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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_______________________
FORM 10-K
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(Mark One)
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☒ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019
or
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☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
Commission file number: 1-35305
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POST HOLDINGS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Missouri | | | 45-3355106 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
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2503 S. Hanley Road | St. Louis | Missouri | 63144 |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (314) 644-7600
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Common Stock, $0.01 par value | POST | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☒ Yes ☐ No
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒ Yes ☐ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). ☒ Yes ☐ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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Large accelerated filer | | ☒ | | Accelerated filer | | ☐ |
Non-accelerated filer | | ☐
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| | | | Emerging growth company | | ☐ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). ☐ Yes ☒ No
The aggregate market value of the registrant’s Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of March 29, 2019, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $7,645,335,449.
Number of shares of Common Stock, $0.01 par value, outstanding as of November 18, 2019: 70,707,039
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Certain portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 2020 annual meeting of shareholders, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after September 30, 2019, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PART I |
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PART II |
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PART III |
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PART IV |
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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are made throughout this report. These forward-looking statements are sometimes identified from the use of forward-looking words such as “believe,” “should,” “could,” “potential,” “continue,” “expect,” “project,” “estimate,” “predict,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “intend,” “plan,” “forecast,” “target,” “is likely,” “will,” “can,” “may,” “would” or the negative of these terms or similar expressions elsewhere in this report. Our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could affect expected results. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:
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• | our high leverage, our ability to obtain additional financing (including both secured and unsecured debt) and our ability to service our outstanding debt (including covenants that restrict the operation of our business); |
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• | our ability to continue to compete in our product categories and our ability to retain our market position and favorable perceptions of our brands; |
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• | our ability to anticipate and respond to changes in consumer and customer preferences and trends and introduce new products; |
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• | our ability to identify, complete and integrate acquisitions and manage our growth; |
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• | our ability to promptly and effectively realize the strategic and financial benefits expected as a result of the initial public offering of a minority interest in our BellRing Brands business, which consists of our historical Active Nutrition business, and certain other transactions completed in connection with the initial public offering; |
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• | our ability to promptly and effectively realize the expected synergies of our acquisition of Bob Evans Farms, Inc. (“Bob Evans”) within the expected timeframe or at all; |
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• | our ability and timing to close the proposed acquisition of the private label ready-to-eat cereal business of TreeHouse Foods, Inc.; |
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• | higher freight costs, significant volatility in the costs or availability of certain commodities (including raw materials and packaging used to manufacture our products) or higher energy costs; |
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• | impairment in the carrying value of goodwill or other intangibles; |
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• | our ability to successfully implement business strategies to reduce costs; |
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• | allegations that our products cause injury or illness, product recalls and withdrawals and product liability claims and other litigation; |
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• | legal and regulatory factors, such as compliance with existing laws and regulations and changes to, and new, laws and regulations affecting our business, including current and future laws and regulations regarding food safety, advertising and labeling and animal feeding and housing operations; |
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• | the loss of, a significant reduction of purchases by or the bankruptcy of a major customer; |
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• | consolidations in the retail and foodservice distribution channels; |
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• | the ultimate impact litigation or other regulatory matters may have on us; |
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• | disruptions or inefficiencies in the supply chain, including as a result of our reliance on third party suppliers or manufacturers for the manufacturing of many of our products, changes in weather conditions, natural disasters, agricultural diseases and pests and other events beyond our control; |
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• | our ability to successfully collaborate with the private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P., whose affiliates invested with us in 8th Avenue Food & Provisions, Inc. (“8th Avenue”); |
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• | costs associated with Bob Evans’s obligations in connection with the sale and separation of its restaurants business in April 2017, which occurred prior to our acquisition of Bob Evans, including certain indemnification obligations under the restaurants sale agreement and Bob Evans’s payment and performance obligations as a guarantor for certain leases; |
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• | the ability of our and our customers’ private brand products to compete with nationally branded products; |
