10-Q/A: Quarterly report [Sections 13 or 15(d)]
Published on November 21, 2008
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
10-Q/A
(Amendment No.
1)
(Mark
One)
|
x QUARTERLY
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE
|
|
SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
|
For the quarterly
period ended March 31, 2008
OR
|
o TRANSITION
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE
|
|
SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
|
For the transition
period
from to
Commission File No.
0-15279
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC.
|
||
(Exact name
of registrant as specified in its charter)
|
State
of Alaska
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92-0072737
|
|||
(State or
other Jurisdiction of
|
(I.R.S
Employer
|
|||
Incorporation
or organization)
|
Identification
No.)
|
2550
Denali Street
|
||||||
Suite
1000
|
||||||
Anchorage,
Alaska
|
99503
|
|||||
(Address of
Principal Executive offices)
|
(Zip
Code)
|
|
Registrant’s telephone number, including area
code: (907)
868-5600
|
Former name, former
address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has
filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period
that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject
to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. YesxNo o
Indicate by check
mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer,
or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and
large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check
one):
Large accelerated filer o
|
Accelerated filer x
|
Non-accelerated
filer o(Do not
check if a smaller reporting company)
|
Smaller reporting company o
|
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a
shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes
oNo x
The number of
shares outstanding of the registrant's classes of common stock as of April 30,
2008 was:
49,915,000 shares
of Class A common stock; and
3,255,619 shares of
Class B common stock.
Explanatory
Note
General
Communication, Inc. (the "Company") is filing this Amendment No. 1 on Form
10-Q/A ("this Amendment") to its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal
quarter ended March 31, 2008, which was originally filed on June 4, 2008
(“Original Filing”).
This Amendment is
being filed to:
·
|
Correct the
Company's consolidated financial statements under Part I, Item I contained
in this Form 10-Q/A for an error in depreciation expense due to failure to
make a change to the estimated useful life of certain assets that were
expected to be decommissioned at or near the end of 2008. The
error increased depreciation expense $4.5 million, decreased minority
interest expense $1.0 million and decreased income tax expense $1.3
million for the three months ended March 31, 2008. The error
also decreased property and equipment in service $4.5 million, decreased
minority interest $1.0 million and decreased deferred income tax liability
$1.3 million as of March 31, 2008. Note 1(i) to the
consolidated financial statements has been updated to describe the error
correction, and
|
·
|
Correct the
Company’s disclosure under Part I, Item 4(b) to include the Company’s
evaluation of this error on its internal control over financial
reporting.
|
This Form 10-Q/A
only amends Part I, Items 1 and 2 as a result of, and to reflect, an error in
depreciation expense and Management’s conclusion that this error arose from a
material weakness. This Form 10-Q/A includes the Original Filing in
its entirety; no other information in the Original Filing is amended
hereby. The foregoing items have not been updated to reflect other
events occurring after the Original Filing or to modify or update those
disclosures affected by subsequent events. In addition, pursuant to
the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Item 6 of Part II
of the Original Filing has been amended to contain the currently dated
certifications from the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer, as required by Sections 302 and 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Except for the foregoing amended information, this Form 10-Q/A continues to
speak as of the date of the Original Filing and the Company has not updated the
disclosure contained herein to reflect events that occurred at a later
date. Other events occurring after the filing of the Original Filing
or other disclosures necessary to reflect subsequent events have been addressed
in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September
30, 2008, and any reports filed with the SEC subsequent to the date of this
filing.
1(a)
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC.
FORM
10-Q/A (Amendment No. 1)
FOR
THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2008
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Page
No.
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|||||
Cautionary
Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
|
3
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||||
Part
I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
|
|||||
Item
I.
|
Financial
Statements
|
||||
Consolidated
Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2008 (as restated,
unaudited)
|
|||||
and
December 31, 2007
|
4
|
||||
Consolidated
Income Statement for the three months ended
|
|||||
March
31, 2008 (as restated, unaudited) and 2007 (as restated,
unaudited)
|
6
|
||||
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows for the three months
|
|||||
ended
March 31, 2008 (as restated, unaudited) and 2007 (as restated,
unaudited)
|
7
|
||||
Notes to
Interim Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)
|
8
|
||||
Item
2.
|
Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
|
||||
and
Results of Operations
|
23
|
||||
Item
3.
|
Quantitative
and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
|
41
|
|||
Item
4.
|
Controls and
Procedures
|
42
|
|||
Part
II. OTHER INFORMATION
|
|||||
Item
1.
|
Legal
Proceedings
|
44
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|||
Item
6.
|
Exhibits
|
44
|
|||
Other items
are omitted, as they are not applicable.
|
|||||
SIGNATURES
|
45
|
2
Cautionary
Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
You should
carefully review the information contained in this Quarterly Report, but should
particularly consider any risk factors that we set forth in this Quarterly
Report and in other reports or documents that we file from time to time with the
SEC. In this Quarterly Report, in addition to historical information, we state
our future strategies, plans, objectives or goals and our beliefs of future
events and of our future operating results, financial position and cash flows.
In some cases, you can identify those so-called “forward-looking
statements” by words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,”
“anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “project,” or
“continue” or the negative of those words and other comparable words. All
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance,
achievements, plans and objectives to differ materially from any future results,
performance, achievements, plans and objectives expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements. In evaluating those statements, you should
specifically consider various factors, including those identified under “Risk
Factors” in Item 1A of our December 31, 2007 annual report on Form 10-K, and
elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. Those factors may cause our actual results
to differ materially from any of our forward-looking statements. For these
statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking
statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.
You should not
place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, any
forward-looking statement, and the related risks, uncertainties and other
factors speak only as of the date on which they were originally made and we
expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any
forward-looking statement to reflect any change in our expectations with regard
to those statements or any other change in events, conditions or circumstances
on which any such statement is based. New factors emerge from time to time, and
it is not possible for us to predict what factors will arise or when. In
addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the
extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results
to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statements.
3
PART
I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM
1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED
BALANCE SHEETS
(Amounts in
thousands)
|
(as
restated, unaudited)
|
|||||||
March
31,
|
December
31,
|
|||||||
ASSETS
|
2008
|
2007
|
||||||
Current assets:
|
||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents
|
$ | 17,165 | 13,074 | |||||
Receivables
|
92,154 | 97,913 | ||||||
Less
allowance for doubtful receivables
|
1,551 | 1,657 | ||||||
Net receivables
|
90,603 | 96,256 | ||||||
Deferred income taxes
|
21,870 | 5,734 | ||||||
Prepaid expenses
|
6,563 | 5,356 | ||||||
Inventories
|
3,814 | 2,541 | ||||||
Other current assets
|
679 | 717 | ||||||
Total current
assets
|
140,694 | 123,678 | ||||||
Property and equipment in service, net of depreciation
|
515,214 | 504,273 | ||||||
Construction in progress
|
84,950 | 69,409 | ||||||
Net
property and equipment
|
600,164 | 573,682 | ||||||
Cable
certificates
|
191,565 | 191,565 | ||||||
Goodwill
|
42,181 | 42,181 | ||||||
Wireless
certificates
|
25,757 | 25,757 | ||||||
Other
intangible assets, net of amortization
|
11,873 | 11,769 | ||||||
Deferred loan and senior notes costs, net of amortization
|
5,985 | 6,202 | ||||||
Other
assets
|
9,508 | 9,399 | ||||||
Total other
assets
|
286,869 | 286,873 | ||||||
Total
assets
|
$ | 1,027,727 | 984,233 |
See accompanying
notes to interim consolidated financial statements.
(Continued)
4
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED
BALANCE SHEETS
(Continued)
(Amounts in
thousands)
|
(as
restated, unaudited)
|
|||||||
March
31,
|
December
31,
|
|||||||
LIABILITIES,
MINORITY INTEREST, AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
|
2008
|
2007
|
||||||
Current
liabilities:
|
||||||||
Current
maturities of obligations under long-term debt and capital
leases
|
$ | 2,382 | 2,375 | |||||
Accounts
payable
|
41,847 | 35,747 | ||||||
Deferred
revenue
|
17,385 | 16,600 | ||||||
Accrued
payroll and payroll related obligations
|
15,263 | 16,329 | ||||||
Accrued
liabilities
|
8,326 | 7,536 | ||||||
Accrued
interest
|
3,076 | 8,927 | ||||||
Subscriber
deposits
|
956 | 877 | ||||||
Total current
liabilities
|
89,235 | 88,391 | ||||||
Long-term
debt
|
555,667 | 536,115 | ||||||
Obligations
under capital leases, excluding current maturities
|
2,306 | 2,290 | ||||||
Obligation
under capital lease due to related party, excluding current
maturity
|
441 | 469 | ||||||
Deferred
income taxes
|
101,865 | 84,295 | ||||||
Other
liabilities
|
17,175 | 13,241 | ||||||
Total
liabilities
|
766,689 | 724,801 | ||||||
Minority
interest
|
5,502 | 6,478 | ||||||
Commitments
and contingencies
|
||||||||
Stockholders’
equity:
|
||||||||
Common stock
(no par):
|
||||||||
Class A.
Authorized 100,000 shares; issued 49,915 and 50,437 shares at March 31,
2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively; outstanding 49,444 and 49,425
shares at March 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007,
respectively
|
150,616 | 155,980 | ||||||
Class B.
Authorized 10,000 shares; issued 3,256 and 3,257 shares at March 31, 2008
and December 31, 2007, respectively; outstanding 3,254 and 3,255 shares at
March 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively; convertible on a
share-per-share basis into Class A common stock
|
2,750 | 2,751 | ||||||
Less cost of
473 Class A and Class B common shares held in treasury at March 31, 2008
and December 31, 2007
|
(3,450 | ) | (3,448 | ) | ||||
Paid-in
capital
|
22,180 | 20,132 | ||||||
Retained
earnings
|
83,440 | 77,539 | ||||||
Total
stockholders’ equity
|
255,536 | 252,954 | ||||||
Total
liabilities, minority interest, and stockholders’ equity
|
$ | 1,027,727 | 984,233 |
|
See
accompanying notes to interim consolidated financial
statements.
|
5
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED
INCOME STATEMENT
(Unaudited)
Three Months
Ended
|
||||||||
March
31,
|
||||||||
(Amounts in
thousands, except per share amounts)
|
(as
restated)2008
|
(as restated)
2007
|
||||||
Revenues
|
$ | 134,674 | 125,031 | |||||
Cost of goods
sold (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately
below)
|
51,311 | 47,990 | ||||||
Selling,
general and administrative expenses
|
46,406 | 43,605 | ||||||
Depreciation
and amortization expense
|
27,243 | 20,866 | ||||||
Operating
income
|
9,714 | 12,570 | ||||||
Other income
(expense):
|
||||||||
Interest
expense
|
(8,685 | ) | (8,318 | ) | ||||
Loan and
senior note fees
|
(223 | ) | (180 | ) | ||||
Interest
income
|
81 | 184 | ||||||
Minority
interest
|
976 | 13 | ||||||
Other
expense, net
|
(7,851 | ) | (8,301 | ) | ||||
Income before
income tax expense
|
1,863 | 4,269 | ||||||
Income tax
expense
|
1,427 | 1,963 | ||||||
Net
income
|
$ | 436 | 2,306 | |||||
Basic net
income per common share
|
$ | 0.01 | 0.04 | |||||
Diluted net
income per common share
|
$ | 0.00 | 0.04 |
See accompanying
notes to interim consolidated financial statements.
6
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
THREE
MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2008 AND 2007
(Unaudited)
(Amounts in
thousands)
|
(as
restated)2008
|
(as
restated)
2007
|
||||||
Cash flows
from operating activities:
|
||||||||
Net
income
|
$ | 436 | 2,306 | |||||
Adjustments
to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating
activities (net of effects of acquisition):
|
||||||||
Depreciation
and amortization expense
|
27,243 | 20,866 | ||||||
Deferred
income tax expense
|
1,427 | 1,963 | ||||||
Share-based
compensation expense
|
1,260 | 985 | ||||||
Other noncash
income and expense items
|
472 | 1,153 | ||||||
Change in
operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisition
|
4,686 | (5,424 | ||||||
Net cash
provided by operating activities
|
35,524 | 21,849 | ||||||
Cash flows
from investing activities:
|
||||||||
Purchases of
property and equipment
|
(49,647 | ) | (30,454 | ) | ||||
Purchases of
other assets and intangible assets
|
(1,183 | ) | (396 | ) | ||||
Purchase of
business
|
--- | (19,530 | ) | |||||
Restricted
cash
|
--- | 4,612 | ||||||
Other
|
--- | 25 | ||||||
Net cash used
in investing activities
|
(50,830 | ) | (45,743 | ) | ||||
Cash flows
from financing activities:
|
||||||||
Borrowing on
Senior Credit Facility
|
20,000 | --- | ||||||
Repayment of
debt and capital lease obligations
|
(567 | ) | (25,577 | ) | ||||
Proceeds from
common stock issuance
|
16 | 1,566 | ||||||
Other
|
(52 | ) | (8 | |||||
Net cash
provided by (used in) financing activities
|
19,397 | (24,019 | ) | |||||
Net increase
(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
|
4,091 | (47,913 | ) | |||||
Cash and cash
equivalents at beginning of period
|
13,074 | 57,647 | ||||||
Cash and cash
equivalents at end of period
|
$ | 17,165 | 9,734 |
See accompanying
notes to interim consolidated financial statement.
7
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
The accompanying
unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include the accounts of
General Communication, Inc. (“GCI”) and its subsidiaries and have been prepared
in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") for
interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the
information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States of America for complete financial statements. They should
be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements for
the year ended December 31, 2007, filed with the SEC on June 11. 2008 as part of
our annual report on Form 10-K/A (Amendment No. 2). In the opinion of
management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered
necessary for a fair presentation have been included. The results of operations
for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be
expected for an entire year or any other period.
