Item 8.01 Other Events.
Due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19") we are filing this Current Report on Form 8-K to avail ourselves of an extension to file our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2020 (the "Annual Report"), originally due on June 29, 2020, relying on an order (Release No. 34-88465) issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 25, 2020 (which extended and superseded a prior order (Release No. 34-88318) issued on March 4, 2020) pursuant to Section 36 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Order"), regarding exemptions granted to certain public companies.
Our company's operations and business have experienced disruption due to the unprecedented conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic spreading throughout the United States and the rest of world, and as a result we will be unable to timely prepare our company's financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2020.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has spread throughout other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern," and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a "pandemic." In an effort to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, many countries, including the United States and Canada, have imposed unprecedented restrictions on travel, and there have been business closures and a substantial reduction in economic activity in countries that have had significant outbreaks of COVID-19.
Specifically, our auditors were unable to perform physical inventory procedures as of our year end, March 31, 2020, due to travel restrictions caused by COVID-19. This has resulted in both our company and our auditors needing to perform significant additional audit and associated analytical procedures; including inventory roll backs from when our auditors were able to perform actual physical inventory procedures back to March 31, 2020. Additionally, our management and accounting personnel have experienced significant challenges in accessing accounting records while transitioning to a remote-access work environment. Such inaccessibility materially delayed the preparation of financial statements, including coordination efforts with our auditor in connection with the audit of such financial statements. Additionally, management was required to reallocate resources and time to other non-accounting business and operational matters to ensure business continuity which resulted in further delays in the timely preparation of our financial statements.
As such, we will be relying upon the 45-day grace period provided by the Order to delay filing of the Annual Report. We expect to file the Annual Report by August 13, 2020, 45 days after the original due date of the Annual Report.
We intend to include the following risk factor in the Annual Report:
Our business could be adversely affected by the effects of health epidemics, including the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In December 2019, a novel strain of COVID-19 was reported in China. Since then, the COVID-19 has spread globally including across North America and the United States. The spread of COVID-19 from China to other countries has resulted in the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the outbreak of COVID-19 as a "pandemic," or a worldwide spread of a new disease, on March 11, 2020. Many countries around the world, including the United States, have imposed quarantines and restrictions on travel and mass gatherings to slow the spread of the virus, and have closed non-essential businesses.
Specifically, at the time this annual report is prepared, we caution that our business could be materially and adversely affected by the risks, or the public perception of the risks, related to the outbreak of COVID-19. Although retailers which carry our products may be considered essential businesses and therefore be allowed to remain operational, they may experience significantly reduced demand. The risk of a pandemic, or public perception of the risk, could cause customers to avoid public places, including retail properties, and could cause temporary or long-term disruptions in our supply chains and/or delays in the delivery of our inventory to our customers. Further, such risks could also adversely affect retail customers' financial condition, resulting in reduced spending on our products, which are marketed as premium products. "Shelter-in-place" or other such orders by governmental entities could also disrupt our operations, if our employees or the employees of our sourcing partners who cannot perform their responsibilities from home, are not able to report to work. Risks related to an epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis, such as COVID-19, could also lead to the complete or partial closure of one or more of our co-packing facilities or operations of our sourcing partners.
The spread of COVID-19, which has caused a broad impact globally, may materially affect us economically. While the potential economic impact brought by, and the duration of, COVID-19 may be difficult to assess or predict, a widespread pandemic could result in significant disruption of global financial markets, reducing our ability to access capital, which could in the future negatively affect our liquidity. In addition, a recession or market correction resulting from the spread of COVID-19 could materially affect our business and the value of our common stock.
The global outbreak of COVID-19 continues to rapidly evolve. The extent to which COVID-19 may impact our business, operations and financial performance will depend on future developments, including the duration of the outbreak, travel restrictions and social distancing in the United States and other countries, changes to the regulatory regimes under which we operate, the effectiveness of actions taken in United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease and whether the United States and additional countries are required to move to complete lock-down status. The ultimate long-term impact of COVID-19 is highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K may be deemed to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. This information includes, without limitation, statements concerning our future business and financial position and results of operations, and the ability to file the Annual Report on or prior to August 13, 2020. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Generally, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "may" and similar expressions, identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. Actual results could differ materially from the results described in the forward-looking statements due to the risks and uncertainties set forth in this Current Report on Form 8-K, and those described from time to time in our future reports filed with the SEC.