UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

Commission File Number: 001-31588

COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(952) 996-1674

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

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  ☒   NO  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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 and post such files). YES  ☒   NO  ☐

Indicate by a check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company (as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Large Accelerated Filer  ☐  Accelerated Filer  ☐  Non-Accelerated Filer  ☐  Smaller Reporting Company  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.  YES  ☐   NO  ☒

APPLICABLE ONLY TO CORPORATE ISSUERS:

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

INDEX

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the condensed consolidated financial statements. 

COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(Unaudited)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the condensed consolidated financial statements.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the condensed consolidated financial statements.

COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

(Unaudited)

NOTE 1 – SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Description of Business

Communications Systems, Inc. (herein collectively called “CSI” or the “Company”) is a Minnesota corporation organized in 1969 that operates primarily as a holding company conducting its business through four business units having operations in the United States, Costa Rica, and the United Kingdom. Through its Suttle business unit, the Company manufactures and sells copper and fiber connectivity systems, enclosure systems, and active technologies for voice, data and video communications. Through its Transition Networks business unit, the Company manufactures and sells media converters, network interface devices, network interface cards, Ethernet switches and other connectivity products that offer the ability to affordably integrate the benefits of fiber optics into any data network. Through its JDL Technologies business unit, the Company provides technology solutions including virtualization, managed services, wired and wireless network design and implementation, HIPAA-compliant IT services, and converged infrastructure configuration and deployment. Through its Net2Edge business unit, the Company enables telecommunications carriers to connect legacy networks to high-speed services.

Financial Statement Presentation

The condensed consolidated balance sheets and condensed consolidated statement of changes in stockholders’ equity as of September 30, 2016 and the related condensed consolidated statements of (loss) income and comprehensive (loss) income, and the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows for the periods ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 have been prepared by Company management. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (which include only normal recurring adjustments, except where noted) necessary to present fairly the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows at September 30, 2016 and 2015 and for the periods then ended have been made.

Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America have been condensed or omitted. We recommend these condensed consolidated financial statements be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s December 31, 2015 Annual Report to Shareholders on Form 10-K. The results of operations for the period ended September 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of operating results for the entire year.

The presentation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The estimates and assumptions used in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements are based upon management’s evaluation of the relevant facts and circumstances as of the time of the financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Except to the extent updated or described below, the significant accounting policies set forth in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, appropriately represent, in all material respects, the current status of accounting policies, and are incorporated herein by reference.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

The components of accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, are as follows:

The Company recognized $4,238,000 in foreign currency translation losses within the income statement during the first quarter due to the substantial liquidation of our Austin Taylor facility in the U.K. Refer to Note 12 for further information regarding the pension liability adjustment recognized in income in the first quarter of 2016.

NOTE 2 – CASH EQUIVALENTS AND INVESTMENTS

The following tables show the Company’s cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities’ amortized cost, gross unrealized gains, gross unrealized losses and fair value by significant investment category recorded as cash and cash equivalents or short and long term investments as of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015:

The Company tests for other-than-temporary losses on a quarterly basis and has considered the unrealized losses shown above to be temporary in nature. The Company intends to hold these investments until it can recover the full principal amount and has the ability to do so based on its other sources of liquidity. The Company expects these recoveries to occur prior to the contractual maturities. All unrealized losses as of September 30, 2016 were in a continuous unrealized loss position for less than twelve months and are not deemed to be other than temporarily impaired as of September 30, 2016.

The following table summarizes the estimated fair value of our investments, designated as available-for-sale and classified by the contractual maturity date of the securities as of September 30, 2016:

The Company did not recognize any gross realized gains, and gross realized losses were immaterial, during the three-month periods ending September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. If the Company had realized gains or losses, they would be included within investment and other income in the accompanying consolidated results of operations.

NOTE 3 - STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Under the Company’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”), employees are able to acquire shares of common stock at 85% of the price at the end of each current quarterly plan term. The most recent term ended September 30, 2016. The ESPP is considered compensatory under current Internal Revenue Service rules. At September 30, 2016, after giving effect to the shares issued as of that date, 85,569 shares remain available for purchase under the ESPP.

