. The fiscal year-ends of U.S. Public Sector customers vary for those in the federal government space and those in the state and local government and educational institution (“SLED”) space. We generally see an increase in our second quarter sales related to customers in the U.S. SLED sector and in our third quarter sales related to customers in the federal government space as these customers close out their budgets for their fiscal year. Further, our Canadian business may see seasonal increases in the first quarter due to Canadian SLED budgets being closed out in the first quarter. We may also experience variability in our gross profit and gross profit margin as a result of changes in the various vendor programs we participate in and its effect on the amount of vendor consideration we receive from a particular vendor, which may be impacted by a number of events outside of our control. As such, the results of interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any other interim period or for the full year.

 

A substantial portion of our business is dependent on sales of Microsoft and HP Inc. products as well as products purchased from other vendors including Apple, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ingram Micro, Lenovo, Synnex and Tech Data. Our top sales of products by manufacturer as a percent of our gross billed sales were as follows for the periods presented:

 

   Years Ended December 31, 
   2018   2017   2016 
Microsoft   15%   15%   15%
HP Inc.   10    10    10 

 

Our planned operating expenditures each quarter are based in large part on sales forecasts for the quarter. If our sales do not meet expectations in any given quarter, our operating results for the quarter may be materially adversely affected. Our narrow margins may magnify the impact of these factors on our operating results. Management regularly reviews our operating performance using a variety of financial and non-financial metrics including sales, shipments, margin, vendor consideration, advertising expense, personnel costs, account executive productivity, accounts receivable aging, inventory turnover, liquidity and cash resources. Our management monitors the various metrics against goals and budgets, and makes necessary adjustments intended to enhance our performance.

 

General economic conditions have an effect on our business and results of operations across all of our segments. If economic growth in the U.S., Canada, the UK and other countries slows or declines, government, consumer and business spending rates could be significantly reduced. These developments could also increase the risk of uncollectible accounts receivable from our customers. The economic climate in the U.S., Canada, UK and elsewhere could have an impact on the rate of information technology spending of our current and potential customers, which would impact our business and results of operations. These factors affect sales of our products, sales cycles, adoption rates of new technologies and level of price competition. We continue to focus our efforts on cost controls, competitive pricing strategies, and driving higher margin service and solution sales. We also continue to make selective investments in our sales force personnel, service and solutions capabilities and IT infrastructure and tools in an effort to meet vendor program requirements and to position us for enhanced productivity and future growth.

 

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS

 

Acquisitions

 

Provista Technology

 

On December 22, 2017, PCM UK completed the acquisition of Provista Technology for an initial purchase price of £3.4 million, net of cash acquired and including £1.1 million of accrued earn-out liability (or $4.5 million, net of cash acquired and including $1.4 million of accrued earn-out liability). Provista Technology has expertise across a range of technologies and manufacturers including Cisco, Avaya, Cisco Meraki, Huawei, Checkpoint, and other leading vendors, with offerings encompassing all aspects of Cloud Networking, Cloud Video, Hyperconvergence, Security, Collaboration, Secure Wireless and IP LAN, WAN & Data Center Networks. We believe this acquisition will further enhance PCM UK’s expertise and vendor accreditations in the United Kingdom as a Cisco Gold Partner, allowing PCM UK and its subsidiaries to offer further consultancy, integration and supply of services and solutions across the UK marketplace while replicating many existing offerings from our North American organization.

 

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Stack Technology

 

On September 22, 2017, PCM UK completed the acquisition of Stack Technology for £1,350,000 in cash (or $1.7 million, net of cash acquired). Stack Technology, headquartered in Liverpool, United Kingdom, specializes in the selection, implementation and management of leading IT solutions, with offerings encompassing all aspects of cloud-based solutions, security, virtualization, data services, unified communications, and infrastructure.

 

Stratiform

 

On December 29, 2016, we completed the acquisition of Stratiform, Inc. for C$2.1 million in cash (or $1.6 million). Stratiform is an industry-leading provider of cloud IT solutions that include consulting, professional and managed services to clients across Canada.

 

En Pointe

 

We are currently involved in several disputes related to our acquisition of En Pointe Technologies completed in April 2015. These proceedings are described under the heading “Legal Proceedings” in Part I, Item 1, Note 10 to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements of this report and are incorporated herein by reference. Any litigation, arbitration or other dispute resolution process could be costly and time consuming and could divert our management and key personnel from our business operations. In connection with any such matters, we may be subject to significant damages or equitable remedies relating to the operation of our business and could incur significant costs in asserting, defending, or settling any such matters. While we intend to pursue and/or defend these actions vigorously, we cannot determine with any certainty the costs or outcome of such pending or future matters, and they may materially harm our business, results of operations or financial condition.

 

Investment in Non-Consolidated Affiliate

 

Based on various supplier diversity policies and requirements of certain customers whose contracts we acquired rights to in connection with the En Pointe transaction, beginning in the first quarter of 2017, our financial results do not consolidate the financial results of sales made under some customer contracts we purchased in the En Pointe acquisition, which are now held by a partner which qualifies for certification as a minority and women owned business in accordance with customer supplier diversity policies. We hold a 49% passive equity interest in this partner and we have accounted for our investment in this partner using the equity method of accounting beginning in the first quarter of 2017. We refer to this entity as the non-controlled entity or NCE. We record our results from our 49% equity interest in the NCE’s operations as “Equity income from unconsolidated affiliate” in our consolidated statement of operations.

 

ERP Upgrades

 

We have been in the process of upgrading our ERP systems due to the discontinued third party support of certain of our aged legacy systems, our changing IT needs when considering the transitioning state of our business from our origins towards becoming a leading IT solution provider and the ongoing desire to integrate multiple systems upon which we currently operate as a result of multiple acquisitions. In October 2015, our management selected, and our board of directors approved, the adoption of the SAP platform (that came with the acquisition of En Pointe) to be the platform to which we would migrate all legacy systems. We have made significant progress in the configuration, implementation and successful migration of a large number of our customers to our new ERP platform. We will continue to make progress throughout the remainder of 2019. We currently expect to have the vast majority of our business transitioned to the new platform by mid-2019 with a total expected capitalized cost of under $5 million.

 

Real Estate Transactions

 

In January 2017, we completed the purchase of real property in Woodridge, Illinois for approximately $3.1 million in cash. The real property includes approximately 29,344 square feet of office space. For more information on the financing arrangement of this transaction, see Note 8 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

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Common Stock Repurchase Program

 

We have a board approved discretionary stock repurchase program under which shares may be repurchased from time to time at prevailing market prices, through open market or unsolicited negotiated transactions, depending on market conditions. Our Board of Directors originally adopted the plan in October 2008 with an initial authorized maximum of $10 million. The plan was amended in September 2012 and increased to $20 million, again amended in April 2015 and increased to a total of $30 million, and again amended in August 2017 and increased to a total of $40 million. Under the program, the shares may be repurchased from time to time at prevailing market prices, through open market or unsolicited negotiated transactions, depending on market conditions. We expect that the repurchase of our common stock under the program will be financed with existing working capital and amounts available under our existing credit facility. The repurchased shares are held as treasury stock. No limit was placed on the duration of the repurchase program. There is no guarantee as to the exact number of shares that we will repurchase. Subject to applicable securities laws, repurchases may be made at such times and in such amounts as our management deems appropriate. The program can also be discontinued at any time management feels additional purchases are not warranted.

