UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

 

 

Form 10-K

 

 

For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016

Commission File Number 1-14173

 

 

MarineMax, Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

 

 

2600 McCormick Drive

Suite 200

Clearwater, Florida 33759

(727) 531-1700

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of principal executive offices)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

 

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.   Yes  ☐   No  ☑

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.   Yes  ☐   No  ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.   Yes  ☑   No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).   Yes  ☑  No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.450 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company.  See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.  (Check one):

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).     Yes  ☐     No  ☑

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant (22,846,454 shares) based on the closing price of the registrant’s common stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on March 31, 2016, which was the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $444,820,459.  For purposes of this computation, all officers and directors of the registrant are deemed to be affiliates.  Such determination should not be deemed to be an admission that such officers and directors are, in fact, affiliates of the registrant.

As of December 1, 2016, there were outstanding 26,048,059 shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $.001 per share.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.

 

 

 

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MARINEMAX, INC.

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

The statements contained in this report on Form 10-K that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws.  Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our “expectations,” “anticipations,” “intentions,” “beliefs,” or “strategies” regarding the future.  Forward-looking statements also include statements regarding revenue, margins, expenses, and earnings for fiscal 2017 and thereafter; our belief that our practices enhance our ability to attract more customers, foster an overall enjoyable boating experience, and offer boat manufacturers stable and professional retail distribution and a broad geographic presence; our assessment of our competitive advantages, including our hassle-free sales approach, prime retail locations, premium product offerings, extensive facilities, strong management and team members, and emphasis on customer service and satisfaction before and after a boat sale; our belief that our core values of customer service and satisfaction and our strategies will enable us to achieve success and long-term growth as economic conditions continue to recover; and our belief that our retailing strategies are aligned with the desires of consumers.  All forward-looking statements included in this report are based on information available to us as of the filing date of this report, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.  Our actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements.  Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the factors discussed under Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”

 

 

 

 

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PART I

 

 

Introduction

Our Company

We are the largest recreational boat and yacht dealer in the United States.  Through 56 retail locations in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Texas, we sell new and used recreational boats, including pleasure and fishing boats, with a focus on premium brands in each segment.  We also sell related marine products, including engines, trailers, parts, and accessories.  In addition, we provide repair, maintenance, and slip and storage services; we arrange related boat financing, insurance, and extended service contracts; we offer boat and yacht brokerage sales; and we operate a yacht charter business.

We are the nation’s largest retailer of Sea Ray and Boston Whaler recreational boats and yachts which are manufactured by Brunswick Corporation (“Brunswick”).  Sales of new Brunswick boats accounted for approximately 40% of our revenue in fiscal 2016. Sales of new Sea Ray and Boston Whaler boats, both divisions of Brunswick, accounted for approximately 24% and 14%, respectively, of our revenue in fiscal 2016. Brunswick is a world leading manufacturer of marine products and marine engines.  We believe our sales represented approximately 10% of all Brunswick marine sales, including approximately 53% of its Sea Ray boat sales, during our fiscal 2016.  We have agreements with Brunswick covering Sea Ray products and Boston Whaler products and are the exclusive dealer of Sea Ray and Boston Whaler boats in almost all of our geographic markets.  We also are the exclusive dealer for Meridian Yachts, and Harris aluminum boats, both divisions of Brunswick, in most of our geographic markets. We also are the exclusive dealer for Italy-based Azimut-Benetti Group, or Azimut, for Azimut mega-yachts, yachts, and other recreational boats for the United States. Sales of new Azimut boats accounted for approximately 11% of our revenue in fiscal 2016. Additionally, we are the exclusive dealer for certain other premium brands that serve certain industry segments in our markets as shown by the table on page four.

We commenced operations as a result of the March 1, 1998 acquisition of five previously independent recreational boat dealers.  Since that time, we have acquired 26 additional previously independent recreational boat dealers, two boat brokerage operations, and two full-service yacht repair operations.  We attempt to capitalize on the experience and success of the acquired companies in order to establish a high national standard of customer service and responsiveness in the highly fragmented retail boating industry.  As a result of our emphasis on premium brand boats, our average selling price for a new boat in fiscal 2016 was approximately $198,000, an increase of approximately 16% from approximately $171,000 in fiscal 2015, compared with the industry average selling price for calendar 2015 of approximately $42,000 based on industry data published by the National Marine Manufacturers Association.  Our stores that operated at least 12 months averaged approximately $18.5 million in annual sales in fiscal 2016.  We consider a store to be one or more retail locations that are adjacent or operate as one entity.  Our same-store sales increased 6% in fiscal 2014 and increased 22% in fiscal 2015 and 2016.

We attempt to adopt the best practices developed by us and our acquired companies as appropriate to enhance our ability to attract and retain more customers, foster an overall enjoyable boating experience, and offer boat manufacturers stable and professional retail distribution and a broad geographic presence.  We believe that our full range of services, hassle free approach, prime retail locations, premium product offerings, extensive facilities, strong management and team members, and emphasis on customer service and satisfaction before and after a boat sale are competitive advantages that enable us to be more responsive to the needs of existing and prospective customers. We strive to provide superior customer service and support before, during, and after the sale.

The U.S. recreational boating industry generated approximately $35.9 billion in retail sales in calendar 2015, which is down from the peak of $39.5 billion in calendar 2006. Total powerboats sold in calendar 2015 were approximately 183,100 units as compared to 298,100 units sold in calendar 2006.  The retail sales include sales of new and used boats; marine products, such as engines, trailers, equipment, and accessories; and related expenditures, such as fuel, insurance, docking, storage, and repairs.  Retail sales of new and used boats, engines, trailers, and accessories accounted for approximately $26.7 billion of these sales in 2015 based on industry data from the National Marine Manufacturers Association.  The highly fragmented retail boating industry generally consists of small dealers that operate in a single market and provide varying degrees of merchandising, professional management, and customer service.  We believe that many small dealers are finding it increasingly difficult to make the managerial and capital commitments necessary to achieve higher customer service levels and upgrade systems and facilities as required by boat manufacturers and often demanded by customers.  We also believe that many dealers lack an exit strategy for their owners.  We believe these factors contribute to our opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in current and future markets, through market expansions and acquisitions.

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Strategy

Our goal is to enhance our position as the nation’s leading recreational boat dealer.  Key elements of our operating and growth strategy include the following:

Development of the Company; Expansion of Business

MarineMax was founded in January 1998.  MarineMax itself, however, conducted no operations until the acquisition of five independent recreational boat dealers on March 1, 1998, and we completed our initial public offering in June 1998.  Since the initial acquisitions in March 1998, we have acquired 26 additional recreational boat dealers, two boat brokerage operations, and two full-service yacht repair operations.  Acquired dealers operate under the MarineMax name.

We continually attempt to enhance our business by providing a full range of services, offering extensive and high-quality product lines, maintaining prime retail locations, pursuing the MarineMax One Price hassle-free sales approach, and emphasizing a high level of customer service and satisfaction.

We also from time to time evaluate opportunities to expand our operations by acquiring recreational boat dealers to expand our geographic scope, expanding our product lines, opening new retail locations within or outside our existing territories, and offering new products and services for our customers.

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Acquisitions of additional recreational boat dealers represent an important strategy in our goal to enhance our position as the nation’s largest retailer of recreational boats.  The following table sets forth information regarding the businesses that we have acquired and their geographic regions.

 

 

 

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Apart from acquisitions, we have opened 33 new retail locations in existing territories, excluding those opened on a temporary basis for a specific purpose.  We also monitor the performance of our retail locations and close retail locations that do not meet our expectations.  Based on these factors and previous depressed economic conditions, we have closed 63 retail locations since March 1998, excluding those opened on a temporary basis for a specific purpose, including 26 in fiscal 2009 and a total of six during the last three fiscal years.

As a part of our acquisition strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with various recreational boat dealers regarding their potential acquisition by us.  In connection with these discussions, we and each potential acquisition candidate exchange confidential operational and financial information; conduct due diligence inquiries; and consider the structure, terms, and conditions of the potential acquisition.  In certain cases, the prospective acquisition candidate agrees not to discuss a potential acquisition with any other party for a specific period of time, grants us an option to purchase the prospective dealer for a designated price during a specific time period, and agrees to take other actions designed to enhance the possibility of the acquisition, such as preparing audited financial information and converting its accounting system to the system specified by us.  Potential acquisition discussions frequently take place over a long period of time and involve difficult business integration and other issues, including in some cases, management succession and related matters.  As a result of these and other factors, a number of potential acquisitions that from time to time appear likely to occur do not result in binding legal agreements and are not consummated.

In addition to acquiring recreational boat dealers and opening new retail locations, we also add new product lines to expand our operations.  The following table sets forth certain of our current product lines that we have added to our existing locations during the years indicated.

 

 

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We add brands with the intent to either offer a migration path for our existing customer base or fill a gap in our product offerings.  As a result, we believe that new brands we offer are generally complementary and do not cannibalize the business generated from our other prominent brands.  We also discontinue offering product lines from time to time, primarily based upon customer preferences.

During the nine-year period from the commencement of our operations through our fiscal year ended September 30, 2007, our revenue increased from $291.0 million to more than $1.2 billion.  Our revenue and net income increased in seven of those nine years over the prior year revenue and net income.  This period was marked by an increase in retail locations from 41 on September 30, 1998 to 88 on September 30, 2007, resulting from acquisitions and opening new stores in existing territories.

Our growth was interrupted during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007, primarily as a result of factors related to the deteriorating housing market and general economic conditions.  The substantially deteriorating economic and financial conditions, reduced consumer confidence and spending, increased fuel prices, reduction of credit availability, financial market declines, and asset value deterioration all contributed to substantially lower financial performance in the fiscal years ended September 30, 2008 and 2009, including significant net losses, followed by pre-tax losses in the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and 2011.  We returned to profitability in fiscal 2012.

As industry conditions continue to recover, we strive to maintain our core values of high customer service and satisfaction and plan to continue to pursue strategies that we believe will enable us to achieve long-term success and growth. As noted in the earlier table, we have capitalized on a number of brand expansion opportunities in the markets in which we operate.  We believe our expanded product offerings have strengthened our same-store sales growth. We plan to further expand our business through both acquisitions in new territories and new store openings in existing territories.  In addition, we plan to continue to expand our other traditional and newly offered services, including conducting used boat sales at our retail locations, at offsite locations, and on the Internet; selling related marine products, including engines, trailers, parts, and accessories at our retail locations and at various offsite locations, and through our print catalog; providing maintenance, repair, and storage services at most of our retail locations; offering our customers the ability to finance new or used boats; offering extended service contracts; arranging insurance coverage, including boat property, credit-life, accident, disability, and casualty coverage; offering boat and yacht brokerage sales at most of our retail locations and at various offsite locations; and conducting our yacht charter business. Our expansion plans will depend, in large part, upon economic and industry conditions.

We maintain our executive offices at 2600 McCormick Drive, Suite 200, Clearwater, Florida 33759, and our telephone number is (727) 531-1700.  We were incorporated in the state of Delaware in January 1998 and then re-incorporated in Florida in March 2015. Unless the context otherwise requires, all references to “MarineMax” mean MarineMax, Inc. prior to its acquisition of five previously independent recreational boat dealers in March 1998 (including their related real estate companies) and all references to the “Company,” “our company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” mean, as a combined company, MarineMax, Inc. and the 26 recreational boat dealers, two boat brokerage operations, and two full-service yacht repair operations acquired to date (the “acquired dealers,” and together with the brokerage and repair operations, “operating subsidiaries,” or the “acquired companies”).

Our website is located at www.MarineMax.com.  Through our website, we make available free of charge our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K, our proxy statements, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  These reports are available as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file those reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).  We also post on our website the charters of our Audit, Compensation, and Nominating/Corporate Governance Committees; our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and Code of Ethics for the CEO and Senior Financial Officers, and any amendments or waivers thereto; and any other corporate governance materials contemplated by the SEC or the regulations of the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE.  These documents are also available in print to any stockholder requesting a copy from our corporate secretary at our principal executive offices.  Because our common stock is listed on the NYSE, our Chief Executive Officer is required to make an annual certification to the NYSE stating that he is not aware of any violation by us of the corporate governance listing standards of the NYSE.  Our Chief Executive Officer made his annual certification to that effect to the NYSE on February 29, 2016.

Business

General

We are the largest recreational boat dealer in the United States.  Through 56 retail locations in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Texas, we sell new and used recreational boats, including pleasure boats (such as sport boats, sport cruisers, sport yachts, and yachts), and fishing boats, with a focus on premium brands in each segment.

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We are the nation’s largest retailer of Sea Ray and Boston Whaler recreational boats and yachts, which are manufactured by Brunswick Corporation, or Brunswick.  Sales of new Brunswick boats accounted for approximately 40% of our revenue in fiscal 2016. Sales of new Sea Ray and Boston Whaler boats, both divisions of Brunswick, accounted for approximately 24% and 14%, respectively, of our revenue in fiscal 2016. Brunswick is a world leading manufacturer of marine products and marine engines.  We believe our sales represented approximately 10% of all Brunswick marine sales, including approximately 53% of its Sea Ray boat sales, during our fiscal 2016.  We have agreements with Brunswick covering Sea Ray products and Boston Whaler products and are the exclusive dealer of Sea Ray and Boston Whaler boats in almost all of our geographic markets.  We also are the exclusive dealer for Meridian Yachts and Harris aluminum boats, both divisions of Brunswick, in most of our geographic markets. We also are the exclusive dealer for Italy-based Azimut-Benetti Group, or Azimut, for Azimut mega-yachts, yachts, and other recreational boats for the United States. Sales of new Azimut boats accounted for approximately 11% of our revenue in fiscal 2016. Additionally, we are the exclusive dealer for certain other premium brands that serve specific industry segments in our markets as shown by the table on page four.

