SEC Company Response from INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS & SUPPORT INC (ISSC) (CIK 0000836690) (IA) — Mar 27, 2009
INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS & SUPPORT INC (ISSC) (CIK 0000836690)
Date: March 27, 2009 · CIK: 0000836690 · Accession: 0001104659-09-020997
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 000-31157
Referenced dates: February 27, 2009
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CORRESP 1 filename1.htm VIA EDGAR March 27, 2009 United States Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20549-4561 Attn: Ms. Kathleen Collins Ms. Melissa Feider Mr. Kevin Dougherty Mr. Mark P. Shuman RE: Innovative Solutions and Support, Inc. Form 10-K and Form 10-K/A for Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2008 Filed December 11, 2008 and December 19, 2008 Form 10-Q for the Fiscal Quarter Ended December 31, 2008 Filed on February 6, 2009 File No. 000-31157 Dear Ms. Collins: On behalf of Innovative Solutions and Support, Inc. (the “Company”), we respond to the written comments of the staff (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) contained in your letter dated February 27, 2009 to John C. Long (the “Comment Letter”), with respect to Form 10-K and Form 10-K/A for Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2008, filed with the Commission by the Company on December 11, 2008 and December 19, 2008, respectively, and Form 10-Q for the Fiscal Quarter Ended December 31, 2008, filed with the Commission by the Company on February 6, 2009 (File No. 000-31157). The headings and numbered items of this letter correspond to the headings and numbered items contained in the Comment Letter. For the convenience of the Staff, each of the comments from the Comment Letter is restated in bold italics prior to the Company’s response. General 1. We note that that [sic] you amended the September 30, 2008 Form 10-K to correct certain “typographical errors” in the consolidated statements of cash flows. Tell us what consideration you gave to filing an Item 4.02 Form 8-K. Also, tell us why you did not label the September 30, 2008 cash flow information as restated. Response: Subsequent to the filing on December 11, 2008 of the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, the Company identified a typographical error contained on the face of the statement of cash flows for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008 in the document that was filed with the Commission. The net loss line item shown under cash flows from operating activities for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008 was incorrectly presented as $1,509,139 rather than ($7,897,248). This incorrect amount on the statement of cash flows was due to a typographical error made while making the final changes to the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008 which caused data from the wrong cell on a spreadsheet to appear in the net loss line item on the statement of cash flows. As a result of the typographical error, the totals on the statement of cash flows for net cash provided by operating activities, net decrease in cash and cash equivalents and cash and cash equivalents, end of year, were not correct. However, in the same Form 10-K which was filed on December 11, 2008, those same items were properly stated in other sections of the Form 10-K, resulting in clearly identifiable internal inconsistencies in the document. For example, the net loss is properly stated as ($7,897,248) on the consolidated statements of operations on page 34 and the summary financial information table on page 21, net cash provided by operating activities is properly stated as $4.2 million on page 25 in the liquidity and capital resources section of the Management’s Discussion & Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) and cash and cash equivalents, end of year, is properly stated as $35,031,932 on the consolidated balance sheet on page 33 and the summary financial information table on page 21. Upon becoming aware of this typographical error, the Company elected to correct the statement of cash flows in a Form 10-K/A, which was filed on December 19, 2008. All of the items on the statement of cash flows described above were corrected in the amended filing. Item 4.02 of Form 8-K requires disclosure on Form 8-K if a registrant concludes that previously issued financial statements should no longer be relied upon because of an error in the financial statements as addressed in Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 20, as it may be modified, supplemented or succeeded (“APB No. 20”). APB No. 20 has been subsequently superseded by Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 154 (“SFAS No. 154”). An “error in previously issued financial statements” is defined in SFAS No. 154 as “an error in recognition, measurement, presentation, or disclosure in financial statements resulting from mathematical mistakes, mistakes in the application of GAAP, or oversight or misuse of facts that existed at the time the financial statements were prepared.” After consideration, the Company concluded that the typographical errors that appeared on the face of the consolidated statement of cash flows did not result from a mathematical mistake or a mistake in the application of GAAP, and that no facts that existed at the time the Form 10-K was filed were