 

We made no repurchases of shares of our common stock under this program during the three months and year ended December 31, 2018. At December 31, 2018, we had $2.5 million available for stock repurchases under the program, subject to any limitations that may apply from time to time under our existing credit facility.

 

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

 

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, net sales and expenses, as well as the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Management bases its estimates, judgments and assumptions on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Due to the inherent uncertainty involved in making estimates, actual results reported for future periods may be affected by changes in those estimates, and revisions to estimates are included in our results for the period in which the actual amounts become known.

 

Management considers an accounting estimate to be critical if:

 

  it requires assumptions to be made that were uncertain at the time the estimate was made; and
  changes in the estimate or different estimates that could have been selected could have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.

 

Management has discussed the development and selection of these critical accounting policies and estimates with the audit committee of our board of directors. We believe the critical accounting policies described below affect the more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. For a summary of our significant accounting policies, including those discussed below, see Note 2 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, Part II, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

Revenue Recognition. We adhere to the guidelines and principles of revenue recognition described in ASC 606. Under ASC 606, we identify and account for a contract with a customer when it has written approval and commitment of the parties, the rights of the parties including payment terms are identified, the contract has commercial substance, and consideration is probable of collection. We recognize revenue upon delivery to the customer when control, title and risk of loss of a promised product or service transfers to a customer, as per our contractual agreement with customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration to which we expect to be entitled in exchange for transferring those products or services. In certain types of arrangements, as discussed more fully below, revenue from sales of third-party vendor products or services is recorded on a net basis when we act as an agent between the customer and the vendor, and on a gross basis when we act as the principal for the transaction. To determine whether the company is an agent or principal, we consider whether we obtain control of the products or services before they are transferred to the customer, as well as whether we have primary responsibility for fulfillment to the customer, inventory risk and pricing discretion.

 

Product and service revenues are recognized upon transfer of control of promised products or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those products or services. The following indicators are evaluated in determining when control has transferred to the customer: (i) the Company has a right to payment, (ii) the customer has legal title to the product, (iii) the Company has transferred physical possession of the product to the customer, (iv) the customer has the significant risk and rewards of ownership, and (v) the customer has accepted the product.

 

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Products

 

Revenue from sales of product (hardware and software) is recognized at a point in time when the product has been delivered to the customer. The Company’s shipping terms are FOB destination and it is upon delivery that the Company has right to payment, the customer obtains legal title to the product, and physical possession of the product has transferred to the customer. We act as the principal in these transactions and, as such, record product revenue at gross sales amounts. For all product sales shipped directly from suppliers to customers, we take title to the products sold upon shipment, bear credit risk, and bear inventory risk for returned products that are not successfully returned to suppliers. Therefore, these revenues are also recognized at gross sales amounts.

 

When product sales incorporate a bill and hold arrangement, whereby the customer agrees to purchase product but requests delivery at a later date, we have determined that control transfers when the product is ready for delivery, which occurs when the product has been set aside or obtained specifically to fulfill the contract with the customer. It is at this point that we have right to payment, the customer obtains legal title, and the customer has the significant risks and rewards of ownership.

 

We recognize certain products on a net basis, as an agent. Products in this category include the sale of third-party services, warranties, software assurance (“SA”), and subscriptions.

 

Warranties represent third-party product warranties. Warranties not sold separately are assurance-type warranties that only provide assurance that products will conform to the manufacturer’s specifications and are not considered separate performance obligations. Warranties that are sold separately, such as extended warranties, provide the customer with a service in addition to assurance that the product will function as expected. We consider these service-type warranties to be separate performance obligations from the underlying product. We arrange for a third-party to provide those services and therefore we act as an agent in the transaction and record revenue on a net basis at the point of sale.

 

SA is a product that allows customers to upgrade their software, at no additional cost, to the latest technology if new applications are introduced during the period that the SA is in effect. Most software licenses are sold with accompanying third-party delivered SA. The Company evaluates whether the SA is a separate performance obligation by assessing if the third-party delivered SA is critical to the core functionality of the software. This involves considering if the software provides its original intended functionality to the customer without the updates, if the customer would ascribe a higher value to the upgrades versus the initial software delivered, and if the customer would expect updates to the software to maintain the functionality. When the SA for a software product is deemed critical to maintaining the core functionality of the underlying software, the software license and SA are considered a single performance obligation and the value of the product is primarily the SA service delivered by a third-party. Therefore, the Company is acting as an agent in these transactions and the revenue is recognized on a net basis when the underlying software is delivered to the customer. Under net sales recognition, the cost paid to the vendor or third-party service provider is recorded as a reduction to sales, resulting in net sales being equal to the gross profit on the transaction. When the SA for a software product is deemed not critical to the core functionality of the underlying software, the SA is recognized as a separate performance obligation and the revenue is recognized on a net basis when the underlying software license is delivered to the customer.

 

Some of our larger customers are offered the opportunity by certain of our vendors to purchase software licenses and SA under enterprise agreements (“EAs”). Under EAs, customers are considered to be compliant with applicable license requirements for the ensuing year, regardless of changes to their employee base. Customers are charged an annual true-up fee for changes in the number of users over the year. With most EAs, our vendors will transfer the license and invoice the customer directly, and we act as a sales agent in the transaction. In addition to the vendor being primarily responsible for fulfilling the promise to the customer, they also assume the inventory risk as they are responsible for providing remedy or refund if the customer is not satisfied with the delivered services. At the time of sale, our obligation as an agent is fulfilled and we recognize revenue in the amount of an agency fee or commission. We record these fees as a component of net sales and there is no corresponding cost of sales amount. In certain instances, we invoice the customer directly under an EA and account for the individual items sold based on the nature of the item. Our vendors typically dictate how the EA will be sold to the customer.

 

Services

 

Service revenues are recognized over time since customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits of the Company’s services as they are provided. The Company is the principal in service transactions and therefore recognizes revenue on a gross basis. Revenue for data center services, including internet connectivity, web hosting, server co-location and managed services, is recognized over the period the service is performed in the amount to which the Company has the right to invoice in accordance with the practical expedient in paragraph 606-10-55-18. Revenue for fixed fee services are recognized using an input method based on the total number of hours incurred for the period as a proportion of the total expected hours for the project. Total expected hours to complete the project is updated for each period and best represents the transfer of control of the service to the customer.

 

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Bundled Arrangements

 

Bundled arrangements are contracts that can include various combinations of products and services. When a contract includes multiple performance obligations delivered at varying times, we determine whether the delivered items are distinct under ASC 606. For arrangements with multiple performance obligations, the transaction price is allocated among the performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling prices (“SSP”). When observable evidence from recent transactions exists, it is used to confirm that prices are representative of SSP. When evidence from recent transactions is not available, an expected cost plus a margin approach is used.

