TRAVELZOO (TZOO) FY 2021 MD&A

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The information in this report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements are based upon current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about Travelzoo and our industry. These forward-looking statements are subject to the many risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Travelzoo to be different from those expected or anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. For example, words such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “potential”, “continue”, “strategy”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “expects”, “intends”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Travelzoo’s actual results and the timing of certain events could differ significantly from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those discussed elsewhere in this report in the section entitled “Risk Factors” and the risks discussed in our other SEC filings. The forward-looking statements included in this report reflect the beliefs of our management on the date of this report. Travelzoo undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other circumstances occur in the future.

Overview

Travelzoo® is a global Internet media company. We provide our 30 million members insider deals and one-of-a-kind experiences personally reviewed by one of our deal experts around the globe. We have our finger on the pulse of outstanding travel, entertainment, and lifestyle experiences. For over 20 years we have worked in partnership with more than 5,000 top travel suppliers—our long-standing relationships give Travelzoo members access to irresistible deals.

Travelzoo (the “Company” or "we") attracts a high-quality audience of travel enthusiasts across multiple digital platforms, including email, web, social media and mobile applications. Our insider deals and email newsletters are published by Travelzoo and its licensees worldwide. Our publications and products include the Travelzoo website (travelzoo.com), the Travelzoo iPhone and Android apps, the Travelzoo Top 20® email newsletter, the Newsflash email alert service, and the Travelzoo Network. Our Travelzoo website includes Local Deals and Getaways listings that allow our members to purchase vouchers for deals from local businesses such as spas, hotels and restaurants.

More than 5,000 companies use our services, including Alaska Airlines, DH Travel Services, Entertainment Benefits Group, Exoticca, Fairmont Mayakoba, Gate 1 Travel, Globus Family of Brands, Hawaiian Airlines, Icelandair (US), Imagine Cruising, Indus Travels Inc., Jetline Travel, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Shutterfly, Silversea Cruises, Stunning Tours, Superchina Holidays, Tourism Ireland, Travel Discounters, Vacation Express USA Corp, Wingbuddy.com

In 2020, the Company received $3.1 million and $535,000, respectively, pursuant to loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) administered by the Small Business Association in U.S. In 2021, the principal and the interest of the $3.1 million PPP loan and $429,000 of the $535,000 PPP loan were forgiven and a gain was recorded in “Other income (loss), net”. The Company paid off the remaining outstanding principal balance and interest of $111,000 for the $535,000 PPP loan. The Company also received various government funding from its European and Canadian locations in 2021 and 2020. Job retention related funding from Canada was approximately $400,000 and $280,000 for 2021 and 2020, respectively, and from European locations was approximately $31,000 and $1.1 million for 2021 and 2020, respectively. Those funding was recorded against salary and related expenses. In addition, $178,000 Germany funding for the fixed cost incurred was received and recorded in “Other income (loss), net” for 2020.

In March 2020, Travelzoo exited its loss-making Asia Pacific business and pivoted to a licensing model, whereby Travelzoo’s business practices and intellectual property are utilized by local licensees to continue to provide high quality insider deals and content to Travelzoo members throughout Asia Pacific. Such existing members in Asia Pacific will continue to be owned by Travelzoo as the licensor. The Company’s Asia Pacific business was classified as discontinued operations at March 31, 2020. Prior periods have been reclassified to conform with the current presentation. Travelzoo currently has license agreements in Japan and South Korea, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The license agreement for Japan provides a license to the licensee to use the intellectual property of Travelzoo exclusively in Japan in exchange for quarterly royalty payments based on net revenue over a 5 year term, with an option to renew. The territory subject to the license was amended to also include South Korea. An interest free loan was provided to the licensee to be repaid over 3 years for JPY 46

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million (approximately $430,000), of which $133,000 was repaid in 2021. The Company recorded this loan as other assets on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2021. The license agreement for Australia, New Zealand and Singapore provides a license to the licensee to use the intellectual property of Travelzoo exclusively in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore for quarterly royalty payments based upon net revenue over a 5 year term, with an option to renew.

In April 2018, we entered into an agreement with WeekenGO (“WeGo”), a start-up company in Germany. WeGo uses new technology to promote vacation packages. We originally invested $3.0 million in WeGo for a 25% ownership interest in April 2018. In April 2019, the Company invested an additional $673,000 in WeGo and increased the Company's ownership interest to 26.6%. On February 11, 2020, Travelzoo signed an amended investment agreement with WeGo and agreed to invest an additional $1.7 million to increase the Company's ownership interest to 33.7% if WeGo meets certain performance targets. In connection with the Original Investment Agreement, WeGo agreed to spend approximately $2.1 million with the Company in marketing pursuant to an Insertion Order (the “Insertion Order”) and in connection with the Investment Agreement, WeGo agreed to spend an additional $1.8 million in marketing, once the additional payment was made by the Company (the “Second Insertion Order”). In December 2020, the Company sold all of its shares in WeGo to trivago for a total purchase price of approximately $2.9 million, of which $213,000 was placed in escrow for one year. The Company received the full escrow payment in January 2022. As of the date of the transaction with trivago, WeGo had not achieved the necessary performance targets. WeGo also agreed to pay in a lump sum the remaining amount outstanding pursuant to the Insertion Order, equal to approximately $200,000. The Company acquired the domain name and trademark “weekend.com” in 2005 and amortized this asset over five years. In December 2020, the Company sold the domain name and trademark “weekend.com” to trivago in exchange for a payment of $822,000. See "Note 1: Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further information.

