SEC Company Response from SUNDAY COMMUNICATIONS LTD (CIK 0001106952) — Sep 23, 2005
SUNDAY COMMUNICATIONS LTD (CIK 0001106952)
Date: Sept. 23, 2005 · CIK: 0001106952 · Accession: 0001204459-05-000542
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-11470
Referenced dates: August 9, 2005
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CORRESP
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SUNDAY Communications Limited - Correspondence - Prepared By TNT Filings
Inc.
September 23, 2005
Mr. Larry Spirgel
Assistant Director
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Dear Mr. Spirgel,
Re: SUNDAY
Communications Limited
Form 20-F/A for the year ended December 31, 2004
Filed July 6, 2005
File No. 333-11470
___________________________________________________
I refer to your letter dated August 9, 2005. Set out below is
our response to your comments, using the same headings and numberings as those
set out in your letter.
Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2004:
Item 3.A Selected Financial Data, page 3
We refer to your disclosure of 'net cash
(outflow)/inflow' data prepared in accordance with HK GAAP. Since these
amounts could be different under US GAAP, please revise your disclosure to
include amounts in accordance with US GAAP.
We respectfully submit to the Staff that there is no
difference in the disclosure of 'net cash (outflow)/inflow' for SUNDAY under HKGAAP and USGAAP as all the reconciling items between the two GAAPs, as shown
in Note 26 on F-38, are wholly non-cash items. Accordingly, the cash flows
under both GAAPs are the same.
1
In addition, you should provide in a note to the financial
statements a quantified description of the material differences of the cash
flows reported between HK GAAP and US GAAP. Please refer to Form 20F Item
17(c)(2)(iii).
We agree to include in our future filings a quantified
description of the material differences of the cash flows reported between HK
GAAP and US GAAP as a note in "Item 3.A SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA" whenever such
differences arise.
Refer to your EBITDA
presentation under US GAAP. Since you present a measure labeled as "EBITDA" as
a measure of operating performance, it is generally not appropriate to exclude
"share of losses from joint venture" since these charges are recurring. Refer
to Item 10 of Regulation S-K and Question 8 of our Frequently Asked Questions
document on non-GAAP measures which is available on our website at: http://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/faqs/nongaapfaq.htm>.
If you present a non-GAAP measure that excludes these recurring charges, you
must provide detailed disclosures why management believes a performance
measure that excludes these recurring charges is useful. Your discussion
should, at a minimum, disclose the following:
the manner in which
management uses the non-GAAP measure to conduct or evaluate the business;
the economic substance
behind management's decision to use such a measure;
the
material limitations associated with the use of the non-GAAP measure as
compared to the use of the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net income
(loss); and
the manner in
which management compensates for these limitations when using the non-GAAP
financial measure.
Revise your presentation as appropriate.
Kindly note that our preparation of EBITDA, which excluded
"share of losses from joint venture, was to conform with requirements that we
were subject to in our financial covenants with our lenders, such as Huawei
Tech. Investment Limited during 2004, and Nortel Networks (Asia) Limited & The
Overseas Union Bank for years before 2004. Accordingly we need to present the
EBITDA excluding the share of losses from the joint venture. We will revise
the disclosure in the future filings to clearly indicate the reasons of the
alternate presentation of the EBITDA.
2
Additionally - in Note 6 to "Item 3.A SELECTED FINANCIAL
DATA", we have highlighted that a key limitation of our calculation of EBITDA,
which is not a measure under HK GAAP or US GAAP, is that our formulation of
EBITDA is not comparable to that of other companies, which may determine
EBITDA differently. Further, we advise that investors should not consider our
EBITDA measure in isolation, or as an alternative to net profit/(loss) as
determined under HK GAAP or US GAAP as an indicator of operating performance,
or as an alternative to cash flow as determined under HK GAAP or US GAAP as a
measure of liquidity. We also provide a reconciliation of the EBITDA to the
Net (loss)/profit in the same note on page 4 so as to separately indicate the
impact of "share of losses from joint venture".
Your definition of
EBITDA does not conform to the commonly understood definition of EBITDA. Thus,
it is not appropriate to label it EBITDA. Rather, you must call it something
other than EBITDA and use a name that clearly describes all adjustments. You
must also clearly explain that your measure differs from EBITDA and that it is
not comparable to EBITDA as reported by other companies in the industry.