 

Sales In Transit

 

In order to recognize revenues in accordance with our revenue recognition policy under ASC 606, we perform an analysis to estimate the number of days that products we have shipped are in transit to our customers using data from our third party carriers and other factors. We record an adjustment to reverse the impact of sale transactions that are initially recorded in our accounting records based on the estimated value of products that have shipped, but have not yet been delivered to our customers, and we recognize such amounts in the subsequent period when delivery has occurred. Changes in delivery patterns or unforeseen shipping delays beyond our control could have a material impact on the timing of revenue recognized in future periods.

 

Freight Costs

 

The Company records freight billed to its customers on a gross basis to net sales and related freight costs to cost of sales when the product is delivered to the customer. For freight not billed to its customers, the Company records the freight costs as cost of sales. The Company’s shipping terms are FOB destination, which results in shipping being performed before the customer obtains control of the product, thus shipping activities are not a promised service to the customer. Rather, shipping is an activity to fulfill the promise to deliver the products.

 

Other

 

The Company’s contracts give rise to variable consideration in the form of sales returns and allowances which we estimate at the most likely amount to which we are expected to be entitled. This estimate is included in the transaction price to the extent it is probable that a significant reversal of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is resolved. The most likely amount estimates of variable consideration and determination of whether to include estimated amounts in the transaction price are based on an assessment of the Company’s anticipated performance and historical experience and are recorded at the time of sale.

 

Sales are reported net of estimated returns and allowances, discounts, mail-in rebate redemptions, credit card chargebacks, and taxes collected from customers. If the actual sales returns, allowances, discounts, mail-in rebate redemptions or credit card chargebacks are greater than estimated by management, additional reductions to revenue may be required.

 

Generally, the period between when control of the promised products or services transfer to the customer and when the customer pays for the product or service is one year or less. As such, we elected the practical expedient allowed in paragraph 606-10-32-18 and we do not adjust product and service consideration for the effects of a significant financing component.

 

The amortization period of any asset resulting from incremental costs of obtaining a contract would generally be one year or less. As such, we elected the practical expedient allowed in paragraph 340-40-25-4 and we expense these costs as incurred.

 

Vendor Consideration. We receive vendor consideration from our vendors in the form of cooperative marketing allowances, volume incentive rebates and other programs to support our marketing of their products. Most of our vendor consideration is accrued, when performance required for recognition is completed, as an offset to cost of sales since such funds are not a reimbursement of specific, incremental, identifiable costs incurred by us in selling the vendors’ products. At the end of any given period, billed or accrued receivables related to our vendor consideration are included in our “Accounts receivable, net of allowances.” Any change by the vendors of their program requirements or any changes in estimates of performance under such programs could have a material impact to our results of operations.

 

Goodwill and Intangible Assets. Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets are carried at historical cost, subject to write-down, as needed, based upon an impairment analysis that we perform annually, or sooner if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not result in an impairment loss. We perform our annual impairment test for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets as of October 1 of each year.

 

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Goodwill impairment is deemed to exist if the net book value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value. Events that may create an impairment include, but are not limited to, significant and sustained decline in our stock price or market capitalization, significant underperformance of operating units and significant changes in market conditions. Changes in estimates of future cash flows or changes in market values could result in a write-down of our goodwill in a future period. If an impairment loss results from any impairment analysis as described above, such loss will be recorded as a pre-tax charge to our operating income. Goodwill is allocated to various reporting units, which are generally an operating segment or one level below the operating segment. At October 1, 2018, our goodwill resided in our Abreon, Commercial Technology, Public Sector, Canada and United Kingdom reporting units.

 

Goodwill impairment testing is a two-step process. Step one involves comparing the fair value of our reporting units to their carrying amount. If the fair value of the reporting unit is greater than its carrying amount, there is no impairment and no further testing is required. If the reporting unit’s carrying amount is greater than the fair value, the second step must be completed to measure the amount of impairment, if any. Step two calculates the implied fair value of goodwill by deducting the fair value of all tangible and intangible assets, excluding goodwill, net of any assumed liabilities, of the reporting unit from the fair value of the reporting unit as determined in step one. The implied fair value of goodwill determined in this step is compared to the carrying value of goodwill. If the implied fair value of goodwill is less than the carrying value of goodwill, an impairment loss is recognized equal to the difference.

 

We performed our annual impairment analysis of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for possible impairment as of October 1, 2018. Our management, with the assistance of an independent third-party valuation firm, determined the fair values of our reporting units and their underlying assets, and compared them to their respective carrying values. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired in each business combination. The carrying value of goodwill was allocated to our reporting units pursuant to ASC 350. As a result of our annual impairment analysis as of October 1, 2018, we have determined that no impairment of goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets existed.

 

Fair value was determined by using a weighted combination of a market-based approach and an income approach, as this combination was deemed to be the most indicative of fair value in an orderly transaction between market participants. Under the market-based approach, we utilized information regarding our company and publicly available comparable company and industry information to determine cash flow multiples and revenue multiples that are used to value our reporting units. Under the income approach, we determined fair value based on estimated future cash flows of each reporting unit, discounted by an estimated weighted-average cost of capital, which reflects the overall level of inherent risk of a reporting unit and the rate of return an outside investor would expect to earn.

 

In addition, the fair value of our indefinite-lived trademark was determined using the relief from royalty method under the income approach to value. This method applies a market based royalty rate to projected revenues that are associated with the trademarks. Applying the royalty rate to projected revenues resulted in an indication of the pre-tax royalty savings associated with ownership of the trademarks. Projected after-tax royalty savings were discounted to present value at the reporting unit’s weighted average cost of capital, and a tax amortization benefit (calculated based on a 15-year life for tax purposes) was added.

 

In conjunction with our annual assessment of goodwill, our valuation techniques did not indicate any impairment as of October 1, 2018. All reporting units with goodwill passed the first step of the goodwill evaluation, with the fair values of our Abreon, Commercial Technology, Public Sector, Canada and United Kingdom reporting units exceeding their respective carrying values by 37%, 126%, 31%, 195% and 152% and, accordingly, we were not required to perform the second step of the goodwill evaluation. We had $7.2 million, $62.5 million, $8.3 million, $4.9 million and $4.6 million of goodwill as of October 1, 2018 residing in our Abreon, Commercial Technology, Public Sector, Canada and United Kingdom reporting units, respectively. In applying the market and income approaches to determining fair value of our reporting units, we rely on a number of significant assumptions and estimates including revenue growth rates and operating margins, discount rates and future market conditions, among others. Our estimates are based upon assumptions we believe to be reasonable, but which by nature are uncertain and unpredictable. Changes in one or more of these significant estimates or assumptions could affect the results of these impairment reviews.

