| • ARI NETWORK SERVICES INC 10-Q 1-31-2012 • EXHIBIT 10.1 • EXHIBIT 10.2 • EXHIBIT 10.3 • EXHIBIT 10.4 • EXHIBIT 31.1 • EXHIBIT 31.2 • EXHIBIT 32.1 • EXHIBIT 32.2 • XBRL INSTANCE DOCUMENT • XBRL SCHEMA DOCUMENT • XBRL CALCULATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT • XBRL LABEL LINKBASE DOCUMENT • XBRL PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT • XBRL DEFINITION LINKBASE DOCUMENT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark One)
For the quarterly period ended January 31, 2012
For the transition period from_____________________to_____________________
Commission file number 000-19608
ARI Network Services, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act 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 þ NO o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (S232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).
YES þ NO o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
YES o NO þ
As of March 6, 2012 there were 8,015,800 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.
ARI Network Services, Inc.
FORM 10-Q
FOR THE THREE AND SIX MONTHS ENDED JANUARY 31, 2012
INDEX
Item 1. Financial Statements
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Dollars in Thousands, Except per Share Data)
See accompanying notes
ARI Network Services, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Dollars in Thousands, Except per Share Data)
See accompanying notes
Consolidated Statements of Income
(Dollars in Thousands, Except per Share Data)
See accompanying notes
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Dollars in Thousands)
See accompanying notes
Description of the Business
ARI Network Services, Inc. (“ARI” or the “Company”) is a leader in creating, marketing, and supporting solutions that enhance revenue and reduce costs for our customers. Our innovative, technology-enabled solutions connect the community of consumers, dealers, distributors, and manufacturers to help our customers efficiently service and sell more whole goods, parts, garments, and accessories (“PG&A”) worldwide in selected vertical markets that include power sports, outdoor power equipment, marine, and white goods. We estimate that approximately 18,000 equipment dealers, 125 manufacturers, and 150 distributors worldwide leverage our technology to drive revenue, gain efficiencies and increase customer satisfaction.
Our suite of software products, data as a service (“DaaS”) and software as a service (“SaaS”) solutions are designed to facilitate our customers’ operations by increasing sales through additional foot and website traffic, more effective lead management, and greater conversion rates on those leads. To achieve this, our solutions allow our customers to: (i) efficiently market to their customers and prospects in order to drive increased traffic to their location and website; (ii) manage and nurture customers and prospects; (iii) increase revenue by selling PG&A online; (iv) increase revenue by generating leads for whole goods; and (v) increase revenue and reduce costs of our dealer customers by enhancing the productivity of our customers’ support operations, specifically with respect to the sale of manufacturers’ parts.
We were incorporated in Wisconsin in 1981. Our principal executive office and headquarters is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The office address is 10850 West Park Place, Suite 1200, Milwaukee, WI 53224, and our telephone number at that location is (414) 973-4300. Our principal website address is www.arinet.com.
Basis of Presentation
These consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of ARI and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. We eliminated all significant intercompany balances and transactions in consolidation. Any adjustments deemed necessary by management for a fair presentation of all periods presented have been reflected as required by Regulation S-X, Rule 10-01, in the normal course of business.
Significant Accounting Policies
Our accounting policies are fully described in the footnotes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2011, which appear in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 31, 2011. There were no changes to our accounting policies during the three and six months ended January 31, 2012.
Revenue Recognition
Revenue from software licenses, annual or periodic maintenance fees and catalog subscription fees, which are included in multiple element arrangements, are all recognized ratably over the contractual term of the arrangement, as vendor specific objective evidence does not exist for these elements. ARI considers all arrangements with payment terms extending beyond twelve months not to be fixed or determinable and evaluates other arrangements with payment terms longer than normal to determine whether the arrangement is fixed or determinable. If the fee is not fixed or determinable, revenue is recognized as payments become due from the customer. Arrangements that include acceptance terms beyond the standard terms are not recognized until acceptance has occurred. If collectability is not considered probable, revenue is recognized when the fee is collected.
Revenue for use of the network and for information services is recognized on a straight-line basis over the period of the contract.