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• | risks associated with our international business; |
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• | changes in economic conditions, disruptions in the United States and global capital and credit markets, changes in interest rates and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; |
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• | the impact of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (commonly known as “Brexit”) on us and our operations; |
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• | costs, business disruptions and reputational damage associated with information technology failures, cybersecurity incidents or information security breaches; |
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• | changes in estimates in critical accounting judgments; |
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• | our ability to protect our intellectual property and other assets; |
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• | loss of key employees, labor strikes, work stoppages or unionization efforts; |
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• | losses or increased funding and expenses related to our qualified pension or other postretirement plans; |
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• | significant differences in our, 8th Avenue’s and BellRing Brands, Inc.’s actual operating results from our guidance regarding our and 8th Avenue’s future performance and BellRing Brands, Inc.’s guidance regarding its future performance; |
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• | our ability to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; and |
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• | other risks and uncertainties included under “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of this report. |
You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Moreover, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this report to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Introduction
Post Holdings, Inc. is a Missouri corporation incorporated on September 22, 2011. Our principal executive offices are located at 2503 S. Hanley Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63144. We are a consumer packaged goods holding company, operating in the center-of-the-store, refrigerated, foodservice, food ingredient and convenient nutrition categories. We also participate in the private brand food category, including through our investment with affiliates of Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (collectively, “THL”) in 8th Avenue Food & Provisions, Inc. (“8th Avenue”). Unless otherwise stated or the context otherwise indicates, all references in this Form 10-K to “Post,” “the Company,” “us,” “our” or “we” mean Post Holdings, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
On February 3, 2012, Post completed its legal separation via a tax free spin-off from its former parent company. On February 6, 2012, Post common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “POST”. We operate in five reportable segments:
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• | Post Consumer Brands: Includes branded and private label ready-to-eat (“RTE”) cereal operations of Post Foods, LLC, MOM Brands Company (“MOM Brands”), which Post acquired in May 2015, and Weetabix North America (“Weetabix NA”), which Post acquired as part of its acquisition of Latimer Newco 2 Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (“Latimer”), and all of Latimer’s direct and indirect subsidiaries at the time of acquisition, including Weetabix Limited (collectively, the “Weetabix Group”), in July 2017; |
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• | Weetabix: Includes the businesses of Weetabix Limited and its direct subsidiaries, which produce and distribute branded and private label RTE cereal, hot cereals and other cereal-based food products, breakfast drinks and muesli primarily outside of North America, which Post acquired as part of its acquisition of the Weetabix Group in July 2017; |
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• | Foodservice: Includes primarily egg and potato products in the foodservice and food ingredient channels from the businesses of MFI Holding Corporation (“Michael Foods”), which Post acquired in June 2014, Willamette Egg Farms (“Willamette”), which Post acquired in October 2015, National Pasteurized Eggs, Inc. (“NPE”), which Post acquired in October 2016, and Bob Evans Farms, Inc. (“Bob Evans”), which Post acquired in January 2018; |
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• | Refrigerated Retail: Includes refrigerated retail products, inclusive of side dishes, eggs and egg, cheese and sausage products, from the businesses of Michael Foods, Willamette, NPE and Bob Evans; and |
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• | BellRing Brands (historically referred to as Active Nutrition): Provides products in the convenient nutrition category, including ready-to-drink (“RTD”) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars and supplements, from the businesses of Premier Nutrition Company, LLC (formerly Premier Nutrition Corporation), which Post acquired in September 2013, Dymatize Enterprises, LLC (“Dymatize”), which Post acquired in February 2014, and the PowerBar brand, which Post acquired in October 2014, and includes Active Nutrition International GmbH, which manufactures and sells convenient nutrition products in certain international markets. |
On October 21, 2019, the initial public offering (the “IPO”) of a minority interest in our historical Active Nutrition business was completed. As a result of the IPO and certain other transactions completed in connection with the IPO (the “formation transactions”), BellRing Brands, Inc. (“BellRing”) is a holding company owning 28.8% of the non-voting membership units (the “BellRing Brands, LLC units”) of BellRing Brands, LLC (formerly Dymatize Holdings, LLC) and a publicly-traded company whose Class A common stock, $0.01 par value per share (the “Class A Common Stock”), is traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “BRBR”. Post owns 71.2% of the BellRing Brands, LLC units and one share of BellRing’s Class B common stock, $0.01 par value per share, which, for so long as Post or its affiliates (other than BellRing and its subsidiaries) directly own more than 50% of the BellRing Brands, LLC units, represents 67% of the combined voting power of the common stock of BellRing. BellRing Brands, LLC is the holding company for Post’s historical Active Nutrition business. Effective October 21, 2019, the financial results of BellRing and its subsidiaries will be consolidated within the Company’s financial results and 28.8% of the consolidated net income (loss) and net assets of BellRing and its subsidiaries, representing the percentage of economic interest in BellRing Brands, LLC held by BellRing (and therefore indirectly held by the public stockholders of BellRing through their ownership of the Class A Common Stock), will be allocated to noncontrolling interest. For additional information, refer to Note 25 within “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8 of this report.
