SEC Company Response from REGIS CORP (RGS) (CIK 0000716643) (RGS) — Mar 23, 2010
REGIS CORP (RGS) (CIK 0000716643)
Date: March 23, 2010 · CIK: 0000716643 · Accession: 0001104659-10-015913
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
Referenced dates: March 9, 2010
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CORRESP 1 filename1.htm T 952-947-7777 | 7201 Metro Boulevard | Minneapolis, Minnesota 55439 March 23, 2010 Via EDGAR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED PURSUANT TO RULE 83 BY REGIS CORPORATION Securities and Exchange Commission Attention: Larry Spirgel Division of Corporation Finance 100 F Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20549 Re: Regis Corporation Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009 Filed August 28, 2009 Form 10-K/A for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009 Filed November 25, 2009 Form 10-Q for Fiscal Quarter Ended December 31, 2009 Filed November 9, 2010 File No. 1-12725 Dear Mr. Spirgel: On behalf of Regis Corporation (“Regis” or the “Company”), we hereby respond to the Staff’s comment letter dated March 9, 2010. This letter contains the responses to the Staff’s comments. The Staff’s comments have been reproduced here in italics and the Company’s responses are detailed under those comments. Form 10-Q for Fiscal Quarter Ended December 31, 2009 Note 2. Discontinued Operations, page 10 1. We note here and at page 26 that you recorded out-of-period error corrections relating to income taxes during the quarter ended September 30, 2009. In addition, we note at page 122 of your Form 10-K/A that you recorded a correction of error relating to income taxes during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009. Please provide us with a detailed analysis showing the quantitative and qualitative effects of these errors on each period presented and how you determined that they are immaterial under the guidance of SAB 99 and SAB 108. Also, in light of the corrections in consecutive periods, explain how you considered the errors in your assessment of controls under Items 3-07 and 3-08 of Regulation S–K. Response SAB 99 and SAB 108-Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis The Company, including senior management and the Company’s audit committee, concluded that the out-of-period error corrections and uncorrected errors were not material to the financial statements as a whole both individually and in the aggregate. The Company considered both the relevant qualitative and quantitative factors related to both the continuing operations and discontinued operations assessments in reaching its conclusions. The misstatements were discussed thoroughly at the Company’s audit committee meetings on August 18, 2009 and October 28, 2009, among the Company’s management, audit committee and auditors. The Company contemporaneously evaluated the financial statement misstatements and documented its evaluation and conclusions in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 99 (SAB No. 99) and Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 108 (SAB No. 108) prior to filing the Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2009 and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. RGS-001 A description of the Company’s evaluation and conclusions are documented below. The out-of-period error corrections that were disclosed in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2009 and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 were related to deferred income tax balances. In addition, there were other out-of-period error corrections and certain uncorrected errors that were considered in the Company’s SAB No. 99 and SAB No. 108 evaluations. Prior to the analysis documented below, it is important to understand that the Company’s net income from continuing operations as reported for fiscal year 2009 (FY 2009) was impacted significantly from special items. The impact of the special items is best illustrated by a rollforward of net income from continuing operations (reported) to net income from continuing operations (operational). Operational results are described in more detail under the qualitative considerations. The amounts below are in thousands and are net of tax. FY 2009 Net Income—Continuing Operations (Reported) $ 6,970 Impairment of equity method investment-Provalliance 27,818 Impairment of equity method investment-Intelligent Nutrients 4,798 International goodwill impairment 40,323 Lease termination costs 5,642 Workers’ compensation reserve adjustment (6,260 ) Net Income—Continuing Operations (Operational) $ 79,291 As a result of the impact of the special items, the impact of the errors as a percentage of income amounts on an “as reported” basis are unusually high and the Company believes the qualitative factors are significant to determining if the items caused the financial statements as a whole to be misstated. To illustrate this point, the summary below provides earning trends between FY 2008, FY 2009 and budgeted FY 2010. FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010(2) Net Income—Continuing Operations (Reported) $ 83,901 $ 6,970 $ [*] Net Income—Continuing Operations (Reported) –as adjusted for all out-of-period adjustments $ 84,801 $ 9,470 $ [*] Net Income—Continuing