superior is comprised of three reportable business segments : ( 1 ) uniforms and related products , ( 2 ) remote staffing solutions , and ( 3 ) promotional products . 17 business outlook uniforms and related products historically , we have manufactured and sold a wide range of uniforms , career apparel and accessories , which comprises our uniforms and related products segment . our primary products are provided to workers and , as a result , our business prospects are dependent upon levels of employment and overall economic conditions , among other factors . our revenues are impacted by our ability to attract and retain new customers , our customers ' opening and closing of locations and reductions and increases in headcount . additionally , voluntary employee turnover at our customers can have a significant impact on our business . the current economic environment in the united states is continuing to see moderate improvement in the employment environment and voluntary employee turnover has been increasing . we also continue to see an increase in the demand for employees in the healthcare sector and our acquisition of cid provides us with a market to sell fashion seal healthcare apparel to retail stores and into the digital marketplace . these factors are expected to have positive impacts on our prospects for growth in net sales in 2019. we have continued our efforts to increase penetration of the health care market . we have been and continue to pursue acquisitions to increase our market share in the uniforms and related products segment . remote staffing solutions this business segment , which operates in el salvador , belize and the united states , was initially started to provide remote staffing services for the company at a lower cost structure in order to improve our own operating results . it has in fact enabled us to reduce operating expenses in our uniforms and related products segment and to more effectively service our customers ' needs in that segment . we began selling remote staffing services to other companies during 2009. we have grown this business from approximately $ 1.0 million in net sales to outside customers in 2010 to approximately $ 27.3 million in net sales to outside customers in 2018. we have spent significant effort over the last several years improving the depth of our management infrastructure and expanding our facilities in this segment to support significant growth . we increased net sales to outside customers by approximately 42 % , 34 % , and 20 % in 2018 , 2017 and 2016 , respectively . promotional products we have been involved in the sale of promotional products , on a limited basis , to our uniforms and related products customers for over a decade . however , we lacked the scale and expertise to be a recognized name in this market prior to our acquisition of substantially all of the assets of bamko effective march 1 , 2016. bamko has been operating in the promotional products industry for more than 15 years and we believe that bamko 's strong back office and support systems located in india , china and hong kong , as well as their “ direct to factory ” sourcing operations provide us with a competitive advantage . we believe that bamko has well developed systems and processes that can serve as a platform for additional acquisitions that we expect to complete in this highly fragmented market . we completed two additional acquisitions in this segment in late 2017. we believe promotional products are a synergistic fit with our uniform business . year ended december 31 , 2018 vs . 2017 operations net sales replace_table_token_3_th net sales net sales for the company increased 29.8 % from $ 266.8 million in 2017 to $ 346.4 million in 2018. the aggregate increase in net sales is attributed to the acquisitions of public identity on august 21 , 2017 , tangerine on december 1 , 2017 and cid resources on may 2 , 2018 ( contributing 28.9 % ) , an increase in net sales after intersegment eliminations for our remote staffing solutions segment ( contributing 3.0 % ) and an increase in net sales from our promotional products segment ( contributing 1.1 % ) ; partially offset by other decreases from our uniforms and related products segment ( contributing 3.2 % ) . 18 uniforms and related products net sales increased 16.4 % in 2018 compared to 2017. the increase is primarily due to the cid acquisition ( contributing 20.5 % ) ; partially offset by other net decreases in sales to new and existing customers ( contributing 7.1 % ) . remote staffing solutions net sales increased 36.0 % before intersegment eliminations and 41.6 % after intersegment eliminations for the year ended december 31 , 2018 compared to the year ended december 31 , 2017. these increases are attributed to continued market penetration in 2018 , with respect to both new and existing customers . promotional products net sales increased 88.6 % in 2018 compared to 2017. the increase is primarily due to the two acquisitions in the latter part of 2017 ( contributing 81.5 % ) and other increases ( contributing 1.5 % ) . as we have noted in the past , net sales in this segment will tend to fluctuate more significantly than our uniforms and related products segment from quarter to quarter . cost of goods sold cost of goods sold consists primarily of direct costs of acquiring inventory , including cost