Unassociated Document
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
 
FORM 6-K

 
REPORT OF FOREIGN ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
For the month of July 2005
 
HIGHWAY HOLDINGS LIMITED___
(Translation of Registrant's Name Into English)
 
 
Suite 810, Level 8
Landmark North
39 Lung Sum Avenue
Sheung Shui
______New Territories, Hong Kong________
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
 
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
 
Form 20-F X Form 40-F ___
 
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)
 
Yes ___ No X_
 
(If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-_______________.)
 
Attached to this Report on Form 6-K are the press releases issued by the registrant on July 12, 2005 and July 28, 2005.

 

 
SIGNATURES
 
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
 
     
 
HIGHWAY HOLDINGS LIMITED
 
 
 
 
 
 
Date: July 29, 2005 By:   /s/ ROLAND W. KOHL                  
  Roland W. Kohl
  Chief Executive Officer
 
 
 

 
 
NEWS RELEASE
CONTACTS:     Gary S. Maier/Crystal Chang Warner  
    Maier & Company, Inc.
    (310) 442-9852

 
HIGHWAY HOLDINGS LIMITED DECLARES ANNUAL CASH DIVIDEND
 
HONG KONG - July 12, 2005 - Highway Holdings Limited (Nasdaq: HIHO) today announced that its board of directors has declared an annual cash dividend of $0.20 per share on the company’s common stock. The dividend will be paid August 15, 2005, to shareholders of record on July 28, 2005.
 
It is the company’s policy to pay dividends when the company’s financial conditions permit. As announced on June 30, 2005, Highway Holdings completed the sale of its rights to use the Kienzle trademark in all markets, other than for clocks and watches, to a German marketing organization. The purchase price for the non-clock and watch rights for the Kienzle trademark was $1.0 million in cash. The sale of these rights will be booked in the company’s fiscal first quarter ended June 30, 2005. In addition, as part of the sale of the non-clock and watch rights to the Kienzle trademark, Kienzle AG also repurchased Highway Holdings’ equity interest in Kienzle AG for 100,000 euro (approximately $121,000). This investment had previously been written off in fiscal 2004.
 
About Highway Holdings
 
Highway Holdings produces a wide variety of high-quality products for blue chip original equipment manufacturers -- from simple parts and components to sub-assemblies and finished products. It also manufactures clocks, clock movements and watches for sale under the company's own Kienzle Uhren brand name, as well as for unaffiliated companies. Additionally, Highway Holdings manufactures or produces other finished products, including cameras and certain electronic products. Highway Holdings is headquartered in Hong Kong and operates manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen province of the People's Republic of China.
 
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental, political and technological factors affecting the company's revenues, operations, markets, products and prices, and other factors discussed in the company’s various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, the company’s annual reports on Form 20-F.
 

 
 NEWS RELEASE
 
CONTACTS:     Gary S. Maier/Crystal Chang Warner  
    Maier & Company, Inc.
    (310) 442-9852
 
HIGHWAY HOLDINGS REPORTS
FISCAL 2006 FIRST QUARTER RESULTS
 
--OEM Sales Up 23.4 Percent; Company Records Extraordinary Net Gain of $940,000 --

 
HONG KONG — July 28, 2005 — Highway Holdings Limited (Nasdaq:HIHO) today reported results for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2005 -- reflecting increasing strength of the company’s OEM manufacturing divisions and the impact of a previously announced reorganization to curtail its camera and clock operations and focus on OEM business.
 
Net income for the fiscal first quarter increased 56 percent to $540,000, or $0.16 per diluted share, from $346,000, $0.11 per diluted share, last year, primarily due to a one-time $940,000 net gain related to the sale of a portion of the company’s rights to the Kienzle trademark. Net sales for the 2006 fiscal first quarter increased 6.8 percent to $6.6 million from $6.1 million a year earlier due to increased revenues from the company’s metal and electric OEM manufacturing operations.
 