We also are involved in other boating-related activities.  We sell used boats at our retail locations, online, and at various third-party marinas and other offsite locations; we sell marine engines and propellers, primarily to our retail customers as replacements for their existing engines and propellers; we sell a broad variety of parts and accessories at our retail locations and at various offsite locations, and through our print catalog; we offer maintenance, repair, and slip and storage services at most of our retail locations; we offer finance and insurance, or F&I, products at our retail locations and at various offsite locations and to our customers and independent boat dealers and brokers; we offer boat and yacht brokerage sales at most of our retail locations and at various offsite locations; and we conduct a yacht charter business in which we offer customers the opportunity to charter third-party and company owned power and sailing yachts in exotic locations.

U.S. Recreational Boating Industry

The U.S. recreational boating industry generated approximately $35.9 billion in retail sales in calendar 2015, which is down from the peak of $39.5 billion in calendar 2006. The retail sales include sales of new and used recreational boats; marine products, such as engines, trailers, parts, and accessories; and related boating expenditures, such as fuel, insurance, docking, storage, and repairs.  Retail sales of new and used boats, engines, trailers, equipment, and accessories accounted for approximately $26.7 billion of such sales in calendar 2015. Total powerboats sold in calendar 2015 were approximately 183,100 units as compared to 298,100 units sold in calendar 2006. Annual retail recreational boating sales were $17.9 billion in 1988, but declined to a low of $10.3 billion in 1992 based on industry data published by the National Marine Manufacturers Association.  We believe this decline was attributable to several factors, including a recession, the Gulf War, and the imposition throughout 1991 and 1992 of a luxury tax on boats sold at prices in excess of $100,000.  The luxury tax was repealed in 1993, and retail boating sales increased each year thereafter except for 1998, 2003, and 2007 through 2010.

The recreational boat retail market remains highly fragmented with little consolidation having occurred to date and consists of numerous boat retailers, most of which are small companies owned by individuals that operate in a single market and provide varying degrees of merchandising, professional management, and customer service. We believe that many boat retailers are encountering increased pressure from boat manufacturers to improve their levels of service and systems, increased competition from larger national retailers in certain product lines, and, in certain cases, business succession issues.

Strategy

Our goal is to enhance our position as the nation’s leading recreational boat dealer.  Key elements of our operating and growth strategy include the following.

Emphasizing Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty.   We seek to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction and establish long-term customer loyalty by creating an overall enjoyable boating experience beginning with a hassle-free purchase process.  We seek to further enhance and simplify the purchase process by helping to arrange financing and insurance at our retail locations with competitive terms and streamlined turnaround.  We offer the customer a thorough in-water orientation of boat operations where available, as well as ongoing boat safety, maintenance, and use seminars and demonstrations for the customer’s entire family.  We also continue our customer service after the sale by leading and sponsoring MarineMax Getaways! group boating trips to various destinations, rendezvous gatherings, and on-the-water organized events to provide our customers with pre-arranged opportunities to enjoy the pleasures of the boating lifestyle.  We also endeavor to provide superior maintenance and repair services, often through mobile service at the customer’s wet slip and with extended service department hours and emergency service availability, that minimize the hassles of boat maintenance.

Achieving Operating Efficiencies and Synergies.   We strive to increase the operating efficiencies of and achieve certain synergies among our dealerships in order to enhance internal growth and profitability.  We centralize various aspects of certain administrative functions at the corporate level, such as accounting, finance, insurance coverage, employee benefits, marketing,

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strategic planning, legal support, purchasing and distribution, and management information systems.  Centralization of these functions reduces duplicative expenses and permits the dealerships to benefit from a level of scale and expertise that would otherwise be unavailable to each dealership individually.  We also seek to realize cost savings from reduced inventory carrying costs as a result of purchasing boat inventories on a national level and directing boats to dealership locations that can more readily sell such boats; lower financing costs through our credit sources; and volume purchase discounts and rebates for certain marine products, supplies, and advertising.  The ability of our retail locations to offer the complementary services of our other retail locations, such as offering customer excursion opportunities, providing maintenance and repair services at the customer’s boat location, and giving access to broader inventory selections, increases the competitiveness of each retail location.  By centralizing these types of activities, our store managers have more time to focus on the customer and the development of their teams.

Promoting Brand Name Recognition and the MarineMax Connection.  We are promoting our brand name recognition to take advantage of our status as the nation’s only coast-to-coast marine retailer.  This strategy also recognizes that many existing and potential customers who reside in Northern markets and vacation for substantial periods in Southern markets will likely prefer to purchase and service their boats from the same well-known company.  We refer to this strategy as the “MarineMax Connection.” As a result, our signage emphasizes the MarineMax name at each of our locations, and we conduct national advertising in various print and other media.

Offering Additional Products and Services, Including Those Involving Higher Profit Margins.  We plan to continue to offer additional product lines and services throughout our dealerships and, when appropriate, online and various offsite locations.  We are increasingly offering throughout our dealerships product lines that previously have been offered only at certain of our locations.  We also obtain additional product lines through the acquisition of distribution rights directly from manufacturers and the acquisition of dealerships with distribution rights.  In either situation, such expansion is typically done through agreements that appoint us as the exclusive dealer for a designated geographic territory.  We plan to continue to grow our financing and insurance, parts and accessories, service, and boat storage businesses to better serve our customers and thereby increase revenue and improve profitability of these higher margin businesses.  We also have implemented programs to increase the generation of leads and sales of boats over the Internet.  In addition, we have established a yacht charter business and are conducting programs to sell used boats, offer F&I products, and sell boating parts and accessories at various offsite locations.

Marketing over the Internet.  Our web initiatives span across multiple websites, including our core site, www.MarineMax.com.  The websites provide customers with the ability to learn more about our company and our products.  Our website generates direct sales and provides our stores with leads to potential customers for new and used boats, brokerage sales, finance and insurance products, and repair and maintenance services.  In addition, we utilize various feeder websites and social networking websites to drive additional traffic and leads for our various product and service offerings.  As mentioned above, we also maintain multiple online storefronts for customers to submit an inquiry, purchase boats, and purchase a wide variety of boating parts and accessories.

Pursuing Strategic Acquisitions.  One of our strategies is to capitalize upon the significant consolidation opportunities available in the highly fragmented recreational boat dealer industry by acquiring independent dealers and improving their performance and profitability through the implementation of our operating strategies.  The primary acquisition focus is on well-established, high-end recreational boat dealers in geographic markets not currently served by us, particularly geographic markets with strong boating demographics, such as areas within the coastal states and the Great Lakes region.  We also may seek to acquire boat dealers that, while located in attractive geographic markets, have not been able to realize favorable market share or profitability and that can benefit substantially from our systems and operating strategies.  We may expand our range of product lines, service offerings, and market penetration by acquiring companies that distribute recreational boat product lines or boating-related services different from those we currently offer.  As a result of our considerable industry experience and relationships, we believe we are well positioned to identify and evaluate acquisition candidates and assess their growth prospects, the quality of their management teams, their local reputation with customers, and the suitability of their locations.  We believe we are regarded as an attractive acquirer by boat dealers because of: (1) the historical performance and the experience and reputation of our management team within the industry; (2) our decentralized operating strategy, which generally enables the managers of an acquired dealer to continue their involvement in dealership operations; (3) the ability of management and employees of an acquired dealer to participate in our growth and expansion through potential stock ownership and career advancement opportunities; and (4) the ability to offer liquidity to the owners of acquired dealers through the receipt of common stock or cash.  We have entered into an agreement regarding acquisitions with the Sea Ray Division of Brunswick.  Under the agreement, acquisitions of Sea Ray dealers will be mutually agreed upon by us and Sea Ray with reasonable efforts to be made to include a balance of Sea Ray dealers that have been successful and those that have not been.  The agreement provides that Sea Ray will not unreasonably withhold its consent to any proposed acquisition of a Sea Ray dealer by us, subject to the conditions set forth in the agreement, as further described in “Business — Brunswick Agreement Relating to Acquisitions.”

Opening New Facilities.  We will continue to establish additional retail facilities in our existing and new markets subject to conditions.  We believe that the demographics of our existing geographic territories support the opening of additional facilities, and we have opened 33 new retail facilities, excluding those opened on a temporary basis for a specific purpose, since our formation in January 1998.  We continually monitor the performance of our retail locations and close retail locations that do not meet our

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expectations or that were opened for a specific purpose that is no longer relevant.  Based on these factors since March 1998, we have closed 63 retail locations, excluding those opened on a temporary basis for a specific purpose, including 26 in fiscal 2009 (and a total of six during the last three fiscal years).

Emphasizing Employee Recruitment and Retention through Training, Motivation, and Development.  We devote substantial efforts to recruit employees that we believe to be exceptionally well qualified for their position and to train our employees to understand our core retail philosophies, which focus on making the purchase of a boat and its subsequent use as hassle-free and enjoyable as possible.  Through our MarineMax University, or MMU, we teach our retail philosophies to existing and new employees at various locations and online, through MMU-online.  MMU is a modularized and instructor-led educational program that focuses on our retailing philosophies and provides instruction on such matters as the sales process, customer service, F&I, accounting, leadership, and human resources.

Emphasizing Best Practices.  We emphasize the best practices developed by us and our acquired dealers as appropriate throughout our locations.  As an example, we have implemented a hassle-free approach at each of our dealerships.  Under the MarineMax One Price hassle-free sales approach, we sell our boats at prices generally representing a discount from the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, thereby eliminating the anxieties of price negotiations that occur in most boat purchases.  In addition, we adopt the best practices developed by us and our acquired dealers as applicable, considering location, design, layout, product purchases, maintenance and repair services (including extended service hours and mobile or dockside services), product mix, employee training, and customer education and services.

Operating with Decentralized Management.  We maintain a generally decentralized approach to the operational management of our dealerships.  The decentralized management approach takes advantage of the extensive experience of local managers, enabling them to implement policies and make decisions, including the appropriate product mix, based on the needs of the local market.  Local management authority also fosters responsive customer service and promotes long-term community and customer relationships.  In addition, the centralization of certain administrative functions at the corporate level enhances the ability of local managers to focus their efforts on day-to-day dealership operations and the customers.

Utilizing Technology Throughout Operations.  We believe that our management information system, which currently is being utilized by each of our dealerships and was developed over a number of years through cooperative efforts with a common vendor, enhances our ability to integrate successfully the operations of our dealerships and future acquired dealers.  The system facilitates the interchange of information and enhances cross-selling opportunities throughout our company.  The system integrates each level of operations on a company-wide basis, including but not limited to purchasing, inventory, receivables, payables, financial reporting, budgeting, and sales management.  The system also provides sales representatives with prospect and customer information that aids them in tracking the status of their contacts with prospects, automatically generates follow-up correspondence to such prospects, facilitates the availability of boats company-wide, locates boats needed to satisfy particular customer requests, and monitors the maintenance and service needs of customers’ boats.  Our representatives also utilize the computer system to assist in arranging customer financing and insurance packages.  Our managers use a web-based tool to access essentially all financial and operational data from anywhere at any time.

Products and Services

We offer new and used recreational boats and related marine products, including engines, trailers, parts, and accessories.  While we sell a broad range of new and used boats, we focus on premium brand products.  In addition, we assist in arranging related boat financing, insurance, and extended service contracts; provide boat maintenance and repair services; offer slip and storage accommodations; provide boat and yacht brokerage sales; and conduct a yacht charter business.

New Boat Sales

We primarily sell recreational boats, including pleasure boats and fishing boats.  A number of the products we offer are manufactured by Brunswick, a leading worldwide manufacturer of recreational boats, including Sea Ray pleasure boats, Boston Whaler fishing boats, Harris aluminum boats, and Meridian Yachts. Sales of new Brunswick boats accounted for approximately 40% of our revenue in fiscal 2016. Sales of new Sea Ray and Boston Whaler boats, both divisions of Brunswick, accounted for approximately 24% and 14%, respectively, of our revenue in fiscal 2016. We believe our sales represented approximately 10% of all Brunswick marine sales, including approximately 53% of its Sea Ray boat sales, during our fiscal 2016.  Certain of our dealerships also sell luxury yachts, fishing boats, and pontoon boats provided by other manufacturers, including Italy-based Azimut. Sales of new Azimut boats accounted for approximately 11% of our revenue in fiscal 2016. During fiscal 2016, new boat sales accounted for 68.5% or $645.3 million of our revenue.

We offer recreational boats in most market segments, but have a particular focus on premium quality pleasure boats and yachts as reflected by our fiscal 2016 average new boat sales price of approximately $198,000 an increase of approximately 16% from

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approximately $171,000 in fiscal 2015, compared with an estimated industry average selling price for calendar 2015 of approximately $42,000 based on industry data published by the National Marine Manufacturers Association.  Given our locations in some of the more affluent, offshore boating areas in the United States and emphasis on high levels of customer service, we sell a relatively higher percentage of large recreational boats, such as mega-yachts, yachts, and sport cruisers.  We believe that the product lines we offer are among the highest quality within their respective market segments, with well-established trade-name recognition and reputations for quality, performance, and styling.

The following table is illustrative of the range and approximate manufacturer suggested retail price range of new boats that we currently offer, but is not all inclusive.

 

 

Motor Yachts.  Hatteras Yachts, Ocean Alexander Yachts, and Azimut are three of the world’s premier yacht builders.  The motor yacht product lines typically include state-of-the-art designs with live-aboard luxuries.  Hatteras offers a flybridge with extensive guest seating; covered aft deck, which may be fully or partially enclosed, providing the boater with additional living space; an elegant salon; and multiple staterooms for accommodations.  Azimut yachts are known for their Americanized open layout with Italian design and powerful performance.  The luxurious interiors of Azimut yachts are accented by windows and multiple accommodations that have been designed for comfort.  Ocean Alexander Yachts are known for their excellent engineering, performance, and functionality combined with luxuries typically found on larger mega yachts.

Convertibles.  Hatteras Yachts is one of the world’s premier convertible yacht builders and offers state-of-the-art designs with live-aboard luxuries.  Convertibles are primarily fishing vessels, which are well equipped to meet the needs of even the most serious tournament-class competitor.  Hatteras features interiors that offer luxurious salon/galley arrangements, multiple staterooms with private heads, and a cockpit that includes a bait and tackle center, fishbox, and freezer.  

