7. INVESTMENTS IN JOINT VENTURES

The financial statements of the Company’s foreign joint ventures are initially prepared using the accounting principles accepted in the respective joint ventures’ countries of domicile. Amounts related to foreign joint ventures reported in the below tables and the accompanying financial statements have subsequently been adjusted to conform with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America in all material respects. All material profits recorded on sales from the Company to its joint ventures and from joint ventures to other joint ventures have been eliminated for financial reporting purposes.

Financial information of the Company’s joint venture in Germany, Excor Korrosionsschutz – Technologien und Produkte GmbH (EXCOR), China, Tianjin-Zerust Anticorrosion Co., Ltd. (Tianjin Zerust) (See Note 8), Finland and India for the periods for which it was accounted for under the equity method and all of the Company’s other joint ventures, are summarized as follows:

	August 31, 2015
	TOTAL		EXCOR		India		Finland		All Other

Current assets	$	49,295,116	$	22,620,323	$	4,035,396	$	1,415,816	$	21,223,581
Total assets		52,853,938		24,606,880		4,328,196		2,197,047		21,721,815
Current liabilities		12,288,383		3,360,142		1,030,718		178,961		7,718,562
Noncurrent liabilities		1,215,139		—		155,168		433,624		626,347
Joint ventures’ equity		39,350,417		21,246,738		3,142,310		1,584,461		13,376,908
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of joint ventures’ equity		20,544,238		11,571,361		1,482,342		840,263		6,650,272
Northern Technologies International Corporation's share of joint ventures’ undistributed earnings	$	18,483,377	$	11,540,456	$	617,520	$	820,263	$	5,505,138

	Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015
	TOTAL		EXCOR		India		Finland		All Other

Net sales	$	99,026,251	$	36,872,664	$	7,000,715	$	3,557,252	$	51,595,620
Gross profit		48,397,318		19,993,763		3,292,243		1,858,310		23,253,002
Net income		11,849,107		8,201,659		983,179		518,900		2,145,369
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of equity in income from joint ventures	$	5,936,565	$	4,091,608	$	492,379	$	263,749	$	1,088,829

	August 31, 2014
	TOTAL		EXCOR		Tianjin Zerust		All Other
Current assets	$	61,491,957	$	24,361,157	$	9,774,680	$	27,356,120
Total assets		65,466,964		26,652,165		9,793,803		29,020,996
Current liabilities		17,542,634		3,512,143		4,438,380		9,592,111
Noncurrent liabilities		1,929,488		—		868,377		1,061,111
Joint ventures’ equity		45,994,842		23,140,022		4,487,046		18,367,775
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of joint ventures’ equity		22,961,989		11,570,013		2,243,524		9,148,452
Northern Technologies International Corporation's share of joint ventures’ undistributed earnings	$	20,540,523	$	11,539,108	$	2,193,524	$	6,807,891

	Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2014
	TOTAL		EXCOR		Tianjin Zerust		All Other
Net sales	$	118,848,890	$	39,944,812	$	15,920,685	$	62,983,393
Gross profit		56,960,918		21,045,091		7,463,168		28,452,659
Net income		11,842,338		7,906,693		1,274,487		2,661,158
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of equity in income from joint ventures	$	5,920,603	$	3,950,915	$	626,763	$	1,342,925

	Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2013
	TOTAL		EXCOR		Tianjin Zerust		All Other
Net sales	$	113,189,068	$	36,476,544	$	15,161,289	$	61,551,235
Gross profit		52,058,609		19,470,322		7,153,395		25,434,891
Net income		10,650,542		7,009,897		1,157,995		2,482,650
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of equity in income from joint ventures	$	5,237,711	$	3,507,057	$	579,376	$	1,151,278

On January 2, 2015, the Company announced that, effective as of December 31, 2014, the Company terminated its joint venture agreements with its previous joint venture in China, Tianjin Zerust, and began the process of liquidating the joint venture entity. Since December 31, 2014, the Company has conducted business in China through a wholly-owned subsidiary, NTIC (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. As of December 31, 2014, the Company started recognizing Tianjin Zerust based on its carrying value instead of the equity method since the Company no longer expects to significantly affect the joint venture’s operations or decision making. See Note 8.

Because of the lack of financial and other information received from Tianjin Zerust, it is possible that receipt of future financial and other information from Tianjin Zerust may impact the realization of NTIC’s investment in and realization of a receivable from Tianjin Zerust. The last time the Company received financial information from Tianjin Zerust was through November 2014. NTIC as of August 31, 2015, does not believe there are any triggering events that would require an impairment test. NTIC’s current net investment is approximately $1.1 million, which is 60% of its investment in Tianjin Zerust, which was $1,883,668 as of August 31, 2015. The Company will continue to evaluate the realization of this asset on an ongoing basis and adjust if necessary.

The Company records expenses that are directly attributable to the joint ventures on its consolidated statements of operations in the line item “Expenses incurred in support of joint ventures.” The expenses include items such as employee compensation and benefit expenses, travel expense and consulting expense.

The Company did not make any joint venture investments during fiscal 2015. On May 31, 2014, NTI Asean purchased the other 50% ownership interest in its joint venture in Singapore for $110,988. The Company did not make any other joint venture investments during fiscal 2014.

On November 30, 2013, the Company agreed to sell its indirect ownership interest in Mütec GmbH (Mütec), the Company’s former joint venture in Germany which manufactures proprietary electronic sensing instruments. In connection with the transaction, the owner of Mütec borrowed $168,000 from the Company to be repaid over four years with no interest. As of August 31, 2015 and August 31, 2014, $125,891 and $156,854 was due to the Company related to this transaction.