In January 2020, Travelzoo acquired JFC Travel Group Co. (“Jack’s Flight Club”), which operates Jack’s Flight Club, a subscription service that provides members with information about exceptional airfares. As of December 31, 2021, Jack’s Flight Club had 1.8 million subscribers. Jack’s Flight Club’s revenues are generated by subscription fees paid by members. In June 2020, the Company renegotiated certain aspects of that certain Stock Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 13, 2020 (the “SPA”), by and among Travelzoo, Jack’s Flight Club and the sellers party thereto (the “Sellers”) with the Sellers and reached a settlement for the outstanding Promissory Notes, dated as of January 13, 2020, by and between Travelzoo and each Seller (the “Promissory Notes”). See "Note 3: Acquisition" to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further information.

Historically, the Company managed its business geographically and operated in three reportable segments including Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. In the first quarter of 2020, the Company classified the results of its Asia Pacific segment as discontinued operations in its consolidated financial statements for current and prior periods presented. On January 13, 2020, Travelzoo entered into a Sales Purchase Agreement with the Sellers of Jack’s Flight Club to purchase 60% of the Shares. Upon the acquisition, the Company's chief operating decision maker reviewed and evaluated Jack’s Flight Club as a separate segment. Travelzoo currently has three reportable operating segments: Travelzoo North America, Travelzoo Europe and Jack’s Flight Club. Travelzoo North America consists of the Company’s operations in Canada and the U.S. Travelzoo Europe consists of the Company’s operations in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK. For the year ended December 31, 2021, Travelzoo North America operations were 67% of revenues, Travelzoo Europe operations were 28% of revenues and Jack's Flight Club were 5% of revenues. Financial information with respect to our business segments and certain financial information about geographic areas appears in Note 12 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

When evaluating the financial condition and operating performance of the Company, management focuses on financial and non-financial indicators such as growth in the number of members to the Company’s newsletters, operating margin, growth in revenues in the absolute and relative to the growth in reach of the Company’s publications measured as revenue per member and revenue per employee as a measure of productivity.

How We Generate Revenues

Travelzoo

Revenues from the Travelzoo brand and business are generated primarily from advertising fees from two categories of revenue: Travel and Local.

The “Travel” category consists of advertising or publishing revenues, primarily (a) listing fees paid by travel companies for the publishing of their offers on Travelzoo’s media properties and (b) commission from the sale of Getaways vouchers. Listing fees are based on audience reach, placement, number of listings, number of impressions, number of clicks, and actual sales. For publishing revenue, we recognize revenue upon delivery of the emails and delivery of the clicks, over the period of the placement of the advertising. Insertion orders for publishing revenue are typically for periods between one month and

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twelve months and are not automatically renewed. For Getaways vouchers, we recognize a percentage of the face value of the vouchers upon the sale of the vouchers. Merchant agreements for Getaways advertisers are typically for periods between twelve months and twenty-four months and are not automatically renewed. Since the second quarter of 2020, the Company expanded its vouchers refund policy in order to entice customers given the current economic climate to fully refundable until the voucher expires or is redeemed by the customer. The Company now offers full refunds for vouchers that have not been redeemed or expired. The expiration dates of vouchers range between January 2022 through December 2025 with the majority of vouchers expiring in 2022 and the remaining primarily expiring in 2023; provided, that these expiration dates may sometimes be extended on a case-by-case basis. The revenues generated from Local Deals vouchers and entertainment offers are based upon a percentage of the face value of the vouchers, commission on actual sales or a listing fee based on audience reach. For Local Deals vouchers, we recognize a percentage of the face value of vouchers upon the sale of the vouchers. The Company estimated the refund reserve by using historical and current refund rates by product and by merchant location to calculate the estimated future refunds. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had approximately $17.2 million of unredeemed vouchers that had been sold through December 31, 2021 representing the Company’s commission earned from the sale. The Company had estimated a refund liability of $5.2 million for these unredeemed vouchers as of December 31, 2021 which is recorded as a reduction of revenues and is reflected as a current liability in Accrued expenses and other on the consolidated balance sheet. The Company has recorded merchant payables of $68.7 million as of December 31, 2021 related to unredeemed vouchers. With these contracts, the Company estimates the value of vouchers that will ultimately not be redeemed and records the estimate as revenues in the same period.

The "Local" category consists of publishing revenue for negotiated high-quality deals from local businesses, such as restaurants, spas, shows, and other activities and includes Local Deals vouchers and entertainment offers (vouchers and direct bookings). The revenues generated from these products are based upon a percentage of the face value of the vouchers, commission on actual sales or a listing fee based on audience reach. We recognize revenue upon the sale of the vouchers, upon notification of the amount of direct bookings or upon delivery of the emails. For Local Deals vouchers, we recognize a percentage of the face value of vouchers upon the sale of the vouchers. Insertion orders and merchant agreements for Local are typically for periods between one month and twelve months and are not automatically renewed. Certain merchant contracts in foreign locations allow us to retain fees related to vouchers sold that are not redeemed by purchasers upon expiration, which we recognize as revenue based upon estimates at the time of sale.

Jack's Flight Club

Jack’s Flight Club revenue is generated from paid subscriptions by members. Subscription options are quarterly, semi-annually, and annually. We recognize the revenue monthly pro rata over the subscription period.

Trends in Our Business

Our ability to generate revenues in the future depends on numerous factors such as our ability to sell more advertising to existing and new advertisers, our ability to increase our audience reach and advertising rates, our ability to have sufficient supply of hotels offered at competitive rates, our ability to develop and launch new products and our ability to continue to service our members without interruption. Our ability to generate revenues is also dependent on trends impacting the travel industry and online advertising businesses more broadly.

