Toro 2015 Annual Report Download - page 17

majority of our BOSS distributors and dealers. Under these financ- Available Information
ing arrangements, down payments are not required, and depend- We are a U.S. public reporting company under the Securities
ing on the finance program for each product line, finance charges Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (‘‘Exchange Act’’), and file
are incurred by us, shared between us and the distributor and/or reports, proxy statements, and other information with the Securities
the dealer, or paid by the distributor or dealer. Red Iron retains a and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’). Copies of these reports,
security interest in the distributors’ and dealers’ financed invento- proxy statements, and other information can be inspected and cop-
ries, and those inventories are monitored regularly. Floor plan ied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street N.E.,
terms to the distributors and dealers require payment as the equip- Washington, D.C. 20549. You may obtain information on the oper-
ment, which secures the indebtedness, is sold to customers or ation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at
when payment terms become due, whichever occurs first. Rates 1-800-SEC-0330. Because we make filings to the SEC electroni-
are generally indexed to LIBOR plus a fixed percentage that differs cally, you may also access this information from the SEC’s home
based on whether the financing is for a distributor or dealer. Rates page on the Internet at http://www.sec.gov.
may also vary based on the product that is financed. We make available, free of charge on our web site
We continue to provide financing in the form of open account www.thetorocompany.com (select the ‘‘Investor Information’’ link
terms directly to home centers and mass retailers; general line and then the ‘‘Financials’’ link), our Annual Reports on Form 10-K,
irrigation dealers; international distributors and dealers other than Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K,
the Canadian distributors and dealers to whom Red Iron provides Proxy Statements on Schedule 14A, Section 16 reports, amend-
financing arrangements; micro-irrigation dealers and distributors; ments to those reports, and other documents filed or furnished
government customers; rental companies; and a limited number of pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as
BOSS dealers. Some independent international dealers continue to reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material
finance their products with third party sources. with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The information contained on our
web site or connected to our web site is not incorporated by refer-
End-User Financing. We have agreements with third party ence into this Annual Report on Form 10-K and should not be
financing companies to provide lease-financing options to golf considered part of this report.
course and sports fields and grounds equipment customers in the
U.S and select countries in Europe. The purpose of these agree- Forward-Looking Statements
ments is to increase sales by giving buyers of our products alter- This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains, or incorporates by
native financing options when purchasing our products. reference, not only historical information, but also forward-looking
We also have agreements with third party financing companies statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
to provide financing programs under both generic and private label of 1933, as amended (‘‘Securities Act’’), and Section 21E of the
programs in the U.S. and Canada. These programs, offered prima- Exchange Act, and that are subject to the safe harbor created by
rily to Toro and Exmark dealers, provide end-user customers those sections. In addition, we or others on our behalf may make
revolving and installment lines of credit for Toro and Exmark prod- forward-looking statements from time to time in oral presentations,
ucts, parts, and services. including telephone conferences and/or web casts open to the
Distributor Financing. Occasionally, we enter into long-term public, in press releases or reports, on our web sites or otherwise.
loan agreements with some distributors. These transactions are Statements that are not historical are forward-looking and reflect
used for expansion of the distributors’ businesses, acquisitions, expectations and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are
refinancing working capital agreements, or ownership transitions. based on our current expectations of future events, and often can
As of October 31, 2015, we had an outstanding note receivable be identified in this report and elsewhere by using words such as
from one distributor company in the aggregate amount of ‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘strive,’’ ‘‘looking ahead,’’ ‘‘outlook,’’ ‘‘guidance,’’ ‘‘fore-
$1.0 million. cast,’’ ‘‘goal,’’ ‘‘optimistic,’’ ‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘continue,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘esti-
mate,’’ ‘‘project,’’ ‘‘believe,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘can,’’ ‘‘will,’’
Employees ‘‘would,’’ ‘‘possible,’’ ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘likely,’’ ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘seek,’’ and similar
During fiscal 2015, we employed an average of 6,682 employees. expressions or future dates. Our forward-looking statements gener-
The total number of employees as of October 31, 2015 was 6,874. ally relate to our future performance, including our anticipated
We consider our employee relations to be good. As of October 31, operating results, liquidity requirements, and financial condition; our
2015, four collective bargaining agreements, including a new business strategies and goals; and the effect of laws, rules, regula-
agreement we entered into during fiscal 2015 as a result of the tions, new accounting pronouncements, and outstanding litigation
acquisition of the BOSS business, each expire in October 2016, on our business and future performance.
October 2017, March 2018, and May 2018, and cover approxi- Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that
mately 18 percent of our total employees. could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected
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