(l) Business
and Summary of Significant Accounting Principles
In
the following discussion, GCI and its direct and indirect subsidiaries are
referred to as “we,” “us” and “our.”
|
(a)
|
Business
|
GCI, an Alaska
corporation, was incorporated in 1979. We offer the following
services:
·
|
Origination
and termination of traffic in Alaska for certain common
carriers,
|
·
|
Cable
television services throughout
Alaska,
|
·
|
Competitive
local access services in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Wasilla, Eagle
River, Kodiak, Palmer, Kenai, Soldotna, Chugiak, Sitka, Valdez, Ketchikan
and Homer, Alaska as of March 31, 2008 with on-going expansion into
additional Alaska communities,
|
·
|
Long-distance
telephone service between Alaska and the remaining United States and
foreign countries,
|
|
·
|
Resale and
sale of postpaid and sale of prepaid wireless telephone services and sale
of wireless telephone handsets and
accessories,
|
|
·
|
Data network
services,
|
·
|
Internet
access services,
|
·
|
Broadband
services, including our SchoolAccess®
offering to rural school districts, our ConnectMD®
offering to hospitals and health clinics, and managed video
conferencing,
|
·
|
Managed
services to certain commercial
customers,
|
·
|
Sales and
service of dedicated communications systems and related
equipment,
|
·
|
Lease, sales
and maintenance of capacity on our fiber optic cable systems used in the
transmission of interstate and intrastate data, switched message
long-distance and Internet services within Alaska and between Alaska and
the remaining United States and foreign countries,
and
|
·
|
Distribution
of white and yellow pages directories to residential and business
customers in certain markets we serve and on-line directory
products.
|
|
(b)
|
Principles
of Consolidation
|
The consolidated
financial statements include the consolidated accounts of GCI and its
wholly-owned subsidiaries, as well as a variable interest entity in which
we are the primary beneficiary as defined by Financial Accounting Standards
Board ("FASB") Interpretation ("FIN") No. 46R, “Consolidation of Variable
Interest Entities, an interpretation of ARB No. 51.” All significant
intercompany transactions are eliminated.
(Continued)
8
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
(c)
|
Earnings
per Common Share
|
Three Months
Ended March 31,
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
2008 (as
restated)
|
2007 (as
amended)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Income
(Num-
erator)
|
Shares
(Denom-
inator)
|
Per-share
Amounts
|
Income
(Num-
erator)
|
Shares
(Denom-
inator)
|
Per-share
Amounts
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Basic
EPS:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net
income
|
$ | 436 | 52,259 | $ | 0.01 | $ | 2,306 | 53,260 | $ | 0.04 | ||||||||||||||
Effect
of Dilutive Securities:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unexercised
stock options
|
--- | --- | --- | --- | 1,580 | --- | ||||||||||||||||||
Unvested
stock awards
|
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||||||||||||||||||
Diluted
EPS:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Effect of
share based compensation that may be settled in cash or
shares
|
(548 | ) | --- | --- | (193 | ) | 113 | --- | ||||||||||||||||
Net income
(loss) adjusted for effect of share based compensation that may be settled
in cash or shares
|
$ | (112 | ) | 52,259 | $ | 0.00 | $ | 2,113 | 54,953 | $ | 0.04 |
Weighted average
shares associated with outstanding share awards for the three months ended March
31, 2008 and 2007, which have been excluded from the computations of diluted EPS
because the effect of including these share awards would have been
anti-dilutive, consist of the following (shares, in thousands):
Three Months
Ended
|
|||||
March
31,
|
|||||
2008
|
2007
|
||||
Weighted
average shares associated with outstanding stock options
|
5,004
|
891
|
Additionally,
weighted average shares associated with contingent awards of 376,000 for the
three months ended March 31, 2008 were excluded from the computation of diluted
EPS.
We
have not issued securities other than common stock that contractually entitle
the holder to participate in dividends and earnings when, and if, we declare
dividends on our common stock and, therefore, we do not apply the two-class
method of calculating earnings per share.
|
(d)
|
Common
Stock
|
|
Following are
the changes in issued common stock for the three months ended March 31,
2008 and 2007 (shares, in
thousands):
|
Class
A
|
Class
B
|
|||||||
Balances at
December 31, 2006
|
50,191 | 3,370 | ||||||
Class B
shares converted to Class A
|
111 | (111 | ) | |||||
Shares issued
under stock option plan
|
225 | --- | ||||||
Shares
retired
|
(212 | ) | (1 | ) | ||||
Balances at
March 31, 2007
|
50,315 | 3,258 |
(Continued)
9
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
Balances at
December 31, 2007
|
50,437 | 3,257 | ||||||
Class B
shares converted to Class A
|
1 | (1 | ) | |||||
Shares issued
under stock option plan
|
2 | --- | ||||||
Shares issued
under the Director Compensation Plan
|
20 | --- | ||||||
Shares
retired
|
(540 | ) | --- | |||||
Other
|
(5 | ) | --- | |||||
Balances at
March 31, 2008
|
49,915 | 3,256 |
|
GCI's Board
of Directors has authorized a common stock buyback program for the
repurchase of our Class A and Class B common stock in order to reduce our
outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock. GCI's Board of
Directors authorized us to make up to $80.0 million of repurchases through
March 31, 2008, under which we have made repurchases of $68.9 million
through March 31, 2008. If stock repurchases are less than the total
approved quarterly amount the difference may be carried forward and used
to repurchase additional shares in future quarters. The
Additional Incremental Term Loan agreement entered into on May 2, 2008 and
described in note 7 allows for the repurchase of our common stock under
our buyback program when our total debt leverage is below 4.0 times
EBITDAS.
|
|
During the
three months ended March 31, 2008 we repurchased no shares of our Class A
and B common stock. During the three months ended March 31, 2007 we
received in lieu of a cash payment on a note receivable 113,000 shares of
our Class A common stock at a cost of $1.7 million. The cost of
the repurchased common stock is recorded in Retained Earnings on our
Consolidated Balance Sheets. At March 31, 2008, all repurchased
shares of our Class A common stock had been retired. At March
31, 2008, we have authorization to purchase up to $11.1 million of our
common stock.
|
(e) Asset
Retirement Obligations
Following is a
reconciliation of the beginning and ending aggregate carrying amount of our
asset retirement obligations at March 31, 2008 and 2007 (amounts in
thousands):
Balance at
December 31, 2006
|
$ | 3,408 | ||
Liability
incurred
|
86 | |||
Accretion
expense for the three months ended
March 31,
2007
|
35 | |||
Liability
settled
|
(2 | ) | ||
Balance at
March 31, 2007
|
$ | 3,527 | ||
Balance at
December 31, 2007
|
$ | 4,173 | ||
Accretion
expense for the three months ended
March 31,
2008
|
26 | |||
Balance at
March 31, 2008
|
$ | 4,199 |
Our asset
retirement obligations are included in Other Liabilities.
(Continued)
10
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
The preparation of
financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles
requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts
of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at
the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and
expenses during the reporting period. Significant items subject to estimates and
assumptions include the allowance for doubtful receivables, reserve for future
customer credits, valuation allowances for deferred income tax assets,
depreciable and amortizable lives of assets, the carrying value of long-lived
assets including goodwill and cable and wireless certificates, and the accrual
of cost of goods sold (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expense)
(“Cost of Goods Sold”). Actual results could differ from those
estimates.
(g) Classification
of Taxes Collected from Customers
We
report sales, use, excise, and value added taxes assessed by a governmental
authority that is directly imposed on a revenue-producing transaction between us
and a customer on a net basis in our income statement. We report a
certain surcharge on a gross basis in our income statement of $950,000 and
$968,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 2007,
respectively.
(h)
|
Change
in Accounting Policy
|
Effective January
1, 2008 we prospectively changed our accounting policy for recording
depreciation on our property and equipment placed in service. For assets placed
in service on or after January 1, 2008 we are using a mid-month convention to
recognize depreciation expense. Previous to this change we used the half-year
convention to recognize depreciation expense in the year an asset was placed in
service, regardless of the month the property and equipment was placed in
service. We believe the mid-month convention is preferable because it results in
more precise recognition of depreciation expense over the estimated useful life
of the asset. No retroactive adjustment has been made. As a result of this
accounting change, our reported amount of depreciation expense has increased
$143,000, our reported operating income has decreased $143,000, our reported net
income has decreased $67,000, and our earnings per share has not changed from
what we would have reported had we continued to use our previous accounting
policy during the three months ended March 31, 2008.
(i)
|
Restatements,
Immaterial Error Correction and
Reclassification
|
On
November 5, 2008, we concluded that we should restate our previously issued
quarterly results for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 to correct the error
described below. The corrections made as part of the restatement of
our results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2008
follow:
·
|
We increased
depreciation expense $4.5 million to correct depreciation expense for a
failure to change the estimated useful life of certain assets that were
expected to be decommissioned at or near the end of 2008. The
assets should have been depreciated over the remaining period they were
expected to be used;
|
·
|
We decreased
minority interest expense $1.0 million to record the minority interest
portion of the correction described above,
and;
|
·
|
We decreased
income tax expense $1.3 million to record the income tax effect of the
corrections described above.
|
(Continued)
11
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
The impact of the
restatement as described above for the period presented is as follows (amounts
in thousands, except per share amounts):
March 31,
2008
|
||||||||||||
Consolidated
Condensed Balance Sheet
|
As previously reported1
|
Adjustments
|
As
restated
|
|||||||||
Assets
|
||||||||||||
Total current
assets
|
$ | 140,694 | --- | 140,694 | ||||||||
Property and
equipment in service, net of depreciation
|
519,675 | (4,461 | ) | 515,214 | ||||||||
Construction
in progress
|
84,950 | --- | 84,950 | |||||||||
Net property
and equipment
|
604,625 | (4,461 | ) | 600,164 | ||||||||
Total other
assets
|
286,869 | --- | 286,869 | |||||||||
Total
assets
|
$ | 1,032,188 | (4,461 | ) | 1,027,727 | |||||||
Liabilities,
Minority Interest, and Stockholders' Equity
|
||||||||||||
Total current
liabilities
|
89,235 | --- | 89,235 | |||||||||
Long-term
debt
|
555,667 | --- | 555,667 | |||||||||
Obligations
under capital leases, excluding current maturities
|
2,306 | --- | 2,306 | |||||||||
Obligation
under capital lease due to related party, excluding current
maturity
|
441 | --- | 441 | |||||||||
Deferred
income taxes
|
103,207 | (1,342 | ) | 101,865 | ||||||||
Other
liabilities
|
17,175 | --- | 17,175 | |||||||||
Total
liabilities
|
768,031 | (1,342 | ) | 766,689 | ||||||||
Minority
interest
|
6,528 | (1,026 | ) | 5,502 | ||||||||
Common stock
(no par):
|
||||||||||||
Class A
common stock
|
150,616 | --- | 150,616 | |||||||||
Class B
common stock
|
2,750 | --- | 2,750 | |||||||||
Less cost of
Class A and Class B common shares held in treasury
|
(3,450 | ) | --- | (3,450 | ) | |||||||
Paid-in
capital
|
22,180 | --- | 22,180 | |||||||||
Retained
earnings
|
85,533 | (2,093 | ) | 83,440 | ||||||||
Total
stockholders’ equity
|
257,629 | (2,093 | ) | 255,536 | ||||||||
Total
liabilities, minority interest, and stockholders’ equity
|
1,032,188 | (4,461 | ) | 1,027,727 | ||||||||
1
As reported on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31,
2008
|
Three
Months Ended March 31, 2008
|
||||||||||||
As previously reported1
|
Adjustments
|
As
restated
|
||||||||||
Revenues
|
$ | 134,674 | --- | 134,674 | ||||||||
Cost of goods
sold (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately
below)
|
51,311 | --- | 51,311 | |||||||||
Selling,
general and administrative expenses
|
46,406 | --- | 46,406 |
(Continued)
12
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
Depreciation
and amortization expense
|
22,782 | 4,461 | 27,243 | |||||||||
Operating
income
|
14,175 | (4,461 | ) | 9,714 | ||||||||
Other income
(expense):
|
||||||||||||
Interest
expense
|
(8,685 | ) | --- | (8,685 | ) | |||||||
Loan and
senior note fees
|
(223 | ) | --- | (223 | ) | |||||||
Interest
income
|
81 | --- | 81 | |||||||||
Minority
interest
|
(50 | ) | 1,026 | 976 | ||||||||
Other
expense, net
|
(8,877 | ) | 1,026 | (7,851 | ) | |||||||
Income before
income tax expense
|
5,298 | (3,435 | ) | 1,863 | ||||||||
Income tax
expense
|
2,769 | (1,342 | ) | 1,427 | ||||||||
Net
income
|
$ | 2,529 | (2,093 | ) | 436 | |||||||
Basic net
income per common share
|
$ | 0.05 | (0.04 | ) | 0.01 | |||||||
Diluted net
income per common share
|
$ | 0.04 | (0.04 | ) | 0.00 | |||||||
Cash provided
by operating activities
|
$ | 35,524 | --- | 35,524 | ||||||||
Cash used in
investing activities
|
(50,830 | ) | --- | (50,830 | ) | |||||||
Cash used in
financing activities
|
19,397 | --- | 19,397 | |||||||||
1
As reported on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31,
2008
|
On
May 27, 2008, the Audit Committee of GCI's Board of Directors and GCI management
concluded that we should restate our previously issued 2007 quarterly results by
filing an amendment to our December 31, 2007 annual report on Form 10-K for
various corrections as described below. The corrections made as part
of the restatement of our results of operations for the three months ended March
31, 2007 follow:
·
|
We decreased
depreciation expense $872,000 to correct an error in calculating
depreciation in the initial year an asset is placed in
service. We originally recorded our estimated depreciation
expense evenly throughout the year with periodic adjustments based upon
improved estimates or actual results. In accordance with GAAP
we now initially record depreciation expense in the month an asset is
placed in service. Depreciation was improperly allocated among
quarters, but the year-end total was correct. Therefore the
restatement impacts the quarterly results but not the December 31, 2007
year-end results;
|
Additionally we are
correcting the 2007 quarters for errors that have been determined to be
immaterial individually and in the aggregate. Other than the interest
capitalization, the other adjustments impact the quarterly results, but do not
impact the December 31, 2007 year-end results. They are as
follows:
·
|
We decreased
interest expense $382,000 to correct an interest capitalization error on
certain assets. Our capitalized interest policy was too
restrictive and resulted in no interest capitalization on certain
qualifying capital expenditures. Our capitalized interest
policy now conforms to GAAP;
|
·
|
We increased
depreciation expense $322,000 due to the recognition of depreciation on
additional capitalized interest;
|
·
|
We increased
revenue $319,000 to correct a configuration error in the automated
interface between our unified billing system and our general
ledger;
|
(Continued)
13
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
·
|
We increased
revenue $133,000 to correct revenue recognition for a majority
noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary that was recognizing a certain
type of revenue on a cash basis rather than an accrual
basis;
|
·
|
We decreased
share-based compensation expense $42,000 to correct expense recognition
timing for options that did not vest in equal increments over the vesting
period;
|
·
|
We decreased
depreciation expense $38,000 due to a revision of the Alaska DigiTel
purchase price allocation, and;
|
·
|
We decreased
income tax expense $688,000 to record the income tax effect of the
corrections described above.
|
We
will include an immaterial error correction in our amended December 31, 2007
annual report on Form 10-K to correct interest expense due to the interest
capitalization error and the related depreciation expense on the capitalized
interest assets discussed above. The immaterial error correction will
increase depreciation expense $1.3 million, decrease interest expense $1.7
million, and increase income tax expense $201,000 for the year ended December
31, 2007. The immaterial error correction will also increase cash
provided by operating activities $1.7 million and increase cash used by
investing activities $1.7 million for the year ended December 31,
2007. The immaterial error correction will also increase property and
equipment in service $5.9 million and increase accumulated depreciation $4.0
million as of December 31, 2007. The immaterial error correction for
periods prior to 2005 will be recorded by increasing property and equipment, net
of accumulated depreciation $1.4 million, increasing deferred income tax
liability by $611,000 and increasing retained earnings $805,000 as of January 1,
2005. The impact of the immaterial error correction is reflected in the
accompanying December 31, 2007 consolidated balance sheet. The impact
of the immaterial error correction for the three months ended March 31, 2007 is
included in the quarterly restatement as described above.