Specifically, disclose the definition of the acronym EBITDA, earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and explain that the
calculation of your non-GAAP measure also excludes "share losses from joint
venture."
We agree to use an alternative label of "Adjusted EBITDA" in
our future filings. In addition we will continue to include a clear definition
of the "Adjusted EBITDA" financial measure in Note 6 to "Item 3.A SELECTED
FINANCIAL DATA" as
" (loss)/profit before interest income and financial
costs, income tax expense/(benefit), depreciation, amortization and share of
losses from joint ventures" so as to differentiate our computation of
EBITDA from that of other companies.
3
Summary of differences between HK GAAP and US GAAP, page
F-39
Expand your accounting
policy for connection fees under US GAAP to disclose how you account for
connection fees related to sales and service agreements. It appears that your
policy for connection fees under US GAAP as is relates to the provision of
mobile services only. Please clarify and disclose any difference in the
accounting policy between sales through your direct sales channels and sales
through your dealers.
The connection fees recognized in 2003 and 2004 under US
GAAP amounted to HK$411,000 and HK$1,200, representing 1% and less than 1% of
our net profits in the respective years. As such, we consider the financial
impact to be minimal. However, by way of improved disclosure in our future
filings, we will further elaborate on our accounting policy under US GAAP as
follows:
"Connection fees are charged to postpaid mobile service
subscribers upon activation of service. Under US GAAP, the fees, net of
direct incremental costs incurred, are recognized as deferred revenue on
balance sheet and later credited to profit and loss statements as revenue
over the estimated customer service period, which are estimated based on the
expected stabilized churn rates."
The above policy is applied to all postpaid subscribers from
various sales channels. As a result, there is no difference in treatment
between sales through direct sales or dealers.
Tell us how you
applied the consensus in EITF 00-21 and the impact in your financial
statements.
Currently, we have three types of revenue arrangements in
our business model, namely sales of mobile services on a standalone basis,
sales of mobile phones and accessories on a standalone basis as well as sales
of mobile services together with mobile phones. Only the third arrangement
contains multiple deliverables that is required to be assessed according to
the consensus in EITF 00-21.
4
To satisfy the consensus of EITF 00-21, we have assessed the
third arrangement according to the following three principles:
a)
Revenue arrangements with
multiple deliverables, where qualified, should be divided into separate
units of accounting;
b)
Arrangement consideration should
be allocated among the separate units of accounting based on their relative
fair values;
c)
Applicable revenue recognition
criteria should be considered separately for separate units of accounting.
(a)
With reference to our current business arrangement on sales of mobile
services together with mobile phones, we are able to separate the offer into
two deliverables: (i) the delivered item is the mobile phone which is sold
and delivered upon activation of mobile service, and has a standalone
selling price; and (ii) the undelivered item is the airtime service to be
provided throughout the contract period.
(b)
The fair value of the undelivered item, i.e. the mobile service, is the
standalone price which we are able to charge customers for such service over
the contract period. The fair value of the delivered item, i.e. the mobile
phone, is calculated by using the residual method, i.e. the consideration
for the total arrangement in the transaction less the fair value of mobile
services. In fact, the result under such method is in line with our current
policy of accounting for subsidized handset sales, which is recognized to
the extent of the purchase price paid by the subscriber, excluding any
upfront prepayment amount allocated to the airtime to be delivered in
future. For further details, please refer to Note 2 - Principal Accounting
Policies (b) (ii) - Sales of mobile phones and accessories on F-11 of our
filed Form 20-F/A. Kindly note that the result revenue that would be
recognized using the relative fair value method is the same as that
recognized under the residual method as we only recognize revenues to the
extent of cash received under the bundled sales plan.
(c)
Our revenue recognition of the handset bundled plan is indifferent to any
standalone transactions involving sales of handsets or mobile services.
Handset sales are recognized upon delivery, while mobile service revenue is
accounted for when such services are delivered. The upfront prepayment
received is recorded as deferred revenue and included as a liability in the
balance sheet.
Our total deferred revenue in connection with handset sales
was HK$13.4 million as of December 31, 2004, which was included in the balance
sheet as part of the subscriptions received in advance.