Pleasure Boats.  Sea Ray and Meridian pleasure boats target both the luxury and the family recreational boating markets and come in a variety of configurations to suit each customer’s particular recreational boating style.  Sea Ray sport yachts and yachts serve the luxury segment of the recreational boating market and include top-of-the-line living accommodations with a salon, a fully equipped galley, and multiple staterooms.  Sea Ray sport yachts and yachts are available in cabin, bridge cockpit, and cruiser models.  Sea Ray sport boat and sport cruiser models are designed for performance and dependability to meet family recreational needs and include many of the features and accommodations of Sea Ray’s sport yacht and yacht models.  Meridian sport yachts and yachts are known for their solid performance and thoughtful use of space with 360-degree views and spacious salon, galley, and stateroom accommodations.  Meridian sport yachts and yachts are generally available in sedan and motoryacht models.  All Sea Ray and Meridian pleasure boats feature custom instrumentation that may include an electronics package; various hull, deck, and cockpit

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designs that can include a swim platform; bow pulpit and raised bridge; and various amenities, such as swivel bucket helm seats, lounge seats, sun pads, wet bars, built-in ice chests, and refreshment centers. Most Sea Ray and Meridian pleasure boats feature Mercury or MerCruiser engines.  We believe Atlantis sport cruisers offer a unique-on-the-water experience with the Azimut expertise expressed in a design concept that merges sportiness with the comfort and relative ease of navigation. Galeon is one of Europe’s leading boat manufacturers. We believe Galeon yachts combine the latest technology and design with unparalleled modern styling and convenience.  Aquila power catamarans provide form, function, and offer practicality and comfort with trend setting innovation. Harris is one of the most innovative and premium pontoon boats offered and provides a variety of models to fit boaters’ needs.  Crest provides a variety of high quality pontoon models to meet family recreational needs.

Fishing Boats.  The fishing boats we offer, such as Boston Whaler, Grady White, Scout, Sailfish and Sea Pro, range from entry level models to advanced models designed for fishing and water sports in lakes, bays, and off-shore waters, with cabins with limited live-aboard capability.  The fishing boats typically feature livewells, in-deck fishboxes, rodholders, rigging stations, cockpit coaming pads, and fresh and saltwater washdowns.

Ski Boats.  The ski boats we offer are Nautique by Correct Craft, which range from entry level models to advanced models and all of which are designed to achieve an ultimate wake for increased skier and wakeboarder performance and safety.  With a variety of designs and options, Nautique ski boats appeal to the competitive and recreational user alike.

Jet Boats.  The Scarab jet boats we offer range from entry level models to advanced models, all of which are designed for performance and with exclusive design elements to meet family recreational needs. With a variety of designs and options, the jet boats we offer will appeal to a broad audience of jet boat enthusiasts as well as existing customers.

Used Boat Sales

We sell used versions of the new makes and models we offer and, to a lesser extent, used boats of other makes and models generally taken as trade-ins. During fiscal 2016, used boat sales accounted for 17.5% or $165.5 million of our revenue, and 62.8% of the used boats we sold were Brunswick models.

Our used boat sales depend on our ability to source a supply of high-quality used boats at attractive prices.  We acquire substantially all of our used boat inventory through customer trade-ins.  We intend to continue to increase our used boat business as a result of the availability of quality used boats generated from our new boat sales efforts, the increasing number of used boats that are well-maintained through our service initiatives, our ability to market used boats throughout our combined dealership network to match used boat demand, and the experience of our yacht brokerage operations.  Additionally, substantially all of our used boat inventory is posted on our website, which expands the awareness and availability of our products to a large audience of boating enthusiasts.  We also sell used boats at various marinas and other offsite locations throughout the country.

To further enhance our used boat sales, we offer the Brunswick Product Protection warranty plan available for used Brunswick boats less than nine years old.  The Brunswick Product Protection plan applies to each qualifying used boat, which has passed a 48-point inspection, and provides protection against failure of most mechanical parts for up to three years.  We believe these type of programs enhance our sales of used boats by motivating purchasers of used boats to complete their purchases through our dealerships.

Marine Engines, Related Marine Equipment, and Boating Parts and Accessories

We offer marine engines and equipment, substantially all of which are manufactured by Mercury Marine, a division of Brunswick.  We sell marine engines and propellers primarily to retail customers as replacements for their existing engines or propellers.  Mercury Marine has introduced various new engine models that reduce engine emissions to comply with current Environmental Protection Agency requirements.  See “Business — Environmental and Other Regulatory Issues.” An industry leader for over seventy-five years, Mercury Marine specializes in state-of-the-art marine propulsion systems and accessories.  Many of our dealerships have been recognized by Mercury Marine as “Premier Service Dealers.” This designation is generally awarded based on meeting certain standards and qualifications.

We also sell a broad variety of marine parts and accessories at our retail locations, at various offsite locations, and through our print catalog.  These marine parts and accessories include marine electronics; dock and anchoring products, such as boat fenders, lines, and anchors; boat covers; trailer parts; water sport accessories, such as tubes, lines, wakeboards, and skis; engine parts; oils; lubricants; steering and control systems; corrosion control products and service products; high-performance accessories, such as propellers and instruments; and a complete line of boating accessories, including life jackets, inflatables, and water sports equipment.  We also offer novelty items, such as shirts, caps, and license plates bearing the manufacturer’s or dealer’s logos. In all of our parts and accessories business, we utilize our industry knowledge and experience to offer boating enthusiasts high-quality products with which we have experience.

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The sale of marine engines, related marine equipment, and boating parts and accessories, which are all tangible products, accounted for 3.5% or $32.6 million of our fiscal 2016 revenue.

Maintenance, Repair, and Storage Services

Providing customers with professional, prompt maintenance and repair services is critical to our sales efforts and contributes to our success.  We provide maintenance and repair services at most of our retail locations, with extended service hours at certain of our locations.  In addition, in many of our markets, we provide mobile maintenance and repair services at the location of the customer’s boat.  We believe that this service commitment is a competitive advantage in the markets in which we compete and is critical to our efforts to provide a trouble-free boating experience.  To further this commitment, in certain of our markets, we have opened stand-alone maintenance and repair facilities in locations that are more convenient for our customers and that increase the availability of such services.  We also believe that our maintenance and repair services contribute to strong customer relationships and that our emphasis on preventative maintenance and quality service increases the potential supply of well-maintained boats for our used boat sales.

We perform both warranty and non-warranty repair services, with the cost of warranty work reimbursed by the manufacturer in accordance with the manufacturer’s warranty reimbursement program.  For warranty work, most manufacturers, including Brunswick, reimburse a percentage of the dealer’s posted service labor rates, with the percentage varying depending on the dealer’s customer satisfaction index rating and attendance at service training courses.  We derive the majority of our warranty revenue from Brunswick products, as Brunswick products comprise the majority of products sold.  Certain other manufacturers reimburse warranty work at a fixed amount per repair.  Because boat manufacturers permit warranty work to be performed only at authorized dealerships, we receive substantially all of the warranted maintenance and repair work required for the new boats we sell.  The third-party extended warranty contracts we offer also result in an ongoing demand for our maintenance and repair services for the duration of the term of the extended warranty contract.

Our maintenance and repair services are performed by manufacturer-trained and certified service technicians.  In charging for our mechanics’ labor, many of our dealerships use a variable rate structure designed to reflect the difficulty and sophistication of different types of repairs.  The percentage markups on parts are similarly based on manufacturer suggested prices and market conditions for different parts.

At many of our locations, we offer boat storage services, including in-water slip storage and inside and outside land storage.  These storage services are offered at competitive market rates and include in-season and winter storage.

Maintenance, repair, and storage services accounted for 5.5% or $51.5 million of our revenue during fiscal 2016 of which, 3.5% or $33.2 million related to repair services, 0.8% or $7.5 million related to parts and accessories for repairs, and 1.2% or $10.8 million related to income from storage service rentals.  This includes warranty and non-warranty services.

F&I Products

At each of our retail locations and at various offsite locations where applicable, we offer our customers the ability to finance new or used boat purchases and to purchase extended service contracts and arrange insurance coverage, including boat property, credit life, and accident, disability, undercoating, and casualty insurance coverage (collectively, “F&I”). We have relationships with various national marine product lenders under which the lenders purchase retail installment contracts evidencing retail sales of boats and other marine products that are originated by us in accordance with existing pre-sale agreements between us and the lenders.  These arrangements permit us to receive a portion of the finance charges expected to be earned on the retail installment contract based on a variety of factors, including the credit standing of the buyer, the annual percentage rate of the contract charged to the buyer, and the lender’s then current minimum required annual percentage rate charged to the buyer on the contract.  This participation is subject to repayment by us if the buyer prepays the contract or defaults within a designated time period, usually 90 to 180 days.  To the extent required by applicable state law, our dealerships are licensed to originate and sell retail installment contracts financing the sale of boats and other marine products.

We also offer third-party extended service contracts under which, for a predetermined price, we provide all designated services pursuant to the service contract guidelines during the contract term at no additional charge to the customer above a deductible.  While we sell all new boats with the boat manufacturer’s standard hull and engine warranty, extended service contracts provide additional coverage beyond the time frame or scope of the manufacturer’s warranty.  Purchasers of used boats generally are able to purchase an extended service contract, even if the selected boat is no longer covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.  Generally, we receive a fee for arranging an extended service contract.  Most required services under the contracts are provided by us and paid for by the third-party contract holder.

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We also are able to assist our customers with the opportunity to purchase credit life insurance, accident and disability insurance, and property and casualty insurance.  Credit life insurance policies provide for repayment of the boat financing contract if the purchaser dies while the contract is outstanding.  Accident and disability insurance policies provide for payment of the monthly contract obligation during any period in which the buyer is disabled.  Property and casualty insurance covers loss or damage to the boat.  We do not act as an insurance broker or agent or issue insurance policies on behalf of insurers.  We do, however, provide marketing activities and other related services to insurance companies and brokers for which we receive marketing fees.  One of our strategies is to generate increased marketing fees by offering more competitive insurance products.

During fiscal 2016, fee income generated from F&I products accounted for 2.5% or $23.3 million of our revenue.  We believe that our customers’ ability to obtain competitive financing quickly and easily at our dealerships complements our ability to sell new and used boats.  We also believe our ability to provide customer-tailored financing on a “same-day” basis gives us an advantage over many of our competitors, particularly smaller competitors that lack the resources to arrange boat financing at their dealerships or that do not generate sufficient volume to attract the diversity of financing sources that are available to us.

Brokerage Sales

Through employees or subcontractors that are licensed boat or yacht brokers where applicable, we offer boat or yacht brokerage sales at most of our retail locations.  For a commission, we offer for sale brokered boats or yachts, listing them on various Internet sites, advising our other retail locations of their availability through our integrated computer system, and posting them on our website, www.MarineMax.com.  Often sales are co-brokered, with the commission split between the buying and selling brokers.  We believe that our access to potential used boat customers and methods of listing and advertising customers’ brokered boats or yachts is more extensive than is typical among brokers.  In addition to generating revenue from brokerage commissions, our brokerage sales also enable us to offer a broad array of used boats or yachts without increasing related inventory costs.  During fiscal 2016, brokerage sales commissions accounted for 2.0% or $18.7 million of our revenue.

Our brokerage customers generally receive the same high level of customer service as our new and used boat customers.  Our waterfront retail locations enable in-water demonstrations of an on-site brokered boat.  Our maintenance and repair services, including mobile service, also are generally available to our brokerage customers.  The purchaser of a boat brokered through us also can take advantage of MarineMax Getaways! weekend and day trips and other rendezvous gatherings and in-water events, as well as boat operation and safety seminars.  We believe that the array of services we offer are unique in the brokerage business.

Yacht Charter

In 2011 we launched a yacht charter business in which we offer customers the opportunity to charter power and sailing yachts in exotic destinations, starting with our initial location in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).  In this business, we sell specifically designed yachts to third parties for inclusion in our yacht charter fleet; enter into yacht management agreements under which yacht owners enable us to put their yachts in our yacht charter program for a period of four to five years for a fixed monthly fee payable by us; provide our services in storing, insuring, and maintaining their yachts; and charter these yachts to vacation customers at agreed fees payable to us.  The yacht owners will be able to utilize the yachts for personal use for a designated number of weeks during the term of the management agreement and take possession of their yachts following the expiration of the yacht management agreements.

In addition to the specific business we launched in the BVI, we also offer yacht charter services. For a fee, we assist yacht owners in the charter of their vessel by third-parties. During fiscal 2016, the income from rentals of chartering power and sailing yachts and yacht charter fees, accounted for 0.5% or $5.1 million of our revenue.

Offsite Sales

We sell used boats, offer F&I products, and sell parts and accessories at various third-party offsite locations, including marinas.

Retail Locations

We sell our recreational boats and other marine products and offer our related boat services through 56 retail locations in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Texas.  Each retail location generally includes an indoor showroom (including some of the industry’s largest indoor boat showrooms) and an outside area for displaying boat inventories, a business office to assist customers in arranging financing and insurance, and maintenance and repair facilities.

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Many of our retail locations are waterfront properties on some of the nation’s most popular boating locations, including the San Diego Bay in California; Norwalk Harbor and Westbrook Harbor in Connecticut; multiple locations on the Intracoastal Waterway, the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay, Boca Ciega Bay, Caloosahatchee River, Naples Bay, Tampa Bay, Pensacola Bay, and the Saint Andrews Bay in Florida; Lake Lanier in Georgia; Chesapeake Bay in Maryland; Lake Minnetonka, and the St. Croix River in Minnesota; Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake in Missouri; Barnegat Bay, Lake Hopatcong, Little Egg Harbor Bay, and the Manasquan River in New Jersey; Great South Bay, the Hudson River, and Huntington Harbor in New York; Boston Harbor and Weymouth Black River in Massachusetts; Masonboro Inlet in North Carolina; Lake Erie in Ohio; Grand Lake in Oklahoma; Newport Harbor and Greenwich Bay in Rhode Island; and Clear Lake, Lake Lewisville, and Lake Conroe in Texas.  Our waterfront retail locations, most of which include marina-type facilities and docks at which we display our boats, are easily accessible to the boating populace, serve as in-water showrooms, and enable the sales force to give customers immediate in-water demonstrations of various boat models.  Most of our other locations are in close proximity to water.

