SEC Company Response from COMERCIAL MEXICAN HOLDING — Nov 30, 2005
COMERCIAL MEXICAN HOLDING /ADR (CIK 0000882390)
Date: Nov. 30, 2005 · CIK: 0000882390 · Accession: 0000882390-05-000023
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-126940
Referenced dates: August 29, 2005
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CORRESP
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Response Letter
November 30, 2005
Mr. H. Christopher Owings
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
450 Fifth Street, N.W., Mail Stop 3561
Washington, D.C. 20549
Re:
Comercial Mexican Holding
Registration Statement on Form F-4
Filed July 28, 2005
Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form F-4
Filed July 28, 2005
File No. 333-126940
Form 20-F for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Filed June 30, 2005
Form 20-F/A for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Filed July 27, 2005
File No. 33-44756
Dear Mr. Owings:
This letter sets forth the response of Controladora Comercial Mexicana,
S.A. de C.V., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the Untied
Mexican States (the "Company") to the Staff’s comments to the above-referenced
filings. These comments were transmitted to the Company by letter dated August
29, 2005. This letter is being filed with Amendment No. 2 to the Company’s
annual report on Form 20-F/A. The responses are set forth below and are numbered
to correspond to the numbering in the Staff’s comment letter.
FORM 20F/A for fiscal year ended December 31, 2004
ITEM 17. Financial Statements
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement
1. In future filings please provide accounting policies for cash and
cash equivalents, store closing and remodeling costs, components of cost-of-sales
and stock-based compensation. Please advise or provide an example of your revised
disclosure in your response.
Response
The Company acknowledges the staff comment and confirms that it will revise
the disclosure in its future filings. An example of our revised disclosures
is as follows:
Cash Equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents include highly liquid investments
purchased with an original maturity of three months or less.
Store Closing and Remodeling Costs
Store closing costs include the costs to terminate a lease contract or costs
that will continue to be incurred under the lease without economic benefit to
the Company. These costs are initially recognized at the fair value of the liability
in the period in which the liability is incurred. Major remodeling costs such
as changes in store formats and expansions of the retail area of stores are
capitalized as leasehold or owned building improvements and are depreciated
over the remaining lease term or the estimated useful life of the remodeling,
whichever is shorter.
Cost of sales
Cost of sales includes the cost of the inventory sold adjusted for vendor discounts
and vendor shipping costs. In addition, the cost of transporting the products
from the applicable distribution center to the store is captured in cost of
sales.
Stock based compensation
Stock - based compensation
We have a stock option plan for key employees under
which key employees were granted rights to receive the appreciation of an amount
of BC Units equal to one year of their salary, converted at Ps.7.68 per share.
These options are exercisable only on the earlier of the optionholder’s death,
date of retirement from the Company or the date upon which the optionholder
turns 65 years of age. Upon exercise, the employee’s trust will sell the BC
Units in the Mexican stock market and the proceeds will be used to pay the employee
the appreciation of the BC Units in cash, with the remaining balance returned
to the Company.
2. Summary of significant Accounting Policies
a) Revenue Recognition
We note that your policy permits you to recognize membership fee revenue
when payment is collected. U.S. GAAP requires membership fee revenue to be recognized
by applying either a SFAS No. 48 or SFAS No. 140 based accounting model. See
Question 1, Topic 13A4 of SAB 104. Please provide us with the background information
concerning your membership program including the amount of an annual membership
fee, the length of a membership period, circumstances which membership fees
are refundable, if at all, whether you have a large population of transactions
that allow you to estimate cancellations and compare estimates to actual member
cancellations and describe your obligations to perform services over the membership
period. Further provide a discussion supporting why your current accounting
policy does not recognize a significantly different amount of revenue than the
U.S. GAAP accounting models described above or tell us if you recorded a reconciling
adjustment to Mexican GAAP net income to arrive at U.S. GAAP. Please support
your discussion by providing an analysis of the amount of membership fee revenue
recognized in each of the three years ended December 31, 2004 as compared to
the amount of revenue that would be recognized under either U.S. GAAP accounting
model described above.