 

As part of our annual review for impairment, we assessed the total fair values of the reporting units and compared total fair value to our market capitalization at October 1, 2018, including the implied control premium, to determine if the fair values are reasonable compared to external market indicators. When comparing our market capitalization to the discounted cash flow models for each reporting unit summed together, the implied control premium was approximately 39% as of October 1, 2018. We believe several factors are contributing to our low market capitalization, including the lack of trading volume in our stock and the recent significant investments made in various parts of our business and their effects on analyst earnings models.

 

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Given continuing economic uncertainties and related risks to our business, there can be no assurance that our estimates and assumptions made for purposes of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets impairment testing as of October 1, 2018 will prove to be accurate predictions of the future. We may be required to record additional goodwill impairment charges in future periods, whether in connection with our next annual impairment testing as of October 1, 2019 or other periods, if any change constitutes a triggering event outside of the quarter from when the annual goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets impairment test is performed. It is not possible at this time to determine if any such future impairment charge would result or, if it does, whether such charge would be material.

 

We amortize other intangible assets with definite lives generally on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives, or in the case of customer relationships, based on a relative percentage of annual discounted cash flows expected to be delivered by the asset over its estimated useful life.

 

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data

 

The following table sets forth, for the years indicated, our Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands) and information derived from our Consolidated Statements of Operations expressed as a percentage of net sales. There can be no assurance that trends in net sales, gross profit or operating results will continue in the future.

 

   Years Ended December 31, 
   2018   2017   2016 
Net sales  $2,163,960   $2,166,887   $2,239,557 
Cost of goods sold   1,820,018    1,842,159    1,920,630 
Gross profit   343,942    324,728    318,927 
Selling, general and administrative expenses   303,196    314,100    284,026 
Operating profit   40,746    10,628    34,901 
Interest expense, net   9,486    7,894    6,083 
Equity income from unconsolidated affiliate   770    528     
Income before income taxes   32,030    3,262    28,818 
Income tax expense   9,257    667    11,158 
Net income  $22,773   $2,595   $17,660 

 

  

As a Percentage of Net Sales

For Years Ended December 31,

 
   2018   2017   2016 
Net sales   100.0%   100.0%   100.0%
Cost of goods sold   84.1    85.0    85.8 
Gross profit   15.9    15.0    14.2 
Selling, general and administrative expenses   14.0    14.5    12.6 
Operating profit   1.9    0.5    1.6 
Interest expense, net   0.4    0.3    0.3 
Equity income from unconsolidated affiliate   0.0    0.0     — 
Income before income taxes   1.5    0.2    1.3 
Income tax expense   0.4    0.1    0.5 
Net income   1.1%   0.1%   0.8%

 

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Year Ended December 31, 2018 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2017

 

Net Sales

 

The following table presents our net sales by segment for the periods presented (in thousands):

 

   Year Ended December 31,         
   2018   2017         
   Net Sales   Percentage of Total Net Sales   Net Sales   Percentage of Total Net Sales   Dollar Change   Percent Change 
Commercial  $1,647,431    76%  $1,709,249    79%  $(61,818)   (4)%
Public Sector   258,945    12    274,650    13    (15,705)   (6)
Canada   195,846    9    171,208    8    24,638    14 
United Kingdom   62,359    3    12,235    1    50,124    410 
Corporate & Other   (621)   0    (455)   0    (166)   36 
Consolidated  $2,163,960    100%  $2,166,887    100%(1)  $(2,927)   (0)

 

 

(1)Does not foot due to rounding.

 

Consolidated net sales were $2,164.0 million in 2018 compared to $2,166.9 million in 2017, a decrease of $2.9 million. Consolidated sales of services were $178.2 million in 2018 compared to $160.8 million in 2017, an increase of $17.4 million, or 11%, and represented 8% and 7% of consolidated net sales in 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

Commercial net sales were $1,647.4 million in 2018 compared to $1,709.2 million in 2017, a decrease of $61.8 million or 4%. Sales of services in our Commercial segment were $125.0 million in 2018 compared to $116.3 million in 2017, an increase of $8.7 million, or 7%, and represented 8% and 7% of Commercial net sales in 2018 and 2017, respectively. The decrease in our Commercial segment net sales in 2018 was primarily due to a $35.2 million increase in sales reported on a net basis, the impact of a couple of large, lower-margin enterprise customer projects in the prior year that did not reoccur, and several specific, non-strategic customer deals we elected not to pursue based on our focus on profitable growth. In addition, we believe we were negatively impacted by integrated circuit supply shortages from a major chip manufacturer due to their high demand, which shortages affected finished goods supply of certain notebooks and desktops in the second half of 2018.

 

Public Sector net sales were $258.9 million in 2018 compared to $274.7 million in 2017, a decrease of $15.7 million, or 6%. Sales of services in our Public Sector segment were $17.8 million in 2018 compared to $13.9 million in 2017, an increase of $3.9 million, or 28%, and represented 7% and 5% of Public Sector net sales in 2018 and 2017, respectively. The decrease in our Public Sector net sales in 2018 was primarily due to a 20% decrease in our federal sales which were negatively impacted by the loss of a single Federal contract, which we were unwilling to rebid at a loss, and a large rollout to a different Federal agency that did not reoccur.

 

Canada net sales were $195.8 million in 2018 compared to $171.2 million in 2017, an increase of $24.6 million, or 14%. Sales of services in our Canadian segment were $30.6 million in 2018 compared to $30.1 million in 2017, an increase of $0.5 million, or 2%, and represented 16% and 18% of Canada net sales in 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

United Kingdom net sales were $62.4 million in 2018 compared to $12.2 million in 2017, an increase of $50.2 million, or 410%. Sales of services in our United Kingdom segment were $4.8 million in 2018 compared to $0.5 million in 2017, an increase of $4.3 million, or 837%, and represented 8% and 4% of United Kingdom net sales in 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin

 

Consolidated gross profit was $343.9 million in 2018 compared to $324.7 million in 2017, an increase of $19.2 million, or 6%. Consolidated gross profit margin increased to 15.9% in 2018 from 15.0% in the same period of the prior year. The increase in consolidated gross profit was primarily due to a shift in mix toward higher margin solutions and service sales, partially offset by a decrease in vendor consideration. The increase in gross profit margin was primarily due to the increase in sales recorded on a net basis and the increased gross profit margin associated with the shift in mix towards higher margin solutions and services, partially offset by a decrease in vendor consideration as percentage of net sales.

 

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Selling, General & Administrative Expenses

 

Consolidated SG&A expenses were $303.2 million in 2018 compared to $314.1 million in 2017, a decrease of $10.9 million or 3%. Consolidated SG&A expenses as a percentage of net sales decreased to 14.0% in 2018 from 14.5% in the same period of the prior year. The decrease in consolidated SG&A expenses was primarily due to a decrease in outside services of $4.9 million, primarily related to the termination of the service contract with our prior BPO service provider in Pakistan and a decrease in third party logistics costs, a decrease in restructuring related costs of $3.3 million, a decrease in credit card related costs of $2.2 million, a decrease in telecommunication costs of $1.8 million, a decrease in net advertising costs of $1.3 million and an adjustment to reduce $1.1 million of contingent consideration relating to the Provista Technology acquisition, slightly offset by an increase in personnel costs of $1.2 million.