Our current revenue model primarily depends on advertising fees paid primarily by travel, entertainment and local businesses. A number of factors can influence whether current and new advertisers decide to advertise their offers with us. We have been impacted and expect to continue to be impacted by external factors such as the shift from offline to online advertising, the relative condition of the economy, competition and the introduction of new methods of advertising, and the decline in consumer demand for vouchers and travel more generally. A number of factors will have impact on our revenue, such as the reduction in spending by travel intermediaries due to their focus on improving profitability, the trend towards mobile usage by consumers, the willingness of consumers to purchase the deals we advertise, and the willingness of certain competitors to grow their business unprofitably. In addition, we have been impacted and expect to continue to be impacted by internal factors such as introduction of new technologies and advertising products, hiring and relying on key employees for the continued maintenance and growth of our business and ensuring our advertising products continue to attract the audience that advertisers desire. We also have been impacted and expect to continue to be impacted by external factors, such as the global pandemic, which decrease the demand for travel and entertainment and increasing cybersecurity risks due to increased dependence on digital technologies. We also could be indirectly impacted by climate change and related legislation to the extent such legislation impacts the businesses of our advertisers such as airlines and cruise ship operators, which have come under increasing scrutiny for their carbon footprints.

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Additionally, existing advertisers may shift from one advertising service (e.g. Top 20) to another (e.g. Local Deals and Getaways). These shifts between advertising services by advertisers could result in no incremental revenue or less revenue than in previous periods depending on the amount purchased by the advertisers, and in particular with Local Deals and Getaways, depending on how many vouchers are purchased by members.

Local revenues have been and may continue to decline over time due to market conditions driven by competition and declines in consumer demand. In the last several years, we have seen a decline in the number of vouchers sold and a decrease in the average take rate earned by us from the merchants for voucher sold. However, due to the global pandemic and the increase in demand by consumers for fully refundable travel options, we have now begun to see a slight reversal of this trend and an increase in the sale of Getaways hotel vouchers. Demand for restaurants and spas was low due to the global pandemic but in recent quarters has started to increase as restrictions have been lifted.

Our ability to continue to generate advertising revenue and generate subscription revenue through Jack’s Flight Club depends heavily upon our ability to maintain and grow an attractive audience for our publications. We monitor our members to assess our efforts to maintain and grow our audience reach. We obtain additional members and activity on our websites by acquiring traffic from Internet search companies. The costs to grow our audience have had, and we expect will continue to have, a significant impact on our financial results and can vary from period to period. We may have to increase our expenditures on acquiring traffic to continue to grow or maintain our reach of our publications due to competition. We continue to see a shift in the audience to accessing our services through mobile devices and social media. When funds are available for marketing spend, we are addressing this growing channel of our audience through increased marketing on social media channels. However, we will need to keep pace with technological change and this trend to further address this shift in the audience behavior in order to offset any related declines in revenue.

We believe that we can increase our advertising rates only if the reach of our publications increases. We do not know if we will be able to increase the reach of our publications. If we are able to increase the reach of our publications, we still may not be able to or want to increase rates given market conditions such as intense competition in our industry. We have not had any significant rate increase in recent years due to intense competition in our industry. Even if we increase our rates, the increased price may reduce the number of advertisers willing to advertise with us and, therefore, decrease our revenue. We may need to decrease our rates based on competitive market conditions and the performance of our audience in order to maintain or grow our revenue.

We do not know what our cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues will be in future periods. Our cost of revenues may increase if the face value of vouchers that we sell for Local Deals and Getaways increases or the total number of vouchers sold increases because we have credit card fees based upon face value of vouchers sold, due to customer service costs related to vouchers sold and due to refunds to members on vouchers sold. We expect fluctuations in cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues from quarter to quarter. Some of the fluctuations may be significant and may have a material impact on our results of operations.

We do not know that our sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue will be in future periods. Increased competition in our industry may require us to increase advertising for our brand and for our products. In order to increase the reach of our publications, we have to acquire a significant number of new members in every quarter and continue to promote our brand. One significant factor that impacts our advertising expenses is the average cost per acquisition of a new member. Increases in the average cost of acquiring new members may result in an increase of sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue. We believe that the average cost per acquisition depends mainly on the advertising rates which we pay for media buys, our ability to manage our member acquisition efforts successfully, the regions we choose to acquire new members and the relative costs for that region, and the degree of competition in our industry. We may decide to accelerate our member acquisition, including through merger and acquisition activity, for various strategic and tactical reasons and, as a result, increase our marketing and other expenses. We expect the average cost per acquisition to increase with our increased expectations for the quality of the members we acquire. We may see a unique opportunity for a brand marketing campaign that will result in an increase of marketing expenses. In addition, there may be a significant number of members that cancel or we may cancel their subscription for various reasons, which may drive us to spend more on member acquisition in order to replace the lost members. We expect fluctuations in sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue from year to year and from quarter to quarter. Some of the fluctuations may be significant and have a material impact on our results of operations. We expect increased marketing expense to spur continued growth in members and revenue in future periods; however, we cannot be assured of this due to the many factors that impact our growth in members and revenue. We expect to adjust the level of such incremental spending during any given quarter based upon market conditions, as well as our performance in each quarter.

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We do not know what our product development expenses as a percentage of revenue will be in future periods. There may be fluctuations that have a material impact on our results of operations. Product development changes may lead to reductions of revenue based on changes in presentation of our offerings to our audience. We expect our efforts on developing our product and services will continue to be a focus in the future, which may lead to increased product development expenses. This increase in expense may be the result of an increase in costs related to third party technology service providers and software licenses, headcount, the compensation related to existing headcount and the increased use of professional services.