Operations

Dealership Operations and Management

We have adopted a generally decentralized approach to the operational management of our dealerships.  While certain administrative functions are centralized at the corporate level, local management is primarily responsible for the day-to-day operations of the retail locations.  Each retail location is managed by a general manager, who oversees the day-to-day operations, personnel, and financial performance of the individual store, subject to the direction of a regional president, who generally has responsibility for the retail locations within a specified geographic region.  Typically, each retail location also has a staff consisting of an F&I manager, a parts manager, and a service manager, sales representatives, maintenance and repair technicians, and various support personnel.

We attempt to attract and retain quality employees by providing them with ongoing training to enhance sales professionalism and product knowledge, career advancement opportunities within a larger company, and favorable benefit packages.  We maintain a formal training program, called MarineMax University or MMU, which provides training for employees in all aspects of our operations.  Training sessions are held at our various regional locations covering a variety of topics.  MMU-online offers various modules over the Internet.  Highly trained, professional sales representatives are an important factor to our successful sales efforts.  These sales representatives are trained at MMU to recognize the importance of fostering an enjoyable sales process, to educate customers on the operation and use of the boats, and to assist customers in making technical and design decisions in boat purchases.  The overall focus of MMU is to teach our core retailing values, which focus on customer service.

Sales representatives receive compensation primarily on a commission basis.  Each general manager is a salaried employee with incentive bonuses based on the performance of the managed dealership.  Maintenance and repair service managers receive compensation on a salary basis with bonuses based on the performance of their departments.  Our management information system provides each store and department manager with daily financial and operational information, enabling them to monitor their performance on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.  We have a uniform, fully integrated management information system serving each of our dealerships.

Sales and Marketing

Our sales philosophy focuses on selling the pleasures of the boating lifestyle.  We believe that the critical elements of our sales philosophy include our appealing retail locations, no-hassle sales approach, highly trained sales representatives, high level of customer service, emphasis on educating the customer and the customer’s family on boating, and providing our customers with opportunities for boating through our MarineMax Getaways!.  We strive to provide superior customer service and support before, during, and after the sale. Our team and customers are United by Water®.

Each retail location offers the customer the opportunity to evaluate a variety of new and used boats in a comfortable and convenient setting.  Our full-service retail locations facilitate a turn-key purchasing process that includes attractive lender financing packages, extended service agreements, and insurance.  Many of our retail locations are located on waterfronts and marinas, which attract boating enthusiasts and enable customers to operate various boats prior to making a purchase decision.

The brands we offer are diverse in size and use and are spread across our customer activities of leisure, fishing, watersports, luxury, and vacations.  We believe the transformative qualities of the water should be shared by everyone, so we created our boat lineup accordingly. Our promise gives them meaning and reason to exist next to one another on our showroom floor.

We sell our boats at posted MarineMax “One” Prices that generally represent a discount from the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.  Our sales approach focuses on customer service by minimizing customer anxiety associated with price negotiation.

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As a part of our sales and marketing efforts, our online marketing activity is important, with the majority of leads coming through our website, www.MarineMax.com, and emails used as the primary marketing tool for our stores to connect with their customers. Social media is a growing venue for customer engagement with stores and prospecting of new leads.

We also participate in boat shows and in-the-water sales events at area boating locations, typically held in January and February and toward the end of the boating season, in each of our markets and in certain locations in close proximity to our markets.  These shows and events are normally held at convention centers or marinas, with area dealers renting space.  Boat shows and other offsite promotions are an important venue for generating sales orders.  The boat shows also generate a significant amount of interest in our products resulting in boat sales after the show.

We emphasize customer education through one-on-one education by our sales representatives and, at some locations, our delivery captains, before and after a sale, and through in-house seminars for the entire family on boating safety, the use and operation of boats, and product demonstrations.  Typically, one of our delivery captains or the sales representative delivers the customer’s boat to an area boating location and thoroughly instructs the customer about the operation of the boat, including hands-on instructions for docking and trailering the boat.  To enhance our customer relationships after the sale, we lead and sponsor MarineMax Getaways! group boating trips to various destinations, rendezvous gatherings, and on-the-water organized events that promote the pleasures of the boating lifestyle.  Each company-sponsored event, planned and led by a company employee, also provides a favorable medium for acclimating new customers to boating, sharing exciting boating destinations, creating friendships with other boaters, and enabling us to promote new product offerings to boating enthusiasts.

As a result of our relative size, we believe we have a competitive advantage within the industry by being able to conduct an organized and systematic advertising and marketing effort.  Part of our marketing effort includes an integrated customer relationship management system that tracks the status of each sales representative’s contacts with a prospect, automatically generates follow-up correspondence, and facilitates company-wide availability of a particular boat or other marine product desired by a customer.

Suppliers and Inventory Management

We purchase substantially all of our new boat inventory directly from manufacturers, which allocate new boats to dealerships based on the amount of boats sold by the dealership and their market share.  We also exchange new boats with other dealers to accommodate customer demand and to balance inventory.

We purchase new boats and other marine-related products from Brunswick, which is a world leading manufacturer of marine products, including Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Harris, and Meridian.  We also purchase new boats and other marine related products from other manufacturers, including Azimut, Hatteras, Grady White, Scout, Sailfish, and Nautique by Correct Craft.  In fiscal 2016, sales of new Brunswick and Azimut boats accounted for approximately 40% and 11% of our revenue, respectively. Sales of new Sea Ray and Boston Whaler boats, both divisions of Brunswick, accounted for approximately 24% and 14%, respectively, of our revenue in fiscal 2016. No purchases of new boats and other marine related products from any other manufacturer accounted for more than 10% of our revenue in fiscal 2016.  We believe our Sea Ray boat purchases represented approximately 53% of Sea Ray’s new boat sales, and approximately 10% of all Brunswick marine product sales during fiscal 2016.

We have entered into multi-year agreements with Brunswick covering Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, and Meridian products. We also have a multi-year agreement with Azimut-Benetti Group for its Azimut product line. We typically deal with each of our manufacturers, other than Brunswick and Azimut-Benetti Group, under an annually renewable, non-exclusive dealer agreement.

The dealer agreements do not restrict our right to sell any product lines or competing products provided that we are in compliance with the material obligations of our dealer agreements.  The terms of each dealer agreement appoints a designated geographical territory for the dealer, which is exclusive to the dealer provided that the dealer is able to meet the material obligations of its dealer agreement.

Manufacturers generally establish prices on an annual basis, but may change prices at their sole discretion. Manufacturers typically discount the cost of inventory and offer inventory financing assistance during the manufacturers’ slow seasons, generally October through March.  To obtain lower cost of inventory, we strive to capitalize on these manufacturer incentives to take product delivery during the manufacturers’ slow seasons.  This permits us to gain pricing advantages and better product availability during the selling season.  Arrangements with certain other manufacturers may restrict our right to offer some product lines in certain markets.

We transfer individual boats among our retail locations to fill customer orders that otherwise might take substantially longer to fill from the manufacturer.  This reduces delays in delivery, helps us maximize inventory turnover, and assists in minimizing potential overstock or out-of-stock situations.  We actively monitor our inventory levels to maintain levels appropriate to meet current anticipated market demands.  We are not bound by contractual agreements governing the amount of inventory that we must purchase in any year from any manufacturer, but the failure to purchase at agreed upon levels may result in the loss of certain manufacturer

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incentives or dealership rights.  We participate in numerous end-of-summer manufacturer boat shows, which manufacturers sponsor to sell off their remaining inventory at reduced costs before the introduction of new model year products, typically beginning in September.

Inventory Financing

Marine manufacturers customarily provide interest assistance programs to retailers.  The interest assistance varies by manufacturer and may include periods of free financing or reduced interest rate programs.  The interest assistance may be paid directly to the retailer or the financial institution depending on the arrangements the manufacturer has established.  We believe that our financing arrangements with manufacturers are standard within the industry.

We account for consideration received from our vendors in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification 605-50, “Revenue Recognition‒Customer Payments and Incentives” (“ASC 605-50”).  ASC 605-50 requires us to classify interest assistance received from manufacturers as a reduction of inventory cost and related cost of sales as opposed to netting the assistance against our interest expense incurred with our lenders.  Pursuant to ASC 605-50, amounts received by us under our co-op assistance programs from our manufacturers are netted against related advertising expenses.

We are party to an Inventory Financing Agreement (the “Amended Credit Facility”) led by Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance LLC (formerly GE Commercial Distribution Finance Corporation).  The Amended Credit Facility provides a floor plan financing commitment of up to $300 million.  The Amended Credit Facility matures in October 2019 and the Amended Credit Facility includes two additional one-year extension periods, with lender approval.

The interest rate under the Amended Credit Facility is 345 basis points above the one-month London Inter-Bank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”).  There is an unused line fee of ten basis points on the unused portion of the line.

The Amended Credit Facility has certain financial covenants.  The covenants include provisions that our leverage ratio not exceed 2.75 to 1.0 and that our current ratio must be greater than 1.2 to 1.0.  As of September 30, 2016, we were in compliance with all the covenants under the Amended Credit Facility.

The initial advance under the Amended Credit Facility was used to pay off our prior credit facility.  Subsequent advances have been, and will be, initiated by the acquisition of eligible new and used inventory or will be re-advances against eligible new and used inventory that has been partially paid-off.  Advances on new inventory will generally mature 1,080 days from the original invoice date.  Advances on used inventory will mature 361 days from the date we acquire the used inventory.  Each advance is subject to a curtailment schedule, which requires that we pay down the balance of each advance on a periodic basis starting after six months.  The curtailment schedule varies based on the type of inventory and the value of the inventory.

The collateral for the Amended Credit Facility is all of our personal property with certain limited exceptions.  None of our real estate has been pledged for collateral for the Amended Credit Facility.

As of September 30, 2016, we owed $166.6 million under the Amended Credit Facility. Outstanding short-term borrowings accrued interest at a rate of 3.9% as of September 30, 2016, and the Amended Credit Facility provided us with an additional net borrowing availability of approximately $69.8 million, based upon the outstanding borrowing base availability.  We have no indebtedness associated with our real estate holdings.

Management Information System

We believe that our management information system, which is utilized by each of our dealerships and was developed over a number of years through cooperative efforts with a common vendor, enhances our ability to integrate successfully the operations of our dealerships and future acquisitions, facilitates the interchange of information, and enhances cross-selling opportunities throughout our company.  The system integrates each level of operations on a company-wide basis, including but not limited to purchasing, inventory, receivables, payables, financial reporting, budgeting, and sales management.  The system enables us to monitor each dealership’s operations in order to identify quickly areas requiring additional focus and to manage inventory.  The system also provides sales representatives with prospect and customer information that aids them in tracking the status of their contacts with prospects, automatically generates follow-up correspondence to such prospects, facilitates the availability of a particular boat company-wide, locates boats needed to satisfy a particular customer request, and monitors the maintenance and service needs of customers’ boats.  Company representatives also utilize the system to assist in arranging financing and insurance packages.

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Brunswick Agreement Relating to Acquisitions

We and the Sea Ray Division of Brunswick are parties to an agreement that provides a process for the acquisition of additional Sea Ray boat dealers that we elect to acquire.  The agreement extends through August 31, 2018, with automatic annual one-year extensions at each twelve month anniversary of the agreement, provided that our dealer agreements with the Sea Ray Division of Brunswick are still then in effect.  Under the agreement, acquisitions of Sea Ray dealers will be mutually agreed upon by us and Sea Ray with reasonable efforts to be made to include a balance of Sea Ray dealers that have been successful and those that have not been.  The agreement provides that Sea Ray will not unreasonably withhold its consent to any proposed acquisition of a Sea Ray dealer by us, subject to the conditions set forth in the agreement.  Among other things, the agreement provides for us to provide Sea Ray with a business plan for each proposed acquisition, including historical financial and five-year projected financial information regarding the acquisition candidate; marketing and advertising plans; service capabilities and managerial and staff personnel; information regarding the ability of the candidate to achieve performance standards within designated periods; and information regarding the success of our previous acquisitions of Sea Ray dealers.  The agreement also contemplates Sea Ray reaching a good faith determination whether the acquisition would be in its best interest based on our dedication and focus of resources on the Sea Ray brand and Sea Ray’s consideration of any adverse effects that the approval would have on the resulting territory configuration of adjacent or other dealers and the absence of any violation of applicable laws or rights granted by Sea Ray to others.

Dealer Agreements with Brunswick

We and the Sea Ray Division of Brunswick and Boston Whaler, Inc. are parties to Sales and Service Agreements relating to Sea Ray and Boston Whaler products respectively, effective September 1, 2014 and extending through August 31, 2018 with automatic annual one-year extensions at each twelve-month anniversary of the agreement, provided that we are not in breach of a material term of the agreement, following written notice and expiration of applicable cure periods without cure (certain termination provisions are summarized below).

