UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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FORM 10-K
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2018
Commission File Number: 001-36347
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A-MARK PRECIOUS METALS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware (State of Incorporation) | | 11-2464169 (IRS Employer I.D. No.) |
2121 Rosecrans Ave. Suite 6300
El Segundo, CA 90245 (Address of principal executive offices)(Zip Code)
(310) 587-1477
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
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Securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:
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Title of each class Common Stock, $0.01 par value | | Name of each exchange on which registered NASDAQ Global Select Market |
Securities registered under Section 12 (g) of the Exchange Act: None
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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. | | Yes. o No. þ |
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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. | | Yes. o No. þ |
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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. | | Yes. þ No. ¨ |
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). | | Yes. þ No. ¨ |
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Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. | | þ |
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. |
Large accelerated filer ¨ | Accelerated filer ¨ | Non-accelerated filer ¨ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) | Smaller reporting company þ | Emerging growth company ¨ |
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. | | ¨ |
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). | | Yes. ¨ No. þ |
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Aggregate market value of registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on December 31, 2017, based upon the closing price of Common Stock on such date as reported by NASDAQ Global Select Market, was approximately $62,423,372. Shares of common stock known to be owned by directors and executive officers of the Registrant subject to Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are not included in the computation. No determination has been made that such persons are “affiliates” within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act. |
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As of September 10, 2018, the registrant had 7,031,450 shares of common stock outstanding, par value $0.01 per share. | | |
A-MARK PRECIOUS METALS, INC.
ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
For the Year Ended June 30, 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PART I | | | |
| Item 1. | Description of Business | |
| Item 1A. | Risk Factors | |
| Item 1B. | Unresolved Staff Comments | |
| Item 2. | Properties | |
| Item 3. | Legal Proceedings | |
| Item 4. | Mine Safety Disclosures | |
PART II | | | |
| Item 5. | Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities | |
| Item 6. | Selected Financial Data | |
| Item 7. | Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | |
| Item 7A. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk | |
| Item 8. | Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data | |
| Item 9. | Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure | |
| Item 9A. | Controls and Procedures | |
| Item 9B. | Other Information | |
PART III | | | |
| Item 10. | Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance | |
| Item 11. | Executive Compensation | |
| Item 12. | Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters | |
| Item 13. | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence | |
| Item 14. | Principal Accountant Fees and Services | |
PART IV | | | |
| Item 15. | Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules | |
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Signatures | | | |
Exhibit Index | | |
PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM 1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
Overview
A-Mark, also referred to (together with its subsidiaries) as "we", "us" and the "Company", is a full-service precious metals trading company. It is a wholesaler of gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion and related products, including bars, wafers, grain and coins. A-Mark also:
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• | | distributes gold and silver coins and bars from sovereign and private mints; |
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• | | provides financing and other services relating to the purchase and sale of bullion and numismatics; |
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• | | offers secure storage for precious metal products; |
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• | | provides our customers a platform of turn-key logistics services; |
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• | | provides a variety of custom fabricated gold and silver bullion and other specialty products through Sovereign Mint partnerships and its mint operations; and |
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• | | sells directly to the retail community through its Goldline subsidiary. |
A-Mark believes it has one of the largest customer bases in each of its markets and provides one of the most comprehensive offerings of products and services in the precious metals trading industry. Our customers include mints, manufacturers and fabricators, refiners, coin and bullion dealers, e-commerce retailers, banks and other financial institutions, commodity brokerage houses, industrial users of precious metals, investors, collectors and retail customers. We serve customers on six continents, with over 10% of our customers located outside the United States.
A-Mark believes its businesses largely function independently of the price movement of the underlying commodities. However, factors such as global economic activity or uncertainty and inflationary trends, which affect market volatility, have the potential to impact demand, volumes and margins.
History
A-Mark was founded in 1965 as a numismatics firm, which subsequently grew to include wholesale bullion trading and precious metals financing. A-Mark became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spectrum Group International, Inc. ("SGI") in 2005. In March 2014, SGI distributed all of the shares of common stock of A-Mark to its stockholders, effecting a spinoff of A-Mark from SGI. As a result of this distribution, which we refer to as the spinoff, the Company became a publicly traded company independent from SGI.
Over the years, A-Mark has been steadily expanding its products and services. In 1986, A-Mark became an authorized purchaser of gold and silver bullion coins struck by the United States Mint. Similar arrangements with other sovereign mints followed, so that by the early 1990s, A-Mark had (and continues to have) relationships with all major sovereign mints offering bullion coins and bars internationally.
In 2005, A-Mark launched its Collateral Finance Corporation ("CFC") subsidiary for the purpose of making secured loans collateralized by bullion and numismatic material. CFC has been steadily expanding the value of its aggregate loan portfolio and number of its customers. CFC has achieved its growth through both origination and loan portfolio acquisitions that it has purchased from wholesale customers of A-Mark, which market to retail customers.
A-Mark opened an overseas office in Vienna, Austria in 2009, for the purpose of marketing its goods and services in the European markets, and the office commenced full trading activity in 2012. This resulted in the expansion of A-Mark's trading hours. Also in 2012, A-Mark formed Transcontinental Depository Services, LLC ("TDS"), a subsidiary that provides customers with turn-key global storage solutions for their precious metals and precious metal products.
In July 2015, we launched our Las Vegas-based logistics fulfillment center, A-M Global Logistics, LLC, which provides our customers a platform of complementary services, including packaging, shipping, handling, receiving, processing and inventorying of precious metals and custom coins on a secure basis.
Our minting operations commenced in August 2016, when we formed a joint venture, AM&ST Associates, LLC ("AMST"), with SilverTowne, L.P., an Indiana-based fabricator of silver bullion products, to acquire its minting business. We own a majority interest in AMST. Since the formation of AMST, the Company has invested in minting equipment and fabrication tools to expand output capabilities, increase production efficiencies and improve product quality, and has leveraged SilverTowne Mint’s fabrication capabilities and coin die portfolio to expand our custom coin programs, as well as to introduce new custom products for individual customers.
In August, 2017, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets of Goldline, LLC, a direct retailer of precious metals to the investor community, and now conducts those operations through its subsidiary Goldline, Inc. ("Goldline"). Goldline LLC was formed in 1960 and became well-known to collectors and investors for its world-wide distribution of gold, silver and platinum bullion coins and bars, in part, due to its radio, internet and television marketing and customer service outreach programs which have historically led to a significant base of repeat customers. Since our acquisition, Goldline has expanded its product offerings, improved its delivery times, and provided additional financing options to its customers Also, Goldline has initiated a customer service program to re-engage with Goldline LLC's inactive customers and has invested in technological solutions to reduce the cost of its customer service outreach programs. Furthermore, Goldline has implemented a scaled marketing approach to better align with varying levels of market demands, and has consolidated the predecessor-company's trading, hedging, distribution and customer service functions within A-Mark.
Business Strategy
Through strategic relationships with its customers and suppliers and vertical integration across its markets, A-Mark seeks to grow its business volume, expand its presence in non-U.S. markets around the globe, with a principal focus on Europe and Asia, and enlarge its offering of complementary products and services. A-Mark seeks to continue its expansion by building on its strengths and what it perceives to be its competitive advantages. These include:
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• | | integrated operations that span trading, distribution, minting, storage, financing and other consignment products and services; |
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• | | an extensive and varied customer base that includes banks and other financial institutions, coin dealers, collectors, private investors, retail customers, investment advisors, industrial manufacturers, refiners, sovereign mints and mines; |
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• | | ability to offer secured financing to customers; |
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• | | secure storage for precious metals products; |
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• | | access to primary market makers, suppliers, refiners and government mints that provide a dependable supply of precious metals and precious metal products; |
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• | | minting operations which produce bullion and custom coins, allowing for a ready response to changing market demands; |
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• | | 24/7 trading over our interactive online trading platform; |
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• | | the largest precious metals dealer network in North America; |
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• | | depository relationships in major financial centers around the world; |
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• | | experienced traders who effectively manage A-Mark's exposure to commodity price risk; and |
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• | | a strong management team, with over 100 years of collective industry experience. |
Business Segments
The Company conducts its operations through three reportable segments: (1) Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services, (2) Secured Lending and (3) Direct Sales. Each of these reportable segments represents an aggregation of operating segments that meets the aggregation criteria set forth in the Segment Reporting Topic 280 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) (See Note 18). Prior to the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2018, the operations of CFC, which now comprise our Secured Lending segment, had been considered part of the Wholesale Trading and & Ancillary Services segment.
Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services
A-Mark operates through several business units that comprise the Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment, including Industrial, Coin and Bar, Trading and Finance, TDS, Logistics and Mint.
Industrial. Our Industrial unit sells gold, silver, platinum and palladium to industrial and commercial users. Customers include coin fabricators such as mints, industrial manufacturers and fabricators, including electronics, component parts companies, and refiners. Depending on the intended usage, the metals are either investment or industrial grade and are generally in the form of bars, or grains.
Coin and Bar. Our Coin and Bar unit deals in over 200 different products, including gold and silver coins from around the world and gold, silver, platinum and palladium bars and ingots in a variety of weights, shapes and sizes. Our customers include
coin and bullion dealers, banks and other financial institutions, commodity brokerage houses, manufacturers, investors, investment advisors, and collectors who qualify as “eligible commercial entities” and “eligible contract participants,” as those terms are defined in the Commodity Exchange Act.
We are an authorized distributor (and, in the case of the United States Mint, an authorized purchaser) of gold and silver coins for all of the major sovereign mints and various private mints. The sovereign mints include the United States Mint, the Australian (Perth) Mint, the Austrian Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, the China Mint, Banco de Mexico, the South African Mint (Rand Refinery) and the Royal Mint (United Kingdom). We purchase and take delivery of coins from the mints for resale to coin dealers, financial institutions and other qualified purchasers.
Our distribution and purchase agreements with the mints are non-exclusive, and may be terminated by the mints at any time, although in practice our relationship with the mints are long-standing, in some cases, as with the U.S. Mint, extending back for over 20 years. In some cases, we have developed exclusive products with sovereign and private mints for distribution through our dealer network.
In our Industrial and Coin and Bar units, orders are taken telephonically and also on an electronic trading platform. Pricing is generally based on screen quotes for bullion transactions in the spot market, with two-day settlement, although special pricing and extended settlement terms are also available. For example, a customer can leave an order with A-Mark to purchase at a specified price below the current market price or an order to sell at a specified price above the current market price. Almost all customers in these units take physical delivery of the precious metal. Product is shipped upon receipt of payment, except where the purchase is financed under credit arrangements between A-Mark and the customer. We have relationships with precious metal depositories around the world to facilitate shipment of product from our inventory to these customers, in many cases for next day delivery. Product may either be shipped to the customer's location or delivered to a depository or other storage facility designated by the customer. The Company also periodically loans metals to customers on a short-term consignment basis, and may charge interest fees based on the value of the metals loaned. Such metal inventories are removed at the time the customers elect to price and purchase the metals, and the Company records a corresponding sale and receivable.
Trading and Finance. Our Trading and Finance units engage in commodity hedging as well as borrowing and lending transactions in support of our Industrial and Coin and Bar units.
The Trading unit hedges the commodity risk on A-Mark's inventory in order to protect A-Mark from market price fluctuations. A-Mark maintains relationships with major market-makers and multiple futures brokers in order to provide a variety of alternatives for its hedging needs. Our traders employ a combination of future and forward contracts to hedge our market exposure. Because it seeks to substantially hedge its market exposure, A-Mark believes that its business largely functions independently of the price movements of the underlying commodities. Through its hedging activities, A-Mark may also earn contango yields, in which futures price are higher than the spot prices, or backwardation yields, in which futures prices are lower than the spot prices. A-Mark also offers precious metals price quotes in a number of foreign currencies.
Our Finance unit engages in precious metals borrowing and lending transactions and other customized financial transactions with or on behalf of our customers and other counterparties. These arrangements range from simple hedging structures to complex inventory finance arrangements and forward purchase and sale structures, tailored to the needs of our customers.
TDS. Our Transcontinental Depository Services LLC. ("TDS") subsidiary provides storage solutions for precious metals and numismatic coins for financial institutions, dealers, investors and collectors worldwide. TDS contracts on behalf of our clients with independent secure storage facilities in the United States, Canada, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, for either fully segregated or allocated storage. We assist our clients in developing appropriate storage options for their particular requirements, and we manage the operational aspects of the storage with the third party facilities on our clients' behalf.
Logistics. Our A-M Global Logistics LLC. ("Logistics") subsidiary, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, supports our wholesale trading business by providing a significant amount of the secured storage, shipping and delivery services that had historically been outsourced to third-party depositories in their various locations. By consolidating those operations into one central location under our control, we have reduced our dependence on third-party service providers while enhancing quality control and reducing operating costs.
Logistics also provides turn-key logistics services to our customers engaged in the retail business. We provide these customers with one-stop financing (through our secured lending segment), hedging (through our trading and finance business units), inventory handling, packaging, storage and drop-shipping services.
Mint. In August 2016, the Company formed AM&ST ("Mint"), a joint venture with SilverTowne, L.P., an Indiana-based producer of minted silver. AMST acquired the entire minting operations (referred to as SilverTowne Mint or our "Mint" business unit) of SilverTowne, L.P., with the goal of providing greater product selection to our customers and greater pricing stability within the supply chain, as well as to gain increased access to fabricated silver products during volatile market environments. Since the acquisition, A-Mark has leveraged SilverTowne Mint’s fabrication capabilities and coin die portfolio to expand its custom coin
programs, as well as to introduce new custom products for individual customers. As of June 30, 2018, the Company and SilverTowne, L.P. owned 55% and 45%, respectively, of AMST (see Note 19). Secured Lending
The Company operates its Secured Lending segment through its wholly-owned subsidiary, CFC. CFC has been in operation since 2005.