We do not know what our general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue will be in future periods. There may be fluctuations that have a material impact on our results of operations.

We do not know what our income taxes will be in future periods. There may be fluctuations that have a material impact on our results of operations. Our income taxes are dependent on numerous factors such as the geographic mix of our taxable income, foreign, federal, state and local tax law and regulations and changes thereto. Our income taxes are also dependent on the determination of whether valuation allowances for certain tax assets are required or not, audits of prior years' tax returns that result in adjustments, resolution of uncertain tax positions and different treatments for certain items for tax versus books. We expect fluctuations in our income taxes from year to year and from quarter to quarter. Some of the fluctuations may be significant and have a material impact on our results of operations.

With the impact to revenues caused by the global pandemic, spending by the Company in many areas within the business has been slowed or stopped, including but not limited to, marketing, technology and human resources. For example, in 2020, the Company ceased operations in Asia Pacific, conducted employee furloughs and restructured its employees significantly. The Company also renegotiated many of its outstanding contractual obligations with vendors and closed some ancillary office locations in order to reduce capital expenditures. We do not anticipate that any additional cost-cutting measures will be necessary at this time, but the Board and management of the Company are continually evaluating.

While the Company has already implemented a policy governing employees’ returning to the office voluntarily (in jurisdictions where they are permitted to do so), which includes health, safety and cleaning protocols, the Board and management are continually evaluating the best timeframe for employees’ official return to the offices, including implementing a phased return and ongoing remote working arrangements, and will determine when an official return will be safe for employees based on government regulations and guidance in the applicable jurisdictions.

The Company's PPP loans were forgiven in 2021. The Company does not have any outstanding debt and does not anticipate needing to enter into any debt arrangements or raise any capital, publicly or privately, to support its operations and liquidity in the ordinary course of business.

The key elements of our growth strategy include building a travel and lifestyle brand with a large, high-quality user base and offering our users products that keep pace with consumer preference and technology, such as the trend toward mobile usage by consumers and toward fully refundable travel deals given the uncertainty of the global pandemic. We expect to continue our efforts to grow; however, we may not grow or we may experience slower growth.

We believe that we can sell more advertising if the market for online advertising continues to grow and if we can maintain or increase our market share. We believe that the market for advertising continues to shift from offline to online. We do not know if we will be able to maintain or increase our market share. We do not know if we will be able to increase the number of our advertisers in the future. We do not know if we will have market acceptance of our new products or whether the market will continue to accept our existing products.

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Results of Operations

The following table sets forth, as a percentage of total revenues, the results from our operations for the periods indicated.

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Operating Metrics

The following table sets forth operating metrics in Travelzoo North America, Travelzoo Europe, and Jack's Flight Club:

(1)Members represent individuals who are signed up to receive one or more of our free email publications that present our travel, entertainment and local deals.

(2)Annual revenue divided by number of members at the beginning of the year.

(3)Annual revenue divided by number of employees at the end of the year (in thousands).

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Revenues

The following table sets forth the breakdown of revenues (in thousands) by category and segment. Travel revenue includes travel publications (Top 20, Website, Newsflash, Travelzoo Network), Getaways vouchers, and hotel platform and vacation packages. Local revenue includes Local Deals vouchers and entertainment offers (vouchers and direct bookings).

Travelzoo North America

North America revenues increased $7.1 million or 20% in 2021 compared to 2020. This increase was primarily due to $6.8 million increase in Travel revenues and $342,000 increase in Local revenues. We have seen improvement in our business and a trend of revenue recovery compared to the global pandemic time in 2020. The increase in Travel revenue was primarily due to increase as a result of higher revenues from Top 20 and Newsflash. The increase in Local revenues of $342,000 was primarily due to the increase in number of Local Deals vouchers sold.

Travelzoo Europe

Europe revenues increased $2.2 million or 14% in 2021 compared to 2020. The increase was primarily due to $491,000 increase in Travel revenues, $700,000 increase in Local revenues and $984,000 positive impact from foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar. The increase in Travel revenue was primarily due to increase in Getaways vouchers sold. The increase in Local revenues was primarily due to the increase in number of Local Deals vouchers sold.

Jack’s Flight Club

Travelzoo acquired 60% of the shares of Jack’s Flight Club on January 13, 2020. Jack’s Flight Club's premium members pay subscription fees quarterly, semi-annually or annually to receive emails or app notifications of flight deals.

Jack’s Flight Club’s revenue was $3.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and was $3.5 million for the period between January 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020. The revenue for 2020 was negatively impacted by approximately $1.0 million from January 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020 due to the acquisition revenue adjustment related to the deferred revenue sold prior to acquisition.

For 2021 and 2020, none of our customers accounted for 10% or more of our revenue.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues consists primarily of network expenses, including fees we pay for co-location services and depreciation and maintenance of network equipment, payments made to third-party partners of the Travelzoo Network, amortization of capitalized website development costs, software license expenses, credit card fees, certain estimated refunds to members and customer service costs associated with vouchers we sell and hotel bookings, and salary expenses associated with network

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operations and customer service staff. Cost of revenues was $11.4 million and $10.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Cost of revenues for Travelzoo North America and Travelzoo Europe was $11.1 million and $10.2 million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. The increase of $856,000 was primarily due to $1.5 million increase in software license expenses and $281,000 increase in customer service costs, offset partially by $910,000 decrease in credit card fees. Cost of revenue for Jack’s Flight Club decreased to $313,000 for the year ended December 31, 2021 from $344,000 for the period between January 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020. The decrease of $31,000 was primarily due the decrease in payment processing fees.

