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Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
 12 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2012
Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

1. Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Organization—Mitcham Industries, Inc., a Texas corporation (the “Company”), was incorporated in 1987. The Company, through its wholly owned Canadian subsidiaries, Mitcham Canada, Ltd. (“MCL”) and Absolute Equipment Solutions, Inc. (“AES”), its wholly owned Russian subsidiary, Mitcham Seismic Eurasia LLC (“MSE”) and its branch operations in Colombia and Peru, provides full-service equipment leasing, sales and service to the seismic industry worldwide. The Company, through its wholly owned Australian subsidiary, Seismic Asia Pacific Pty Ltd. (“SAP”), provides seismic, oceanographic and hydrographic leasing and sales worldwide, primarily in Southeast Asia and Australia. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Seamap International Holdings Pte, Ltd. (“Seamap”), designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of proprietary products for the seismic, hydrographic and offshore industries with product sales and support facilities based in Huntsville, Texas, Singapore and the United Kingdom. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

Revenue Recognition of Leasing Arrangements—The Company leases various types of seismic equipment to seismic data acquisition companies. The majority of leases at January 31, 2012 and 2011 are for one year or less. Lease revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the lease. The Company does not enter into leases with embedded maintenance obligations. The standard lease provides that the lessee is responsible for maintenance and repairs to the equipment, excluding normal wear and tear. The Company provides technical advice to its customers without additional compensation as part of its customer service practices. Repairs or maintenance performed by the Company is charged to the lessee, generally on a time and materials basis.

Revenue Recognition of Equipment Sales—Revenues and cost of goods sold from the sale of equipment is recognized upon acceptance of terms and when delivery has occurred, unless there is a question as to its collectability. In cases where the equipment sold is manufactured by others, the Company reports revenues at gross because the Company (a) is the obligor in the sales arrangement; (b) has full latitude in pricing the product for sale; (c) has general inventory risk should there be a problem with the equipment being sold to the customer or if the customer does not complete payment for the items purchased; (d) has discretion in supplier selection if the equipment ordered is not unique to one manufacturer; and (e) assumes credit risk for the equipment sold to its customers.

Revenue Recognition of Long-term Projects—From time to time, SAP enters into contracts whereby it assembles and sells certain marine equipment, primarily to governmental entities. Performance under these contracts generally occurs over a period of several months. Revenue and costs related to these contracts are accounted for under the percentage of completion method, based on estimated physical completion.

Service agreements—Seamap provides on-going support services pursuant to contracts that generally have a term of 12 months. The Company recognizes revenue from these contracts over the term of the contract. In some cases the Company will provide support services on a time and material basis. Revenue from these arrangements is recognized as the services are provided. For certain new systems that Seamap sells, the Company provides support services for up to 12 months at no additional charge. Any amounts attributable to these support obligations are immaterial.

Contracts receivable—In connection with the sale of seismic equipment, the Company will from time to time accept a contract receivable as partial consideration. These contracts bear interest at a market rate and generally have terms of less than two years and are collateralized by a security interest in the equipment sold. Interest income on contracts receivable is recognized as earned, unless there is a question as to collectability in which case it is recognized when received.

 

Allowance for doubtful accounts—Trade receivables are uncollateralized customer obligations due under normal trade terms. The carrying amount of trade receivables and contracts receivable is reduced by a valuation allowance that reflects management’s estimate of the amounts that will not be collected, based on the age of the receivable, payment history of the customer, general financial condition of the customer and any financial or operational leverage the Company may have in a particular situation. Amounts are written-off when collection is deemed unlikely. Past due amounts are determined based on contractual terms.

Cash and Cash Equivalents—The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.

Short-term Investments—The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity greater than three months, but less than twelve months, to be short-term investments.

Inventories—Inventories are stated at the lower of average cost (which approximates first-in, first-out) or market. An allowance for obsolescence is maintained to reduce the carrying value of any materials or parts that may become obsolete. Inventories are periodically monitored to ensure that the reserve for obsolescence covers any obsolete items.

Seismic Equipment Lease Pool—Seismic equipment held for lease consists primarily of recording channels and peripheral equipment and is carried at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed on the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the equipment, which are five to seven years for channel boxes and two to ten years for other peripheral equipment. As this equipment is subject to technological obsolescence and wear and tear, no salvage value is assigned to it. The Company continues to lease seismic equipment after it has been fully depreciated if it remains in acceptable condition and meets acceptable technical standards. This fully depreciated equipment remains in fixed assets on the Company’s books. The Company removes from its books the cost and accumulated depreciation of fully depreciated assets that are not expected to generate future revenues.

Property and Equipment—Property and equipment is carried at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed on the straight-line method over their related estimated useful lives. The estimated useful lives of equipment range from three to seven years. Buildings are depreciated over 30 years and property improvements are amortized over 10 years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of useful life or the life of the respective leases. No salvage value is assigned to property and equipment.