CFC is a California licensed finance lender that originates and acquires commercial loans secured by bullion and numismatic coins. CFC's customers include coin and precious metal dealers, investors and collectors. As of June 30, 2018, CFC had approximately $110.4 million in secured loans outstanding, of which approximately 67.6% was originated by third parties and acquired by CFC and approximately 32.4% was originated by CFC.
General. CFC’s loans consist of on-demand loans and loans with a term of three months to 364 days, with a typical term of approximately six months. Repayment of the loans can be made at any time without penalty. Because the loans are of relatively short duration, CFC does not have significant exposure to interest rate fluctuations, even in a rising interest rate environment. Loans carried by CFC range in size from $15,000 to $10.0 million.
All loans are fully secured by bullion or numismatics coins (or in rare cases, by other acceptable collateral.) TDS, on behalf of CFC, takes physical custody of the coins or bullion collateralizing the loans. CFC requires loan-to-value ("LTV") ratios of between 50% and 85%. LTV ratio refers to the principal amount of the loan divided by the liquidation value of the collateral, as conservatively estimated by CFC for numismatic loans and based on daily spot market prices for bullion loans. The LTV ratio varies with the nature of the collateral, with CFC requiring, for example, a higher LTV ratio for bullion than for rare coins. If, because of fluctuations in the market price of the pledged collateral, the LTV ratio on a loan drops below a prescribed minimum ratio, typically 85%, CFC can make a margin call on the loan. If the borrower does not meet the margin call, either by wiring payment or supplying additional collateral, CFC is authorized to sell the collateral, which it does through its A-Mark affiliates. Because of its conservative lending practices, CFC has never experienced losses of principal on its loans.
CFC has historically financed its loan origination and acquisition activity through a demand line of credit with several financial institutions. In the fourth fiscal quarter of 2018, CFC announced its intention to engage in securitization financing, whereby it would issue privately placed notes secured by the loans that it owns and the bullion and numismatics collateralizing the loans.
Origination Activity. CFC's origination activities are complementary to the Company’s coin and bullion businesses, and afford our customers a convenient means of financing their inventory or collections. CFC also attempts to leverage the worldwide storage capabilities of its TDS affiliate by offering clients TDS’s asset protection services in connection with the loans. CFC’s marketing efforts for its origination activity are conducted both in partnership with A-Mark, particularly with respect to dealers, and independently, including though its dedicated website cfccoinloans.com. Interest rates on loans originated by CFC are determined based on current market conditions, borrower profile and type or mix of collateral. CFC also offers a variety of custom loan services to its origination clients, including renewal options, options to increase loan size, financing arrangements tailored to facilitate participation in numismatic auctions, and revolving loan arrangements. CFC services the loans that it originates.
Acquisition Activity. CFC also acquires portfolios of loans secured by bullion and numismatics coins from third party originators. The originators may be customers of A-Mark, who finance the purchases by their borrowers of precious metals and coins sourced by the originator, in whole or in part, from A-Mark. The loans acquired by CFC are sold subject to customary representations and warranties for loan portfolios of this type, and must comply with CFC’s criteria for quality of collateral, LTV ratio, term and interest rate. Upon acquisition of a loan portfolio, CFC takes physical possession of the collateral securing the loans. In the event that a loan is non-performing, the collateral will typically be liquidated by A-Mark on behalf of the originator in order to retire the loan. Typically, loan portfolios acquired by CFC are serviced by the originator for a fee.
Direct Sales
The Company operates its Direct Sales segment through its wholly-owned subsidiary Goldline Inc. (“Goldline”). The Company acquired the business in August 2017 through an asset purchase transaction with Goldline LLC. Goldline LLC had been in operation since 1960.
Direct-to-Client Sales. Goldline is a direct retailer of precious metals to the investor community. Goldline markets its precious metal products primarily on radio, the internet and television, as well as through telephonic sales efforts, particularly to Goldline’s repeat customers. The Company acquired the Goldline business with the objective of enhancing the Company’s distribution capabilities by adding a direct-to-client distribution channel. The Company also anticipated that the acquisition would diversify the product and services offering to Goldline customers, through access to the Company’s wider assortment of precious metal coins and bars, CFC's secured lending services and TDS’s storage and asset protection services. Since the acquisition, the Company has been focused on rationalizing the cost structure of the Goldline business to promote profitability.
Goldline customers are required to open an account with Goldline and enter into an account agreement. The agreement specifies the terms and conditions of purchase and explains the availability of certain programs and services offered by Goldline to its customers.
Liquidity
Our business depends substantially on our ability to obtain financing for our operations. The Company’s line of credit provides it with the liquidity to buy and sell billions of dollars of precious metals annually. Additional sources of funds are generated through product financing arrangements with customers, whereby the Company sells its inventory with an option to repurchase, and through borrowing arrangements with its suppliers. In addition, the Company generates cash from earning interest income on secured loans and secured financing structures, and from other finance products.
Market Making Activity
We act as a principal market maker, maintaining a two-way market for buying and selling precious metals. This means we both sell product to and purchase product from our customers.
Inventory
We maintain a substantial inventory of bullion and coins in order to provide our customers with selection and prompt delivery. We acquire product for our inventory in the course of our trading activities with our customers, directly from mints, mines and refiners and from commodities brokers and dealers, privately and in transactions on established commodity exchanges. Except for certain lower of cost or market products, our inventory is “marked to market” daily for accounting and financial reporting purposes.
Sales and Marketing
We market our products and services primarily through our offices in El Segundo, California and Vienna, Austria, our website and our dealer network, which we believe is the largest of its kind in North America. The dealer network consists of over 700 independent precious metal and coin companies, with whom we transact on a non-exclusive basis. The arrangements with the dealers vary, but generally the dealers acquire product from us for resale to their customers. In some instances, we deliver bullion to the dealers on a consignment basis. We also participate from time to time in trade shows and conventions, at which we promote our products and services. As a vertically integrated precious metals concern, a key element of our marketing strategy is being able to cross-sell our products and services to customers within our various business units.
Operational Support
The Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment maintains administrative and operational support at its headquarters in El Segundo, California. We believe that our existing administrative and operational support infrastructure has the capacity to scale up with our business activities. We store our inventories of bullion and numismatics at third party depositories in major financial centers around the world and at our facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of June 30, 2018, A-Mark has an uncommitted line of credit that provided us with access up to $260.0 million, featuring a $210.0 million base with a $50.0 million accordion option, which it has used to fund substantially all of the operations of the Company.
The Secured Lending segment maintains administrative support at its headquarters in El Segundo, California for the processing of its originated loans, including billing of interest, managing margin calls and tracking of precious metal collateral. However, for the processing administration of loans that are acquired from a third-party (usually a customer of A-Mark), customer invoices are typically processed by the originating dealer of the loan portfolio, through a servicing arrangement, for a fee based on the interest rate charged to the end-consumer. The operational support (specifically, the collateral custody and security) is managed by our logistics business unit. Additionally, A-Mark provides funds to CFC to purchase additional bullion and numismatic secured loans.
The Direct Sales segment maintains administrative and operational support at its office in Los Angeles, California for soliciting and processing it retail orders. The Company's Trading, Finance and Logistics business units and secured lending segment provide supporting services such as hedging, order fulfillment and lending services.
With a third party software developer, we have created a proprietary trading program, referred to as the Metals Trading System ("MTS"). Through MTS we are able to input, process, track and document our trading activity, including complex hedging and similar transactions. Additionally, we have developed and implemented an electronic trading platform for receiving and processing customer orders, with the objective of improving transactional ease and efficiency, and also extended trading hours.
Supplier and Customer Concentrations
A-Mark buys a majority of its precious metals from a limited number of suppliers. The Company believes that numerous other suppliers are available and would provide similar products on comparable terms. In addition, through the Company's Mint business operation, it has the capabilities to design and mint silver custom bullion-coins to respond to changing market demands.
For the year ended June 30, 2018, the Company had two customers, HSBC Bank USA and Mitsubishi Intl. Corporation, each comprising more than 10% of our revenues (see Note 17.) The Company's largest customers characteristically have significant forward contract sales activity (as opposed to those customers with whom we principally have physical trading activity), which are entered to hedge the Company's commodity holding risks, and not for speculative purposes. Competition
A-Mark's activities cover a broad spectrum of the precious metals industry, with a concentration on the physical market. We service public, industrial and private sector consumers of precious metals which include industrial manufactures, refiners, minting facilities, banks, brokerage houses and private investors. We frequently face different competitors in each area and it is not uncommon for a customer and/or a supplier in one market segment to be a competitor in another. Our competitors may offer more favorable pricing or services considered to be superior to ours.
Our Secured Lending segment's market is believed to have limited direct competition. We believe factors, including access to capital, secure storage facilities, bullion and numismatic expertise and other related services and offerings, provide us a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Our Direct Sales' market environment is highly-competitive and highly-concentrated with a significant number of active loyal customers, from which we can expand product and service offerings and generate new customers from our sponsorship of syndicated radio and from acquired lists of marketing information.
Our competitors may offer more favorable pricing or services considered to be superior to ours.
Trading Seasonality
While our precious metals trading business is not seasonal, we believe it is directly impacted by the perception of market trends and global economic activity. Historically, anticipation of increases in the rate of inflation, interest rates as well as anticipated devaluation of the U.S. dollar, have resulted in higher levels of interest in precious metals as well as higher prices for such metals.
Employees
As of June 30, 2018, we had 188 employees, with 186 located in North America, and two located in Europe; all except eight of these employees were considered full-time employees. We regard our relations with our employees as good.
Corporate Information
A-Mark was founded in 1965 as a New York corporation. In January 2014, the Company was reincorporated in Delaware. Our executive offices are located at 2121 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 6300, El Segundo CA 90245. Our telephone number is (310) 587-1477, and our website is www.amark.com. Through this website, we make available, free of charge, all of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including those under the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"). Such reports are made available on the same day that they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. In addition, copies of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Employees, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Senior Financial and Other Officers, and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Directors are available through this website, along with other information regarding our corporate governance policies.
Geographic Information
See Note 18 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for information about Company's geographic operations. ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Risks Relating to Our Business Generally
Our business is heavily dependent on our credit facility.
Our business depends substantially on our ability to obtain financing for our operations. The Trading Credit Facility (as further described and defined below) provides the Company with the liquidity to buy and sell billions of dollars of precious metals annually. The Trading Credit Facility is an uncommitted demand facility provided by a syndicate of financial institutions (the “Trading Credit Lenders”), and is currently scheduled to mature on March 29, 2019. A-Mark routinely uses funds drawn under the Trading Credit Facility to purchase metals from its suppliers and for operating cash flow purposes. Our CFC subsidiary also uses the funds drawn under the Trading Credit Facility to finance its lending activities.
Pursuant to the terms of the Trading Credit Facility, each Trading Credit Lender may, at any time in its sole discretion (subject to certain notice requirements), decline to make loans to us. If we are unable to access funds under the Trading Credit Facility, we may be limited in the manner in which we conduct our business and we may be unable to engage in favorable business activities or finance future operations or capital needs.
The Trading Credit Facility requires us to maintain certain financial ratios and to comply with various operational and other covenants. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under the Trading Credit Facility that was not cured or waived pursuant to the terms of the Trading Credit Facility, the Trading Credit Lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under the Trading Credit Facility to be due and payable immediately. Further, Trading Credit Lenders holding 50% or more of the indebtedness under the Trading Credit Facility may require us to repay all outstanding indebtedness under the Trading Credit Facility at any time, even if we are in compliance with the financial and other covenants under the Trading Credit Facility.
We cannot assure you that our assets or cash flow would be sufficient to fully repay borrowings under our outstanding debt instruments, including the Trading Credit Facility, upon demand or acceleration, or at maturity, or that we would be able to refinance or restructure the payments under the Trading Credit Facility. The failure of A-Mark to renew or replace the Trading Credit Facility under such circumstances would reduce the financing available to us and could limit our ability to conduct our business, including the lending activity of our CFC subsidiary. There can be no assurance that we could procure replacement financing on commercially acceptable terms on a timely basis, or at all. We have pledged a significant portion of our assets as collateral under the Trading Credit Facility, and if we were unable to repay the amounts outstanding thereunder, the administrative agent under the Trading Credit Facility could proceed against the collateral granted to secure such indebtedness.
We are subject to fluctuations in interest rates based on the variable interest terms of the Trading Credit Facility and we may not be able to pass along to our customers and borrowers some or any part of an increase in the interest that we are required to pay under the Trading Credit Facility. Amounts under the Trading Credit Facility bear interest based on one month LIBOR plus (i) 2.50% for revolving credit line loans and (ii) 4.50% for loans extended in excess of the then-available revolving credit line. The LIBOR was approximately 2.09% as of June 30, 2018.
In addition to the Trading Credit Facility, we have incurred the Goldline Credit Facility to finance the Goldline acquisition. The obligations of the Company and Goldline pursuant to the Goldline Credit Facility are subordinated to the obligations of the Company pursuant to the Trading Credit Facility as set forth in certain subordination agreements executed in connection with the Goldline Credit Facility (the “Goldline Subordination Agreements”), and the Goldline Credit Facility requires us to comply with various operational and other covenants. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under the Goldline Credit Facility that is not cured or waived pursuant to the terms of the Goldline Credit Facility, the lenders holding a majority of the loans under the Goldline Credit Facility then outstanding could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under the Goldline Credit Facility to be due and payable immediately, subject to the requirements of the Goldline Subordination Agreements, as applicable. We have pledged substantially all of the assets of Goldline as collateral under the Goldline Credit Facility, and if we were unable to repay the amounts outstanding thereunder, the lenders under the Goldline Credit Facility could proceed against the collateral granted to secure such indebtedness, subject to the Goldline Subordination Agreements, as applicable. We cannot assure you that the assets or cash flow available to Goldline would be sufficient to fully repay the borrowings under the Goldline Credit Facility, upon demand or acceleration, or at maturity, or that we would be able to refinance or restructure the payments under the Goldline Credit Facility. Further, the incurrence of the Goldline Credit Facility increases the risks as a result of our leverage.
