NETSOL TECHNOLOGIES INC annual report, FY2020

NETSOL Technologies, Inc. — Form 10-K Summary

Reporting period: Fiscal year ended June 30, 2020, compared with fiscal year ended June 30, 2019. The request references “2019 Q4,” but the supplied filing is an annual FY2020 Form 10-K, not a quarterly filing.

Business context

NETSOL provides enterprise software, implementation, consulting, maintenance and IT services primarily to automotive finance, leasing, banking and other financial-services customers. Its principal products include NFS Ascent, LeasePak, LeaseSoft and the Otoz mobility platform. Operations are organized into North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, with approximately 1,400 employees at June 30, 2020.

  • Asia-Pacific generated approximately 71.0% of FY2020 revenue; Europe generated 21.1% and North America 7.9%.
  • Daimler Financial Services and BMW accounted for 26.4% and 15.8% of revenue, respectively, or approximately 42.2% combined.
  • The Company acquired the remaining interest in Virtual Lease Services and became its outright owner.

Financial performance

MetricFY2020FY2019Change
Total revenue$56.4 million$67.8 millionDown $11.4 million
License revenue$4.6 million$16.8 millionDown $12.2 million
Maintenance revenue$19.0 million$15.5 millionUp $3.4 million
Services revenue, including related party$32.9 million$35.5 millionDown $2.7 million
Gross profit$27.0 million$34.9 millionDown $7.9 million
Gross margin47.8%51.4%Down 3.6 percentage points
Operating income$1.1 million$6.8 millionDown $5.8 million
Operating margin1.9%10.1%Down 8.2 percentage points
Net income attributable to NETSOL$0.9 million$8.6 millionDown $7.6 million
Basic and diluted EPS$0.08$0.74Down $0.66
Adjusted EBITDA, net$4.3 million$12.9 millionDown $8.6 million

Cash flow, liquidity and debt

  • Cash and cash equivalents were $20.2 million at June 30, 2020, compared with $17.4 million at June 30, 2019. Approximately $18.2 million was held by foreign subsidiaries.
  • Operating cash flow was $4.0 million, down from $4.9 million. Investing cash flow was negative $2.1 million, and financing cash flow was positive $1.7 million.
  • Current assets were $51.9 million versus current liabilities of $20.1 million, implying substantial reported current-asset coverage.
  • Accounts receivable plus revenues in excess of billings totaled $29.9 million. Average days sales outstanding increased to 200 days from 171 days.
  • Total loans and finance-lease obligations were approximately $10.7 million, including $9.1 million current and $1.5 million long term. Operating lease liabilities totaled $2.5 million.
  • Contractual obligations totaled $13.3 million, including $10.4 million due within one year.
  • The Company stated that it was in compliance with borrowing covenants and had no defaults. It expected $2 million to $3 million of working capital for the next 12 months.
  • The Company had no material off-balance-sheet arrangements and has not paid common-stock dividends since inception.

Material changes versus FY2019

  • Revenue declined 16.9%, principally because FY2020 contained substantially less license revenue from the Daimler and BMW NFS Ascent implementations.
  • Recurring maintenance revenue increased as more customers went live, partially offsetting lower license and services revenue.
  • Gross margin contracted as cost of revenue rose to 52.2% of revenue from 48.6%; technical salaries represented 33.4% of revenue versus 28.4%.
  • Operating expenses declined 7.7%, but increased as a percentage of revenue to 45.9% from 41.4%, leaving only $1.1 million of operating income.
  • Other income fell to $1.3 million from $6.2 million, primarily because foreign-exchange gains decreased to $0.4 million from $6.3 million.
  • Cash increased despite lower earnings, supported by financing proceeds of $4.2 million, lower capital expenditures and working-capital movements.
  • The Company adopted the new lease standard on July 1, 2019, recording approximately $3.0 million of right-of-use assets and $3.1 million of lease liabilities; management said the adoption did not materially affect earnings or cash flow.

Guidance, outlook, risks and unusual items

  • Management did not provide quantified revenue or earnings guidance in the supplied filing. It expressed optimism regarding NFS Ascent, cloud deployments, SaaS pricing, digital transformation and Otoz.
  • All global contracts offer subscription pricing as an alternative to traditional licenses. Management expects SaaS pricing to reduce customer buy-in costs, improve revenue predictability and support volume-based selling.
  • Major commercial developments included UK NFS Ascent wholesale and retail cloud agreements, the first North American Ascent customer, additional China deployments, and further rollouts under the Daimler Financial Services agreement.
  • COVID-19 reduced travel and marketing activity and created recession-related risks, delays in customer decision-making, automotive-sector weakness and operational risks from remote or disrupted work. Management also identified potentially favorable lower travel and office costs and increased demand for cloud, mobile and digital solutions.
  • Customer concentration is material: Daimler and BMW represented approximately 42.2% of FY2020 revenue, although their combined percentage declined from approximately 53.8% in FY2019.
  • NETSOL held $4.25 million of convertible notes receivable from related party WRLD3D, including $0.6 million funded during FY2020. The notes were payable on demand and carried interest rates of 5% or 10%; accrued interest was $0.7 million.
  • The Company recorded a $0.6 million share of net loss from equity investments, primarily related to WRLD3D.
  • After year-end, the Company settled a contract lawsuit for a $100,000 payment. It also authorized a $2 million share-repurchase program and subsequently repurchased 147,052 shares at an average price of $3.16.
  • The Company received $469,721 of Paycheck Protection Program loans; forgiveness had not been requested as of June 30, 2020.
  • Management reported effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting. The FY2020 audit opinion was unqualified.

Important facts for investors to verify

  • Whether the expected Daimler, BMW and other NFS Ascent deployments convert into recognized license, implementation and recurring maintenance or SaaS revenue.
  • The collectability and aging of the $29.9 million combined accounts-receivable and contract-asset balance, given 200 days of sales outstanding.
  • The liquidity and repatriation constraints associated with approximately $18.2 million of cash held by foreign subsidiaries.
  • The maturity, refinancing and covenant requirements for approximately $10.7 million of loans and finance leases, including substantial current maturities.
  • The recoverability of the $4.25 million related-party convertible notes and the $2.4 million equity investment balance, including WRLD3D-related risks.
  • The impact of COVID-19, automotive-sector weakness, foreign-exchange volatility and customer concentration on future revenue and margins.
  • The timing and economics of the authorized share repurchase program and any resulting effect on share count and liquidity.