Arrangements that include professional services are evaluated to determine whether those services are essential to the functionality of other elements of the arrangement. Types of services that are considered essential to software license arrangements include customizing complex features and functionality in a product’s base software code or developing complex interfaces within a customer’s environment. When professional services are considered essential to software license arrangements, the professional service revenue is recognized pursuant to contract accounting using the percentage-of-completion method with progress-to-completion measured based upon labor hours incurred. Professional services revenue for set-up and integration of hosted websites, or other services considered essential to the functionality of other elements of this type of arrangement, is amortized over the term of the contract. When professional services are not considered essential, the revenue allocable to the professional services is recognized as the services are performed. When the current estimates of total contract revenue and contract cost indicate a loss, a provision for the entire loss on the contract is made in the period the amount is determined.
Revenue for variable transaction fees, primarily for use of the shopping cart feature of our websites, is recognized as it is earned.
Amounts invoiced to customers prior to recognition as revenue, as discussed above, are reflected in the accompanying balance sheets as deferred revenue.
Amounts received from shipping and handling fees are reflected in revenue. Costs incurred for shipping and handling are reported in cost of revenue.
Trade Receivables, Credit Policy and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
Trade receivables are uncollateralized customer obligations due on normal trade terms, most of which require payment within thirty (30) days from the invoice date. Payments of trade receivables are allocated to the specific invoices identified on the customer’s remittance advice or, if unspecified, are applied to the earliest unpaid invoices.
The carrying amount of trade receivables is reduced by an allowance that reflects management’s best estimate of the amounts that will not be collected. Management individually reviews all receivable balances that exceed ninety (90) days from the invoice date and, based on an assessment of current creditworthiness, estimates the portion of the balance that will not be collected. The allowance for potential doubtful accounts is reflected as an offset to trade receivables in the accompanying balance sheets.
Capitalized and Purchased Software Product Costs
Certain software development and acquisition costs are capitalized when incurred. Capitalization of these costs begins upon the establishment of technological feasibility. The establishment of technological feasibility and the on-going assessment of recoverability of software costs require considerable judgment by management with respect to certain external factors, including, but not limited to, the determination of technological feasibility, anticipated future gross revenue, estimated economic life and changes in software and hardware technologies.
The annual amortization of software products is the greater of the amount computed using: (a) the ratio that current gross revenue for the network or a software product bear to the total of current and anticipated future gross revenue for the network or a software product, or (b) the straight-line method over the estimated economic life of the product which currently runs from three to five years. Amortization starts when the product is available for general release to customers. All other software development and support expenditures are charged to expense in the period incurred.
Advertising Costs
Advertising costs, which are included in sales and marketing expense on the statement of income, are expensed as incurred. Total advertising costs were $27,000 and $15,000 for the three months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011 and $52,000 and $43,000 for the six months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011.
Legal Provisions
ARI is periodically involved in legal proceedings arising from contracts, patents or other matters in the normal course of business. We reserve for any material estimated losses if the outcome is probable, in accordance with GAAP. We had no legal provisions for the three or six months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
Basic net income per common share is computed by dividing net income by the basic weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income per common share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period and reflects the potential dilution that could occur if all of the Company’s outstanding stock options that are in the money were exercised (calculated using the treasury stock method).
The following table is a reconciliation of basic and diluted net income per common share for the periods indicated (in thousands, except per share data):
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
The Company’s 2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, as amended, (“ESPP”) has 225,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance, of which 185,156 and 177,439 of the shares have been issued as of January 31, 2012 and July 31, 2011, respectively. All employees with at least nine months of service are eligible to participate. Shares may be purchased at the end of a specified period at the lower of 85% of the market value at the beginning or end of the specified period through accumulation of payroll deductions, not to exceed 5,000 shares per employee per year.
Stock Option Plans
The Company’s 1991 Stock Option Plan (the “1991 Plan”) was terminated on August 14, 2001, except as to outstanding options. All 35,000 options outstanding under the 1991 Plan, with a weighted average exercise price of $2.33, expired as of September 7, 2010.
