Note 12 - Term Loan and Line of Credit

6 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2024

Notes to Financial Statements

Debt Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 12 – Term Loan and Line of credit

In February 2022, we entered into a loan agreement (the “BofA Loan Agreement”) providing for a revolving line of credit (the “BofA Revolving Credit Facility”) in the amount of $3.0 million and a $17.0 million term loan (the “BofA Term Loan”, and together with the BofA Revolving Credit Facility, the “BofA Credit Facility”) with Bank of America, N.A. (the “BofA”). Amounts outstanding under the BofA Revolving Credit Facility bore interest at a rate of 2.0% plus the Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield Index Rate. All amounts outstanding pursuant to the BofA Credit Facility were repaid by us and the BofA Loan Agreement was terminated in connection with us entering into a new loan and security agreement (the “EBC Credit Agreement”) with Eclipse Business Capital, as administrative agent (“EBC”) on March 15, 2024. Borrowings under the BofA Credit Facility were secured by a security interest in certain assets of the Company and were subject to certain loan covenants. The BofA Credit Facility required the maintenance of certain financial covenants, including: (i) consolidated debt to EBITDA ratio not to exceed 3.00 to 1.00 (the “Debt Test”); (ii) consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio of at least 1.25 to 1.00 (the “FCCR Test”); and (iii) consolidated minimum EBITDA of at least $600,000 for the discrete quarter ended January 31, 2022. In addition, the BofA Credit Facility contained customary affirmative and negative covenants.

On September 12, 2023, we entered into Amendment No. 1 and Waiver to the BofA Loan Agreement (“Loan Amendment No. 1”) with BofA, which, among other matters, provided for a one-time waiver of our failure to comply with (i) the Debt Test for the period ended July 31, 2023 and (ii) the FCCR Test for the period ended July 31, 2023. Loan Amendment No. 1 also waived testing for compliance with the Debt Test and FCCR Test for the quarterly periods ending October 31, 2023, January 31, 2024, April 30, 2024 and July 31, 2024. Further, pursuant to Loan Amendment No. 1, we were required to maintain (i) (a) until September 21, 2023, minimum liquidity (week-end cash balance plus availability from the BofA Revolving Credit Facility) of $4.0 million, and (b) from September 22, 2023 and thereafter, liquidity equal to the greater of (1) $4.0 million or (2) 80% of the liquidity that had been forecast for this date at the fourth week of the forecast and (ii) minimum EBITDA of ($400,000), $500,000, $1.0 million, and $1.0 million for the quarters ending October 31, 2023, January 31, 2024, April 30, 2024, and July 31, 2024, respectively.

On January 26, 2024, we entered into Amendment No. 2 to the BofA Loan Agreement (“Loan Amendment No. 2”) with BofA, which, among other matters, eliminated the requirement to maintain minimum EBITDA of $500,000 for the quarter ending January 31, 2024. Under Loan Amendment No. 2, the line of credit available to the Company under the BofA Revolving Credit Facility was lowered from $3.0 million to $500,000. Further, Loan Amendment No. 2 required that we maintain from September 22, 2023 and thereafter, liquidity of at least $2.0 million, rather than the greater of $4.0 million or 80% of the forecast liquidity as was required under Loan Amendment No. 1. Under Loan Amendment No. 2, the Company would have been required to pay an additional fee equal to 1% of the collective outstanding principal balances of the BofA Revolving Credit Facility and BofA Term Loan if the BofA Credit Facility was not repaid in full on or before March 1, 2024. This additional fee, if applicable, would have been due on March 2, 2024. Further, Loan Amendment No. 2 required that the Company make an additional principal payment of $1.0 million on the BofA Term Loan on March 1, 2024, in addition to the existing monthly payments due on the BofA Term Loan. In connection with Loan Amendment No. 2, we paid BofA a $500,000 paydown on the BofA Revolving Credit Facility, thereby reducing the outstanding balance from $1.0 million to $500,000.