Operations (Operational(1)) $ 83,526 $ 79,291 $ [*] Net Income—Continuing Operations (Operational(1))-as adjusted for all out-of period adjustments $ 84,426 $ 81,791 $ [*] Note (1) Operational income from continuing operations is a focus of investors and represents (loss) income from continuing operations adjusted for special items as addressed in more detail later. (2) The FY 2010 impact was based on the Company’s estimate of the respective reported and operational budgeted net income from continuing operations for the full fiscal year. Because there are a number of reporting periods impacted and the errors have differing impacts on the Company’s income from continuing operations and income/(loss) from discontinued operations, the following discussion first addresses the impact on continuing operations followed by a discussion related to the impact on discontinued operations. June 30, 2009 — Impact on Continuing Operations Within the Company’s FY 2009, the Company became aware of and recorded two out-of-period adjustments that should have been recorded in financial statements of prior years. In addition, in connection with the FY 2009 audit, two items were identified but were not recorded by the Company. These adjustments are each described below. The tables below reconcile the Company's pretax and after tax income from continuing operations for FY 2009 “as reported” in the Company's previous filings to an “adjusted basis” (i.e., rollover basis) as if all of the adjustments had been recorded in the appropriate period (Dollars in thousands): FY 2009 Income from continuing operations before income taxes and equity in (loss) income of affiliated companies-as reported $ 78,766 Out-of-period adjustment recorded- Health insurance IBNR (1,500 ) Adjustment not recorded- long-lived asset impairment (700 ) Income from continuing operations before income taxes and equity in (loss) income of affiliated companies-as adjusted for all adjustments $ 76,566 Impact of errors on as reported amounts 2.8 % FY 2009 Income from continuing operations -as reported $ 6,970 Out-of-period adjustments recorded: Health insurance IBNR (tax affected) (900 ) Deferred income taxes 3,800 Adjustment not recorded -long-lived asset impairment (tax affected) (400 ) Income from continuing operations -as adjusted for all adjustments $ 9,470 Impact of errors on as reported amounts 35.9 % Note that the unrecorded adjustment of $0.4 million related to deferred income taxes below does not impact the analysis above and is addressed as part of the iron curtain that follows. The prior years financial statement items corrected in the FY 2009 financial statements were: 1. Deferred income taxes — During Q4 of FY 2009, the Company recorded an adjustment to correct its deferred income tax balances as a result of errors detected by the Company during its FY 2009 process to redesign and enhance internal controls related to the validation of deferred income tax balances. The adjustment increased the Company’s FY 2009 income tax provision by $3.8 million. The adjustment represents a correction of accumulated errors from numerous prior fiscal years. The Company determined the impact to any prior period financial statements was immaterial. 2. Health insurance IBNR — In Q1of FY 2009, the Company recorded an adjustment for a change in estimate to its health insurance IBNR accrual of $1.5 million ($0.9 million net of tax) that related to FY 2008. During FY 2008, the Company identified that a modification to the actuarial assumptions may have been warranted. The impact of such modification was judgmental at June 30, 2008 and was not recorded within the Company’s financial statements as the potential impact was not considered material. The Company performed an in-depth analysis during the first quarter of FY 2009 and adjusted the health insurance accrual accordingly. The Company determined the quantitative impact of the Q1 FY 2009 IBNR adjustment was immaterial to the September 30, 2008 net income from continuing operations. Additionally, the Company considered the following items which were not corrected by the Company: * Portions omitted pursuant to a request for confidential treatment and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. RGS-002 1. Long-lived asset impairment- The long-lived asset adjustment estimated to be $0.7 million ($0.4 million net of tax) related to one salon (of nearly 8,000 company-owned) identified as impaired, but the Company had not reserved for the excess of carrying value over the fair value of the long lived assets. The amount of the estimated item was not the result of a known error, but was calculated by extrapolating the recorded carrying value to the entire population. The estimate was not recorded by the Company in Q4 of FY 2009 because the amount of the potential error was based on extrapolation and was considered to be immaterial. The matter was fully investigated in Q1 of FY 2010 and the actual amount of impairment was negligible. 