Operating Expenses

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of advertising and promotional expenses, salary and headcount related expenses associated with sales, marketing and production employees, expenses related to our participation in industry conferences, public relations expenses and facilities costs. Sales and marketing expenses were $30.3 million and $30.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Advertising expenses consist primarily of online advertising which we refer to as traffic acquisition cost and member acquisition costs. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, advertising expenses accounted for 12% and 9%, respectively, of total sales and marketing expenses. The goal of our advertising was to acquire new members to our email products, increase the traffic to our websites, increase brand awareness and increase our audience through mobile and social media channels.

Sales and marketing expenses for Travelzoo North America and Travelzoo Europe was $29.7 million and $30.0 million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. The decrease of $238,000 was primarily due to $1.2 million decrease in facilities costs and $340,000 decrease in software license expenses, offset partially by $1.2 million increase in member acquisition costs. Sales and marketing expenses for Jack's Flight Club decreased to $549,000 for the year ended December 31, 2021 from $633,000 for the period between January 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020 primarily due to decrease in advertising and marketing expenses.

Product Development

Product development expenses consist primarily of salary and headcount related expenses for software development staff, fees for professional services, software maintenance, amortization and facilities costs. Product development expenses were $2.6 million and $3.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Jack's Flight Club did not incur product development expenses for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

Product development expenses decreased $491,000 in 2021 compared to 2020 primarily due to the decrease in salary and headcount related expenses.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation for administrative and executive staff, bad debt expense, professional service expenses for audit and tax preparation, legal expenses, amortization of intangible assets, general office expense and facilities costs. General and administrative expenses were $19.8 million and $20.5 million for the years ended 2021 and 2020, respectively.

General and administrative expenses for Travelzoo North America and Travelzoo Europe was $17.4 million and $18.1 million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The decrease of $662,000 was primarily due to $2.0 million decrease in bad debt expense and $1.4 million decrease in salary and headcount related expenses which mainly related to the decrease of stock-based compensation expense as the result of the shareholder's approval in May 2020 of newly granted options and repricing of certain previously granted options, offset partially by $1.5 million gain relating to Jack’s Flight Club's promissory note forgiveness and $822,000 gain from the sale the domain name and trademark “weekend.com. General and administrative expenses for Jack’s Flight Club was $2.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, consistent with the $2.4 million for the period between January 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020.

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Impairment of intangible assets and goodwill

We determined that the global pandemic that was declared in March 2020 was a triggering event requiring us to assess our long-lived assets including goodwill for impairment in the first quarter ended March 31, 2020. The Company's impairment test indicated that Jack’s Flight Club’s indefinite lived intangible assets (“Trade name”) was impaired for $810,000 and goodwill was impaired for $2.1 million and the Company recorded these impairments in the first quarter of 2020. The Company also did an annual assessment of our long-lived assets in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 2020 but determined that no impairment was required at that time.

Other Income (Loss), net

Other income (loss), net consisted primarily of foreign exchange transactions gains and losses, our share of investment gains and losses and amortization of basis differences, sublease income, gains on extinguishment of PPP loans, interest income earned on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash as well as interest expense. Other income (loss) was $4.0 million and $455,000 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Other income (loss) for Travelzoo North America and Travelzoo Europe was $4.0 million and $450,000 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2021 from the year ended December 31, 2020 was due to $3.6 million gain recorded as the result of PPP loan forgiveness in the year ended December 31, 2021.

Income Taxes

Our income is generally taxed in the U.S., Canada and U.K. Our income tax provision reflects federal, state and country statutory rates applicable to our worldwide income, adjusted to take into account expenses that are treated as having no recognizable tax benefit. Income tax expense (benefit) was $1.8 million and ($2.4) million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. Our effective tax rate was 66% and 18% for 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Our effective tax rate increased for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to operating income in 2021 and disallowed excess compensation of officers in 2021. We expect our effective tax rate to fluctuate in future periods depending on the geographic mix of our worldwide income or losses mainly incurred by our operations, statutory tax rate changes that may occur, existing or new uncertain tax matters that may arise and require changes in tax reserves, the use of accumulated losses to offset current taxable income and the need for valuation allowances on certain tax assets, if any. See “Note 7: Income Taxes” to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further information.

Segment Information

Travelzoo North America

North America revenues increased by $7.1 million in 2021 compared to 2020 (see “Revenues” above). North America expenses increased by $1.5 million from 2020 to 2021 primarily due to $1.5 million increase in member acquisition costs, $1.5 million gain related to Jack Flight Club's promissory note forgiveness in 2020 and $897,000 increase in software license expenses, offset partially by $2.5 million decrease in stock-based compensation expense as the result of the shareholders’ approval in May 2020 of newly granted options and repricing of certain previously granted options.

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Travelzoo Europe

Europe net revenues increased $2.2 million in 2021 compared to 2020 (see “Revenues” above). Europe expenses decreased $2.0 million from 2020 to 2021 primarily due to $1.6 million decrease in bad debt expenses and $323,000 decrease in marketing expenses.

Foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar negatively impacted our local currency income from our operations in Europe by approximately $23,000 and $93,000 for 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Jack's Flight Club

Jack’s Flight Club revenues decreased by $191,000 for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the revenues from January 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020 (see “Revenues” above). Jack’s Flight Club expenses decreased by $3.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the period between January 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020 primarily due to the $2.9 million of impairment of intangible assets and goodwill charges the Company recorded in the first quarter of 2020.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2021, we had $43.8 million in cash and cash equivalents, of which $24.0 million was held outside the U.S. in our foreign operations. We also had $1.1 million in restricted cash, of which $428,000 was held outside the U.S. in our foreign operations as of December 31, 2021. If the assets held outside the U.S. are distributed to the U.S., we may be subject to additional U.S. taxes in certain circumstances.