We could suffer losses with our financing operations.
We engage in a variety of financing activities with our customers:
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• | Receivables from our customers with whom we trade in precious metal products are effectively short-term, non-interest bearing extensions of credit that are, in certain cases, secured by the related products maintained in the Company’s possession or by a letter of credit issued on behalf of the customer. On average, these receivables are outstanding for periods of between 8 and 9 days. |
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• | The Company operates a financing business through CFC that makes secured loans at loan-to-value ratios—principal loan amount divided by the liquidation value, as conservatively estimated by management, of the collateral—of, in most cases, 50% to 85%. These loans are both variable and fixed interest rate loans, with maturities from three to twelve months. |
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• | We make advances to our customers on unrefined metals secured by materials received from the customer. These advances are limited to a portion of the materials received. |
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• | The Company makes unsecured, short-term, non-interest bearing advances to wholesale metals dealers and government mints. |
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• | The Company periodically extends short-term credit through the issuance of notes receivable to approved customers at interest rates determined on a customer-by-customer basis. |
Our ability to minimize losses on the credit that we extend to our customers depends on a variety of factors, including:
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• | our loan underwriting and other credit policies and controls designed to assure repayment, which may prove inadequate to prevent losses; |
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• | our ability to sell collateral upon customer defaults for amounts sufficient to offset credit losses, which can be affected by a number of factors outside of our control, including (i) changes in economic conditions, (ii) increases in market rates of interest and (iii) changes in the condition or value of the collateral; and |
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• | the reserves we establish for loan losses, which may prove inadequate. |
Our business is dependent on a concentrated customer base.
One of A-Mark's key assets is its customer base. This customer base provides deep distribution of product and makes A-Mark a desirable trading partner for precious metals product manufacturers, including sovereign mints seeking to distribute precious metals coinage or large refiners seeking to sell large volumes of physical precious metals. Two customers represented 49.3% of A-Mark's revenues for the year ended June 30, 2018. Those same two customers represented 38.2% of A-Mark's revenues for the year ended June 30, 2017. If our relationship with these customers deteriorated, or if we were to lose these customers, our business would be materially adversely affected.
The loss of a government purchaser/distributorship arrangement could materially adversely affect our business.
A-Mark’s business is heavily dependent on its purchaser/distributorship arrangements with various governmental mints. Our ability to offer numismatic coins and bars to our customers on a competitive basis is based on the ability to purchase products directly from a government source. The arrangements with the governmental mints may be discontinued by them at any time. The loss of an authorized purchaser/distributor relationship, including with the U.S. Mint could have a material adverse effect on our business.
The materials held by A-Mark are subject to loss, damage, theft or restriction on access.
A-Mark has significant quantities of high-value precious metals on site, at third-party depositories and in transit. There is a risk that part or all of the gold and other precious metals held by A-Mark, whether on its own behalf or on behalf of its customers, could be lost, damaged or stolen. In addition, access to A-Mark’s precious metals could be restricted by natural events (such as an earthquake) or human actions (such as a terrorist attack). Although we maintain insurance on terms and conditions that we consider appropriate, we may not have adequate sources of recovery if our precious metals inventory is lost, damaged, stolen or destroyed, and recovery may be limited. Among other things, our insurance policies exclude coverage in the event of loss as a result of terrorist attacks or civil unrest.
In addition, with the establishment of our Logistics facility and the transfer of our wholesale storage operations from third party depositories to that facility, we are assuming greater potential liability for any loss suffered in connection with the stored inventory. Among other things, our insurance, rather than the third-party depository’s, is now the primary risk policy. While we believe we have adequate insurance coverage covering these operations, in the event of any loss in excess of our coverage, we may be held liable for that excess.
Our business is subject to the risk of fraud and counterfeiting.
The precious metals (particularly bullion) business is exposed to the risk of loss as a result of “materials fraud” in its various forms. We seek to minimize our exposure to this type of fraud through a number of means, including third-party authentication and verification, reliance on our internal experts and the establishment of procedures designed to detect fraud. However, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in preventing or identifying this type of fraud, or in obtaining redress in the event such fraud is detected.
Our business is influenced by political conditions and world events.
The precious metals business is especially subject to global political conditions and world events. Precious metals are viewed by some as a secure financial investment in times of political upheaval or unrest, particularly in developing economies, which may drive up pricing. The volatility of the commodity prices for precious metals is also likely to increase in politically uncertain times. Conversely, during periods of relative international calm precious metal volatility is likely to decrease, along with demand, and the prices of precious metals may retreat. Because our business is dependent on the volatility and pricing of precious metals, we are likely to be influenced by world events more than businesses in other economic sectors.
We have significant operations outside the United States.
We derive about 5% to 10% of our revenues from business outside the United States, including from customers in developing countries. Business operations outside the U.S. are subject to political, economic and other risks inherent in operating in foreign countries. These include risks of general applicability, such as the need to comply with multiple regulatory regimes;
trade protection measures and import or export licensing requirements; and fluctuations in equity, revenues and profits due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Currently, we do not conduct substantial business with customers in developing countries. However, if our business in these areas of the world were to increase, we would also face risks that are particular to developing countries, including the difficulty of enforcing agreements, collecting receivables, protecting inventory and other assets through foreign legal systems, limitations on the repatriation of earnings, currency devaluation and manipulation of exchange rates, and high levels of inflation.
We try to manage these risks by monitoring current and anticipated political, economic, legal and regulatory developments in the countries outside the United States in which we operate or have customers and adjusting operations as appropriate, but there can be no assurance that the measures we adopt will be successful in protecting the Company’s business interests.
We are dependent on our key management personnel and our trading experts.
Our performance is dependent on our senior management and certain other key employees. We have employment agreements with Greg Roberts, our CEO, and Thor Gjerdrum, our President, which expire on June 30, 2020 and June 30, 2019, respectively. These and other employees have expertise in the trading markets, have industry-wide reputations, and perform critical functions for our business. We cannot offer assurance that we will be able to negotiate acceptable terms for the renewal of the employment agreements or otherwise retain our key employees. Also, there is significant competition for skilled precious metals traders and other industry professionals. The loss of our current key officers and employees, without the ability to replace them, would have a materially adverse effect on our business.
We are focused on growing our business, but there is no assurance that we will be successful.
We expect to grow both organically and through opportunistic acquisitions. We have devoted considerable time, resources and efforts over the past few years to our growth strategy. We may not be successful in implementing our growth initiatives, which could adversely affect our business.
Liquidity constraints may limit our ability to grow our business.
To accomplish our growth strategy, we will require adequate sources of liquidity to fund both our existing business and our expansion activity. Currently, our main sources of liquidity are the cash that we generate from operations and our borrowing availability under the Trading Credit Facility. There can be no assurance that these sources will be adequate to support the growth that we are hoping to achieve or that additional sources of financing for this purpose, in the form of additional debt or equity financing, will be available to us, on satisfactory terms or at all. Also, the Trading Credit Facility contains, and any future debt financing is likely to contain, various financial and other restrictive covenants. The need to comply with these covenants may limit our ability to implement our growth initiatives.
We expect to grow in part through acquisitions, but an acquisition strategy entails risks.
We expect to grow in part through acquisitions. We will consider potential acquisitions of varying sizes and may, on a selective basis, pursue acquisitions or consolidation opportunities involving other public companies or privately held companies. However, it is possible that we will not realize the expected benefits from our acquisitions or that our existing operations will be adversely affected as a result of acquisitions. Acquisitions entail certain risks, including: unrecorded liabilities of acquired companies that we fail to discover during our due diligence investigations; difficulty in assimilating the operations and personnel of the acquired company within our existing operations or in maintaining uniform standards; loss of key employees of the acquired company; and strains on management and other personnel time and resources both to research and integrate acquisitions.
We expect to pay for future acquisitions using cash, capital stock, notes and/or assumption of indebtedness. To the extent that our existing sources of cash are not sufficient to fund future acquisitions, we will require additional debt or equity financing and, consequently, our indebtedness may increase or shareholders may be diluted as we implement our growth strategy.
Our Logistics depository is subject to authorization.
Our Trading Credit Lenders have approved our Logistics facility as an authorized depository. If that approval were to be withdrawn for any reason, we would no longer be able to keep inventory at that location, which would substantially limit our ability to conduct business from that facility.
We are subject to laws and regulations.
We are subject to various laws, litigation, regulatory matters and ethical standards, and our failure to comply with or adequately address developments as they arise could adversely affect our reputation and operations. Our policies, procedures and practices and the technology we implement are designed to comply with federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules and regulations, including those imposed by the SEC and other regulatory agencies, the marketplace, the banking industry and foreign countries, as well as responsible business, social and environmental practices, all of which may change from time to time. Significant legislative changes, including those that relate to employment matters and health care reform, could impact our relationship with
our workforce, which could increase our expenses and adversely affect our operations. In addition, if we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations or implement responsible business, social and environmental practices, we could be subject to damage to our reputation, class action lawsuits, legal and settlement costs, civil and criminal liability, increased cost of regulatory compliance, restatements of our financial statements, disruption of our business and loss of customers. Any required changes to our employment practices could result in the loss of employees, reduced sales, increased employment costs, low employee morale and harm to our business and results of operations. In addition, political and economic factors could lead to unfavorable changes in federal and state tax laws, which may increase our tax liabilities. An increase in our tax liabilities could adversely affect our results of operations. We are also regularly involved in various litigation matters that arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation or regulatory developments could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
There are various federal, state, local and foreign laws, ordinances and regulations that affect our trading business. For example, we are required to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and a variety of anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules in response to the USA Patriot Act.
The SEC has promulgated rules mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act regarding disclosure, on an annual basis, of the use of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, known as conflict minerals, in products manufactured by public companies. These rules require due diligence to determine whether such minerals originated from the Democratic Republic of Congo (the "DRC") or an adjoining country and whether such minerals helped finance the armed conflict in the DRC.
The Company has concluded that it is not currently subject to the conflict minerals rules because it is not a manufacturer of conflict minerals under the definitions set forth in the rules. Depending on developments in the Company’s business, it could become subject to the rules at some point in the future. In that event, there will be costs associated with complying with these disclosure requirements, including costs to determine the origin of gold used in our products. In addition, the implementation of these rules could adversely affect the sourcing, supply and pricing of gold used in our products. Also, we may face disqualification as a supplier for customers and reputational challenges if the due diligence procedures we implement do not enable us to verify the origins for the gold used in our products or to determine that the gold is conflict free.
CFC operates under a California Finance Lenders License issued by the California Department of Corporations. CFC is required to submit a finance lender law annual report to the state which summarizes certain loan portfolio and financial information regarding CFC. The Department of Corporations may audit the books and records of CFC to determine whether CFC is in compliance with the terms of its lending license.
There can be no assurance that the regulation of our trading and lending businesses will not increase or that compliance with the applicable regulations will not become more costly or require us to modify our business practices.
The recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is expected to have a significant impact on us.
Significant judgment is required in determining our provision for income taxes. Various internal and external factors may have favorable or unfavorable effects on our future provision for income taxes, income taxes receivable, and our effective income tax rate. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in tax laws, regulations and/or rates, including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. On December 22, 2017, the comprehensive tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was signed into law. The Tax Act significantly changes how the U.S. taxes corporations. The Tax Act requires complex computations to be performed, significant judgments to be made in interpretation of the provisions of the Tax Act and significant estimates in calculations, and the preparation and analysis of information not previously relevant or regularly produced. The U.S. Treasury Department, the IRS, and other standard-setting bodies could interpret or issue guidance on how provisions of the Tax Act will be applied or otherwise administered that is different from our interpretation. We have not completed our accounting for the estimated tax effects of the Tax Act. We recorded a provisional net charge of $1.2 million based on reasonable estimates for those tax effects. Due to the timing of the enactment and the complexity in applying the provisions of the Tax Act, the provisional net charge is subject to revisions as we continue to complete our analysis, collect, and prepare necessary data, and interpret additional guidance.
With respect to deferred tax assets (net of deferred tax liabilities) that are in existence as of the enactment date of the Tax Act (i.e., valued using a 35.0% federal tax rate), the Company has been negatively impacted by the (1) new corporate tax rates, and (2) the effective date of the new provision, which precludes taxpayers from carrying net operating losses (NOLs) back to prior taxable years. This is because the realization of deferred taxes during the second half of fiscal year 2018 against taxable income will be realized at a lower 28.06% blended tax rate. Further, to the extent the realization of such deferred tax assets exceed such taxable income, resulting in an NOL, such NOL can no longer be carried back to a prior tax year and can only be carried forward to subsequent years for realization at a 21.0% tax rate. This is also applicable to the extent realization of deferred taxes are not until the subsequent year.
We operate in a highly competitive industry.
The business of buying and selling precious metals is global and highly competitive. The Company competes with precious metals trading firms and banks throughout North America, Europe and elsewhere in the world, some of whom have greater financial and other resources, and greater name recognition, than the Company. We believe that, as a full service firm devoted exclusively to precious metals trading, we offer pricing, product availability, execution, financing alternatives and storage options that are attractive to our customers and allow us to compete effectively. We also believe that our purchaser/distributorship arrangements with various governmental mints give us a competitive advantage in our coin distribution business. However, given the global reach of the precious metals trading business, the absence of intellectual property protections and the availability of numerous, evolving platforms for trading in precious metals, we cannot assure you that A-Mark will be able to continue to compete successfully or that future developments in the industry will not create additional competitive challenges.
