SEC Company Response from TEREX CORP (TEX) (CIK 0000097216) (TEX) — Dec 14, 2007
TEREX CORP (TEX) (CIK 0000097216)
Date: Dec. 14, 2007 · CIK: 0000097216 · Accession: 0000097216-07-000371
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 001-10702
Referenced dates: November 30, 2007
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CORRESP
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Phillip
C. Widman
Senior
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Telephone: (203) 222-5969
Facsimile: (203) 227-1647
E-mail: phil.widman@terex.com
December
14, 2007
Kevin L.
Vaughn
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F
Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549
Re:
Terex Corporation Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2006, filed
February 28, 2007, File No. 001-10702 (the
“10-K”)
Dear Mr.
Vaughn:
I have received a copy of your letter dated November 30, 2007 conveying the
comments of the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“Commission”) on the above-referenced filing. The following sets forth the text
of each of the items addressed in your letter and the response of Terex Corporation
(“us”, “we”, “our”, “Terex”, or the
“Company”) with respect to each of such items.
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006
Item
7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations, page 33
Business Description – Overview, page 33
Comment:
1.
We note that you represent the disclosure of Return on Invested Capital,
or ROIC, in the last paragraph on page 34 of this Form 10-K and on page 27 of Form 10-Q for
the quarterly period ended September 30, 2007. We note in the Form 10-Q as of September 30,
2007, you refer to ROIC as a “non-GAAP metric.” Please tell us how you have
considered the guidance in Item 10(e) of Regulation S-K in presenting this metric. In this
regard, please specifically tell us how you have considered Item 10(e)(4) of
Regulation S-K.
Kevin L.
Vaughn
Securities
and Exchange Commission
December
14, 2007
Page 2 of
9
Response:
As we set out in the 10-K, we disclose Return on Invested Capital, or ROIC,
because it is a significant unifying metric we use in measuring our operating performance,
showing how effectively we use money invested in our operation. As we disclose, we
calculate ROIC by dividing the last four quarters’ Income from operations (including
Operating income from discontinued operations) by the average of the sum of Total
stockholders’ equity plus Debt less Cash and cash equivalents for the last five
quarters. Debt is calculated using the amounts for Notes payable and current portion of
long-term debt plus Long-term debt, less current portion.
Item 10(e) of Regulation S-K defines the term “non-GAAP financial
measures” with respect to use of financial measures in Commission filings. Item
10(e)(4) excludes from such definition of non-GAAP financial measures any financial measure
that is solely a ratio or statistical measure calculated using exclusively financial
measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.
In reviewing our definition of ROIC in light of Item 10(e)(4), we note the
following components are included:
Income from operations
(Consolidated Statement of Income)
Operating income from discontinued operations
Total stockholders’ equity
(Consolidated Balance Sheet)
Notes payable and current portion of long-term
debt
(Consolidated Balance Sheet)
Long-term debt, less current portion
(Consolidated Balance Sheet)
Cash and cash equivalents
(Consolidated Balance Sheet).
To the extent that our ROIC for a particular period includes operating
income from discontinued operations, we believe that ROIC is a “non-GAAP financial
measure”, because that item excludes amounts (i.e., interest and other income/expense
from discontinued operations) that are included in the most directly comparable measure
calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, which is Income from discontinued
operations – net of tax (which appears in the Consolidated Statement of Income). To
the extent that ROIC for a particular period does not include any operating income from
discontinued operations, then ROIC would not be a non-GAAP financial measure, as it will
then be a statistical measure calculated using exclusively financial measures calculated in
accordance with GAAP and directly stated in our financial statements.
Accordingly, when we present ROIC and it is determined to be a non-GAAP
financial measure, we will apply the guidance of Item 10(e) and provide appropriate
disclosure to reconcile amounts used in our ROIC calculation to the most directly
comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.
Kevin L.
Vaughn
Securities
and Exchange Commission
December
14, 2007
Page 3 of
9
Comment:
2.
We note your disclosure that Return on Invested Capital, or ROIC, is the
unifying metric you use to measure your operating performance. In your future filings,
please provide your investors with a better understanding of why you calculate ROIC by
dividing the last four quarters’ income from operations (including operating income
from discontinued operations) by the average of the sum of total stockholders’ equity
plus debt less cash and cash equivalents for the last five quarters. For example, explain
why ROIC is calculated using a different number of quarters in the numerator versus the
denominator and why operating income from discontinued operations is included in the
numerator. Also provide your investors with an understanding of why you use ROIC as your
unifying metric as opposed to a more standard metric such as return on shareholders’
equity.
Response:
In our applicable future filings, we will provide additional disclosure so
that our investors will have a better understanding of how and why we make use of ROIC.
This will include: (a) why we calculate ROIC by dividing the last four quarters’
Income from operations (including operating income from discontinued operations) by the
average of the sum of Total stockholders’ equity plus Debt less Cash and cash
equivalents for the last five quarters, including (i) why ROIC is calculated using a
different number of quarters in the numerator versus the denominator, and (ii) why
operating income from discontinued operations is included in the numerator; and (b) why we
use ROIC as our unifying metric as opposed to other metrics such as return on
shareholders’ equity.
In this regard, we propose to include in our applicable future filings
disclosure similar to the following:
We calculate ROIC using the last four quarters’ Income from operations
as this represents the most recent twelve month period at any given point of determination.