The Company’s 1993 Director Stock Option Plan (the “1993 Plan”) was terminated on August 14, 2001, except as to outstanding options. All 750 options outstanding under the 1993 Plan, with a weighted average exercise price of $2.05, expired as of September 11, 2010.
Total stock compensation expense recognized by the Company was approximately $27,000 and $43,000 during the three and six month periods ended January 31, 2012 and approximately $34,000 and $59,000 for the same periods last year. There was approximately $226,000 and $168,000 of total unrecognized compensation costs related to non-vested options granted under the Company’s stock option plans as of January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. There were no capitalized stock-based compensation costs at January 31, 2012 or July 31, 2011.
We used the Black-Scholes model to value stock options granted. Expected volatility is based on historical volatility of the Company’s stock. The expected life of options granted represents the period of time that options granted are expected to be outstanding. The risk-free rate for periods within the contractual term of the options is based on the United States Treasury yields in effect at the time of grant.
As recognizing stock-based compensation expense is based on awards ultimately expected to vest, the amount of recognized expense has been reduced for estimated forfeitures based on the Company’s historical experience.
The fair value of each option granted was estimated in the period of issuance using the assumptions in the following table for the three and six months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively:
2000 Stock Option Plan
The Company’s 2000 Stock Option Plan (the “2000 Plan”) had 1,950,000 shares of common stock authorized for issuance. Each incentive stock option that was granted under the 2000 Plan is exercisable for a period of not more than ten years from the date of grant (five years in the case of a participant who is a 10% shareholder of the Company, unless the stock options are nonqualified), or such shorter period as determined by the Compensation Committee, and shall lapse upon the expiration of said period, or earlier upon termination of the participant’s employment with the Company. The 2000 Plan expired on December 13, 2010, at which time it was terminated except for outstanding options. While options previously granted under the 2000 Plan will continue to be effective through the remainder of their terms, no new options may be granted under the 2000 Plan. Changes in option shares under the 2000 Plan during the three and six months ended January 31, 2011 and 2012 are as follows:
The range of exercise prices for options outstanding under the 2000 Plan was $0.15 to $2.74 at January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
Changes in the 2000 Plan's non-vested option shares included in the outstanding shares above during the three and six months ended January 31, 2011 and 2012 are as follows:
The weighted average remaining vesting period was 1.24 and 1.38 years at January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
2010 Equity Incentive Plan
The Board of Directors adopted the ARI Network Services, Inc. 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”) on November 9, 2010, and it was approved by the Company's shareholders in December 2010. The 2010 Plan is the successor to the Company’s 2000 Plan.
The 2010 Plan includes the following provisions:
Changes in option shares under the 2010 Plan during the three and six months ended January 31, 2011 and 2012 are as follows:
The range of exercise prices for options outstanding under the 2010 Plan was $0.575 to $1.35 and $0.65 to $0.655 at January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
Changes in the 2010 Plan's non-vested option shares included in the outstanding shares above during the three and six months ended January 31, 2011 and 2012 are as follows:
The weighted average remaining vesting period was 1.62 and 1.28 years at January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
On July 9, 2004, the Company entered into a line of credit agreement with JPMorgan Chase, N.A. (the “Chase Line”) which, as amended, permitted the Company to borrow an amount equal to 80% of the book value of all eligible accounts receivable plus 45% of the value of all eligible open renewal orders (provided the renewal rate was at least 85%) minus $75,000, up to $2,000,000. The agreement bore interest at 1% per annum above the prime rate plus an additional 3%, at the bank’s option, upon the occurrence of any default under the note. The interest rate was subject to a floor equal to the sum of (i) 2.5%; plus (ii) the quotient of: (a) the one month LIBOR rate divided by (b) one minus the maximum aggregate reserve requirement imposed under Regulation D of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The agreement included a non-usage fee of 0.25% per annum on any unused portion of the line of credit and was secured by substantially all of the Company’s assets. The line of credit limited repurchases of common stock, the payment of dividends, liens on assets and new indebtedness. It also contained a financial covenant requiring the Company to maintain a minimum debt service coverage ratio of 1.2 to 1.0. The Chase Line was terminated effective July 27, 2011.
