DJCO 10-Q Quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

or

Commission File Number 0-14665

DAILY JOURNAL CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(213) 229-5300

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

None

(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.       Yes: X     No:

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: X     No:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes:          No:  X

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer's classes of common stock as of the latest practicable date.

DAILY JOURNAL CORPORATION

INDEX

DAILY JOURNAL CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

DAILY JOURNAL CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

DAILY JOURNAL CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

DAILY JOURNAL CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited)

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Results of Operations

The Company continues to operate as two different businesses: (1) The Traditional Business, being the business of newspaper publishing and related services that the Company had before 1999 when it purchased a software development company, and (2) Journal Technologies, Inc. (“Journal Technologies”), a wholly-owned subsidiary which supplies case management software systems and related products to courts, prosecutor and public defender offices, probation departments and other justice agencies, including administrative law organizations, city and county governments and bar associations. These organizations use the Journal Technologies family of products to help manage cases and information electronically, to interface with other critical justice partners and to extend electronic services to bar members and the public, including a website to pay traffic citations online. These products are licensed to more than 500 organizations in 42 states and internationally.

Comparable three-month periods ended December 31, 2016 and 2015

Consolidated revenues were $9,990,000 and $10,815,000 for the three months ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. This decrease of $825,000 (8%) was primarily from the reduction in (i) The Traditional Business’s trustee sale notice and related service fee revenues of $142,000 and (ii) Journal Technologies’ consulting fees of $528,000 and public service fees of $536,000 primarily due to a reduction in the number of traffic tickets processed online for the public to pay traffic citations and an Amnesty Program that reduces traffic ticket fines, partially offset by increased Journal Technologies’ license and maintenance fees of $319,000. The Company’s revenues derived from Journal Technologies’ operations constituted about 56% and 59% of the Company’s total revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Consolidated operating expenses increased by $1,066,000 (9%) to $12,843,000 from $11,777,000, primarily resulting from additional personnel costs and travel expenses for Journal Technologies. Total personnel costs increased by $993,000 (15%) to $7,641,000 from $6,648,000. Outside services increased by $116,000 (13%) to $980,000 from $864,000 primarily due to increased services for Journal Technologies. Depreciation and amortization costs, which included primarily the amortization of Journal Technologies’ intangible assets of $1,224,000 for both fiscal periods, decreased by $23,000 to $1,392,000 from $1,415,000.

The Company’s non-operating income, net of expenses, increased by $245,000 to $1,072,000 from $827,000 primarily because of more dividend income, partially offset by an increase in interest rate on the two acquisition margin loans and additional interest expenses for the Company’s real estate loan.

During the three months ended December 31, 2016, consolidated pretax loss was $1,781,000 as compared with $135,000 in the prior year period. There were net losses of $1,471,000 (-$1.07 per share) for the three months ended December 31, 2016 as compared with net income of $50,000 ($0.04 per share) in the prior year period.

At December 31, 2016, the aggregate fair market value of the Company’s marketable securities was $196,486,000. These securities had approximately $133,095,000 of unrealized gains before taxes of $52,070,000 and generated approximately $1,171,000 in dividends and interest income during the three months ended December 31, 2016 which lowers the Company’s effective income tax rate because of the dividends received deduction. Most of the unrealized gains were in the common stocks of three U.S. financial institutions.

Additional detail about each of the Company’s reportable segments, and its corporate income and expenses, is set forth below:

The Traditional Business

The Traditional Business segment’s pretax income decreased by $136,000 to pretax loss of $14,000 from pretax income of $122,000.

Advertising revenues decreased by $11,000 to $2,310,000 from $2,321,000 primarily resulting from the declines in trustee sale notice advertising revenues of $142,000, partial offset by increases in other public notice advertising.

Trustee sale notices are very much dependent on the number of California and Arizona foreclosures for which public notice advertising is required by law. The number of foreclosure notices published by the Company decreased by 21% during the three months ended December 31, 2016 as compared to the prior year period and accounted for a reduction of about $142,000 in trustee sale notice and related service fee revenues. Because this slowing is expected to continue, the Company expects there will be fewer foreclosure notice and other public notice advertisements and declining revenues in fiscal 2017, and the Company’s print-based earnings will also likely decline significantly because it will be impractical for the Company to offset all revenue losses by expense reduction. The Company’s smaller newspapers, those other than the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals (“The Daily Journals”), accounted for about 90% of the total public notice advertising revenues in the three months ended December 31, 2016. Public notice advertising revenues and related advertising and other service fees constituted about 22% and 21% of the Company’s total revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Because of this concentration, the Company’s revenues would be significantly adversely affected if California and Arizona eliminated the legal requirement to publish public notices in adjudicated newspapers of general circulation, as had been recently implemented in Arizona for one notice type with approximately $500,000 in annual revenues. Also, if the adjudication of one or more of the Company’s newspapers was challenged and revoked, those newspapers would no longer be eligible to publish public notice advertising, and it could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s revenues.