of merchandise , inbound freight charges , purchasing costs , and inspection costs for our uniforms and related products and promotional products segments . cost of goods sold for our remote staffing solutions segment includes salaries and payroll related benefits for agents . the company includes shipping and handling fees billed to customers in net sales . story_separator_special_tag the strength of the company 's balance sheet provides the ability to pursue acquisitions , to invest in new product lines and technologies , and to invest in additional working capital as necessary . as of december 31 , 2018 , approximately $ 4.8 million of our cash is held in our foreign subsidiaries . as a result of the tax act , the company no longer intends to permanently reinvest its historical foreign earnings and plans to repatriate the funds as needed for liquidity . the company 's primary source of liquidity has been its net income and the use of credit facilities and term loans as described further below . in the future , the company may continue to use credit facilities and other secured and unsecured borrowings as a source of liquidity . the company may also begin relying on the issuance of equity or debt securities . there can be no assurance that any such financings would be available to us on reasonable terms . any future issuances of equity securities or debt securities with equity features may be dilutive to our shareholders . additionally , the cost of the company 's future sources of liquidity may differ from the costs of the company 's sources of liquidity to date . balance sheet accounts receivable-trade increased 26.6 % from $ 50.6 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 64.0 million on december 31 , 2018 . $ 7.6 million of the increase is due to the acquisition of cid . inventories were $ 65.0 million on december 31 , 2017 and $ 67.3 million as of december 31 , 2018. an increase primarily related to the acquisition of cid of $ 31.5 million was mostly offset by the adoption of asc 606 , which reduced inventory by $ 27.1 million . contract assets of $ 49.2 million relate to the adoption of asc 606 on january 1 , 2018. see note 1 in the notes to consolidated financial statements . other intangible assets increased from $ 29.1 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 66.3 million on december 31 , 2018. this increase is due to the acquisition of cid , partially offset by amortization . goodwill increased from $ 16.0 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 34.0 million on december 31 , 2018. this increase is due to the acquisition of cid . deferred income taxes changed from a $ 2.9 million asset on december 31 , 2017 to an $ 8.5 million liability on december 31 , 2018. the change is primarily attributed to the acquisition of cid contributing $ 9.5 million and the tax effect of the cumulative effect of the adoption of asc 606 on january 1 , 2018 of $ 2.7 million . other assets increased 16.8 % from $ 7.6 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 8.8 million on december 31 , 2018. the increase is primarily due to higher investments in our non-qualified deferred compensation plan due to higher employee contributions to the plan . accounts payable increased 25.0 % from $ 19.8 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 24.7 million on december 31 , 2018. this increase is primarily due to the acquisition of cid contributing $ 3.1 million and the adoption of asc 606 contributing $ 2.7 million . current portion of acquisition-related contingent liabilities decreased from $ 3.1 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 0.9 million on december 31 , 2018. this reduction was primarily due to the final payment for the hpi acquisition of $ 2.0 million which was made during the first quarter of 2018 and the payment for the bamko acquisition that was made during the second quarter of 2018 of $ 1.0 million . these decreases were partially offset by $ 0.9 million for the bamko payment due in the second quarter of 2019. we do not expect to make a payment for the tangerine acquisition in 2019. long-term debt increased from $ 32.9 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 111.5 million on december 31 , 2018. the increase is due to the new term loan to fund the acquisition of cid , partially offset by scheduled repayments on our other term loan and lower borrowings on our revolver loan . see note 6 in the notes to consolidated financial statements . long-term acquisition-related contingent liabilities decreased from $ 7.3 million as of december 31 , 2017 to $ 5.4 million on december 31 , 2018. the decrease is primarily due to reclassifications to current liabilities for the payments due in the second quarter of 2019 and adjustments to the fair value of continent liabilities for bamko and tangerine . 23 story_separator_special_tag serif ; font-size:10pt ; margin:0pt ; text-align : justify ; `` > the amended and restated credit agreement contains customary events of default and negative covenants , including but not limited to those governing indebtedness , liens , fundamental changes , investments , restricted payments , and sales of assets . the amended and restated credit agreement also requires the company to maintain a fixed charge coverage ratio of at least 1.25:1 and a funded debt to ebitda ratio not to exceed 4.0:1. as of december 31 , 2018 , the company was in compliance with these ratios . the credit facilities are secured by substantially all of the operating assets of the company as collateral , and the company 's obligations under the credit facilities are guaranteed by all of its domestic subsidiaries . the company 's obligations under the credit facilities are subject to acceleration upon the occurrence of an event of default as defined in the amended and restated credit agreement . in connection with the credit agreement and the amended and restated credit agreement , the company incurred approximately $ 0.1 million and $ 0.2 million of debt financing costs respectively , which primarily consisted of a loan commitment fee and legal fees .

