SEC Company Response from Clearfield, Inc. (CLFD) (CIK 0000796505) (CLFD) — Nov 17, 2005
Clearfield, Inc. (CLFD) (CIK 0000796505)
Date: Nov. 17, 2005 · CIK: 0000796505 · Accession: 0001140361-05-009827
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filename1.htm
notify@edgarfilings.com
2950
84th
Lane N.E., Blaine, MN 55449 Telephone: (763) 784-4995 Fax: (763)
784-2038
November
11, 2005
Mr.
Brian
Cascio
Accounting
Branch Chief
United
States Securities & Exchange Commission
Mail
Stop
6010
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Dear
Mr.
Cascio:
Following
is the information you requested in your letter of October 3, 2005. The numbered
items below correspond to the numbered items in your letter, which is enclosed
for your reference.
Form
10-K for the year ended March 31, 2005 - M D&A of Financial Condition and
Results of Operation, page 19
Results
of Operations
1)
Cost
of Sales and Gross Profit, page
22
SEC
Question:
We
see
that your consolidated gross profit margin was 19% in fiscal year 2005 compared
to 0% in fiscal year 2004. We also note that the profit margin for your
Optronics segment was (231%) in fiscal year 2005 compared to (651%) in fiscal
year 2004 while the gross profit margin for your Cables and Networks segment
experienced profit margins of 28% and 23% for fiscal years 2005 and 2004,
respectively. Please tell us and revise future filings to provide expanded
disclosure of the variances in margins, and the factors that contributed to
the
negative gross profit margin of Optronics and its impact on consolidated gross
profit margin. In addition, provide details of your efforts to reverse the
trend
of negative margins.
APA
Enterprises, Inc answer:
The
negative gross profit at our Optronics segment is the result of costs in excess
of gross profit earned from the sales of its products. Optronics has not been
able to generate significant sales of its products with the exception of
contracted labor it provides to Cables & Networks. Historically costs for
production related expenses such as personnel, depreciation and supplies have
been classified as cost of sales for Optronics. The factors that lead to
negative gross margin at Optronics are:
-
Delays
in sourcing component and finished goods from outside/offshore suppliers
in higher volumes.
-
Unresolved
quality issues (both off shore and internally produced) that prohibit
full
scale, high volume sales.
-
With
limited quantities available of market-ready sales, we cannot market
to
potential customers who would order in high quantities, which could
preclude or limit the amount of future sales we could generate to
these
customers.
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The
costs
in these periods have outweighed the revenue generated from the limited sales.
These reasons have been documented in the Business Overview section of each
of
our filings.
With
the
addition of Cables & Networks in 2004, we changed our M, D & A
subsection titles to ‘Cost of Sales’ in respect to the historical Optronics
reporting and ‘Gross Profit’ to reflect Cables & Networks’ operations with
the objective of better separating the segment discussions. In the future we
will expand our detail reporting within the M, D & A to better explain the
reasons and types of expenses causing the negative gross margin on the Optronics
segment.
Optronics
has taken steps over the last several quarters to reduce unnecessary expenses,
thus reducing its cost of sales over time, including reducing headcount,
limiting non-essential purchases, and phasing out certain products. We believe
we are close to having most of Optronic’s products ready for high volume sales
within the next few quarters. When achieved, this will improve the negative
gross margin and eventually turn it positive.
Consolidated
Financial Statements in 10-K for year ended March 31,
2005
2)
Consolidated
Balance Sheet, page 30
SEC
Question:
We
note
that total liabilities and shareholders’ equity on page 30 do not agree with
total assets. Please revise.
APA
Enterprises, Inc. answer:
On
the
SEC website, the total asset value does not equal total liabilities and
shareholders’ equity. The Edgarizing software program inadvertently missed a
digit on the electronic filing. The total shareholders equity and liabilities
should read $22,074,014. On all paper filings sent out, this number was correct
and the totals matched. All future filings will reflect the correct totals
for
shareholders equity and total liabilities as of March 31, 2005.
3)
Note
A - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, page
34
SEC
Question:
Please
revise your disclosure in future filings to provide a more specific revenue
recognition policy for all significant product and services. Details should
be
provided to the extent that policy differs among customers, channels and
products. The policy should also address, where significant, customer
acceptance, return policies, post shipment obligations, warranties, credits,
discounts and rebates on how these impact revenue recognition. In addition,
tell
us whether you have any revenue arrangements with multiple
deliverables.
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APA
Enterprises, Inc answer:
In
future
filings we will provide additional information related to our revenue
recognition policy. We do not have any revenue arrangements with multiple
deliverables. In future filings we will include the following revenue
recognition policy:
“Revenue
is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the product
has
been delivered, the fee is fixed and determinable, acceptance by the customer
is
reasonably certain and collection is probable. Our warranties exist for all
products sold to all customer types and are generally covered for a period
of
one year. We record provisions against our revenue for estimated product returns
in the period the related revenue is recorded. We estimate the costs to service
our warranty obligations and record them within cost of sales. These estimates
are based on historical sales returns, repair activity, and expectation of
future market conditions. If our actual product returns and allowances exceed
our estimates, additional reductions to our recorded revenue would result.”
