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Code of Federal Regulations (Last Updated: July 5, 2024) |
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Title 7 - Agriculture |
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Subtitle B - Regulations of the Department of Agriculture |
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Chapter XVII - Rural Utilities Service, Department of Agriculture |
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Part 1738 - Rural Broadband Access Loans and Loan Guarantees |
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Subpart E - Application Review and Underwriting |
§ 1738.211 - Financial information.
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§ 1738.211 Financial information.
(a) The applicant must submit financial information acceptable to the Agency that demonstrates that the applicant has the financial capacity to fulfill the loan requirements and to successfully complete the proposed project.
(1) If the applicant is an existing company, it must provide complete copies of audited financial statements (opinion letter, balance sheet, income statement, statement of changes in financial position, and notes to the financial statement) for the three fiscal years preceding the application submission. If audited statements are not available, the applicant must submit unaudited financial statements and tax returns for those fiscal years. Applications from start-up entities must, at a minimum, provide an opening balance sheet dated within 30 days of the final submission of all application material.
(2) If the applicant is a subsidiary operation, it must also provide complete copies of audited financial statements for the parent operation for the fiscal year preceding the application submission. If audited statements are not available, unaudited financial statements and tax returns for the previous year must be submitted.
(3) If the applicant relies on services provided by an affiliated operation, it must also provide complete copies of audited financial statements for any affiliate for the fiscal year preceding the application submission. If audited statements are not available, unaudited statements and tax returns for the previous year must be submitted.
(4) Applicants must provide a list of all its outstanding obligations. Copies of existing notes and loan and security agreements must be included in the application.
(5) Applicants must provide a detailed description of working capital requirements and the source of these funds.
(b) Applicants must submit the following documents that demonstrate the proposed project's financial viability and ability to repay the requested loan.
(1) Customer projections for the five-year forecast period that substantiate the projected revenues for each service that is to be provided. The projections must be provided on at least an annual basis and must be developed separately for each service area. These projections must be clearly supported by the information contained in the market survey, unless no market survey is required (see § 1738.209(b)).
(2) Annual financial projections in the form of balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements for the five-year forecast period. Prior to the submission of an application, an applicant may request that alternative information related to financial viability be considered when the applicant can for good cause demonstrate why a full five year forecast cannot be provided. If this request is approved by the Agency, then the applicant can submit the application using the alternative information that was approved.
(i) These projections must use a system of accounts acceptable to the Agency and be supported by a detailed narrative that fully explains the methodology and assumptions used to develop the projections.
(ii) The financial projections submitted by the applicant must demonstrate that their entire operation will be able to meet a minimum TIER requirement equal to 1.25 by the end of the five-year forecast period. Demonstrating that the operation can achieve a projected TIER of 1.25 does not ensure that the Agency will approve the loan.
(iii) If the financial analysis suggests that the operation will not be able to achieve the required TIER ratio, the Agency will not approve the loan without additional capital, additional cash, additional security, and/or a change in the loan terms.
(c) Based on the financial evaluation, the loan documents will specify TIER requirements that must be met throughout the amortization period.