cash flows cash and cash equivalents decreased by $ 2.8 million from $ 8.1 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 5.4 million as of december 31 , 2018. during the year ended december 31 , 2018 , the company generated cash of $ 19.9 million from operating activities , used cash of $ 85.6 million for the acquisition of cid and $ 4.9 million to fund capital expenditures , and generated $ 68.1 million from financing activities . for the foreseeable future , the company will continue its ongoing capital expenditure program designed to maintain and improve its facilities . during the years ended december 31 , 2018 , 2017 and 2016 , the company paid cash dividends of $ 5.8 million , $ 5.3 million and $ 4.7 million , respectively . capital expenditures in the foreseeable future , the company expects to continue its ongoing capital expenditure program designed to improve the effectiveness and capabilities of its facilities and technology . as noted in prior periods , we have invested in a new call center building in el salvador which was completed in june 2016 that almost tripled our prior capacity . we spent approximately $ 6.8 million on the el salvador project through december 31 , 2015 and approximately $ 3.6 million in the twelve-month period ended december 31 , 2016. the company at all times evaluates its capital expenditure program in light of prevailing economic conditions . dividends and share repurchase program during the years ended december 31 , 2018 , 2017 and 2016 , respectively , the company paid cash dividends of $ 5.8 million , $ 5.3 million and $ 4.7 million . the company reacquired 158,359 shares of its common stock at a total cost of $ 2.9 million in the year ended december 31 , 2018 and 45,100 shares of its common stock at a total cost of $ 0.7 million in the year ended december 31 , 2016 , pursuant to its stock repurchase program .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```cash flows cash and cash equivalents decreased by $ 2.8 million from $ 8.1 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 5.4 million as of december 31 , 2018. during the year ended december 31 , 2018 , the company generated cash of $ 19.9 million from operating activities , used cash of $ 85.6 million for the acquisition of cid and $ 4.9 million to fund capital expenditures , and generated $ 68.1 million from financing activities . for the foreseeable future , the company will continue its ongoing capital expenditure program designed to maintain and improve its facilities . during the years ended december 31 , 2018 , 2017 and 2016 , the company paid cash dividends of $ 5.8 million , $ 5.3 million and $ 4.7 million , respectively . capital expenditures in the foreseeable future , the company expects to continue its ongoing capital expenditure program designed to improve the effectiveness and capabilities of its facilities and technology . as noted in prior periods , we have invested in a new call center building in el salvador which was completed in june 2016 that almost tripled our prior capacity . we spent approximately $ 6.8 million on the el salvador project through december 31 , 2015 and approximately $ 3.6 million in the twelve-month period ended december 31 , 2016. the company at all times evaluates its capital expenditure program in light of prevailing economic conditions . dividends and share repurchase program during the years ended december 31 , 2018 , 2017 and 2016 , respectively , the company paid cash dividends of $ 5.8 million , $ 5.3 million and $ 4.7 million . the company reacquired 158,359 shares of its common stock at a total cost of $ 2.9 million in the year ended december 31 , 2018 and 45,100 shares of its common stock at a total cost of $ 0.7 million in the year ended december 31 , 2016 , pursuant to its stock repurchase program .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : superior is comprised of three reportable business segments : ( 1 ) uniforms and related products , ( 2 ) remote staffing solutions , and ( 3 ) promotional products . 