National CineMedia, Inc. New Standards Disclosure

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (“ASU 2014-09”), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Accounting Standards Codification 605, Revenue Recognition. The new revenue recognition standard requires entities to recognize revenue in a way that depicts the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. Accounting Standards Update 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date, which was issued in August 2015, revised the effective date for this standard to annual and interim periods beginning on or after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted, but not earlier than the original effective date of annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016, for public entities.  The standard allows for either a full retrospective or a modified retrospective transition method. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that adopting this new accounting guidance will have on its audited Consolidated Financial Statements or notes thereto, as well as, which transition method it intends to use and the impact of adopting this guidance.

In January 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2015-01, Income Statement Extraordinary and Unusual Items (Subtopic 225-20): Simplifying Income Statement Presentation by Eliminating the Concept of Extraordinary Items (“ASU 2015-01”), which eliminates the concept of extraordinary items from GAAP.  Under ASU 2015-01, reporting entities will no longer be required to assess whether an underlying event or transaction is extraordinary, however, presentation and disclosure guidance for items that are unusual in nature or occur infrequently are retained, and are expanded to include items that are both unusual in nature and infrequently occurring.  This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015.  Early adoption is permitted provided that the guidance is applied from the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption.  A reporting entity may apply ASU 2015-01 prospectively.  A reporting entity may also apply ASU 2015-01 retrospectively to all periods presented in the financial statements. The Company expects to adopt this accounting guidance in its first quarter of 2016 and does not expect the application of ASU 2015-01 to have a material impact in the audited Consolidated Financial Statements or notes thereto.

In February 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis (“ASU 2015-02”).  ASU 2015-02 amends current consolidation guidance by modifying the evaluation of whether limited partnerships and similar legal entities are variable interest entities or voting interest entities, eliminating the presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership, and affects the consolidation analysis of reporting entities that are involved with variable interest entities. ASU 2015-02 is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the application of ASU 2015-02 to have a material impact in the audited Consolidated Financial Statements or notes thereto.

In April 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs (“ASU 2015-03”), which provides guidance for simplifying the presentation of debt issuance costs.  ASU 2015-03 requires that debt issuance costs be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of debt liability, consistent with debt discounts or premiums.  This guidance will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and early adoption is permitted for financial statements that have not been previously issued. The standard requires application on a retrospective basis and represents a change in accounting principle. In addition, in August 2015, Accounting Standards Update 2015-15, Interest — Imputation of Interest, was released which added SEC paragraphs pursuant to the SEC Staff Announcement at the June 18, 2015 Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) meeting about the presentation and subsequent measurement of debt issuance costs associated with line-of-credit arrangements. Given the absence of authoritative guidance within ASU 2015-03 for debt issuance costs related to line-of-credit arrangements, ASU 2015-15 states the SEC staff would not object to an entity deferring and presenting debt issuance costs as an asset and subsequently amortizing the deferred debt issuance costs ratably over the term of the line-of-credit arrangement, regardless of whether there are any outstanding borrowings on the line-of-credit arrangement. The impact of ASU 2015-03 and ASU 2015-15 on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements includes a reclassification of net deferred financing costs related to the Company’s Term Loans, Senior Secured Notes and Senior Unsecured Notes to be presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of those borrowings, while net deferred financing costs related to the Company’s Revolving Credit Facility will remain an asset. As of December 31, 2015, the Company had $10.7 million of net deferred financing costs related to its Term Loans, Senior Secured Notes and Senior Unsecured Notes.  The Company expects to adopt this accounting guidance in its first quarter of 2016.

In April 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2015-05, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other – Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement” (“ASU 2015-05”), which provides guidance on accounting for fees paid by a customer in a cloud computing arrangement. If a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license, then the customer should account for the software license element of the arrangement consistent with the acquisition of other software licenses. If a cloud computing arrangement does not include a software license, the customer should account for the arrangement as a service contract. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, including interim periods within that reporting period, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the application of ASU 2015-05 to have a material impact in the audited Consolidated Financial Statements or notes thereto. 

In November 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2015-17, “Income Taxes (Topic740) - Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes” (“ASU 2015-17”), which will require the presentation of deferred tax liabilities and assets be classified as noncurrent in a classified statement of financial position. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period, with early adoption permitted. The Company expects to adopt this guidance during its first quarter of 2016.  The adoption will only impact presentation on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosure.

In January 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2016-01, “Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities” (“ASU 2016-01”), which requires equity investments that are not accounted for under the equity method of accounting to be measured at fair value with changes recognized in earnings (rather than reported through other comprehensive income) and updates certain presentation and disclosure requirements. ASU 2016-01 is effective beginning after December 15, 2017 and the Company is currently assessing the impact the adoption will have on its Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.

The Company has considered all other recently issued accounting pronouncements and does not believe the adoption of such pronouncements will have a material impact on its audited Consolidated Financial Statements.