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AMKT.OB > SEC Filings for AMKT.OB > Form 10-Q on 15-May-2009All Recent SEC Filings

Show all filings for ACE MARKETING & PROMOTIONS INC | Request a Trial to NEW EDGAR Online Pro

Form 10-Q for ACE MARKETING & PROMOTIONS INC


15-May-2009

Quarterly Report


ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The information contained in this Form 10-Q and documents incorporated herein by reference are intended to update the information contained in the Company's Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 which includes our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2008 and such information presumes that readers have access to, and will have read, the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," "Risk Factors" and other information contained in such Form 10-K and other Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could be significantly different than those discussed in this Form 10-Q. Certain statements contained in Management's Discussion and Analysis, particularly in "Liquidity and Capital Resources," and elsewhere in this Form 10-Q are forward-looking statements. These statements discuss, among other things, expected growth, future revenues and future performance. Although we believe the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of our knowledge of our business, a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements, whether oral or written, made by us or on our behalf. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the following: (a) changes in levels of competition from current competitors and potential new competition,
(b) possible loss of customers, and (c) the company's ability to attract and retain key personnel, (d) The Company's ability to manage other risks, uncertainties and factors inherent in the business and otherwise discussed in this 10-Q and in the Company's other filings with the SEC. The foregoing should not be construed as an exhaustive list of all factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by us. All forward-looking statements included in this document are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to the Company on the date thereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

OVERVIEW

We are a full service promotional marketing and distribution company offering a wide array of business solutions. Ace has grown organically through referrals based on its high quality service and external financings to support our growth. We are also expanding through hiring leading independent salespersons who are well supported by the Ace proprietary business structure. By offering more services and solutions to our customers, new recruits will have the ability to expand their present business by simply making the move to Ace. Upon integrating their client base into our system they too become trusted advisors that provide integrated business solutions instead of a commodity based promotional product salesperson.

These achievements position us to accelerate growth through potential acquisition and consolidation of other companies as well as simply recruiting experienced salespeople. In the event a company is acquired by us, of which no assurances can be given in this regard, the new clients would all be introduced to the additional services that are now available in our promotional marketing model.

We have effectively carved out a niche for Ace. Marketing and branding companies create an image and direction for clients. Ad agencies develop print, TV, radio and other campaigns aimed at goals of recruiting and introducing new products or services. Traditional promotional product companies offer imprinted merchandise and apparel. Ace finds itself in a position of providing value added services that compliment those of the ad agency, as well as branding and marketing companies while at the same time far exceeding the capabilities of a standard promotional products distributor.

We expect our revenues to grow at such time as economic conditions in the United States improve, by adding additional in-house and independent sales representatives to our sales network. While one or more acquisitions of other distributors will also be considered by Management, we can provide no assurances that one or more acquisitions of other distributors will be completed on terms satisfactory to us, if at all.

ACE MOBILE MARKETING

In 2008, we entered into agreements with certain non-affiliated parties to become an authorized distributor, provider and reseller in the United States of mobile advertising solutions, in the Mobile Advertising & Proximity Marketing Industry.

Management believes that proximity marketing has unlimited marketing possibilities to thousands of different businesses. Proximity marketing is the localized wireless distribution of advertising content associated with a particular place. If we place a proximity transmitting box in a location of an advertiser/business, transmissions (messages) will be sent to and received by cell phones and PDA's equipped with Bluetooth technology within approximately 100 meters of a marketing broadcast. A person receiving the transmission can elect to download the transmission, read the message and potentially act upon the message sent by the advertiser. The message will remain on the cell phone or PDA until proactively removed by the user. The user also has the ability to forward the message to other users, which generates multiple views over an extended period of time.

Management believes that advertisers are constantly seeking new measurable media channels that can accurately target and engage key consumer segments, and deliver compelling, relevant content that can be enjoyed for what it is, shared with friends, interactively engaged with or commercially acted upon instantaneously. All messages received by the public are free of charge meaning there is no charge on any content a consumer downloads. We will enable our advertising customers to promote their business by sending still images, animated images, audio files, video clips, text files, promotional or discount contents, bar codes, mobile games and java applications and business card files. We can also send live data such as news and sports updates to targeted mobile phones.