17 business outlook uniforms and related products historically , we have manufactured and sold a wide range of uniforms , career apparel and accessories , which comprises our uniforms and related products segment . our primary products are provided to workers and , as a result , our business prospects are dependent upon levels of employment and overall economic conditions , among other factors . our revenues are impacted by our ability to attract and retain new customers , our customers ' opening and closing of locations and reductions and increases in headcount . additionally , voluntary employee turnover at our customers can have a significant impact on our business . the current economic environment in the united states is continuing to see moderate improvement in the employment environment and voluntary employee turnover has been increasing . we also continue to see an increase in the demand for employees in the healthcare sector and our acquisition of cid provides us with a market to sell fashion seal healthcare apparel to retail stores and into the digital marketplace . these factors are expected to have positive impacts on our prospects for growth in net sales in 2019. we have continued our efforts to increase penetration of the health care market . we have been and continue to pursue acquisitions to increase our market share in the uniforms and related products segment . remote staffing solutions this business segment , which operates in el salvador , belize and the united states , was initially started to provide remote staffing services for the company at a lower cost structure in order to improve our own operating results . it has in fact enabled us to reduce operating expenses in our uniforms and related products segment and to more effectively service our customers ' needs in that segment . we began selling remote staffing services to other companies during 2009. we have grown this business from approximately $ 1.0 million in net sales to outside customers in 2010 to approximately $ 27.3 million in net sales to outside customers in 2018. we have spent significant effort over the last several years improving the depth of our management infrastructure and expanding our facilities in this segment to support significant growth . we increased net sales to outside customers by approximately 42 % , 34 % , and 20 % in 2018 , 2017 and 2016 , respectively . promotional products we have been involved in the sale of promotional products , on a limited basis , to our uniforms and related products customers for over a decade . however , we lacked the scale and expertise to be a recognized name in this market prior to our acquisition of substantially all of the assets of bamko effective march 1 , 2016. bamko has been operating in the promotional products industry for more than 15 years and we believe that bamko 's strong back office and support systems located in india , china and hong kong , as well as their “ direct to factory ” sourcing operations provide us with a competitive advantage . we believe that bamko has well developed systems and processes that can serve as a platform for additional acquisitions that we expect to complete in this highly fragmented market . we completed two additional acquisitions in this segment in late 2017. we believe promotional products are a synergistic fit with our uniform business . year ended december 31 , 2018 vs . 2017 operations net sales replace_table_token_3_th net sales net sales for the company increased 29.8 % from $ 266.8 million in 2017 to $ 346.4 million in 2018. the aggregate increase in net sales is attributed to the acquisitions of public identity on august 21 , 2017 , tangerine on december 1 , 2017 and cid resources on may 2 , 2018 ( contributing 28.9 % ) , an increase in net sales after intersegment eliminations for our remote staffing solutions segment ( contributing 3.0 % ) and an increase in net sales from our promotional products segment ( contributing 1.1 % ) ; partially offset by other decreases from our uniforms and related products segment ( contributing 3.2 % ) . 18 uniforms and related products net sales increased 16.4 % in 2018 compared to 2017. the increase is primarily due to the cid acquisition ( contributing 20.5 % ) ; partially offset by other net decreases in sales to new and existing customers ( contributing 7.1 % ) . remote staffing solutions net sales increased 36.0 % before intersegment eliminations and 41.6 % after intersegment eliminations for the year ended december 31 , 2018 compared to the year ended december 31 , 2017. these increases are attributed to continued market penetration in 2018 , with respect to both new and existing customers . promotional products net sales increased 88.6 % in 2018 compared to 2017. the increase is primarily due to the two acquisitions in the latter part of 2017 ( contributing 81.5 % ) and other increases ( contributing 1.5 % ) . as we have noted in the past , net sales in this segment will tend to fluctuate more significantly than our uniforms and related products segment from quarter to quarter . cost of goods sold cost of goods sold consists primarily of direct costs of acquiring inventory , including cost of merchandise , inbound freight charges , purchasing costs , and inspection costs for our uniforms and related products and promotional products segments . cost of goods sold for our remote staffing solutions segment includes salaries and payroll related benefits for agents . the company includes shipping and handling fees billed to customers in net sales . story_separator_special_tag the strength of the company 's balance sheet provides the ability to pursue acquisitions , to invest in new product lines and technologies , and to invest in additional working capital as necessary . as of december 31 , 2018 , approximately $ 4.8 million of our cash is held in our foreign subsidiaries . as a result of the tax act , the company