The agreements appoint certain of our operating subsidiaries as a dealer for the retail sale, display, and servicing of all Sea Ray or Boston Whaler products, parts, and accessories currently or in the future sold by Sea Ray or Boston Whaler, as applicable. The agreements specify a designated geographical territory and dealer region or location for the dealer, which is exclusive to the dealer. The agreement also specifies retail locations, which the dealer may not close, change, or add to without the prior written consent of the relevant manufacturer, provided that such manufacturer may not unreasonably withhold its consent.  The manufacturer reserves the right to modify the territory or appoint other dealers to sell, display, and service product from dealer locations within the territory at any time if we close a dealer location without prior written notice to Sea Ray and prior written approval by Sea Ray, which will not be unreasonably withheld or in the case of Boston Whaler, in the event that a dealer location fails to meet performance standards while carrying competitive product following written notice and a period of 60 days to cure or six months for matters for which a cure cannot be completed in 60 days.  The agreements also restrict the dealer from selling, advertising (other than in recognized and established marine publications), soliciting for sale, or offering for resale any products outside its territory except as otherwise provided by the relevant manufacturer’s advertising policy or other applicable policy as long as similar restrictions also apply to all domestic dealers selling comparable products. In addition, the agreements provide for the lowest product prices charged by the relevant manufacturer from time to time to other domestic dealers, subject to the dealer meeting all the requirements and conditions of applicable programs and the right of the manufacturer in good faith to charge lesser prices to other dealers to meet existing competitive circumstances, for unusual and non-ordinary business circumstances, or for limited duration promotional programs.

Among other things, the dealer agreements require each dealer to achieve performance standards including inventory stocking levels, provision of annual sales forecasts, submission of orders pursuant to the manufacturer’s current buying program, unit retail sales, customer satisfaction and marketing support.  The sales performance will be in accordance with fair and reasonable standards and sales levels established by the manufacturer in collaboration with the dealer based on factors such as population, sales potential, market share percentage of products sold in the territory compared with competitive products sold in the territory, product availability, local economic conditions, competition, past sales history, historical product mix and stocking practices, existing product inventory, number of retail locations, and other special circumstances that may affect the sale of the relevant products or the dealer, in each case established in a manner similar to those applied to domestic dealers selling comparable products.

The dealer is also required to maintain at each retail location, or at another acceptable location, a service department that is properly staffed and equipped to service Sea Ray or Boston Whaler products, as applicable, promptly and professionally and to maintain parts and supplies to service such products properly on a timely basis, to provide or arrange for warranty and service work for such products.

Sea Ray and Boston Whaler respectively have each agreed to indemnify us against any losses to third parties resulting from their respective negligent acts or omissions involving the design or manufacture of any of its products or any breach by it of the agreement. We have agreed to indemnify Sea Ray or Boston Whaler respectively against any losses to third parties resulting from our negligent acts or omissions involving the dealer’s application, use, or repair of Sea Ray or Boston Whaler products respectively, statements or

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representation not specifically authorized by the relevant manufacturer, the installation of any after-market components or any other modification or alteration of the products, and any breach by us of the agreement.

The agreements may be terminated:

Either party may elect to not extend the term at the expiration of each applicable 12 month period in the event of a material breach or default by the other of any of the material obligations, performance standards, covenants, representations, warranties, or duties imposed by the agreement or the manufacturer’s manual that is not remedied or cured following notice thereof.  In the event of a remedy or cure, the additional 12 month period shall be added to the term.

Dealer Agreements with Azimut

We are parties to Dealership Agreements with Azimut Benetti S.P.a. for the retail sale, display, and servicing of designated Azimut products and parts sold by Azimut.  The Dealership Agreements automatically renew each year provided that we are able to agree in good faith on acceptable retail sales goals.  The dealership agreements grant us the exclusive right to sell the Azimut products and parts in designated geographical areas.  Among other things, each dealership agreement requires the applicable dealer to:

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Azimut has agreed to indemnify each of our dealers against any losses resulting from an alleged breach of warranty or injury or damage caused by a defect in design, manufacture or assembly of a product.  Each of our dealers has agreed to indemnify Azimut against any losses resulting from the dealer’s failure to comply with any material obligation with respect to a product or customer; any actual negligence, errors or omissions in connection with the sale, preparation, repairs, or service of products; any modification of products except as approved by Azimut; a breach of any material agreement; or unauthorized warranties, misleading statements, misrepresentations or deceptive or unfair practices.

Each dealer agreement may be terminated upon 30 days prior written notice in event that the defaulting party has not remedied a default during such period, in the event of any of the following:

Upon termination of the dealer agreements by Azimut without cause, termination by dealer with cause and nonrenewal and expiration, Azimut is required to repurchase unsold inventory within sixty days of termination.

Employees

As of September 30, 2016, we had 1,422 employees, 1,313 of whom were in store-level operations and 109 of whom were in corporate administration and management.  We are not a party to any collective bargaining agreements.  We consider our relations with our employees to be excellent.

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Trademarks and Service Marks

We have registered trade names and trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for various names, including “MarineMax,” “MarineMax Getaways!,” “MarineMax Care,” “Delivering the Dream,” “MarineMax Delivering the Boating Dream,” “Newcoast Financial Services,” “MarineMax Boating Gear Center,” “MarineMax Vacations,” “United by Water” and “Women on Water.” We have registered the name “MarineMax” in the European Union, China, Australia, Brazil, India, and Cuba; “Maximizing Your Enjoyment on the Water” in the European Union, Cuba, and Australia; and “United by Water” in the European Union, China, Australia and Cuba. We have trade names and trademarks registered in Canada for various names, including “MarineMax,” “Delivering the Dream,” “United by Water,” and “The Water Gene.” We have various trade name and trademark applications including “MarineMax,” “United by Water,” and “Maximizing Your Enjoyment on Water” pending in Brazil, China, European Union, and India. There can be no assurance that any of these applications will be granted.

Seasonality and Weather Conditions

Our business, as well as the entire recreational boating industry, is highly seasonal, with seasonality varying in different geographic markets.  Over the three-year period ended September 30, 2016, the average revenue for the quarters ended December 31, March 31, June 30, and September 30 represented approximately 19%, 22%, 34%, and 25%, respectively, of our average annual revenues.  With the exception of Florida, we generally realize significantly lower sales and higher levels of inventories and related short-term borrowings, in the quarterly periods ending December 31 and March 31.  The onset of the public boat and recreation shows in January generally stimulates boat sales and typically allows us to reduce our inventory levels and related short-term borrowings throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.

Our business is also subject to weather patterns, which may adversely affect our results of operations.  For example, prolonged winter conditions, drought conditions (or merely reduced rainfall levels) or excessive rain, may limit access to area boating locations or render boating dangerous or inconvenient, thereby curtailing customer demand for our products.  In addition, unseasonably cool weather and prolonged winter conditions may lead to a shorter selling season in certain locations. Hurricanes and other storms could result in disruptions of our operations or damage to our boat inventories and facilities, as has been the case when Florida and other markets were affected by hurricanes.  Although our geographic diversity is likely to reduce the overall impact to us of adverse weather conditions in any one market area, these conditions will continue to represent potential, material adverse risks to us and our future financial performance.

Environmental and Other Regulatory Issues

Our operations are subject to extensive regulation, supervision, and licensing under various federal, state, and local statutes, ordinances, and regulations.  While we believe that we maintain all requisite licenses and permits and are in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations, there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain all requisite licenses and permits.  The failure to satisfy those and other regulatory requirements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.  The adoption of additional laws, rules, and regulations could also have a material adverse effect on our business.  Various federal, state, and local regulatory agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, and similar federal and local agencies, have jurisdiction over the operation of our dealerships, repair facilities, and other operations with respect to matters such as consumer protection, workers’ safety, and laws regarding protection of the environment, including air, water, and soil.

The EPA has various air emissions regulations for outboard marine engines that impose more strict emissions standards for two-cycle, gasoline outboard marine engines.  The majority of the outboard marine engines we sell are manufactured by Mercury Marine.  Mercury Marine’s product line of low-emission engines, including the OptiMax, Verado, and other four-stroke outboards, have achieved the EPA’s mandated 2006 emission levels.  Any increased costs of producing engines resulting from EPA standards, or the inability of our manufacturers to comply with EPA requirements, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Certain of our facilities own and operate underground storage tanks, or USTs, for the storage of various petroleum products.  The USTs are generally subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations that require testing and upgrading of USTs and remediation of contaminated soils and groundwater resulting from leaking USTs.  In addition, if leakage from company-owned or operated USTs migrates onto the property of others, we may be subject to civil liability to third parties for remediation costs or other damages.  Based on historical experience, we believe that our liabilities associated with UST testing, upgrades, and remediation are unlikely to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results.

As with boat dealerships generally, and parts and service operations in particular, our business involves the use, handling, storage, and contracting for recycling or disposal of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, including environmentally sensitive materials, such as motor oil, waste motor oil and filters, transmission fluid, antifreeze, freon, waste paint and lacquer thinner, batteries, solvents, lubricants, degreasing agents, gasoline, and diesel fuels. Accordingly, we are subject to regulation by federal, state, and local

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authorities establishing requirements for the use, management, handling, and disposal of these materials and health and environmental quality standards, and liability related thereto, and providing penalties for violations of those standards.  We are also subject to laws, ordinances, and regulations governing investigation and remediation of contamination at facilities we operate to which we send hazardous or toxic substances or wastes for treatment, recycling, or disposal.

We do not believe we have any material environmental liabilities or that compliance with environmental laws, ordinances, and regulations will, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.  However, soil and groundwater contamination has been known to exist at certain properties owned or leased by us.  We have also been required and may in the future be required to remove aboveground and underground storage tanks containing hazardous substances or wastes.  As to certain of our properties, specific releases of petroleum have been or are in the process of being remedied in accordance with state and federal guidelines.  We are monitoring the soil and groundwater as required by applicable state and federal guidelines.  In addition, the shareholders of the acquired dealers have indemnified us for specific environmental issues identified on environmental site assessments performed by us as part of the acquisitions.  We maintain insurance for pollutant cleanup and removal.  The coverage pays for the expenses to extract pollutants from land or water at the insured property, if the discharge, dispersal, seepage, migration, release, or escape of the pollutants is caused by or results from a covered cause of loss.  We also have additional storage tank liability insurance and “Superfund” coverage where applicable.  In addition, certain of our retail locations are located on waterways that are subject to federal or state laws regulating navigable waters (including oil pollution prevention), fish and wildlife, and other matters.

Three of the properties we own were historically used as gasoline service stations.  Remedial action with respect to prior historical site activities on these properties has been completed in accordance with federal and state law. We, however, do not believe that these environmental issues will result in any material liabilities to us.

Additionally, certain states have required or are considering requiring a license in order to operate a recreational boat.  While such licensing requirements are not expected to be unduly restrictive, regulations may discourage potential first-time buyers, thereby limiting future sales, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Product Liability

The products we sell or service may expose us to potential liabilities for personal injury or property damage claims relating to the use of those products.  Historically, the resolution of product liability claims has not materially affected our business.  Our manufacturers generally maintain product liability insurance, and we maintain third-party product liability insurance, which we believe to be adequate.  However, we may experience legal claims in excess of our insurance coverage, and those claims may not be covered by insurance.  Furthermore, any significant claims against us could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations and result in negative publicity.  Excessive insurance claims also could result in increased insurance premiums.

Competition

We operate in a highly competitive environment.  In addition to facing competition generally from recreation businesses seeking to attract consumers’ leisure time and discretionary spending dollars, the recreational boat industry itself is highly fragmented, resulting in intense competition for customers, quality products, boat show space, and suitable retail locations.  We rely to a certain extent on boat shows to generate sales.  Our inability to participate in boat shows in our existing or targeted markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We compete primarily with single-location boat dealers and, with respect to sales of marine equipment, parts, and accessories, with national specialty marine stores, catalog retailers, sporting goods stores, and mass merchants.  Competition among boat dealers is generally based on the quality of available products, the price and value of the products, and attention to customer service.  There is significant competition both within markets we currently serve and in new markets that we may enter.  We compete in each of our markets with retailers of brands of boats and engines we do not sell in that market.  In addition, several of our competitors, especially those selling boating accessories, are large national or regional chains that have substantial financial, marketing, and other resources.  However, we believe that our integrated corporate infrastructure and marketing and sales capabilities, our cost structure, and our nationwide presence enable us to compete effectively against these companies.  Private sales of used boats represent an additional significant source of competition.

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Executive Officers

The following table sets forth information concerning each of our executive officers as of December 1, 2016:

 

 

William H. McGill Jr. has served as the Chief Executive Officer of MarineMax since January 23, 1998 and as the Chairman of the Board and as a director of our company since March 6, 1998.  Mr. McGill served as the President of our company from January 23, 1988 until September 8, 2000 and re-assumed the position on July 1, 2002.  Mr. McGill was the principal owner and president of Gulfwind USA, Inc., one of our operating subsidiaries, from 1973 until its merger with us in 1998. In December 2016, Mr. McGill joined the Board of Directors of Joi Scientific, Inc., an energy company with which we have a licensing agreement.  

Michael H. McLamb has served as Executive Vice President of our company since October 2002, as Chief Financial Officer since January 23, 1998, as Secretary since April 5, 1998, and as a director since November 1, 2003.  Mr. McLamb served as Vice President and Treasurer of our company from January 23, 1998 until October 22, 2002.  Mr. McLamb, a certified public accountant, was employed by Arthur Andersen LLP from December 1987 to December 1997, serving most recently as a senior manager.

William Brett McGill has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since October 2016. Mr. McGill served as Executive Vice President Operations of our company from October 2015 to September 2016, as Vice President of West Operations of our company from May 2012 to September 2015, and was appointed as an executive officer by our Board of Directors in November 2012.  Mr. McGill served as one of our Regional Presidents from March 2006 to May 2012, as Vice President of Information Technology, Service and Parts of our company from October 2004 to March 2006, and as Director of Information Services from March 1998. Mr. McGill began his professional career with a software development firm, Integrated Dealer Systems, prior to joining our company in 1996.  William Brett McGill is the son of William H. McGill, Jr.

Charles A. Cashman has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of our company since October 2016.  Mr. Cashman served as Executive Vice President Sales, Marketing, and Manufacturer Relations of our company from October 2015 to September 2016, served as Vice President of East Operations of our company from May 2012 to September 2015, and was appointed as an executive officer by our Board of Directors in November 2012.  Mr. Cashman served as Regional President of East Florida from October 2008 to May 2012, and as District Manager of the East Coast of Florida from March 2007 to October 2008.  Mr. Cashman served several other positions of increasing responsibility, including Sales Consultant, Sales Manager, and General Manager, since joining our company in 1992.