On July 27, 2011, the Company entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Fifth Third Bank (“Fifth Third”). Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Fifth Third extended to the Company credit facilities consisting of a $1,500,000 revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Loan”) and a $5,000,000 term loan facility (the “Term Loan” and, together with the Revolving Loan, the “Credit Facilities”), which matures on July 27, 2014. Each of the credit facilities bears interest at a rate based on the one, two, three or six month LIBOR (as selected by the Company on the last business day of each month) plus 4.0% (effective rate of 4.30% as of January 31, 2012). There was $0 outstanding and $1,500,000 available on the Revolving Loan as of January 31, 2012.
The Agreement contains covenants that restrict, among other things and subject to certain conditions, the ability of the Company to incur new debt, create liens on its assets, make certain investments, enter into merger transactions, issue capital securities (other than employee and director options, employee benefit plans, and other compensation programs), and make distributions to its shareholders. Financial covenants include a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, as defined in the Agreement, of 1.2, and a senior leverage (maximum senior funded indebtedness to EBITDA) ratio, as defined in the Agreement, of 2.0. The Agreement also contains customary events of default which, if triggered, could result in an acceleration of the Company’s obligations under the Agreement. The Credit Facilities are secured by a first priority security interest in substantially all assets of the Company and by a first priority pledge of all outstanding equity securities of each of the Company’s domestic subsidiaries and 65% of outstanding equity securities of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries. The Company was in compliance with all debt covenants as of January 31, 2012.
On April 27, 2009, the Company issued a $5,000,000 secured promissory note in connection with the acquisition of Channel Blade Technologies. The annual interest rate on the note was 10% for the first year and 14% thereafter. Accrued interest only was due quarterly commencing July 31, 2009 through April 30, 2011. Twenty equal quarterly payments of principal and interest were due, commencing August 1, 2011. On July 27, 2011 the Company entered into the Agreement described above with Fifth Third Bank, the proceeds of which were used to pay off the Channel Blade note in full on July 27, 2011.
The following table sets forth certain information related to the Company’s long-term debt, derived from our unaudited balance sheet as of January 31, 2012 and audited balance sheet as of July 31, 2011 (in thousands):
Principal and interest on the Term Loan will be repaid in fixed monthly principal installments of $83,333 plus accrued but unpaid interest on the unpaid principal balance commencing on September 1, 2011 through July 1, 2014, with a final balloon payment due July 27, 2014. Mandatory prepayments of the Credit Facilities will be required in the amount of 50% of the Company’s excess cash flow for the six-month periods ending January 31, 2012 and July 31, 2012 and for each fiscal year thereafter. Excess cash flow is defined as the remainder of net income plus interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization expense for such period, minus cash taxes paid, capital expenditures incurred, capitalized software costs and scheduled payments of principal and interest charges. Current maturities include $207,000 or 50% of the excess cash flow at January 31, 2012.
On August 7, 2003, the Company adopted a Shareholder Rights Plan designed to protect the interests of common shareholders from an inadequate or unfair takeover, but not affect a takeover proposal which the Board of Directors believes is fair to all shareholders. Under the Shareholder Rights Plan adopted by the Board of Directors, all shareholders of record on August 18, 2003 received one Preferred Share Purchase Right for each share of common stock they owned. These Rights trade in tandem with the common stock until and unless they are triggered. Should a person or group acquire more than 10% of ARI’s common stock (or if an existing holder of 10% or more of the common stock were to increase its position by more than 1%), the Rights would become exercisable for every shareholder except the acquirer that triggered the exercise. The Rights, if triggered, would give the rest of the shareholders the ability to purchase additional stock of ARI at a substantial discount. The Rights will expire on August 18, 2013, and can be redeemed by the Company for $0.01 per Right at any time prior to a person or group becoming a 10% shareholder.
The unaudited provision for income taxes for the three and six months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011 is composed of the following (in thousands):
The provision for income taxes is based on taxes payable under currently enacted tax laws and an analysis of temporary differences between the book and tax bases of the Company’s assets and liabilities, including various accruals, allowances, depreciation and amortization, and does not represent current taxes due. The tax effect of these temporary differences and the estimated benefit from tax net operating losses are reported as deferred tax assets and liabilities in the balance sheet. We have unused net operating loss carry forwards for federal income tax purposes, and as a result, we generally only incur alternative minimum taxes at the federal level.