2. Deferred income taxes — During Q4 of FY 2009, the Company determined that the $3.8 million increase to income taxes (discussed above) should have been approximately $4.2 million. The Company did not record the additional $0.4 million as tax expense in FY 2009 as the amount was estimated and subject to further analysis, but not considered material. The Company recorded the additional $0.4 million as tax expense in Q1 FY 2010 as discussed below. This item only impacts the iron curtain analysis below. September 30, 2009 — Impact on Continuing Operations Within Q1 of fiscal year 2010 (FY 2010), the Company assessed the materiality of a financial statement item which should have been recorded in prior years financial statements and was recorded within the Q1 FY 2010 financial statements. The prior years financial statement item corrected in the Q1 FY 2010 financial statements was: 1. Deferred income taxes — During Q1 of FY 2010, the Company recorded the adjustment (discussed above) to correct its prior year deferred income tax balances. The adjustment increased the Company’s Q1 FY 2010 income tax provision by $0.4 million. Quantitative Analysis — Continuing Operations Rollover Approach Net income from continuing operations (reported and operational(1)) were impacted by the out-of-period error corrections and certain unrecorded errors as follows: FY 2009(2) Q1 FY2010 FY 2010(3) Net Income – Continuing Operations (Reported) 35.9 % 8.8 % [* ]% Net Income – Continuing Operations (Operational(1)) 3.2 % 2.3 % [* ]% Note (1) Operational income from continuing operations represents (loss) income from continuing operations adjusted for special items (see above for rollforward). (2) The impact of the errors was significant as a percentage because FY 2009 income from continuing operations (reported) was significantly less than the prior year due to the items specified in the rollforward above and the expected amount for FY 2010. See table below in qualitative analysis which addresses trend in reported earnings. (3) The FY 2010 impact was based on the Company’s estimate of the respective reported and operational budgeted net income from continuing operations for the full fiscal year. Iron Curtain Approach Net income from continuing operations (reported and operational(1)) were impacted by the adjustments as follows: FY2009(2) Q1 FY2010(3) FY 2010(3) Net Income – Continuing Operations (Reported) (11.8 )% 0.0 % [* ]% Net Income – Continuing Operations (Operational(1)) (1.0 )% 0.0 % [* ]% Note (1) Operational income from continuing operations represents (loss) income from continuing operations adjusted for special items (see above for rollfarward). (2) Errors had opposite impact under iron curtain approach as the iron curtain approach only considered unrecorded items. The errors in aggregate amounted to $0.8 million comprised of the $0.4 million deferred tax adjustment and the $0.4 million (net of tax) long-lived asset impairment adjustment. (3) Q1 FY10 and budgeted FY10 net income from continuing operations was not impacted by the adjustment under the iron curtain approach as there is no misstatement existing in the balance sheet as of September 30, 2009 and June 30, 2010. * Portions omitted pursuant to a request for confidential treatment and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. RGS-003 Qualitative Considerations - Continuing Operations The Company believes the qualitative aspects are equally significant to determining if the items caused the financial statements as a whole to be misstated. · The impact of the items did not affect incentive compensation payouts under the Company’s Short Term Incentive Compensation plan as the Company did not achieve its earnings per share (EPS) target for FY 2009. Note, the Company did achieve the performance objectives established under a supplemental award program. The supplemental award program was based on reducing debt, reducing inventory, reducing capital expenditures, reducing investments in and expenses related to acquisitions and reducing budgeted operating expenses. The items did not impact the achievement of the supplemental award program in FY 2009. The impact of the items are not expected to affect the incentive compensation payouts in FY 2010. · The impact of the items in FY 2009 and FY 2010 did not affect compliance with loan covenants, contractual requirements or regulatory compliance. · The impact of the items in FY 2009 and FY 2010 did not have a material impact on any individual income statement line item, balance sheet line item or cash flow line item. In addition, the tax items do not impact the Company’s segment reporting and the pre-tax items did not have a material impact on segment reporting. · The items were not intentional. Because targets for executive compensation are adjusted for non-operational items there would not be any incentive to record the items in one particular period. · The impact of the items did not distort historical earning trends between FY 2008, FY 2009 and budgeted FY 2010 or within interim periods in FY 2009 and FY 2010. FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010(2) Net Income – Continuing Operations (Reported) $ 83,901 $ 6,970 $ [* ] Net Income – Continuing Operations (Operational(1)) $ 83,526 $ 79,291 $ [* ] Note (1) Operational income from continuing operations represents (loss) income from continuing operations adjusted for any special items (see above for rollforward). (2) The FY 2010 impact was based on the Company’s estimate of the respective reported and operational budgeted net income from continuin