NATIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS INC
10-Q, 1998-06-12
COMPUTER PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT, NEC
Previous: NASHUA CORP, NT 11-K, 1998-06-12
Next: FIRST CHICAGO NBD CORP, SC 13D, 1998-06-12



                UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
                                    FORM 10-Q




          [X] QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
                         SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

                 For the quarterly period ended: April 30, 1998

                         Commission File Number: 0-3713


                         NATIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC.
       -----------------------------------------------------------------
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                 Minnesota                            41-0850527
      -------------------------------           --------------------
     (State or other jurisdiction of             (I.R.S. Employer
     incorporation or organization)           Identification Number)


           11000 Prairie Lakes Drive
            Eden Prairie, Minnesota                   55344
     ----------------------------------------        ----------
     (Address of principal executive offices)        (Zip Code)


Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (612)829-3000

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 and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for
the past 90 days. Yes [X] No [ ]


Indicate the number of shares  outstanding  of each of the  issuer's  classes of
common stock, as of the last practicable date:

        The number of shares of common stock, par value $.03 per share,
                  outstanding on June 5, 1998, was 31,147,639.

<PAGE>


PART I.  FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1.  Financial Statements

NATIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (unaudited)

                                               Three Months
                                              Ended April 30,
                                            -------------------
                                             1998         1997
                                            ------       ------
                                           (In thousands, except
                                             per share amounts)
REVENUES
  Information services                      $48,786     $33,864
  Product sales                              36,508      34,037
  Maintenance and support                    12,621      11,070
                                            -------     -------
    Total revenues                           97,915      78,971

COST OF REVENUES
  Cost of information services               36,390      25,496
  Cost of product sales                      16,014      15,235
  Cost of maintenance and support             7,989       7,429
                                            -------     -------
    Gross margin                             37,522      30,811

OPERATING EXPENSES
  Sales and marketing                        15,072      12,438
  Research and development                    2,332       2,153
  General and administrative                 11,157       8,920
                                            -------      ------
INCOME FROM OPERATIONS                        8,961       7,300

  Interest expense                              318         325
  Other expense, net                            148         227
                                            -------     -------
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES                    8,495       6,748

  Income taxes                                3,400       2,700
                                            -------     -------
NET INCOME                                  $ 5,095     $ 4,048
                                            =======     =======
EARNINGS PER SHARE
  Basic                                       $0.17       $0.13
  Diluted                                      0.16        0.13

WEIGHTED AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING
  Basic                                      30,814      31,000
  Diluted                                    32,309      31,480


See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.


<PAGE>


NATIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited)



                                           April 30,    January 31,
                                              1998         1998
                                           ---------    -----------
                                                (In thousands)
ASSETS

CURRENT ASSETS
  Cash and cash equivalents                $ 17,090      $ 23,267
  Receivables                                90,471       101,334
  Inventories:
    Finished products                         5,017         5,166
    Scoring services and work in process     20,541         8,218
    Raw materials and purchased parts         2,926         2,855
                                           --------      --------
      Total inventories                      28,484        16,239

  Prepaid expenses and other                  6,708         6,562
                                           --------      --------
                    TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS    142,753       147,402

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
  Land, buildings and improvements           58,039        57,281
  Machinery and equipment                   149,554       141,949
  Accumulated depreciation                 (109,030)     (105,206)
                                           --------      --------
    Net property, plant and equipment        98,563        94,024

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES, NET
  Acquired and internally developed
    software products                        14,489        14,967
  Assessment instruments                      9,944        10,317
                                           --------      --------
    Total intellectual properties            24,433        25,284

OTHER ASSETS, NET
  Goodwill                                   45,386        45,634
  Other assets                                3,133         3,070
                                           --------      --------
    Total other assets                       48,519        48,704
                                           --------      --------
                    TOTAL ASSETS           $314,268      $315,414
                                           ========      ========


See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.