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash decreased $19.4 million from $64.4 million as of December 31, 2020 primarily due to $8.1 million cash used in operating activities and $11.2 million cash used in financing activities primarily for common stock repurchases and taxes paid for net share settlement.

As of December 31, 2021, we had merchant payables of $68.7 million related to unredeemed vouchers. In the Company’s financial statements presented in this 10-K report, following GAAP accounting principles, we classified all merchant payables as current. When all merchant payables are classified as current, there is negative net working capital (which is defined as current assets minus current liabilities) of $22.8 million. Payables to merchants are generally due upon redemption of vouchers. The vouchers have maturities from January 2022 through December 2025 with the majority of vouchers expiring in 2022 and the remaining primarily expiring in 2023; provided, that these expiration dates may sometimes be extended on a case-by-case basis. Management believes that redemptions may be delayed for international vouchers in the current environment. Based on current projections of redemption activity, we expect that cash on hand as of December 31, 2021 will be sufficient to provide for working capital needs for at least the next twelve months. However, if redemption activity is more accelerated, if our business is not profitable, or if our planned targets for cash flows from operations are not met, we may need to obtain additional financing to meet our working capital needs in the future. We believe that we could obtain additional financing if needed, but there can be no assurance that financing will be available on terms that are acceptable to us, if at all.

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Net cash provided by (used) in operating activities is net income (loss) adjusted for certain non-cash items and changes in assets and liabilities. Net cash used in operating activities was $8.1 million for 2021, which consisted of $11.8 million decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities, offset partially by $2.8 million non-cash items and net income of $902,000. The decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of $9.7 million increase in accounts receivable, $8.1 million increase in prepaid expenses and other, $3.3 million decrease in accounts payable and $2.5 million increase in prepaid income taxes, offset partially by $12.2 million increase in merchant payables. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $3.7 million of stock-based compensation and $1.8 million depreciation and amortization, offset partially by $3.6 million gain on PPP notes payable forgiveness.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $47.0 million for 2020, which consisted of $50.8 million increase in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities and $10.8 million non-cash items, offset partially by net loss of $14.6 million. The increase in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of the $44.1 million increase in merchant payables and $6.2 million decrease in accounts receivable. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $6.2 million of stock-based compensation, $5.4 million from provision of loss on accounts receivable and refund reserve, $2.9 million impairment of goodwill and intangible assets and $2.3 million depreciation and amortization, offset partially by $3.4 million deferred income tax and $1.5 million gain relating to Jack Flight Club's Promissory notes forgiveness.

Cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds received in 2021 and 2020, was $3.1 million and $2.0 million, respectively.

Net cash used in investing activities for 2021 was $104,000 which consisted of $133,000 proceeds from repayment of investment Japan loan, offset by $29,000 in purchases of property and equipment. Net cash provided by investing activities for 2020 was $2.1 million which consisted of $2.6 million proceeds from sale of our equity investment in WeGo and $822,000 proceeds for the sale the domain name and trademark “weekend.com”, offset partially by $1.0 million investment in Jack’s Flight Club acquisition less acquired cash of $321,000, $430,000 other investments and $253,000 in purchases of property and equipment.

Net cash used in financing activities for 2021 and 2020 was $11.2 million and $7.0 million, respectively. Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 primarily consisted of taxes paid for net share settlement of $5.6 million and stock repurchases of $5.5 million. Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 primarily consisted of payment of $9.5 million promissory note for Jack’s Flight Club stock purchase and $1.2 million for the repurchase of common stock, offset partially by $3.7 million proceeds from PPP loans.

Although we have settled the states unclaimed property claims with all states, we may still receive inquiries from certain potential Netsurfers promotional stockholders that had not provided their state of residence to us by April 25, 2004. Therefore, we are continuing our voluntary program under which we make cash payments to individuals related to the promotional shares for individuals whose residence was unknown by us and who establish that they satisfied the conditions to receive shares of Netsurfers, and who failed to submit requests to convert their shares into shares of Travelzoo within the required time period. This voluntary program is not available for individuals whose promotional shares have been escheated to a state by us.

Our capital requirements depend on a number of factors, including market acceptance of our products and services, the amount of our resources we devote to the development of new products, cash payments related to former shareholders of Netsurfers, expansion of our operations, and the amount of resources we devote to promoting awareness of the Travelzoo brand. Since the inception of the voluntary program under which we make cash payments to people who establish that they were former shareholders of Netsurfers, and who failed to submit requests to convert their shares into shares of Travelzoo within the required time period, we have incurred expenses of $2.9 million. While future payments for this program are expected to decrease, the total cost of this voluntary program is still undeterminable because it is dependent on our stock price and on the number of valid requests ultimately received.

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Consistent with our growth, we have experienced fluctuations in our cost of revenues, sales and marketing expenses and our general and administrative expenses, including increases in product development costs, and we anticipate that these increases will continue for the foreseeable future. We believe cash on hand will be sufficient to pay such costs for at least the next twelve months. In addition, we will continue to evaluate possible investments in businesses, products and technologies, the consummation of any of which would increase our capital requirements.

We are subject to risks and uncertainties as a result of the global pandemic. Because of the global pandemic, many of our advertisers have paused, canceled, and stopped advertising with us. Additionally, there have been a large amount of cancellations for our hotel and travel package partners as well as refund requests for our vouchers with the Company’s restaurant and spa partners. We have taken steps to adopt new policies and reduce expenses in an effort to maintain our cash position, while we evaluate potential business options and strategic alternatives that may be available.

