SEC Company Response from NATIONAL VISION INC (CIK 0000868263) — Jun 24, 2005
NATIONAL VISION INC (CIK 0000868263)
Date: June 24, 2005 · CIK: 0000868263 · Accession: 0001104659-05-029656
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
Referenced dates: June 10, 2005
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CORRESP 1 filename1.htm National Vision, Inc 296 Grayson Highway Lawrenceville, GA 30045 June 24, 2005 United States Securities and Exchange Commission 450 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20549 Attention: Mr. Michael Moran, Branch Chief RE: File No. 1-16635 Comment Letter dated June 10, 2005 Dear Sirs: Included below are our responses to the comments contained in the Comment Letter referenced above. For ease of reference, we have included each of your comments in this response. 1. SEC Comment: We note you include the sales of several types of products (frames, spectacle lenses, contact lenses and accessories) in optical products and services revenue. Tell us in more detail how you determined reportable segments for your business. If you aggregate operating segments, tell us how you determined that you have properly aggregated operating segments into one reportable segment. Refer to FAS 131. In addition, if you determined that you have one reportable segment, in future filings in MD&A, please disclose revenues from external customers for each of your principal product categories for each year presented. Refer to paragraph 37 of FAS 131. National Vision Response Operating Segments. In accordance with paragraph 10 of FAS 131, we determine our operating segments based upon the information used by our Chief Executive Officer (our chief operating decision maker) to make decisions regarding resource allocation. As a result, we have identified the following operating segments: • Retail vision centers operated in Wal-Mart stores located in the United States, • Retail vision centers operated in Fred Meyer stores in the United States, • Retail vision centers operated on U.S. military bases in the United States, • Retail vision centers operated in freestanding locations in the United States, • Retail vision centers operated in Wal-Mart stores located in Mexico, • HMO offices operated in the State of California, and • Retail home medical equipment stores located in the United States. Reportable Segments. We have determined that we have one reportable segment because substantially all of our revenues and related costs are the result of operating retail vision centers in the United States. Such U.S. domestic retail vision centers are operated within the first four operating segments listed in the preceding section and these four operating segments qualify for aggregation into a single reportable segment under FAS 131. The remaining three operating segments are combined with this reportable segment due to their immateriality, both separately and in the aggregate. Additional information regarding our considerations as to reportable segments is included in the following sections. Retail vision centers located in the United States: Our four domestic vision center operating segments may be aggregated into a single reportable segment in accordance with paragraph 17 of FAS 131 because of the similarity of their economic and operating characteristics, as these domestic vision centers: • have achieved similar long-term average gross product margins ranging from 67% to 70% in 2004 and from 67% to 68% in both 2003 and 2002. These characteristics have not changed significantly during fiscal 2005 and we expect that they will remain similar in the future. • sell substantially identical products and services, consisting primarily of eyeglass frames and ophthalmic lenses (which are almost always sold together as a complete pair of eyeglasses), and contact lenses, • sell products that are manufactured and/or assembled using the same production processes, • sell products that are generally manufactured in the same facilities (our two centralized U.S. optical labs), • receive all merchandise shipments in the same manner, almost always from our two U.S. distribution centers supplemented by occasional drop shipments directly from vendors, • have similar types and classes of customer, and • have identical methods of distribution in that customers make purchases on site at the retail location and generally return to the store to pick up eyeglasses and non-stock contact lens products several days after placing and paying for their orders. This segment’s external revenues accounted for 94.5%, 95.6% and 97.1%, respectively, of consolidated revenues for fiscal 2004, 2003 and 2002. Thus, no additional segments need be reported in order for us to achieve the 75% quantitative threshold established in paragraph 20 of FAS 131. Retail vision centers located in Mexico: A separately managed subsidiary in Mexico operates retail vision centers in Wal-Mart stores located in Mexico. The operations of our Mexican vision centers are substantially similar to those of our U.S. vision centers. However, because average gross product margins do not fall within the range of average gross product