Management believes that proximity marketing is completely spam-free and compliant with all applicable governmental regulations. It asks the users if they would like to receive the content. It tracks how many people accept and reject the content, providing the sender with a detailed time and date for every transmission. The system maintains a unique Bluetooth ID assigned to each device, and therefore will not send users the same advertisement more than once, and if rejected will not contact the user again.

Ace intends to market its proximity boxes as a premiere mobile technology. This will allow Ace to create a new channel in the mobile marketplace for existing brands and marketers to leverage the inherent strengths of mobile advertising. Ace plans to leverage the technology to develop niche vertical sites. These services will be scalable for both large and small businesses to monetize high traffic areas. Additionally, the platform shall be dynamically scalable for worldwide partnerships, where a multi-location business will be able to send a different marketing campaign for each demographic. Ace has demonstrated the use of proximity marketing boxes and delivered branded content for:

o Def Leppard to support their band tour;

o International Speeding Corporation, owner and operator of 13 major motorsports facilities, including the Daytona International Speedway;

o Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ;

o SantaLand at Macy's;

o Madison Square Garden;

o IMAX theater

o Lonestar to support their band

Blue Bite, LLC is also an authorized distributor, provider and reseller of the proximity transmitting boxes. We have an agreement pursuant to which Ace has loaned Blue Bite $100,000 pursuant to two Notes (due June 1, 2009 and September 17, 2009) convertible at Ace's option into a 20% ownership interest of Blue Bite. At the time of conversion, Ace would also have to deliver to Blue Bite up to $150,000 in fair market value of its restricted Common Stock as additional consideration.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and disclosures on the date of the financial statements. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates including, but not limited to, those related to revenue recognition. We use authoritative pronouncements, historical experience and other assumptions as the basis for making judgments. Actual results could differ from those estimates. We believe that the following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments and estimates in the preparation of our financial statements.

REVENUE RECOGNITION. Revenues are recognized when title and risk of loss transfers to the customer and the earnings process is complete. In general, title passes to our customers upon the customer's receipt of the merchandise. Revenue is accounted for in accordance with Emerging Issue Task Force Issue No. 99-19, reporting revenue gross as a principal versus net as an agent. Revenue is recognized on a gross basis since our company has the risks and rewards of ownership, latitude in selection of vendors and pricing, and bears all credit risk. Our company records all shipping and handling fees billed to customers as revenues, and related costs as cost of goods sold, when incurred, in accordance with Emerging Issue Task Force Issue No. 00-10, accounting for shipping and handling fees and costs.

ALLOWANCE FOR DOUBTFUL ACCOUNTS. We are required to make judgments based on historical experience and future expectations, as to the realizability of our accounts receivable. We make these assessments based on the following factors: (a) historical experience, (b) customer concentrations, (c) customer credit worthiness, (d) current economic conditions, and (e) changes in customer payment terms.

STOCK BASED COMPENSATION. The Company records compensation expense associated with stock options and other equity-based compensation in accordance with SFAS 123(R). Share-based compensation expense is determined based on the grant-date fair value estimated in accordance with the provisions of SFAS
123(R). The Company recognizes compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the award.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

         The following table sets forth certain selected unaudited condensed
statement of operations data for the periods indicated in dollars and as a
percentage of total net revenues. The following discussion relates to our
results of operations for the periods noted and is not necessarily indicative of
the results expected for any other interim period or any future fiscal year. In
addition, we note that the period-to-period comparison may not be indicative of
future performance.

                                                    Three Months Ended March 31
                                                  ------------------------------
                                                       2009             2008
                                                       ----             ----
Revenue                                           $   455,032      $ 1,176,183
Cost of Revenues                                      330,868          810,460
Gross Profit                                          124,164          365,723
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses          590,945          667,718
(Loss) from Operations                               (466,781)        (301,995)

We generated revenues of $455,032 in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $1,176,183 in the same three month period ending March 31, 2008. The decrease in revenues of $721,151 in 2009 compared to 2008 was due to the general state of economy and customers choosing to cancel or delay purchases of promotional products. In this respect, one of our major customers which purchased $240,000 of promotional products in the quarter ended March 31, 2008, elected to hold off on its 2009 order due to the decline in their company sales.

