Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Basis of Presentation

v3.4.0.3
Basis of Presentation
12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation:
Description of Business
Westell Technologies, Inc. (the Company) is a holding company. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Westell, Inc., designs and distributes telecommunications products, which are sold primarily to major telephone companies. Noran Tel, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Westell, Inc. Noran Tel's operations focus on power distribution product development.
Discontinued Operations
Sale of Conference Plus, Inc.
On December 31, 2011, the Company sold its wholly owned subsidiary, Conference Plus, Inc. (CPI) to Arkadin for $40.3 million in cash. Of the total sale price, $4.1 million was placed in escrow at closing for the purpose of post-closing claims. During the fiscal year 2013, the Company recorded a contingent liability of $1.5 million, pre-tax, relating to claims raised by Arkadin under the indemnity provisions of the purchase sales agreement. In fiscal years 2013 and 2014, $1.6 million and $2.5 million of the escrow were released with $3.0 million returned to the Company and $1.1 million paid to Arkadin. In fiscal years 2016 and 2015, the Company reversed the remaining contingency reserve related to potential indemnity claims that resulted in $0.4 million and $0.2 million, respectively, of pre-tax income from discontinued operations.
CNS Asset Sale
On April 15, 2011, the Company sold certain assets and transferred certain liabilities of the Customer Networking Solutions (CNS) segment to NETGEAR, Inc. for $36.7 million in cash. The Company retained a major CNS customer relationship and contract, which it completed in December 2011, and also retained the Homecloud product development program. The Company discontinued the remaining operations of the CNS segment in the first quarter of fiscal year 2014.
The Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows include discontinued operations.
Income (loss) before income taxes reported in discontinued operations is as follows:
 
Fiscal Year Ended March 31,
(in thousands)
2016
 
2015
 
2014
CPI income (loss) before income taxes
$
444

 
$
227

 
$

CNS income (loss) before income taxes

 

 
(45
)
Total discontinued operations income (loss) before income taxes
$
444

 
$
227

 
$
(45
)

Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its majority owned subsidiaries. The Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared using accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP) and include the results of companies acquired by the Company from the date of each acquisition. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and that affect revenue and expenses during the periods reported. Estimates are used when accounting for the allowance for uncollectible accounts receivable, net realizable value of inventory, product warranty accrued, relative selling prices, stock-based compensation, goodwill and intangible assets fair value, depreciation, income taxes, and contingencies, among other things. The Company bases its estimate on historical experience and on other assumptions that its management believes are reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Reclassifications
Certain amounts in the Consolidated Balance Sheets for prior periods have been reclassified to reflect the impact of adoption of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) accounting standard update (ASU) 2015-17, Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes (ASU 2015-17) described in Note 3. These reclassifications had no impact on previously reported amounts for total stockholders' equity or net income (loss).