The Daily Journals accounted for about 87% of The Traditional Business’ total circulation revenues, which declined by $57,000 to $1,449,000 from $1,506,000. The court rule and judicial profile services generated about 9% of the total circulation revenues, with the other newspapers and services accounting for the balance. Advertising service fees and other are Traditional Business segment revenues, which include primarily (i) agency commissions received from outside newspapers in which the advertising is placed and (ii) fees generated when filing notices with government agencies.

The Traditional Business segment operating expenses increased by $47,000 (1%) to $4,400,000 from $4,353,000.

Journal Technologies

Journal Technologies’ business segment pretax loss increased by $1,749,000 (158%) to $2,859,000 from $1,110,000 and included the amortization costs of intangible assets of $1,224,000 for both the three-month periods ended December 31, 2016 and 2015.

Revenues decreased by $745,000 (12%) to $5,593,000 from $6,338,000 in the prior year period. Licensing and maintenance fees increased by $319,000 (9%) to $3,966,000 from $3,647,000. Consulting fees decreased by $528,000 (38%) to $848,000 from $1,376,000. In most cases, revenues from new installations projects will only be recognized, if at all, upon completion and acceptance of the services by the various customers. Deferred revenues on installation contracts primarily represent the fair value of advances from customers of Journal Technologies for software licenses and installation services. After a customer’s acceptance of the completed project, any advances are generally no longer at risk of refund and are therefore considered earned. Deferred revenues on license and maintenance contracts represent prepayments of annual license and maintenance fees and are recognized ratably over the maintenance period. Other public service fees decreased by $536,000 (41%) to $779,000 from $1,315,000 primarily due to a reduction in the number of traffic tickets processed online for the public to pay traffic citations and an Amnesty Program that is expected to reduce traffic ticket fines through March 2017.

Operating expenses increased by $1,019,000 (14%) to $8,443,000 from $7,424,000 primarily due to increased personnel costs and travel expenses which are expected to continue to increase in the foreseeable future.

Intangible assets, including customer relationships and developed technology, are being amortized on a straight-line basis over five years due to the short life cycle of technology that customer relationships depend on and over 15 years for tax purposes. Goodwill, which is not amortized for financial statement purposes, is amortized over 15 years for tax purposes. Goodwill represents the expected synergies in expanding the Company’s software business. Goodwill is evaluated for impairment annually, or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the value may not be recoverable. Considered factors for potential goodwill impairment evaluation include the current year’s business profitability before intangible amortization, fluctuations of revenues, changes in the market place, the status of installation contracts and new business, among other things. Journal Technologies is continuing to update and upgrade its software products. These costs are expensed as incurred and will impact earnings at least through the foreseeable future.

Taxes

For the three months ended December 31, 2016, the Company recorded an income tax benefit of $310,000 on pretax loss of $1,781,000. The income tax benefit was the result of applying the effective tax rate anticipated for fiscal 2017 to pretax loss for the three-month period ended December 31, 2016. The effective tax rate was lower than the statutory rate primarily due to the dividends received deduction.  On pretax loss of $135,000 for the three months ended December 31, 2015, the Company recorded an income tax benefit of $185,000 which was the net result of applying the effective tax rate anticipated for fiscal 2016 to pretax loss for the three months ended December 31, 2015. The Company’s effective tax rate was 17% and 137% for the three months ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

At December 31, 2016, the Company had an accrued liability of approximately $2,655,000 for uncertain and unrecognized tax benefits relating to an acquisition in fiscal 2013, after a reduction of $589,000 resulting from the recognition of deferred revenues and from the amortization of goodwill for tax purposes. The Internal Revenue Service is currently conducting an examination of the Company’s fiscal 2014 income tax return. The examination is still in progress, and the results are unknown at this time. During the three-month periods ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, interest expenses of approximately $9,000 and $24,000, respectively, were recorded as “interest expense accrued for uncertain and unrecognized tax benefits” in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. The Company files federal income tax returns in the United States and with various state jurisdictions and is no longer subject to examinations for fiscal years before fiscal 2014 with regard to federal income taxes and fiscal 2013 for state income taxes.

