SEC Company Response from OUTLOOK GROUP CORP (CIK 0000867490) — Nov 30, 2004
OUTLOOK GROUP CORP (CIK 0000867490)
Date: Nov. 30, 2004 · CIK: 0000867490 · Accession: 0000950137-04-010554
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 000-18815
Referenced dates: October 29, 2004
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[OGC letterhead]
November 30, 2004
VIA EDGAR AND OVERNIGHT DELIVERY
Max A. Webb, Esq.
Division of Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
450 5th Street, N.W.
Judiciary Plaza
Washington DC 20549
RE: OUTLOOK GROUP CORP.
COMMISSION FILE NO. 000-18815
Dear Mr. Webb:
This letter responds to the comments which Commission Staff made in its
letter dated October 29, 2004 to me as Outlook Group Corp.'s chief financial
officer, relating to the OGC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2004
and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended August 28, 2004. Comments are made in
response to the numbered paragraphs in your letter. For convenient reference, a
copy of your letter is attached to the delivered copy of this letter. In this
letter, "we" refers to OGC and its management generally.
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Comment
No. OGC Response
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1 We will comply with this comment in future filings.
2 We will consider providing such an executive-level overview in
future filings.
3 We will provide this type of information in future filings.
4 OGC entered into an agreement with International Masters
Publishing Inc. (IMP) in March of 2003. The IMP agreement
provides that OGC will be the single source to print products,
and then collate, insert, package and mail the products direct
to IMP customers. IMP had previously had these print, finishing
and mailing operations performed at multiple locations and with
several different vendors; therefore, IMP had inventory located
at multiple locations. Because IMP wanted to close these
various locations, as part of the agreement, OGC agreed to
purchase the active remaining finished goods of IMP to use in
fulfilling orders to IMP customers.
Rather than pay cash up front for this purchased inventory, the
parties agreed that
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Max A. Webb, Esq.
November 30, 2004
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Comment
No. OGC Response
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settlement would take place when this specific inventory was
fulfilled (i.e., shipped to IMP's customers). OGC purchased the
inventory at IMP's cost and recorded both the inventory and a
note payable to IMP at this cost. After providing additional
fulfillment operations, revenue is recognized after the
products are shipped to IMP customers. Title to this inventory
transferred to OGC and OGC was subject to risk of loss related
to the purchased inventory prior to completion of fulfillment
operations. The total revenue recorded includes the cost of the
finished goods purchased plus additional revenue for providing
additional fulfillment operations; simultaneously, OGC provides
IMP a credit against its account receivable balance for the
cost of any finished goods that were fulfilled using the
products purchased from IMP and OGC's note payable to IMP is
reduced by the same amount of this credit. For your
information, at the end of the first quarter, over 90% of the
IMP inventory had been worked off in the ordinary course of
business.
5 We will provide this type of information in future filings.
6 We will provide this type of information in future filings.
7 OGC continues to pursue the sale of its Troy, Ohio facility.
OGC had leased this facility on a month-to-month basis to a
third party through February 2004 at which time that party
vacated the facility. As a result of the changed status of the
property, OGC performed an impairment review. The building was
depreciated up until the point of vacancy. The net value of the
land and building remains at approximately $800,000, the net
book value of the related assets when it was no longer an
income producing asset and is accounted for as a "held for sale
asset" under SFAS 144. The related net asset value is included
in OGC's net property, plant and equipment section of the
balance sheet. The net amount was not deemed material, and
therefore not disclosed separately. The carrying amount of the
land and building was less than 4% of the value of net
property, plant and equipment and less than 2% of the value of
total assets. OGC has not yet recognized any gains or losses on
the disposal of the land and building since they have not yet
been sold.
OGC has an appraisal of the property showing a market value
above book value. Until earlier this month, OGC had been
entertaining a bona fide third party offer, in excess of the
carrying value, for the property; however, it now appears that
the potential buyer will not proceed based upon its analysis of
the costs of modifications for the buyer's intended use.
8 OGC's pricing is done on a customer-by-customer and
project-by-project basis, and there is no "standard pricing"
for most projects. Pricing variances among
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Max A. Webb, Esq.
November 30, 2004
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Comment
No. OGC Response
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projects depend upon many factors including size and duration
of the project, the customer's timing requirements, the type
and novelty of work being done, the types of materials used in
the projects, the degree of customization required, and
numerous other factors. Therefore, general statements as to how
particular types of projects would affect margins would not be
a meaningful or accurate disclosure.
9 We will comply with this comment in future filings.
10 OGC's other asset section on the Balance Sheet of $1,185,000 is
comprised of $800,000 of goodwill and $385,000 of amortizable
intangibles including $314,000 of trade name relating to the
purchase of Paragon Direct in June 2002 (this was subsequently
sold at book value in June 2004), and $71,000 of fees relating
to a lease agreement. These items were not deemed material as
they comprised less than 3% of OGC's total assets. See also
Exhibit 1 (Table 10) attached to this letter. We will disclose
goodwill as a separate line item in future filings.