Paulee C. Day has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of our company since October 2015. Ms. Day has served as Vice President of our company since February 2009 and as General Counsel and Assistant Secretary since January 2003.  Ms. Day, an active member of the Florida Bar, was employed by Maxxim Medical from May 1999 to November 2002, serving as Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary.  Prior to that time, Ms. Day was Corporate Attorney at Eckerd Corporation from June 1997 through May 1999 and a corporate attorney at the law firm Trenam, Kemker, Scharf, Barkin, Frye, O’Neill and Mullis, P.A. from January 1995 through June 1997.

Anthony E. Cassella, Jr. has served as Vice President of our company since February 2016, Chief Accounting Officer of our company since October 2014, and Vice President of Accounting and Shared Services of our company since February 2011. Mr. Cassella served as Director of Shared Services from October 2007 until February 2011 and Regional Controller from March 1999 until October 2007. Mr. Cassella was the Controller of Merit Marine which the Company acquired in March 1999. Mr. Cassella, a certified public accountant, worked in public accounting from June 1991 to February 1998, serving most recently as manager.

 

 

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General economic conditions and consumer spending patterns can negatively impact our operating results, and the severe recession that began in late 2007 has adversely affected the boating industry and our company.

General economic conditions and consumer spending patterns can negatively impact our operating results.  Unfavorable local, regional, national, or global economic developments or uncertainties regarding future economic prospects could reduce consumer spending in the markets we serve and adversely affect our business.  Economic conditions in areas in which we operate dealerships, particularly Florida in which we generated approximately 52%, 53%, and 55% of our revenue during fiscal 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively, can have a major impact on our operations.  Local influences, such as corporate downsizing, military base closings, and inclement weather such as hurricanes or other storms, environmental conditions, and specific events, such as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, also could adversely affect, and in certain instances have adversely affected, our operations in certain markets.

In an economic downturn, consumer discretionary spending levels generally decline, at times resulting in disproportionately large reductions in the sale of luxury goods.  Consumer spending on luxury goods also may decline as a result of lower consumer confidence levels, even if prevailing economic conditions are favorable.  As a result, an economic downturn could impact us more than certain of our competitors due to our strategic focus on a higher end of our market. Although we have expanded our operations during periods of stagnant or modestly declining industry trends, the cyclical nature of the recreational boating industry or the lack of industry growth could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations in the future.  Any period of adverse economic conditions or low consumer confidence has a negative effect on our business.

Lower consumer spending resulting from a downturn in the housing market and other economic factors adversely affected our business in fiscal 2007, and continued weakness in consumer spending and depressed economic conditions had a substantial negative effect on our business for several years afterwards. Our revenue decreased from $1.2 billion in fiscal 2007, to $885.4 million in fiscal 2008, to $588.6 million in fiscal 2009, and to $450.3 million in fiscal 2010.  Our earnings decreased from a net income of $20.1 million in fiscal 2007 to a net loss of $134.3 million in fiscal 2008 (including a $122.1 million goodwill impairment charge), a net loss of $76.8 million in fiscal 2009, net income of $2.5 million in fiscal 2010 (including a $19.2 million tax refund), and a net loss of $11.5 million in fiscal 2011.  These substantially deteriorating economic and financial conditions had a greater impact on many other participants in the boating industry, with certain manufacturers and dealers ceasing business operations or filing for bankruptcy.  

These conditions caused us to reduce substantially our acquisition program, delay new store openings, reduce our inventory purchases, engage in inventory reduction efforts, close a number of our retail locations, reduce our headcount, and amend and replace our credit facility.  While we believe the steps we took enabled us to emerge from the economic environment of the severe recession as a stronger and more profitable company, we cannot predict whether unfavorable economic, financial, or industry conditions will return or the extent to which they would adversely affect our operating results if they returned nor can we predict the effectiveness of the measures we have taken to address this environment or whether additional measures will be necessary.  A return of depressed economic or industry factors would have additional negative effects on our company, including interfering with our supply of certain brands by manufacturers, reduced marketing and other support by manufacturers, decreased revenue, additional pressures on margins, and our failure to satisfy covenants under our credit agreement.

The availability and costs of borrowed funds can adversely affect our ability to obtain adequate boat inventory and the ability and willingness of our customers to finance boat purchases.

The availability and costs of borrowed funds can adversely affect our ability to obtain and maintain adequate boat inventory and the holding costs of that inventory as well as the ability and willingness of our customers to finance boat purchases.  As of September 30, 2016, we had no long-term debt.  We rely on the Amended Credit Facility led by Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance LLC to purchase and maintain our inventory of boats.  Our ability to borrow under the Amended Credit Facility depends on our ability to continue to satisfy our covenants and other obligations under the Amended Credit Facility. The variable interest rate under our Amended Credit Facility will fluctuate with changing market conditions and, accordingly, our interest expense will increase if interest rates rise. A significant increase in interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.  The aging of our inventory limits our borrowing capacity as defined provisions in the Amended Credit Facility reduce the allowable advance rate as our inventory ages.  Our access to funds under the Amended Credit Facility also depends upon the ability of our lenders, to meet their funding commitments, particularly if they experience shortages of capital or experience excessive volumes of borrowing requests from others during a short period of time.  Depressed economic conditions, weak consumer spending, turmoil in the credit markets, and lender difficulties, among other potential reasons, could interfere with our ability to maintain compliance with our debt covenants and to utilize the Amended Credit Facility to fund our operations.  Accordingly, under such circumstances, it may be necessary for us to close additional stores, further reduce our expense structure, or modify the covenants with our lenders.  Any inability to utilize the Amended Credit Facility or the acceleration of amounts owed, resulting from a covenant violation, insufficient collateral, or lender

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difficulties, could require us to seek other sources of funding to repay amounts outstanding under the Amended Credit Facility or replace or supplement the Amended Credit Facility, which may not be possible at all or under commercially reasonable terms.

The Amended Credit Facility provides a floor plan financing commitment of up to $300 million. The collateral for the Amended Credit Facility is all of our personal property with certain limited exceptions.  None of our real estate has been pledged as collateral for the Amended Credit Facility.  As of September 30, 2016, we were in compliance with all of the covenants under the Amended Credit Facility and our additional available borrowings under the Amended Credit Facility was approximately $69.8 million based upon the outstanding borrowing base availability.

Similarly, decreases in the availability of credit and increases in the cost of credit adversely affect the ability of our customers to purchase boats from us and thereby adversely affect our ability to sell our products and impact the profitability of our finance and insurance activities.  Tight credit conditions during each fiscal year beginning with fiscal 2008 and continuing through fiscal 2011 adversely affected the ability of customers to finance boat purchases, which had a negative effect on our operating results.

Our strategies to enhance our performance may not be successful.

We are increasing our efforts to grow our financing and insurance, parts and accessories, service, yacht charter, brokerage, and boat storage businesses to better serve our customers and thereby increase revenue and improve profitability as a result of these higher margin businesses.  In addition, we have implemented programs to increase the lead capture and sale over the Internet of used boats, parts, accessories, and a wide range of boating supplies and products.  These efforts and programs are designed to increase our revenue and reduce our dependence on the sale of new boats.  These business initiatives have required, and will continue to require, us to add personnel, invest capital, enter businesses in which we do not have extensive experience, and encounter substantial competition.  As a result, our strategies to enhance our performance may not be successful and we may increase our expenses or write off such investments if not successful.

Our success depends to a significant extent on the well being, as well as the continued popularity and reputation for quality of the boating products, of our manufacturers, particularly Brunswick’s Sea Ray and Boston Whaler boat lines and Azimut-Benetti Group’s Azimut products.

Approximately 40% of our revenue in fiscal 2016 resulted from sales of new boats manufactured by Brunswick, including approximately 24% from Brunswick’s Sea Ray division, 14% from Brunswick’s Boston Whaler division, and approximately 2% from Brunswick’s other divisions.  Additionally, approximately 11% of our revenue in fiscal 2016 resulted from sales of new boats manufactured by Azimut-Benetti Group. The remainder of our fiscal 2016 revenue from new boat sales resulted from sales of products from a limited number of other manufacturers, none of which accounted for more than 10% of our revenue.

We depend on our manufacturers to provide us with products that compare favorably with competing products in terms of quality, performance, safety, and advanced features, including the latest advances in propulsion and navigation systems.  Any adverse change in the production efficiency, product development efforts, technological advancement, marketplace acceptance, marketing capabilities, and financial condition of our manufacturers, particularly Brunswick and Azimut-Benetti Group given our reliance on Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, and Azimut, would have a substantial adverse impact on our business.  Any difficulties encountered by any of our manufacturers, particularly Brunswick and Azimut-Benetti Group, resulting from economic, financial, or other factors could adversely affect the quality and amount of products that they are able to supply to us and the services and support they provide to us.

The interruption or discontinuance of the operations of Brunswick, Azimut-Benetti Group, or other manufacturers could cause us to experience shortfalls, disruptions, or delays with respect to needed inventory.  Although we believe that adequate alternate sources would be available that could replace any manufacturer other than Brunswick and Azimut-Benetti Group as a product source, those alternate sources may not be available at the time of any interruption, and alternative products may not be available at comparable quality and prices.

We have dealer agreements with Brunswick covering Sea Ray and Boston Whaler products.  Each dealer agreement has a multi-year term and provides for the lowest product prices charged by the Sea Ray division of Brunswick or Boston Whaler, as applicable, from time to time to other domestic Sea Ray or Boston Whaler dealers, as applicable.  These terms are subject to:

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Each dealer agreement designates a specific geographical territory for the dealer, which is exclusive to the dealer provided that the dealer is able to meet the material obligations of its dealer agreement.

In March 2006, we became the exclusive dealer for Azimut-Benetti Group’s Azimut product line for the Northeast United States.  Our geographic territory was expanded to include Florida in September 2008 and to the entire United States in July 2012.  The Azimut dealer agreement provides a geographic territory to promote the product line and to network with the appropriate clientele through various independent locations designated for Azimut retail sales. Our dealer agreement is multi-year term but requires us to be in compliance with its terms and conditions.

As is typical in the industry, we generally deal with manufacturers, other than Sea Ray and Boston Whaler (both divisions of Brunswick) and Azimut, under renewable annual dealer agreements.  These agreements do not contain any contractual provisions concerning product pricing or required purchasing levels.  Pricing is generally established on a model year basis, but is subject to change in the manufacturer’s sole discretion.  Any change or termination of these arrangements for any reason could adversely affect product availability and cost and our financial performance.

Boat manufacturers exercise substantial control over our business.

We depend on our dealer agreements.  Through dealer agreements, boat manufacturers, including Brunswick and Azimut, exercise significant control over their dealers, restrict them to specified locations, and retain approval rights over changes in management and ownership, among other things.  The continuation of our dealer agreements with most manufacturers, including Brunswick and Azimut, depends upon, among other things, our achieving stated goals for customer satisfaction ratings and market share penetration in the market served by the applicable dealership.  Failure to meet the customer satisfaction, market share goals, and other conditions set forth in any dealer agreement could have various consequences, including the following:

These events could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position and financial performance.

The failure to receive rebates and other dealer incentives on inventory purchases or retail sales could substantially reduce our margins.

We rely on manufacturers’ programs that provide incentives for dealers to purchase and sell particular boat makes and models or for consumers to buy particular boat makes or models.  Any eliminations, reductions, limitations, or other changes relating to rebate or incentive programs that have the effect of reducing the benefits we receive, whether relating to the ability of manufacturers to pay or our ability to qualify for such incentive programs, could increase the effective cost of our boat purchases, reduce our margins and competitive position, and have a material adverse effect on our financial performance.

Fuel prices and supply may affect our business.

All of the recreational boats we sell are powered by diesel or gasoline engines.  Consequently, an interruption in the supply, or a significant increase in the price or tax on the sale of fuel on a regional or national basis could have a material adverse effect on our sales and operating results.  Increases in fuel prices (such as those that occurred during fiscal 2008) negatively impact boat sales.  At various times in the past, diesel or gasoline fuel has been difficult to obtain.  The supply of fuels may be interrupted, rationing may be imposed, or the price of or tax on fuels may significantly increase in the future, adversely impacting our business.

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Our sales may be adversely impacted by a material increase in interest rates.

Over the past several years, our economy has been positively impacted by historically unprecedented low interest rates.  Such interest rates, driven by the policies of the Federal Reserve, are a political issue in the United States.  The Federal Reserve continues to be ambiguous concerning the interest rate issues.  Given that we sell products that are often financed, a material increase in interest rates may adversely impact our customers’ willingness or desire to purchase our products.

The availability of boat insurance is critical to our success.

The ability of our customers to secure reasonably affordable boat insurance that is satisfactory to lenders that finance our customers’ purchases is critical to our success.  Historically, affordable boat insurance has been available. In addition, as a severe storm approaches land, insurance providers cease underwriting until the storm has passed.  This loss of insurance prevents lenders from lending.  As a result, sales of boats can be temporarily halted making our revenue difficult to predict and causing sales to be delayed or potentially cancelled.  Any difficulty of customers to obtain affordable boat insurance could impede boat sales and adversely affect our business.

Other recreational activities, poor industry perception, and potential health risks from environmental conditions can adversely affect the levels of boat purchases.

Other recreational activities, poor industry perception, real or perceived health risks, and environmental conditions can adversely affect the levels of boat purchases. Demand for our products can be adversely affected by competition from other activities that occupy consumers’ time, including other forms of recreation as well as religious, cultural and community activities. In addition, real or perceived health risks from engaging in outdoor activities and local environmental conditions in the areas in which we operate dealerships could adversely affect the levels of boat purchases.  Further, as a seller of high-end consumer products, we must compete for discretionary spending with a wide variety of other recreational activities and consumer purchases.  In addition, perceived hassles of boat ownership and customer service and customer education throughout the retail boat industry, which has traditionally been perceived to be relatively poor, represent impediments to boat purchases.  

Adverse federal tax policies can have a negative effect on us.