Cost of revenues was $330,868 or 72.7% of revenues in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $810,460 or 68.9% of revenues in the same three months of 2008. Cost of revenues includes purchases and freight costs associated with the shipping of merchandise to our customers. Decrease in cost of revenues of $479,592 in 2009 is related to a decrease in sales during the current quarter ending March 31, 2009.

Gross profit was $124,164 in the first quarter of 2009 or 27.3% of net revenues compared to $365,723 in the same three months of 2008 or 31.1% of revenues. Gross profits will vary period-to-period depending upon a number of factors including the mix of items sold, pricing of the items and the volume of product sold. Also, it is our practice to pass freight costs on to our customers. Reimbursement of freight costs which are included in revenues have lower profit margins than sales of our promotional products and has the effect of reducing our overall gross profit margin on sales of products, particularly on smaller orders.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $590,945 in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $667,718 in the same three months of 2008. Such costs include payroll and related expenses, commissions, insurance, rents, professional, consulting and public awareness fees. The overall decrease of $76,773 was primarily due to an $18,384 decrease in stock based compensation and a $91,340 decrease in commissions.

Net loss was $(464,051) in the first quarter of 2009 compared to a net loss of $(299,542) for the same three months in 2008. The first quarter net loss for 2009 includes stock based payments (non-cash) of $124,777 as compared to $143,161 for the comparable period of 2008. Our 2009 net loss increased by approximately $165,000 due to substantial decreases in sales caused by customers choosing to cancel or delay purchases of promotional products primarily as a result of the general state of the economy. No benefit for income taxes is provided for in 2009 and 2008 due to the full valuation allowance on the net deferred tax assets.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The company had cash and cash equivalents of $615,566 at March 31, 2009. Cash used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2009 was $143,685. This resulted primarily from a net loss of $464,051, offset by stock based compensation of $124,777 a decrease in accounts receivable of $458,704 and an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $39,903 and a decrease of accounts payable and accrued expenses of $230,084.

The company had cash and cash equivalents of $931,624 at March 31, 2008. Cash provided by operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2008 was $162,603. This resulted primarily from a net loss of $299,542, offset by stock based compensation of $143,161 a decrease in accounts receivable of $333,815 and an increase in customer deposits of $300,000, as well as an increase prepaid expenses and other assets of $93,378 and a decrease of accounts payable and accrued expenses of $223,665.

Cash used in investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2008 was $50,000 as a result of an issuance of a note receivable.

Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2009 was $250,000 as a result of the issuance of common stock.

Our company commenced operations in 1998 and was initially funded by our three founders, each of whom has made demand loans to our Company that have been repaid. Since 1999, we have relied primarily on equity financing from outside investors to supplement our cash flow from operations.

We anticipate that our future liquidity requirements will arise from the need to finance our accounts receivable and inventories, hire additional sales persons, capital expenditures and possible acquisitions. The primary sources of funding for such requirements will be cash generated from operations, raising additional capital from the sale of equity or other securities and borrowings under debt facilities which currently do not exist. We believe that we can generate sufficient cash flow from these sources to fund our operations for at least the next fifteen months. In the event we should need additional financing, we can provide no assurances that we will be able to obtain financing on terms satisfactory to us, if at all.

Recent Financings

Between July and October 2008, the Company sold 445,000 shares of its Series A Preferred Stock at a purchase price of $1.00 per share.

On December 15, 2008, all of the Preferred Shares automatically converted into 890,000 common shares at a conversion price of $.50 per share. Exemption is claimed pursuant to Rule 506 of Regulation D of the Securities Act for the issuance of the Preferred Shares. Exemption is claimed pursuant to
Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act for the subsequent conversion of Preferred Stock into Common Stock.

In February 2009, we sold 500,000 shares of our Common Stock at an exercise price of $.50 per share, payable one-half immediately and the balance in March 2009 through the retirement of a $125,000 Note. Exemption is claimed under Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

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