11 In determining sales returns and allowances, OGC looks at
historical returns of product as a percentage of net sales and
accrues against current sales an estimated allowance for sales
returns. For example, the allowance for sales returns at May
31, 2004 was $120,000. We will also comply with this comment in
future filings.
12 In April 2001, OGC announced that it was merging its Outlook
Packaging business unit into its Outlook Label business unit,
including relocation of Packaging operations to Label's Neenah,
Wisconsin facility. During fiscal 2002, OGC incurred facility
relocation charges of approximately $900,000 related to this
move. Approximately $300,000 relates to the facility relocation
along with severance costs, and approximately $600,000
associated with equipment renovations and start-up costs. These
costs include "stay" bonuses to certain Packaging employees in
Oak Creek, Wisconsin, to incent them to remain with the
operation through the move. In addition, the costs included
moving and reconfiguring certain items of machinery, its
subsequent installation in Neenah and certain infrastructure
changes in Neenah to accommodate the move. All items were
expensed as incurred. These items were previously disclosed in
OGC's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2002.
13 The term "services" is typically used in the printing and
packaging industries to describe "operations" that are
performed to produce a finished product. The revenues generated
by OGC are related to tangible products upon which certain
operations, or services, are performed. The vast majority of
products produced are of a custom or "job shop" nature. Also,
please see the related discussion to comment 8, above.
14 We will comply with this comment in future filings.
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Max A. Webb, Esq.
November 30, 2004
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Comment
No. OGC Response
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15 The line item labeled "Purchase of Treasury Stock" in the 2004
Statement of Shareholders' Equity refers to exercises of
employee stock options in circumstance when, in accordance with
the option plan, the option holders used existing ("mature")
shares of common stock as payment of the option exercise price.
The shares listed under "common stock" in this line item
represent the total number of shares issued pursuant to those
options; the items shown under "treasury stock" refer to the
shares which were used by employees as consideration. Based on
your comment, we will change the title of this line item in
future filings to "Exercises of Stock Options" to better
reflect the facts; we will combine with other cash option
exercises if appropriate.
16 We will comply with this comment in future filings.
17 OGC does not have significant advertising expenses. If these
expenses ever become significant or material, we will comply
with this comment in future filings.
18 Revenue from shipment of manufactured products is recognized
after title has passed to the client. In certain contracts, OGC
has certain guaranteed revenue from rebates and performance
bonuses that are recognized as earned through the year. In both
situations, the following exist: 1) evidence of a contractual
arrangement 2) either delivery of product or a rendering of
required services 3) a fixed and determinable price, and 4)
reasonable assurance of collectibility.
19 Our "long-term contracts" are supply agreements lasting for a
period of time, as distinguished from isolated or one-time
purchase orders. They are not subject to
percentage-of-completion or progress-billing rules. OGC
long-term supply agreements are with clients to produce product
on an "as required" basis. Therefore, OGC does not believe
disclosures are required as outlined in Rule 5-02(3)c and Rule
5-02(6)(d) of Regulation S-X.
20 Upon the acquisition of Paragon Direct on June 1, 2002 the
excess of the purchase price over asset values was attributed
to the "trade name", the "customer list" and the "technology."
When analyzing the results of OGC's Paragon division operations
as of May 31, 2003 the following facts and conclusions were
noted. The loss of eleven customers resulted in a reduction of
approximately 60% of base sales. The marketing and sales
strategy was modified at that time and the remaining customers
were not deemed to be a critical mass of business. The
intangibles related to the customer list were judged impaired
and were written off. At June 1, 2002 Paragon Direct had
recently completed the transition from mainframe list rental
software to server-based software and had completed the
development of certain customized software for several clients.
During the year
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Max A. Webb, Esq.
November 30, 2004
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Comment
No. OGC Response
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after the acquisition, substantial flaws in the software were
uncovered that necessitated major rewrites and modifications.
The intangibles related to the technology therefore were judged
impaired and written off; the write off was an expense charged
against SG&A.
21 In recent periods, this amount has not been material. We will
comply with this comment in future filings if it becomes
material.
22 We will provide this information in future filings.
23 We will provide this information in future filings.
24 We will provide this information in future filings.
25 The amounts of legal settlement expense and recovery related to
a lawsuit involving our relocated packaging facility. These
items were included under the line item "Facility relocation
and legal settlement costs" and were discussed in the MD&A.
Since the $120,000 legal fees were expensed as they were
incurred, they were included in net income when recovered. This
recovery was also included in the line item "Facility
relocation and legal settlement costs."
26 The Silly Productions litigation was discussed in the 2003 10-K
in Item 3 and as a note to the financial statements. The
settlement of this matter was discussed in the second quarter
2004 10-Q; a copy of that discussion follows:
As previously reported, the Company was sued in fiscal
2003 by Silly Productions, Inc. and its owner Thomas
Riccio. The complaint alleged nine theories of
liability, all of which arose out of the actions of a
former employee of the Company who appears to have
stolen small amounts of certain materials dur