We
reclassified $4.9 million of network maintenance and operations expense from
selling, general and administrative expense to Cost of Goods Sold for the three
months ended March 31, 2007. We believe this change in accounting
more closely aligns our maintenance and operations components to the nature of
expenses included in our financial statement captions, and will improve the
comparability of our financial statement presentation with our industry
peers.
The impact of the
restatement and immaterial error correction adjustments and the reclassification
as described above for the period presented is as follows (amounts in thousands,
except per share amounts):
Three Months
Ended March 31, 2007
|
||||||||||||||||
As previously reported1
|
Adjustments
|
Reclassification
|
As
restated
|
|||||||||||||
Revenues
|
$ | 124,579 | 452 | --- | 125,031 | |||||||||||
Cost of goods
sold (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately
below)
|
43,113 | --- | 4,877 | 47,990 | ||||||||||||
Selling,
general and administrative expenses
|
48,524 | (42 | ) | (4,877 | ) | 43,605 | ||||||||||
Depreciation
and amortization expense
|
21,454 | (588 | ) | --- | 20,866 | |||||||||||
Operating
income
|
11,488 | 1,082 | --- | 12,570 | ||||||||||||
Other income
(expense):
|
||||||||||||||||
Interest
expense
|
(8,700 | ) | 382 | --- | (8,318 | ) | ||||||||||
Loan and
senior note fees
|
(180 | ) | --- | --- | (180 | ) | ||||||||||
Interest
income
|
184 | --- | --- | 184 | ||||||||||||
Minority
interest
|
13 | --- | --- | 13 | ||||||||||||
Other
expense, net
|
(8,683 | ) | 382 | --- | (8,301 | ) | ||||||||||
Income before
income tax expense
|
2,805 | 1,464 | --- | 4,269 | ||||||||||||
Income tax
expense
|
1,275 | 688 | --- | 1,963 |
(Continued)
14
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
Net income
available to common shareholders
|
$ | 1,530 | 776 | --- | 2,306 | |||||||||||
Basic net
income available to common shareholders per common share
|
$ | 0.03 | 0.01 | --- | 0.04 | |||||||||||
Diluted net
income available to common shareholders per common share
|
$ | 0.02 | 0.02 | --- | 0.04 | |||||||||||
Cash provided
by operating activities
|
$ | 21,467 | 382 | --- | 21,849 | |||||||||||
Cash used in
investing activities
|
(45,361 | ) | (382 | ) | --- | (45,743 | ) | |||||||||
Cash used in
financing activities
|
(24,019 | ) | --- | --- | (24,019 | ) | ||||||||||
1
As reported on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31,
2007
|
(2)
|
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows Supplemental
Disclosures
|
|
Changes in
operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisition, consist of (amounts
in thousands):
|
Three month
period ended March 31,
|
2008
|
2007
(as
restated)
|
||||||
Decrease in
accounts receivable
|
$ | 9,466 | 2,067 | |||||
Increase in
prepaid expenses
|
(1,008 | ) | (975 | ) | ||||
Increase in
inventories
|
(1,273 | ) | (937 | ) | ||||
Decrease in
other current assets
|
23 | 699 | ||||||
Increase in
accounts payable
|
2,784 | 124 | ||||||
Increase
(decrease) in deferred revenues
|
571 | (880 | ) | |||||
Decrease in
accrued payroll and payroll related obligations
|
(1,170 | ) | (706 | ) | ||||
Increase in
accrued liabilities
|
756 | 591 | ||||||
Decrease in
accrued interest
|
(5,851 | ) | (5,761 | ) | ||||
Increase in
subscriber deposits
|
79 | 38 | ||||||
Increase in
components of other long-term liabilities
|
309 | 316 | ||||||
$ | 4,686 | (5,424 | ) |
We paid interest, exclusive of capitalized interest, totaling $14.9 million and
$14.5 million during the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 2007,
respectively.
|
We paid no
income taxes and received no income tax refunds during the three months
ended March 31, 2008 and 2007.
|
|
During the
three months ended March 31, 2008 and 2007, we capitalized interest
expense of $870,000 and $590,000,
respectively.
|
|
During the
three months ended March 31, 2008, we had $3.4 million in non-cash
additions to property and equipment due to unpaid purchases as of March
31, 2008. During the three months ended March 31, 2007, we paid
$900,000 for property and equipment additions that had been accrued in
prior periods.
|
|
We retired
Class A common stock in the amount of $5.5 million and $3.3 million during
the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 2007,
respectively.
|
(Continued)
15
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
|
In February
2007, our President and Chief Executive Officer tendered 112,000 shares of
his GCI Class A common stock to us at $15.50 per share for a total value
of $1.7 million. The stock tender was in lieu of a cash payment
on his note receivable with related party and a note receivable with
related party issued upon stock option exercise, both of which originated
in 2002.
|
(3)
|
Intangible
Assets
|
Amortization
expense for amortizable intangible assets was as follows (amounts in
thousands):
Three Months
Ended
|
||||||
March
31,
|
||||||
2008
|
2007
|
|||||
Amortization
expense
|
$
|
915
|
821
|
Amortization
expense for amortizable intangible assets for each of the five succeeding fiscal
years is estimated to be (amounts in thousands):
Years Ending
December 31,
|
||||
2008
|
$ | 3,456 | ||
2009
|
3,160 | |||
2010
|
2,642 | |||
2011
|
1,287 | |||
2012
|
722 |
(4) Share-Based
Compensation
Our 1986 Stock Option Plan
("Stock Option Plan"), as amended, provides for the grant of options and
restricted stock awards (collectively "award") for a maximum of 15.7 million
shares of GCI Class A common stock, subject to
adjustment upon the occurrence of stock dividends, stock splits, mergers,
consolidations or certain other changes in corporate structure or
capitalization. If an award expires or terminates, the shares subject to the
award will be available
for further grants of awards under the Stock Option Plan. The Compensation
Committee of GCI’s Board of Directors administers the Stock Option Plan.
Substantially all restricted stock awards granted vest over periods of up to
five years.
Substantially all options vest in equal installments over a period of five
years and expire ten years from the date of grant. Options granted pursuant to
the Stock Option Plan are only exercisable if at the time of exercise the option
holder is
our employee, non-employee director, or a consultant or advisor working on our
behalf. New shares are issued when stock option agreements are exercised and
restricted stock awards are made. Our share repurchase program
as
described above may include the purchase of shares issued pursuant to stock
option agreement exercise transactions.
The fair value of restricted stock awards is determined based on the quoted
price of our common stock. We use a Black-Scholes-Merton option
pricing model to estimate the fair value of stock options issued under Statement
of Financial
Accounting
Standard No.123(R). The Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model incorporates
various and highly subjective assumptions, including expected term and expected
volatility. We have reviewed our historical pattern of option
exercises and have determined that meaningful differences in option exercise
activity existed among employee job categories. Therefore, for all stock
options, we have categorized these awards into two groups for valuation
purposes.
The weighted average grant date fair value of options granted during the three
months ended March 31, 2008 and 2007 was $4.33 per share and $7.39 per share,
respectively. The total fair value of options vesting during the three months
ended March 31, 2008 and 2007 was $1.3 million and $1.8 million,
respectively.
(Continued)
16
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
We have recorded share-based compensation expense of $1.3 million for the three
months ended March 31, 2008, which consists of $2.2 million for employee
share-based compensation expense and a $931,000 decrease in the fair
value
of liability-classified share-based compensation. We recorded
share-based compensation expense of $985,000 for the three months ended March
31, 2007, which consists of $1.3 million for employee share-based compensation
expense
and a $280,000 decrease in the fair value of liability-classified share-based
compensation. Share-based compensation expense is classified as selling, general
and administrative expense in our consolidated income
statement. Unrecognized share-based compensation expense was $3.7
million relating to 388,000 restricted stock awards and $11.5 million relating
to 6.4 million unvested stock options as of March 31, 2008. We expect
to recognize
share-based compensation expense over a weighted average period of 3.1 years for
stock options and 2.4 years for restricted stock awards.
The following is a summary of our Stock Option Plan activity for the three
months ended March 31, 2008:
Shares
(in
thousands)
|
Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
|
|||||||
Outstanding
at December 31, 2007
|
6,751 | $ | 9.37 | |||||
Options
granted
|
315 | $ | 7.95 | |||||
Restricted
stock awards granted
|
20 | $ | 6.44 | |||||
Exercised
|
(2 | ) | $ | 6.12 | ||||
Restricted
stock awards vested
|
(107 | ) | $ | 11.77 | ||||
Forfeited
|
(72 | ) | $ | 8.96 | ||||
Outstanding
at March 31, 2008
|
6,905 | $ | 9.26 | |||||
Available for
grant at March 31, 2008
|
1,321 |
The following is a summary of activity for stock option grants that were
not made pursuant to the Stock Option Plan for the three months ended March 31,
2008:
Shares
(in
thousands)
|
Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
|
|||||||
Outstanding
at December 31, 2007 and March 31, 2008
|
150 | $ | 6.50 | |||||
Available for
grant at March 31, 2008
|
--- |
In January 2001 we entered into an aircraft operating lease agreement with a
company owned by our President and Chief Executive Officer. The lease
was amended effective January 1, 2002 and February 25, 2005. Upon
signing the
lease, the lessor was granted an option to purchase 250,000 shares of GCI Class
A common stock at $6.50 per share, of which 150,000 shares remain and expire on
March 31, 2010.
The total intrinsic values, determined as of the date of exercise, of options
exercised during the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 2007 were $5,000 and
$1.9 million, respectively. We received $16,000 and $1.6 million in cash from
stock option exercises during the three months ended March 31, 2008 and
2007, respectively.
(Continued)
17
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
(5)
|
Industry
Segments Data
|
Our reportable
segments are business units that offer different products. The reportable
segments are each managed separately and serve distinct types of
customers.
A
description of our four reportable segments follows:
Consumer
- - We offer a full range of voice, video, data and wireless services to
residential customers.
Network
Access - We offer a full range of voice, data and wireless services to
common carrier customers.
Commercial
- - We offer a full range of voice, video, data and wireless services to business
and governmental customers.
Managed
Broadband - We offer data services to rural school districts and rural
hospitals and health clinics through our SchoolAccess®
and ConnectMD®
initiatives.
Corporate related
expenses including engineering, information technology, accounting, legal and
regulatory, human resources, and other general and administrative expenses for
the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 2007 are allocated to our segments
using segment margin for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006,
respectively. Bad debt expense for the three months ended March 31, 2008
and 2007 is allocated to our segments using a combination of specific
identification and allocations based upon segment revenue for the three months
ended March 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively.
We
evaluate performance and allocate resources based on earnings from operations
before depreciation and amortization expense, net interest expense, income tax
expense and share-based compensation expense. The accounting policies of the
reportable segments are the same as those described in the summary of
significant accounting policies in note 1 in the “Notes to Consolidated
Financial Statements” included in Part II of our December 31, 2007 annual report
on Form 10-K. Intersegment sales are recorded at cost plus an agreed upon
intercompany profit.
We
earn all revenues through sales of services and products within the United
States. All of our long-lived assets are located within the United States of
America, except approximately 82% of our undersea fiber optic cable systems
which transit international waters and all of our satellite
transponders.
Summarized
financial information for our reportable segments for the three months
ended March 31, 2008 and 2007 follows (amounts in thousands):
Three months
ended March 31,
|
Consumer
|
Network
Access
|
Commercial
|
Managed
Broadband
|
Total
Reportable Segments
|
|||||||||||||||
2008 (as
restated)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Revenues:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Intersegment
|
$ | --- | 301 | 1,349 | --- | 1,650 | ||||||||||||||
External
|
61,383 | 39,174 | 26,591 | 7,526 | 134,674 | |||||||||||||||
Total
revenues
|
$ | 61,383 | 39,475 | 27,940 | 7,526 | 136,324 | ||||||||||||||
Earnings from
external operations before depreciation, amortization, net interest
expense, income taxes and share-based compensation expense
|
$ | 12,254 | 20,137 | 4,325 | 2,477 | 39,193 |
(Continued)
18
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
2007 (as
restated)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Revenues:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Intersegment
|
$ | --- | 271 | 1,625 | --- | 1,896 | ||||||||||||||
External
|
53,603 | 40,327 | 24,181 | 6,920 | 125,031 | |||||||||||||||
Total
revenues
|
$ | 53,603 | 40,598 | 25,806 | 6,920 | 126,927 | ||||||||||||||
Earnings from
external operations before depreciation, amortization, net interest
expense, income taxes and share-based compensation expense
|
$ | 9,958 | 19,765 | 3,079 | 1,632 | 34,434 |
A
reconciliation of reportable segment revenues to consolidated revenues follows
(amounts in thousands):
Three Months
Ended
|
||||||||
March
31,
|
||||||||
2008
|
2007 (as
restated)
|
|||||||
Reportable
segment revenues
|
$ | 136,324 | 126,927 | |||||
Less
intersegment revenues eliminated in consolidation
|
1,650 | 1,896 | ||||||
Consolidated
revenues
|
$ | 134,674 | 125,031 |
A
reconciliation of reportable segment earnings from external operations before
depreciation and amortization expense, net interest expense, income taxes and
share-based compensation expense to consolidated income before income taxes
(amounts in thousands):
Three Months
Ended
|
||||||||
March
31,
|
||||||||
2008 (as
restated)
|
2007 (as
restated)
|
|||||||
Reportable
segment earnings from external operations before depreciation and
amortization expense, net interest expense, income taxes and share-based
compensation expense
|
$ | 39,193 | 34,434 | |||||
Less
depreciation and amortization expense
|
27,243 | 20,866 | ||||||
Less
share-based compensation expense
|
1,260 | 985 | ||||||
Less other
income
|
976 | 13 | ||||||
Consolidated
operating income
|
9,714 | 12,570 | ||||||
Less other
expense, net
|
7,851 | 8,301 | ||||||
Consolidated
income before income tax expense
|
$ | 1,863 | 4,269 |
(6)
|
Commitments
and Contingencies
|
Litigation,
Disputes, and Regulatory Matters
We
are involved in various lawsuits, billing disputes, legal proceedings, and
regulatory matters that have arisen from time to time in the normal course of
business. While the ultimate results of these items cannot be predicted with
(Continued)
19
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
certainty we do not
expect at this time the resolution of them to have a material adverse effect on
our financial position, results of operations or liquidity.