Although we currently believe that we have sufficient capital resources to meet our anticipated working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next twelve months, unanticipated events and opportunities or a less favorable than expected development of our business with one or more of advertising formats may require us to sell additional equity or debt securities or establish new credit facilities to raise capital in order to meet our capital requirements.

If we sell additional equity or convertible debt securities, the sale could dilute the ownership of our existing stockholders. If we issue debt securities or establish a new credit facility, our fixed obligations could increase, and we may be required to agree to operating covenants that would restrict our operations. We cannot be sure that any such financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us.

If the development of our business is less favorable than expected, we may decide to significantly reduce the size of our operations and marketing expenses in certain markets with the objective of reducing cash outflow.

The information set forth under “Note 6 — Commitments and Contingencies” and "Note 14: Leases" to the accompanying consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report is incorporated herein by reference. Litigation and claims against the Company may result in legal defense costs, settlements or judgments that could have a material impact on our financial condition.

The following summarizes our principal contractual commitments as of December 31, 2021 (in thousands):

We also have contingencies related to net unrecognized tax benefits, including interest, of approximately $1.5 million as of December 31, 2021. See Note 7 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further information.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

We believe that there are a number of accounting policies that are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies affect the reported amounts of revenue and the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates. These significant accounting policies relate to revenue recognition, reserve for member refunds, allowance for doubtful accounts, income taxes and loss contingencies. These policies, and our procedures related to these policies, are described in detail below.

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Revenue Recognition

The Company follows Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (Topic 606).

Under Topic 606, revenue is recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to our customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services.

The Company's revenues are primarily advertising fees generated from the publishing of travel and entertainment deals on the Travelzoo website, in the Top 20 email newsletter, in Newsflash and through the Travelzoo Network. The Company also generates transaction-based revenues from the sale of vouchers through our Local Deals and Getaways products and operation of a hotel booking platform, limited offerings of vacation packages and subscription revenues from Jack's Flight Club. The Company's disaggregated revenues are included in “Note 12: Segment Reporting and Significant Customer Information”.

For fixed-fee website advertising, the Company recognizes revenues ratably over the contracted placement period.

For Top 20 email newsletter and other email products, the Company recognizes revenues when the emails are delivered to its members.

The Company offers advertising on a cost-per-click basis, which means that an advertiser pays the Company only when a user clicks on an ad on Travelzoo properties or Travelzoo Network members’ properties. For these customers, the Company recognizes revenues each time a user clicks on the ad.

The Company also offers advertising on other bases, such as cost-per-impression, which means that an advertiser pays the Company based on the number of times their advertisement is displayed on Travelzoo properties, email advertisement, Travelzoo Network properties, or social media properties. For these customers, the Company recognizes revenues each time an ad is displayed or email delivered.

For transaction based revenues, including products such as Local Deals, Getaways, hotel platform and vacation packages, the Company evaluates whether it is the principal (i.e., report revenue on a gross basis) versus an agent (i.e., report revenue on a net basis). The Company reports transaction revenue on a net basis because the supplier is primarily responsible for providing the underlying service and we do not control the service provided by the supplier prior to its transfer to the customer.

For Local Deals and Getaways products, the Company earns a fee for acting as an agent for the sale of vouchers that can be redeemed for services with third-party merchants. Revenues are presented net of the amounts due to the third-party merchants for fulfilling the underlying services and an estimated amount for future refunds. Since the second quarter of 2020, the Company expanded its vouchers refund policy in order to entice customers given the current economic climate to fully refundable until the voucher expires or is redeemed by the customer. Certain merchant contracts allow the Company to retain the proceeds from unredeemed vouchers. With these contracts, the Company estimates the value of vouchers that will ultimately not be redeemed and records the estimate as revenues in the same period.

Jack’s Flight Club revenue is generated from paid subscriptions by members. Subscription options are quarterly, semi-annually, and annually. We recognize the revenue monthly pro rata over the subscription period.

Commission revenue related to our hotel platform is recognized ratably over the period of guest stay, net of an allowance for cancellations based upon historical patterns. For arrangements for booking non-cancelable reservations where the Company’s performance obligation is deemed to be the successful booking of a hotel reservation, the Company records revenue for the commissions upon completion of the hotel booking.

The Company’s contracts with customers may include multiple performance obligations in which the Company allocates revenues to each performance obligation based on its standalone selling price. The Company determines standalone selling price based on its overall pricing objectives, taking into consideration the type of services, geographical region of the customers, normal rate card pricing and customary discounts. Standalone selling price is generally determined based on the prices charged to customers when the product is sold separately.

The Company relies upon the following practical expedients and exemptions allowed for in the Topic 606. The Company expenses sales commissions when incurred because the amortization period would be one year or less. These costs are recorded in sales and marketing expenses. In addition, the Company does not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for (a) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less and (b) contracts for which it recognizes revenues at the amount to which it has the right to invoice for services performed.

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Reserve for Member Refunds

The Company records an estimated reserve for refunds to members based on our historical experience at the time revenue is recorded for Local Deals and Getaways voucher sales. We consider many key factors such as the historical refunds based upon the time lag since the sale, historical reasons for refunds, time period that remains until the deal expiration date, any changes in refund procedures and estimates of redemptions and breakage.