As of January 31, 2012, the Company had accumulated net operating loss carryforwards for federal and state tax purposes of approximately $12,414,000 and $6,993,000, respectively, which expire as follows:
* Years not shown have no amounts that expire.
† Was reduced for current year estimated usage/expiration for the six months ended January 31, 2012.
An assessment is performed semi-annually of the likelihood that the Company’s net deferred tax assets will be realized from future taxable income. To the extent management believes it is more likely than not that some portion, or all, of the deferred tax asset will not be realized, a valuation allowance is established. This assessment is based on all available evidence, both positive and negative, in evaluating the likelihood of realizability. Issues considered in the assessment include future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, estimates of future taxable income (exclusive of reversing temporary differences and carryforwards) and prudent tax planning strategies available in future periods. Because the ultimate realizability of deferred tax assets is highly subject to the outcome of future events, the amount established as a valuation allowance is considered to be a significant estimate that is subject to change in the near term. To the extent a valuation allowance is established or there is a change in the allowance during a period, the change is reflected with a corresponding increase or decrease in the tax provision in the Consolidated Statements of Income.
The Company recorded a benefit related to a net change in estimate on our valuation allowance of approximately $21,000 for the quarter ended January 31, 2012 and $137,000 for the same period last year, as a result of our semi-annual evaluation of the likelihood that our net deferred tax assets will be realized from future taxable income. We will continue to evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets on a semi-annual basis.
The Company’s business segments are internally organized primarily by geographic location of the operating facilities. In accordance with GAAP regarding disclosures about business segments, the Company has segregated the Netherlands operation and the United States operations into separate reportable segments. Segment revenue for the Netherlands operation includes only revenue generated out of the Netherlands subsidiary and does not include rest of world revenue attributable to the United States operations. The Company evaluates the performance of and allocates resources to each of the segments based on their operating results. Unaudited information concerning our operating business segments is as follows for the periods indicated (in thousands):
On March 1, 2011, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Globalrange Corporation (“Globalrange”). Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company sold to Globalrange certain rights and assets relating to our electronic data interchange business for the agricultural chemicals industry (the “AgChem EDI Business”). Because the AgChem EDI Business was not a separate entity or reportable segment, the transaction was recorded as a disposition of a component of an entity.
As part of the purchase price for the AgChem EDI Business, Globalrange agreed to assume certain liabilities of ARI relating to the AgChem EDI Business, primarily consisting of unearned revenue (as defined in the Agreement). Globalrange will make earn-out payments to ARI annually over a four-year period following the closing date, with an initial pre-payment of $80,000. The amounts of such earn-out payments will be determined based on collections received by Globalrange relating to the AgChem EDI Business during such period, and will be subject to a floor and cap, in accordance with the terms of the Agreement.
The fair value of the earn-out was estimated at $580,000 less an imputed discount of $97,000, based on the present value of the estimated earn-out payments, discounted at 14%, which was the prevailing rate of interest charged on the Company’s debt at the time of the sale. The discount is amortized to interest income, which is included in other income on the consolidated statement of income, over the life of the earn-out.
The remaining earn-out receivable includes $56,000 in prepaid expenses and other and $172,000 in other long term assets on the unaudited balance sheet at January 31, 2012, with estimated receivables as follows:
The following table shows changes in the earn-out receivable during the three and six months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011 respectively:
The following discussion of our results of operations and financial condition should be read together with our unaudited consolidated financial statements for the three and six months ended January 31, 2012 and 2011, including the notes thereto, which appear elsewhere in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q. All amounts are in thousands, except per share data. This discussion contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and our future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical facts are statements that could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about the markets in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “targets,” “goals,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “endeavors,” “strives,” “may,” variations of such words, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to projections of our future financial performance, our anticipated growth and trends in our businesses, and other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict, estimate, or verify, including those identified in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2011, under “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” and elsewhere herein. Therefore, actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason.