Access
to ACS Unbundled Network Elements
On
May 22, 2006, the Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc. (“ACS”) subsidiary
serving Anchorage filed a petition with the FCC, seeking forbearance from
regulation of interstate broadband and access services. On August 20,
2007, the FCC granted in part and denied in part the requested relief, requiring
that ACS comply with certain safeguards to ensure the relief granted would not
result in harm to consumers or competition. On September 19, 2007,
GCI and ACS both filed petitions for reconsideration on discrete findings in the
order. The petitions are pending and we cannot predict the final
outcome of the proceeding at this time.
Universal
Service
The Universal
Service Fund ("USF") pays subsidies to Eligible Telecommunications Carriers
("ETC") to support the provision of local access service in high-cost areas.
Under FCC regulations, we have qualified as a competitive ETC in the Anchorage,
Fairbanks, Juneau, Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Ketchikan, and Glacier State
service areas. Without ETC status, we would not qualify for USF subsidies in
these areas or other rural areas where we propose to offer local access
services, and our revenue for providing local access services in these areas
would be materially adversely affected.
On
May 1, 2008, the FCC issued an order adopting the recommendation of the Federal
State Joint Board on Universal Service (“Joint Board”) to impose a
state-by-state interim cap on high cost funds to be distributed to competitive
ETCs. As part of the revised policy, the FCC adopted a limited
exception from the cap for competitive ETCs serving tribal lands or Alaska
Native regions. While the operation of the cap will generally reduce
the high cost fund amounts available to competitive ETCs as new competitive ETCs
are designated and as existing competitive ETCs acquire new customers, providers
like us who serve tribal lands or Alaska Native regions have the opportunity
largely to preserve funding levels. The USF cap will be in place
until the FCC takes action on proposals for long-term reform.
The Joint Board has
recommended for FCC consideration long-term options for reforming USF support,
including establishing separate funds for mobility and broadband
support. Separately, the FCC has issued two reform proposals for
changing the basis for support amounts. We cannot predict at this
time the outcome of the FCC proceedings to consider USF reform proposals or
their respective impacts on us. Both these and any future regulatory,
legislative, or judicial actions could affect the operation of the USF and
result in a change in our revenue for providing local access services in new and
existing markets and facilities-based wireless services in new
markets.
(7)
|
Subsequent
Events
|
Indefeasible
Right to Use (“IRU”) Capacity Sale
|
In May 2008,
we executed a binding contract to provide AT&T, Inc. (“AT&T”) a
large amount of undersea fiber optic capacity between Alaska and the lower
48 states. Under the agreement AT&T will receive a large initial
increment of capacity on our two undersea fiber networks connecting Alaska
with Washington and Oregon. AT&T was also granted options to acquire
certain additional amounts of capacity in the future. We expect to receive
cash payments in excess of $35.0 million from AT&T in connection with
the turn-up of the initial capacity in 2008. Future payments for
additional capacity are not expected to exceed $10.0 million. In addition
AT&T will make payments to GCI associated with the operation and
maintenance of their portion of the undersea fiber networks. We anticipate
the transaction will be accounted for as lease with deferred revenue to be
recognized over the estimated life of the
IRU.
|
Capital
Lease Obligation
On
March 31, 2006, through our subsidiary GCI Communication Corp. we entered into
an agreement to lease transponder capacity on Intelsat, Ltd.’s (“Intelsat”)
Galaxy 18 spacecraft that successfully launched on May 21, 2008. We will also
lease capacity on the Horizons 1 satellite, which is owned jointly by Intelsat
and JSAT International, Inc. The leased capacity replaced our existing
transponder capacity on Intelsat’s Galaxy XR satellite.
(Continued)
20
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
We
will lease C-band and Ku-Band transponders over an expected term of 14 years.
The present value of the lease payments, excluding telemetry, tracking and
command services and back-up protection, is expected to total $98.6 million. We
will record the capital lease obligation and the addition to our Property and
Equipment in the second quarter of 2008.
UUI and
Unicom Acquisition
On
June 3, 2008 we purchased the stock of the United Utilities, Inc. (“UUI”) and
Unicom Telecommunications (“Unicom”) subsidiaries of United Companies, Inc.
(“UCI”) for $41.8 million. Additionally we assumed approximately
$42.7 million in debt as part of the acquisition. UUI together with
its subsidiary, United-KUC, provides local telephone service to 60 rural Alaska
communities across Alaska. Unicom operates DeltaNet, a long-haul
broadband microwave network ringing the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta – a region of
approximately 30,000 square miles in western Alaska. By the summer of 2008,
DeltaNet, which is still under construction but has already commenced operations
where completed microwave towers have been placed into service, will link more
than 40 villages to Bethel, the region’s hub.
|
Capital
Lease Amendment
|
|
On April 8,
2008, we signed an amendment to a long-term capital lease agreement with
our President and CEO and his wife for property we occupy. The
amended lease terminates on September 30, 2026. We
will increase our existing capital lease asset and liability by $1.3
million in the second quarter of 2008 to record the extension of this
capital lease.
|
|
A summary of
future minimum lease payments for this lease follows (amount in
thousands):
|
Years ending
December 31:
|
||||
2008
|
$ | 194 | ||
2009
|
258 | |||
2010
|
258 | |||
2011
|
261 | |||
2012
|
270 | |||
2013 and
thereafter
|
4,691 | |||
Total minimum
lease payments
|
$ | 5,932 |
Long-term
Debt
On
May 2, 2008, we signed an agreement to add an Additional Incremental Term Loan
of up to $145.0 million to our existing Senior Credit Facility. The
Additional Incremental Term Loan will become due under the same terms and
conditions as set forth in the existing Senior Credit Facility.
The Additional
Incremental Term Loan increased the interest rate on the term loan component of
our Senior Credit Facility from LIBOR plus 2.00% to LIBOR plus
4.25%. The interest rate on the revolving loan component of the
previous Senior Credit Facility was LIBOR plus a margin dependent upon our Total
Leverage Ratio ranging from 1.50% to 2.25%. The Additional
Incremental Term Loan increased the revolving credit facility interest rate for
our Senior Credit Facility to LIBOR plus the following applicable margin
dependent upon our Total Leverage ratio:
Total
Leverage Ratio (as defined)
|
Applicable
Margin
|
|||
>3.75
|
4.25 | % | ||
>3.25 but
<3.75
|
3.75 | % | ||
>2.75 but
<3.25
|
3.25 | % | ||
<2.75
|
2.75 | % |
(Continued)
21
GENERAL
COMMUNICATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes
to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
$145.0 million was
drawn on the Additional Incremental Term Loan at the time of the debt
modification. The proceeds were used to pay down the $30.0 million
outstanding under our revolving credit facility including accrued interest and
to pay expenses associated with the transaction at closing with the balance
deposited in our bank account. Our term loan is fully drawn and we have letters
of credit outstanding totaling $4.0 million at the time of the debt
modification, which leaves $96.0 million available for unconditional immediate
borrowing under the revolving credit facility.
The Additional
Incremental Term Loan allows for the repurchase of our common stock under our
buyback program when our total debt leverage is below 4.0 times earnings before
depreciation and amortization expense, net interest expense, income taxes and
share-based compensation expense. The amendment revised various financial
covenants in the agreement and made conforming changes to various covenants to
permit certain previously announced acquisitions.
This transaction
was a substantial modification of a portion of our existing Senior Credit
Facility and we expect it will result in a write-off of a portion of previously
deferred loan fees during the second quarter of 2008. We do not
expect the write-off of deferred loan fees to be material.
At
the time of the debt modification, maturities of long-term debt under the Senior
Credit Facility were as follows (amounts in thousands):
Years ending
December 31,
|
||||
2008
|
$ | 2,870 | ||
2009
|
3,577 | |||
2010
|
3,558 | |||
2011
|
173,763 | |||
2012
|
171,992 | |||
$ | 355,760 |
22
PART
I.
ITEM
2.
MANAGEMENT’S
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL
CONDITION
AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
In
the following discussion, General Communication, Inc. and its direct and
indirect subsidiaries are referred to as “we,” “us” and “our.”
Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
discusses our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in
accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The preparation
of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that
affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of
contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and
the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. On an
on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related
to unbilled revenues, Cost of Goods Sold accruals, allowance for doubtful
accounts, share-based compensation expense, depreciation, amortization and
accretion periods, intangible assets, income taxes, and contingencies and
litigation. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and on
various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the
circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about
the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from
other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different
assumptions or conditions. See also our “Cautionary Statement Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements.”
On
November 5, 2008, we concluded that we should restate our previously issued
quarterly results for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, to correct the error
described below. The corrections made as part of the restatement of
our results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2008
follow:
·
|
We increased
depreciation expense $4.5 million to correct depreciation expense for a
failure to change the estimated useful life of certain assets that were
expected to be decommissioned at or near the end of 2008. The
assets should have been depreciated over the remaining period they were
expected to be used;
|
·
|
We decreased
minority interest expense $1.0 million to record the minority interest
portion of the correction described above,
and;
|
·
|
We decreased
income tax expense $1.3 million to record the income tax effect of the
corrections described above.
|
The impact of the
restatement as described above for the period presented is as follows (amounts
in thousands, except per share amounts):
March 31,
2008
|
||||||||||||
Consolidated
Condensed Balance Sheet
|
As previously reported1
|
Adjustments
|
As
restated
|
|||||||||
Assets
|
||||||||||||
Total current
assets
|
$ | 140,694 | --- | 140,694 | ||||||||
Property and
equipment in service, net of depreciation
|
519,675 | (4,461 | ) | 515,214 | ||||||||
Construction
in progress
|
84,950 | --- | 84,950 | |||||||||
Net property
and equipment
|
604,625 | (4,461 | ) | 600,164 | ||||||||
Total other
assets
|
286,869 | --- | 286,869 | |||||||||
Total
assets
|
$ | 1,032,188 | (4,461 | ) | 1,027,727 | |||||||
Liabilities,
Minority Interest, and Stockholders' Equity
|
||||||||||||
Total current
liabilities
|
89,235 | --- | 89,235 | |||||||||
Long-term
debt
|
555,667 | --- | 555,667 |
23
Obligations
under capital leases, excluding current maturities
|
2,306 | --- | 2,306 | |||||||||
Obligation
under capital lease due to related party, excluding current
maturity
|
441 | --- | 441 | |||||||||
Deferred
income taxes
|
103,207 | (1,342 | ) | 101,865 | ||||||||
Other
liabilities
|
17,175 | --- | 17,175 | |||||||||
Total
liabilities
|
768,031 | (1,342 | ) | 766,689 | ||||||||
Minority
interest
|
6,528 | (1,026 | ) | 5,502 | ||||||||
Common stock
(no par):
|
||||||||||||
Class A
common stock
|
150,616 | --- | 150,616 | |||||||||
Class B
common stock
|
2,750 | --- | 2,750 | |||||||||
Less cost of
Class A and Class B common shares held in treasury
|
(3,450 | ) | --- | (3,450 | ) | |||||||
Paid-in
capital
|
22,180 | --- | 22,180 | |||||||||
Retained
earnings
|
85,533 | (2,093 | ) | 83,440 | ||||||||
Total
stockholders’ equity
|
257,629 | (2,093 | ) | 255,536 | ||||||||
Total
liabilities, minority interest, and stockholders’ equity
|
1,032,188 | (4,461 | ) | 1,027,727 | ||||||||
1
As reported on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31,
2008
|
Three Months Ended March 31, 2008 | ||||||||||||
As previously reported1
|
Adjustments
|
As
restated
|
||||||||||
Revenues
|
$ | 134,674 | --- | 134,674 | ||||||||
Cost of goods
sold (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately
below)
|
51,311 | --- | 51,311 | |||||||||
Selling,
general and administrative expenses
|
46,406 | --- | 46,406 | |||||||||
Depreciation
and amortization expense
|
22,782 | 4,461 | 27,243 | |||||||||
Operating
income
|
14,175 | (4,461 | ) | 9,714 | ||||||||
Other income
(expense):
|
||||||||||||
Interest
expense
|
(8,685 | ) | --- | (8,685 | ) | |||||||
Loan and
senior note fees
|
(223 | ) | --- | (223 | ) | |||||||
Interest
income
|
81 | --- | 81 | |||||||||
Minority
interest
|
(50 | ) | 1,026 | 976 | ||||||||
Other
expense, net
|
(8,877 | ) | 1,026 | (7,851 | ) | |||||||
Income before
income tax expense
|
5,298 | (3,435 | ) | 1,863 | ||||||||
Income tax
expense
|
2,769 | (1,342 | ) | 1,427 | ||||||||
Net
income
|
$ | 2,529 | (2,093 | ) | 436 | |||||||
Basic net
income per common share
|
$ | 0.05 | (0.04 | ) | 0.01 | |||||||
Diluted net
income per common share
|
$ | 0.04 | (0.04 | ) | 0.00 | |||||||
Cash provided
by operating activities
|
$ | 35,524 | --- | 35,524 | ||||||||
Cash used in
investing activities
|
(50,830 | ) | --- | (50,830 | ) | |||||||
Cash used in
financing activities
|
19,397 | --- | 19,397 | |||||||||
1
As reported on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31,
2008
|
24
On
May 27, 2008, the Audit Committee of GCI's Board of Directors and GCI management
concluded that we should restate our previously issued 2007 quarterly results by
filing an amendment to our December 31, 2007 annual report on Form 10-K for
various corrections as described below. The corrections made as part
of the restatement of our results of operations for the three months ended March
31, 2007 follow:
·
|
We decreased
depreciation expense $872,000 to correct an error in calculating
depreciation in the initial year an asset is placed in
service. We originally recorded our estimated depreciation
expense evenly throughout the year with periodic adjustments based upon
improved estimates or actual results. In accordance with GAAP
we now initially record depreciation expense in the month an asset is
placed in service. Depreciation was improperly allocated among
quarters, but the year-end total was correct. Therefore the
restatement impacts the quarterly results but not the December 31, 2007
year-end results;
|
Additionally we are
correcting the 2007 quarters for errors that have been determined to be
immaterial individually and in the aggregate. Other than the interest
capitalization, the other adjustments impact the quarterly results, but do not
impact the December 31, 2007 year-end results. They are as
follows:
·
|
We decreased
interest expense $382,000 to correct an interest capitalization error on
certain assets. Our capitalized interest policy was too
restrictive and resulted in no interest capitalization on certain
qualifying capital expenditures. Our capitalized interest
policy now conforms to GAAP;
|
·
|
We increased
depreciation expense $322,000 due to the recognition of depreciation on
additional capitalized interest;
|
·
|
We increased
revenue $319,000 to correct a configuration error in the automated
interface between our unified billing system and our general
ledger;
|
·
|
We increased
revenue $133,000 to correct revenue recognition for a majority
noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary that was recognizing a certain
type of revenue on a cash basis rather than an accrual
basis;
|
·
|
We decreased
share-based compensation expense $42,000 to correct expense recognition
timing for options that did not vest in equal increments over the vesting
period;
|
·
|
We decreased
depreciation expense $38,000 due to a revision of the Alaska DigiTel
purchase price allocation, and;
|
·
|
We decreased
income tax expense $688,000 to record the income tax effect of the
corrections described above.
|
We
will include an immaterial error correction in our amended December 31, 2007
annual report on Form 10-K to correct interest expense due to the interest
capitalization error and the related depreciation expense on the capitalized
interest assets discussed above. The immaterial error correction will
increase depreciation expense $1.3 million, decrease interest expense $1.7
million, and increase income tax expense $201,000 for the year ended December
31, 2007. The immaterial error correction will also increase property
and equipment in service $5.9 million and increase accumulated depreciation $4.0
million as of December 31, 2007. The immaterial error correction will
also increase cash provided by operating activities $1.7 million and increase
cash used by investing activities $1.7 million for the year ended December 31,
2007. The immaterial error correction for periods prior to 2005 will
be recorded by increasing property and equipment, net of accumulated
depreciation $1.4 million, increasing deferred income tax liability by $611,000
and increasing retained earnings $805,000 as of January 1, 2005. The impact of
the immaterial error correction is reflected in the accompanying December 31,
2007 consolidated balance sheet. The impact of the immaterial error
correction for the three months ended March 31, 2007 is included in the
quarterly restatement as described above.