"Results for the first quarter reflect, in part, the impact of the previously announced strategic decision to curtail our camera and clock operations and focus primarily on the company’s profitable OEM manufacturing business. Though these actions are expected to provide significant long-term benefits, the impact of downsizing the camera and clock operations and replacing the camera and clock revenues with new OEM manufacturing revenues must be managed carefully. We continue to work diligently to minimize the impact in the future fiscal quarters. The strong increase of the company’s metal and electric OEM business for the quarter, which increased 13.4 percent and 78.5 percent, respectively, over the first quarter of Fiscal 2004, allowed us to curtail a substantial part of our camera and clock business without hindering the overall growth of the company,” said Roland Kohl, chairman and chief executive officer of Highway Holdings.
 
Gross profit as a percentage of sales for the first fiscal quarter of fiscal 2005 decreased to 21 percent from 24 percent in the same period a year ago. The company attributed the reduction primarily to the increases in the cost of raw materials, such as metal and plastic materials, and increases in labor and facility costs, as well as losses associated with the business transition/downsizing activities -- particularly the liquidation of certain clock and camera inventories at prices below the normal sales price.
 
 
 

 
 
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $205,000, essentially due to general increases in wages, salaries and additional personnel costs associated with implementing an ERP computer system and additional costs for accountants and office administrative staff. The additional accounting and administrative costs are in part due to increased accounting control systems related to Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.
 
The decreased gross profit combined with the increased SG&A expenses resulted in a decrease in operating profit to $42,000 for the quarter compared with $342,000 in the same quarter a year ago.
 
The company is presently reorganizing operations into two main business sections:
 
a)  
The metal OEM business---- components, assemblies and finished products
   
b)  
The plastic/electronic OEM business---- components, assemblies and finished products
 
 
Sales derived from the company’s metal OEM manufacturing division during the current fiscal quarter increased by 13.3 percent to $4.3 million from $3.8 million in the comparable quarter last year. Sales from the company’s electronic OEM division, the fastest growing section of the OEM business, increased 78.5 percent to $1.2 million from $669,000 in the same quarter a year earlier.
 
As anticipated, camera sales decreased in the first fiscal quarter to $711,000 from $1.1 million a year ago due to the company’s downsizing efforts and to market conditions for the company’s film based cameras in general. Camera sales represented 10.8 percent of total sales in the quarter ended June 30, 2005 compared with 18.6 percent in the comparable quarter a year ago. Since most of the company’s camera products are film-based, the company’s camera operations are expected to be fully phased out during the second or third quarter of fiscal 2006, excluding its underwater camera business which is expected to continue as part of the plastic/electronic OEM operations.
 
Watch and clock sales under the company’s own label declined to $371,000 from $552,000 a year ago - representing 5.7 percent of total sales compared with 9.0 percent last year. Products sold under the company’s Kienzle brand label will continue to be recorded separately. The company intends to sell, modify and/or retrench from this business over the balance of the current fiscal year.
 
 
 

 
 
The company’s operating income was also adversely affected by an almost $400,000 currency exchange loss due to the U.S. dollar/euro rate fluctuations. In the first fiscal quarter of last year, the company had a net currency exchange gain of $44,000.
 
The company recorded extraordinary income of $940,000 as a result of the sale of its Kienzle brand name for products other than watch and clocks. The selling price for these Kienzle rights was $1,000,000. Kienzle is a trademark primarily associated with clocks and watches. The company intends to sell the remaining rights of the Kienzle brand for watches and clocks, as well as some, or all, of the assets of its watch, clock and camera operations. As a result, the company expects to receive additional extraordinary income during this fiscal year as a result of these sales efforts.
 
Kohl highlighted the company’s strong balance sheet. At June 30, 2005, the company had working capital of $10.7 million compared with $9.9 million at March 31, 2005. The company’s cash position (including restricted cash) increased to $6.5 million from $4.9 million, reflecting the proceeds from the previously announced sale of the Kienzle brand name and a reduction of the company’s accounts receivable by $688.000.
 
The company recently declared a cash dividend of $0.20 per share, which dividend will be payable in August 2005 to holders of record on July 28, 2005.
 
