NOTE A — BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Organization and business

Lifetime Brands, Inc. (the “Company”) designs, sources and sells branded kitchenware, tableware and other products used in the home and markets its products under a number of brand names and trademarks, which are either owned or licensed by the Company or through retailers’ private labels. The Company markets and sells its products principally on a wholesale basis to retailers. The Company also markets and sells a limited selection of its products directly to consumers through its Pfaltzgraff^®, Mikasa^®, Lifetime Sterling^® and The English Table Internet websites.

Basis of presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring accruals, considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013. Operating results for the three month period ended March 31, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2014.

The Company’s business and working capital needs are highly seasonal, with a majority of sales occurring in the third and fourth quarters. In 2013 and 2012, net sales for the third and fourth quarters accounted for 61% and 58% of total annual net sales, respectively. In anticipation of the pre-holiday shipping season, inventory levels increase primarily in the June through October time period.

Revenue recognition

The Company sells products wholesale, to retailers and distributors, and retail, directly to the consumer. Wholesale sales and retail sales are recognized when title passes to the customer, which is primarily at the shipping point for wholesale sales and upon delivery to the customer for retail sales. Shipping and handling fees that are billed to customers in sales transactions are included in net sales and amounted to $370,000 and $441,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. Net sales exclude taxes that are collected from customers and remitted to the taxing authorities.

The Company offers various sales incentives and promotional programs to its customers from time to time in the normal course of business. These incentives and promotions typically include arrangements such as cooperative advertising, buydowns, volume rebates and discounts. These arrangements and an estimate of sales returns are reflected as reductions in net sales in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Distribution expenses

Distribution expenses consist primarily of warehousing expenses and freight-out expenses.

Inventory

Inventory consists principally of finished goods sourced from third-party suppliers. Inventory also includes finished goods, work in process and raw materials related to the Company’s manufacture of sterling silver products. Inventory is priced by the lower of cost (first-in, first-out basis) or market method. The Company estimates the selling price of its inventory on a product by product basis based on the current selling environment. If the estimated selling price is lower than the inventory’s cost, the Company reduces the value of the inventory to its net realizable value.

The components of inventory are as follows:


	March 31,		December 31,
	2014		2013
	(in thousands)
Finished goods	$	132,836	$	108,340
Work in process		1,896		1,966
Raw materials		1,652		2,485

Total	$	136,384	$	112,791

Fair value of financial instruments

The Company determined the carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable are reasonable estimates of their fair values because of their short-term nature. The Company determined that the carrying amounts of borrowings outstanding under its revolving credit facility, credit agreement term loan and senior secured term loan approximate fair value since such borrowings bear interest at variable market rates.

Derivatives

The Company accounts for derivative instruments in accordance with ASC Topic No. 815, Derivatives and Hedging. ASC Topic No. 815 requires that all derivative instruments be recognized on the balance sheet at fair value as either an asset or liability. Changes in the fair value of derivatives that qualify as hedges and have been designated as part of a hedging relationship for accounting purposes have no net impact on earnings to the extent the derivative is considered highly effective in achieving offsetting changes in fair value or cash flows attributable to the risk being hedged, until the hedge item is recognized in earnings. If the derivative which is designated as part of a hedging relationship is considered ineffective in achieving offsetting changes in fair value or cash flows attributable to the risk being hedged, the changes in fair value are recorded in operations. For derivatives that do not qualify or are not designated as hedging instruments for accounting purposes, changes in fair value are recorded in operations.

The Company is a party to interest rate swap agreements with an aggregate notional amount of $28.9 million to manage interest rate exposure in connection with its variable interest rate borrowings. The hedge period in the agreements commenced in March 2013 and expires in June 2018 and the notional amount amortizes over this period. The interest rate swap agreements were designated as a cash flow hedge under ASC Topic No. 815. The effective portion of the fair value gain or loss on these agreements are recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss. The effect of recording these derivatives at fair value resulted in an unrealized gain of $9,000 and $13,000, net of taxes, for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. No amounts recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss are expected to be reclassified to interest expense in the next twelve months.

The fair value of the derivatives have been obtained from the counterparties to the agreement and were based on Level 2 observable inputs using proprietary models and estimates about relevant future market conditions. The aggregate fair value of the Company’s interest rate derivative instruments was a liability of $40,000 and $54,000 at March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively, and is included in Other long-term liabilities.

The Company has also entered into certain foreign exchange contracts, to primarily offset the earnings impact related to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates associated with inventory purchases denominated in foreign currencies. Although these foreign exchange contracts have not been designated as hedges as required in order to apply hedge accounting, the contracts are effective from an economic perspective. The changes in the fair value of these contracts are recorded in earnings immediately. A gain of approximately $2,000 is included within Selling, general and administrative expenses in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

The aggregate gross notional amount of foreign exchange contracts at March 31, 2014 was $12.9 million. The fair value of the Company’s foreign exchange contracts was a liability of $738,000 and is included within Other long-term liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. The fair value of the derivatives have been obtained from the counterparties to the agreement and were based on Level 2 observable inputs using proprietary models and estimates about relevant future market conditions.

Employee Healthcare

The Company self-insures certain portions of its health insurance plan. The Company maintains an accrual for unpaid claims and estimated claims incurred but not yet reported (“IBNR”). Although management believes that it uses the best information available to estimate claims IBNR, actual claims may vary significantly from estimated claims.

Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncements

Effective January 1, 2013, the Company adopted ASU No. 2013-02, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, which requires an entity to provide information about the amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by component. In addition, an entity is required to present, either on the face of the statement where net income is presented or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by the respective line items of net income but only if the amount reclassified is required under GAAP to be reclassified to net income in its entirety in the same reporting period. For other amounts that are not required under GAAP to be reclassified in their entirety to net income (e.g., net periodic pension benefit cost), an entity is required to cross-reference to other disclosures required under GAAP that provide additional detail about those amounts. In connection with the adoption of this standard, the Company added additional disclosure about the Company’s accumulated other comprehensive income to Note K of its financial statements.