25
We
reclassified $4.9 million of network maintenance and operations expense from
selling, general and administrative expense to Cost of Goods Sold for the three
months ended March 31, 2007. We believe this change in accounting
more closely aligns our maintenance and operations components to the nature of
expenses included in our financial statement captions, and will improve the
comparability of our financial statement presentation with our industry
peers.
The impact of the
restatement and immaterial error correction adjustments and the reclassification
as described above for the period presented is as follows (amounts in thousands,
except per share amounts):
Three Months
Ended March 31, 2007
|
||||||||||||||||
As previously reported1
|
Adjustments
|
Reclassification
|
As
restated
|
|||||||||||||
Revenues
|
$ | 124,579 | 452 | --- | 125,031 | |||||||||||
Cost of goods
sold (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately
below)
|
43,113 | --- | 4,877 | 47,990 | ||||||||||||
Selling,
general and administrative expenses
|
48,524 | (42 | ) | (4,877 | ) | 43,605 | ||||||||||
Depreciation
and amortization expense
|
21,454 | (588 | ) | --- | 20,866 | |||||||||||
Operating
income
|
11,488 | 1,082 | --- | 12,570 | ||||||||||||
Other income
(expense):
|
||||||||||||||||
Interest
expense
|
(8,700 | ) | 382 | --- | (8,318 | ) | ||||||||||
Loan and
senior note fees
|
(180 | ) | --- | --- | (180 | ) | ||||||||||
Interest
income
|
184 | --- | --- | 184 | ||||||||||||
Minority
interest
|
13 | --- | --- | 13 | ||||||||||||
Other
expense, net
|
(8,683 | ) | 382 | --- | (8,301 | ) | ||||||||||
Income before
income tax expense
|
2,805 | 1,464 | --- | 4,269 | ||||||||||||
Income tax
expense
|
1,275 | 688 | --- | 1,963 | ||||||||||||
Net income
available to common shareholders
|
$ | 1,530 | 776 | --- | 2,306 | |||||||||||
Basic net
income available to common shareholders per common share
|
$ | 0.03 | 0.01 | --- | 0.04 | |||||||||||
Diluted net
income available to common shareholders per common share
|
$ | 0.02 | 0.02 | --- | 0.04 | |||||||||||
Cash provided
by operating activities
|
$ | 21,467 | 382 | --- | 21,849 | |||||||||||
Cash used in
investing activities
|
(45,361 | ) | (382 | ) | --- | (45,743 | ) | |||||||||
Cash used in
financing activities
|
(24,019 | ) | --- | --- | (24,019 | ) | ||||||||||
1
As reported on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31,
2007
|
All adjustments
noted above have been included in the amounts for the period ending March 31,
2008 and 2007 shown in Management's Discussion and Analysis.
General
Overview
Through our focus
on long-term results, acquisitions, and strategic capital investments, we strive
to consistently grow our revenues and expand our margins. We have historically
met our cash needs for operations, regular capital expenditures and maintenance
capital expenditures through our cash flows from operating activities.
Historically, cash requirements for significant acquisitions and major capital
expenditures have been provided largely through our financing
activities.
26
The Network Access
segment provides services to other common carrier customers and the Managed
Broadband segment provides services to rural school districts and hospitals and
health clinics. Following are our segments and the services and products each
offers to its customers:
Reportable
Segments
|
||||||||||||||||
Services and
Products
|
Consumer
|
Network
Access
|
Commercial
|
Managed
Broadband
|
||||||||||||
Voice:
|
||||||||||||||||
Long-distance
|
X | X | X | |||||||||||||
Local
Access
|
X | X | X | |||||||||||||
Directories
|
X | |||||||||||||||
Video
|
X | X | ||||||||||||||
Data:
|
||||||||||||||||
Internet
|
X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||
Data
Networks
|
X | X | X | |||||||||||||
Managed
Services
|
X | X | ||||||||||||||
Managed
Broadband Services
|
X | |||||||||||||||
Wireless
|
X | X | X |
An
overview of our services and products follows.
Voice
Services and Products
Long-distance
We
generate long-distance services revenues from monthly plan fees and usage
charges.
Factors that have
the greatest impact on year-to-year changes in long-distance services revenues
include the rate per minute charged to customers and usage volumes expressed as
minutes of use.
Common carrier
traffic routed to us for termination in Alaska is largely dependent on traffic
routed to our common carrier customers by their customers. Pricing pressures,
new program offerings, and market and business consolidations continue to evolve
in the markets served by our other common carrier customers. If, as a result,
their traffic is reduced, or if their competitors’ costs to terminate or
originate traffic in Alaska are reduced, our traffic will also likely be
reduced, and our pricing may be reduced to respond to competitive pressures,
consistent with federal law. Additionally, disruption in the economy resulting
from terrorist attacks and other attacks or acts of war could affect our carrier
customers. We are unable to predict the effect on us of such changes or events.
However, given the materiality of other common carrier revenues to us, a
significant reduction in traffic or pricing could have a material adverse effect
on our financial position, results of operations and liquidity.
AT&T acquired
Dobson Communications Corporation (“Dobson”), including its Alaska properties,
on November 15, 2007. In December 2007 we signed an agreement with AT&T that
provides for an orderly four-year transition of our wireless customers from the
Dobson/AT&T network in Alaska to our wireless facilities to be built in 2008
and 2009. The agreement allows our current and future customers to
use the AT&T wireless network for local access and roaming during the
transition period. The four-year transition period, which expires
June 30, 2012, provides us adequate time to replace the Dobson/AT&T network
in Alaska with our own wireless facilities. Under the agreement, AT&T’s
obligation to purchase network services from us will terminate as of July 1,
2008. AT&T will provide us with a large block of wireless network usage at
no charge to facilitate the transition of our customers to our
facilities. We will pay for usage in excess of that base transitional
amount. Under the previous agreement with Dobson, our margin was
fixed. Under the new agreement with AT&T, we will pay for usage
in excess of the block of free minutes on a per minute basis. The
block of wireless network usage at no charge will reduce Cost of Goods Sold
during the four year period ended June 30, 2012, that we would have otherwise
recognized in accordance with the new agreement, however, we are unable to
estimate the impact this change will have on our Cost of Goods
Sold.
27
Due in large part
to the favorable synergistic effects of our bundling strategy focused on
consumer and commercial customers, long-distance service continues to be a
significant contributor to our overall performance, although the migration of
traffic from our voice products to our data and wireless products
continues.
Our long-distance
service faces significant competition from ACS, AT&T Alascom, Inc.
(“Alascom”), Matanuska Telephone Association ("MTA"), long-distance resellers,
and certain smaller rural local telephone companies that have entered the
long-distance market. We believe our approach to developing, pricing, and
providing long-distance services and bundling different business segment
services will continue to allow us to be competitive in providing those
services.
Local
Access
We
generate local access services revenues from four primary sources: (1) basic
dial tone services; (2) data network and special access services; (3)
origination and termination of long-distance calls for other common carriers;
and (4) features and other charges, including voice mail, caller ID, distinctive
ring, inside wiring and subscriber line charges.
The primary factors
that contribute to year-to-year changes in local access services revenues
include the average number of subscribers to our services during a given
reporting period, the average monthly rates charged for non-traffic sensitive
services, the number and type of additional premium features selected, the
traffic sensitive access rates charged to carriers and amounts received from the
Universal Service Program.
We
estimate that our March 31, 2008 and 2007 total lines in service represent a
statewide market share of approximately 29% and 26%, respectively. At March 31,
2008 and 2007, 58% and 44%, respectively, of our lines are provided on our own
facilities.
Our local access
service faces competition in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau from ACS, which is
the largest incumbent local exchange carrier (“ILEC”) in Alaska, and from
Alascom in Anchorage for consumer services. Alascom has received certification
from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska ("RCA") to provide local access
services in Fairbanks and Juneau. In February 2007, we began offering local
access service in certain MTA exchanges and face competition from
MTA. In October 2007, we began offering local access service in the
Kenai-Soldotna area and face competition from the ILEC, ACS. We
compete against other smaller ILECs in certain smaller
communities. We believe our approach to developing, pricing, and
providing local access services and bundling different services will allow us to
be competitive in providing those services.
In
2007 we expanded our local access service areas within Alaska by offering
facilities-based services in Eagle River, Chugiak, Wasilla, Palmer,
Kenai-Soldotna, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Sitka and Valdez. In 2007 we also
began offering resale services in all of the Glacier State study area and those
areas in the MTA study area in which we do not offer facilities-based
services.
We
plan to continue to expand our local access service areas and will offer
services in these new areas using a combination of methods. To a large extent,
we plan to use our existing coaxial cable network to deliver local access
services. Where we do not have cable facilities, we may resell other carriers’
services, lease portions of an existing carrier’s network or seek wholesale
discounts.
In
2008 we plan to continue to deploy DLPS lines which utilize our coaxial cable
facilities. This service delivery method allows us to utilize our own
cable facilities to provide local access service to our customers and avoid
paying local loop charges to the ILEC.
The USF pays
subsidies to ETCs to support the provision of local access service in high-cost
areas. Under FCC regulations, we have qualified as a competitive ETC in the
Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Ketchikan and Glacier
State service areas. Without ETC status, we would not qualify for USF subsidies
in these areas or other rural areas where we propose to offer local access
services, and our revenue for providing local access services in these areas
would be materially adversely affected.
The Federal-State
Joint Board on Universal Service has issued recommendations to the FCC for
curbing the growth in the fund, and the FCC has initiated rulemaking proceedings
to consider these and its own proposals. We cannot predict at
28
this time the
outcome of these proceedings or their impact on us. These and any
future regulatory, legislative, or judicial actions could affect the operation
of the USF and result in a change in our revenue for providing local access
services in new and existing markets and facilities-based wireless services in
new markets.
We
have signed an agreement to purchase the UUI and Unicom telecommunications
subsidiaries of UCI for approximately $40.0 million. Additionally we
may assume approximately $37.0 million in debt as part of the
acquisition. This transaction is subject to customary closing
conditions. We have received regulatory approval from the RCA and FCC
for the transaction and expect it will close in the second quarter of
2008. The results of operations generated by the acquired companies
will impact our voice and data services in all of our segments.
Directories
We
sell advertising in our yellow pages directories to commercial customers,
distribute white and yellow pages directories to customers in certain markets we
serve, and offer an on-line directory.
Video
Services and Products
We
generate cable services revenues from three primary sources: (1) digital and
analog programming services, including monthly basic and premium subscriptions,
video on demand, pay-per-view movies and one-time events, such as sporting
events; (2) equipment rentals; and (3) advertising sales.
Our cable systems
serve 40 communities and areas in Alaska, including the state’s five largest
population centers, Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, the
Kenai Peninsula, and Juneau.
The primary factors
that contribute to period-to-period changes in cable services revenues include
average monthly subscription rates and pay-per-view buys, the mix among basic,
premium and digital tier services, the average number of cable television
subscribers during a given reporting period, set-top box utilization and related
rates, revenues generated from new product offerings, and sales of cable
advertising services.
Our cable service
offerings are bundled with various combinations of our long-distance, local
access, and Internet services and beginning in the second quarter of 2007
include an offering of free cable service. Value-added premium services are
available for additional charges.
Data
Services and Products
Internet
We
generate Internet services revenues from three primary sources: (1) access
product services, including cable modem, dial-up, and dedicated access; (2)
network management services; and (3) wholesale access for other common
carriers.
The primary factors
that contribute to year-to-year changes in Internet services revenues include
the average number of subscribers to our services during a given reporting
period, the average monthly subscription rates, the amount of bandwidth
purchased by large commercial customers, and the number and type of additional
premium features selected.
Marketing campaigns
continue to be deployed featuring bundled products. Our Internet offerings are
bundled with various combinations of our long-distance, cable, and local access
services and provide free or discounted basic or premium Internet services.
Value-added premium Internet features are available for additional
charges.
We
compete with a number of Internet service providers in our markets. We believe
our approach to developing, pricing, and providing Internet services allows us
to be competitive in providing those services.
Data
Networks
We
generate data network services revenue from two primary sources: (1) leasing
capacity on our facilities that utilize voice and data transmission circuits,
dedicated to particular subscribers, which link a device in one location to
another in a different location, and (2) through the sale of Internet
Protocol-based data services on a secured shared network to businesses linking
multiple enterprise locations. The factor that has the greatest impact on
year-to-year changes in data network services revenues is the number of data
networks in use. We compete against Alascom, ACS and other local
telecommunication service providers.
29
Managed
Services
We
design, sell, install, service and operate, on behalf of certain customers,
communications and computer networking equipment and provide field/depot, third
party, technical support, communications consulting and outsourcing services. We
also supply integrated voice and data communications systems incorporating
interstate and intrastate digital data networks, point-to-point and multipoint
data network and small earth station services. There are a number of competing
companies in Alaska that actively sell and maintain data and voice
communications systems.
Our ability to
integrate communications networks and data communications equipment has allowed
us to maintain our market position based on “value added” support services
rather than price competition. These services are blended with other transport
products into unique customer solutions, including managed services and
outsourcing.
Managed
Broadband Services
We
generate managed broadband services revenue through our SchoolAccess®,
ConnectMD®
and managed video conferencing products. Our customers may purchase end-to-end
broadband services solutions blended with other transport and software products.
There are several competing companies in Alaska that actively sell broadband
services. Our ability to provide end-to-end broadband services solutions has
allowed us to maintain our market position based on “value added” products and
services rather than solely based on price competition.