<PAGE>


NATIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited)



                                              April 30,   January 31,
                                                 1998        1998
                                             ----------   -----------
                                                   (In thousands)
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

CURRENT LIABILITIES
  Current maturities of long-term debt        $  5,064     $  6,448
  Accounts payable                              28,220       26,767
  Accrued expenses                              35,604       36,237
  Deferred income                               24,208       29,026
  Income taxes                                   4,596        4,156
                                              --------     --------
               TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES        97,692      102,634

LONG-TERM DEBT -- less current maturities       11,363       12,396

DEFERRED INCOME TAXES                            5,568        6,390

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES                        -            -

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
  Preferred stock                                    -            -
  Common stock--issued and outstanding -
  31,081 and 30,846 shares, respectively           932          925
  Paid-in capital                                6,889        4,518
  Retained earnings                            197,891      194,348
  Other comprehensive income -
    Foreign currency translation adjustment     (2,328)      (2,343)
  Deferred compensation                         (3,739)      (3,454)
                                              --------     --------
    Total stockholders' equity                 199,645      193,994
                                              --------     --------

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY    $314,268     $315,414
                                              ========     ========


See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.


<PAGE>


NATIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (unaudited)


                                                      Three Months Ended
                                                            April 30,
                                                      ------------------
                                                         1998       1997
                                                      -------    -------
                                                         (In thousands)
OPERATING ACTIVITIES
  Net income from operations                          $ 5,095    $ 4,048
  Depreciation, amortization and other
    noncash expenses                                    7,225      6,780
  Provision for deferred income taxes                    (822)      (161)
  Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Accounts receivable                                10,780         (2)
    Inventory and other current assets                (12,391)    (5,099)
    Accounts payable and accrued expenses               1,260     (7,516)
    Deferred income                                    (4,818)    (4,006)
                                                      -------    -------
      Net cash (used in) provided by
        operating activities                            6,329     (5,956)
                                                      -------    -------
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
  Purchases of property, plant and equipment           (7,800)    (4,707)
  Purchases of business systems                        (1,796)      (480)
  Acquisitions, net                                         -     (2,742)
  Other, net                                              483       (830)
                                                      -------    -------
      Net cash used in investing activities            (9,113)    (8,759)
                                                      -------    -------
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
  Net repayment of borrowings                          (1,515)    (1,493)
  Issuance (repurchase) of common stock, net             (327)   (13,072)
  Dividends paid                                       (1,551)    (1,363)
                                                      -------    -------
      Net cash used by financing activities            (3,393)   (15,928)
                                                      -------    -------
      (Decrease) in cash and cash equivalents          (6,177)   (30,643)

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS - beginning of period        23,267     58,079
                                                      -------    -------
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS - end of period             $17,090    $27,436
                                                      =======    =======


See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.


<PAGE>

NATIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note A - The accompanying  unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been
prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and, therefore, do not
include  all the  information  and  footnotes  required  by  generally  accepted
accounting  principles  for  complete  financial  statements.  In the opinion of
management,  all adjustments  (which include only normal recurring  adjustments)
necessary to present  fairly the financial  position,  results of operations and
cash flows for all periods  presented  have been made. The results of operations
for the period  ended April 30,  1998,  are not  necessarily  indicative  of the
operating results that may be expected for the entire fiscal year ending January
31, 1999.

Note B - Earnings  per share are  calculated  in  accordance  with  Statement of
Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 128 "Earnings Per Share."

The  following  table is a  reconciliation  of the  earnings  numerator  and the
weighted-average  shares  denominator  used in the  calculations  of  basic  and
diluted earnings per share (in thousands, except per share data):

                                                          Three Months
                                                         Ended April 30,
                                                        -----------------
                                                          1998      1997
                                                        -------   ------- 
Earnings:
  Net income
    Basic earnings per share                            $ 5,095   $ 4,048

  Adjustments for dilutive securities:
    Interest expense on convertible debentures,
      net of tax                                             51        64
                                                        -------   -------
  Adjusted net income for diluted earnings per share    $ 5,146   $ 4,112
                                                        =======   =======
Weighted Average Shares:
  Basic average shares                                   30,814    30,146