 

Operating Profit (Loss)

 

The following table presents our operating profit (loss) and operating profit (loss) margin, by segment, for the periods presented (in thousands):

 

   Year Ended December 31,       Change in 
   2018   2017   Change in   Operating 
   Operating    Operating Profit (Loss)   Operating    Operating Profit (Loss)   Operating
Profit (Loss)
   Profit (Loss) Margin 
   Profit (Loss)   Margin(1)   Profit (Loss)   Margin(1)   $   %   % 
Commercial  $94,516    5.7%  $75,284    4.4%  $19,232    26%   1.3%
Public Sector   9,770    3.8    8,885    3.2    885    10    0.6 
Canada   4,580      2.3    423          0.2    4,157    983    2.1 
United Kingdom   (1,963)   (3.1)   (5,205)   (42.5)   3,242    62    39.4 
Corporate & Other   (66,157)   (3.1)(1)   (68,759)   (3.2)(1)   2,602    4    0.1 
Consolidated  $40,746    1.9   $10,628    0.5   $30,118    283    1.4 

 

 

(1)Operating profit margin for Corporate & Other is computed based on consolidated net sales. Operating profit margin for each of the other segments is computed based on the respective segment’s net sales.

 

Consolidated operating profit was $40.7 million in 2018 compared to $10.6 million in 2017, an increase of $30.1 million or 283%.

 

Commercial operating profit was $94.5 million in 2018 compared to $75.3 million in 2017, an increase of $19.2 million, or 26%. The increase in commercial operating profit was primarily due to a $7.2 million increase in Commercial gross profit, a $4.0 million decrease in personnel costs, a $2.2 million decrease in credit card processing costs, a $1.4 million reduction in outside service costs, a $1.2 million decrease in restructuring related costs and a $1.0 million decrease in net advertising costs.

 

Public Sector operating profit was $9.8 million in 2018 compared to $8.9 million in 2017, an increase of $0.9 million, or 10%. The increase in Public Sector operating profit was primarily due to a $1.1 million decrease in personnel costs, a $0.3 million decrease in amortization costs and a $0.2 million decrease in restructuring related costs partially offset by a $0.9 million decrease in Public Sector gross profit.

 

Canada operating profit was $4.6 million in 2018 compared to $0.4 million in 2017, an increase of $4.2 million, or 983%. This increase in Canada operating profit was primarily due to a $2.8 million increase in Canada gross profit and a $1.3 million decrease in personnel costs.

 

We maintain a public sector contract in our Canada segment that is expected to expire in the fourth quarter of 2019. The impact to 2020 results from the non-renewal of this contract compared to what we expect in 2019 will be approximately $10 million in revenues and $3 million of operating profit, offset by any increased sales and associated gross profit and adjustments to cost structure that we will seek prior to the termination of the contract in the fourth quarter of 2019 and thereafter.

 

United Kingdom operating loss was $2.0 million in 2018 compared to $5.2 million in 2017, a decrease of $3.2 million, or 62%. The decrease in United Kingdom operating loss was primarily due to increase to a $10.4 million in United Kingdom gross profit partially offset by a $6.9 million increase in personnel costs which was primarily related to the investments we made in account executives. United Kingdom operating loss in 2018 was also benefited by a $1.1 million reduction of contingent consideration relating to the Provista Technology acquisition.

 

Corporate & Other operating expenses include corporate related expenses such as legal, accounting, information technology, product management and certain other administrative costs that are not otherwise included in our reportable operating segments. Corporate & Other operating expenses were $66.2 million in 2018 compared to $68.8 million in 2017, a decrease of $2.6 million, or 4%. The decrease in our Corporate & Other operating expenses was primarily due to a $3.5 million decrease in outside service costs, primarily related to the termination of the service contract with our prior BPO service provider in Pakistan and a decrease in third party logistics costs, a $2.0 million decrease in restructuring related charges and a $1.4 million decrease in telecommunication costs, partially offset by a $1.7 million increase in lease costs and a $0.7 million increase in personnel costs.

 

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Net Interest Expense

 

Total net interest expense for 2018 increased to $9.5 million compared to $7.9 million for 2017. The $1.6 million increase in net interest expense in 2018 was primarily due to higher average interest rate in 2018 compared to the same period in the prior year partialy offset by a lower average loan balance.

 

Income Tax Expense

 

We recorded an income tax expense of $9.3 million in 2018 compared to $0.7 million in 2017. Our effective tax rates were 28.9% for 2018 and 20.4% for 2017. Income taxes in 2018 reflect the benefit of decrease in enacted US federal income tax rates from 35% to 21%. Income taxes in 2017 benefited from a one-time reduction in income tax expense of $0.4 associated with the adoption of ASU 2014-09, as well as certain adjustments related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 including a $1.9 million one-time benefit of revaluing our deferred tax liabilities at a new lower federal tax rate, partially offset by a $0.7 million one-time expense related to the foreign income transition tax.

 

Year Ended December 31, 2017 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2016

 

Net Sales

 

The following table presents our net sales by segment for the periods presented (in thousands):

 

    Year Ended December 31,              
    2017     2016              
    Net Sales     Percentage of
Total Net Sales
    Net Sales     Percentage of
Total Net Sales
    Dollar Change     Percent
Change
 
Commercial   $ 1,709,249       79 %   $ 1,737,830       78 %   $ (28,581 )     (2 )%
Public Sector     274,650       13       351,617       16       (76,967 )     (22 )
Canada     171,208       8       150,193       7       21,015       14
United Kingdom     12,235       1                   12,235       NM (2)
Corporate & Other     (455 )     0       (83 )     0                (372 )     NM (2)
Consolidated   $ 2,166,887       100 %(1)   $ 2,239,557       100 %(1)   $ (72,670 )     (3 )

 

 

(1)Does not foot due to rounding.
(2)Not meaningful.

 

Consolidated net sales were $2,166.9 million in 2017 compared to $2,239.6 million in 2016, a decrease of $72.7 million, or 3%. Our consolidated net sales in 2017 do not include $98.7 million of net sales made under contracts held by the NCE. Consolidated sales of services were $160.8 million in 2017 compared to $143.2 million in 2016, an increase of $17.6 million, or 12%, and represented 7% and 6% of consolidated net sales in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Commercial net sales were $1,709.2 million in 2017 compared to $1,737.8 million in 2016, a decrease of $28.6 million or 2% despite the impact of $98.7 million of net sales made under contracts now held by the NCE and not consolidated in our Commercial net sales. Sales of services in our Commercial segment were $116.3 million in 2017 compared to $107.6 million in 2016, an increase of $8.7 million, or 8%, and represented 7% and 6% of Commercial net sales in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Public Sector net sales were $274.7 million in 2017 compared to $351.6 million in 2016, a decrease of $76.9 million, or 22%. Our Federal sales decreased by 24%, while our State, Local and Educational Sales decreased by 20%. Public Sector business was also impacted by the departure of the president of our Public Sector business in the fourth quarter of 2017 for personal reasons unrelated to the business, and we are currently undertaking a search for his replacement. Sales of services in our Public Sector segment were $13.9 million in 2017 compared to $11.5 million in 2016, an increase of $2.4 million, or 21%, and represented 5% and 3% of Public Sector net sales in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Canada net sales were $171.2 million in 2017 compared to $150.2 million in 2016, an increase of $21.0 million, or 14%. Sales of services in our Canadian segment were $30.1 million in 2017 compared to $24.0 million in 2016, an increase of $6.1 million, or 25%, and represented 18% and 16% of Canada net sales in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Our United Kingdom segment, which officially launched in the second quarter of 2017, generated net sales of approximately $12.2 million in 2017.