Total shareholders’ equity improved to $13.7 million from $13.1 million last year. The company’s current ratio was 2.66:1 at June 30, 2005, with essentially no long-term debt.
 
About Highway Holdings
 
Highway Holdings produces a wide variety of high-quality products for blue chip original equipment manufacturers -- from simple parts and components to sub-assemblies and finished products. It also manufactures clocks, clock movements and watches for sale under the company's own Kienzle Uhren brand name, as well as for unaffiliated companies. Additionally, Highway Holdings manufactures or produces other finished products, including single-use and 35mm cameras and certain electronic products. Highway Holdings is headquartered in Hong Kong and operates manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen province of the People's Republic of China.
 
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental, political and technological factors affecting the company's revenues, operations, markets, products and prices, and other factors discussed in the company’s various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, the company’s annual reports on Form 20-F.
 

 
HIGHWAY HOLDINGS LIMITED AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statement of Income
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
 
     
Quarter Ended June 30, 
 
     
2005
   
2004
 
Net sales
 
$
6,563
 
$
6,148
 
Cost of sales
   
5,182
   
4,672
 
Gross profit
   
1,381
   
1,476
 
Selling, general and administrative expenses
   
1,339
   
1,134
 
Operating income
   
42
   
342
 
               
Non-operating items
             
Interest expenses
   
(29
)
 
(24
)
Exchange gain (loss), net
   
(398
)
 
44
 
Interest income
   
10
   
1
 
Other income
   
945
   
36
 
Total non-operating income
   
528
   
57
 
               
Shares of loss of affiliate
   
0
   
(1
)
               
Net income before income tax
   
570
   
398
 
Income taxes
   
30
   
52
 
Net income before minority interest
   
540
   
346
 
               
Minority interest
   
0
   
0
 
Net income after minority interest
 
$
540
 
$
346
 
               
Earning per share - basic
 
$
0.16
 
$
0.11
 
Weighted average number of shares - basic
   
3,302
   
3,171
 
               
Earning per share - diluted
 
$
0.16
 
$
0.10
 
Weighted average number of shares - diluted
   
3,455
   
3,374
 

HIGHWAY HOLDINGS LIMITED AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheet
(In thousands, except per share data)
               
 
   
June 30, 
   
March 31
 
     
2005
   
2005
 
   
(Unaudited) 
       
Current assets
             
Cash and cash equivalents
 
$
5,522
 
$
3,948
 
Restricted cash
   
965
   
965
 
Short term investment
   
296
   
296
 
Accounts receivable, net of doubtful accounts
   
4,477
   
5,165
 
Inventories
   
5,212
   
5,062
 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
   
709
   
721
 
Total current assets
   
17,181
   
16,157
 
               
               
Property, plant and equipment, net
   
3,245
   
3,473
 
Investment and advance in affiliate
   
2
   
2
 
Industrial property rights
   
403
   
468
 
               
Total assets
 
$
20,831
 
$
20,100
 
               
Current liabilities:
             
Short-term borrowings
 
$
3,437
 
$
2,846
 
Current portion of long-term debt
   
405
   
409
 
Accounts payable
   
1,330
   
1,449
 
Accrual payroll and employee benefits
   
358
   
331
 
Accrued mould charges
   
207
   
208
 
Other liabilities and accrued expenses
   
583
   
945
 
Income tax payable
   
129
   
119
 
Total current liabilities
   
6,449
   
6,307
 
               
Long-term debt
   
458
   
558
 
Deferred income taxes
   
174
   
174
 
Minority interest
   
3
   
3
 
               
Shareholders’ equity:
             
Common shares, $0.01 par value, authorized 20,000,000 shares
   
33
   
33
 
Additional paid-in capital
   
9,832
   
9,820
 
Retained earnings
   
4,020
   
3,480
 
Accumulated other comprehensive income
   
(85
)
 
(222
)
Treasury shares, at cost-37,800 shares
   
(53
)
 
(53
)
Total shareholders’ equity
   
13,747
   
13,058
 
               
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity
 
$
20,831
 
$
20,100