Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
The components of selling, general and administrative expenses include costs related to selling the product such as the cost of the sales force and related sales and broker commissions; freight paid to third-party companies to distribute finished goods from the Company’s contract packagers to its customers; other general and administrative costs related to the Company’s business such as general overhead, legal and accounting fees, insurance, and depreciation; and other employee-related costs to support marketing, human resources, finance, supply chain, information technology and research and development activities.
Shipping and Handling Costs
Shipping and handling costs included in selling, general and administrative expenses were $16.4 million, $16.3 million and $15.8 million in fiscal years 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively.
Advertising and Sales Promotion Expenses
The Company’s policy is to expense advertising and sales promotion expenses as incurred. Advertising and sales promotion expenses include costs for advertising (television, print media and internet), coupon insertion, consumer promotion, product demonstrations, public relations, agency costs, package design expenses and market research costs.
Research and Development
The Company is involved in research and development efforts that include the continual development of new products and the improvement of existing products. All research and development costs are expensed as incurred and are included in selling, general and administrative expenses. Research and development expenses were $3.8 million for each of the fiscal years ended 2007 and 2006, and $2.5 million for the fiscal year ended 2005. These expenses include general research and development activities, as well as internal staff, overhead, design testing, market research and consultants.
Income Taxes
Current income tax expense is the amount of income taxes expected to be payable for the current year. A deferred income tax liability or asset is established for the expected future tax consequences resulting from the differences in financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance is provided if it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.
The Company establishes accruals for certain tax contingencies when, despite the belief that the Company’s tax return positions are fully supported, the Company believes that certain positions may be challenged and that the Company’s positions may not be fully sustained. The tax contingency accruals are adjusted in light of changing facts and circumstances, such as the progress of tax audits, case law and emerging legislation. The Company’s tax contingency accruals are reflected as a component of income taxes payable.
U.S. income tax expense is provided on remittances of foreign earnings and on unremitted foreign earnings that are not indefinitely reinvested. Where unremitted foreign earnings are indefinitely reinvested, no provision for federal and state tax expense is made.
Foreign Currency
Assets and liabilities of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. Income and expense items are translated at the average exchange rates prevailing during the period. Gains and losses from translation are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). Gains or losses resulting from foreign currency transactions (transactions denominated in a currency other than the entity’s functional currency) are included in the consolidated statements of operations as other (expense) income. Aggregate foreign currency transaction (losses) gains were ($38,000), $110,000 and $387,000 for the fiscal years ended August 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively.
The Company uses foreign currency forward contracts to reduce the risk of foreign currency transactions of one of its wholly-owned foreign subsidiaries. The principal currency affected is the Euro. Forward contracts are accounted for on a mark-to-market basis, with realized and unrealized gains or losses recognized currently. Cash flows from settlements of forward contracts are included in operating activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows. While the Company engages in foreign currency hedging activity to reduce its risk, for accounting purposes, none of the foreign exchange contracts are designated as hedges.
The Company continually monitors its positions with, and the credit quality of, the major international financial institutions which are counterparties to its foreign currency forward contracts, and has not experienced nonperformance by any of these counterparties. As a matter of policy, the Company does not purchase contracts that exceed the amount of the foreign denominated cash and accounts receivable balances. At August 31, 2007, the Company had approximately $6.4 million of foreign currency forward contracts outstanding, which mature starting in September 2007 and continue to mature through December 2007. The amount of net realized and unrealized gains and losses on the foreign currency forward contracts was not material for all periods presented.
Earnings per Share
Basic earnings per common share is calculated by dividing net income for the period by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per common share is calculated by dividing net income for the period by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period increased by the weighted average number of potentially dilutive common shares (dilutive securities) that were outstanding during the period. Dilutive securities are comprised of options granted under the Company’s stock option plan.
Stock-based Compensation
Effective September 1, 2005, the Company began recording compensation expense associated with stock options in accordance with SFAS No. 123R, “Share-Based Payment”. Prior to September 1, 2005, the Company accounted for stock-based compensation related to stock options under the recognition and measurement principles of Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25; therefore, the Company measured compensation expense for its stock option plan using the intrinsic value method, that is, as the excess, if any, of the fair market value of the Company’s stock at the grant date over the amount required to be paid to acquire the stock, and provided the disclosures required by SFAS Nos. 123 and 148. The Company adopted the modified prospective transition method provided under SFAS No. 123R, and as a result, did not retroactively adjust results from prior periods. Under this transition method, compensation expense associated with stock options recognized in fiscal years 2007 and 2006 includes: 1) expense related to the remaining unvested portion of all stock option awards granted prior to September 1, 2005, based on the grant date fair value estimated in accordance with the original provisions of SFAS No. 123; and 2) expense related to all stock option awards granted subsequent to September 1, 2005, based on the grant date fair value estimated in accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 123R.