 

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Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin

 

Consolidated gross profit was $324.7 million in 2017 compared to $318.9 million in 2016, an increase of $5.8 million, or 2%. Consolidated gross profit margin increased to 15.0 % in 2017 from 14.2% in the same period in the prior year. The increase in consolidated gross profit was primarily due to an increased mix of higher margin solutions and services, despite the decrease in consolidated net sales. The increase in consolidated gross profit margin was primarily due to the impact of increased sales of services and advanced solutions as well as the beneficial impact of the non-consolidation in 2017 of contracts now held by the NCE, as discussed above, which have historically had lower margins.

 

Selling, General & Administrative Expenses

 

Consolidated SG&A expenses were $314.1 million in 2017 compared to $284.0 million in 2016, an increase of $30.1 million, or 11%. Consolidated SG&A expenses as a percentage of net sales increased to 14.5% in 2017 from 12.7% in the same period in the prior year. The increase in consolidated SG&A expenses was primarily related to a $19.1 million increase in personnel costs, which was primarily related to the investments we made in account executives in the U.K., Canada and in our advanced technology solutions practices. The increase in consolidated SG&A expenses was also impacted by $3.6 million of restructuring related costs, $1.7 million of increased telecommunication costs and a $1.5 million increase in M&A and related litigation costs, partially offset by a $1.7 million reduction in amortization expense and a $1.6 million decrease in outside service costs primarily related to the termination of the third party back office support (BPO) contract in Pakistan.

 

Operating Profit (Loss)

 

The following table presents our operating profit (loss) and operating profit margin, by segment, for the periods presented (in thousands):

 

   Year Ended December 31,       Change in 
   2017   2016   Change in   Operating 
   Operating   Operating
Profit (Loss)
   Operating   Operating
Profit (Loss)
   Operating
Profit (Loss)
   Profit (Loss)
Margin
 
   Profit (Loss)   Margin(1)   Profit (Loss)   Margin(1)   $   %   % 
Commercial  $75,284    4.4%  $81,429    4.7%  $(6,145)   (8)%   (0.3)%
Public Sector   8,885    3.2    14,064    4.0    (5,179)   (37)   (0.8)
Canada   423    0.2    3,994    2.7    (3,571)   (89)   (2.5)
United Kingdom   (5,205)   NM(1)                (5,205)   NM(1)   NM(1)
Corporate & Other   (68,759)   (3.2)(2)   (64,586)   (2.9)(2)   (4,173)   6    (0.3)
Consolidated  $10,628    0.5   $34,901    1.6   $(24,273)   (70)   (1.1)

 

 

(1)Not meaningful.
(2)Operating profit margin for Corporate & Other is computed based on consolidated net sales. Operating profit margin for each of the other segments is computed based on the respective segment’s net sales.

 

Consolidated operating profit was $10.6 million in 2017 compared to $34.9 million in 2016, a decrease of $24.3 million or 70%.

 

Commercial operating profit was $75.3 million in 2017 compared to $81.4 million in 2016, a decrease of $6.1 million, or 8%. The decrease in Commercial operating profit was primarily due to an increase in investments we made in our advanced solutions, field sales and inside sales, partially offset by a $5.1 million decrease in personnel costs, a $1.6 million decrease in lease expenditures, a $1.1 million decrease in amortization expenses and a $2.1 million increase in Commercial gross profit.

 

Public Sector operating profit was $8.9 million in 2017 compared to $14.1 million in 2016, a decrease of $5.2 million, or 37%. The decrease in Public Sector operating profit was primarily due to a $2.8 million increase in personnel costs and a $2.3 million decrease in Public Sector gross profit.

 

Canada operating profit was $0.4 million in 2017 compared to $4.0 million in 2016, a decrease of $3.6 million, or 89%. This decrease in Canada operating profit was primarily due to a $6.5 million increase in personnel costs related to our investment in advanced solutions and sales account executive headcount, as well as the addition of costs resulting from the acquisition of Stratiform in December 2016, a $0.4 million increase in each of travel and entertainment expenses and consulting fees, partially offset by a $4.2 million increase in Canada gross profit.

 

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United Kingdom operating loss was $5.2 million in 2017, representing the segment’s operating expenses which include overhead support and consulting costs.

 

Corporate & Other operating expenses include corporate related expenses such as legal, accounting, information technology, product management and certain other administrative costs that are not otherwise included in our reportable operating segments. Corporate & Other operating expenses were $68.8 million in 2017 compared to $64.6 million in 2016, an increase of $4.2 million, or 6%. The increase in our Corporate & Other operating expenses was primarily due to a $9.6 million increase in personnel costs, a $3.6 million increase in restructuring related charges, a $1.5 million increase in M&A related expenses, a $0.8 million increase in telecommunication expenses and a $0.6 million increase in travel and entertainment expenses, partially offset by a $1.5 million decrease in outside service costs primarily related to the termination of the Pakistani BPO service contract.

 

Net Interest Expense

 

Total net interest expense for 2017 increased to $7.9 million compared to $6.1 million for 2016. The $1.8 million increase in net interest expense in 2017 was primarily due to higher average interest rate and higher average loan balance in 2017 compared to the same period in the prior year, as well as a $0.3 million interest charge recorded in the second quarter of 2017 related to unclaimed property reports dating back to 2013.

 

Income Tax Expense

 

We recorded an income tax expense of $0.7 million in 2017 compared to $11.2 million in 2016. Our effective tax rates were 20.4% for 2017 and 38.7% for 2016. The reduction in tax rate in 2017 reflected the adoption of ASU 2016-09 with a benefit associated with stock compensation as well as certain adjustments related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 including a $1.9 million one-time benefit of revaluing our deferred tax liabilities at a new lower federal tax rate, partially offset by a $0.7 million one-time expense related to the foreign income transition tax.