We rely extensively on computer systems to execute trades and process transactions, and we could suffer substantial damages if the operation of these systems were interrupted.
We rely on our computer and communications hardware and software systems to execute a large volume of trading transactions each year. It is therefore critical that we maintain uninterrupted operation of these systems, and we have invested considerable resources to protect our systems from physical compromise and security breaches and to maintain backup and redundancy. Nevertheless, our systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches, including breaches of our transaction processing or other systems, catastrophic events such as fires, tornadoes and hurricanes, and usage errors by our employees. If our systems are breached, damaged or cease to function properly, we may have to make a significant investment to fix or replace them, we may suffer interruptions in our ability to provide quotations or trading services in the interim, and we may face costly litigation.
If our customer data were breached, we could suffer damages and loss of reputation.
By the nature of our business, we maintain significant amounts of customer data on our systems. Moreover, certain third party providers have access to confidential data concerning the Company in the ordinary course of their business relationships with the Company. In recent years, various companies, including companies that are significantly larger than us, have reported breaches of their computer systems that have resulted in the compromise of customer data. Any compromise or breach of customer or company data held or maintained by either the Company or our third party providers could significantly damage our reputation and result in costs, lost trades, fines and lawsuits. The regulatory environment related to information security and privacy is increasingly rigorous, with new and constantly changing requirements applicable to our business, and compliance with those requirements could result in additional costs. There is no guarantee that the procedures that we have implemented to protect against unauthorized access to secured data are adequate to safeguard against all data security breaches.
Compliance with the new General Data Protection Regulation in the EU could increase our costs and expose the Company to possible sanctions for violation.
In 2016, the EU adopted a comprehensive overhaul of its data protection regime from the current national legislative approach to a single European Economic Area Privacy Regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which went into effect in May 2018. The EU data protection regime expands the scope of the EU data protection law to all foreign companies processing personal data of EU residents, imposes a strict data protection compliance regime with severe penalties of up to the greater of 4% of worldwide turnover or €20 million, and includes new rights such as the “portability” of personal data. Although the GDPR will apply across the EU without a need for local implementing legislation, EU member states have the ability to interpret the GDPR opening clauses, which permit region-specific data protection legislation and have the potential to create inconsistencies on a country-by-country basis.
The Company has a trading office in Vienna, Austria and also markets to customers in the EU. Although our European operations are currently modest compared to our business in the United States, our European business could grow over time. We have evaluated the new regulation and its requirements, and believe we are currently in compliance with the GDPR in all material respects. Going forward, however, the expansion of our European operations could require us to change our business practices and may increase the costs and complexity of compliance. Also, a violation by the Company of the new regulation could expose us to penalties and sanctions under the regulation.
Our implementation of a new enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system may adversely affect our business and results of operations or the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting.
We are currently implementing a new ERP system. ERP implementations are complex and time-consuming projects that involve substantial expenditures on system software and implementation activities over a significant period of time. If we do not effectively implement the ERP system or if the system does not operate as intended, it could adversely affect our financial reporting systems and our ability to produce financial reports, the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We have in the past engaged, and continue to engage, in transactions with Stack’s Bowers, an affiliate of the Company, which could be perceived as not being made at arms-length.
Stack’s-Bowers Numismatics LLC ("Stack's Bowers"), which is primarily engaged in the business of auctions of high-value and rare coins and in coin retailing, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGI, our former parent. We have engaged in the past, and continue to engage, in transactions with Stack’s Bowers, some of which are presently on-going. These transactions include secured lending transactions in which Stack’s Bowers is the borrower, and other transactions involving the purchase and sale of rare coins. The Company and SGI have two officers and a director in common. In addition, a majority of the board of directors of the Company has retained an ownership interest in SGI that in the aggregate represents a controlling interest in SGI. All transactions between the Company and Stack’s Bowers are approved by our Audit Committee, and we believe that all such transactions are on terms no less favorable to the Company than would be obtained from an unaffiliated third party. Nonetheless, these transactions could be perceived as being conflicted.
Risks Related to Our Acquisition of the Goldline Assets
We expect that our recent acquisition of the assets of Goldline, LLC will grow our business and create opportunities from cross-selling, but there is no assurance that this will be the case.
On August 28, 2017, we consummated the acquisition of the assets of Goldline, LLC, a leading direct retailer of precious metals to the investor community. We believe that the acquisition represents an attractive opportunity to expand our suite of integrated precious metals businesses into the direct-to-client space. We also believe that the acquisition has provided an opportunity to cross-sell our products and services to Goldline’s broad, high-end customer base, for example utilization of our precious coin and metal storage services at our secured Las Vegas, Nevada facility. Nevertheless, there is no assurance that we will be successful in conducting a retail bullion business. For example, the success of this business will require that we continue to maintain the loyalty of a large, widely disseminated customer base, and could depend on our ability to anticipate and appropriately respond to changing attitudes of consumers to investment in precious metals. There also can be no assurance that we will be successful in our efforts to cross-sell other products and services to the Goldline client base. If the Goldline business does not succeed as we anticipate, or if we are required to make significant additional investment in the Goldline business in order to maintain or expand the business, our results of operation and liquidity could be adversely affected, which could in turn cause us to be in violation of one or more covenants under the Trading Credit Facility.
The Company may incur unanticipated costs integrating the Goldline business into our operations.
In order to fully achieve the anticipated benefits and synergies of our acquisition of the assets of Goldline, LLC, we will need to continue to integrate the Goldline business, which is now being conducted through a separate subsidiary of the Company, with our existing operations. The former executive vice president of Goldline, LLC, has assumed the role of President of our Goldline subsidiary, and we expect that with his experience and expertise, we will be able to align the Goldline business with our existing operations with a minimum amount of delay and disruption. We cannot assure you that this will be the case, however, and the integration process may take longer, may be more costly, and may require more time and attention of senior management than we anticipate. If that were the case, the benefits that we hope to achieve from the acquisition may not be realized in the time frame we anticipate or at all.
Goldline’s prior marketing practices could generate adverse publicity for the Company.
In 2011, Goldline and a number of its executives were the subject to a criminal complaint in Santa Monica, California regarding the company’s marketing practices and in February 2012, Goldline settled the action against it by agreeing to refund $4.5 million to its customers. Key members of management were replaced at about the time of the settlement, and, as required by the terms of a related injunction, Goldline eliminated the offending aspects of its sales operations that were the subject of the legal action against it. The injunction expired in early 2017. We believe that in the five years since the criminal action was settled, Goldline has reestablished its reputation as a trusted, premier retailer of precious metals. Nonetheless, it is possible that Goldline's past businesses issues may continue to have reputational consequences for the Goldline business, and following our acquisition of Goldline, could generate adverse publicity for the Company.
Risks Relating to Commodities
A-Mark’s business is heavily influenced by volatility in commodities prices.
A primary driver of A-Mark’s profitability is volatility in commodities prices, which leads to wider bid and ask spreads. Among the factors that can impact the price of precious metals are supply and demand of precious metals; political, economic, and global financial events; movement of the U.S. dollar versus other currencies; and the activity of large speculators such as hedge funds. If commodity prices were to stagnate, there would likely be a reduction in trading activity, resulting in less demand for the services A-Mark provides, which could materially adversely affect our business, liquidity and results of operations.
Our business is exposed to commodity price risks, and our hedging activity to protect our inventory is subject to risks of default by our counterparties.
A-Mark’s precious metals inventories are subject to market value changes created by change in the underlying commodity price, as well as supply and demand of the individual products the Company trades. In addition, open sale and purchase commitments are subject to changes in value between the date the purchase or sale is fixed (the trade date) and the date metal is delivered or received (the settlement date). A-Mark seeks to minimize the effect of price changes of the underlying commodity through the use of financial derivative instruments, such as forward and futures contracts. A-Mark’s policy is to remain substantially hedged as to its inventory position and its individual sale and purchase commitments. A-Mark’s management monitors its hedged exposure daily. However, there can be no assurance that these hedging activities will be adequate to protect the Company against commodity price risks associated with A-Mark’s business activities.
Furthermore, even if we are fully hedged as to any given position, there is the risk of default by our counterparties to the hedge. Any such default could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.
Increased commodity pricing could limit the inventory that we are able to carry.
We maintain a large and varied inventory of precious metal products, including bullion and coins, in order to support our trading activities and provide our customers with superior service. The amount of inventory that we are able to carry is constrained by the borrowing limitations and working capital covenants under the Trading Credit Facility. If commodity prices were to rise substantially, and we were unable to modify the terms of the Trading Credit Facility to compensate for the increase, the quantity of product that we could finance, and hence maintain in our inventory, would fall. This would likely have a material adverse effect on our operations.
The Dodd-Frank Act could adversely impact our use of derivative instruments to hedge precious metal prices and may have other adverse effects on our business.
On July 21, 2010, former President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to promulgate rules and regulations implementing the new legislation, including with respect to derivative contracts on commodities. This legislation and any implementing regulations could significantly increase the cost of some commodity derivative contracts (including through requirements to post collateral, which could adversely affect our available liquidity), materially alter the terms of some commodity derivative contracts, reduce the availability of some derivatives to protect against risks, reduce our ability to monetize or restructure our existing commodity derivative contracts and potentially increase our exposure to less creditworthy counterparties. If we reduce our use of derivatives as a result of the Dodd-Frank legislation and regulations, we would be exposed to inventory and other risks associated with fluctuations in commodity prices. Also, if the Dodd-Frank legislation and regulations reduces volatility in commodity prices, our revenues could be adversely affected.
We rely on the efficient functioning of commodity exchanges around the world, and disruptions on these exchanges could adversely affect our business.
The Company buys and sells precious metals contracts on commodity exchanges around the world, both in support of its customer operations and to hedge its inventory and transactional exposure against fluctuations in commodity prices. The Company’s ability to engage in these activities would be compromised if the exchanges on which the Company trades or any of their clearinghouses were to discontinue operations or to experience disruptions in trading, due to computer problems, unsettled markets or other factors. The Company may also experience risk of loss if futures commission merchants or commodity brokers with whom the Company deals were to become insolvent or bankrupt.
Risks Relating to Our Common Stock
Public company costs have increased our expenses and administrative burden, in particular in order to maintain our Company's compliance with certain provisions of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002.
As a public company, we are incurring significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. These increased costs and expenses may arise from various factors, including financial reporting costs associated with complying with federal securities laws (including compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002).
Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and related regulations implemented by the SEC and NASDAQ have created uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to new and proposed rules and cannot predict or estimate the amount of the additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. Applicable laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We continue to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased selling, general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed.
Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley could have a material adverse effect on our business.
As a public company, we are required to document and test our internal control over financial reporting in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
We are required to implement standalone policies and procedures to comply with the requirements of Section 404. During the course of our testing of our internal controls and procedures, we may identify deficiencies which we may not be able to remediate in time to comply with Section 404. Testing and maintaining internal controls can divert our management’s attention from other matters that are also important to the operation of our business. We also expect that these regulations will continue to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more difficult, time consuming and costly. We may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting, then investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. In addition, if we do not maintain effective internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial information on a timely basis, which could harm the trading price of our common stock, impair our ability to raise additional capital, or jeopardize our continued listing on the NASDAQ Global Select Market or any other stock exchange on which common stock may be listed.
We recently suspended our dividend payments and may not be able to continue to pay dividends.
Effective March 2, 2015, the Board of Directors approved a cash dividend policy calling for the payment of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per common share. The policy was amended on February 2, 2016 to provide for a quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per common share, and then on January 26, 2017 to provide for a quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per common share.
The Board of Directors determined to suspend the Company's quarterly dividend for both the third and fourth fiscal quarters ended March 31, 2018 and June 30, 2018, in order to increase its financial flexibility and strengthen its balance sheet. Going forward, the Board of Directors will re-assess its capital resources and may or may not determine to reinstate the dividend based on that assessment.
The declaration of cash dividends in the future is subject to the determination each quarter by the Board of Directors, based on a number of factors, including the Company’s financial performance, available cash resources, cash requirements, bank covenants, and alternative uses of cash that the Board of Directors may conclude would represent an opportunity to generate a greater return on investment for the Company. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Company will resume paying dividends on a regular basis. If the Board of Directors were to determine not to pay dividends in the future, shareholders would not receive any further return on an investment in our capital stock in the form of dividends, and may obtain an economic benefit from the common stock only after an increase in its trading price and only by selling the common stock.
Provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and of Delaware law may prevent or delay an acquisition of the Company, which could decrease the trading price of our common stock.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws and Delaware law contain certain anti-takeover provisions that could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire, control of the Company without negotiating with our board of directors. Such provisions could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for the Company’s securities. Certain of such provisions allow the Company to issue preferred stock with rights senior to those of the common stock, impose various procedural and other requirements which could make it more difficult for Shareholders to effect certain corporate actions and set forth rules regarding how shareholders may present proposals or nominate directors for election at shareholder meetings.
We believe these provisions protect our shareholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our Board of Directors and by providing our Board of Directors with more time to assess any acquisition proposal. However, these provisions apply even if an acquisition offer may be considered beneficial by some shareholders and could delay or prevent an acquisition that our Board of Directors determines is not in the best interests of our Company and our Shareholders. Accordingly, in the event that our board determines that a potential business combination transaction is not in the best interests of our Company and our Shareholders, but certain shareholders believe that such a transaction would be beneficial to the Company and its Shareholders, such Shareholders may elect to sell their shares in the Company and the trading price of our common stock could decrease.