Comprehensive Income

Comprehensive income includes net (loss) income and unrealized net gains on investments, net of taxes, as summarized below:

Liquidity and Capital Resources

During the three months ended December 31, 2016, the Company’s cash and cash equivalents and marketable security positions increased by $23,314,000 to $201,359,000. Cash and cash equivalents were used primarily for the purchase of marketable securities of $5,013,000 and capital assets of $187,000. The investments in marketable securities, which had an adjusted cost basis of approximately $63,391,000 and a market value of about $196,486,000 at December 31, 2016, generated approximately $1,171,000 in dividends and interest income.

Cash flows from operating activities increased by $304,000 during the three months ended December 31, 2016 as compared to prior year period primarily resulting from increases in accounts payable of $1,654,000 as more liabilities were paid during last year period, partially offset by decreases in net income of $1,521,000 (from net income of $50,000 to net loss of $1,471,000). The net cash used in operating activities of $1,311,000 included net increases of $359,000 in deferred subscriptions, deferred installation contracts and deferred maintenance agreements and others.

As of December 31, 2016, the Company had working capital of $133,355,000, including the liabilities for deferred subscriptions and deferred installation contracts and deferred maintenance agreements and others of $18,369,000, which are scheduled to be earned within one year, and the deferred tax liability of $52,070,000 for the unrealized gains described above.

The Company believes that it will be able to fund its operations for the foreseeable future through its cash flows from operating activities and its current working capital and expects that any such cash flows will be invested in its businesses. The Company may or may not have the ability to borrow against its marketable securities on favorable terms as it did for prior acquisitions. The Company also may entertain additional business acquisition opportunities. Any excess cash flows could be used to reduce the investment margin account liability or note payable collateralized by real estate or invested as management and the Board of Directors deem appropriate at the time.

Such investments may include additional securities of the companies in which the Company has already invested, securities of other companies, government securities (including U.S. Treasury Notes and Bills) or other instruments. The decision as to particular investments will be driven by the Company’s belief about the risk/reward profile of the various investment choices at the time, and it may utilize government securities as a default if attractive opportunities for a better return are not available. The Company’s Chairman of the Board, Charles Munger, is also the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which maintains a substantial investment portfolio. The Company’s Board of Directors has utilized his judgment and suggestions, as well as those of J.P. Guerin, the Company’s vice chairman, when selecting investments, and both of them will continue to play an important role in monitoring existing investments and selecting any future investments.

As of December 31, 2016, the investments were concentrated in just seven companies. Accordingly, a significant decline in the market value of one or more of the Company’s investments may not be offset by the hypothetically better performance of other investments, and that could result in a large decrease in the Company’s shareholders’ equity and, under certain circumstances, in the recognition of impairment losses in the Company’s income statement.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The Company’s financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Preparing financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. These estimates and assumptions are affected by management’s application of accounting policies. Management believes that revenue recognition, accounting for software costs, fair value measurement and disclosures (including for the long-term Incentive Plan liabilities), accounting for business combinations, testing for goodwill impairment and income taxes are critical accounting policies and estimates.

The Company’s critical accounting policies are detailed in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2016. The above discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the unaudited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in this report.

Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Certain statements contained in this document, including but not limited to those in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, are “forward-looking” statements that involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future events or results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Words such as “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “should,” “believes,” “will,” “plans,” “estimates,” “may,” variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise. There are many factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others: risks associated with software development and implementation efforts; Journal Technologies’ reliance on professional services engagements with justice agencies, including California courts, for a substantial portion of its revenues; material changes in the costs of postage and paper; possible changes in the law, particularly changes limiting or eliminating the requirements for public notice advertising; possible loss of the adjudicated status of the Company’s newspapers and their legal authority to publish public notice advertising; a further decline in public notice advertising revenues because of fewer foreclosures; a further decline in subscriber and commercial advertising revenues; possible security breaches of the Company’s software or websites; the Company’s reliance on its president and chief executive officer; changes in accounting guidance; material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting; and declines in the market prices of the securities owned by the Company. In addition, such statements could be affected by general industry and market conditions, general economic conditions (particularly in California) and other factors. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are discussed in this Form 10-Q, including in conjunction with the forward-looking statements themselves. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016.

For information regarding the Company’s market risk, refer to Item 7A – Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk in the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016. There have been no material changes to the Company’s market risk exposures since September 30, 2016.

An evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of the Company’s management, including Gerald L. Salzman, its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2016. Based on that evaluation, Mr. Salzman concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective. There were no material changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting or in other factors reasonably likely to affect its internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

SIGNATURE

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.

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