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the impact of general economic trends on the Company's business;
the deferral or termination of programs or contracts for convenience by customers;
market acceptance of the Company's Aerospace products and or other planned products or product enhancements;
the ability to gain and maintain regulatory approval of existing products and services and receive regulatory approval of new businesses and products;
the actions of regulatory, legislative, executive or judicial decisions of the federal, state or local level with regard to our business and the impact of any such actions;
failure to retain/recruit key personnel;
the availability of government funding;
delays in receiving components from third party suppliers;
the competitive environment;
the bankruptcy or insolvency of one or more key customers;
new product offerings from competitors;
protection of intellectual property rights;
the ability to service the international market;
United States and other country defense spending cuts;
increases in the effective rate of taxation any of our properties or at the corporate level;
potential future acquisitions; and
other factors disclosed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this report. Results of operations in any past period should not be considered indicative of the results to be expected for future periods. Fluctuations in operating results may also result in fluctuations in the price of the Company's common stock.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Form 10-K. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this Form 10-K, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. The forward-looking statements in this document are intended to be subject to the safe harbor protection provided by Sections 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended (the "Exchange Act").
Investors should also be aware that while the Company, from time to time, communicates with securities analysts; it is against its policy to disclose any material non-public information or other confidential commercial information. Accordingly, shareholders should not assume that the Company agrees with any statement or report issued by any analyst irrespective of the content of the statement or report. Furthermore, the Company has a policy against issuing or confirming financial forecasts or projections issued by others. Thus, to the extent that reports issued by securities analysts contain any projections, forecasts or opinions, such reports are not the responsibility of Butler National Corporation.
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PART I
Item 1.
BUSINESS
General
Butler National Corporation (the "Company" or "BNC") is a Kansas corporation formed in 1960, with corporate headquarters at 19920 West 161st Street, Olathe, Kansas 66062.
Current Activities - The Company focuses on two primary activities, Professional Services and Aerospace products.
Aerospace Products:
Aircraft Modifications principally includes the modification of customer and company owned business-size aircraft from passenger to freighter configuration, addition of aerial photography capability, and stability enhancing modifications for Learjet, Beechcraft, Cessna, and Dassault Falcon aircraft along with other specialized modifications. We provide these services through our subsidiary, Avcon Industries, Inc. ("Aircraft Modifications" or "Avcon").
Avionics principally includes the manufacture, sale, and service of airborne electronic switching units used in DC-9, DC-10, DC-9/80, MD-80, MD-90, and the KC-10 aircraft, Transient Suppression Devices (TSDs) for fuel tank protection on Boeing Classic 737 and 747 aircraft, and other Classic aircraft using a capacitance fuel quantity indicating system ("FQIS"), airborne electronics upgrades for classic weapon control systems used on military aircraft and vehicles, and consulting services with airlines and equipment manufacturers regarding fuel system safety requirements. We provide the products through our subsidiary, Butler National Corporation - Tempe, Arizona and the services through Butler National Corporation - Olathe, Kansas ("Avionics", "Classic Aviation Products", "Safety Products", or "Switching Units").
In September 2010 we expanded this division by the acquisition of Kings Avionics, Inc. The acquisition of Kings Avionics allowed us to transition into the new technology available in avionics. Kings Avionics sells, installs and repairs avionics equipment (airplane radio equipment and flight control systems). These systems are flight display systems which include intuitive touchscreen controls with large display to give users unprecedented access to high-resolution terrain mapping, graphical flight planning, geo-referenced charting, traffic display, satellite weather and much more. Kings is also recognized nationwide for its troubleshooting and repair work particularly on autopilot systems.
Professional Services:
Butler National Services, Inc. (“BNSI” or “BNS”) provides monitoring and related repair services of water and wastewater remote pumping stations through electronic surveillance for municipalities and the private sector.
BCS Design, Inc. provides licensed architectural services. These services include commercial and industrial building design.