 

Changes in federal and state tax laws, such as an imposition of luxury taxes on new boat purchases, increases in prevailing tax rates, and removal of certain interest deductions, also influence consumers’ decisions to purchase products we offer and could have a negative effect on our sales.  For example, during 1991 and 1992, the federal government imposed a luxury tax on new recreational boats with sales prices in excess of $100,000, which coincided with a sharp decline in boating industry sales from a high of more than $17.9 billion in 1988 to a low of $10.3 billion in 1992.  Any increase in tax rates, including those on capital gains and dividends, particularly those on high-income taxpayers, could adversely affect our boat sales.

In addition to our traditional repeat and referral business in our physical locations, digital channels are increasingly significant in serving our existing customer base and reaching new customers.  Our continued expansion and success will be negatively impacted if we are not able to fully exploit these channels.

Our digital channels are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that are beyond our control, including the following:

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Further, we may also be vulnerable to competitive pressures from the growing electronic commerce activity in our market, both as they may impact our own on-line business, and as they may impact the operating results and investment values of our existing physical locations.

Elements of our yacht charter business expose us to certain risks.

Our yacht charter business entails the sale of specifically designed yachts to third parties for inclusion in our yacht charter fleet; a yacht management agreement under which yacht owners enable us to put their yachts in our yacht charter program for a period of four to five years for a fixed monthly fee payable by us; our services in storing, insuring, and maintaining their yachts; and the charter by us of these yachts to vacation customers at agreed fees payable to us.  Our failure to find purchasers for yachts intended for our charter fleet will increase our boat inventory and related operating costs; lack of sales into our charter fleet may result in increased losses due to market adjustments of our yacht charter inventory; and our failure to generate a sufficient number of vacation charter customers will require us to absorb all the costs of the monthly fees to the yacht owners as well as other operating costs.

Customers consider safety and reliability a primary concern in selecting a yacht charter provider.  The yacht charter business may present a number of safety risks including but not limited to, catastrophic disaster, adverse weather and marine conditions, mechanical failure and collision.  If we are unable to maintain acceptable records for safety and reliability, our ability to retain current customers and attract new customers may be adversely affected.  Additionally, any safety issue encountered during a yacht charter may result in claims against us as well as negative publicity.  These events could have a material adverse effect on the competitive position and financial performance of both our yacht charter business and our core boat sales business.

The yacht charter business is also highly fragmented, consisting primarily of local operators and franchisees.  Competition among charter operators is based on location, the type and size of yachts offered, charter rates, destinations serviced, and attention to customer service.  Yacht charters also face competition from other travel and leisure options, including, but not limited to, cruises, hotels, resorts, theme parks, organized tours, land-based casino operators, and vacation ownership properties.  We therefore risk losing business not only to other charter operators, but also to vacation operators that provide such alternatives.

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to make successful acquisitions and to integrate the operations of acquired dealers and each dealer we acquire in the future.

Since March 1, 1998, we have acquired 26 recreational boat dealers, two boat brokerage operations, and two full-service yacht repair facilities.  Each acquired dealer operated independently prior to its acquisition by us.  Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to make successful acquisitions and to integrate the operations of acquired dealers, including centralizing certain functions to achieve cost savings and pursuing programs and processes that promote cooperation and the sharing of opportunities and resources among our dealerships.  We may not be able to oversee the combined entity efficiently or to implement effectively our growth and operating strategies.  To the extent that we successfully pursue our acquisition strategy, our resulting growth will place significant additional demands on our management and infrastructure.  Our failure to pursue successfully our acquisition strategies or operate effectively the combined entity could have a material adverse effect on our rate of growth and operating performance.

Unforeseen expenses, difficulties, and delays frequently encountered in connection with expansion through acquisitions could inhibit our growth and negatively impact our profitability.

Our growth strategy of acquiring additional recreational boat dealers involves significant risks.  This strategy entails reviewing and potentially reorganizing acquired business operations, corporate infrastructure and systems, and financial controls.  Unforeseen expenses, difficulties, and delays frequently encountered in connection with rapid expansion through acquisitions could inhibit our growth and negatively impact our profitability.  We may be unable to identify suitable acquisition candidates or to complete the acquisitions of candidates that we identify.  Increased competition for acquisition candidates or increased asking prices by acquisition candidates may increase purchase prices for acquisitions to levels beyond our financial capability or to levels that would not result in the returns required by our acquisition criteria.  Acquisitions also may become more difficult or less attractive in the future as we acquire more of the most attractive dealers.  In addition, we may encounter difficulties in integrating the operations of acquired dealers with our own operations or managing acquired dealers profitably without substantial costs, delays, or other operational or financial problems.

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We may issue common or preferred stock and incur substantial indebtedness in making future acquisitions.  The size, timing, and integration of any future acquisitions may cause substantial fluctuations in operating results from quarter to quarter.  Consequently, operating results for any quarter may not be indicative of the results that may be achieved for any subsequent quarter or for a full fiscal year.  These fluctuations could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Our ability to continue to grow through the acquisition of additional dealers will depend upon various factors, including the following:

As a part of our acquisition strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with various recreational boat dealers regarding their potential acquisition by us.  In connection with these discussions, we and each potential acquisition candidate exchange confidential operational and financial information, conduct due diligence inquiries, and consider the structure, terms, and conditions of the potential acquisition.  In certain cases, the prospective acquisition candidate agrees not to discuss a potential acquisition with any other party for a specific period of time, grants us an option to purchase the prospective dealer for a designated price during a specific time period, and agrees to take other actions designed to enhance the possibility of the acquisition, such as preparing audited financial information and converting its accounting system to the system specified by us.  Potential acquisition discussions frequently take place over a long period of time and involve difficult business integration and other issues, including in some cases, management succession and related matters.  As a result of these and other factors, a number of potential acquisitions that from time to time appear likely to occur do not result in binding legal agreements and are not consummated.

We may be required to obtain the consent of Brunswick and various other manufacturers prior to the acquisition of other dealers.

In determining whether to approve acquisitions, manufacturers may consider many factors, including our financial condition and ownership structure.  Manufacturers also may impose conditions on granting their approvals for acquisitions, including a limitation on the number of their dealers that we may acquire.  Our ability to meet manufacturers’ requirements for approving future acquisitions will have a direct bearing on our ability to complete acquisitions and effect our growth strategy.  There can be no assurance that a manufacturer will not terminate its dealer agreement, refuse to renew its dealer agreement, refuse to approve future acquisitions, or take other action that could have a material adverse effect on our acquisition program.

We and the Sea Ray Division of Brunswick have an agreement extending through August 31, 2018, with automatic annual one-year extensions at each twelve month anniversary of the agreement, provided that our dealer agreements with the Sea Ray Division of Brunswick are still then in effect.   The agreement provides a process for the acquisition of additional Sea Ray boat dealers that want to be acquired by us.  Under the agreement, acquisitions of Sea Ray dealers will be mutually agreed upon by us and Sea Ray with reasonable efforts to be made to include a balance of Sea Ray dealers that have been successful and those that have not been.  The agreement provides that Sea Ray will not unreasonably withhold its consent to any proposed acquisition of a Sea Ray dealer by us, subject to the conditions set forth in the agreement.  Among other things, the agreement requires us to provide Sea Ray with a business plan for each proposed acquisition, including historical financial and five-year projected financial information regarding the acquisition candidate; marketing and advertising plans; service capabilities and managerial and staff personnel; information regarding the ability of the candidate to achieve performance standards within designated periods; and information regarding the success of our previous acquisitions of Sea Ray dealers.  The agreement also contemplates Sea Ray reaching a good faith determination whether the acquisition would be in its best interest based on our dedication and focus of resources on the Sea Ray brand and Sea Ray’s consideration of any adverse effects that the approval would have on the resulting territory configuration and adjacent or other dealers’ sales and the absence of any violation of applicable laws or rights granted by Sea Ray to others.

Our growth strategy also entails expanding our product lines and geographic scope by obtaining additional distribution rights from our existing and new manufacturers.  We may not be able to secure additional distribution rights or obtain suitable alternative sources of supply if we are unable to obtain such distribution rights.  The inability to expand our product lines and geographic scope by obtaining additional distribution rights could have a material adverse effect on the growth and profitability of our business.

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Our growth strategy may require us to secure significant additional capital, the amount of which will depend upon the size, timing, and structure of future acquisitions and our working capital and general corporate needs.

If we finance future acquisitions in whole or in part through the issuance of common stock or securities convertible into or exercisable for common stock, existing shareholders will experience dilution in the voting power of their common stock and earnings per share could be negatively impacted.  The extent to which we will be able and willing to use our common stock for acquisitions will depend on the market value of our common stock and the willingness of potential sellers to accept our common stock as full or partial consideration.  Our inability to use our common stock as consideration, to generate cash from operations, or to obtain additional funding through debt or equity financings in order to pursue our acquisition program could materially limit our growth.

Any borrowings made to finance future acquisitions or for operations could make us more vulnerable to a downturn in our operating results, a downturn in economic conditions, or increases in interest rates on borrowings that are subject to interest rate fluctuations.  If our cash flow from operations is insufficient to meet our debt service requirements, we could be required to sell additional equity securities, refinance our obligations, or dispose of assets in order to meet our debt service requirements.  In addition, our credit arrangements contain financial covenants and other restrictions with which we must comply, including limitations on the incurrence of additional indebtedness.  Adequate financing may not be available if and when we need it or may not be available on terms acceptable to us.  The failure to obtain sufficient financing on favorable terms and conditions could have a material adverse effect on our growth prospects and our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our internal growth and operating strategies of opening new locations and offering new products involve risk.

In addition to pursuing growth by acquiring boat dealers, we intend to continue to pursue a strategy of growth through opening new retail locations and offering new products in our existing and new territories.  Accomplishing these goals for expansion will depend upon a number of factors, including the following:

Our dealer agreements with Brunswick require Brunswick’s consent to open, close, or change retail locations that sell Sea Ray or Boston Whaler products as applicable, and other dealer agreements generally contain similar provisions. We may not be able to open and operate new retail locations or introduce new product lines on a timely or profitable basis.  Moreover, the costs associated with opening new retail locations or introducing new product lines may adversely affect our profitability.

As a result of these growth strategies, we expect to continue to expend significant time and effort in opening and acquiring new retail locations and introducing new products.  Our systems, procedures, controls, and financial resources may not be adequate to support expanding operations.  The inability to manage our growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our planned growth also will impose significant added responsibilities on members of senior management and require us to identify, recruit, and integrate additional senior level managers.  We may not be able to identify, hire, or train suitable additions to management.

Our business, as well as the entire recreational boating industry, is highly seasonal, with seasonality varying in different geographic markets.

Over the three-year period ended September 30, 2016, the average revenue for the quarterly periods ended December 31, March 31, June 30, and September 30 represented approximately 19%, 22%, 34%, and 25%, respectively, of our average annual revenue.  With the exception of Florida, we generally realize significantly lower sales and higher levels of inventories and related short-term borrowings in the quarterly periods ending December 31 and March 31.  The onset of the public boat and recreation shows in January stimulates boat sales and allows us to reduce our inventory levels and related short-term borrowings throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.  Our business could become substantially more seasonal if we acquire dealers that operate in colder regions of the United States.

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Weather and environmental conditions may adversely impact our business.

Weather and environmental conditions may adversely impact our operating results.  For example, drought conditions, reduced rainfall levels, excessive rain and environmental conditions, such as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, may force boating areas to close or render boating dangerous or inconvenient, thereby curtailing customer demand for our products.  While we traditionally maintain a full range of insurance coverage for any such events, there can be no assurance that such insurance coverage is adequate to cover losses that we sustain as a result of such disasters.  In addition, unseasonably cool weather and prolonged winter conditions may lead to shorter selling seasons in certain locations.  Many of our dealerships sell boats to customers for use on reservoirs, thereby subjecting our business to the continued viability of these reservoirs for boating use.  Although our geographic diversity and any future geographic expansion should reduce the overall impact on us of adverse weather and environmental conditions in any one market area, weather and environmental conditions will continue to represent potential material adverse risks to us and our future operating performance.

In addition, hurricanes and other storms could result in the disruption of our operations and/or supply chain, including boat deliveries from manufacturers, or damage to our boat inventories and facilities as has been the case when Florida and other markets have been affected by hurricanes.  While we traditionally maintain property and casualty insurance coverage for damage caused by hurricanes and other storms, there can be no assurance that such insurance coverage is adequate to cover losses that we may sustain as a result of hurricanes and other storms such as damage from Hurricane Sandy. We maintain insurance for property damage and business interruption, subject to deductibles.

We face intense competition.

We operate in a highly competitive environment.  In addition to facing competition generally from recreation businesses seeking to attract consumers’ leisure time and discretionary spending dollars, the recreational boat industry itself is highly fragmented, resulting in intense competition for customers, quality products, boat show space, and suitable retail locations.  We rely to a certain extent on boat shows to generate sales.  Our inability to participate in boat shows in our existing or targeted markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We compete primarily with single-location boat dealers and, with respect to sales of marine parts, accessories, and equipment, with national specialty marine parts and accessories stores, catalog retailers, sporting goods stores, and mass merchants.  Competition among boat dealers is based on the quality of available products, the price and value of the products, and attention to customer service.  There is significant competition both within markets we currently serve and in new markets that we may enter.  We compete in each of our markets with retailers of brands of boats and engines we do not sell in that market.  In addition, several of our competitors, especially those selling marine equipment and accessories, are large national or regional chains that have substantial financial, marketing, and other resources.  Private sales of used boats represent an additional source of competition.

Due to various matters, including environmental concerns, permitting and zoning requirements, and competition for waterfront real estate, some markets in the United States have experienced an increased waiting list for marina and storage availability.  In general, the markets in which we currently operate are not experiencing any unusual difficulties.  However, marine retail activity could be adversely affected in markets that do not have sufficient marine and storage availability to satisfy demand.

A significant amount of our boat sales are from the State of Florida.

Economic conditions, weather and environmental conditions, competition, market conditions, and any other adverse conditions impacting the State of Florida in which we generated approximately 52%, 53%, and 55% of our revenue during fiscal 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively, could have a major impact on our operations.