margins achieved by the U.S. vision centers, we do not believe this operating segment meets the FAS 131 requirements for aggregation with the U.S. vision centers. However, the operating results of this operating segment are not material. As indicated by the following table, this operating segment does not meet the 10% quantitative thresholds of paragraph 18 of FAS 131 to be a reportable segment: Fiscal Year 2004 2003 2002 Revenue test 1.9 % 1.8 % 2.0 % Profit/loss test 2.6 % 8.3 % 3.2 % Asset test 1.0 % 1.1 % 1.5 % HMO offices operated in the State of California: A separately managed subsidiary, which is licensed as an HMO, sells an eye examination insurance product and conducts eye examinations through its offices in California. As indicated by the following table, this operating segment does not meet the 10% quantitative thresholds of paragraph 18 of FAS 131 to be a reportable segment: Fiscal Year 2004 2003 2002 Revenue test 3.4 % 2.6 % 0.9 % Profit/loss test 2.6 % 6.6 % 4.1 % Asset test 2.4 % 3.1 % 2.1 % 2 Retail home medical equipment stores: Our two retail home medical equipment locations were opened as a test during 2004. This operating segment does not meet the 10% quantitative thresholds of paragraph 18 of FAS 131 to be a reportable segment. Total reportable revenues of this operating segment were approximately 0.1% of the combined revenue of all operating segments for fiscal 2004, the absolute amount of its reported loss was approximately 3.5% of the combined reported profit of all operating segments that did not report a loss for fiscal 2004, and its assets were less than 0.1% of the combined assets of all operating segments as of January 1, 2005. Our 2004 Form 10-K disclosed on page 9 that we expected to terminate this test in 2005. During our quarter ending July 2, 2005, we closed these two retail home medical equipment stores. Geographic Information. We operate in two geographical regions, the United States and Mexico. As shown in the following table, our operations in Mexico are not significant: Fiscal Year 2004 2003 2002 Revenues as a percent of consolidated revenues 1.9 % 1.8 % 2.5 % Long-lived assets at the end of the year as a percent of consolidated long-lived assets 0.6 % 0.8 % 1.0 % Therefore, we have not disclosed in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements the revenues and long-lived assets in our two geographical regions. However, in accordance with Regulation S-K, we have included within Item 1 of our 2004 Form 10-K information regarding revenues generated and long-term assets owned by our Mexican subsidiary. Principal Product Categories. We believe that each of our operating segments sells a single product category. Our five vision center operating segments sell vision correction products and related accessories. Our HMO sells memberships and operates optometric examination offices that provide vision examinations to the HMO’s members. Our two home medical stores sold products designed for safety and mobility. In our 2004 Form 10-K, we chose to disclose the sales of each of these product categories directly on the face of the income statement rather than in MD&A. Please note that, because we have now closed the two home medical stores, their operating results will be classified within discontinued operations starting with our quarter ending July 2, 2005. We presently intend to continue reporting our remaining two product categories directly on the face of the income statement. However, we will also disclose these product category revenues within MD&A in our future filings. 2. SEC Comment: You state that, “managed care sales accounted for approximately 11%, 12% and 11% of our sales of optical products in 2004, 2003 and 2002, respectively,” on page 18. From the statement of operations, it appears managed care services sales were $7,835, or 4% of optical products sales, $6,346, or 3% of optical products sales, and $1,699, or 1% of optical products sales, in 2004, 2003 and 2002, respectively. Please revise in future filings, or advise us otherwise. National Vision Response The managed care sales referred to in the first sentence of your comment pertain to that portion of our sales of optical products that were fully or partially paid for by our customers’ third-party insurance. These sales are included in the caption “Sales of optical products and services” in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. The amounts referred to in the second sentence of your comment are derived from the “Fees from managed vision care services” caption in our Consolidated Statements of Operations and represent our HMO’s 3 revenues from sales of memberships and collection of patient co-payments for eye examinations conducted. As such, these amounts are not related to the disclosure referred to in the first sentence of your comment. We will revise future filings to create a clearer distinction between these two disclosures. Had we made such a change in 2004, the disclosure on page 18 of our 2004 Form 10-K would have read, “Approximately 11%, 12% and 11% of our sales of optical products in 2004, 2003 and 2002, respectively, were fully or partially paid by our customers’ third-party insurance.” 