 

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

 

Working Capital. Our primary capital needs have and we expect will continue to be the funding of our existing working capital requirements, capital expenditures for which we expect to include substantial investments in our new ERP system, eCommerce platform and other upgrades of our current IT infrastructure over the next several years, which are discussed further below in “Other Planned Capital Projects,” possible sales growth, possible acquisitions and new business ventures, and possible repurchases of our common stock under a discretionary repurchase program, which is also further discussed below. Our primary sources of financing have historically come from borrowings from financial institutions, public and private issuances of our common stock and cash flows from operations. Our continuing efforts to drive revenue growth from commercial customers could result in an increase in our accounts receivable as these customers are generally provided longer payment terms than consumers. We historically have increased our inventory levels from time to time to take advantage of strategic manufacturer promotions. We believe that our existing cash balance, together with our expected future cash flows from operations and available borrowing capacity under our line of credit, will be adequate to support our current operating plans for at least the next 12 months. However, the current uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment may limit our cash resources that could otherwise be available to fund capital investments, future strategic opportunities or growth beyond our current operating plans. We may in the future seek additional financing from public or private debt or equity financings to fund additional acquisitions or expansion, or take advantage of opportunities or favorable market conditions. If we raise additional financing through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of the rights of our common stock and our stockholders will experience dilution of their ownership interests.

 

There has been ongoing uncertainty in the global economic environment, which could cause disruptions in the capital and credit markets. While our revolving credit facility does not mature until March 2021, we believe problems in these areas could have a negative impact on our ability to obtain future financing if we need additional funds, such as for acquisitions or expansion, to fund a significant downturn in our sales or an increase in our operating expenses, or to take advantage of opportunities or favorable market conditions in the future. We may seek additional financing from public or private debt or equity issuances; however, there can be no assurance that such financing will be available at acceptable terms, if at all. Also, there can be no assurance that the cost or availability of future borrowings, if any, under our credit facility or in the debt markets will not be impacted by disruptions in the capital and credit markets.

 

We had cash and cash equivalents of $6.0 million at December 31, 2018 and $9.1 million at December 31, 2017. Our working capital increased by $27.3 million to $19.6 million at December 31, 2018 from negative working capital of $7.7 million at December 31, 2017.

 

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We have a board approved discretionary stock repurchase program under which shares may be repurchased from time to time at prevailing market prices, through open market or unsolicited negotiated transactions, depending on market conditions. Our Board of Directors originally adopted the plan in October 2008 with an initial authorized maximum of $10 million. The plan was amended in September 2012 and increased to $20 million, again amended in April 2015 and increased to a total of $30 million, and again amended in August 2017 and increased to a total of $40 million. Under the program, the shares may be repurchased from time to time at prevailing market prices, through open market or unsolicited negotiated transactions, depending on market conditions. We expect that the repurchase of our common stock under the program will be financed with existing working capital and amounts available under our existing credit facility. The repurchased shares are held as treasury stock. No limit was placed on the duration of the repurchase program. There is no guarantee as to the exact number of shares that we will repurchase. Subject to applicable securities laws, repurchases may be made at such times and in such amounts as our management deems appropriate. The program can also be discontinued at any time management feels additional purchases are not warranted.

 

We made no repurchases of shares of our common stock under this program during the year ended December 31, 2018. At December 31, 2018, we had $2.5 million available for stock repurchases under the program, subject to any limitations that may apply from time to time under our existing credit facility.

 

We maintain a Canadian sales center serving the U.S. market, which historically received the benefit of labor credits under the Investment Quebec Refundable Tax Credit for Major Employment Generating Projects (GPCE) program. The labor credits program ended at the end of fiscal year 2016. We have received full payment under all of our outstanding claims for labor credits under this program as of December 31, 2018.

 

Cash Flows from Operating Activities. Net cash provided by operating activities of $133.7 million in 2018 compared to net cash used in operating activities was $64.8 million in 2017 and net cash provided by operating activities of $96.5 million in 2016.

 

The $133.7 million of net cash provided by operating activities in 2018 was primarily the result of an increase in our accounts payable of $66.6 million relating to timing of payables, a decrease in inventory of $41.9 million primarily related to the sell through of certain purchases made in the fourth quarter of 2017 and an increase in accrued expenses and other current liabilities of $18.3 million, as well as our net income of $22.8 million, partially offset by an increase in accounts receivable of $23.8 million.

 

The $64.8 million of net cash used by operating activities in 2017 was primarily the result of an increase in accounts receivable of $68.0 million primarily due to timing differences compared to the prior year and an increase in inventory of $31.3 million reflecting certain purchases made in the fourth quarter of 2017 which have largely been sold in the first quarter of 2018, partially offset by an $8.4 million increase in accounts payable and a $7.1 million decrease in prepaid expenses and other current assets.

 

The $96.5 million of net cash provided by operating activities in 2016 was primarily the result of our net income adjusted for depreciation and amortization, an increase in accounts payable of $87.7 million relating to timing of payables, partially offset by a $24.8 million increase in inventory and a $18.3 million increase in accounts receivable.

 

Cash Flows from Investing Activities. Net cash used in investing activities was $5.8 million in 2018, $22.1 million in 2017, and $10.8 million in 2016.

 

The $5.8 million of net cash used in investing activities in 2018 was primarily related to $5.7 million of capital expenditures.

 

The $22.1 million of net cash used in investing activities in 2017 was primarily related to $17.3 million of capital expenditures, $3.1 million related to the acquisition of Provista Technology and $1.7 million related to the acquisition of Stack Technology.

 

The $10.8 million of net cash used in investing activities in 2016 was primarily related to $8.7 million of capital expenditures, $1.5 million related to the acquisition of Stratiform in December 2016 and $0.5 million of incremental acquisition-related investments.

 

Cash Flows from Financing Activities. Net cash used in financing activities of $130.0 million in 2018 compare to net cash provided by financing activities of $88.4 million in 2017 and net cash used in financing activities of $90.0 million in 2016.

 

The $130.0 million of net cash used in financing activities in 2018 was primarily related to $125.4 million of net payments on our line of credit and $3.5 million of payments on our notes payable.

 

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The $88.4 million of net cash provided by financing activities in 2017 was primarily related to $106.4 million of net borrowings on our line of credit, partially offset by $13.4 million of earn-out liability payments and $11.6 million of payments related to repurchases of our common stock.

 

The $90.0 million of net cash used in financing activities in 2016 was primarily related to $55.0 million of net payments on our line of credit, $13.1 million of earn-out liability payments and a $13.1million decrease in book overdraft.

 

Debt. The following table sets forth our outstanding debt as of the periods presented (in thousands):

 

   At December 31, 
   2018   2017 
Revolving credit facility, LIBOR plus 1.50%, maturing in March 2021  $88,399   $213,778 
Note payable, LIBOR plus 1.50%, maturing in March 2021(1)   9,243    11,032 
Note payable, LIBOR plus 1.50%, maturing in March 2021(2)   1,628    1,943 
Note payable, greater of 2% or LIBOR plus 2.15%, maturing in April 2022(3)   4,207    4,404 
Note payable, LIBOR plus 2.25%, maturing in January 2022(4)   3,679    3,908 
Note payable, LIBOR plus 2.25%, maturing in January 2020(5)   6,489    6,798 
Note payable, Prime plus 0.375% or LIBOR plus 2.375%, maturing in January 2020(6)   7,308    7,710 
Note payable, LIBOR plus 3.2%, maturing in May 2025   236    284 
Other notes payable, matured in August and September 2018       175 
Total   121,189    250,032 
Less: Total current debt   91,682    217,140 
Total non-current debt  $29,507   $32,892 

 

  (1) Refer to discussion below regarding the sub-line secured by the building in Santa Monica, California.
  (2) Refer to discussion below regarding the sub-line secured by the building in Woodridge, Illinois
  (3) Relates to a seven-year note, with a 25 year straight-line monthly principal amortization, secured by real property in Irvine, California.
  (4) Relates to a seven-year note, with a 25 year straight-line monthly principal amortization, secured by real property in Lewis Center, Ohio.
  (5) Relates to a five-year note, with a 25 year straight-line monthly principal amortization, secured by real property in New Albany, Ohio.
  (6) Relates to a five-year note, with a 25 year straight-line monthly principal amortization, secured by real property in El Segundo, California.