2011 Executive Incentive Compensation Plan

On March 28, 2011 the Board adopted and on May 19, 2011 the Company’s shareholders approved the Company’s 2011 Executive Incentive Compensation Plan (“2011 Incentive Plan”). The 2011 Incentive Plan authorizes incentive awards to officers, key employees and non-employee directors in the form of options (incentive and non-qualified), stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance stock units (“deferred stock”), performance cash units, and other awards in stock, cash, or a combination of stock and cash. The 2011 Incentive Plan, as amended, allows the issuance of up to 2,000,000 shares of common stock.

During 2016, stock options covering 325,968 shares have been awarded to key executive employees and directors. These options expire seven years from the date of award and vest 25% each year beginning one year after the date of award. The Company also granted deferred stock awards of 102,161 shares to key employees during the first quarter of 2016 under the Company’s long-term incentive plan for performance over the 2016 to 2018 period. The actual number of shares of deferred stock, if any, that are ultimately earned by the respective employees will be determined based on achievement against performance goals at the end of the three year period ending December 31, 2018 and any shares earned will be issued in the first quarter of 2019 to those key employees still with the Company at that time.

At September 30, 2016, 131,035 shares have been issued under the 2011 Incentive Plan, 1,121,153 shares are subject to currently outstanding options, deferred stock awards, and unvested restricted stock units, and 747,812 shares are eligible for grant under future awards.

Stock Option Plan for Directors

Shares of common stock are reserved for issuance to non-employee directors under options granted by the Company prior to 2011 under its Stock Option Plan for Non-Employee Directors (the “Director Plan”). Under the Director Plan nonqualified stock options to acquire shares of common stock were automatically granted to each non-employee director concurrent with annual meetings of shareholders in 2010 and earlier years, with the exercise price of options granted being the fair market value of the common stock on the date of the respective shareholder meetings. Options granted under the Director Plan expire 10 years from date of grant. No options were granted under the Director Plan in 2014 or 2015. The Company amended the Director Plan in May 2011 to prohibit future option grants. As of September 30, 2016, there were 63,000 shares subject to outstanding options under the Director Plan.

1992 Stock Plan

Under the Company’s 1992 Stock Plan (“the Stock Plan”), shares of common stock may be issued pursuant to stock options, restricted stock or deferred stock grants to officers and key employees. Exercise prices of stock options under the Stock Plan cannot be less than fair market value of the stock on the date of grant. Rules and conditions governing awards of stock options, restricted stock and deferred stock are determined by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, subject to limitations in the Stock Plan. The Company amended the Stock Plan in 2011 to prohibit future stock options or other equity awards.

At September 30, 2016, after reserving for stock options and deferred stock awards granted in prior years and adjusting for forfeitures and issuances during the year, there were 10,230 shares reserved for issuance under the Stock Plan. The Company has not awarded stock options or deferred stock under the Stock Plan since 2011.

Changes in Stock Options Outstanding

The following table summarizes changes in the number of outstanding stock options under the 2011 Incentive Plan, the Director Plan and Stock Plan over the period December 31, 2015 to September 30, 2016:

The aggregate intrinsic value of all options (the amount by which the market price of the stock on the last day of the period exceeded the market price of the stock on the date of grant) outstanding at September 30, 2016 was $0. The intrinsic value of all options exercised during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 was $0. Net cash proceeds from the exercise of all stock options were $0 for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015.

Changes in Deferred Stock Outstanding

The following table summarizes the changes in the number of deferred stock shares under the Stock Plan and 2011 Incentive Plan over the period December 31, 2015 to September 30, 2016:

Changes in Restricted Stock Units Outstanding

The following table summarizes the changes in the number of restricted stock units under the 2011 Incentive Plan over the period December 31, 2015 to September 30, 2016:

Compensation Expense

Share-based compensation expense recognized for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016 was $505,000 before income taxes and $328,000 after income taxes. Share-based compensation expense recognized for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2015 was $701,000 before income taxes and $456,000 after income taxes. Unrecognized compensation expense for the Company’s plans was $557,000 at September 30, 2016 and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.8 years. Excess tax benefits from the exercise of stock options and issuance of stock included in financing cash flows for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 were $ (63,000) and $ 88,000, respectively. Share-based compensation expense is recorded as a part of selling, general and administrative expenses.