3. SEC Comment: We note from page 25 that you must maintain a minimum rolling 12-month EBITDA as a result of the restrictive covenants in your Fleet facility. In future filings please expand your disclosures to clarify if this is the same measure used under your Senior Subordinated Notes and reconciled to net earnings on page 26. If not, please provide the disclosures required under Item 10(e) of Regulation S-K for ‘EBITDA (as defined). See the Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures, which can be found on the SEC website. National Vision Response The adjusted EBITDA as shown on page 25 of our 2004 Form 10-K is computed based on our interpretation of the definition of EBITDA in our Fleet agreement. The definition of EBITDA in our Senior Subordinated Notes Indenture (the “Indenture”) is the same as the definition of EBITDA in the Fleet agreement with the one exception that the Indenture excludes the income or loss from “Unrestricted Subsidiaries,” a defined term within the Indenture. Our retail home medical equipment stores operation was started as a test in 2004, and is an Unrestricted Subsidiary. EBITDA in 2003 and 2002 was the same under both the Fleet agreement and the Indenture because we had no Unrestricted Subsidiaries. In fiscal 2004, adjusted EBITDA under the Indenture was $33,448,000, which was $616,000 higher than adjusted EBITDA as computed under the Fleet agreement as a result of the $616,000 loss incurred by the Unrestricted Subsidiary in 2004. We disclose EBITDA as defined in the Fleet agreement in our 2004 Form 10-K because: • The Fleet agreement contains a covenant requiring that we maintain EBITDA, as defined in that agreement, of at least $19.6 million for each rolling twelve-month period. We have letters of credit outstanding under the Fleet facility throughout the year and the Fleet facility also provides us with seasonal working capital when needed. The Fleet facility provides our only available source of letters of credit and seasonal borrowings. Failure to comply with this covenant could have a significant negative impact on the Company. • The Indenture does not contain a comparable covenant based upon EBITDA as defined in the Indenture. Accordingly, we view the Fleet EBITDA computation as much more meaningful than the computation of EBITDA under the Indenture. • We compute EBITDA under the Indenture only for the six-month periods ending in June and December each year, as these are the measurement dates for determining the amount of the semi-annual mandatory redemptions of our Senior Subordinated Notes. Further, six-month EBITDA is only a starting point in computing the amount of the redemption rather than the sole determinate of this amount. Thus, EBITDA as a stand-alone measure is of much less significance in the Indenture than it is under the Fleet agreement. • Primarily because we believe that EBITDA as computed under the Fleet agreement is of significantly greater interest to investors and to a much lesser extent because this amount is lower than the amount of EBITDA computed under the Indenture, we concluded that the best disclosure would be to report only the smaller 2004 amount. In future filings, we will delete references to the Indenture in our EBITDA disclosures. 4 4. SEC Comment: We note from page 25 that Adjusted EBITDA is a component of the computations you make each six months to determine the amount of mandatory redemption of your Senior Subordinated Notes and it is used as a liquidity measure. Please tell us each component aggregated in the line item “Other” in your reconciliation on page 26 and revise your disclosure in future filings to describe each line item individually in your reconciliation. Further, please advise us of any items requiring cash settlement. Reference is made to Question 10 from the Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures, which can be found on the SEC website. National Vision Response The following table shows the components aggregated on the line item “Other” in the reconciliation on page 26 of our 2004 Form 10-K (in thousands): Fiscal Year 2004 2003 2002 Interest income $ (164 ) $ (50 ) $ (147 ) Amortization of deferred stock compensation 101 116 Non-cash gain on asset sale (323 ) Total $ (63 ) $ 66 $ (470 ) Of these items, only interest income is settled in cash. Although the provisions of our agreement with Fleet and our Indenture do not specifically require that interest income be subtracted from net income in order to compute adjusted EBITDA, it is our interpretation that any computation of EBITDA should adjust net income so that it excludes interest income as well as interest expense. We have consistently followed this interpretation in our computations of EBITDA since the inception of both agreements. Under our further interpretation of the agreements since their inception, interest income includes discounts earned for early payment of trade invoices and is reduced by amounts paid for bank fees. In accordance with the answer to Question 10 of Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures, management believes that the Fleet ag