Your percentage ownership in the Company could be diluted in the future.
Your percentage ownership in A-Mark potentially could be diluted in the future because of additional equity awards that we expect will be granted to our directors, officers and employees. We have established an equity incentive plan that provides for the grant of common stock-based equity awards to our directors, officers and other employees. In addition, we may issue equity in order to raise capital or in connection with future acquisitions and strategic investments, which could dilute your percentage ownership.
Our board and management beneficially own a sizeable percentage of our common stock and therefore have the ability to exert substantial influence as shareholders.
Members of our board and management beneficially own approximately 40% of our outstanding common stock. Acting together in their capacity as shareholders, the board members and management could exert substantial influence over matters on which a shareholder vote is required, such as the approval of business combination transactions. Also because of the size of their beneficial ownership, the board members and management may be in a position effectively to determine the outcome of the election of directors and the vote on shareholder proposals. The concentration of beneficial ownership in the hands of our board and management may therefore limit the ability of our public shareholders to influence the affairs of the Company.
If the Company's spinoff from SGI is determined to be taxable for U.S. federal income tax purposes, our shareholders could incur significant U.S. federal income tax liabilities.
In connection with the spinoff, SGI received the written opinion of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP ("Kramer Levin") to the effect that the spinoff qualified as a tax-free transaction under Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code, and that for U.S. federal income tax purposes (i) no gain or loss was recognized by SGI upon the distribution of our common stock in the spinoff, and (ii) no gain or loss was recognized by, and no amount was included in the income of, holders of SGI common stock upon the receipt of shares of our common stock in the spinoff. The opinion of tax counsel is not binding on the Internal Revenue Service or the courts, and there is no assurance that the IRS or a court will not take a contrary position. In addition, the opinion of Kramer Levin relied on certain representations and covenants delivered by SGI and us. If, notwithstanding the conclusions included in the opinion, it is ultimately determined that the distribution does not qualify as tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, each SGI shareholder that is subject to U.S. federal income tax and that received shares of our common stock in the distribution could be treated as receiving a taxable distribution in an amount equal to the fair market value of such shares. In addition, if the distribution were not to qualify as tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, then SGI would recognize a gain in an amount equal to the excess of the fair market value of our common stock distributed to SGI shareholders on the date of the distribution over SGI’s tax basis in such shares. Also, we could have an indemnification obligation to SGI related to its tax liability.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
As of June 30, 2018, the Company owned or leased properties in El Segundo, California; Los Angeles, California; Las Vegas. Nevada; Winchester, Indiana; and Vienna, Austria, as described below:
|
| | | | | | | | | | |
Location | | General Use of Facility | | Square Footage | | | Ownership | | Lease Term/Expiration |
El Segundo, California | | Corporate headquarters, trading desk, secured lending and back-office operations | | 9,000 |
| | | Leased | | March 2026 |
Los Angeles, California | | Direct Sales Operations | | 21,500 |
| | | Leased | (1) | February 2022 |
Las Vegas, Nevada | | Storage and fulfillment logistics operations | | 17,600 |
| | | Leased | | April 2025 |
Winchester, Indiana | | Minting operations | | 11,400 |
| (2) | | Owned | | — |
Vienna, Austria | | Trading desk | | 248 |
| | | Leased | | every three months |
| | | | | | | | | |
(1) We sublease a portion of the space to a third party. |
(2) This facility is located on 2.9 acres of land that is jointly owned by the Company and SilverTowne LP (our minority interest partner). |
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are not currently a party to any material legal proceedings.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
None.
PART II — OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
SGI effected the spinoff of A-Mark on March 14, 2014. On March 17, 2014, A-Mark’s shares of common stock commenced trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "AMRK."
As of September 10, 2018, there were 185 registered stockholders of record of our common stock and the last reported sale price of our stock as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market was $13.50.
The following table sets forth the range of high and low closing prices for our common stock for each full quarterly period during fiscal 2018 and 2017, as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market. These quotations below reflect inter-dealer closing prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2018 | | 2017 |
Quarter | High | | Low | | High | | Low |
First | $ | 18.82 |
| | $ | 14.76 |
| | $ | 17.67 |
| | $ | 15.81 |
|
Second | $ | 16.96 |
| | $ | 12.56 |
| | $ | 19.50 |
| | $ | 15.03 |
|
Third | $ | 14.65 |
| | $ | 10.78 |
| | $ | 21.49 |
| | $ | 17.08 |
|
Fourth | $ | 14.06 |
| | $ | 12.00 |
| | $ | 18.01 |
| | $ | 15.15 |
|
| | | | | | | |
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
On April 26, 2018, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program for up to 500,000 shares of the Company’s stock. The actual number of shares repurchased and the timing of repurchases will be determined by the Board of Directors and will depend on a number of factors, including stock price, trading volume, general market conditions, working capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors. The stock repurchase program has no time limit and may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time.
As of September 10, 2018, there have been no repurchases of equity securities under the above-reference stock repurchase program.
Dividend Policy
Effective March 2, 2015, the Board of Directors approved a cash dividend policy calling for the payment of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per common share. The policy was amended on February 2, 2016 to provide for a quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per common share, and then on January 26, 2017 to provide for a quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per common share.
The Board of Directors determined to suspend the Company's quarterly dividend for both the third and fourth fiscal quarters ended March 31, 2018 and June 30, 2018 in order to increase its financial flexibility and strengthen its balance sheet. Going forward, the Board of Directors will re-assess its capital resources and may or may not determine to reinstate the dividend based on that assessment.
Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will be dependent upon financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, restrictive financial covenants, and such other factors as our Board of Directors deems relevant. A-Mark’s credit facility has certain restrictive financial covenants which could affect our ability to pay dividends.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
The following table provides information as of June 30, 2018, with respect to the shares of our common stock that may be issued under existing equity compensation plans.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Plan category | | (a) Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights | | | (b) Weighted average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights | | | (c) Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a)) | |
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders | | 842,515 |
| | | $ | 17.59 |
| | | 523,445 |
| (1) |
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders | | — |
| | | — |
| | | — |
| |
Total | | 842,515 |
| | | $ | 17.59 |
| | | 523,445 |
| |
| | | | | | | | | |
|
| | | |
_________________________________ |
(1) | | These shares are available for future issuance under A-Mark's amended and restated 2014 Stock Award and Incentive Plan ("2014 Plan"). All 2014 Plan shares are available for awards of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock units, restricted stock and other "full-value" awards. | |
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Not applicable for a smaller reporting company.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
This Annual Report on Form 10-K ("Form 10-K") contains statements that are considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give the Company's current expectations and forecasts of future events. All statements other than statements of current or historical fact contained in this Annual Report, including statements regarding the Company's future financial position, business strategy, budgets, projected costs and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the Company's current plans, and the Company's actual future activities and results of operations may be materially different from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Any or all of the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report may turn out to be inaccurate. The Company has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that it believes may affect its financial condition, results of
operations, business strategy and financial needs. The forward-looking statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events occurring after the date hereof. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in this Form 10-K.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes contained elsewhere in this Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those factors discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report, particularly in “Risk Factors.” INTRODUCTION
Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is provided as a supplement to the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related notes to help provide an understanding of our results of operations and financial condition. Our discussion is organized as follows:
| |
• | Executive overview. This section provides a general description of our business, as well as significant transactions and events that we believe are important in understanding the results of operations. |
| |
• | Results of operations. This section provides an analysis of our results of operations presented in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations by comparing the results for the respective years. Included in our analysis is a discussion of five performance metrics: (i) ounces of gold and silver sold, (ii) Wholesale trading ticket volume, (iii) Direct Sales ticket volume, (iv) inventory turnover ratio and (v) number of secured loans at period-end. |
| |
• | Results of Segments. This section provides an analysis of our results of operations presented for our three segments: |
for the respective years.
| |
• | Financial condition and liquidity and capital resources. This section provides an analysis of our cash flows, as well as a discussion of our outstanding debt as of June 30, 2018. Included in the discussion of outstanding debt is a discussion of the amount of financial capacity available to fund our future commitments, as well as a discussion of other financing arrangements. |
| |
• | Critical accounting estimates. This section discusses those accounting policies that both are considered important to our financial condition and results, and require significant judgment and estimates on the part of management in their application. In addition, all of our policies, including critical accounting policies, are summarized in Note 2 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements. |
| |
• | Recent accounting pronouncements. This section discusses new accounting pronouncements, dates of implementation and impact on our accompanying consolidated financial statements. |
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Our Business
We conduct our operations in three reportable segments: (1) Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services, (2) Secured Lending and (3) Direct Sales.
Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services Segment
The Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment operates as a full-service precious metals trading company. We offer gold, silver, platinum and palladium in the form of bars, plates, powder, wafers, grain, ingots and coins. Our Industrial unit services manufacturers and fabricators of products utilizing or incorporating precious metals. Our Coin and Bar unit deals in over 200 coin and bar products in a variety of weights, shapes and sizes for distribution to dealers and other qualified purchasers. We have trading centers in El Segundo, California and Vienna, Austria for buying and selling precious metals, which are open 24 hours each trading day, even when many major world commodity markets are closed. In addition to wholesale trading activity, A-Mark offers its customers a variety of services, including financing, storage, consignment, logistics and various customized financial programs. As a U.S. Mint-authorized purchaser of gold, silver and platinum coins, A-Mark purchases product directly from the U.S. Mint and other sovereign mints for sale to its customers.
Through our wholly-owned subsidiary Transcontinental Depository Services, referred to as TDS, we offer a variety of managed storage options for precious metals products to financial institutions, dealers, investors and collectors around the world. Our storage business generated less than 1% of total revenues for each of the periods presented.
The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, A-M Global Logistics, LLC, referred to as Logistics, commenced operations as a logistics fulfillment center in July 2015. Logistics, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, provides our customers an array of complementary services, including receiving, handling, inventorying, processing, packing, and shipping of precious metals and custom coins on a secure basis. Our logistics business generated less than 1% of the total revenues for each of the periods presented.
In August 2016, the Company formed AMST, a joint venture with SilverTowne, L.P., referred to as SilverTowne, an Indiana-based producer of minted silver. As of June 30, 2018, the Company and SilverTowne, L.P. own 55% and 45%, respectively, of AMST. AMST acquired the entire minting operations (referred to as SilverTowne Mint) of SilverTowne, L.P., with the goal of providing greater product selection to our customers and greater pricing stability within the supply chain, as well as to gain increased access to silver during volatile market environments, which have historically resulted in higher demand for precious metals products.
Secured Lending Segment
The Company operates its Secured Lending segment through its wholly-owned subsidiary, CFC. CFC has been in operation since 2005.
CFC is a California licensed finance lender that originates and acquires commercial loans secured by bullion and numismatic coins. CFC's customers include coin and precious metal dealers, investors and collectors. As of June 30, 2018, CFC had approximately $110.4 million in secured loans outstanding, of which approximately 67.6% was originated by third parties and acquired by CFC and approximately 32.4% was originated by CFC.
Direct Sales Segment
The Company operates its Direct Sales segment through its wholly-owned subsidiary Goldline Inc. (“Goldline”). The Company acquired the business in August 2017 through an asset purchase transaction with Goldline LLC (see Note 1.) Goldline LLC had been in operation since 1960. Goldline is a direct retailer of precious metals to the investor community. Goldline markets its precious metal products primarily on radio, the internet and television, as well as through telephonic sales efforts, particularly to Goldline’s repeat customers. The Company acquired the Goldline business with the objective of enhancing the Company’s distribution capabilities by adding a direct-to-client distribution channel. The Company also anticipated that the acquisition would diversify the product and services offering to Goldline customers, through access to the Company’s wider assortment of precious metal coins and bars, including CFC's secured lending services and TDS’s storage and asset protection services. Since the acquisition, the Company has been focused on rationalizing the cost structure of the Goldline business to promote profitability.
Our Strategy
The Company has grown from a small numismatics firm in 1965 to a significant participant in the bullion and coin markets, with approximately $7.6 billion and $7.0 billion in revenues for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Our strategy continues to focus on growth, including the volume of our business, our geographic presence, particularly in Europe, and the scope of complementary products, services and technological tools that we offer to our customers. We intend to promote our growth by leveraging off the strengths of our existing integrated operations: the depth of our customer relations; our access to market makers, suppliers and government mints and other mints; our trading systems in the U.S. and Europe, are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week; our expansive precious metals dealer network; our depository relationships around the world; our knowledge of secured lending; our logistics capabilities; our trading expertise; and the quality and experience of our management team.
Our Customers
Our customers include financial institutions, bullion retailers, industrial manufacturers and fabricators, sovereign mints, refiners, coin and metal dealers, investors and collectors. The Company makes a two way market, which results in many customers also operating as our suppliers. This diverse base of customers purchases a variety of products from the Company in a multitude of grades, primarily in the form of coins and bars.
Factors Affecting Revenues, Gross Profits, Interest Income and Interest Expense
Revenues. The Company enters into transactions to sell and deliver gold, silver, platinum and palladium to industrial and commercial users, coin and bullion dealers, mints, and financial institutions. The metals are investment or industrial grade and are sold in a variety of shapes and sizes.
The Company also sells precious metals on forward contracts at a fixed price based on current prevailing precious metal spot prices with a certain delivery date in the future (up to six months from date of the forward contract.) Typically, these forward contracts are net settled against our other forward positions or are settled in cash, whereby no physical product is delivered. Sales on forward contracts can be a substantial portion of revenues in any given period. We enter into these forward contacts as part of our hedging strategy to mitigate our price risk of holding inventory; they are not entered into for speculative purposes.