On October 1, 2018, Post separately capitalized 8th Avenue with THL. 8th Avenue became the holding company for Post’s private brands food products business, which was historically reported as Post’s Private Brands segment. After completion of the transaction, Post retained 60.5% of the common equity in 8th Avenue, which, effective October 1, 2018, is accounted for using the equity method and is no longer consolidated in the Company’s financial statements. The private brands business was no longer
considered a reportable segment of Post as of October 1, 2018. For additional information, refer to Note 7 within “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8 of this report.
Additional information about us, including our Form 10, annual reports on Forms 10-K, quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q, current reports on Forms 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, other securities filings (and amendments thereto), press releases and other important announcements, is available at our website at www.postholdings.com or the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC”) website at www.sec.gov (for securities filings only). These documents can be printed free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after their electronic filing with the SEC or their release, as applicable. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Code of Conduct and the charters of the Audit and Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees of our Board of Directors also are available on our website, where they can be printed free of charge. All of these documents also are available to shareholders at no charge upon request sent to our corporate secretary (2503 S. Hanley Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63144-2503, Telephone: 314-644-7600). The information and other content contained on our website are not part of (or incorporated by reference in) this report or any other document we file with the SEC.
Our Businesses
Post Consumer Brands
Our Post Consumer Brands segment includes our North America cereal business which manufactures, markets and sells branded and private label RTE cereal and hot cereal products. The RTE cereal category is one of the most prominent categories in the food industry. According to Nielsen’s expanded All Outlets Combined (“xAOC”) information, the category was approximately $8.2 billion in sales for the 52-week period ended October 26, 2019. We have leveraged the strength of our brands, category expertise and over a century of institutional knowledge to create a diverse portfolio of cereals. Post Consumer Brands is the third largest seller of RTE cereals in the United States with a 20.4% branded share of retail dollar sales and a 22.8% branded share of retail pound sales for the 52-week period ended October 26, 2019, based on Nielsen’s xAOC information. Nielsen’s xAOC is representative of food, drug and mass merchandisers (including Walmart), some club retailers (including Sam’s Club and BJs), some dollar retailers (including Dollar General, Family Dollar and Fred’s Super Dollar) and military. Our RTE cereal brands include Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Oreo O’s, Hostess Donettes, Hostess Honey Bun, Great Grains, Grape-Nuts, Post Shredded Wheat, Oh’s, Honeycomb, Golden Crisp, Post Raisin Bran, Alpha-Bits, Shreddies, Malt-O-Meal branded bagged cereal and Mom’s Best. Our hot cereal brands include Malt-O-Meal Hot Wheat, Coco Wheats, Better Oats and Mom’s Best Oatmeal.
Post Consumer Brands also includes the natural and organic RTE cereal and snacking platform in both branded and private label of Weetabix NA, led by the Weetabix and Barbara’s brands and the Puffins sub-brand, serving the natural and specialty channels and conventional retailers. The Post Consumer Brands business’s products are primarily manufactured through a flexible production platform at nine owned facilities in the United States and Canada.
Weetabix
Our Weetabix segment primarily markets and distributes branded and private label RTE cereal products. According to Nielsen’s ScanTrack data, the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”) cereals and breakfast drinks category was approximately £1.4 billion in sales for the 52-week period ended November 2, 2019. Weetabix holds the number two overall position for branded manufacturers in the U.K. cereals and breakfast drinks category according to Nielsen’s ScanTrack data for the 52-week period ended November 2, 2019. Its portfolio includes the Weetabix brand, which holds the number one brand position in the U.K. cereals and breakfast drinks category based on Nielsen’s ScanTrack data for the 52-week period ended November 2, 2019, as well as Alpen (the number one muesli brand in the U.K. according to Nielsen’s ScanTrack data for the 52-week period ended November 2, 2019), Weetos, Ready Brek and Weetabix On The Go. Nielsen’s ScanTrack data is representative of grocery, health and beauty and beverage purchases, collating data from, among others, major grocery stores, independent grocery chains, convenience stores and gas stations. Weetabix’s main markets are the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland, where Weetabix has deep relationships with all key retailers and key players in wholesale and foodservice. Weetabix also distributes products to multiple countries throughout the world, mainly through a network of third party distributors in the respective markets. Weetabix also has a growing business in emerging markets, such as China and Hong Kong, through the eCommerce channel. Additionally, Weetabix has operations in Africa through two joint ventures.
For fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, cereal and granola products sold by our Post Consumer Brands and Weetabix segments and the historical Private Brands segment (for fiscal 2018 and 2017 only) together contributed 40.4%, 37.6% and 37.6%, respectively, to our consolidated revenue.
