Discontinued operations

9 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2016

Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]

Discontinued operations

Note 3 - Discontinued operations

During 2013, the Company sold its RF Neulink and RadioMobile divisions, which together had comprised the Company’s RF Wireless segment. The divisions were sold pursuant to asset purchase agreements, whereby no purchase price was paid at the closing. Rather, the agreements stipulated royalty payments from each of the purchasers over a three-year period. For the three and nine months ended July 31, 2016, the Company recognized approximately $19,000 and $20,000 of royalty income for RF Neulink and RadioMobile, respectively, which amounts has been included within discontinued operations. For the three and nine months ended July 31, 2015, the Company recognized approximately $48,000 and $70,000 of royalty income for the RF Neulink and RadioMobile divisions, respectively, which amounts have been included within discontinued operations.

During March 2016, the Company announced the shutdown of its Bioconnect division, which comprised the entire operations of the Medical Cabling and Interconnect segment. The closure is part of the Company’s ongoing plan to close or dispose of underperforming divisions that are not part of the Company’s core operations. For the three and nine months ended July 31, 2016, the Company recognized approximately $129,000 of income, net of tax and $94,000 of loss, net of tax, for the Bioconnect division, respectively, which amounts have been included within discontinued operations. Included in the fiscal year 2016 loss, the Company recognized a $158,000 pretax write-down on Bioconnect division’s inventory. For the three and nine months ended July 31, 2015, the Company recognized approximately $123,000 and $317,000 of income, net of tax, for the Bioconnect division, respectively, which amounts have been included within discontinued operations.