NOTE 4 - INVENTORIES

Inventories summarized below are priced at the lower of first-in, first-out cost or market: 

NOTE 5 – ACQUISITION

On June 1, 2015, the Company acquired all of the shares of Twisted Technologies, Inc. (“Twisted Technologies”). The purchase price was $1,463,000, with cash acquired totaling $83,000. The purchase price includes initial consideration of $1,000,000, deferred consideration of $300,000 paid out on March 31, 2016, and $163,000 in estimated contingent consideration. The Company has agreed to pay consideration contingent upon the Twisted Technologies business achieving specific revenue targets over a three-year period, with the consideration to be paid after each annual period has lapsed. The Company has recognized $163,000 as the estimated fair value of the contingent consideration at the date of acquisition. The maximum payout is not limited. At September 30, 2016, the Company had estimated liabilities of $7,000 related to these outstanding contingent consideration payments.

The assets and liabilities of Twisted Technologies were recorded in the consolidated balance sheet within the JDL Technologies segment at September 30, 2016. The purchase price allocation was based on estimates of the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed and included total assets of $1,591,000, including goodwill of $1,463,000, and total liabilities of $128,000. The entire goodwill balance is deductible for tax purposes.

NOTE 6 –GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 by segment are as follows:

The Company’s identifiable intangible assets with finite lives are being amortized over their estimated useful lives and were as follows: 

Amortization expense on these identifiable intangible assets was $63,000 and $50,000 in 2016 and 2015, respectively. The amortization expense is included in selling, general and administrative expenses. At September 30, 2016, the estimated future amortization expense for definite-lived intangible assets for the remainder of 2016 and all of the following four fiscal years is as follows:

NOTE 7 – WARRANTY

We provide reserves for the estimated cost of product warranties at the time revenue is recognized. We estimate the costs of our warranty obligations based on our warranty policy or applicable contractual warranty, historical experience of known product failure rates, and use of materials and service delivery costs incurred in correcting product failures. Management reviews the estimated warranty liability on a quarterly basis to determine its adequacy. The actual warranty expense could differ from the estimates made by the Company based on product performance.

The following table presents the changes in the Company’s warranty liability for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively, the majority of which relates to a five-year obligation to provide for potential future liabilities for network equipment sales. 

NOTE 8 – CONTINGENCIES

In the ordinary course of business, the Company is exposed to legal actions and claims and incurs costs to defend against these actions and claims. Company management is not aware of any outstanding or pending legal actions or claims that could materially affect the Company’s financial position or results of operations.

NOTE 9 – DEBT

Long-term Debt

The mortgage on the Company’s headquarters building was payable in monthly installments and carried an interest rate of 6.83%. The mortgage matured on March 1, 2016 and the Company paid $104,000 in the first quarter of 2016 to fully settle the liability. The mortgage was secured by the building.

Line of Credit

The Company has a $15,000,000 line of credit from Wells Fargo Bank. The Company had no outstanding borrowings against the line of credit at September 30, 2016. Due to the revolving nature of loans under our credit facility, additional borrowings and periodic repayments and re-borrowings may be made until the maturity date. The total amount available for borrowings under our credit facility at September 30, 2016 was $13,037,000, based on the borrowing base calculation. Interest on borrowings on the credit line is at LIBOR plus 2.0% (2.5% at September 30, 2016). The credit agreement expires August 12, 2021 and is secured by assets of the Company. Our credit agreement contains financial covenants including a minimum liquidity balance of $10,000,000. Liquidity is calculated as the sum of unrestricted cash, marketable securities and the availability on the line of credit. At September 30, 2016, our liquidity level was $25,814,000. The Company was in compliance with its financial covenants at September 30, 2016.

NOTE 10 – INCOME TAXES

In the preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements, management calculates income taxes based upon the estimated effective rate applicable to operating results for the full fiscal year. This includes estimating the current tax liability as well as assessing differences resulting from different treatment of items for tax and book accounting purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are recorded on the balance sheet. Management analyzes these assets and liabilities regularly and assesses the likelihood that deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income.

At September 30, 2016 there was $229,000 of net uncertain tax benefit positions that would reduce the effective income tax rate if recognized. The Company records interest and penalties related to income taxes as income tax expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income.

The Company is subject to U.S. federal income tax as well as income tax of multiple state and foreign jurisdictions. The tax years 2012-2015 remain open to examination by the Internal Revenue Service and the years 2011-2015 remain open to examination by various state tax departments. The tax years from 2012-2015 remain open in Costa Rica. In April 2016, we received notification from the Internal Revenue Service that they would be performing an examination of our 2012 and 2013 federal consolidated income tax returns. As of September 30, 2016, the examination was still in progress. We do not expect that any settlement or payment that may result from the examination will have a material effect on our results of operations.