5
Refer to your disclosure on sales of mobile phones and
accessories at the bottom of page 35. It is unclear to us how the rebate
program works and the relationship with the prepaid services. To help us
understand your accounting, please provide us with the related journal
entries.
We would like to respectfully advise the Staff that we have
not applied any handset rebate program to our prepaid mobile service
subscribers.
The handset rebate arises from our handset bundled plans. As
indicated in our analysis of Comment 6 above, the receipts from the handset
rebate program are allocated among sales of mobile services and sales of
mobile phones and accessories, by applying the principles of EITF 00-21. The
portion allocated to the sales of mobile services represents the upfront
subscription fees received, which is then set off against the monthly trade
receivables in respect of sales of mobile service throughout the contract
period.
If the Staff requires additional clarifications on the above
accounting treatment, we will provide you with the related journal entries for
your further review.
Refer to the
reconciling item to write back compensation cost with respect to the deferred
compensation for share options. It is unclear to us why you wrote back the
compensation cost. Please explain.
The write back of the compensation costs relates to the
options that were forfeited upon the termination of employment of certain
employees.
Consolidated Statements of Profits and Losses, pages F-42
It appears that the
captions "cost of sales of mobile phones and accessories" and "cost of
services" excludes depreciation and amortization for property and equipment
that directly attributed to the generation of revenue. Revise to comply with
SAB Topic 11:B as applicable, by identifying the amount of applicable
depreciation that is excluded from the above captions. Alternatively, you can
indicate that the above captions exclude 'depreciation' and 'amortization'.
We agree to revise the above captions in our future filings
to clearly indicate that the costs of services and sales of mobile phones and
accessories exclude 'depreciation' and 'amortization'.
6
In addition, you should revise to include the impairment loss
of your investment in a joint venture within the caption 'share of losses of
joint ventures'.
Kindly note that we have already included the impairment
loss of HK$66,000 in the share of loss of our investment in a joint venture in
our consolidated statements of profits & losses on F-3 and F-42. We have
further disclosed the item in note 12 to our consolidated financial statements
on F-23 as follows:
"For the year ended December 31, 2004, the Group
recognized the share of losses from a joint venture of HK$258,000 (2003:
HK$4,426,000) in the consolidated statements of profits and losses. The
amounts included share of net liabilities of HK$192,000 (2003: HK$2,095,000)
and additional provision for impairment of HK$66,000 (2003: HK$2,331,000)."
We do not believe that any additional
disclosure in future filings will be required as the joint venture will be in
the process of liquidation in the foreseeable future, and thus no material
additional losses are expected to incur.
Others, page F-23
Refer to Note 12 and
the investment in a joint venture. It appears that you were required to file
separate financial statement of Atria under Rule 3-09 of Regulation S-X.
Please tell us how you determined that separate financial statements under
Rule 3-09 of Regulation S-X were not required. When performing the income test
in accordance with Rule 1-02(w) of Regulation S-X, you are required to include
the impairment of your investment together with the equity pick-up in the
income (loss) of the investee. Supplementally provide us with your supporting
calculations.
Kindly note that we have performed the income test in
accordance with Rule 1-02 (w) of Regulation S-X. Since the investment does not
meet any of the thresholds specified in Rule 3-09 for the presentation of
separate financial statements - it is our submission that our existing
disclosure is adequate.
As requested - please find our supporting calculations for
2003 and 2004 in the appendix.
7
We acknowledge that:
We are responsible for the
adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filings;
Staff comments or changes to
disclosure in response to staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from
taking any action with respect to the filings; and
We may not assert staff
comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any
person under the federal securities laws of the United States.
Yours Sincerely,
/s/ Raymond Mak Wai Man
Director, Finance
SUNDAY Communications
Limited
8
Appendix
Computation:
Condition 1:
2002
2003
2004
HK$'000
HK$'000
HK$'000
Net investment costs and advances to Atria
Limited
3,322
2,331
2,397
Total assets of SUNDAY Group as of December
31
1,810,900
1,732,700
2,164,500
Result
0.18%
0.13%
0.11%
Condition 3:
2002
2003
2004
HK$'000
HK$'000
HK$'000
Share in net loss of
JV(1)
(1,905)
(2,095)
(192)
Impairment loss of
the investment in JV(2)
(16,703)
(2,331)
(66)
Total share in net
losses of JVs charged to the
consolidated statement of pro