Response
Membership program
The membership program is offered only by the Costco de Mexico Group joint
venture in which we have a 50% interest. Under U.S. GAAP, the investment in
the Costco de Mexico Group joint venture is accounted for under the equity method
(see Note 17e of the financial statements).
The Costco management determines the U.S. GAAP adjustments applicable to the
Costco de Mexico Group joint venture, which includes an adjustment for membership
fee revenue recognition.
Under U.S. GAAP, the Costco de Mexico Group joint venture defers membership
fees and recognizes such fees ratably over the one-year term of the membership.
The Costco de Mexico Group joint venture requires a Ps.350 annual membership
fee from its customers. The Costco de Mexico Group joint venture is obliged
to sell products and services available in its locations to its members. The
membership fee also entitles its customers to shop at any Costco store worldwide.
The Costco de Mexico Group joint venture has a "Risk Free Membership"
policy which provides that the membership fee is fully refundable within 30
days after the membership fee is paid. Costco applies the concepts of the FAS
48 "Revenue Recognition When Right of Return Exists". The Costco de
Mexico Group joint venture considers the future refunds to be negligible as
they represented 1.3% of the total annual membership fees in both 2004 and 2003
(Ps. 1.6 million for 2004 and Ps. 1.5 million for 2003). For U.S. GAAP purposes,
the effect on returns is immaterial.
The following table represents 50% of the total gross U.S. GAAP adjustment
related to membership fees.
2004
2003
2002
Beginning balance of annual membership fees (accrued under
U.S. GAAP)
Ps.
56,778
Ps.
51,844
Ps.
47,012
Annual membership fees paid (net of reimbursement) under
Mexican GAAP
122,790
113,365
104,478
Membership fees revenue recognized under U.S.GAAP
(119,564)
(108,432)
(99,646)
Ending balance of accrued for membership fees under U.S.
GAAP
60,004
56,778
51,844
U.S. GAAP net income reconciliated
Ps.
(3,226)
Ps.
(4,933)
Ps.
(4,832)
f) Vendor Discounts
3. We note your disclosure of your policies regarding vendor discounts.
Please clarify for us whether your policies are similar to accounting practices
under U.S. GAAP. We note that, to the extent that there are differences between
what you record as a reduction of advertising expenses as opposed to cost of
sales, there could be an impact on the year end inventory balances as well as
the statement of income. If such differences exists between your application
of Mexican GAAP and U.S. GAAP, please quantify the effect of these differences
and tell us why you do not include this item in note 17.
Reponse
The Company acknowledges the staff’s comment and confirms that the accounting
policy regarding vendor discounts is the same for Mexican and U.S. GAAP purposes.
The Company also confirms that all of these vendor discounts are recorded as
a reduction to the value of the inventory, and, accordingly reduce the cost
of sales when the product is sold.
13. Stock Option Plan
4. Tell us why you classify BC units purchased for your employee stock
option plan as other assets rather than equity for U.S. GAAP reporting purposes.
The situation in which treasury stock can be classified as an asset are limited.
Response
The Company classifies the BC units purchased for its employee option plan
as other assets only for Mexican GAAP reporting purposes. Under U.S. GAAP, these
purchases are reflected as a reduction in the stockholders’ equity since these
BC units are considered treasury stock. See Note 17 Reconciliation of Stockholders’
Equity "Receivable under Stock Option Plan".
17. Differences between Mexican GAAP and U.S. GAAP
Reconciliation of Stockholder’s Equity
5. In future filings please omit all references to "approximate"
or "estimated" U.S. GAAP net income or shareholders’ equity in your
notes to the financial statements. We would expect there be no material differences
between net income or shareholders’ equity amounts in the reconciliation to
U.S. GAAP and financial statements amounts presented directly in U.S. GAAP.