Foodservice
Through our Foodservice segment, we primarily produce and distribute egg and potato products in the foodservice and food ingredient channels. We provide a broad portfolio of egg products under several brands, including Papetti’s and Abbotsford Farms, as well as potato products under several brands, including Simply Potatoes. Our operations include thirteen egg products production
facilities in the United States, some of which are fully integrated, from the maintenance of laying flocks through the processing of egg products, and potato processing facilities in Maine, Minnesota, Nevada and Ohio. Several of these production facilities also produce products for our Refrigerated Retail segment.
Refrigerated Retail
Through our Refrigerated Retail segment, we produce and distribute side dishes, eggs and egg, cheese, sausage and other refrigerated products to retail customers. Our refrigerated side dish, potato and sausage products are marketed primarily under the Bob Evans, Bob Evans Farms, Simply Potatoes, Pineland Farms, Owens and Diner’s Choice brands; processing facilities for these products are located in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. Our egg products are chiefly marketed under the Bob Evans Egg Whites (which is the successor to the All Whites brand), Better’n Eggs, Abbotsford Farms and Davidson’s Safest Choice brands, and are produced at facilities located in Minnesota and New Jersey, as well as several of our egg products production facilities that also produce products for our Foodservice segment. Our cheese and other dairy case products are marketed principally under the Crystal Farms brand, as well as the Crescent Valley, Westfield Farms and David’s Deli brands. We operate a facility in Wisconsin that processes and packages various cheese products for the Crystal Farms brand and for private label customers.
Eggs and egg products sold by our Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail segments together for fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017 contributed 27.8%, 24.6% and 27.1%, respectively, to our consolidated revenue.
BellRing Brands
Our BellRing Brands segment markets and distributes RTD protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars and supplements in the convenient nutrition category under the Premier Protein, Dymatize, PowerBar, Supreme Protein and Joint Juice brands. The BellRing Brands segment’s products are primarily manufactured under co-manufacturing agreements at various third party facilities located in the United States and Europe. BellRing Brands also owns a facility in Germany that manufactures bars and gels primarily for the European Union (the “E.U.”) and the U.K. Our BellRing Brands products are primarily sold in the club, food, drug and mass and eCommerce channels, as well as the specialty and convenience channels.
For fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, protein-based products and supplements contributed 15.0%, 13.2% and 13.6%, respectively, to our consolidated revenue.
Sales, Marketing and Distribution
Each of our businesses has developed marketing strategies specific to its product lines. For certain of our products, we have consumer-targeted marketing campaigns, which include television, digital and print advertisements, coupon offers, co-marketing arrangements with complementary consumer product and entertainment companies and joint advertising with select retail customers. We also use traditional outdoor, print and digital advertising and social media, as well as more targeted grass roots programs such as sampling events and business drops, in order to increase brand awareness and loyalty at both national and local levels. Our internet and social media efforts are used to educate consumers about the nutritional value of our products and for product promotion and consumer entertainment.
Our Post Consumer Brands segment sells products primarily through an internal sales staff and broker organizations. Our Weetabix segment services its key U.K. markets through a centralized commercial team which manages relationships with customers at the corporate level while a third party sales force operates at the store level to ensure maximum availability and compliance with agreed plans, and it services emerging markets, such as China and Hong Kong, through the eCommerce channel. Our Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail segments sell and market their products primarily through dedicated teams of internal sales staff and broker organizations. Our BellRing Brands segment uses a flexible sales model that combines a national and international direct sales force, broker network and distributors.
Generally our products are distributed through a network of third party common carriers. In addition, our Refrigerated Retail and Foodservice segments have internal fleets that distribute certain of their products.
Research and Development
Our research and development efforts span our business segments. These capabilities extend to ingredients and packaging technologies; new product and process development, as well as analytical support; bench-top and pilot plant capabilities; and research support to operations.
Raw Materials
Raw materials used in our businesses (purchased from local, regional and international suppliers) consist of ingredients and packaging materials. The principal ingredients for most of our businesses are agricultural commodities, including wheat, oats, rice, corn, other grain products, vegetable oils, milk-based, whey-based and soy-based proteins, protein blends, cocoa, corn syrup and sugar. Additionally, the principal ingredients for the Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail businesses are eggs, pork, pasta, potatoes, cheese, milk and butter. A portion of our egg needs comes from Company-owned layer hens, and the balance is purchased under
third party contracts and in the spot market. We also buy significant amounts of grain to feed layer hens. In addition, we procure live sows at prevailing market prices from terminals, local auctions, country markets and corporate and family farms in various United States locations. Each of our segments utilizes raw material sources that ensure that its products meet standards and certification requirements, where applicable, for example, non-GMO, organic, gluten-free and/or cage-free. The principal packaging materials used by our businesses are linerboard cartons, corrugated boxes, plastic containers, flexible and beverage packaging, cartonboard, and aseptic foil and plastic lined cartonboard.
Supply availability and prices paid for raw materials can fluctuate widely due to external factors, such as weather conditions, feed costs, labor disputes, governmental programs, regulations and trade and tariff policies, industry consolidation, economic climate, energy shortages, transportation delays, commodity market prices, currency fluctuations and other unforeseen circumstances, such as avian influenza and diseases affecting livestock, which could affect the domestic poultry industry and our egg supply and our sow supply, respectively. We continuously monitor worldwide supply and cost trends of these raw materials to enable us to take appropriate action to obtain ingredients and packaging needed for production. Although the prices of the principal raw materials can be expected to fluctuate, we believe such raw materials to be in adequate supply and generally available from numerous sources.
Cereal processing ovens and most of the Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail production facilities are generally fueled by natural gas or propane, which are obtained from local utilities or other local suppliers. Electricity and steam (generated in on-site, gas-fired boilers) also are used in our processing facilities. Short-term standby propane storage exists at several plants for use in the event of an interruption in natural gas supplies. Oil also may be used to fuel certain operations at various plants in the event of natural gas shortages or when its use presents economic advantages. In addition, considerable amounts of diesel fuel are used in connection with the distribution of our products, including in our internal fleet. Weetabix owns and operates its own combined heat and power generation unit, which is capable of supplying the majority of the requirements of its main operation site with power and steam which means the site can be operated using either electricity or natural gas.
Trademarks and Intellectual Property
We own or have long-term licenses to use a number of trademarks that are critical to the success of our businesses. Our Post Consumer Brands business’s key trademarks include Post®, Honey Bunches of Oats®, Great Grains®, Post® Shredded Wheat, Spoon Size® Shredded Wheat, Golden Crisp®, Alpha-Bits®, Oh's®, ShreddiesTM, Post® Raisin Bran, Grape-Nuts®, Honeycomb®, Frosted Mini Spooners®, Golden Puffs®, Cinnamon Toasters®, Fruity Dyno-Bites®, Cocoa Dyno-Bites®, Berry Colossal Crunch®, Malt-O-Meal®, Farina®, Dyno-Bites®, MOM’s Best®, Better Oats™, CoCo Wheats™, Weetabix®, Barbara’s® and Puffins®, each of which we own, as well as several trademarks that we license from third parties for use in the United States, Canada and several other international markets, such as Pebbles™, Oreo O’s®, Nilla®, Nutter Butter®, Chips Ahoy!®, Honeymaid®, Hostess™ Donettes™ and Hostess™ Honey Bun. Our Weetabix segment’s key trademarks include Weetabix®, Alpen®, Weetos™, Ready Brek™, Weetabix On The Go™ and Oatibix™, each of which we own. The key trademarks for the Foodservice business include Papetti’s®, Abbotsford Farms® and Simply Potatoes®, each of which we own. The key trademarks for the Refrigerated Retail business include Davidson’s Safest Choice®, Abbotsford Farms®, Better’n Eggs®, Crystal Farms®, Simply Potatoes®, Diner’s Choice®, Westfield Farms®, David’s Deli®, Owens® and Country Creek Farm®, each of which we own, and Bob Evans® (which is used in brands such as Bob Evans® Egg Whites (which is the successor to All Whites®)), Bob Evans Farms® and Pineland Farms®, which we license for worldwide use. Our BellRing Brands segment’s key trademarks include Premier Protein®, Dymatize®, ISO.100®, PowerBar®, Joint Juice® and Supreme Protein®, each of which we own. Our owned trademarks are, in most cases, protected through registration in the United States or the U.K., as well as in many other countries where the related products are sold.
We also own several patents in North America and elsewhere. While our patent portfolio as a whole is material to our business, no one patent or group of related patents is material to our business. In addition, we have proprietary trade secrets, technology, know-how processes and other intellectual property rights that are not registered.
We rely on a combination of trademark law, copyright law, trade secrets, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements and provisions in other agreements and other measures to establish and protect our proprietary rights to our products, packaging, processes and intellectual property.
Seasonality
Demand for certain of our products may be influenced by customer and consumer spending patterns and the timing of promotional activities, as well as holidays, changes in seasons or other events. For example, demand for our egg products, potatoes, sausage, side dishes and cheese tends to increase during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holiday seasons, which may result in increased net sales during the first quarter of our fiscal year. Demand for our Malt-O-Meal hot wheat, Better Oats oatmeal and Ready Brek hot oats cereals also tends to be seasonably skewed towards the colder winter season. Demand for various products in our BellRing Brands business tends to be lower during our first fiscal quarter as a result of the holiday season and colder weather, which impacts outdoor activities. However, on a consolidated basis our revenues and results of operations are distributed relatively evenly over the quarters of our fiscal year.
Working Capital
A description of our working capital practices is included in the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Item 7 of this report. Cash receipts from goods sold, supplemented as required by borrowings, provide for our operating expenses and working capital needs. Our working capital practices also are described in Note 2 within “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8 of this report.
Customers
We sell Post Consumer Brands products primarily to grocery stores, mass merchandise customers, supercenters, club stores, natural/specialty stores and drug store customers. We also sell in the military, eCommerce and foodservice channels. Our Weetabix segment’s products are primarily sold to grocery stores, discounters, wholesalers and convenience stores. Our Foodservice segment’s primary customers include foodservice distributors and national restaurant chains. Our Refrigerated Retail segment’s primary customers include grocery stores, mass merchandise customers and major food manufacturers and processors. Our BellRing Brands segment’s customers are predominately club stores, food, drug and mass customers and online retailers, and also include specialty retailers, supplement and convenience stores and distributors.
Our largest customer, Walmart, accounted for approximately 21% of our consolidated net sales in fiscal 2019. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our fiscal 2019 consolidated net sales, but certain of our segments depend on sales to large customers. For example, the largest customer of our Post Consumer Brands segment, Walmart, accounted for approximately 32% of Post Consumer Brands’s net sales in fiscal 2019. The largest customers of our Weetabix segment, Tesco, Walmart and Sainsbury’s, accounted for approximately 41% of Weetabix’s net sales in fiscal 2019. The largest customers of our Foodservice segment, Sysco and US Foods accounted for approximately 41% of the segment’s net sales in fiscal 2019. Additionally, the largest customer of our Refrigerated Retail segment, Walmart, accounted for approximately 22% of the segment’s net sales in fiscal 2019, and the largest customers of our BellRing Brands segment, Costco and Walmart, accounted for approximately 70% of the segment’s net sales in fiscal 2019. For purposes of this disclosure, “Walmart” refers to Walmart and its affiliates, which include Sam’s Club and Asda.
Competition
The consumer food and beverage and convenient nutrition categories in which we operate are highly competitive and highly sensitive to both pricing and promotion. Many of our principal competitors in these categories may have substantially more financial, marketing and other resources. Competition is based on, among other things, brand recognition, taste, nutritional value, ingredients, product quality, price, effective promotional activities and the ability to identify and satisfy dynamic, emerging consumer preferences. Our principal strategies for competing in each of our segments include effective customer relationship management, category insights, superior product quality and food safety, product innovation, an efficient supply chain and competitive pricing. In addition, in many of our product categories, we compete not only with widely advertised branded products, but also with private label and store brand products. The industries in which we operate are expected to remain highly competitive for the foreseeable future.
Governmental Regulation and Environmental Matters
We are subject to regulation by federal, state, local and foreign governmental entities and agencies. Our activities in Canada and Europe are subject to regulations similar to those applicable to our business in the United States. As a producer and distributor of goods for human consumption, our operations must comply with stringent production, storage, distribution, labeling and marketing standards administered by the Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) and the Federal Trade Commission in the United States, as well as similar regulatory agencies in Canada, Mexico, the U.K., the E.U. and elsewhere and at the state level in the United States. Products that do not meet regulatory standards may be considered to be adulterated and/or misbranded and subject to recall. Additionally, following the adoption of the Food Safety Modernization Act in the United States and the Safe Foods for Canadians Act in Canada, the FDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are implementing additional regulations focused on prevention of food contamination, more frequent inspection of high-risk facilities, increased record-keeping and improved tracing of food.
Certain egg and meat products produced by our Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail segments are under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture (the “USDA”) and its regulations regarding quality, labeling and sanitary control, rather than FDA regulations. The Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail egg processing plants that break eggs, and some of our other meat and egg-processing operations, are subject to continuous on-site USDA inspections. Our other United States facilities are subject to periodic inspections by the USDA, the FDA and/or state regulatory authorities, such as state departments of agriculture. The pork product manufacturing operations of our Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail segments are subject to the Packers & Stockyards Act, which also is administered by the USDA and which regulates trade practices.
Our facilities, like those of similar businesses, are subject to certain safety regulations, including regulations issued pursuant to the United States Occupational Safety and Health Act and similar regulations in Canada, the U.K. and Germany. These regulations require us to comply with certain manufacturing safety standards to protect our employees from accidents. Additionally, some of the food commodities on which our businesses rely are subject to governmental agricultural programs (e.g., subsidies and import/export regulations), which have substantial effects on prices and supplies of these commodities.
In addition, our operations are subject to various federal, state and foreign laws and regulations regarding data privacy, including the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation and Privacy Shield, which applies to certain of our businesses and deals with the collection and use of personal information obtained from data subjects of the E.U. Our operations also are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations with respect to environmental matters, including air quality, wastewater pretreatment and discharge, storm water, waste handling and disposal and other regulations intended to protect public health and the environment. In the United States, the laws and regulations include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (Proposition 65). Our foreign facilities are subject to local and national regulations similar to those applicable to us in the United States. Additionally, Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail layer farms dispose of animal waste primarily by transferring it to farmers for use as fertilizer, and Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail potato product facilities dispose of solid vegetable waste primarily by transferring it to processors who convert it to animal feed. We have made, and will continue to make, expenditures to ensure environmental compliance.
Employees
The Company and its consolidated subsidiaries have approximately 10,100 employees as of November 1, 2019, of which approximately 8,100 are in the United States, approximately 1,100 are in the U.K., approximately 500 are in Canada and approximately 400 are located in other jurisdictions. Currently, approximately 17% of such employees are unionized. We have entered into several collective bargaining agreements on terms that we believe are typical for the industries in which we operate. Most of the unionized workers at our facilities are represented under contracts which expire at various times throughout the next several years. As these agreements expire, we believe that the agreements can be renegotiated on terms satisfactory to us. We believe that overall we have good relationships with employees and their representative organizations.
Information about our Executive Officers
The section below provides information regarding our executive officers as of November 1, 2019:
Robert V. Vitale, age 53, has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since November 2014 and serves as our principal executive officer. Mr. Vitale also has been a member of our Board of Directors since November 2014. Previously, Mr. Vitale served as our Chief Financial Officer from October 2011 until November 2014. Mr. Vitale previously served as president and chief executive officer of AHM Financial Group, LLC, a diversified provider of insurance brokerage and wealth management services, from 2006 until 2011 and previously was a partner of Westgate Equity Partners, LLC, a consumer-oriented private equity firm. Mr. Vitale has been the executive chairman of BellRing, our publicly-traded subsidiary that manufactures products in the convenient nutrition category through its operating subsidiaries, since September 2019, and is a member of the board of directors of 8th Avenue. He also serves on the board of directors of Energizer Holdings, Inc., a publicly-traded manufacturer of primary batteries, portable lighting products and automotive appearance, performance and fragrance products.
Jeff A. Zadoks, age 54, has served as an Executive Vice President since November 2017 and as our Chief Financial Officer since November 2014, and serves as the Company’s principal financial officer. Mr. Zadoks previously served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from November 2014 until November 2017. Mr. Zadoks served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer from January 2014 until November 2014, and our Corporate Controller from October 2011 until November 2014. Prior to joining Post, Mr. Zadoks served as senior vice president and chief accounting officer at RehabCare Group, Inc., a leading provider of post-acute care in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, from February 2010 to September 2011, and as vice president and corporate controller of RehabCare Group from December 2003 until January 2010.
Howard A. Friedman, age 49, has served as President and Chief Executive Officer, Post Consumer Brands since July 2018. Mr. Friedman previously served as the executive vice president of the refrigerated meat and dairy business at The Kraft Heinz Company, a global food and beverage company, where he spent the majority of his more than twenty-year career.
Diedre J. Gray, age 41, has served as an Executive Vice President since November 2017 and as our General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer since November 2014. She has served as our Corporate Secretary since January 2012. Ms. Gray previously served as our Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer from November 2014 until November 2017. Ms. Gray served as our Senior Vice President-Legal starting in December 2011 and was promoted to Senior Vice President, General Counsel in September 2012. Prior to joining Post, Ms. Gray served as associate general counsel and assistant secretary at MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (now SunEdison, Inc.), a semiconductor and solar wafer manufacturing company, from 2010 to 2011. Previously, Ms. Gray was an attorney at Bryan Cave LLP (now Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP) from 2003 to 2010.
Mark W. Westphal, age 54, has served as President, Foodservice (formerly known as Michael Foods) since January 2018. Mr. Westphal previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Michael Foods for nearly ten years. Prior to joining Michael Foods in 1995, Mr. Westphal worked for Grant Thornton, an audit, tax and advisory firm.