In order for the denominator of the ROIC ratio to properly match the operational period
reflected in the numerator, we include the average of five quarter’s ending balance
sheet amounts so that the denominator includes the average of the opening through ending
balances (on a quarterly basis) over the same time period as the numerator (four quarters
of average invested capital). We included operating income from discontinued operations in
the numerator of our calculation of ROIC because the ROIC metric is intended to compare
total enterprise operational return to a total enterprise denominator that is based on
amounts that include invested capital of discontinued operations in the balances. We
believe that this total enterprise ROIC calculation, including operating income from
discontinued operations, provides a more complete performance metric.
Kevin L.
Vaughn
Securities
and Exchange Commission
December
14, 2007
Page 4 of
9
We utilize ROIC as a unifying metric because we feel that it measures how
effectively we invest our capital and provides a better measure to compare ourselves to
peer companies to assist in assessing how we drive operational improvement. We believe that
ROIC measures return on the full enterprise-wide amount of capital invested in our
business, as opposed to another metric such as return on shareholder’s equity that
only incorporates book equity, and is thus a more accurate and descriptive measure of our
performance. We also believe that adding Debt less Cash and cash equivalents to Total
stockholders’ equity provides a better comparison across similar businesses regarding
total capitalization, and that ROIC highlights the level of value creation as a percentage
of capital invested. Consistent with this belief, we make use of ROIC in evaluating
executive performance and compensation, as we have previously disclosed in the Compensation
Discussion and Analysis in our proxy statement for the 2007 annual meeting of
stockholders.
Results of Operations, page 35
Comment:
3.
We note throughout your discussion of your results of operations, you
attribute increases in revenues and gross profit to “pricing actions” and
“increased unit volume.” Please revise future filings to quantify the effects
of changes in prices and volume on your revenues. Refer to Item 303(A)(3)(iii) of
Regulation S-K. Please note this comment also applies to your Form 10-Q as of September 30,
2007.
Response:
We note that Item 303(A)(3)(iii) requires a narrative discussion of the
extent to which increases in prices or in the volume of goods sold impact net sales or
revenues. In our applicable future filings, we will expand our narrative disclosure to
quantify the extent to which changes in prices and volume cause material increases or
decreases in our net sales and revenues.
Comment:
4.
We note that you attribute changes in your results of operations to
various factors. For example, in your Terex Construction segment, you state that SG&A
costs increased due to “product development efforts, engineering expenses ahead of
new product launches, business development in China, targeted promotion programs, and
increased resources to manage sales growth in certain businesses.” Please revise
future filings to quantify the effects of each of the significant items impacting your
results for the period. Refer to Item 303(A)(3)(i) of Regulation S-K.
Kevin L.
Vaughn
Securities
and Exchange Commission
December
14, 2007
Page 5 of
9
Response:
Pursuant to Item 303(A)(3)(i), in our applicable future filings, we will
quantify each significant item that is attributed as having a material impact on the
Company’s financial results for the period discussed.
Comment:
5.
It appears that you have identified the significant items impacting your
results of operations; however, your MD&A does not appear to provide sufficient
analysis of these items in order for an investor to understand your results of operations.
Please expand your MD&A in future filings to discuss the underlying causes for the
various changes. For example, discuss why sales of certain products are increasing while
sales of other products are declining. In this regard, please also revise to discuss any
known trends that have had or will have a material impact on your results. Refer to Item
303(A)(3)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
Response:
In our applicable future filings, we will expand the disclosure in our
MD&A to more fully discuss the underlying causes for material changes in our results of
operations. As required by Item 303(A)(3)(ii), we will also discuss in our applicable
future filings any known trends that have had or which we reasonably expect will have a
material impact on our results.
Comment:
6.
We note your disclosures on pages 54 and F-16 that you have significant
sales in foreign countries. Please revise your MD&A in future filings to quantify the
effects of foreign currency exchange rates on your revenues and costs.
Response:
In our applicable future filings, we will quantify in our MD&A the
effects of foreign currency exchange rates on our revenue and costs to the extent
significant.
Kevin L.
Vaughn
Securities
and Exchange Commission
December
14, 2007
Page 6 of
9
Financial Statements, page F-1
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows, page F-7
Comment:
7.
We note that the amounts shown here for loss on early extinguishment of
debt and loss on disposition of discontinued operations do not reconcile with the
corresponding amounts shown on the statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2006
or in the respective footnotes to the financial statements. We note similar discrepancies
in your Form 10-Q as of September 30, 2007. Please revise future filings to discuss the
reasons for any differences between the amounts presented here and the amounts presented on
the statements of income and in the footnotes to the financial statements.
Response:
In our applicable future filings, we will discuss the reasons for any
differences between the amounts shown for loss on early extinguishment of debt and loss on
disposition of discontinued operations on (a) our Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and
(b) our Consolidated Statement of Income and footnotes to the financial
statements.
In this regard, we propose to include in our applicable future filings
disclosure that will include a description of the following differences:
With respect to the loss on early extinguishment of debt, our Consolidated
Statement of Income for the year ended December 31, 2006 showed a $23.3 million figure
while our Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for this period showed a $7.2 million
amount. The $23.3 million amount in the Consolidated Statement of Income included (a) cash
payments of $15.6 million for call premiums associated with the repayment of $300 million
of outstanding debt, (b) $7.2 million of non-cash charges for accelerated amortization of
debt acquisition costs associated with the outstanding debt and (c) cash payments of $0.5
million for expenses related to the termination of our previous credit facility, and all
flowed into the calculation of Net Income. In preparing the Consolidated Statement of Cash
Flows, the non-cash item (b) needed to be added back to Net Income to reflect cash flow
appropriately.
With respect to the loss on disposition of discontinued operations, o