Butler National Service Corporation (“BNSC”) provides management services to the Boot Hill Casino and Resort, a “state owned casino” and to The Stables, an “Indian owned casino”.
Assets as of April 30, 2012, 2011, and 2010. Revenue for the year ended April 30, 2012, 2011, and 2010.
Assets
2012
2011
2010
Professional Services
Aerospace Products
Revenue
Regulations
Regulation Under Federal Aviation Administration: Aerospace is subject to regulation by the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA"). We manufacture products and parts under FAA Parts Manufacturing Authority (PMA) requiring qualification and traceability of all materials and vendors used by us. We make aircraft modifications pursuant to the authority granted by Supplemental Type Certificates issued by the FAA. We repair aircraft parts pursuant to the authority granted by our FAA Authorized Repair Station. Violation or changes to FAA regulations could be detrimental to our operation in these business segments.
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Licensing and Regulation under Federal Indian Law: Gaming on Indian land is extensively regulated by Federal, State, and Tribal governments and authorities. Regulatory changes could limit or otherwise materially affect the types of gaming that may be conducted on Indian Land. All aspects of our business operations on Indian Lands are subject to approval, regulation, and oversight by the Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA"), the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior ("Secretary"), and the National Indian Gaming Commission ("NIGC"). Our management of Class III gaming operations is also subject to approval of a Class III Gaming Compact between the Indian Tribe and the respective state. Failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, whether Federal, State or Tribal, could result in, among other things, the termination of any management agreements which would have a material adverse effect on us. We are also be required to comply with background checks as specified in Tribal-State Compacts before we can manage gaming operations on Indian land. There can be no assurance that we would continue to be successful in obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals for our gaming operations on a timely basis, or at all.
Licensing and Regulation under State Law: Our present and future stockholders are and will continue to be subject to review by regulatory agencies. Gaming licenses and/or background investigations ("license") are required in connection with our management of a State of Kansas owned Lottery Gaming Facility (a casino). Our management personnel, Butler National and/or the managing subsidiaries, the key personnel of all entities may be required to have a Lottery Gaming Facility gaming license prior to conducting operations. The failure of the Company or the key personnel to obtain or retain a license could have a material adverse effect on the Company or on its ability to obtain or retain these licenses in other jurisdictions. Each such State Gaming Agency has broad discretion in granting, renewing, and revoking licenses. Obtaining such licenses and approvals will be time consuming and cannot be assured.
The State of Kansas has approved state-owned Lottery Gaming Facilities, pari-mutuel dog and/or horse racing for non-Indian organizations. The State of Kansas operates a state lottery, keno games, and plans to operate state-owned Lottery Gaming Facilities for the benefit of the State. The Lottery Gaming Facility management contract approval process requires that any entity or person owning one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the ownership interest of the management company must be found suitable to be an owner by the State of Kansas. The Kansas Supreme Court announced its ruling affirming the constitutionality of the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act (KELA) as the law was enacted. There can be no assurances that other constitutionality challenges will not occur.
As a condition to obtaining and maintaining our various gaming approvals, we must submit reports to the Indian Tribe and the respective federal and state regulatory Agencies ("the Agency"). Any person owning or acquiring 5% or more of the Common Stock of the Company must be found suitable by one or more of the agencies or the Indian Tribes ("the Interest"). Any Agency has the authority to require a finding of suitability with respect to any stockholder regardless of the percentage of ownership.
If found unsuitable by any Agency or the Indian Tribe, the stockholder must offer all of the Ownership Interest in Company stock held by such stockholder to the Company for cash at the current market bid price less a fifteen percent (15%) administrative charge and the Company must purchase such Interest within six months of the offer. The stockholder is required to pay all costs of investigation with respect to a determination of his/her suitability. In addition, regardless of ownership, each member of the board of directors and certain officers of the Company are subject to a finding of suitability by any Agency and the Indian Tribe.
Financial Information about Industry Segments
Information with respect to our industry segments are found at Note 10 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for the three year period ended April 30, 2012.
Narrative Description of Business