overlooked or misused. Therefore, the Company concluded that the financial statements did not contain an error within the meaning of SFAS No. 154, and 8-K disclosure under Item 4.02 was therefore not required. Similarly, the Company determined that because the information was correctly reported in other parts of the financial statements included in Form 10-K, the amounts in error were clearly identifiable to the user, and it was not necessary to label the financial statements as having been restated. Item 1. Business Customers Retrofit Market, Page 7 2. You disclose, in the aggregate, the percentage of revenue supplied by a specified, limited number of your largest customers in fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2007; however, there is no explicit identification in this section of the ten percent or greater customers. In future filings, please disclose the name of each customer accounting for ten percent or more of your consolidated revenues. To adequately explain the extent of dependence on these principal customers, it appears that the percentage contributed by each of them should be provided. You may elect to provide additional information regarding the extent of concentration of your customer base. See Item 101(c)(i)(vii) of Regulation S-K. Response: The Company notes the Staff’s comment and in future filings will disclose the name of each customer accounting for ten percent or more of the Company’s consolidated revenues and the percentage of revenues contributed by each of these customers. Had this enhanced disclosure been provided in the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, it would have read as follows: Historically, a majority of our sales have come from the retrofit market. Among other reasons, we have pursued the retrofit market specifically because of its continued rapid growth in response to the increasing need to support the world’s aging fleet of aircraft. During fiscal year 2008 we derived 26% of our revenues from three retrofit customers, Department of Defense (“DOD”), Federal Express and American Airlines. During fiscal year 2008 DoD, our largest retrofit customer, accounted for 10% of our total revenues. During fiscal year 2007 three retrofit customers, DoD, Eclipse and Western Aircraft accounted for 20%, 16% and 11% of our total revenues, respectively. Item 1A. Risk Factors Risks Related to Our Industry, page 16 3. You do not appear to address the cyclical nature of the aerospace industry in which you sell your products. Additional global terrorists’ attacks, higher fuel prices, large fluctuations in commodity prices, and/or further airline bankruptcies all have the ability to change the course of the recovery of the aerospace industry and affect demand for your products. Please tell us what thought you gave to expressing these or other industry risks that may be material in separate headings under “risks related to our industry.” Response: The Company notes the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company believes that its exposure to what the Staff refers to in its comment as the “cyclical nature of the aerospace industry” is mitigated by both the Company’s diversified customer base and its focus on the retrofit market. The Company’s customer base spans three markets within the aerospace industry, namely military, commercial air transport and general aviation. While terrorist attacks, higher fuel prices, fluctuations in commodity prices and airline bankruptcies may impact certain markets within the industry (for example, commercial air transport), other aspects of the market, in particular military sales, can remain robust or even be enhanced due to those factors. In addition, the Company believes that its focus on retrofitting existing aircraft provides the Company with opportunities in both times of expansion and times of contraction in the aerospace industry. As stated on page 22 of the Company’s Form 10-K, the Company believes that in a declining economic environment customers that may have otherwise elected to purchase newly manufactured aircraft will instead be interested in retrofitting existing aircraft as a cost effective alternative. Also, in an expanding market, the Company believes that capacity constraints prevent the two largest suppliers of new aircraft from meeting all of the demand in the market, which creates opportunity for industry participants such as the Company who focus on retrofitting existing aircraft. Therefore, the Company believes that these reasons mitigate the risk to the extent that it does not believe that an additional risk factor on the cyclical nature of the aerospace industry is required in addition to those already included in the Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008 to provide investors with an overview of the significant risks facing the business. Moreover, the Company respectfully submits that it believes that its exposure to the significant risks inherent in competing in the aerospace industry are adequately addressed by the risk factors already included in the Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008. In particular, the risk factors entitled “Our sales principally relate to flat panel display systems and air data products, and we cannot be certain that the market will continue to accept these or other products,” “A global recession and continued credit tightening could