Overview of Business
ARI Network Services, Inc. (“ARI” or the “Company”) is a leader in creating, marketing, and supporting SaaS and DaaS solutions that connect consumers, dealers, distributors and manufacturers in the vertical markets we serve - our Community. We empower our Community of powersports, outdoor power, marine, RV, and white goods customers to efficiently service and sell more whole goods and PG&A around the world. We estimate that approximately 18,000 equipment dealers, 125 manufacturers, and 150 distributors worldwide leverage our technology to drive revenue, reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction.
Our Solutions
Our suite of software, SaaS and DaaS solutions is designed to help our customers sell more wholegoods, parts, garments and accessories. Our suite of products and services includes:
Further information regarding our service offerings can be accessed at the Company’s website at www.arinet.com, or in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2011. Please note that we are not including the information contained on or available through our website as a part of, or incorporating such information by reference into, this quarterly report on Form 10-Q.
Sales, Marketing and Support Teams
We organize our sales and marketing programs into three distinct sales channels and two geographic regions, including North America and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
Sales Channels
We go to market utilizing three distinct sales teams, determined through a combination of customer, product, and geographic market. Our field sales personnel focus on building relationships with manufacturers and distributors, while our inside, telephone-based sales team focuses on selling to dealers. The dealer sales team is further divided by product (catalog sales versus other products and services) and there is an international sales team in The Netherlands. We are also in the process of enhancing our core products to allow for customer self-service sales capabilities, which will increase revenue at a low incremental cost per dealer.
Marketing
Our marketing strategy is designed to drive knowledge of our value proposition into the markets we serve. We use a variety of marketing programs to target and build relationships with our prospective and current customers and partners. Our primary marketing activities include, but are not limited to, participation in dealer meetings and trade shows, lead generation activities, email and phone campaigns and various other marketing collateral designed to enable our sales organization to more effectively develop leads and close transactions.
Customer Service and Support
Customer support is a critical part of our strategy as it is essential to retaining our existing customer base and reducing the level of customer churn. We maintain customer support operations in each of the Company’s four locations. Our support representatives are available via telephone or email. We also maintain a customer satisfaction and renewal team that focuses on proactively reaching out to customers to ensure that our customers are satisfied and are receiving the most value possible from the services we provide.
Our Competitive Strengths
Market Leader in Core Verticals
We believe that we are one of the leaders in each of our core vertical markets and also believe we are the market leader in the outdoor power, marine, and appliance markets. Our direct relationships with approximately 18,000 dealers, 125 manufacturers, and 150 distributors allow us to cost-effectively leverage our published catalog content into a large and diversified customer base and to launch new product enhancements and technology-enabled solutions to this customer base.
Breadth and Depth of Published Content
The breadth and depth of our catalog content, as well as our ability to enhance and efficiently publish manufacturers’ PG&A data as it becomes available, provides ARI with a critical competitive advantage. Our electronic catalog content enables multi-line dealers to easily access catalog content for multiple manufacturers using a single software platform. This advantage, which saves our customers significant time, provides "stickiness" to our catalog customer base that allows us to efficiently and cost effectively nurture our existing customers while devoting resources to develop new products and services, enabling us to grow our overall customer base.
Recurring Revenue Model
Approximately 85% of our revenue is subscription-based and recurring revenue. The majority of our customers are on contracts of twelve months or longer, and these contracts typically auto-renew for additional twelve month terms. This provides us with advance visibility into our future revenue. Our recurring revenue model also emphasizes the importance of maintaining a low rate of customer churn, one of the key drivers of any recurring revenue, subscription-based business. Historically, we measured customer renewal rates. In recent years, we began measuring customer churn rates. Although similar, we believe that customer churn is a better management tool as it allows us to focus on the reasons we may lose customers and take action on those reasons within our control in order to reduce churn rates in the future.
Our recurring revenue model, when combined with low rates of customer churn, significantly reduces the cost to maintain and nurture our customer base. This in turn frees up resources to enhance our existing products and work toward new product innovations. Additionally, a substantial portion of our electronic catalog business is focused on our customers’ service and repair operations. This allows our revenue to remain strong even in a down economy, as consumers tend to repair, rather than buy new equipment at such times.