SchoolAccess®
is a suite of services designed to advance the educational opportunities of
students in underserved regions of the country. Our SchoolAccess®
division provides Internet and distance learning services designed exclusively
for the school environment. The Schools and Libraries Program of the USF makes
discounts available to eligible rural school districts for telecommunication
services and monthly Internet service charges. The program is intended to ensure
that rural school districts have access to affordable services.
Our network,
Internet and software application services provided through our Managed
Broadband segment’s Medical Services division are branded as ConnectMD®.
Our ConnectMD®
services are currently provided under contract to medical businesses in Alaska,
Washington and Montana. The Rural Health Care Program of the USF makes discounts
available to eligible rural health care providers for telecommunication services
and monthly Internet service charges. The program is intended to ensure that
rural health care providers pay no more for telecommunications services in the
provision of health care services than their urban counterparts. Customers
utilize ConnectMD®
services to securely move data, images, voice traffic, and real time multipoint
interactive video.
We
offer a managed video conferencing product for use in distance learning,
telemedicine and group communication and collaboration environments. The product
is designed to offer customers enhanced communication services that support
video, audio and data presentation. Our product benefits customers by reducing
travel costs, improving course equity in education and increasing the quality of
health services available to patients. The product bundles our data
products, video conferencing services and optional rental of video conferencing
endpoint equipment. Our video conferencing services include
multipoint conferencing, integrated services digital network gateway and
transcoding services, online scheduling and conference control, and
videoconference recording, archiving and streaming. We provide 24-hour technical
support via telephone or online.
Wireless
Services and Products
We
generate wireless services and equipment revenues from four primary sources: (1)
monthly plan fees; (2) usage and roaming charges; (3) wireless Internet access;
and (4) handset and accessory sales.
We
offer wireless services by reselling AT&T services under our brand name and
Alaska DigiTel's services under its brand name. We provide limited wireless
local access and Internet services using our own facilities. We compete against
AT&T, ACS, MTA, and resellers of those services in Anchorage and other
markets. The GCI and Alaska DigiTel, LLC ("Alaska DigiTel") brands
compete against each other.
In
2008 we are constructing a GSM network throughout the terrestrially served
portions of Alaska including the cities of Anchorage, Fairbanks, and
Juneau. Alaska DigiTel operates the CDMA portion of our statewide
wireless platform and is expanding this network in 2008.
30
We
had a distribution agreement with Dobson allowing us to resell Dobson wireless
services. For a discussion of AT&T’s acquisition of Dobson please
see Part I – Item II – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations – Voice Services and Products – Long
Distance.
We
have signed a purchase agreement to acquire all of the interests in Alaska
Wireless, LLC (“Alaska Wireless”) for $13.0 million to $14.0 million, expected
to be paid upon closing. In addition to the initial acquisition
payment, we have agreed to a contingent payment of approximately $3.0 million in
2010 if certain financial conditions are met. Alaska Wireless is a
GSM cellular provider serving approximately 4,000 subscribers in the Dutch
Harbor, Alaska area. In addition to the acquisition, we will enter
into a management agreement with the existing owners of Alaska
Wireless. The business will continue to operate under the Alaska
Wireless name and the current management will continue to manage the day-to-day
operations. The results of operations generated by the acquired
company will impact our wireless services in our Consumer and Commercial
segments. We filed an application with the FCC seeking the requisite
regulatory consent to the transaction on January 18, 2008. This
transaction will close upon regulatory approval which is expected in the second
or third quarter of 2008.
We
have signed a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining minority interest in
Alaska DigiTel for a total consideration of approximately $10.0
million. On January 22, 2008, the FCC initiated its proceedings to
review the application seeking requisite regulatory approval of the proposed
change in control. Following FCC approval of the change in control
expected by the third quarter of 2008, we will own 100% of Alaska
DigiTel.
Results
of Operations
The following table
sets forth selected Statements of Operations data as a percentage of total
revenues for the periods indicated (underlying data rounded to the nearest
thousands):
Percentage
|
||||||||||||
Three
Months Ended
|
Change
|
|||||||||||
March
31,
|
2008
|
1 | ||||||||||
(Unaudited)
|
2008
|
2007
|
vs.
2007
|
|||||||||
Statements
of Operations Data:
|
||||||||||||
Revenues:
|
||||||||||||
Consumer
segment
|
45.6 | % | 42.9 | % | 14.5 | % | ||||||
Network
Access segment
|
29.1 | % | 32.3 | % | (2.9 | %) | ||||||
Commercial
segment
|
19.7 | % | 19.3 | % | 10.0 | % | ||||||
Managed
Broadband segment
|
5.6 | % | 5.5 | % | 8.8 | % | ||||||
Total
revenues
|
100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | 7.7 | % | ||||||
Selling,
general and administrative expenses
|
34.5 | % | 34.9 | % | 6.4 | % | ||||||
Depreciation
and amortization expense
|
20.2 | % | 16.7 | % | 30.6 | % | ||||||
Operating
income
|
7.2 | % | 10.1 | % | (22.7 | %) | ||||||
Other
expense, net
|
5.8 | % | 6.6 | % | (5.4 | %) | ||||||
Income before
income tax expense
|
1.4 | % | 3.4 | % | (56.4 | %) | ||||||
Net
income
|
0.3 | % | 1.8 | % | (81.1 | %) |
1 Percentage
change in underlying data.
|
Three
Months Ended March 31, 2008 (“2008”) Compared to Three Months Ended March 31,
2007 (“2007”)
Overview
of Revenues and Cost of Goods Sold
Total revenues
increased 7.7% from $125.0 million in 2007 to $134.7 million in
2008. Revenue increases in our Consumer, Commercial and Managed
Broadband segments were partially off-set by decreased revenue in our Network
Access segment. See the discussion below for more information by
segment.
Total Cost of Goods
Sold increased 6.9% from $48.0 million in 2007 to $51.3 million in 2008. Cost of
Goods Sold increased in all of our segments. See the discussion below
for more information by segment.
31
Consumer
Segment Overview
Consumer segment
revenue represented 45.6% of 2008 consolidated revenues. The components of
Consumer segment revenue are as follows (amounts in thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
Percentage
Change
|
||||||||||
Voice
|
$ | 11,844 | 11,353 | 4.3 | % | |||||||
Video
|
25,647 | 23,631 | 8.5 | % | ||||||||
Data
|
10,096 | 7,947 | 27.0 | % | ||||||||
Wireless
|
13,796 | 10,672 | 29.3 | % | ||||||||
Total
Consumer segment revenue
|
$ | 61,383 | 53,603 | 14.5 | % |
Consumer segment
Cost of Goods Sold represented 48.1% of 2008 consolidated Cost of Goods Sold.
The components of Consumer segment Cost of Goods Sold are as follows (amounts in
thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
Percentage
Change
|
||||||||||
Voice
|
$ | 5,052 | 5,064 | (0.2 | %) | |||||||
Video
|
9,930 | 8,858 | 12.1 | % | ||||||||
Data
|
1,826 | 1,269 | 43.9 | % | ||||||||
Wireless
|
7,893 | 6,764 | 16.7 | % | ||||||||
Total
Consumer segment Cost of Goods Sold
|
$ | 24,701 | 21,955 | 12.5 | % |
Consumer segment
EBITDAS, representing 31.3% of 2008 consolidated EBITDAS, is as follows (amounts
in thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
Percentage
Change
|
||||||||||
Consumer
segment EBITDAS
|
$ | 12,254 | 9,958 | 23.1 | % |
Selected key
performance indicators for our Consumer segment follow:
March
31,
|
Percentage
|
|||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
Change
|
||||||||||
Voice:
|
||||||||||||
Long-distance subscribers1
|
90,400 | 89,600 | 0.9 | % | ||||||||
Long-distance
minutes carried (in millions)
|
33.7 | 34.2 | (1.5 | %) | ||||||||
Total local access lines in service2
|
76,800 | 67,400 | 14.0 | % | ||||||||
Local access lines in service on GCI
facilities2
|
55,500 | 37,400 | 48.4 | % | ||||||||
Video:
|
||||||||||||
Basic subscribers3
|
130,700 | 124,500 | 5.0 | % | ||||||||
Digital programming tier subscribers4
|
68,100 | 60,600 | 12.4 | % | ||||||||
HD/DVR converter boxes5
|
55,400 | 34,600 | 60.1 | % | ||||||||
Homes
passed
|
225,700 | 220,100 | 2.5 | % | ||||||||
Average monthly gross revenue per
subscriber6
|
$ | 66.09 | $ | 63.38 | 5.4 | % | ||||||
Data:
|
||||||||||||
Cable modem subscribers7
|
90,900 | 81,300 | 11.8 | % | ||||||||
Wireless:
|
||||||||||||
Wireless lines in service8
|
73,000 | 60,000 | 21.7 | % | ||||||||
Average monthly gross revenue per
subscriber9
|
$ | 56.76 | $ | 53.59 | 5.9 | % | ||||||
1 A
long-distance subscriber is defined as a customer account that is invoiced
a monthly long-distance plan fee or has made a long-distance call during
the month.
2 A local access line in service is defined
as a revenue generating circuit or channel connecting a customer to the
public switched telephone network.
3 A
basic cable subscriber is defined as one basic tier of service delivered
to an address or separate subunits thereof regardless of the number of
outlets purchased.
4 A
digital programming tier subscriber is defined as one digital programming
tier of service delivered to an address or separate subunits thereof
regardless of the number of outlets or digital programming tiers
purchased. Digital programming tier subscribers are a subset of basic
subscribers.
5 A
high definition/digital video recorder ("HD/DVR") converter box is defined
as one box rented by a digital programming or basic tier subscriber. A
digital programming or basic tier subscriber is not required to rent an
HD/DVR converter box to receive service.
6 Quarter-to-date
average monthly consumer video revenues divided by the average of consumer
video basic subscribers at the beginning and ending of the
period.
7 A
cable modem subscriber is defined by the purchase of cable modem service
regardless of the level of service purchased. If one entity purchases
multiple cable modem service access points, each access point is counted
as a subscriber. Cable modem subscribers may also be video basic
subscribers though basic cable service is not required to receive cable
modem service.
8 A
wireless line in service is defined as a revenue generating wireless
device.
9 Quarter-to-date
average monthly consumer wireless revenues divided by the average of
consumer wireless subscribers at the beginning and ending of the
period.
|
||||||||||||
32
Consumer
Segment Revenues
The increase in
voice revenue is primarily due to a $955,000 or 22.3% increase in local service
revenue due to increased local access lines. The increase is
partially off-set by a $272,000 or 18.6% decrease in support from the Universal
Service Program and decreased long-distance billable minutes
carried.
The increase in
video revenue is primarily due to the following:
|
·
|
A 6.4%
increase in programming services revenue to $20.7 million primarily
resulting from an increase in basic and digital programming tier
subscribers, and
|
|
·
|
A 19.2%
increase in equipment rental revenue to $4.6 million primarily resulting
from our customers’ increased use of digital distribution
technology.
|
The increase in
data revenue is primarily due to a 27.2% increase in cable modem revenue to $8.6
million. The cable modem revenue increase is primarily due to increased
subscribers and their selection of more value-added premium features in 2008 as
compared to 2007.
The increase in
wireless revenue is primarily due to an increase in the number of wireless
subscribers.
Consumer
Segment Cost of Goods Sold
The video Cost of
Goods Sold increase is primarily due to increased channels offered to our
subscribers, increased rates paid to programmers, increased costs associated
with delivery of digital services offered over our HD/DVR converter boxes due to
the increased number of boxes in service, and increased
subscribers.
The data Cost of
Goods Sold increase is primarily due to increased internet circuit costs due to
increased cable modem subscribers.
The wireless Cost
of Goods Sold increase is primarily due to costs associated with the increased
number of wireless subscribers discussed above.
Consumer
Segment EBITDAS
The EBITDAS
increase was primarily due to increased margin resulting from increased
subscribers in 2008. The increased margin was partially offset by an
increase in the selling, general and administrative expense that was allocated
to our Consumer segment primarily due to an increase in the 2007 segment margin
upon which the allocation is based.
33
Network
Access Segment Overview
Network access
segment revenue represented 29.1% of 2008 consolidated revenues. The components
of Network Access segment revenue are as follows (amounts in
thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
Percentage
Change
|
||||||||||
Voice
|
$ | 21,942 | 24,437 | (10.2 | %) | |||||||
Data
|
16,839 | 15,034 | 12.0 | % | ||||||||
Wireless
|
393 | 856 | (54.1 | %) | ||||||||
Total Network
Access segment revenue
|
$ | 39,174 | 40,327 | (2.9 | %) |
Network Access
segment Cost of Goods Sold represented 20.0% of 2008 consolidated Cost of Goods
Sold. The components of Network Access segment Cost of Goods Sold are as follows
(amounts in thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
Percentage
Change
|
||||||||||
Voice
|
$ | 7,308 | 7,592 | (3.7 | %) | |||||||
Data
|
2,726 | 3,433 | (20.6 | %) | ||||||||
Wireless
|
221 | 220 | 0.5 | % | ||||||||
Total Network
Access segment Cost of Goods Sold
|
$ | 10,255 | 11,245 | 0.5 | % |
Network Access
segment EBITDAS, representing 51.4% of 2008 consolidated EBITDAS, is as follows
(amounts in thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
Percentage
Change
|
||||||||||
Network
Access segment EBITDAS
|
$ | 20,137 | 19,765 | 1.9 | % |
Selected key
performance indicators for our Network Access segment follow:
Percentage
|
||||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
Change
|
||||||||||
Voice:
|
||||||||||||
Long-distance
minutes carried (in millions)
|
314.6 | 315.8 | (0.4 | %) | ||||||||
Data:
|
||||||||||||
Internet service provider access lines in
service1
|
2,600 | 3,100 | (16.1 | %) | ||||||||
1 An
Internet service provider access line in service is defined as a revenue
generating circuit or channel connecting a customer to the public switched
telephone network.
|
||||||||||||
Network
Access Segment Revenues
The decrease in
voice revenue is primarily due to a 9.1% decrease in our average rate per minute
on billable minutes carried for our common carrier customers, the transition of
voice traffic to dedicated data networks, and decreased billable
minutes. The average rate per minute decrease is primarily due to a
change in the composition of traffic and a 3.0% rate decrease mandated by
federal law which will result in annual rate decreases of 3.0%.
The increase in
data revenue is primarily due to an increase in circuits sold and from other
common carriers moving switched voice services to data networks.
The decrease in
wireless revenue results from a decrease in our rate per minute on billable
minutes carried for customers roaming on our network.
34
Network
Access Segment Cost of Goods Sold
The decrease in
voice Cost of Goods Sold is primarily due to decreased long-distance minutes
carried.