adversely affect us,” “The loss of a key customer or significant deterioration in the financial condition of a key customer could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations,” and “Growth in our customer base could be limited by delays or difficulties in completing development and introduction of our planned products or product enhancements. If we fail to enhance existing products or to develop and achieve market acceptance for flat panel displays and other new products that meet customer requirements, our business will be adversely affected,” each describe the significant risks that exist in competing in the aerospace industry. Based on its experience and its knowledge of the aerospace industry, the Company believes these risk factors properly convey to investors the key risks the Company faces in the markets in which it sells its products. The Company will continue to monitor these risks each quarter and will add additional risk factors in the future regarding the cyclical nature of the aerospace industry or other topics as it deems appropriate based on market conditions at the time of each future filing on Form 10-K or Form 10-Q. Item 5. Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Repurchase of Equity Securities Comparison of the Five Year Total Return, page 20 4. We note that your stock performance table uses a market capitalization index instead of an industry specific or peer issuer index. Issuers with similar market capitalization, such as the Russell 2000 index, can be used in place of a recognized applicable industry index, or a self-constructed peer index only in limited circumstances. See Item 201(e)(1)(ii)(C) of Regulation S-K. Please explain why your presentation of the market capitalization based index is permissible. Response: The Company notes the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company believes that its presentation of a market capitalization based index is permissible based on the Company’s individual circumstances and the requirements of Item 201(e)(1)(ii)(C) of Regulation S-K. Item 201(e)(1)(ii) of Regulation S-K provides that the performance graph may include: (A) a published industry or line-of-business index, (B) peer issuers selected in good faith, or (C) an index based on similar market capitalization. If the Company does not use a published industry or line-of-business index and does not believe it can reasonably identify a peer group, a presentation of issuers with a similar market capitalization is permissible under the rules. The Company designs, manufactures and sells flat panel display systems and advanced monitoring systems to the Department of Defense, government agencies, defense contractors, commercial air transport carriers, original equipment manufacturers and the corporate/general aviation markets. The Company does not use a published industry or line-of-business index because it is not aware of any such index made of companies that are comparable to it and that would be accessible to the Company’s security holders or is widely recognized and used. Further, the Company is not reasonably able to identify a peer group because its competitors are either private companies or divisions of much larger public companies, and a comparison to the stock price of these public company competitors may be misleading since there are many factors that affect the share price of these larger, more diversified companies that would not be relevant to the Company. As a result, the Company chose to include a comparison to the Russell 2000 index, an index of issuers with a similar market capitalization, in accordance with Item 201(e)(1)(ii)(C) of Regulation S-K. The Company does note, however that a statement regarding the reasons for choosing a market capitalization based index under Item 201(e)(1)(ii)(C) of Regulation S-K to accompany the stock performance graph in Form 10-K and in future filings will include a statement describing the reasons mentioned above. Item 7A. Quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk, page 30 5. You disclose that changes in interest rates could impact interest income and expense along with cash flows. Please tell us your consideration and conclusion with respect to quantitative disclosure regarding market risk of interest rate fluctuations. We are unable to locate a sensitivity analysis or other quantitative presentation of the potential impact of changes in interest rates and their potential impact on interest income, expense and cash flows. See Item 305(a)(1) of Regulation S-K. Response: The Company notes the Staff’s comment and in future filings will provide the following disclosure to attempt to quantify for investors the impact of changes in interest rates and their potential impact on interest income, interest expense, and cash flows, although to date the impact of changes in interest rates would not have had a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements taken as a whole. Had this enhanced disclosure been provided in the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, it would have read as follows: Item 7A. Quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk. The Company’s operations are exposed to market risks primarily as a result of changes in interest rates. The Company does not use derivative financial instruments for speculative or trading purposes. The Company’s exposure to market