The Company’s effective income tax rate was (4.0%) for the first nine months of 2016. The effective tax rate differs from the federal tax rate of 35% due to state income taxes, foreign tax rate differences, foreign losses not deductible for U.S. income tax purposes, provisions for interest charges for uncertain income tax positions, and changes in valuation allowances related to deferred tax assets. The foreign operating losses may ultimately be deductible in the countries in which they occurred; however the Company has not recorded a deferred tax asset for these losses due to uncertainty regarding the eventual realization of the benefit. The effect of the foreign operations was an overall rate decrease of approximately (6.6%) for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. The Company’s effective income tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 was 43.3%, and differed from the federal tax rate due to state income taxes, foreign tax rate differences, foreign losses not deductible for U.S. income tax purposes and provisions for interest charges for uncertain income tax positions and the net impact of research and development credits.

NOTE 11 – SEGMENT INFORMATION

Effective January 1, 2016, the Company realigned its business operations. As a result of the realignment, the Company has segregated its Transition Networks subsidiary TN EMEA (now renamed Net2Edge) as a separate operating segment. Following this realignment, the Company classifies its businesses into four segments as follows:

Management has chosen to organize the enterprise and disclose reportable segments based on our products and services. Intersegment revenues are eliminated upon consolidation. To conform to the 2016 presentation, the Company has reclassified 2015 segment information to present the Net2Edge business unit as a separate segment.

Information concerning the Company’s continuing operations in the various segments for the three month periods ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 is as follows:

NOTE 12 – PENSIONS

The Company’s U.K. based subsidiary Austin Taylor maintained a defined benefit pension plan for its employees through March 31, 2016. The Company does not provide any other post-retirement benefits to its employees. Components of net periodic benefit of the pension plans for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 were:

The Company settled all its obligations under pension plan in the first quarter of 2016. The Company had contributed $650,000 toward the settlement of the pension into annuities in 2015, which resulted in the recognition of $1,222,000 of pension settlement costs in the income statement in the fourth quarter of 2015. The Company contributed an additional $68,000 toward the settlement in the first quarter of 2016, which resulted in a benefit of $43,000 recorded within operating expenses. As a result of the final settlement of all of its pension obligations, in the first quarter of 2016, the Company recorded $4,148,000 in pension liability adjustment gains previously recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income within operating expenses in the consolidated statement of income.

NOTE 13 – NET INCOME (LOSS) PER SHARE

Basic net income per common share is based on the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during each year. Diluted net income per common share takes into effect the dilutive effect of potential common shares outstanding. The Company’s only potential common shares outstanding are stock options and shares associated with the long-term incentive compensation plans, which resulted in no dilutive effect for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2016. The Company calculates the dilutive effect of outstanding options using the treasury stock method. Due to the net losses in the first three and nine-month periods of 2015, there was no dilutive impact from stock options or unvested shares. Options totaling 964,563 and 846,584 were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2016 because the exercise price was greater than the average market price of common stock during the period and deferred stock awards totaling 159,689 shares would not have been included for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2016 because of unmet performance conditions. Options totaling 625,812 would have been excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2015, because the exercise price was greater than the average market price of common stock during the period and deferred stock awards totaling 192,061 shares would not have been included for the three and nine-months ended September 30, 2015 because of unmet performance conditions.

NOTE 14 – FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

The accounting guidance establishes a valuation hierarchy for disclosure of the inputs to valuation used to measure fair value. This hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three broad levels as follows:

Level 1 – Observable inputs that reflect unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets that the Company has the ability to access at the measurement date.

Level 2 – Observable inputs such as quoted prices for similar instruments and quoted prices in markets that are not active, and inputs that are directly observable or can be corroborated by observable market data. The types of assets and liabilities included in Level 2 are typically either comparable to actively traded securities or contracts, such as treasury securities with pricing interpolated from recent trades of similar securities, or priced with models using highly observable inputs, such as commodity options priced using observable forward prices and volatilities.

Level 3 – Significant inputs to pricing that have little or no observability as of the reporting date. The types of assets and liabilities included in Level 3 are those with inputs requiring significant management judgment or estimation, such as the complex and subjective models and forecasts used to determine the fair value of financial instruments.

Financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value as of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, are summarized below: