ROP, §1A diff (2017 → 2018)

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS Risks Relating to Our Business Our indebtedness may affect our business and may restrict our operating flexibility. As of December 31, 2018, we had $4.9 billion in total consolidated indebtedness. In addition, we had $1.6 billion undrawn availability under our senior unsecured credit facility. Subject to restrictions contained in our credit facility, we may incur additional indebtedness in the future, including indebtedness incurred to finance acquisitions. Our level of indebtedness and the debt servicing costs associated with that indebtedness could have important effects on our operations and business strategy. For example, our indebtedness could: • limit our ability to borrow additional funds; • limit our ability to complete future acquisitions; • limit our ability to pay dividends; • limit our ability to make capital expenditures; • place us at a competitive disadvantage relative to our competitors, some of which have lower debt service obligations and greater financial resources; and • increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions. Our ability to make scheduled principal payments of, to pay interest on, or to refinance our indebtedness and to satisfy our other debt obligations will depend upon our future operating performance, which may be affected by factors beyond our control. In addition, there can be no assurance that future borrowings or equity financing will be available to us on favorable terms for the payment or refinancing of our indebtedness. If we are unable to service our indebtedness, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially adversely affected. Our credit facility contains covenants requiring us to achieve certain financial and operating results and maintain compliance with specified financial ratios. Our ability to meet the financial covenants or requirements in our credit facility may be affected by events beyond our control, and we may not be able to satisfy such covenants and requirements. A breach of these covenants or our inability to comply with the financial ratios, tests or other restrictions contained in our facility could result in an event of default under this facility. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under our credit facility, and the expiration of any grace periods, the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under the facility, together with accrued interest, to be immediately due and payable. If this were to occur, our assets may not be sufficient to fully repay the amounts due under this facility or our other indebtedness. Unfavorable changes in foreign exchange rates may harm our business. Several of our operating companies have transactions and balances denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Most of these transactions and balances are denominated in euros, Canadian dollars, British pounds or Danish kroner. Sales by our operating companies whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar represented 17% of our total net revenues for both the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017. Unfavorable changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and those currencies could significantly reduce our reported revenues and earnings. We export a significant portion of our products. Difficulties associated with the export of our products could harm our business. Sales to customers outside the U.S. by our businesses located in the U.S. account for a significant portion of our net revenues. These sales accounted for 11% of our net revenues for both the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017. We are subject to risks that could limit our ability to export our products or otherwise reduce the demand for these products in our foreign markets. Such risks include, without limitation, the following: • unfavorable changes in or noncompliance with U.S. and other jurisdictions’ export requirements; • restrictions on the export of technology and related products; • unfavorable changes in or noncompliance with U.S. and other jurisdictions’ export policies to certain countries; • unfavorable changes in the import policies of our foreign markets; and • a general economic downturn in our foreign markets. The occurrence of any of these events could reduce the foreign demand for our products or could limit our ability to export our products and, therefore, could have a material negative effect on our future sales and earnings. Economic, political and other risks associated with our international operations could adversely affect our business. As of and for the year ended December 31, 2018, 20% of our net revenues and 17% of our long-lived assets, excluding goodwill and intangibles, were attributable to operations outside the U.S. We expect our international operations to contribute materially to our business for the foreseeable future. Our international operations are subject to varying degrees of risk inherent in doing business outside the U.S. including, without limitation, the following: • adverse changes in a specific country’s or region’s political or economic conditions, particularly in emerging markets; • oil price volatility; • trade protection measures, tariffs, and import or export requirements; • subsidies or increased access to capital for firms that are currently, or may emerge as, competitors in countries in which we have operations; • partial or total expropriation; • potentially negative consequences from changes in tax laws; • difficulty in staffing and managing widespread operations; • differing labor regulations; • differing protection of intellectual property; • differing and unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; and • potentially negative consequences from the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. Our growth strategy includes acquisitions. We may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates, complete acquisitions or integrate acquisitions successfully. Our future growth is likely to depend to some degree on our ability to acquire and successfully integrate new businesses. We intend to seek additional acquisition opportunities, both to expand into new markets and to enhance our position in existing markets. There are no assurances, however, that we will be able to successfully identify suitable candidates, negotiate appropriate terms, obtain financing on acceptable terms, complete proposed acquisitions, successfully integrate acquired businesses or expand into new markets. Once acquired, operations may not achieve anticipated levels of revenues or profitability. Acquisitions involve risks, including difficulties in the integration of the operations, technologies, services and products of the acquired companies and the diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular transaction, there are no assurances that we will properly ascertain all such risks. In addition, prior acquisitions have resulted, and future acquisitions could result, in the incurrence of substantial additional indebtedness and other expenses. Future acquisitions may also result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities. Difficulties encountered with acquisitions may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our technology is important to our success and our failure to protect this technology could put us at a competitive disadvantage. Many of our products rely on proprietary technology; therefore we believe that the development and protection of intellectual property rights through patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, confidentiality agreements and other contractual provisions are important to the future success of our business. Despite our efforts to protect proprietary rights, unauthorized parties or competitors may copy or otherwise obtain and use our products or technology. Actions to enforce these rights may result in substantial costs and diversion of resources, and we make no assurances that any such actions will be successful. Product liability, insurance risks and increased insurance costs could harm our operating results. Our business exposes us to product liability risks in the design, manufacture and distribution of our products. In addition, certain of our products are used in hazardous environments. We currently have product liability insurance; however, we may not be able to maintain our insurance at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to adequately protect us against losses. We also maintain other insurance policies, including directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. We believe we have adequately accrued estimated losses, principally related to deductible amounts under our insurance policies, with respect to all product liability and other claims, based upon our past experience and available facts. However, a successful product liability or other claim or series of claims brought against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, a significant increase in our insurance costs could have an adverse impact on our operating results. Our operating results could be adversely affected by a reduction of business with our large customers. In some of our businesses, we derive a significant amount of revenue from large customers. The loss or reduction of any significant contracts with any of these customers could reduce our revenues and cash flows. Additionally, many of our customers are government entities. In many situations, government entities can unilaterally terminate or modify our existing contracts without cause and without penalty to the government agency. We face intense competition. If we do not compete effectively, our business may suffer. We face intense competition from numerous competitors. Our products compete primarily on the basis of product quality, performance, innovation, technology, price, applications expertise, system and service flexibility, distribution channel access and established customer service capabilities. We may not be able to compete effectively on all of these fronts or with all of our competitors. In addition, new competitors may emerge, and product lines may be threatened by new technologies or market trends that reduce the value of these product lines. To remain competitive, we must develop new products, respond to new technologies and enhance our existing products in a timely manner. We anticipate that we may have to adjust prices to stay competitive. We rely on information and technology for many of our business operations which could fail and cause disruption to our business operations. Our business operations are dependent upon information technology networks and systems to securely transmit, process and store electronic information and to communicate among our locations around the world and with clients and vendors. A shutdown of, or inability to access, one or more of our facilities, a power outage or a failure of one or more of our information technology, telecommunications or other systems could significantly impair our ability to perform such functions on a timely basis. Computer viruses, cyber-attacks, other external hazards and human error could result in the misappropriation of assets or sensitive information, corruption of data or operational disruption. If sustained or repeated, such a business interruption, system failure, service denial or data loss and damage could result in a deterioration of our ability to perform necessary business functions. A breach in the security of our software could harm our reputation, result in a loss of current and potential customers, and subject us to material claims, which could materially harm our operating results and financial condition. If our security measures are breached, an unauthorized party may obtain access to our data or our users’ or customers’ data. In addition, cyber-attacks and similar acts could lead to interruptions and delays in customer processing or a loss or breach of customers’ data. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. The risk that these types of events could seriously harm our business is likely to increase as we expand the number of web-based products and services we offer, and operate in more countries. Regulatory authorities around the world have adopted and are considering further adoption of legislative and regulatory proposals concerning data protection. In addition, the interpretation and application of consumer and data protection laws in the United States, Europe and elsewhere are often uncertain and in flux. It is possible that these laws may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our data practices. If so, in addition to the possibility of fines, this could result in an order requiring that we change our data practices, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Any security breaches for which we are, or are perceived to be, responsible, in whole or in part, could subject us to legal claims or legal proceedings, including regulatory investigations, which could harm our reputation and result in significant litigation costs and damage awards or settlement amounts. Any imposition of liability, particularly liability that is not covered by insurance or is in excess of insurance coverage, could materially harm our operating results and financial condition. Security breaches also could cause us to lose current and potential customers, which could have an adverse effect on our business. Moreover, we might be required to expend significant financial and other resources to protect further against security breaches or to rectify problems caused by any security breach. Changes in the supply of, or price for, raw materials, parts and components used in our products could affect our business. The availability and prices of raw materials, parts and components are subject to curtailment or change due to, among other things, suppliers’ allocations to other purchasers, interruptions in production by suppliers, changes in exchange rates and prevailing price levels. Some high-performance components for digital imaging products may be in short supply and/or suppliers may have occasional difficulty manufacturing these components to meet our specifications. In addition, some of our products are provided by sole source suppliers. Any change in the supply of, or price for, these parts and components, as well as any increases in commodity prices, particularly copper, could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Environmental compliance costs and liabilities could increase our expenses and adversely affect our financial condition. Our operations and properties are subject to laws and regulations relating to environmental protection, including air emissions, water discharges, waste management and workplace safety. These laws and regulations can result in the imposition of substantial fines and sanctions for violations and could, in certain instances, require the installation of pollution control equipment or operational changes to limit pollution emissions and/or decrease the likelihood of accidental hazardous substance releases. We must conform our operations and properties to these laws and adapt to regulatory requirements in the countries in which we operate as these requirements change. We use and generate hazardous substances and wastes in some of our operations and, as a result, could be subject to potentially material liabilities relating to the investigation and clean-up of contaminated properties and to claims alleging personal injury. We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, costs relating to compliance with environmental laws and regulations. In connection with our acquisitions, we may assume significant environmental liabilities, some of which we may not be aware of at the time of acquisition. In addition, new laws and regulations, stricter enforcement of existing laws and regulations, the discovery of previously unknown contamination or the imposition of new clean-up requirements could require us to incur costs or become the basis for new or increased liabilities that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Some of the industries in which we operate are cyclical, and, accordingly, our business is subject to changes in the economy. Some of the business areas in which we operate are subject to specific industry and general economic cycles. Certain businesses are subject to industry cycles, including but not limited to, the industrial and energy markets. Accordingly, a downturn in these or other markets in which we participate could materially adversely affect us. If demand changes and we fail to respond accordingly, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected. The business cycles of our different operations may occur contemporaneously. Consequently, the effect of an economic downturn may have a magnified negative effect on our business. Our goodwill and intangible assets are a significant amount of our total assets, and any write-off of our intangible assets would negatively affect our results of operations. Our total assets reflect substantial intangible assets, primarily goodwill. At December 31, 2018, goodwill totaled $9.3 billion compared to $7.7 billion of stockholders’ equity, and represented 61% of our total assets of $15.2 billion. The goodwill results from our acquisitions, representing the excess purchase price over the fair value of the net identifiable assets acquired. We assess at least annually whether there has been an impairment in the value of our goodwill and indefinite economic life intangible assets. If future operating performance at one or more of our business units were to fall significantly below current levels, if competing or alternative technologies emerge, if interest rates rise or if business valuations decline, we could incur a non-cash charge to operating income. Any determination requiring the write-off of a significant portion of goodwill or unamortized intangible assets would negatively affect our results of operations, the effect of which could be material. We depend on our ability to develop new products, and any failure to develop or market new products could adversely affect our business. The future success of our business will depend, in part, on our ability to design and manufacture new competitive products and to enhance existing products so that we maintain our margin profile. This product development may require substantial internal investment. There can be no assurance that unforeseen problems will not occur with respect to the development, performance or market acceptance of new technologies or products or that we will otherwise be able to successfully develop and market new products. Failure of our products to gain market acceptance or our failure to successfully develop and market new products could reduce our margins, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any business disruptions due to political instability, armed hostilities, incidents of terrorism or natural disasters could adversely impact our financial performance. If terrorist activity, armed conflict, political instability or natural disasters occur in the U.S. or other locations, such events may negatively impact our operations, cause general economic conditions to deteriorate or cause demand for our products to decline. A prolonged economic slowdown or recession could reduce the demand for our products, and therefore, negatively affect our future sales and profits. Any of these events could have a significant impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Recent significant changes to our executive leadership team and any future loss of members of such team, and the resulting management transitions, could harm our operating results. We have recently experienced significant changes to our executive leadership team. Leadership transitions and changes can be inherently difficult to manage and may cause uncertainty or disruption to our business or may increase the likelihood of turnover in key leadership positions. If we cannot effectively manage leadership transitions and changes, it could make it more difficult to successfully operate our business. ITEM 1B.