The decrease in
data Cost of Goods Sold is primarily due to fiber repair costs in 2007 that did
not occur in 2008.
Network
Access Segment EBITDAS
The EBITDAS
increase was primarily due to a decrease in the selling, general and
administrative expense allocated to our Network Access segment primarily due to
a decrease in the 2007 segment margin upon which the allocation is
based. The increased margin was partially offset by a decreased
margin resulting from decreased long-distance minutes carried in
2008.
Commercial
Segment Overview
Commercial segment
revenue represented 19.7% of 2008 consolidated revenues. The components of
Commercial segment revenue are as follows (amounts in thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
Percentage
Change
|
||||||||||
Voice
|
$ | 7,214 | 7,857 | (8.2 | %) | |||||||
Video
|
1,820 | 1,766 | 3.1 | % | ||||||||
Data
|
16,209 | 13,954 | 16.2 | % | ||||||||
Wireless
|
1,348 | 604 | 123.2 | % | ||||||||
Total
Commercial segment revenue
|
$ | 26,591 | 24,181 | 10.0 | % |
Commercial segment
Cost of Goods Sold represented 27.4% of 2008 consolidated Cost of Goods Sold.
The components of Commercial segment Cost of Goods Sold are as follows (amounts
in thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
Percentage
Change
|
||||||||||
Voice
|
$ | 4,929 | 4,920 | 0.2 | % | |||||||
Video
|
388 | 402 | (3.5 | %) | ||||||||
Data
|
7,580 | 6,040 | 25.5 | % | ||||||||
Wireless
|
1,174 | 903 | 30.0 | % | ||||||||
Total
Commercial segment Cost of Goods Sold
|
$ | 14,071 | 12,265 | 14.7 | % |
Commercial segment
EBITDAS, representing 11.0% of 2008 consolidated EBITDAS, is as follows (amounts
in thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
Percentage
Change
|
||||||||||
Commercial
segment EBITDAS
|
$ | 4,325 | 3,079 | 40.5 | % |
Selected key
performance indicators for our Commercial segment follow:
March
31,
|
Percentage
|
|||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
Change
|
||||||||||
Voice:
|
||||||||||||
Long-distance subscribers1
|
10,400 | 11,100 | (6.3 | %) | ||||||||
Long-distance
minutes carried (in millions)
|
32.8 | 32.9 | (0.3 | %) | ||||||||
Total local access lines in service2
|
43,500 | 42,100 | 3.3 | % | ||||||||
Local access lines in service on GCI
facilities
2
|
13,400 | 9,100 | 47.3 | % | ||||||||
Data:
|
||||||||||||
Cable modem subscribers3
|
8,800 | 8,000 | 10.0 | % | ||||||||
Wireless:
|
||||||||||||
Wireless lines in service4
|
7,200 | 6,200 | 16.1 | % |
35
1 A
long-distance subscriber is defined as a customer account that is invoiced
a monthly long-distance plan fee or has made a long-distance call during
the month.
2 A
local access line in service is defined as a revenue generating circuit or
channel connecting a customer to the public switched telephone
network.
3 A
cable modem subscriber is defined by the purchase of cable modem service
regardless of the level of service purchased. If one entity purchases
multiple cable modem service access points, each access point is counted
as a subscriber.
4 A
wireless line in service is defined as a revenue generating wireless
device.
|
||||||||||||
Commercial
Segment Revenues
The decrease in
voice revenue is primarily due to decreased long-distance
subscribers. Revenues associated with increased local access lines in
service partially off-set these decreases.
The increase in
data revenue is primarily due to a $2.1 million or 43.4% increase in managed
services project revenue.
The increase in
wireless revenue is primarily due to an increase in the number of wireless
subscribers.
Commercial
Segment Cost of Goods Sold
The increase in
data Cost of Goods Sold resulted primarily from an increase in contract labor
and internal labor classified as Cost of Goods Sold due to the increase in
managed services project revenue discussed above.
The wireless Cost
of Goods Sold increase is primarily due to costs associated with the increased
number of wireless subscribers discussed above.
Commercial
Segment EBITDAS
The EBITDAS
increase was primarily due to increased margin resulting from increased managed
services projects and increased subscribers in 2008. The increased
margin was partially offset by an increase in the selling, general and
administrative expenses allocated to our Commercial segment primarily due to an
increase in the 2007 segment margin upon which the allocation is
based.
Managed
Broadband Segment Overview
Managed Broadband
segment revenue represented 5.6% of 2008 consolidated revenues, Cost of Goods
Sold represented 4.5% of 2008 consolidated Cost of Goods Sold and EBITDAS
represented 6.3% of consolidated EBITDAS. The Managed Broadband segment includes
data products only.
Selected key
performance indicators for our Managed Broadband segment follow:
Percentage
|
||||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
Change
|
||||||||||
Managed
Broadband segment:
|
||||||||||||
SchoolAccess®
customers
|
51 | 48 | 6.3 | % | ||||||||
Rural health
customers
|
33 | 22 | 57.1 | % |
Managed
Broadband Segment Revenues
Managed Broadband
segment revenue increased 8.8% to $7.5 million in 2008. The increase
is primarily due to increased circuits purchased by our rural health and
SchoolAccess®
customers.
Managed
Broadband Segment Cost of Goods Sold
Managed Broadband
segment Cost of Goods Sold decreased 9.5% to $2.3 million in 2008 primarily due
to a decrease in network maintenance and operating expense.
36
Managed
Broadband Segment EBITDAS
Managed Broadband
segment EBITDAS increased $845,000 to $2.5 million in 2008 primarily due to an
increase in the margin resulting from increased circuits sold to our rural
health and SchoolAccess®
customers.
Selling,
General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general
and administrative expenses increased 6.4% to $46.4 million in 2008 primarily
due to a $810,000 increase in labor costs and a $319,000 increase in our
company-wide success sharing bonus accrual partially offset by a $343,000
decrease in bad debt expense.
As
a percentage of total revenues, selling, general and administrative expenses
decreased to 34.5% in 2008 from 34.9% in 2007, primarily due to revenue
increases without corresponding increases in selling, general and administrative
expense.
Depreciation
and Amortization Expense
Depreciation and
amortization expense increased 30.6% to $27.2 million in 2008. The increase is
primarily due to our $111.6 million investment in equipment and facilities
placed into service during 2007 for which a full year of depreciation will be
recorded in 2008, the $34.2 million investment in equipment and facilities
placed into service during the first quarter of 2008 for which a partial year of
depreciation will be recorded in 2008, and a $4.5 million depreciation charge in
the first quarter of 2008 to change the estimated useful life of certain assets
that are expected to be decommissioned near the end of 2008.
Effective January
1, 2008 we prospectively changed our accounting policy for recording
depreciation on our property and equipment placed in service. For assets placed
in service on or after January 1, 2008 we are using a mid-month convention to
recognize depreciation expense. Previous to this change we used the half-year
convention to recognize depreciation expense in the year an asset was placed in
service, regardless of the month the property and equipment was placed in
service. We believe the mid-month convention is preferable because it results in
more precise recognition of depreciation expense over the estimated useful life
of the asset. No retroactive adjustment has been made. As a result of this
accounting change, our reported amount of depreciation expense has increased
$143,000, our reported operating income has decreased $143,000, our reported net
income has decreased $67,000, and our earnings per share has not changed from
what we would have reported had we continued to use our previous accounting
policy during the three months ended March 31, 2008.
Other
Expense, Net
Other expense, net
of other income, decreased 5.4% to $7.9 million in 2008, which was primarily
caused by a $963,000 decrease in minority interest and a $280,000 increase in
capitalized interest to $870,000 due to increased capital expenditures subject
to capitalized interest partially offset by an increase in our interest expense
due to an increase in our average outstanding debt balance in 2008 offset
by.
Income
Tax Expense
Income tax expense
totaled $1.4 million and $2.0 million in 2008 and 2007, respectively. Our
effective income tax rate increased from 46.0% in 2007 to 76.6% in 2008 due
primarily to lower forecasted pre-tax net income for the year ended December 31,
2008, without a comparable decrease in non-deductible items.
At
March 31, 2008, we have (1) tax net operating loss carryforwards of $118.8
million that will begin expiring in 2011 if not utilized, and (2) alternative
minimum tax credit carryforwards of $3.2 million available to offset regular
income taxes payable in future years. We estimate that we will utilize $40.0
million to $45.0 million in net operating loss carryforwards during the year
ended December 31, 2008. Our utilization of certain net operating loss
carryforwards is subject to limitations pursuant to Internal Revenue Code
section 382.
We
have recorded deferred tax assets of $48.7 million associated with income tax
net operating losses that were generated from 1995 to 2008, and that expire from
2011 to 2028, and with charitable contributions that were converted to net
operating losses in 2006 to 2007, and that expire from 2024 to
2027.
Tax benefits
associated with recorded deferred tax assets are considered to be more likely
than not realizable through future reversals of existing taxable temporary
differences and future taxable income exclusive of reversing temporary
37
differences and
carryforwards. The amount of deferred tax assets considered realizable, however,
could be reduced if estimates of future taxable income during the carryforward
period are reduced which would result in additional income tax expense. We
estimate that our effective annual income tax rate for financial statement
purposes will be 66% to 69% in the year ended December 31, 2008.
Multiple
System Operator (“MSO”) Operating Statistics
Our operating
statistics include capital expenditures and customer information from our
Consumer and Commercial segments which offer services utilizing our cable
services’ facilities.
Our capital
expenditures by standard reporting category for the three months ended March 31,
2008 and 2007 follows (amounts in thousands):
2008
|
2007
|
|||||||
Line
extensions
|
$ | 10,320 | 9,320 | |||||
Customer
premise equipment
|
6,043 | 7,556 | ||||||
Scalable
infrastructure
|
1,209 | 1,268 | ||||||
Support
capital
|
356 | 210 | ||||||
Upgrade/rebuild
|
232 | 171 | ||||||
Commercial
|
30 | 32 | ||||||
Sub-total
|
18,190 | 18,557 | ||||||
Remaining
reportable segments capital expenditures
|
31,457 | 11,897 | ||||||
$ | 49,647 | 30,454 |
The standardized
definition of a customer relationship is the number of customers that receive at
least one level of service utilizing our cable service facilities, encompassing
voice, video, and data services, without regard to which services customers
purchase. At March 31, 2008 and 2007 we had 129,400 and 125,000 customer
relationships, respectively.
The standardized
definition of a revenue generating unit is the sum of all primary analog video,
digital video, high-speed data, and telephony customers, not counting additional
outlets. At March 31, 2008 and 2007 we had 306,900 and 268,000 revenue
generating units, respectively.
Liquidity
and Capital Resources
Our principal
sources of current liquidity are cash and cash equivalents. We believe, but can
provide no assurances, that we will be able to meet our current and long-term
liquidity and capital requirements and fixed charges through our cash flows from
operating activities, existing cash, cash equivalents, credit facilities, and
other external financing and equity sources. Should cash flows be insufficient
to support additional borrowings and principal payments scheduled under our
existing credit facilities, capital expenditures will likely be
reduced.
Cash flows from
operating activities totaled $35.5 million for the three months ended March 31,
2008 as compared to $21.8 million for the three months ended March 31,
2007.
Other sources of
cash during the three months ended March 31, 2008 included a $20.0 million
borrowing on our Senior Credit Facility. Uses of cash during the three months
ended March 31, 2008 included expenditures of $49.6 million for property and
equipment, including construction in progress, and the purchase of $1.2 million
of other assets and intangible assets.
Working capital
totaled $51.5 million at March 31, 2008, a $16.2 million increase as compared to
$35.3 million at December 31, 2007. The increase is primarily due to an increase
in current deferred income taxes resulting primarily from an expected increase
in the estimated amount of net operating losses we will utilize during the year
ending March 31, 2009 that was partially offset by an increase in accounts
payable resulting from increased purchases of property and equipment at March
31, 2008.
Net receivables
decreased $5.7 million from December 31, 2007 to March 31, 2008 primarily due to
a large payment received from one of our Managed Broadband services customers
and two certain common carrier customers partially offset by an account
receivable recorded upon an IRU sale.
38
Senior
Notes
At
March 31, 2008 we were in compliance with all loan covenants relating to our
7.25% senior notes due 2014.
Senior
Credit Facility
We
borrowed $20.0 million under our revolving credit facility in the first quarter
of 2008. We had outstanding borrowings of $30.0 million and $4.0
million of outstanding letters of credit under our revolving credit facility at
March 31, 2008 which left $66.0 million available at March 31, 2008 to draw
under the revolving credit facility. We were in compliance with all
Senior Credit Facility loan covenants at March 31, 2008.
On
May 2, 2008, we signed an agreement to add an Additional Incremental Term Loan
of up to $145.0 million to our existing Senior Credit Facility. The
Additional Incremental Term Loan will become due under the same terms and
conditions as set forth in the existing Senior Credit Facility.
The Additional
Incremental Term Loan increased the interest rate on the term loan component of
our Senior Credit Facility from LIBOR plus 2.00% to LIBOR plus
4.25%. The interest rate on the revolving loan component of the
previous Senior Credit Facility was LIBOR plus a margin dependent upon our Total
Leverage Ratio ranging from 1.50% to 2.25%. The Additional
Incremental Term Loan increased the revolving credit facility interest rate for
our Senior Credit Facility to LIBOR plus the following applicable margin
dependent upon our Total Leverage ratio:
Total
Leverage Ratio (as defined)
|
Applicable
Margin
|
|||
>3.75
|
4.25 | % | ||
>3.25 but
<3.75
|
3.75 | % | ||
>2.75 but
<3.25
|
3.25 | % | ||
<2.75
|
2.75 | % |
$145.0 million was
drawn on the Additional Incremental Term Loan at the time of the debt
modification. The proceeds were used to pay down the $30.0 million
outstanding under our revolving credit facility including accrued interest and
to pay expenses associated with the transaction at closing with the balance
deposited in our bank account. Our term loan is fully drawn and we have letters
of credit outstanding totaling $4.0 million at the time of the debt
modification, which leaves $96.0 million available for unconditional immediate
borrowing under the revolving credit facility if needed.
At
the time of the debt modification, maturities of long-term debt under the Senior
Credit Facility were as follows (amounts in thousands):
Years ending
December 31,
|
||||
2008
|
$ | 2,870 | ||
2009
|
3,577 | |||
2010
|
3,558 | |||
2011
|
173,763 | |||
2012
|
171,992 | |||
$ | 355,760 |
Capital
Expenditures
Our expenditures
for property and equipment, including construction in progress, totaled $53.1
million and $29.5 million during the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 2007,
respectively. The 2008 expenditures include non-cash additions of $3.4 million
for property and equipment that are accrued in accounts payable as of March 31,
2008. The 2007 expenditures do not include $900,000 for additions of
property and equipment that had been accrued in prior periods and paid for
during the three months ended March 31, 2007. Our capital
expenditures requirements in excess of approximately $25.0 million per year are
largely success driven and are a result of the progress we are making in the
marketplace. We expect our 2008 expenditures for property and equipment for our
core operations, including construction in progress, to total $220.0 million to
$230.0 million, depending on available opportunities and the amount of cash flow
we generate during 2008.