no longer intends to permanently reinvest its historical foreign earnings and plans to repatriate the funds as needed for liquidity . the company 's primary source of liquidity has been its net income and the use of credit facilities and term loans as described further below . in the future , the company may continue to use credit facilities and other secured and unsecured borrowings as a source of liquidity . the company may also begin relying on the issuance of equity or debt securities . there can be no assurance that any such financings would be available to us on reasonable terms . any future issuances of equity securities or debt securities with equity features may be dilutive to our shareholders . additionally , the cost of the company 's future sources of liquidity may differ from the costs of the company 's sources of liquidity to date . balance sheet accounts receivable-trade increased 26.6 % from $ 50.6 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 64.0 million on december 31 , 2018 . $ 7.6 million of the increase is due to the acquisition of cid . inventories were $ 65.0 million on december 31 , 2017 and $ 67.3 million as of december 31 , 2018. an increase primarily related to the acquisition of cid of $ 31.5 million was mostly offset by the adoption of asc 606 , which reduced inventory by $ 27.1 million . contract assets of $ 49.2 million relate to the adoption of asc 606 on january 1 , 2018. see note 1 in the notes to consolidated financial statements . other intangible assets increased from $ 29.1 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 66.3 million on december 31 , 2018. this increase is due to the acquisition of cid , partially offset by amortization . goodwill increased from $ 16.0 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 34.0 million on december 31 , 2018. this increase is due to the acquisition of cid . deferred income taxes changed from a $ 2.9 million asset on december 31 , 2017 to an $ 8.5 million liability on december 31 , 2018. the change is primarily attributed to the acquisition of cid contributing $ 9.5 million and the tax effect of the cumulative effect of the adoption of asc 606 on january 1 , 2018 of $ 2.7 million . other assets increased 16.8 % from $ 7.6 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 8.8 million on december 31 , 2018. the increase is primarily due to higher investments in our non-qualified deferred compensation plan due to higher employee contributions to the plan . accounts payable increased 25.0 % from $ 19.8 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 24.7 million on december 31 , 2018. this increase is primarily due to the acquisition of cid contributing $ 3.1 million and the adoption of asc 606 contributing $ 2.7 million . current portion of acquisition-related contingent liabilities decreased from $ 3.1 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 0.9 million on december 31 , 2018. this reduction was primarily due to the final payment for the hpi acquisition of $ 2.0 million which was made during the first quarter of 2018 and the payment for the bamko acquisition that was made during the second quarter of 2018 of $ 1.0 million . these decreases were partially offset by $ 0.9 million for the bamko payment due in the second quarter of 2019. we do not expect to make a payment for the tangerine acquisition in 2019. long-term debt increased from $ 32.9 million on december 31 , 2017 to $ 111.5 million on december 31 , 2018. the increase is due to the new term loan to fund the acquisition of cid , partially offset by scheduled repayments on our other term loan and lower borrowings on our revolver loan . see note 6 in the notes to consolidated financial statements . long-term acquisition-related contingent liabilities decreased from $ 7.3 million as of december 31 , 2017 to $ 5.4 million on december 31 , 2018. the decrease is primarily due to reclassifications to current liabilities for the payments due in the second quarter of 2019 and adjustments to the fair value of continent liabilities for bamko and tangerine . 23 story_separator_special_tag serif ; font-size:10pt ; margin:0pt ; text-align : justify ; `` > the amended and restated credit agreement contains customary events of default and negative covenants , including but not limited to those governing indebtedness , liens , fundamental changes , investments , restricted payments , and sales of assets . the amended and restated credit agreement also requires the company to maintain a fixed charge coverage ratio of at least 1.25:1 and a funded debt to ebitda ratio not to exceed 4.0:1. as of december 31 , 2018 , the company was in compliance with these ratios . the credit facilities are secured by substantially all of the operating assets of the company as collateral , and the company 's obligations under the credit facilities are guaranteed by all of its domestic subsidiaries . the company 's obligations under the credit facilities are subject to acceleration upon the occurrence of an event of default as defined in the amended and restated credit agreement . in connection with the credit agreement and the amended and restated credit agreement , the company incurred approximately $ 0.1 million and $ 0.2 million of debt financing costs respectively , which primarily consisted of a loan commitment fee and legal fees .