  Adjustments for dilutive securities:

    Employee stock options, net of tax proceeds             899       458
    Contingent stock awards, net of tax proceeds             86       293
    Convertible debentures                                  510       583
                                                        -------   -------

  Diluted average shares                                 32,309    31,480
                                                        =======   =======
Basic earnings per share                                $  0.17   $  0.13
                                                        =======   =======
Diluted earnings per share                              $  0.16   $  0.13
                                                        =======   =======

Note C - The Company has  10,000,000  shares of $.01 par value  Preferred  Stock
authorized of which none is  outstanding.  100,000,000  shares of $.03 par value
Common Stock are authorized.

Note D - As of February 1, 1998, the Company  adopted  Statement 130,  Reporting
Comprehensive Income.  Statement 130 establishes new rules for the reporting and
display of  comprehensive  income and its components;  however,  the adoption of
this  Statement  had no  impact on the  Company's  net  income or  shareholders'
equity.  Statement  130  requires  unrealized  gains or losses on the  Company's
foreign currency translation adjustments,  which prior to adoption were reported
in retained earnings to be separately  classified as other comprehensive income.
Prior  year  financial  statements  have been  reclassified  to  conform  to the
requirements of Statement 130.
<PAGE>

The components of Comprehensive  income, for the three-month periods ended April
30, 1998 and 1997 are as follows:

                                                       1998      1997
                                                     -------    -------

         Net income                                  $ 5,095    $ 4,048
         Foreign currency translation adjustments         15         98
                                                     -------    -------
         Comprehensive income                        $ 5,110    $ 4,146
                                                     =======    =======

Note E - Certain claims  asserted  against the Company by a former  customer and
discussed  in prior  years  were  reduced  to a formal  complaint  served on the
Company on April 30,  1997.  The  lawsuit  alleges  certain  claims  against the
Company in connection with three loan processing and servicing  agreements;  the
claims are for  expenses,  an  undisclosed  amount of lost  profits  and damages
associated  with loan  defaults.  The Company has  tendered  the defense of this
claim  to its  insurer,  and the  insurer  accepted  the  defense  subject  to a
reservation of rights.  The Company has filed an answer to the complaint denying
the claims and the Company will vigorously defend this litigation.  In addition,
the  Company  has filed a  counterclaim  against  the former  customer  and its'
corporate affiliate seeking  compensatory  damages in an amount to be determined
at trial.  The Company  does not believe  the outcome of this  litigation  would
result in a material  adverse  effect on the  Company's  financial  position  or
results of operations.


Item 2.   Management's   Discussion and  Analysis of  Results of  Operations and
Financial Condition

National  Computer  Systems,  Inc. is an information  services company providing
software, services and systems for the collection, management and interpretation
of data.  The Company  markets  these  products and  services to the  education,
commercial, and government markets through its various operating units.

Recap of 1998 First Quarter Results

For the quarter ended April 30, 1998, total revenues  increased by $18.9 million
or 24.0% from the quarter ended April 30, 1997. Overall gross margin declined by
0.7 percentage  points as a percent of revenue due to revenue mix,  though gross
margin dollars  increased $6.7 million or 21.8%.  Income from operations for the
quarter  increased  $2.7  million or 22.8%  over the prior  year first  quarter,
representing  a constant  9.2% of total  revenues for both  periods.  Net income
increased  25.9% over the quarter  ended April 30, 1997,  and earnings per share
(diluted) increased 23.1%.

Revenues

Total  revenues  for the  quarter  ended  April 30,  1998 were up 24.0% to $98.0
million from $79.0  million in the prior year.  Approximately  $5 million,  or 6
percentage points of the 24% revenue growth, is due to the impact of fiscal 1997
acquisitions.  By revenue category, first quarter 1998 compares to first quarter
1997 as follows:

          Information services         +44%
          Product sales                + 7%
          Maintenance and support      +14%

The $19  million of overall  revenue  increase  in the first  quarter of 1998 is
largely  attributable  to  growth  in  information  services.   That  growth  is
principally due to increased assessment and testing services, more specifically,
increased volumes of statewide K-12 assessments coming from recent contract wins
in California,  Arizona and Minnesota,  among other projects. Quarter on quarter
information  services  revenue  increases  were also  realized in education  and
commercial large scale data management services.