Intangible Assets—Intangible assets are carried at cost, net of accumulated amortization. Amortization is computed on the straight-line method over the estimated life of the asset. Covenants-not-to-compete are amortized over a three-year period. Proprietary rights are amortized over a 12.5 to 15-year period.

Impairment—The Company applies Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 360-10, Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets (“ASC 360-10”), to its long-lived assets, including its amortizable intangible assets. ASC 360-10 requires that long-lived assets be measured at the lower of carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell. The Company, under the guidance of ASC 350, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other, performs an impairment test on goodwill on an annual basis. No impairment charges related to long-lived assets or goodwill were recorded during fiscal 2012, 2011 or 2010.

Product Warranties—Seamap provides its customers warranty against defects in materials and workmanship generally for a period of three months after delivery of the product. The Company maintains an accrual for potential warranty costs based on historical warranty claims. For the years ended January 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, warranty expense amounted to approximately $3,000, $ 70,000, and $281,000, respectively.

 

Income Taxes—The Company accounts for income taxes under the liability method, whereby the Company recognizes, on a current and long-term basis, deferred tax assets and liabilities which represent differences between the financial and income tax reporting bases of its assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on temporary differences between income and expenses reported for financial reporting and tax reporting. The Company has assessed, using all available positive and negative evidence, the likelihood that the deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income.

The weight given to the potential effect of negative and positive evidence is commensurate with the extent to which it can be objectively verified. The preponderance of negative or positive evidence supports a conclusion regarding the need for a valuation allowance for some portion of, or all of, the deferred tax asset. The more significant types of evidence considered include the following:

 

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taxable income projections in future years;

 

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whether the carry forward period is so brief that it would limit realization of tax benefits;

 

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future sales and operating cost projections that will produce more than enough taxable income to realize the deferred tax asset based on existing sales prices and cost structures; and

 

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earnings history exclusive of the loss that created the future deductible amount coupled with evidence indicating that the loss is an aberration rather than a continuing condition.

Use of Estimates—The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in these consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Estimates are used for, but not limited to the allowance for doubtful accounts, lease pool valuations, valuation allowance on deferred tax assets, the evaluation of uncertain tax positions, estimated depreciable lives of fixed assets and intangible assets, impairment of fixed assets and intangible assets and the valuation of stock options. Future events and their effects cannot be perceived with certainty. Accordingly, these accounting estimates require the exercise of judgment. The accounting estimates used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements will change as new events occur, as more experience is acquired, as additional information is obtained and as the Company’s operating environment changes. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Substantial judgment is necessary in the determination of the appropriate levels for the Company’s allowance for doubtful accounts because of the extended payment terms the Company often offers to its customers and the limited financial wherewithal of certain of these customers. As a result, the Company’s allowance for doubtful accounts could change in the future, and such change could be material to the financial statements taken as a whole. The Company must also make substantial judgments regarding the valuation allowance on deferred tax assets.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments—The Company’s financial instruments consist of trade receivables, contracts receivable and accounts payable. Due to the short maturities of these financial instruments, the Company believes that their fair value approximates their carrying amounts.

Foreign Currency Translation—All balance sheet accounts of the Canadian, Australian, Singaporean, United Kingdom and Russian subsidiaries have been translated at the current exchange rate as of the end of the accounting period. Statements of operations items have been translated at average currency exchange rates. The resulting translation adjustment is recorded as a separate component of comprehensive income within shareholders’ equity.

 

Stock-Based Compensation—Effective February 1, 2006, the Company adopted the provisions of authoritative guidance included in ASC 718 Compensation-Stock Compensation (“ASC 718”) using the modified prospective transition method. Under this method, stock-based compensation expense recognized for share-based awards during the fiscal year ended January 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 includes (a) compensation expense for all stock-based compensation awards granted prior to, but not yet vested as of, February 1, 2006, based on the grant date fair value estimated in accordance with authoritative guidance in effect prior to February of 2006, and (b) compensation expense for all stock-based compensation awards granted subsequent to February 1, 2006, based on the grant date fair value estimated in accordance with the provisions of authoritative guidance included in ASC 718.

Earnings Per Share—Net income per basic common share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Net income per diluted common share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares and potential common shares outstanding during the period. Potential common shares result from the assumed exercise of outstanding common stock options having a dilutive effect using the treasury stock method, from unvested shares of restricted stock using the treasury stock method and from outstanding common stock warrants. For the fiscal years ended January 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, the following table sets forth the number of dilutive shares that may be issued pursuant to options, restricted stock and warrants outstanding used in the per share calculations.

                         
    Years Ended January 31,  
    2012     2011     2010  
    (in thousands)  

Stock options

     618       299       155  

Restricted stock

     19       12       6  

Phantom stock

     —         —         3  
   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

  

Total dilutive shares

     637       311       164  
   

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

  

Anti-dilutive weighted shares of potential common stock of 339,000, 726,000 and 1,019,000 for the fiscal years ended January 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively, have been excluded from the effect of dilutive shares.

Reclassifications—Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on the results of operations or comprehensive income.