39
Other
In
May 2008, we executed a binding contract to provide AT&T a large amount of
undersea fiber optic capacity between Alaska and the lower 48 states. Under the
agreement AT&T will receive a large initial increment of capacity on our two
undersea fiber networks connecting Alaska with Washington and Oregon. AT&T
was also granted options to acquire certain additional amounts of capacity in
the future. We expect to receive cash payments in excess of $35.0 million from
AT&T in connection with the turn-up of the initial capacity in 2008. Future
payments for additional capacity are not expected to exceed $10.0 million. In
addition AT&T will make payments to GCI associated with the operation and
maintenance of their portion of the undersea fiber networks.
On
June 3, 2008 we purchased the stock of the UUI and Unicom subsidiaries of UCI
for $41.8 million. Additionally we assumed approximately $42.7
million in debt as part of the acquisition. UUI together with its
subsidiary, United-KUC, provides local telephone service to 60 rural Alaska
communities across Alaska. Unicom operates DeltaNet, a long-haul
broadband microwave network ringing the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta – a region of
approximately 30,000 square miles in western Alaska. By the summer of 2008,
DeltaNet, which is still under construction but has already commenced operations
where completed microwave towers have been placed into service, will link more
than 40 villages to Bethel, the region’s hub.
The long-distance,
local access, cable, Internet and wireless services industries continue to
experience substantial competition, regulatory uncertainty, and continuing
technological changes. Our future results of operations will be affected by our
ability to react to changes in the competitive and regulatory environment and by
our ability to fund and implement new or enhanced technologies. We are unable to
determine how competition, economic conditions, and regulatory and technological
changes will affect our ability to obtain financing under acceptable terms and
conditions. A complete discussion of our liquidity and capital
resources can be found in Item 7 "Management's Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our December 31, 2007 annual
report on Form 10-K.
Schedule
of Certain Known Contractual Obligations
The following table
details future projected payments associated with certain known contractual
obligations as of December 31, 2007, the date of our most recent fiscal year-end
balance sheet. Our schedule of certain known contractual obligations
has been updated to reflect the Senior Credit Facility Additional Incremental
Term Loan described above and an amendment to a long-term capital lease
agreement with the wife of our President and CEO for property we
occupy.
Payments Due
by Period
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Total
|
Less than 1
Year
|
1 to
3
Years
|
4 to
5
Years
|
More Than 5
Years
|
||||||||||||||||
(Amounts in
thousands)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Long-term
debt
|
$ | 676,389 | 3,006 | 7,221 | 345,857 | 320,305 | ||||||||||||||
Interest on
long-term debt
|
257,884 | 46,490 | 96,968 | 79,626 | 34,800 | |||||||||||||||
Capital lease
obligations, including interest
|
167,401 | 6,947 | 23,300 | 23,400 | 113,754 | |||||||||||||||
Operating
lease commitments
|
55,429 | 10,979 | 15,535 | 10,600 | 18,315 | |||||||||||||||
Purchase
obligations
|
74,828 | 60,028 | 14,800 | --- | --- | |||||||||||||||
Other
|
66,500 | 63,500 | 3,000 | --- | --- | |||||||||||||||
Total
contractual obligations
|
$ | 1,298,431 | 190,950 | 160,824 | 459,483 | 487,174 |
For long-term debt
included in the above table, we have included principal payments on our Senior
Credit Facility and Senior Notes. Interest on amounts outstanding
under our Senior Credit Facility is based on variable rates. We used
the current rate paid in March 2008 adjusted for our modified Senior Credit
Facility to estimate our future interest payments. Our Senior Notes
require semi-annual interest payments of $11.6 million through February
2014. For a discussion of our Senior Notes and Senior Credit Facility
see note 7 in the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" included in Part
II of our December 31, 2007 annual report on Form 10-K. For a
discussion of our modified Senior Credit Facility see note 7 in the accompanying
"Notes to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements".
40
Capital lease
obligations include the amended capital lease as discussed in note 7 in the
accompanying "Notes to Interim Consolidated Financial
Statements." For a discussion of our capital and operating leases and
purchase obligations see note 15 in the "Notes to Consolidated Financial
Statements included in Part II of our December 31, 2007 annual report on Form
10-K.
The "Other" line
item consists of our commitments to acquire the remaining minority interest in
Alaska DigiTel for approximately $10.0 million, UUI and Unicom for approximately
$40.0 million, and Alaska Wireless for approximately $16.0 million to $17.0
million.
We
believe, but can provide no assurances, that we will be able to fund future
projected payments associated with our certain known contractual obligations
through our cash flows from operating activities, existing cash, cash
equivalents, short-term investments, credit facilities, and other external
financing and equity sources. Should cash flows be insufficient to
support additional borrowings and principal payments scheduled under our
existing credit facilities, capital expenditures will likely be
reduced.
Critical
Accounting Policies
Our accounting and
reporting policies comply with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of financial
statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and
assumptions. The financial position and results of operations can be affected by
these estimates and assumptions, which are integral to understanding reported
results. Critical accounting policies are those policies that management
believes are the most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and
results, and require management to make estimates that are difficult, subjective
or complex. Most accounting policies are not considered by management to be
critical accounting policies. Several factors are considered in determining
whether or not a policy is critical in the preparation of financial statements.
These factors include, among other things, whether the estimates are significant
to the financial statements, the nature of the estimates, the ability to readily
validate the estimates with other information including third parties or
available prices, and sensitivity of the estimates to changes in economic
conditions and whether alternative accounting methods may be utilized under
GAAP. For all of these policies, management cautions that future events rarely
develop exactly as forecast, and the best estimates routinely require
adjustment. Management has discussed the development and the selection of
critical accounting policies with our Audit Committee.
Those policies
considered to be critical accounting policies for the three months ended March
31, 2008 are the allowance for doubtful accounts, impairment and useful lives of
intangible assets, accruals for unbilled costs, and the valuation allowance for
net operating loss deferred tax assets. A complete discussion of our
critical accounting policies can be found in Item 7 "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our December 31,
2007 annual report on Form 10-K.
Other significant
accounting policies, not involving the same level of measurement uncertainties
as those listed above, are nevertheless important to an understanding of the
financial statements. Policies related to revenue recognition, share-based
expense, and financial instruments require difficult judgments on complex
matters that are often subject to multiple sources of authoritative guidance.
Certain of these and other matters are among topics currently under
reexamination by accounting standards setters and regulators. No specific
conclusions reached by these standard setters appear likely to cause a material
change in our accounting policies, although outcomes cannot be predicted with
confidence. A complete discussion of our significant accounting policies can be
found in note 1 included in Part II of our December 31, 2007 annual report on
Form 10-K.
Item
3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We
are exposed to interest rate risk, which is our primary risk, as well as various
types of market risk in the normal course of business. We do not hold
derivatives for trading purposes.
Our Senior Credit
Facility carries interest rate risk. Amounts borrowed under this
agreement bear interest at LIBOR plus 2.0% or less depending upon our Total
Leverage Ratio (as defined). Should the LIBOR rate change, our
interest expense will increase or decrease accordingly. As of March
31, 2008, we have borrowed $240.2 million subject to interest rate
risk. On this amount, each 1% increase in the LIBOR interest rate
would result in $2.4 million of additional gross interest cost on an annualized
basis.
41
Item
4. Controls and Procedures
(a)
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
As
of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we
carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of
our “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) Rule 13a - 15(e)) under the supervision and with
the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and
our Chief Financial Officer. Based on that evaluation and as
described below under “Changes in Internal Controls” (Item 4(b)), we identified
material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined
in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2 ). Because of these material weaknesses,
which are in the process of being remediated as described below under “Changes
in Internal Controls” (Item 4(b)), our management, including our Chief Executive
Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, concluded that our disclosure controls
and procedures were not effective as of March 31, 2008, which is the end of the
period covered by this report.
Disclosure controls
and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure
that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted
under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within
the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure
controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures
designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports
filed under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management to
allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
The certifications
attached as Exhibits 31 and 32 to this report should be read in conjunction with
the disclosures set forth herein.
(b)
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Information
technology program development and change controls over the unified billing
system and the interface with the general ledger were not designed effectively.
As a result, our automated interface between the unified billing system and the
general ledger was not appropriately configured. In addition, our management
review control over unreconciled transactions recorded in accounts receivable
general ledger accounts was not designed at the level of precision to detect and
correct errors that could be material to annual or interim financial statements.
As a result of these deficiencies, errors existed in the Company's accounts
receivable and revenues that were corrected prior to the issuance of our 2007
annual report on Form 10-K. Although we began remediation of the
material weakness during the first quarter of 2008, we have not had sufficient
time to fully implement the control changes necessary to completely remediate
this material weakness.
Our policies and
procedures to ensure that our accounting personnel are sufficiently trained on
technical accounting matters did not operate effectively. More specifically, our
accounting personnel did not have the necessary knowledge and training to
adequately account for and disclose certain share-based compensation awards in
accordance with SFAS No.123(R), Share-Based Payment. In addition, our accounting
personnel lacked adequate training on the operation of certain aspects of the
software used to calculate the Company’s share-based compensation expense. As a
result of these deficiencies, errors existed in the Company's share-based
compensation expense that were corrected prior to the issuance of our 2007
annual report on Form 10-K. Although we began remediation of the
material weakness during the fourth quarter of 2007 and continued efforts toward
remediation during the first quarter of 2008, we have not had sufficient time to
fully implement the control changes necessary to completely remediate this
material weakness.
In
March 2008 we implemented a new online payment system. The
implementation replaced a system supported internally with a system supported by
an external company and has resulted in certain changes to our processes and
procedures affecting internal control over financial reporting during the first
quarter of 2008. We have committed internal and external resources to
revise and document processes and related internal controls over the new
system.
Except as described
above, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting
during the quarter ended March 31, 2008 that have materially affected, or are
reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial
reporting.
42
Subsequent to March
31, 2008, we determined that deficiencies existed at December 31, 2007 that rise
to the level of material weakness. Specifically, (i) our entity-level
control related to the selection and application of accounting policies in
accordance with GAAP was not designed effectively, and (ii) our policies and
procedures for the recording of depreciation expense during interim reporting
periods were not designed to ensure reporting in accordance with GAAP. These
deficiencies led to errors in interim financial reporting that have been
corrected through the restatement of our interim financial information described
in note 1(i) in the accompanying “Notes to Interim Consolidated Financial
Statements.” Our depreciation expense for the three month period
ending March 31, 2008 has been reported in accordance with
GAAP. Because these deficiencies were not identified in Management’s
Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting initially included in our
December 31, 2007 annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 7,
2008, we will restate this report by filing an amended Form 10-K. We plan to
remediate these deficiencies by taking the following actions:
|
•
|
We plan to
expand our accounting policy documentation and implement policies and
procedures to periodically review our accounting policies to ensure
ongoing GAAP compliance.
|
|
•
|
With regards
to our policies and procedures for the recording of depreciation expense
during interim reporting periods, we will revise our accounting policies
and implement procedures to ensure depreciation is recorded consistent
with GAAP for interim reporting
periods.
|
Subsequent to March
31, 2008, we determined the internal control over financial reporting at Alaska
DigiTel, which was excluded from our most recent annual evaluation of internal
control over financial reporting, does not include activities adequate to timely
identify changes in financial reporting risks, monitor the continued
effectiveness of controls, and does not include staff with adequate technical
expertise to ensure that policies and procedures necessary for reliable interim
and annual financial statements are selected and applied. These control
deficiencies in our Alaska DigiTel business represent material weaknesses in our
internal control over financial reporting and lead to the failure to timely
identify and respond to triggering events which necessitated a change in useful
life of depreciable assets to ensure reporting in accordance with GAAP. These
material weaknesses also led to errors in our interim financial reporting which
were corrected through the restatement of our interim financial
information. We have made progress towards remediation with the
acquisition of the minority interest on August 18, 2008, which gave us 100%
ownership and control over this subsidiary. Prior to August 18, 2008,
our control over the operations of Alaska DigiTel was limited as required by the
FCC upon their approval of our initial acquisition completed in January
2007. During the fourth quarter of 2008 we intend to make progress
towards integrating Alaska DigiTel into our financial reporting process by
replacing the accounting management with GCI accounting
management. During the first quarter of 2009 we will integrate Alaska
DigiTel’s accounting process into our general ledger
system. Additionally, Alaska DigiTel will become subject to the
improvements we anticipate in addressing the material weakness described above
the remediation of which will strengthen our selection and application of
accounting policies in accordance with GAAP.
A
company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to
provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over
financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to
the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly
reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2)
provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to
permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are
being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of
the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely
detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s
assets that could have a material effect on the financial
statements.
Internal control
over financial reporting has inherent limitations. Internal control over
financial reporting is a process that involves human diligence and compliance
and is subject to lapses in judgment and breakdowns resulting from human
failures. Internal control over financial reporting also can be circumvented by
collusion or improper management override. Because of such limitations, there is
a risk that material misstatements will not be prevented or detected on a timely
basis by internal control over financial reporting. However, these inherent
limitations are known features of the financial reporting process. Therefore, it
is possible to design into the process safeguards to reduce, though not
eliminate, this risk.
43
We
may enhance, modify, and supplement internal controls and disclosure controls
and procedures based on experience.
PART
II
Item
1. Legal Proceedings
We
are involved in various lawsuits that have arisen from time to time in the
normal course of business. While the ultimate results of these items cannot be
predicted with certainty, we do not expect at this time the resolution of them
to have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of
operations or liquidity.
Item
6. Exhibits
Exhibit
No.
|
Description
|
31.1
|
Certification
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by our President and
Director
|
31.2
|
Certification
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by our Senior Vice President, Chief
Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer
|
32.1
|
Certification
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by our President and
Director
|
32.2
|
Certification
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by our Senior Vice President, Chief
Financial Officer, Secretary and
Treasurer
|
44
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the
requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly
caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly
authorized.
GENERAL COMMUNICATION, INC.
Signature
|
Title
|
Date
|
||
/s/ Ronald A. Duncan |
President and
Director
|
November 20, 2008 | ||
Ronald A.
Duncan
|
(Principal
Executive Officer)
|
|||
/s/ John M. Lowber |
Senior Vice
President, Chief Financial
|
November 20, 2008 | ||
John M.
Lowber
|
Officer,
Secretary and Treasurer
(Principal
Financial Officer)
|
|||
/s/ Lynda L. Tarbath |
Vice
President, Chief Accounting
|
November 20, 2008 | ||
Lynda L.
Tarbath
|
Officer
(Principal
Accounting Officer)
|
45