4)
Note
C - Sale of Optics Manufacturing Operations, page
39
SEC
question:
Tell
us
why your statement of operations does not present the operations of the disposed
optics manufacturing business as discontinued operations. Refer to SFAS
144.
APA
Enterprises, Inc. answer:
Disposal
of the optics manufacturing business was not presented as discontinued
operations presentation, because it is immaterial to the financial statements
as
a whole. The following represents the numbers applicable to this product
line:
APA
Enterprises, Inc.
(In
dollars)
Fiscal
2005
Fiscal
2004
Fiscal
2003
Optics
Line
Consolidated
Numbers
Optics
Line
Consolidated
Numbers
Optics
Line
Consolidated
Numbers
Revenue
-
13,886,486
91,778
11,909,465
102,592
436,157
Cost
of goods/expenses
-
17,681,631
369,000
18,467,964
300,000
5,765,623
Operating
loss
-
(3,795,145
)
(277,222
)
(6,558,499
)
(197,408
)
(5,329,466
)
Gain
on sale
208,314
-
-
-
-
-
Other
income, net
-
375,107
-
23,352
-
320,032
Net
loss
208,314
(3,420,038
)
(277,222
)
(6,535,147
)
(197,408
)
(5,009,434
)
%
of total
-6
%
4
%
4
%
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5)
Note
K - Stock Options and Warrants, page
45
SEC
Question:
We
see
your reference to an independent third-party appraiser for the valuation of
your
warrants on page 45. Please note that there is no requirement to reference
independent experts, however, if this reference is made the third party expert
should be named and their consent included in future registration statements.
Please consider in future filings.
APA
Enterprises, Inc. answer:
In
future
filings, we will remove the reference to the third party appraiser for the
valuation of the warrants.
6)
Schedule
II - Valuation and Qualifying Accounts, page
52
SEC
question:
We
see
that you reduced your inventory reserves by $936,527 in fiscal year 2004 due
to
purchase price adjustment activities. Inventory reserves are permanent
reductions of inventory cost that should not be reversed until the related
inventory is sold or otherwise disposed. Pease describe the facts and
circumstances leading to the adjustment to the inventory reserve during fiscal
year 2004. Additionally, please reconcile the adjustments made on Schedule
II to
the disclosures on pages 38 and 39 of your consolidated financial statements.
APA
Enterprises, Inc. answer:
The
inventory reserves were adjusted for inventory products disposed of from the
purchase of the CSP and Americable acquisitions. This was inventory that was
originally reserved for at the time of acquisition or one year later, and then
written off within that time frame. Inventory disposed of for both acquisitions
was charged off within this fiscal year ended 3/31/04. This disposal amounted
to
$641,307 of excess inventory valuation over the established value established
upon purchase. In accordance with this we are submitting a revised Schedule
II
to provide further breakdown. Please see the attachment. The gross amount of
inventory disposals for the year is reflected in the deductions column. For
the
year ended March 31, 2004, disposals totaled $1,915,644, of which $641,307
represents the amount disposed in excess of the initial acquisition reserve.
This amount is reflected in the column reflecting charges to other accounts
and
matches to the total inventory purchase price variances on pages 38 and 39
of
the Form 10-K.
The
CSP
portion of the $641,307 was $627,384 and reported on page 38 of the 10-K, and
the Americable portion was $13,944 and is reported on page 39. This amount
was
then reclassified to Goodwill. We will reflect the changes to this Schedule
in
future filings.
Form
10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2005
7)
Item
4 - Controls and Procedures, page
19
SEC
question:
We
note
your statement that your chief executive officer and your chief financial
officer have concluded that your controls and procedures were sufficiently effective
to
ensure that the information required to be disclosed with adequate timeliness,
accuracy and completeness. It does note appear that your certifying officers
have reached a conclusion that our disclosure controls and procedures are
effective.
Please
revise future filings to clearly disclose your officers’ conclusions regarding
the effectiveness of your disclosure controls and procedures.
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5
APA
Enterprises, Inc. answer:
In
future
filings we will revise the wording (i.e. we will delete “sufficiently”) to
clarify our officers’ conclusion regarding the effectiveness of the internal
controls and procedures.
APA
Enterprises, Inc. acknowledges they are responsible for the adequacy of the
disclosure in the filing. In addition, staff comments or changes to disclosure
in response to staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any
action with respect to the filing, and APA Enterprises, Inc. may not assert
staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or
any
person under the federal securities laws of the United States.
We
hope
this addresses your questions. If there are further questions or follow up
comments needed, please feel free to call at 763-784-4995.
Regards,
Anil
K.
Jain
Chief
Financial Officer
APA
Enterprises, Inc.
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