We depend on income from financing, insurance, and extended service contracts.

A portion of our income results from referral fees derived from the placement or marketing of various finance and insurance, or F&I products, consisting of customer financing, insurance products, and extended service contracts, the most significant component of which is the participation and other fees resulting from our sale of customer financing contracts.

The availability of financing for our boat purchasers and the level of participation and other fees we receive in connection with such financing depend on the particular agreement between us and the lender and the current rate environment.  Lenders may impose terms in their boat financing arrangements with us that may be unfavorable to us or our customers, resulting in reduced demand for our customer financing programs and lower participation and other fees.  Laws or regulations may be enacted nationally or locally which could result in fees from lenders being eliminated or reduced, materially impacting our operating results. Customer financing became more difficult to secure during fiscal 2008, which continued in each subsequent fiscal year through fiscal 2011.

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Changes, including the lengthening of manufacturer warranties, may reduce our ability to offer and sell extended service contracts which may have a material adverse impact on our ability to sell F&I products.

The Dodd-Frank Act established a new consumer financial protection agency with broad regulatory powers. Although boat dealers are generally excluded, the Dodd-Frank Act could lead to additional, indirect regulation of boat dealers through its regulation of other financial institutions which provide such financing to our customers.

The reduction of profit margins on sales of F&I products or the lack of demand for or the unavailability of these products could have a material adverse effect on our operating margins.

We depend on our key personnel and team members.

Our success depends, in large part, upon our ability to attract, train, and retain, qualified team members and executive officers, as well as the continuing efforts and abilities of team members and executive officers.  Although we have employment agreements with certain of our executive officers, we cannot ensure that these or other executive personnel and team members will remain with us.  Expanding our operations may require us to add additional executive personnel and team members in the future.  As a result of our decentralized operating strategy, we also rely on the management teams of our dealerships.  In addition, we likely will depend on the senior management of any significant businesses we acquire in the future.  The loss of the services of one or more key employees before we are able to attract and retain qualified replacement personnel could adversely affect our business. Additionally, our ability to manage our personnel costs and operating expenses is subject to external factors such as unemployment levels, prevailing wage rates, healthcare and other benefit costs, changing demographics, and our reputation and relevance within the labor markets where we are located.

The products we sell or service may expose us to potential liability for personal injury or property damage claims relating to the use of those products.

Manufacturers of the products we sell generally maintain product liability insurance.  We also maintain third-party product liability insurance that we believe to be adequate.  We may experience claims that are not covered by or that are in excess of our insurance coverage.  The institution of any significant claims against us could subject us to damages, result in higher insurance costs, and harm our business reputation with potential customers.

Environmental and other regulatory issues may impact our operations.

Our operations are subject to extensive regulation, supervision, and licensing under various federal, state, and local statutes, ordinances, and regulations, such as those relating to finance and insurance, consumer protection, consumer privacy, escheatment, anti-money laundering, environmental, emissions, health or safety, and employment practices.  With respect to employment practices, we are subject to various laws and regulations, including complex federal, state, and local wage and hour and anti-discrimination laws.  The failure to satisfy those and other regulatory requirements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, failure to comply with U.S. trade sanctions, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other applicable laws or regulations could result in the assessment of damages, the imposition of penalties, changes to our processes, or a cessation of our operations, as well as damage to our image and reputation, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Various federal, state, and local regulatory agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, and similar federal and local agencies, have jurisdiction over the operation of our dealerships, repair facilities, and other operations, with respect to matters such as consumer protection, workers’ safety, and laws regarding protection of the environment, including air, water, and soil.  The EPA promulgated emissions regulations for outboard marine engines that impose stricter emissions standards for two-cycle, gasoline outboard marine engines.  The majority of the outboard marine engines we sell are manufactured by Mercury Marine.  Mercury Marine’s product line of low-emission engines, including the OptiMax, Verado, and other four-stroke outboards, have achieved the EPA’s mandated 2006 emission levels.  It is possible that environmental regulatory bodies may impose higher emissions standards in the future for these and other marine engines.  Any increased costs of producing engines resulting from current or potentially higher EPA standards in the future could be passed on to our company, or could result in the inability or potential unforeseen delays of our manufacturers to comply with current and future EPA requirements, and these potential consequences could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Certain of our facilities own and operate underground storage tanks, or USTs, for the storage of various petroleum products.  USTs are generally subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations that require testing and upgrading of USTs and remediation of contaminated soils and groundwater resulting from leaking USTs.  In addition, we may be subject to civil liability to third parties for remediation costs or other damages if leakage from our owned or operated USTs migrates onto the property of others.

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Our business involves the use, handling, storage, and contracting for recycling or disposal of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, including environmentally sensitive materials, such as motor oil, waste motor oil and filters, transmission fluid, antifreeze, freon, waste paint and lacquer thinner, batteries, solvents, lubricants, degreasing agents, gasoline, and diesel fuels.  Accordingly, we are subject to regulation by federal, state, and local authorities establishing investigation and health and environmental quality standards, and liability related thereto, and providing penalties for violations of those standards.

We also are subject to laws, ordinances, and regulations governing investigation and remediation of contamination at facilities we operate or to which we send hazardous or toxic substances or wastes for treatment, recycling, or disposal.  In particular, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA or “Superfund,” imposes joint, strict, and several liability on:

A majority of states have adopted Superfund statutes comparable to and, in some cases, more stringent than CERCLA.  If we were to be found to be a responsible party under CERCLA or a similar state statute, we could be held liable for all investigative and remedial costs associated with addressing such contamination.  In addition, claims alleging personal injury or property damage may be brought against us as a result of alleged exposure to hazardous substances resulting from our operations.  In addition, certain of our retail locations are located on waterways that are subject to federal or state laws regulating navigable waters (including oil pollution prevention), fish and wildlife, and other matters.

Soil and groundwater contamination has been known to exist at certain properties owned or leased by us.  We have also been required and may in the future be required to remove aboveground and underground storage tanks containing hazardous substances or wastes.  As to certain of our properties, specific releases of petroleum have been or are in the process of being remediated in accordance with state and federal guidelines.  We are monitoring the soil and groundwater as required by applicable state and federal guidelines.  We also may have additional storage tank liability insurance and Superfund coverage where applicable.  Environmental laws and regulations are complex and subject to frequent change.  Compliance with amended, new, or more stringent laws or regulations, more strict interpretations of existing laws, or the future discovery of environmental conditions may require additional expenditures by us, and such expenditures may be material.

Three of the properties we own were historically used as gasoline service stations.  Remedial action with respect to prior historical site activities on these properties has been completed in accordance with federal and state law. While we do not believe that these environmental issues will result in any material liabilities to us, we cannot provide assurances that no such material liabilities will occur.  

Additionally, certain states have required or are considering requiring a license in order to operate a recreational boat.  These regulations could discourage potential buyers, thereby limiting future sales and adversely affecting our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Furthermore, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law on March 23, 2010, is expected to increase our annual employee health care costs that we fund, and significantly increase our cost of compliance and compliance risk related to offering health care benefits.

Finally, new laws and regulations, particularly at the federal level, in other areas may be enacted, which could also materially adversely impact our business.  The labor policy of the current administration could lead to increased unionization efforts, which could lead to higher labor costs, disrupt our store operations, and adversely affect our operating results.

The market price of our common stock could be subject to wide fluctuations as a result of many factors.

Factors that could affect the trading price of our common stock include the following:

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In addition, market demand for small-capitalization stocks, and price and volume fluctuations in the stock market unrelated to our performance could result in significant fluctuations in the market price of our common stock.

The performance of our common stock could adversely affect our ability to raise equity in the public markets and adversely affect our acquisition program.

The issuance of additional capital stock in the future, including shares that we may issue pursuant to stock-based grants, including grants of stock options, restricted stock awards and restricted stock units, and future acquisitions, may result in dilution in the net tangible book value per share of our common stock.

Our board of directors has the legal power and authority to determine the terms of an offering of shares of our capital stock, or securities convertible into or exchangeable for these shares, to the extent of our shares of authorized and unissued capital stock.  The issuance of additional common stock in the future, including shares that we may issue pursuant to stock-based grants, including grants of stock options, restricted stock awards and restricted stock units, and future acquisitions, may result in dilution in the net tangible book value per share of our common stock.

A substantial number of shares are eligible for future sale.

As of September 30, 2016, there were 24,285,616 shares of our common stock outstanding.  Substantially all of these shares are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the securities laws, unless held by an “affiliate” of our company, as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the securities laws.  Shares held by affiliates of our company, which generally include our directors, officers, and certain principal shareholders, are subject to the resale limitations of Rule 144 described below.  Outstanding shares of common stock issued in connection with the acquisition of any acquired dealers are available for resale beginning six months after the respective dates of the acquisitions, subject to compliance with the provisions of Rule 144 under the securities laws.

Through September 30, 2016, we have issued options to purchase approximately 5,065,216 shares of common stock and 1,007,012 restricted stock awards under our incentive stock plans, and we issued 767,950 shares of common stock under our employee stock purchase plan.  We have filed a registration statement under the securities laws to register the common stock to be issued under these plans.  As a result, shares issued under these plans will be freely tradable without restriction unless acquired by affiliates of our company, who will be subject to the volume and other limitations of Rule 144.

We may issue additional shares of common stock or preferred stock under the securities laws as part of any acquisition we may complete in the future.  If issued pursuant to an effective registration statement, these shares generally will be freely tradable after their issuance by persons not affiliated with us or the acquired companies.

We do not pay cash dividends.

We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock and we have no current intention to do so for the foreseeable future.

Certain provisions of our restated articles of incorporation and bylaws and Florida law may make a change in the control of our company more difficult to complete, even if a change in control were in the shareholders’ interest or might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by the shareholders.

Our articles of incorporation and bylaws divide our board of directors into three classes of directors elected for staggered three-year terms.  The articles of incorporation also provide that the board of directors may authorize the issuance of one or more series of preferred stock from time to time and may determine the rights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions and fix the number of shares

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of any such series of preferred stock, without any vote or action by our shareholders.  The board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of common stock.  The articles of incorporation also allow our board of directors to fix the number of directors and to fill vacancies on the board of directors.

Our articles of incorporation contain provisions that adopt substantially all of the protections afforded under Florida's affiliated transactions statute (which provides that, with certain exceptions, a transaction with an "interested shareholder" must generally be approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of two-thirds of the voting shares (other than the shares owned by the interested shareholder)), except that our articles of incorporation define an "interested shareholder" as any person who holds 15% or more of our outstanding stock (rather than 10% as set forth in the statute). Certain of our dealer agreements could also make it difficult for a third party to attempt to acquire a significant ownership position in our company.

Our sales of yachts produced by the Azimut-Benetti Group in Italy, yachts produced by Galeon in Poland, and motor and sailing yachts produced by Sino Eagle in China expose us to international political, economic, and other risks.

Our sales of yachts produced by the Azimut-Benetti Group in Italy, yachts produced by Galeon in Poland, and yachts for our yacht charter fleet produced by Sino Eagle in China expose us to international political, economic, and other risks.  Protectionist trade legislation in the United States, the European Union, Italy, Poland, or China, such as a change in current tariff structures, export or import compliance laws, or other trade policies could adversely affect our ability to import yachts from these foreign suppliers under economically favorable terms and conditions.  Our foreign purchase of yachts creates a number of logistical and communications challenges.  The economic, political, and other risks we face resulting from these foreign purchases include the following:

 

Increased cybersecurity requirements, vulnerabilities, threats and more sophisticated and targeted computer crime could pose a risk to our systems, networks, and data.

Our business is dependent upon the efficient operation of our information systems. The systems facilitate the interchange of information and enhances cross-selling opportunities throughout our company.  The systems integrate each level of operations on a company-wide basis, including but not limited to purchasing, inventory, receivables, payables, financial reporting, budgeting, marketing, sales management, as well as to prepare our consolidated financial and operating data. The failure of our information systems to perform as designed or the failure to maintain and enhance or protect the integrity of these systems could disrupt our business operations, impact sales and the results of operations, expose us to customer or third-party claims, or result in adverse publicity.  

Increased global cybersecurity vulnerabilities, threats and more sophisticated and targeted cyber-related attacks pose a risk to the security of our and our customers’, suppliers’ and third-party service providers’ products, systems and networks and the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our data. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to gain access to our systems or facilities,

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or those of third parties with whom we do business, through fraud, trickery, or other forms of deceiving our team members, contractors, vendors, and temporary staff. While we attempt to mitigate these risks by employing a number of measures, including employee training, systems, monitoring and testing, and maintenance of protective systems and contingency plans, we remain potentially vulnerable to additional known or unknown threats. We may also have access to sensitive, confidential or personal data or information that is subject to privacy, security laws, and regulations. Despite our efforts to protect sensitive, confidential or personal data or information, we may be vulnerable to security breaches, theft, misplaced or lost data, programming errors, employee errors and/or malfeasance that could potentially lead to the compromising of sensitive, confidential or personal data or information, improper use of our systems, unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or destruction of information, and operational disruptions. It is possible that we might not be aware of a successful cyber-related attack on our systems until well after the incident. In addition, a cyber-related attack could result in other negative consequences, including damage to our reputation or competitiveness, remediation or increased protection costs, litigation or regulatory action.

 

 

Not applicable.

 

 

We lease our corporate offices in Clearwater, Florida.  We also lease 33 of our retail locations under leases, many of which contain multi-year renewal options and some of which grant us a first right of refusal to purchase the property at fair value.  In most cases, we pay a fixed rent at negotiated rates.  In substantially all of the leased locations, we are responsible for taxes, utilities, insurance, and routine repairs and maintenance.  We own the property associated with 29 other retail locations we operate.  Additionally, we own five retail locations that are currently closed as noted below. A store is considered one or more retail locations that are adjacent or operate as one entity.

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The following table reflects the status, approximate size, and facilities of the various retail locations we operate as of the date of this report.

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