On February 29, 2024, we entered into Amendment No. 3 to the BofA Loan Agreement (“Loan Amendment No. 3”) with BofA, which, among other matters, deferred the requirement that the Company make an additional principal payment of $1.0 million on the BofA Term Loan, from March 1, 2024, as was required under Loan Amendment No. 2, to April 1, 2024. Further, Loan Amendment No. 3 reduced the additional fee the Company was required to pay BofA on March 2, 2024 from 1% of the collective outstanding principal balances of the BofA Revolving Credit Facility and BofA Term Loan as of March 1, 2024 as required under Loan Amendment No. 2, to 0.50% of the collective outstanding principal balances of the BofA Revolving Credit Facility and BofA Term Loan as of March 1, 2024. Additionally, Loan Amendment No. 3 required the Company to pay BofA a fee equal to 0.50% of the collective outstanding principal balances of the BofA Revolving Credit Facility and BofA Term Loan as of March 1, 2024, if the BofA Credit Facility was not repaid in full on or before April 2, 2024 (the “April 2024 Fee”). The April 2024 Fee, if applicable, would have been due on April 2, 2024. We were not required to pay the April 2024 Fee based on our repayment of the BofA Credit Facility prior to April 2, 2024. Under Loan Amendment No. 3, the Company was required to maintain liquidity of at least $2.0 million and pay the remaining outstanding balance of $500,000 on the BofA Revolving Credit Facility by March 1, 2024, as required under Loan Amendment No. 2.

On March 15, 2024, we entered into the EBC Credit Agreement and used proceeds from the initial drawings under the EBC Credit Facilities (as defined below) to repay in full outstanding obligations under the BofA Loan Agreement and to pay fees, premiums, costs and expenses, including fees payable in connection with the EBC Credit Agreement. The BofA Loan Agreement was terminated upon entry into the EBC Credit Agreement and is no longer in effect.

The EBC Credit Agreement provides for (i) a senior secured revolving loan facility of up to $15.0 million (the “EBC Revolving Loan Facility”) and (ii) a senior secured revolving credit facility of up to $1.0 million (the “EBC Additional Line” and, together with the EBC Revolving Loan Facility, the “EBC Credit Facilities”) (with a $3.0 million swingline loan sublimit). Availability of borrowings under the EBC Credit Facilities will be based upon a borrowing base formula and periodic borrowing base certifications valuing certain of our accounts receivable and inventories, as reduced by certain reserves, if any.

In the absence of an Event of Default (as defined in the EBC Credit Agreement) or certain other events (including the inability of EBC to determine the secured overnight financing rate “SOFR”), borrowings under (a) the EBC Revolving Loan Facility accrue interest at a rate of the one-month term SOFR reference rate plus an adjustment of 0.11448% (“Adjusted Term SOFR”) plus 5.00%, and (b) the EBC Additional Line accrue interest at a rate of Adjusted Term SOFR plus 6.50%, in each case subject to a floor of 2.00% for Adjusted Term SOFR. We will be required to pay a commitment fee for the unused portion of the EBC Revolving Loan Facility of 0.50% per annum. In addition to the foregoing unused commitment fee, we are required to pay certain other administrative fees pursuant to the terms of the EBC Credit Agreement.

Borrowings under the EBC Credit Agreement are secured by a security interest in certain assets of the Company and are subject to certain loan covenants. The EBC Credit Facilities require the maintenance of certain financial covenants, including (i) Excess Availability (as defined in the EBC Credit Agreement) of at least, as of any date of determination, an amount equal to the greater of (a) $1.0 million and (b) 10% of the Adjusted Borrowing Base (as defined in the EBC Credit Agreement), unless as of the last day of the most recent month for which the monthly financial statements and the related compliance certificate have been or are required to have been delivered to EBC, the Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio (as defined in the EBC Credit Agreement) for the twelve consecutive calendar month period then ended is greater than 1.10 to 1.00; and (ii) a capital expenditure limitation limiting the aggregate cost of all Capital Expenditures (as defined in the EBC Credit Agreement) to $2.5 million during any fiscal year. In addition, the EBC Credit Facilities contain customary affirmative and negative covenants.

The foregoing description of the EBC Credit Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety to the full text of the EBC Credit Agreement. We filed the EBC Credit Agreement as Exhibit 10.3 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2024 and it is incorporated by reference herein.

Debt issuance costs related to the EBC Credit Agreement totaled $520,000 and were included as part of our other long term assets balance. 

As of April 30, 2024, our outstanding borrowings under the EBC Credit Agreement were $10,460,000. In accordance with ASC 470-10-45 Other Presentations Matters - General, we have classified the outstanding borrowings as part of current liabilities.