Suite of Products Covers Entire Sales and Service Cycle
Our suite of dealer products and services and eCommerce capabilities enhance our customers' front office operations by covering the entire sales cycle, from lead generation and lead management to sales of PG&A to the consumer, both in-store and online, and our electronic catalog products allow dealers to efficiently service and repair equipment.
We believe that the advantages of our products and services will enable us to compete effectively and sustainably in our core markets.
Our Markets and the Challenges We Face
Competition for our products and services varies by product and by vertical market. We believe that no single competitor today competes with us on every product and service in each of our industry verticals. In electronic catalogs, we compete primarily with Snap-on Business Solutions, which designs and delivers electronic parts catalogs, accessory sales tools, and manufacturer network development services, primarily to the automotive, power sports, construction, agriculture and mining markets. In addition, there is a variety of smaller companies focused on one or two specific industries.
In lead management, websites and eCommerce, our primary competitors are PowerSports Network, owned by Dominion Enterprises, and ADP. Competition for our website development services also comes from in-house information technology groups that may prefer to build their own web-based proprietary systems, rather than use our proven industry solutions. There are also large, general market eCommerce companies, such as IBM, which offer products and services that could address some of our customers’ needs. These general eCommerce companies do not typically compete with us directly, but they could decide to do so in the future. There are also a growing number of website development companies that could directly compete with our website product offerings. We believe we maintain a competitive advantage in our core vertical markets given the integration of our published catalog content into our lead management and website products.
Several of the markets we serve, including power sports, marine, and RV, are closely tied to the state of the overall economy, given the ”luxurious” nature of the products in those verticals. In fiscal 2010, we experienced an increase in customer churn in these markets due to manufacturer bankruptcies, dealer closures, and extreme cost reduction measures by our dealers. Our customer churn rates improved in these markets during fiscal 2011 and 2012, not only due to operating improvements by the company, but in part due to a more favorable economic impact in those markets. It is also important to note that the effects of a difficult economic environment are somewhat softened by the consumers' willingness in a down economy to repair existing equipment rather than purchase new equipment, which serves to amplify the importance of our eCatalogs provided to customers via our catalog parts lookup products and our website products.
We are subject to cyber-security risks and may incur increasing costs in an effort to minimize those risks and to respond to cyber incidents. There is an increased dependence on digital technologies by public companies and an increasing frequency and severity of cyber incidents. Our business involves the storage and transmission of customers’ personal information, consumer preferences and credit card information. We also use mobile devices, social networking and other online activities to connect with our customers. While we have implemented measures to prevent security breaches and cyber incidents, and have insurance coverage for such incidents, given the ever-increasing abilities of those intent on breaching cyber-security measures and given our reliance on the security and other efforts of third-party vendors, the total security effort at any point in time may not be completely effective and any such security breaches and cyber incidents could adversely affect our business.
Our Strategy
ARI’s strategy is to develop, sell and support technology enabled solutions to help customers in selected vertical markets increase sales of OEM parts, PG&A and whole goods. Our competitive advantages are the quality and quantity of the content we deliver, which are key factors in converting web based and foot traffic into a sale or lead. Our business model is to deliver our solutions via the SaaS and DaaS platforms focused on recurring revenue via subscriptions, transaction revenue for use of the services and subscription based business analytic tools. It is our intention to drive double digit revenue growth by focusing on the four strategic foundations outlined in our fiscal 2011 annual report; below is a summary progress report for the first half of fiscal 2012:
The Company has made significant progress toward its strategic goals, which are reflected in its operating results, and expects to continue to deliver on its objectives during the remainder of fiscal 2012, all of which are aimed at driving double digit organic revenue growth in future years.
Summary of Operating Results
The fiscal 2012 year to date results show year over year improvements in revenue, net income and operating cash flows. These results are a reflection of the continued execution of the Company’s strategy and include:
We expect continued improvements in revenue for the remainder of fiscal 2012, relative to fiscal 2011, as we execute our strategies aimed at double digit revenue growth, but anticipate a year over year decline in earnings as we make investments in our infrastructure to support more rapid revenue growth.
Revenue
The following table summarizes our recurring and non-recurring revenue by major product category:
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