First quarter  increases in product sales and maintenance  and support  revenues
came  principally  from the  acquisitions of London House and McGraw Hill School
Systems, respectively, in July 1997.

By major market,  revenues from  Education  grew 35% in the first  quarter,  due
largely to the  aforementioned  testing  volumes.  Large  scale data  management
revenues grew 1% in the first  quarter of 1998,  compared to a very strong first
quarter of 1997 when those revenues grew 18% over the prior year.


<PAGE>


Cost of Revenues and Gross Margins

For the  quarter  ended April 30,  1998,  the  Company's  overall  gross  margin
declined by 0.7 percentage  points to 38.3% from 39.0% in the same period of the
prior year. This modest decline is due entirely to revenue mix, as gross margins
on each revenue line (information  services,  product sales, and maintenance and
support)  improved.  The rapid growth of  information  services  influenced  the
overall gross margin percentage decline.

Operating Expenses

Sales and  marketing  expenses  increased  $2.6  million or 21.2% in the quarter
ended April 30, 1998, over the prior year first quarter.  The dollar increase in
these expenses is principally  attributable to the acquisitions  completed since
April 1997. As a percentage of revenues,  sales and marketing  expenses declined
by 0.4 percentage points.

Research and development  costs increased $.2 million in the quarter ended April
30, 1998 as compared to the  quarter  ended April 30,  1997.  For the full year,
these expenses are expected to be at modestly higher levels for fiscal 1998 than
fiscal 1997, as the Company  continues its  investment in software  products and
test processing technology.

General and  administrative  expenses  increased by $2.2 million for the quarter
ended  April 30,  1998  from the prior  year  quarter.  This  quarter-to-quarter
increase is also principally the result of acquisitions  since last year's first
quarter. As a percent of revenues,  general and administrative expenses remained
relatively constant.

Non-operating Expenses

Interest expense and other non-operating  expenses were essentially unchanged in
the quarter ended April 30, 1998,  from the  comparable  prior year period,  and
are, in total, relatively inconsequential.

Provision for Income Taxes

The  effective  income tax rate was 40.0% for the quarters  ended April 30, 1998
and 1997.


Liquidity and Capital Resources

For the  three-month  period ended April 30, 1998,  the Company  generated  $6.3
million of cash flow from operating  activities as contrasted with funds used by
operations  of  $6.0  million  in the  same  period  of  the  prior  year.  This
quarter-to-quarter  comparison  is  predominantly  the  result of  significantly
better  collections of trade  accounts  receivable in the first quarter of 1998.
Cash was used principally to fund  investments in property,  plant and equipment
of $7.8 million,  net repayment of borrowings of $1.5 million, as well as to pay
dividends of $1.6 million.  The Company expects for the remainder of fiscal 1998
that its positive cash flows from operations will be adequate to fund its normal
financing and investing activities. In addition, the Company anticipates funding
internal  growth and  acquisitions  with its cash and cash  equivalents on hand,
excess cash flows from operations,  and existing revolving credit facility.  The
Company plans to hold  relatively  constant the number of shares of common stock
outstanding and will, therefore,  generally repurchase shares only to offset new
issuances, if any.


The  statements  which are not  historical  or current  facts or are  "goals" or
"expectations"  contained in this Quarterly Report constitute  "forward-looking"
statements,  as defined in the Private Securities  Litigation Reform Act of 1995
and are  subject to certain  risks and  uncertainties  that could  cause  actual
results to differ materially.  The Cautionary Statements filed by the Company as
Exhibit 99 to the  Annual  Report on Form 10-K for the year  ended  January  31,
1998, are  incorporated  herein by reference,  and  stockholders and prospective
investors  are  specifically  referred  to  such  Cautionary  Statements  for  a
discussion  of  factors  which  could  affect  the  Company's   operations   and
forward-looking statements contained herein.