See International Reporting and Disclosure Issues updated on February 24,2005
at http://sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/internatl/cfirdissues1104.htm
Response
The Company acknowledges the staff’s comment and confirms that the disclosure
will be revised in future filings.
g. Consolidation of Auchan Operations
6. You disclose that the AMEX acquisition was accounted for in 2004.
Disclosures in note 12 and elsewhere in the filing indicate that you took over
the five retail stores and accounted for that portion of the acquisition in
2003 under Mexican GAAP. Please clarify for us the discrepancy.
Response
The Company acknowledges the staff’s comment and confirms that there is a typographical
error in the disclosure included in Note 17. As mentioned in Note 12, the acquisition
of AMEX was consummated in February 2003 and was accounted for as an acquisition
in that year. The Company will change the disclosure in Note 17.
Item 19. Exhibits
7. Please advise or revise your future filings to include all major classes
of valuation and qualifying accounts and reserves not included in specific schedules
elsewhere in your filing. Please refer to Rule 12-09 of Regulation S-X. Please
provide an example of your revised disclosure in your response.
Response
The Company acknowledges the staff comment. The Company has the following major
classes of valuation and qualifying accounts and reserves: allowance for inventory
shrinkage, depreciation (See Note 6), goodwill and amortization (See Note 12
and Statement of Changes in the Financial Position), and deferred revenue (see
Note 4).
The Company proposes to revise the disclosure and include in the inventory
note to the financial statements the amounts related to the allowance for inventory
shrinkage.
The following table represents the major classes of valuation and qualifying
accounts and reserves:
(In thousand of Mexican pesos of constant purchasing
power as of December 31, 2004)
Description
Beginning
Balance
Charged to
Cost and
Expenses
Use
Ending
Balance
Allowance for inventory shrinkage
Ps. 117,740
Ps. 102,886
Ps. 117,740
Ps. 102,886
Depreciation and Amortization
5,417,858
546,649
205,669
5,758,838
Goodwill
446,850
-
210,849
236,001
Deferred Revenue
Ps. 666,257
Ps. 1,550,000
Ps. 1,784,592
Ps. 431,665
8. Please tell us if you have formerly filed as exhibits your articles
of incorporation or association, the Auchan S.A. purchase agreement and stock
option plans for key employees. If so, please incorporate these documents by
reference or, alternatively, please file them as part of an Exchange Act registration
statement or annual report. See instructions as to Exhibits of General Instructions
to Form 20-F.
Response
As a Mexican company, the Company’s Bylaws function as the equivalent to articles
of incorporation and articles of association. The Bylaws have been incorporated
by reference in Exhibit 1.1 to the Form 20-F.
Auchan S.A. purchase agreement does not have to be filed as it does not meet
the threshold requirement in Item 19 of Form 20-F. The 20-F rules state that
the Company does not have to file a contract for the acquisition of a property
because it does not exceed 15% of its fixed assets on a consolidated basis.
The Company is simultaneously filing an amended annual report on Form 20-F/A
to include the English translation of the Stock Option Plans as Exhibit 4.4. The
Company will similarly include the English translation of the Stock Option Plan
as Exhibit 10.1 when it files the second amendment to the Form F-4/A.
Exhibit 8.1
9. We note your investment in Sinergia is not included as a significant
subsidiary. Please tell us how much you have contributed to or invested in Sinergia
as your recent balance sheet date and how you account for your investment in
the entity. In your response please include Sinergia’s total assets, liabilities,
equity and the results of operations for the fiscal year ended December 31,2004.
Response
The Company has contributed Ps.1,522,000 to Sinergia, which represented one
third of the total stockholders’ equity of Sinergia as of the date of its establishment.
This investment is accounted for under the equity method and as of December
31, 2004, it represented 0.005% of our total consolidated assets and 0.04% of
our operating income.
The following represents selected financial data for Sinergia:
(In thousands of Mexican pesos of constant purchasing
power as of December 31, 2004)
Total assets
Ps. 1,524
Total liabilities
278
Stockholder’s equity
1,246
Results of operation
Ps. (2,243)
Should you have any questions, please contact the undersigned
at (52)55 52709312.
Sincerely,
Gustavo Campomanes M.