In addition, the Company earns revenue by providing storage solutions for precious metals and numismatic coins for financial institutions, dealers, investors and collectors worldwide and by providing storage and order-fulfillment services to our retail customers. These revenue streams are complementary to our trading activity, and represent less than 1% of our revenues.
The Company operates in a high volume/low margin industry. Revenues are impacted by three primary factors: product volume, market prices and market volatility. A material change in any one or more of these factors may result in a significant change in the Company’s revenues. A significant increase or decrease in revenues can occur simply based on changes in the underlying commodity prices and may not be reflective of an increase or decrease in the volume of products sold.
Gross Profits. Gross profit is the difference between our revenues and the cost of our products. Since we quote prices based on the current commodity market prices for precious metals, we enter into a combination of forward and futures contracts to effect a hedge position equal to the underlying precious metal commodity value, which substantially represents inventory subject to price risk. We enter into these derivative transactions solely for the purpose of hedging our inventory, and not for speculative purposes. Our gross profit includes the gains and losses resulting from these derivative instruments. However, the gains and losses on the derivative instruments are substantially offset by the gains and losses on the corresponding changes in the market value of our precious metals inventory. As a result, our results of operations generally are not materially impacted solely by changes in commodity prices.
Volatility also affects our gross profits. Greater volatility typically causes the trading spreads to widen resulting in an increase in the gross profit. Product supply constraints during extended periods of higher volatility has historically resulted in a heightening of wider trading spreads resulting in further improvement in the gross profit.
Interest Income. The Company enters into secured loans and secured financing structures with its customers under which it charges interest. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, CFC, the Company also enters into loans secured by precious metals and numismatic material owned by the borrowers and held by the Company for the term of the loan. The Company offers a number of secured financing options to its customers to finance their precious metals purchases including consignments and other structured inventory finance products whereby the Company earns a fee based on the underlying value of the precious metal.
Interest Expense. The Company incurs interest expense as a result of usage under its lines of credit and related-party debt. The Company also incurs interest expense as a result of its product financing agreements for the transfer and subsequent re-acquisition of gold and silver at a fixed price with a third-party finance company, and may incur interest expense when we borrow precious metals from our suppliers under short-term arrangements, which can bear interest at a designated rate.
Performance Metrics
In addition to financial statement indicators, management also utilizes certain key operational metrics to assess the performance of our business.
We look at the number of ounces of gold and silver sold and delivered to our customers (excluding ounces recorded on forward contracts). These metrics reflect our business volume without regard to changes in commodity pricing, which also impacts revenue and can mask actual business trends.
Another measure of our business volume, unaffected by changes in commodity pricing, is Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment ticket volume and Direct Sales segment ticket volume, which is the total number of orders processed by our trading desks in El Segundo, California and Vienna, Austria. In periods of higher volatility, there is generally increased trading in the commodity markets, and increased demand for our products, which translates into higher business volume. Generally, the ounces sold on a per-trading-ticket basis is substantially higher for orders placed telephonically compared to those placed on our online portal platform.
Inventory turnover is another performance measure on which we are focused. We define inventory turnover as the cost of sales during the relevant period divided by the average inventory during the period. Inventory turnover is a measure of how quickly inventory has moved during the period. A higher inventory turnover ratio, which we typically experience during periods of higher volatility when trading is more robust, reflects a more efficient use of our capital.
Finally, as a measure of the size of our secured lending segment, we look at the number of outstanding secured loans to customers at the end of the fiscal quarter.
Fiscal Year
Our fiscal year end is June 30 each year. Unless otherwise stated, references to years in this report relate to fiscal years rather than to calendar years.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview of Results of Operations for the Years Ended June 30, 2018 and 2017
Consolidated Results of Operations
The operating results of our business for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 are as follows:
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
in thousands, except per share data and performance metrics | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
| $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Revenues | $ | 7,606,248 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 6,989,624 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 616,624 |
| | 8.8 | % |
Gross profit | 29,443 |
| | 0.387 | % | | 31,334 |
| | 0.448 | % | | $ | (1,891 | ) | | (6.0 | )% |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | (33,398 | ) | | (0.439 | )% | | (23,343 | ) | | (0.334 | )% | | $ | 10,055 |
| | 43.1 | % |
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment | (2,654 | ) | | (0.035 | )% | | — |
| | — | % | | $ | 2,654 |
| | — | % |
Interest income | 16,105 |
| | 0.212 | % | | 12,553 |
| | 0.180 | % | | $ | 3,552 |
| | 28.3 | % |
Interest expense | (13,891 | ) | | (0.183 | )% | | (10,117 | ) | | (0.145 | )% | | $ | 3,774 |
| | 37.3 | % |
Other income | 954 |
| | 0.013 | % | | 298 |
| | 0.004 | % | | $ | 656 |
| | 220.1 | % |
Unrealized gain on foreign exchange | 30 |
| | — | % | | 60 |
| | 0.001 | % | | $ | (30 | ) | | NM |
|
Net (loss) income before provision for income taxes | (3,411 | ) | | (0.045 | )% | | 10,785 |
| | 0.154 | % | | $ | (14,196 | ) | | (131.6 | )% |
Income tax expense | (8 | ) | | — | % | | (3,721 | ) | | (0.053 | )% | | $ | (3,713 | ) | | (99.8 | )% |
Net (loss) income | (3,419 | ) | | (0.045 | )% | | 7,064 |
| | 0.101 | % | | $ | (10,483 | ) | | (148.4 | )% |
Add: | Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest | (22 | ) | | — | % | | (22 | ) | | — | % | | $ | — |
| | NM |
|
Net (loss) income attributable to the Company | $ | (3,397 | ) | | (0.045 | )% | | $ | 7,086 |
| | 0.101 | % | | $ | (10,483 | ) | | (147.9 | )% |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Basic and diluted net (loss) income per share attributable to A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc.: |
Per Share Data: | | | | | | | | | | | |
Basic | $ | (0.48 | ) | | | | $ | 1.01 |
| | | | $ | (1.49 | ) | | (147.5 | )% |
Diluted | $ | (0.48 | ) | | | | $ | 1.00 |
| | | | $ | (1.48 | ) | | (148.0 | )% |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Performance Metrics:(1) | | | | | | | | | | | |
Gold ounces sold(2) | 1,912,000 |
| | | | 2,171,000 |
| | | | (259,000 | ) | | (11.9 | )% |
Silver ounces sold(3) | 46,466,000 |
| | | | 79,584,000 |
| | | | (33,118,000 | ) | | (41.6 | )% |
Inventory turnover ratio(4) | 26.8 |
| | | | 26.3 |
| | | | 0.5 |
| | 1.9 | % |
Number of secured loans at period end(5) | 3,507 |
| | | | 2,375 |
| | | | 1,132 |
| | 47.7 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
| | | |
_________________________________ |
| | | |
NM | | Not meaningful. | |
| | | |
(1) | | See "Results of Segments" for ticket count volume by segment. | |
| | | |
(2) | | Gold ounces sold represents the ounces of gold product sold and delivered to the customer during the fiscal years, which excludes ounces of gold recorded on forward contracts. | |
| | | |
(3) | | Silver ounces sold represents the ounces of silver product sold and delivered to the customer during the fiscal years, which excludes ounces of silver recorded on forward contracts. | |
| | | |
(4) | | Inventory turnover ratio is the cost of sales divided by average inventory. This calculation excludes precious metals held under financing arrangements, which are not classified as inventory on the consolidated balance sheets. | |
| | | |
(5) | | Number of outstanding secured loans to customers at the end of the period. | |
Revenues
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands, except performance metrics | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Revenues | $ | 7,606,248 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 6,989,624 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 616,624 |
| | 8.8 | % |
Performance Metrics | | | | | | | | | | | |
Gold ounces sold | 1,912,000 |
| | | | 2,171,000 |
| | | | (259,000 | ) | | (11.9 | )% |
Silver ounces sold | 46,466,000 |
| | | | 79,584,000 |
| | | | (33,118,000 | ) | | (41.6 | )% |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Revenues for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $616.6 million, or 8.8%, to $7.606 billion from $6.990 billion in 2017. Our revenues increased primarily due to higher gold prices and forward sales, offset by a decrease in the total amount of gold and silver ounces sold, and silver prices.
Gold ounces sold for the year ended June 30, 2018 decreased 259,000 ounces, or 11.9%, to 1,912,000 ounces from 2,171,000 ounces in 2017. Silver ounces sold for the year ended June 30, 2018 decreased 33,118,000 ounces, or 41.6%, to 46,466,000 ounces from 79,584,000 ounces in 2017. On average, the prices for gold increased by 2.8% and prices for silver decreased by 5.3% during the year ended June 30, 2018 as compared to 2017.
Gross Profit
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands, except performance metric | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Gross profit | $ | 29,443 |
| | 0.387 | % | | $ | 31,334 |
| | 0.448 | % | | $ | (1,891 | ) | | (6.0 | )% |
Performance Metric | | | | | | | | | | | |
Inventory turnover ratio | 26.8 |
| | | | 26.3 |
| | | | 0.5 |
| | 1.9 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Gross profit for the year ended June 30, 2018 decreased by $1.9 million, or 6.0%, to $29.4 million from $31.3 million in 2017. Overall gross profit decreased due to subdued market conditions (e.g., lower gold and silver sales volume, margins and trading profits ) compared to the prior fiscal year, offset by gross profit of the newly acquired Direct Sales segment (i.e., Goldline).
The Company’s gross margin percentage decreased by 13.6% to 0.387% from 0.448% in 2017. The drop in gross margin percentage was largely attributable to lower margins resulting from subdued market conditions, higher forward sales, which increase revenues but are associated with negligible gross margin percentages (i.e., near zero) that lowers the overall percentage and lower trading profits, offset by gross margin of the newly acquired Direct Sales segment (i.e., Goldline). The Company enters into forward contracts to hedge its precious metals price risk exposure and not for speculative purposes.
Our inventory turnover rate for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased by 1.9%, to 26.8 from 26.3 in 2017. The inventory turnover rate for fiscal 2018 was fairly consistent with fiscal 2017.
Selling, General and Administrative Expense
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | $ | (33,398 | ) | | (0.439 | )% | | $ | (23,343 | ) | | (0.334 | )% | | $ | 10,055 |
| | 43.1 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $10.1 million, or 43.1%, to $33.4 million from $23.3 million in 2017. The change was primarily due to new selling, general and administrative expense related to our newly acquired Direct Sales segment (Goldline) of $10.6 million (which included $0.6 million of severance expense), $0.6 million of non-recurring legal expense, $0.8 million of professional consulting fees, partially offset by a $1.0 million reduction to incentive compensation expense and $0.3 million of investigatory acquisition costs.
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment | $ | (2,654 | ) | | (0.035 | )% | | $ | — |
| | — | % | | $ | 2,654 |
| | — | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $2.7 million to $2.7 million from zero in 2017. The change was due to our annual impairment assessment we conducted in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018, which was related to our Direct Sales segment (Goldline).
Interest Income
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands, except performance metric | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Interest income | $ | 16,105 |
| | 0.212 | % | | $ | 12,553 |
| | 0.180 | % | | $ | 3,552 |
| | 28.3 | % |
Performance Metric | | | | | | | | | | | |
Number of secured loans at period-end | 3,507 |
| | | | 2,375 |
| | | | 1,132 |
| | 47.7 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Interest income for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $3.6 million, or 28.3%, to $16.1 million from $12.6 million in 2017. Interest income from our Secured Lending segment increased by $1.9 million or by 24.5% in comparison to the same year-ago period, which represents approximately 53.3% of the aggregate increase. This increase in interest from secured loans was primarily due to increases in interest rates and an increase in the aggregate value of the secured loan portfolio. The number of secured loans outstanding increased by 47.7% to 3,507 from 2,375 in 2017.
The aggregate increase in interest income also increased due to other finance product income. Our finance fees earned related to repurchase arrangements with customers increased by 25.1% or by $1.1 million in comparison to the same year-ago period, which represent approximately 32.3% of the aggregate increase.
Interest Expense
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Interest expense | $ | (13,891 | ) | | (0.183 | )% | | $ | (10,117 | ) | | (0.145 | )% | | $ | 3,774 |
| | 37.3 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Interest expense for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $3.8 million, or 37.3% to $13.9 million from $10.1 million in 2017. The increase was related primarily to a greater usage of our Trading Credit Facility, our new related-party debt financing agreement associated with our acquisition of Goldline, higher LIBOR interest rates that went in to effect subsequent to the Federal Reserve rate increases, and increased third-party loan servicing fees. As compared to the same year-ago period, the following interest expense components increased by (i) $1.8 million or 24.8% related to the Trading Credit Facility (including debt amortization costs), (ii) $0.6 million related to the Goldline Credit Facility, (iii) $0.4 million, or 27.7% related to third-party loan processing fees for acquired secured loans, (iv) $0.3 million related to our liability on borrowed metal balances, and (v) $0.6 million or 40.8% related to product financing agreements with our customers.