<PAGE>


PART II.  OTHER INFORMATION

Item 4.   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

          (a) The registrant  held its Annual Meeting of Stockholders on May 21,
              1998.

          (c) Briefly  described  below  are the  only  matters  voted on at the
              Annual  meeting  and the  number  of votes  with  respect  to each
              matter.

             (i) Election of Board of Directors

                                                        Withhold
                        Name                For        Authority
                 Russell A. Gullotti     23,681,785      71,424
                 David C. Cox            23,685,644      67,565
                 Moses S. Joseph         23,693,679      59,530
                 Jean B. Keffeler        23,697,982      55,227
                 Stephen G. Shank        23,705,069      48,140
                 John E. Steuri          23,699,279      53,930

            (ii) Approval of the 1998 Employee Stock Purchase Plan

                 For                     21,821,432
                 Against                    221,728
                 Abstain                  1,710,049
                 Broker Non-Vote                  0

           (iii) Approval  of the  appointment  of Ernst & Young LLP as auditors
                 for the year ending January 31, 1999

                 For                     23,666,761
                 Against                     47,881
                 Abstain                     38,567
                 Broker Non-Vote                  0

Item 6.  Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K

    (a)  Exhibits.
         27.  Financial Data Schedule

    (b)  No reports on Form 8-K were filed for the three  months ended April 30,
         1998.



                                  SIGNATURES


Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934,  the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.


                                  NATIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC.



                                  /s/ Jeffrey W. Taylor
                                  ---------------------------
                                   Jeffrey W. Taylor
                                   Vice President and
                                     Chief Financial Officer



Dated:  June 11, 1998


<TABLE> <S> <C>

<ARTICLE>                                          5
<LEGEND>
This schedule contains summary information extracted from the financial
statements for National Computer Systems, Inc. and Subsidiaries, for
the fiscal year ended January 31, 1999, and is qualified in its entirety
by reference to such financial statements.
</LEGEND>

<MULTIPLIER>                                                      1000
<CURRENCY>                                         U.S. Dollars
       
<S>                                                  <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE>                                      3-MOS
<FISCAL-YEAR-END>                                  JAN-31-1999
<PERIOD-START>                                     FEB-1-1998
<PERIOD-END>                                       APR-30-1998
<EXCHANGE-RATE>                                    1
<CASH>                                                          17,090
<SECURITIES>                                                         0
<RECEIVABLES>                                                   90,471
<ALLOWANCES>                                                         0
<INVENTORY>                                                     28,484
<CURRENT-ASSETS>                                               142,753
<PP&E>                                                         207,593
<DEPRECIATION>                                                (109,030)
<TOTAL-ASSETS>                                                 314,268
<CURRENT-LIABILITIES>                                           97,692
<BONDS>                                                         11,363
                                                0
                                                          0
<COMMON>                                                           932
<OTHER-SE>                                                     198,713
<TOTAL-LIABILITY-AND-EQUITY>                                   314,268
<SALES>                                                         36,508
<TOTAL-REVENUES>                                                97,915
<CGS>                                                           16,014
<TOTAL-COSTS>                                                   60,393
<OTHER-EXPENSES>                                                28,561
<LOSS-PROVISION>                                                     0
<INTEREST-EXPENSE>                                                 318
<INCOME-PRETAX>                                                  8,495
<INCOME-TAX>                                                     3,400
<INCOME-CONTINUING>                                              5,095
<DISCONTINUED>                                                       0
<EXTRAORDINARY>                                                      0
<CHANGES>                                                            0
<NET-INCOME>                                                     5,095
<EPS-PRIMARY>                                                     0.17
<EPS-DILUTED>                                                     0.16
        



</TABLE>


© 2022 IncJournal is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission