Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

____________

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the transition period from _________to_________

Commission File Number

000-23115

CTI INDUSTRIES CORPORATION

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

(847) 382-1000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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 ☐     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 ☐     No ☐ ☐

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. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☐      Accelerated filer ☐      Non-accelerated filer ☐     Smaller Reporting Company ☑      Emerging growth company ☐

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. ☐

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

The number of shares outstanding of the Registrant’s common stock as of May 1, 2018 was 3,530,227.

INDEX

Note 1 - Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed (a) consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2017, which has been derived from audited consolidated financial statements, and (b) the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared and, in the opinion of management, contain all the adjustments (consisting of those of a normal recurring nature) considered necessary to present fairly the consolidated financial position and the consolidated statements of comprehensive income and consolidated cash flows for the periods presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles for interim consolidated financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 8 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018. It is suggested that these condensed consolidated financial statements be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

Principles of consolidation and nature of operations:

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of CTI Industries Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, CTI Balloons Limited and CTI Supply, Inc., its majority-owned subsidiaries, Flexo Universal, S. de R.L. de C.V. and CTI Europe gmbH, as well as the accounts of Venture Leasing S. A. de R. L., Venture Leasing L.L.C and Clever Container Company, L.L.C. (the “Company”). The last three entities have been consolidated as variable interest entities. All significant intercompany transactions and accounts have been eliminated in consolidation. The Company (i) designs, manufactures and distributes balloon and related novelty (candy and party related) products throughout the world, (ii) operates systems for the production, lamination, coating and printing of films used for food packaging and other commercial uses and for conversion of films to flexible packaging containers and other products, and (iii) distributes vacuum sealing products and home organization products in the United States.

Variable Interest Entities (“VIE’s”):

The determination of whether or not to consolidate a variable interest entity under U.S. GAAP requires a significant amount of judgment concerning the degree of control over an entity by its holders of variable interest. To make these judgments, management has conducted an analysis of the relationship of the holders of variable interest to each other, the design of the entity, the expected operations of the entity, which holder of variable interests is most “closely associated” to the entity and which holder of variable interests is the primary beneficiary required to consolidate the entity. Upon the occurrence of certain events, management reviews and reconsiders its previous conclusion regarding the status of an entity as a variable interest entity. There are three entities that have been consolidated as variable interest entities.

Use of estimates:

In preparing condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, management makes estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amount of revenue and expenses during the reporting period in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results may differ from those estimates. The Company’s significant estimates include reserves for doubtful accounts, reserves for the lower of cost or market of inventory, reserves for deferred tax assets and recovery value of goodwill.

Earnings per share:

Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period.

Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing the net income by the weighted average number of shares of common stock and equivalents (stock options and warrants), unless anti-dilutive, during each period.

As of March 31, 2018 and 2017, shares to be issued upon the exercise of options and warrants aggregated 471,144 and 359,817, respectively. The number of shares included in the determination of earnings on a diluted basis for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 were none and 76,675, respectively, as the former would have been anti-dilutive.

Significant Accounting Policies:

The Company’s significant accounting policies are summarized in Note 2 of the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017. There were no significant changes to these accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2018, except for the adoption of Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers.  On January 1, 2018, we adopted ASC 606 using the modified retrospective method.  The adoption of ASC 606 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial position or results of operations, as our revenue arrangements generally consist of a single performance obligation to transfer promised goods at a fixed price.

Net sales include revenues from sales of products and shipping and handling charges, net of estimates for product returns.  Revenue is measured at the amount of consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for the transferred products.  Revenue is recognized at the point in time when we transfer the promised products to the customer and the customer obtains control over the products.  The Company recognizes revenue for shipping and handling charges at the time the goods are shipped to the customer, and the costs of outbound freight are included in cost of sales, as we have elected the practical expedient included in ASC 606.

The Company provides for product returns based on historical return rates. While we incur costs for sales commissions to our sales employees and outside agents, we recognize commission costs concurrent with the related revenue, as the amortization period is less than one year and we have elected the practical expedient included in ASC 606. We do not incur incremental costs to obtain contracts with our customers. Our product warranties are assurance-type warranties, which promise the customer that the products are as specified in the contract. Therefore, the product warranties are not a separate performance obligation and are accounted for as described herein. Sales taxes assessed by governmental authorities are accounted for on a net basis and are excluded from net sales.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements:

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), aimed at making leasing activities more transparent and comparable. The new standard requires substantially all leases be recognized by lessees on their balance sheet as a right-of-use asset and corresponding lease liability, including today’s operating leases. For public business entities, the standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. For all other entities, the standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. Early application is permitted for all entities. While we are currently evaluating the potential impact of this new standard, we expect that our property, plant and equipment will increase significantly due to the addition of assets currently under lease, and the lease liabilities will correspondingly increase.

Note 2 - Debt

Until December 2017, we had in place a series of credit facility and related agreements with BMO Harris Bank, N.A. and BMO Private Equity (U.S.), (collectively, “BMO”), in the aggregate amount of approximately $17 million. During December 2017, we terminated those agreements and fully repaid all amounts owed BMO under those agreements, including associated fees and costs related to termination, as we entered in new financing agreements with PNC Bank, National Association (“PNC”). The “PNC Agreements” include a $6 million term loan and an $18 million revolving credit facility, with a termination date of December 2022.

Available credit under the Revolving Credit facility is determined by eligible receivables and inventory at CTI Industries (U.S.) and Flexo Universal (Mexico).

Certain terms of the PNC Agreements include:

The credit agreement provides for interest at varying rates in excess of the prime rate, depending on the level of senior debt to EBITDA over time. We also entered into a swap agreement with PNC Bank to fix the interest for $3 million over 3 years. This contract was made at market value upon December 2017 execution and accounted for as a hedge.

Failure to comply with these covenants might cause us to pay a higher rate of interest (by 2% per the Agreements), or other penalties up to and including the availability of the credit facility itself, and thus might negatively impact our ability to remain a going concern. We believe that we were in compliance as of December 31, 2017, but not in compliance as of March 31, 2018.  As a result, we have reclassified $4.4 million of noncurrent debt into current debt as of March 31, 2018.  The Company and its bank are currently discussing the appropriate actions going forward with respect to this credit facility.

On September 30, 2016, John H. Schwan advanced to the Company the sum of $530,000 and Mr. Stephen M. Merrick advanced the Company the sum of $370,000 to provide short-term working capital to the Company to fund the Company’s obligation to purchase and produce inventory for a substantial order for vacuum sealing systems to be delivered in November 2016.  In consideration of such advances, the Company issued Promissory Notes to Mr. Schwan and Mr. Merrick.  The principal balance of these notes were paid in December 2016 and January 2017.

Unrelated to the above, as of December 2017, Mr. Schwan was owed a total of $1,099,000, with additional accrued interest of $400,000, by the Company. As part of the December 2017 financing with PNC, Mr. Schwan executed a subordination agreement related to these amounts due him, as evidenced by a related note representing the amount owed to Mr. Schwan. No payments were issued to Mr. Schwan during the three months ended March 31, 2018, with $27,000 of interest recorded as an expense.

Note 3 - Stock-Based Compensation; Changes in Equity

The Company has adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 718 which requires all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, to be recognized in the condensed consolidated financial statements based on their grant-date fair values.

The Company has applied the Black-Scholes model to value stock-based awards and issued warrants related to notes payable. That model incorporates various assumptions in the valuation of stock-based awards relating to the risk-free rate of interest to be applied, the estimated dividend yield and expected volatility of our common stock. The risk-free rate of interest is the related U.S. Treasury yield curve for periods within the expected term of the option at the time of grant. The dividend yield on our common stock is estimated to be 0%, as the Company did not issue dividends during 2018 and 2017. The expected volatility is based on historical volatility of the Company’s common stock.

The Company’s net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 includes approximately $62,000 and $5,000, respectively, of compensation costs related to share based payments. As of March 31, 2018, there is $302,000 of unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested stock option grants and stock grants. We expect approximately $110,000 of additional stock-based compensation expense to be recognized over the remainder of 2018, $92,000 to be recognized during 2019, and $56,000 to be recognized during 2020.

On April 10, 2009, the Board of Directors approved for adoption, and on June 5, 2009, the shareholders of the Corporation approved, a 2009 Stock Incentive Plan (“2009 Plan”). The 2009 Plan and subsequent awards categorized as inducement of employment authorized the issuance of up to 510,000 shares of stock or options to purchase stock of the Company (including cancelled shares reissued under the plan.) As of March 31, 2018, all underlying awards had been granted and options for 471,144 shares remain outstanding.

A summary of the Company’s stock option activity, which includes grants of restricted stock, non-qualified stock options, incentive stock options, warrants and related information, is as follows:

The instruments above have an aggregate intrinsic value of $37,000, which represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value (the difference between the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the last trading day of the quarter ended March 31, 2018 and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of in-the-money options) that would have been received by the option holders had all the holders exercised their options on March 31, 2018.

Note 4 - Legal Proceedings

The Company may be party to certain lawsuits or claims arising in the normal course of business. The ultimate outcome of these matters is unknown but, in the opinion of management, we do not believe any of these proceedings will have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect upon our financial condition, cash flows or future results of operation.

In July, 2017, God’s Little Gift, Inc. (d\b\a) Helium and Balloons Across America and Gary Page (“Claimants”) filed an action against the Company in the North Carolina State Court. This action was removed to the United States District Court in North Carolina. The Company filed an answer and motion to dismiss this action. The Court stayed the action based upon an arbitration clause in the agreement on which part of the action was based. On December 18, 2017, Claimants filed an arbitration claim against the Company before the American Arbitration Association in Chicago, Illinois. The Statement of Claim includes claims for alleged breach of two agreements among the parties, essentially for alleged failure by the Company to pay disputed commission amounts. Claimants also included counts for alleged unjust enrichment and tortious interference with contract. The Company has filed a response to the Statement of Claim denying all of the claims. The Company believes the claims are without merit and intends to defend all of the claims vigorously. The Company has not accrued any amounts in respect of this matter and cannot estimate the possible loss, if any, that the Company many incur with respect to it. The proceedings are at an early stage.

Note 5 - Other Comprehensive Income

In the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company incurred other comprehensive income of approximately $433,000, all from foreign currency translation adjustments.

The following table sets forth the accumulated balance of other comprehensive income and each component.

Note 6 - Inventories, Net

Note 7 - Geographic Segment Data

The Company has determined that it operates primarily in one business segment that designs, manufactures and distributes film and film related products for use in packaging, storage and novelty balloon products. The Company operates in foreign and domestic regions. Information about the Company's operations by geographic area is as follows:

Note 8 - Concentration of Credit Risk

Concentration of credit risk with respect to trade accounts receivable is generally limited due to the large number of entities comprising the Company's customer base. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations and provides an allowance for potential credit losses against the portion of accounts receivable which is estimated to be uncollectible. Such losses have historically been within management's expectations. During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, there were two customers whose purchases represented more than 10% of the Company’s consolidated net sales, respectively. Sales to these customers for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 are as follows:

As of March 31, 2018, the total amounts owed to the Company by these customers were approximately $3,643,000 or 33.4%, and $2,657,000 or 24.3%, of the Company’s consolidated net accounts receivable, respectively. The amounts owed at March 31, 2017 by these customers were approximately $3,301,000 or 27.7%, and $2,657,000 or 22.3% of the Company’s consolidated net accounts receivable, respectively.

Note 9 - Related Party Transactions

Stephen M. Merrick, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, is of counsel to the law firm of Vanasco Genelly and Miller PC which provides legal services to the Company. Legal fees paid by the Company to this firm for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, were $72,000 and $26,000.

John H. Schwan, through an investment entity, and Stephen M. Merrick, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, also through an investment entity own, in aggregate, a 50% interest in Clever Container Company L.L.C., an Illinois limited liability company (“Clever Container”). During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, Clever Container purchased various products from the Company in the amount of $237,000 and $204,000, respectively. As of March 31, 2018 and 2017, the balance of accounts receivable from Clever Container to the Company were $1,102,000 and $711,000, respectively. The Company owns a 28.5% interest in Clever Container.

Note 10 - Derivative Instruments; Fair Value

The Company accounts for derivative instruments in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires that all derivative instruments be recognized on the balance sheet at fair value. We may enter into interest rate swaps to fix the interest rate on a portion of our variable interest rate debt to reduce the potential volatility in our interest expense that would otherwise result from changes in market interest rates. Our derivative instruments are recorded at fair value and are included in accrued liabilities of our consolidated balance sheet. Our accounting policies for these instruments are based on whether they meet our criteria for designation as hedging transactions, which include the instrument’s effectiveness, risk reduction and, in most cases, a one-to-one matching of the derivative instrument to our underlying transaction. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we had one derivative instrument accounted for as a hedge, compared to no such instrument as of March 31, 2017. Gains and losses from changes in fair values of derivatives that are not designated as hedges for accounting purposes are recognized in the consolidated statement of operations. We have no such derivative financial instruments as of December 31, 2017. Changes in fair value for the respective periods were recognized in the consolidated statement of operations.

The interest rate swap we entered into December 14, 2017 had a three year term (ending December 14, 2020) and a notional amount of $3 million. The Company purchased a 2.25% fixed rate in exchange for the variable rate on a portion of the notes payable under the PNC Agreements, which was 1.47% at time of execution. The fair value of the swap was insignificant as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017.