 

We maintain a credit facility, which functions as a working capital line of credit with a borrowing base of inventory and accounts receivable, including certain credit card receivables, and a portion of the value of certain real estate. On January 19, 2016, we entered into a Fourth Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement (the “Fourth Amended Loan Agreement”) with certain lenders and Wells Fargo Capital Finance, LLC as administrative and collateral agent (the “Lenders”). On July 7, 2016, we entered into a First Amendment to the Fourth Amended Loan Agreement with the Lenders and on February 24, 2017, we entered into a Second Amendment to the Fourth Amended Loan Agreement with the Lenders. On October 24, 2017, PCM, all of its wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries (collectively with PCM, the “US Borrowers”), all of its Canadian subsidiaries (collectively, the “Canadian Borrowers”) and its PCM UK subsidiary (together with the US Borrowers and the Canadian Borrowers, the “Borrowers”), entered into a Fifth Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement (the “Fifth Amended Loan Agreement”) with the Lenders. The Fifth Amended Loan Agreement amends and restates the Fourth Amended Loan Agreement.

 

As amended through December 31, 2018, the terms of our credit facility provide for (i) a Maximum Credit, as defined in the credit facility, of $345,000,000; (ii) a sub-line of up to C$40,000,000 as the Canadian Maximum Credit and a sub-line of up to £25,000,000 as the UK Maximum Credit ((i) and (ii) collectively the “Revolving Line”); (iii) a Maturity Date of March 19, 2021; (iv) interest on outstanding balance under the Canadian Maximum Credit based on the Canadian Base Rate (calculated as the greater of CDOR plus one percentage point and the “prime rate” for Canadian Dollar commercial loans, as further defined in the Fifth Amended Loan Agreement) or at the election of the Borrowers, based on the CDOR Rate, plus a margin, depending on average excess availability under the Revolving Line, ranging from 1.50% to 1.75%; (v) interest on outstanding UK balances based on LIBOR plus a margin, depending on average excess availability under the Revolving Line, ranging from 1.50% to 1.75%; (vi) interest on outstanding balance under the Maximum Credit based on the Eurodollar Rate plus a margin, depending on average excess availability under the revolving line, ranging from 1.50% to 1.75%; and (vii) a monthly unused line fee of 0.25% per year on the amount, if any, by which the Maximum Credit, then in effect, exceeds the average daily principal balance of outstanding borrowings during the immediately preceding month. The terms of our credit facility are more fully described in the Fifth Amended Loan Agreement.

 

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The credit facility is collateralized by substantially all of our assets. In addition to the security interest required by the credit facility, certain of our vendors have security interests in some of our assets related to their products. The credit facility has as its single financial covenant a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio (FCCR) requirement in the event an FCCR triggering event has occurred. An FCCR triggering event is comprised of maintaining certain specified daily and average excess availability thresholds. In the event the FCCR covenant applies, the fixed charge coverage ratio is 1.0 to 1.0 calculated on a trailing four-quarter basis as of the end of the last quarter immediately preceding such FCCR triggering event date. At December 31, 2018, we were in compliance with our financial covenant under the credit facility.

 

Loan availability under the line of credit fluctuates daily and is affected by many factors, including eligible assets on-hand, opportunistic purchases of inventory and availability and our utilization of early-pay discounts. At December 31, 2018, we had $207.0 million available to borrow for working capital advances under the line of credit.

 

In connection with, and as part of, our revolving credit facility, we maintain a sub-line with a limit of $12.5 million secured by our properties located in Santa Monica, California, with a monthly principal amortization of $149,083 and a sub-line with a limit of $2.2 million secured by our property in Woodridge, Illinois, with a monthly principal amortization of $26,250.

 

Also on July 7, 2016, we entered into a Credit Agreement with Castle Pines Capital LLC (“Castle Pines”), which provides for a credit facility (“Channel Finance Facility”) to finance the purchase of inventory from a list of approved vendors. The aggregate availability under the Channel Finance Facility is variable and discretionary, but has initially been set at $35 million. Each advance under the Channel Finance Facility will be made directly to an approved vendor and must be repaid on the earlier of (i) the payment due date as set by Castle Pines or (ii) the date (if any) when the inventory is lost, stolen or damaged. No interest accrues on advances paid on or prior to payment due date. The Channel Finance Facility is secured by a lien on certain of our assets, subject to an intercreditor arrangement with the Lenders. The Channel Finance Facility has an initial term of one year, but shall be automatically renewed for one year periods from year to year thereafter unless terminated earlier by either party within reasonable notice periods. As of December 31, 2108, we had no outstanding balance under the Channel Finance Facility.

 

At December 31, 2018, the effective weighted average annual interest rate on our outstanding amounts under the credit facility, term note and variable interest rate notes payable was 4.07%.

 

The carrying amounts of our line of credit borrowings and notes payable approximate their fair value based upon the current rates offered to us for obligations of similar terms and remaining maturities.

 

As part of our growth strategy, we may, in the future, make acquisitions in the same or complementary lines of business, and pursue other business ventures. Any launch of a new business venture or any acquisition and the ensuing integration of the acquired operations would place additional demands on our management, and our operating and financial resources.

 

Inflation

 

Inflation has not had a material impact on our operating results; however, there can be no assurance that inflation will not have a material impact on our business in the future.

 

Dividend Policy

 

We have never paid cash dividends on our capital stock and our credit facility prohibits us from paying any cash dividends on our capital stock. Therefore, we do not currently anticipate paying dividends; we intend to retain any earnings to finance the growth and development of our business.

 

49
 

 

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS, OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Contractual Obligations

 

The following tables set forth our future contractual obligations and other commercial commitments as of December 31, 2018 (in thousands), including the future periods in which payments are expected. Additional details regarding these obligations are provided in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of this report.

 

   Payments Due by Period 
   Total   Less than
1 year
   1-3 years   3-5 years   After 5 years 
Contractual obligations:                         
Long-term debt obligations(1)  $32,790   $3,283   $22,775   $6,685   $47 
Purchase and other obligations(2)   14,522    11,347    3,175         
Operating lease obligations   50,574    6,765    12,274    9,566    21,969 
Capital lease obligations   3,420    1,325    1,612    483