For publishing revenue, we recognize revenue upon delivery of the emails and delivery of the clicks, over the period of the placement of the advertising. Insertion orders for publishing revenue are typically for periods between one month and twelve months and are not automatically renewed. For Getaways vouchers, we recognize a percentage of the face value of the vouchers upon the sale of the vouchers. Merchant agreements for Getaways advertisers are typically for periods between twelve months and twenty-four months and are not automatically renewed. Since the second quarter of 2020, the Company expanded its vouchers refund policy in order to entice customers given the current economic climate to fully refundable until the voucher expires or is redeemed by the customer. The Company now offers fully refundable refunds for vouchers that have not been redeemed or expired. The expiration dates of vouchers range between January 2022 through December 2025 with the majority of vouchers expiring in 2022 and the remaining primarily expiring in 2023; provided, that these expiration dates may sometimes be extended on a case-by-case basis. The revenues generated from Local Deals vouchers and entertainment offers are based upon a percentage of the face value of the vouchers, commission on actual sales or a listing fee based on audience reach. For Local Deals vouchers, we recognize a percentage of the face value of vouchers upon the sale of the vouchers. The Company estimated the refund reserve by using historical and current refund rates by product and by merchant location to calculate the estimated future refunds. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had approximately $17.2 million of unredeemed vouchers that had been sold through December 31, 2021 representing the Company’s commission earned from the sale. The Company had estimated a refund liability of $5.2 million for these unredeemed vouchers as of December 31, 2021 which is recorded as a reduction of revenues and is reflected as a current liability in Accrued expenses and other on the consolidated balance sheet. The Company has recorded merchant payables of $68.7 million as of December 31, 2021 related to unredeemed vouchers. Insertion orders and merchant agreements for Travelzoo Local are typically for periods between one month and twelve months and are not automatically renewed except for merchant contracts in foreign locations. Should any of these factors change, the estimates made by management will also change, which could impact the level of our future reserve for refunds to member. Specifically, if the financial condition of our advertisers, the business that is providing the vouchered service, were to deteriorate, affecting their ability to provide the services to our members, additional reserves for refunds to members may be required and may adversely affect future revenue as the liability is recorded against revenue.

We record a liability associated with estimated future refunds in accrued expenses on the consolidated balance sheets. Estimated member refunds that are determined to be recoverable from the merchant are recorded in the consolidated statements of operations as a reduction to revenue. Estimated member refunds that are determined not to be recoverable from the merchant are presented as a cost of revenue. If our judgments regarding estimated member refunds are inaccurate, reported results of operations could differ from the amount we previously accrued.

Business Combinations

The purchase price of an acquisition is allocated to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values at the acquisition date. To the extent the purchase price exceeds the fair value of the net identifiable tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed, such excess is allocated to goodwill. The Company determines the estimated fair values after review and consideration of relevant information, including discounted cash flows, quoted market prices and estimates made by management. The Company records the net assets and results of operations of an acquired entity from the acquisition date and adjusts the preliminary purchase price allocation, as necessary, during the measurement period of up to one year after the acquisition closing date as it obtains more information as to facts and circumstances existing at the acquisition date impacting asset valuations and liabilities assumed. Acquisition-related costs are recognized separately from the acquisition and are expensed as incurred.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

We record a provision for doubtful accounts based on our historical experience of write-offs and a detailed assessment of our accounts receivable and allowance for doubtful accounts. In estimating the provision for doubtful accounts, management considers the age of the accounts receivable, historical write-offs, the creditworthiness of the advertiser, the economic conditions of the advertiser’s industry, and general economic conditions, among other factors. Should any of these factors change, the estimates made by management will also change, which could impact the level of the future provision for doubtful accounts. Specifically, if the financial condition of our advertisers were to deteriorate, affecting their ability to make payments, additional provision for doubtful accounts may be required.

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Income Taxes

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our uncertain tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes. Although we believe we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, no assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different. We adjust these reserves in light of changing facts and circumstances, such as the progress or closing of a tax audit or the refinement of an estimate. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will impact the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made. The provision for income taxes includes the impact of reserve provisions and changes to reserves that are considered appropriate, as well as the related net interest. In addition to local country tax laws and regulations, our income tax rate depends on the extent that our foreign earnings are taxed by the U.S. through new provisions under the Tax Act such as the new CARES Act, GILTI tax and BEAT or as a result of our indefinite reinvestment assertion. Indefinite reinvestment is determined by management’s judgment about and intentions concerning our future operations.

Our effective tax rates have differed from the statutory rate primarily due to the tax impact of foreign operations, state taxes, certain benefits realized related to stock option activities, credits, the extent that our earnings are indefinitely reinvested outside the U.S. and tax asset valuation allowance determinations, including on certain loss carryforwards. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, our effective tax rates were 66% and 18% , respectively. Our future effective tax rates could be materially impacted by earnings being lower than anticipated in countries where we have lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated in countries where we have higher statutory rates, changes in the deferred tax assets or liabilities, existing or new uncertain tax matters that may arise and require changes in tax reserves, changes in tax asset valuation allowance determinations, changes in our judgment about whether certain foreign earnings are indefinitely reinvested outside the U.S., or changes in tax laws, regulations, and accounting principles. In addition, we are subject to the continuous examination of our income tax returns by the IRS and other tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. See Note 7 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further information.

Loss Contingencies

We are involved in claims, suits, and proceedings arising from the ordinary course of our business. We record a provision for a liability when we believe that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred, and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine both probability and the estimated amount. Such claim proceedings are inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. Should any of these estimates and assumptions change or prove to have been incorrect, it could have a material impact on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. Please refer to Note 6 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further information regarding our loss contingencies.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See “Note 1 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” to the accompanying consolidated financial statements included in this report, regarding our significant accounting policies and any impact of certain recent accounting pronouncements on our consolidated financial statements.