Provision for Income Taxes
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Income tax expense | $ | (8 | ) | | — | % | | $ | (3,721 | ) | | (0.053 | )% | | $ | (3,713 | ) | | (99.8 | )% |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Our provision for income taxes was $0.0 million and $3.7 million for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Our effective tax rate was approximately 0.2% and 34.5% for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Our effective tax rate for the year ended June 30, 2018 differs from the federal statutory rate of 28.06% primarily due to the tax impact of a one-time revaluation of net deferred tax assets to reflect their value at the reduced corporate tax rate under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA"). Our effective tax rate for the year ended June 30, 2017 differs from the federal statutory rate primarily due to favorable tax attributes and deductions resulting from amended state tax filings based on the settlement of the Former parent's tax examination in the years when the Company was included in a consolidated filing. These favorable attributes are allocated to the standalone Company. The change in effective tax rate was also partially due to non-deductible transaction costs in the prior year that become deductible in the current year when the transaction was abandoned.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
On December 22, 2017, the United States enacted tax reform legislation through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which significantly changed the existing US tax laws, including a reduction in the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. As a result of the enactment of the legislation, the Company incurred a provisional one-time tax expense of $1.2 million for the year ended June 30, 2018, primarily related to the re-measurement of certain deferred tax assets and liabilities. The Company incurred a tax benefit from operations (both recurring and non-recurring) which is largely offset by a one-time revaluation adjustment under TCJA of $1.2 million for year ended June 30, 2018.
Segment Results of Operations
The Company conducts its operations in three reportable segments: (1) Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services, (2) Secured Lending and (3) Direct Sales. Each of these reportable segments represents an aggregation of operating segments that meets the aggregation criteria set forth in the Segment Reporting Topic 280 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”).
Results of Operations — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services Segment
Overview of Results of Operations for the Years Ended June 30, 2018 and 2017
The operating results of our Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 are as follows:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
in thousands, except performance metrics | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
| $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Revenues | $ | 7,538,856 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 6,989,624 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 549,232 |
| | 7.9 | % |
Gross profit | 24,109 |
| | 0.320 | % | | 31,334 |
| | 0.448 | % | | $ | (7,225 | ) | | (23.1 | )% |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | (21,096 | ) | | (0.280 | )% | | (21,529 | ) | | (0.308 | )% | | $ | (433 | ) | | (2.0 | )% |
Interest income | 6,473 |
| | 0.086 | % | | 4,814 |
| | 0.069 | % | | $ | 1,659 |
| | 34.5 | % |
Interest expense | (7,778 | ) | | (0.103 | )% | | (6,176 | ) | | (0.088 | )% | | $ | 1,602 |
| | 25.9 | % |
Other income | 954 |
| | 0.013 | % | | 298 |
| | 0.004 | % | | $ | 656 |
| | 220.1 | % |
Unrealized gain on foreign exchange | 30 |
| | — | % | | 60 |
| | 0.001 | % | | $ | (30 | ) | | NM |
|
Net income before provision for income taxes | $ | 2,692 |
| | 0.036 | % | | $ | 8,801 |
| | 0.126 | % | | $ | (6,109 | ) | | (69.4 | )% |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Performance Metrics: | | | | | | | | | | | |
Gold ounces sold(1) | 1,895,000 |
| | | | 2,171,000 |
| | | | (276,000 | ) | | (12.7 | )% |
Silver ounces sold(2) | 46,045,000 |
| | | | 79,584,000 |
| | | | (33,539,000 | ) | | (42.1 | )% |
Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment ticket volume(3) | 114,935 |
| | | | 112,907 |
| | | | 2,028 |
| | 1.8 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
| | | |
_________________________________ |
| | | |
NM | | Not meaningful. | |
| | | |
(1) | | Gold ounces sold represents the ounces of gold product sold and delivered to the customer during the fiscal years, which excludes ounces of gold recorded on forward contracts. | |
| | | |
(2) | | Silver ounces sold represents the ounces of silver product sold and delivered to the customer during the fiscal years, which excludes ounces of silver recorded on forward contracts. | |
| | | |
(3) | | Trading ticket volume represents the total number of product orders processed by our trading desks in El Segundo, California and Vienna, Austria, for the Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment. | |
| | | |
Revenues — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands, except performance metrics | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Revenues | $ | 7,538,856 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 6,989,624 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 549,232 |
| | 7.9 | % |
Performance Metrics | | | | | | | | | | | |
Gold ounces sold | 1,895,000 |
| | | | 2,171,000 |
| | | | (276,000 | ) | | (12.7 | )% |
Silver ounces sold | 46,045,000 |
| | | | 79,584,000 |
| | | | (33,539,000 | ) | | (42.1 | )% |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Revenues for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $549.2 million, or 7.9%, to $7.539 billion from $6.990 billion in 2017. Our revenues increased primarily due to higher gold prices and forward sales, offset by a decrease in the total amount of gold and silver ounces sold, and silver prices.
Gold ounces sold for the year ended June 30, 2018 decreased 276,000 ounces, or 12.7%, to 1,895,000 ounces from 2,171,000 ounces in 2017. Silver ounces sold for the year ended June 30, 2018 decreased 33,539,000 ounces, or 42.1%, to 46,045,000 ounces from 79,584,000 ounces in 2017. On average, the prices for gold increased by 2.5% and prices for silver decreased by 5.6% during the year ended June 30, 2018 as compared to 2017.
Gross Profit — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands, except performance metric | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Gross profit | $ | 24,109 |
| | 0.320 | % | | $ | 31,334 |
| | 0.448 | % | | $ | (7,225 | ) | | (23.1 | )% |
Performance Metric | | | | | | | | | | | |
Wholesale trading ticket volume | 114,935 |
| | | | 112,907 |
| | | | 2,028 |
| | 1.8 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Gross profit for the year ended June 30, 2018 decreased by $7.2 million, or 23.1%, to $24.1 million from $31.3 million in 2017. Overall gross profit decreased due to subdued market conditions (e.g., lower gold and silver sales volume, margins and trading profits) compared to the prior fiscal year.
The Company’s profit margin percentage decreased by 28.6% to 0.320% from 0.448% in 2017 and was largely attributable lower margins resulting from subdued market conditions and higher forward contracts, which increase revenues but have negligible impact on the gross margin (i.e., near zero) that lowers the overall percentage and lower trading profits. The Company enters into forward contracts to hedge its precious metals price risk exposure and not for speculative purposes. Excluding the effects of forwards sales and trading profits on the gross margin, gross margin percentage related to physical trades decreased by 4.3%.
The wholesale trading ticket volume for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased by 2,028 tickets, or 1.8%, to 114,935 tickets from 112,907 tickets in 2017. The increase in our trading ticket volume was primarily the result of an increase in customer usage of our online portal. Generally, the quantity-size (i.e., ounces) of customer orders placed through the portal is less than the quantity size of orders processed through our trading desk.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | $ | (21,096 | ) | | (0.280 | )% | | $ | (21,529 | ) | | (0.308 | )% | | $ | (433 | ) | | (2.0 | )% |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended June 30, 2018 decreased $0.4 million, or 2.0%, to $21.1 million from $21.5 million in 2017.The decrease was primarily due to lower selling, general and administrative expense related to a $1.0 million reduction to incentive compensation expense, partially offset by $0.4 million non-recurring legal expense.
Interest Income — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Interest income | $ | 6,473 |
| | 0.086 | % | | $ | 4,814 |
| | 0.069 | % | | $ | 1,659 |
| | 34.5 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Interest income for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $1.7 million, or 34.5%, to $6.5 million from $4.8 million in 2017. The aggregate increase in interest income increased due to other finance product income. Our finance fees earned from repurchase arrangements with customers increased by 25.1% or by $1.1 million in comparison to the same year-ago period.
Interest Expense — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands | $ | | % of revenue | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Interest expense | $ | (7,778 | ) | | (0.103 | )% | | $ | (6,176 | ) | | (0.088 | )% | | $ | 1,602 |
| | 25.9 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Interest expense for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $1.6 million, or 25.9% to $7.8 million from $6.2 million in 2017. The increase was related primarily to a greater usage of our lines of credit, and higher LIBOR interest rates that went in to effect subsequent to the Federal Reserve rate increases. As compared to the same year-ago period, the following interest expense components increased by (i) $0.6 million, or 13.6% related to our Trading Credit Facility (including debt amortization costs), (ii) $0.3 million related to our liability on borrowed metal balances, and (iii) $0.6 million or 40.8% related to product financing agreements.
Results of Operations — Secured Lending Segment
The operating results of our Secured Lending segment for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 are as follows:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
in thousands, except performance metrics |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
| $ | | % of interest income | | $ | | % of interest income | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Interest income | 9,632 |
| | 100.000 | % | | 7,739 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 1,893 |
| | 24.5 | % |
Interest expense | (5,465 | ) | | (56.738 | )% | | (3,941 | ) | | (50.924 | )% | | $ | 1,524 |
| | 38.7 | % |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | (1,689 | ) | | (17.535 | )% | | (1,814 | ) | | (23.440 | )% | | $ | (125 | ) | | (6.9 | )% |
Net income before provision for income taxes | 2,478 |
| | 25.727 | % | | 1,984 |
| | 25.636 | % | | $ | 494 |
| | 24.9 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Performance Metrics: | | | | | | | | | | | |
Number of secured loans at period end | 3,507 |
| | | | 2,375 |
| | | | 1,132 |
| | 47.7 | % |
Interest Income — Secured Lending |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands, except performance metrics | $ | | % of interest income | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Interest income | $ | 9,632 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 7,739 |
| | 100.000 | % | | $ | 1,893 |
| | 24.5 | % |
Performance Metrics | | | | | | | | | | | |
Number of secured loans at period-end | 3,507 |
| | | | 2,375 |
| | | | 1,132 |
| | 47.7 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Interest income for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $1.9 million, or 24.5%, to $9.6 million from $7.7 million in 2017. This increase was primarily due to increases in interest rates and aggregate value of the secured loan portfolio. The number of secured loans outstanding increased by 47.7% to 3,507 from 2,375 in 2017, which is indicative of the growth in this business segment.
Interest Expense — Secured Lending |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands | $ | | % of interest income | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Interest expense | $ | (5,465 | ) | | (56.738 | )% | | $ | (3,941 | ) | | (50.924 | )% | | $ | 1,524 |
| | 38.7 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Interest expense for the year ended June 30, 2018 increased $1.524 million, or 38.7% to $5.5 million from $3.9 million in 2017. The increase was related primarily to a greater usage of the Company's Trading Credit Facility, higher LIBOR interest rates that went in to effect subsequent to the Federal Reserve rate increases, and increased third-party loan servicing fees. As compared to the same year-ago period, the following interest expense components increased by (i) $1.2 million or 44.0% related to Trading Credit Facility (including debt amortization costs), and (ii) $0.3 million or 27.6% related to third-party loan servicing costs.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses — Secured Lending |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Years Ended June 30, | 2018 | | 2017 | | $ | | % |
in thousands | $ | | % of interest income | | $ | | % of revenue | | Increase/(decrease) | | Increase/(decrease) |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | $ | (1,689 | ) | | (17.535 | )% | | $ | (1,814 | ) | | (23.440 | )% | | $ | (125 | ) | | (6.9 | )% |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended June 30, 2018 decreased $0.1 million, or (6.9)%, to $1.7 million from $1.8 million in 2017.
Results of Operations — Direct Sales Segment
Overview of Results of Operations for the Years Ended June 30, 2018 and 2017
The Direct Sales segment was created on August 28, 2017 as a result of the Goldline acquisition. Accordingly, comparative prior period data is not available. The operating results of our Direct Sales segment for the year ended June 30, 2018 are as follows:
|
| | | | | | | | |
in thousands, except performance metrics | |
Year ended June 30, | 2018 | |
| $ | | % of revenue | |
Revenues | $ | 67,392 |
| (a) | 100.000 | % | |
Gross profit | 5,334 |
| | 7.915 | % | (b) |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | (10,613 | ) | | (15.748 | )% | |
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment | (2,654 | ) | | (3.938 | )% | |
Interest expense | (648 | ) | | (0.962 | )% | |
Net loss before provision for income taxes | $ | (8,581 | ) | | (12.733 | )% | |
| | | | |
Performance Metrics: | | | | |
Gold ounces sold(1) | 17,000 |
| | | |
Silver ounces sold(2) | 421,000 |
| | | |
Direct Sales ticket volume(3) | 15,654 |
| | | |
|
| | | |
_________________________________ |
| | | |
(a) | | Includes $22.5 million of intercompany sales from the Direct Sales segment to the Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment. | |
| | | |
(b) | | Gross profit percentage, excluding intercompany sales from the Direct Sales segment to the Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment, is 15.26% for the twelve-month period. | |
| | | |
(1) | | Gold ounces sold represents the ounces of gold product sold to third-party customers during fiscal year. | |
| | | |
(2) | | Silver ounces sold represents the ounces of silver product sold to third-party customer during the fiscal year. | |
| | | |
(3) | | Direct Sales segment trading ticket volume represents the total number of product orders processed. | |
| | | |
Segment Results — Direct Sales
Revenues for the year ended June 30, 2018 were $67.4 million. The total amount of gold and silver sold to third-party customers was 17,000 ounces and 421,000 ounces, respectively. Gross profit for the year ended June 30, 2018 was $5.3 million. Selling, general and administration expenses for the year ended June 30, 2018 was $10.6 million, which includes $0.6 million of severance costs. The Company is working to improve business performance with expanded marketing programs and greater leverage of the Wholesale Trading and Ancillary Services segment's products & services to enhance revenue and margins. The Company is also optimizing selling, general and administration expenses to align with current market conditions and promote profitability.
LIQUIDITY AND FINANCIAL CONDITION
Primary Sources and Uses of Cash
Overview
Liquidity is defined as our ability to generate sufficient amounts of cash to meet all of our cash needs. Liquidity is of critical importance to us and imperative to maintain our operations on a daily basis.
A substantial portion of our assets are liquid. As of June 30, 2018, approximately 95% of our assets consisted of cash, customer receivables, derivative assets, secured loans receivables, precious metals held under financing arrangements and inventory, measured at fair value. Cash generated from the sales of our precious metals products is our primary source of operating liquidity.
Typically, the Company acquires its inventory by: (1) purchasing inventory from our suppliers by utilizing our own capital and lines of credit; (2) borrowing precious metals from our suppliers under short-term arrangements which may bear interest at a designated rate, and (3) repurchasing inventory at an agreed-upon price based on the spot price on the specified repurchase date.
In addition to selling inventory, the Company generates cash from earning interest income. Through CFC, the Company enters into secured loans and secured financing structures with its customers under which it charges interest. The Company offers a number of secured financing options to its customers to finance their precious metals purchases including consignments and other structured inventory finance products. The loans are secured by precious metals and numismatic material owned by the borrowers and held by the Company as security for the term of the loan. Furthermore, our customers may enter into agreements whereby the customer agrees to repurchase our precious metals at the prevailing spot price for delivery of the product at a specific point in time in the future; interest income is earned from the contract date until the material is delivered and paid for in full.
We continually review our overall credit and capital needs to ensure that our capital base, both stockholders’ equity and available credit facilities, can appropriately support our anticipated financing needs. The Company also continually monitors its current and forecasted cash requirements, and draws upon and pays down its lines of credit so as to minimize interest expense.
Lines of Credit
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
in thousands | | | | | |
| | June 30, 2018 | | June 30, 2017 | | June 30, 2018 Compared to June 30, 2017 | |
Lines of credit | | $ | 200,000 |
| | $ | 180,000 |
| | $ | 20,000 |
| |
| | | | | | | |
A-Mark has a borrowing facility ("Trading Credit Facility") with a syndicate of banks, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. ("Rabobank") acting as lead lender and administrative agent for the syndicate. As of June 30, 2018, the Trading Credit Facility provided the Company with access up to $260.0 million, featuring a $210.0 million base, with a $50.0 million accordion option. The Trading Credit Facility is scheduled to mature on March 29, 2019. The Company believes that the Trading Credit Facility provides adequate means to capital for its operations (see Note 14). Debt Obligation (Related Party)
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
in thousands | | | | | |
| | June 30, 2018 | | June 30, 2017 | | June 30, 2018 Compared to June 30, 2017 | |
Debt Obligation - related party | | $ | 7,226 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | 7,226 |
| |
The Company entered into a privately placed credit facility in the amount of $7.5 million (the “Goldline Credit Facility”) with various lenders (see Note 14). The outstanding principal and unpaid interest is due upon maturity (August 28, 2020). Borrowings under the Goldline Credit Facility were used to finance a portion of the consideration payable pursuant to the Goldline acquisition (see Note 1).
Liability on Borrowed Metals
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
in thousands | | | | | |
| | June 30, 2018 | | June 30, 2017 | | June 30, 2018 Compared to June 30, 2017 | |
Liability on borrowed metals | | $ | 280,346 |
| | $ | 5,625 |
| | $ | 274,721 |
| |
We borrow precious metals (usually in the form of pool metals) from our suppliers and customers under short-term arrangements using other precious metal from our inventory as collateral. Amounts under these arrangements require repayment either in the form of precious metals or cash. Liabilities also arise from unallocated metal positions held by customers in our inventory. Typically, these positions are due on demand, in a specified physical form, based on the total ounces of metal held in the position. The $274.7 million increase in the balance of liability on borrowed metals from $5.6 million as of June 30, 2017 to $280.3 million as of June 30, 2018 was due primarily to metals borrowed from a third party to finance repurchase agreements with a related party.
Product Financing Arrangements
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
in thousands | | | | | |
| | June 30, 2018 | | June 30, 2017 | | June 30, 2018 Compared to June 30, 2017 | |
Product financing arrangements | | $ | 113,940 |
| | $ | 135,343 |
| | $ | (21,403 | ) | |
The Company has agreements with financial institutions and other third parties that allows the Company to transfer its gold and silver inventory to the third party at an agreed-upon price based on the spot price, which provides alternative sources of liquidity. During the term of the agreement both parties intend for inventory to be returned at an agreed-upon price based on the spot price on the termination (repurchase) date. The third parties charge monthly interest as a percentage of the market value of the outstanding obligation; such monthly charges are classified in interest expense. These transactions do not qualify as sales and therefore have been accounted for as financing arrangements and reflected in the consolidated balance sheet as product financing arrangements. The obligation is stated at the amount required to repurchase the outstanding inventory. Both the product financing arrangements and the underlying inventory (which is entirely restricted) are carried at fair value, with changes in fair value included as a component of cost of sales.
Secured Loans |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
in thousands | | | | |
| | June 30, 2018 | | June 30, 2017 | | June 30, 2018 Compared to June 30, 2017 |
Secured loans | | $ | 110,424 |
| | $ | 91,238 |
| | $ | 19,186 |
|
CFC is a California licensed finance lender that makes and acquires commercial loans secured by bullion and numismatic coins that affords our customers a convenient means of financing their inventory or collections (see Note 5). Predominantly, most of the Company's secured loans are short-term in nature and the renewal of these instruments is at the discretion of the Company and, as such, provides us with some flexibility in regards to our capital deployment strategies. Dividends
In fiscal 2015, the Board of Directors of the Company initiated a cash dividend policy that calls for the payment of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per common share. In fiscal 2016, the Board of Directors modified the policy by increasing the quarterly cash dividend to $0.07 per common share, and in fiscal 2017 the quarterly cash dividend was increased to $0.08 per common share (see Note 16). The Board of Directors determined to suspend the Company's quarterly dividend for both the third and fourth fiscal quarters ended March 31, 2018 and June 30, 2018 in order to increase its financial flexibility and strengthen its balance sheet. Going forward, the Board of Directors will re-assess its capital resources and may or may not determine to reinstate the dividend based on that assessment.
Cash Flows
The majority of the Company’s trading activities involve two day value trades under which payment is received in advance of delivery or product is received in advance of payment. The high volume, rapid rate of inventory turnover, and high average value per trade can cause material changes in the sources of cash used in or provided by operating activities on a daily basis. The Company manages these variances through its liquidity forecasts and counterparty limits by maintaining a liquidity reserve to meet the Company’s cash needs. The Company uses various short-term financial instruments to manage the rapid cycle of our trading activities from customer purchase order to cash collections and product delivery, which can cause material changes in the amount of cash used in or provided by financing activities on a daily basis.
The following summarizes components of our consolidated statements of cash flows for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
in thousands | | | | | |
Year Ended | | June 30, 2018 | | June 30, 2017 | | June 30, 2018 Compared to June 30, 2017 | |
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities | | $ | 7,646 |
| | $ | (9,781 | ) | | 17,427 |
| |
Net cash used in investing activities | | $ | (17,832 | ) | | $ | (36,487 | ) | | 18,655 |
| |
Net cash provided by financing activities | | $ | 3,418 |
| | $ | 42,185 |
| | (38,767 | ) | |
Our principal capital requirements have been to fund (i) working capital and (ii) capital expenditures. Our working capital requirements fluctuate with market conditions, the availability of precious metals and the volatility of precious metals commodity pricing.
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
Operating activities provided $7.6 million and used $9.8 million in cash for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, representing a $17.4 million increase in the source of cash compared to the year ended June 30, 2017. This period over period increase in the of source of funds in operating activities was primarily due to changes in the balances of liability on borrowed metals, accounts payable, deferred income taxes and intangible impairments, offset by changes in the balances of inventory, secured loans, derivative assets, derivative liabilities, income taxes payable, and income taxes receivables.
Net cash used in investing activities
Investing activities used $17.8 million and used $36.5 million in cash for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, representing an $18.7 million decrease in the use of cash compared to the year ended June 30, 2017. This period over period decrease in the use of cash is the result of the change in balance of secured loans of $23.8 million, offset by an increase in the use of cash for corporate acquisition activity of $6.1 million compared to the comparable prior period.
Net cash provided by financing activities
Financing activities provided $3.4 million and provided $42.2 million in cash for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, representing a decrease of $38.8 million in funds provided by financing activities compared to the year ended June 30, 2017. This period over period decrease in funds provided by financing activities was primarily due to changes in the balance of product financing arrangements of $97.4 million, partially offset by the change in the balance of the Trading Credit Facility of $52.0 million and a related party debt obligation of $7.5 million established in the current period.
CAPITAL RESOURCES
We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents, availability under the Trading Credit Facility, product financing arrangements, financing derived from borrowed metals and the cash we anticipate to generate from operating activities will provide us with sufficient liquidity to satisfy our working capital needs, capital expenditures, investment requirements and commitments through at least the next twelve months.
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS, CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND COMMITMENTS
Counterparty Risk
We manage our counterparty risk by setting credit and position risk limits with our trading counterparties. These limits include gross position limits for counterparties engaged in sales and purchase transactions and inventory consignment transactions with us. They also include collateral limits for different types of sale and purchase transactions that counterparties may engage in from time to time.
Commodities Risk and Derivatives
We use a variety of strategies to manage our risk including fluctuations in commodity prices for precious metals. Our inventories consist of, and our trading activities involve, precious metals and precious metal products, whose prices are linked to the corresponding precious metal commodity prices. Inventories purchased or borrowed by us are subject to price changes. Inventories borrowed are considered natural hedges, since changes in value of the metal held are offset by the obligation to return the metal to the supplier or deliver metals to the customer.
Open sale and purchase commitments in our trading activities are subject to changes in value between the date the purchase or sale price is fixed (the trade date) and the date the metal is received or delivered (the settlement date). We seek to minimize the effect of price changes of the underlying commodity through the use of forward and futures contracts. Our open sale and purchase commitments generally settle within 2 business days, and for those commitments that do not have stated settlement dates, we have the right to settle the positions upon demand.
Our policy is to substantially hedge our underlying precious metal commodity inventory position. We regularly enter into metals commodity forward and futures contracts with financial institutions to hedge price changes that would cause changes in the value of our physical metals positions and purchase commitments and sale commitments. We have access to all of the precious metals markets, allowing us to place hedges. However, we also maintain relationships with major market makers in every major precious metals dealing center, which allows us to enter into contracts with market makers. Our forwards contracts open at June 30, 2018 are scheduled to settle within 60 days. Futures positions do not have settlement dates, although the Company typically closes its future positions within a week.
The Company enters into these derivative transactions solely for the purpose of hedging our inventory holding risk, and not for speculative market purposes. Due to the nature of our hedging strategy, we are not using hedge accounting as defined under, Derivatives and Hedging Topic 815 of the Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC".) Unrealized gains or losses resulting from our futures and forward contracts are reported as cost of sales with the related amounts due from or to counterparties reflected as a derivative asset or liability. The Company adjusts the derivatives to fair value on a daily basis until the transactions are settled. When these contracts are net settled, the unrealized gains and losses are reversed and the realized gains and losses for forward contracts are recorded in revenue and cost of sales and the net realized gains and losses for futures and option contacts are recorded in cost of sales. The Company’s net gains (losses) on derivative instruments for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, totaled $15.6 million and $9.7 million, respectively. These net gains (losses) on derivative instruments were substantially offset by the changes in fair market value of the underlying precious metals inventory and open sale and purchase commitments, which is also recorded in cost of sales in the consolidated statements of operations.
The purpose of the Company's hedging policy is to substantially match the change in the value of the derivative financial instrument to the change in the value of the underlying hedged item. The following table summarizes the results of our hedging activities, showing the precious metal commodity inventory position, net of open sale and purchase commitments, which is subject to price risk, compared to change in the value of the derivative instruments as of June 30, 2018 and at June 30, 2017:
|
| | | | | | | | |
in thousands | | June 30, 2018 | | June 30, 2017 |
Inventory | | $ | 280,116 |
| | $ | 284,659 |
|
Precious metals held under financing arrangements | | 262,566 |
| | — |
|
| | 542,682 |
| | 284,659 |
|
| | | | |
Less unhedgeable inventory: | | | | |
Commemorative coin inventory, held at lower of cost or market | | (99 | ) | | (40 | ) |
Premium on metals position | | (3,530 | ) | | (4,088 | ) |
Precious metal value not hedged | | (3,629 | ) | | (4,128 | ) |
| | | | |
| | 539,053 |
| | 280,531 |
|
| | | | |
Commitments at market: | | |
| | |
|
Open inventory purchase commitments | | 342,287 |
| | 587,687 |
|
Open inventory sales commitments | | (138,022 | ) | | (121,602 | ) |
Margin sale commitments | | (5,988 | ) | | (7,936 | ) |
In-transit inventory no longer subject to market risk | | (1,060 | ) | | (3,931 | ) |
Unhedgeable premiums on open commitment positions | | 541 |
| | 495 |
|
Borrowed precious metals | | (280,346 | ) | | (5,625 | ) |
Product financing arrangements | | (113,940 | ) | | (135,343 | ) |
Advances on industrial metals | | 6,044 |
| | 1,580 |
|
| | (190,484 | ) | | 315,325 |
|
| | | | |
Precious metal subject to price risk | | 348,569 |
| | 595,856 |
|
| | | | |
Precious metal subject to derivative financial instruments: | | | | |
Precious metals forward contracts at market values | | 274,994 |
| | 462,231 |
|
Precious metals futures contracts at market values | | 72,421 |
| | 133,450 |
|
Total market value of derivative financial instruments | | 347,415 |
| | 595,681 |
|
| | | | |
Net precious metals subject to commodity price risk | | $ | 1,154 |
| | $ | 175 |
|
We are exposed to the risk of default of the counterparties to our derivative contracts. Significant judgment is applied by us when evaluating the fair value implications. We regularly review the creditworthiness of our major counterparties and monitor our exposure to concentrations. At June 30, 2018, we believe our risk of counterparty default is mitigated based on our evaluation of the creditworthiness of our major counterparties, the strong financial condition of our counterparties, and the short-term duration of these arrangements.
Commitments and Contingencies