Available Information
We make available, free of charge, through our website (www.postholdings.com) reports we file with the SEC, including our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site containing these reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. The information and other content contained on our website are not part of (or incorporated by reference in) this report or any other document we file with the SEC.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
In addition to the factors discussed elsewhere in this report, the following risks and uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Risks Related to Our Business
We operate in categories with strong competition.
The consumer food and beverage and convenient nutrition categories are highly competitive. Competition in these categories is based on, among other things, brand recognition, taste, nutritional value, ingredients, product quality, price, effective promotional activities and the ability to identify and satisfy dynamic, emerging consumer preferences. Our competitors may have substantial financial, marketing and other resources. Increased competition can reduce our sales due to loss of market share or the need to reduce prices to respond to competitive and customer pressures. Competitive and customer pressures, as well as industry supply and market demand, also may limit our ability to increase prices, including in response to cost increases. In most product categories, we compete not only with widely advertised branded products, but also with private label and store brand products. A strong competitive response from one or more of our competitors to our marketplace efforts, or a shift in consumer preferences to competitors’ products, could result in us reducing prices, increasing marketing or other expenditures or losing market share. Our profits could decrease if a reduction in prices or increased costs are not counterbalanced with increased sales volume. In addition, our competitors are increasingly using social media networks to advertise products. If we are unable to compete in this environment and use social media effectively, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We must identify changing consumer and customer preferences and develop and offer products to meet these preferences.
Consumer and customer preferences evolve over time. The success of our business depends on our ability to identify these changing preferences and to continue to develop and offer products that appeal to consumers and customers. Consumer preference changes include dietary trends, attention to different nutritional aspects of foods and beverages, concerns regarding the health effects of certain foods and beverages, sourcing practices relating to ingredients and animal welfare concerns. Any significant changes in consumer preferences or our inability to anticipate or react to such changes could result in reduced demand for our products and negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail businesses are, and will continue to be, affected by changing preferences and requirements as to the housing of egg-laying hens, as well as certain other farm animals. Many restaurant chains, foodservice companies and grocery chains have announced goals to transition to a cage-free egg supply by specified future dates. Meeting anticipated customer demand has resulted, and will continue to result, in additional operating and capital costs to procure cage-free eggs, to modify existing layer facilities and to construct new cage-free layer housing. In addition, several states have enacted, or are proposing, provisions providing for specific requirements for the housing of certain farm animals. These changing preferences and requirements also could require us to use specially sourced ingredients that may be more difficult to source or entail a higher cost or incremental capital investment which we may not be able to pass on to customers.
Our results may be adversely impacted if consumers do not maintain favorable perceptions of our brands.
Maintaining and continually enhancing the value of our brands is critical to the success of our business. Brand value is based in large part on consumer perceptions. Success in promoting and enhancing brand value depends in large part on our ability to provide high-quality products. Brand value could diminish significantly due to a number of factors, including adverse publicity about our products, packaging or ingredients (whether or not valid), our failure to maintain the quality of our products, the failure of our products to deliver consistently positive consumer experiences, concerns about food safety, real or perceived health concerns regarding our products, our products becoming unavailable to consumers or consumer perception that we have acted in an irresponsible manner. Consumer demand for our products also may be impacted by changes in the level of advertising or promotional support. The growing use of social and digital media by consumers, us and third parties increases the speed and extent that information or misinformation and opinions can be shared. Negative posts or comments about us, our brands, products, ingredients or packaging or the food industry generally on social or digital media could seriously damage our brands and reputation. Further, third parties may sell counterfeit or imitation versions of our products that are inferior or pose safety risks. If consumers confuse these counterfeit products for our products or have a bad experience with the counterfeit brand, they might refrain from purchasing our brands in the future, which could harm our brand image and sales. If we do not maintain favorable perceptions of our brands, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely impacted.
Our business strategy depends on us identifying and completing additional acquisitions and other strategic transactions. We may not be able to successfully consummate favorable strategic transactions in the future. Our corporate development activities also may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Although we continuously evaluate strategic transactions, we may be unable to identify suitable strategic transactions in the future or may not be able to enter into such transactions at favorable prices or on terms that are favorable to us. Alternatively, we may in the future enter into additional strategic transactions, and any such transaction could happen at any time, could be material to our business and could take any number of forms, including, for example, an acquisition, investment or merger, for cash or in exchange for our equity securities, a divestiture or a joint venture.
Evaluating potential transactions, including divestitures and joint ventures, requires additional expenditures (including legal, accounting and due diligence expenses, higher administrative costs to support any acquired entities and information technology, personnel and other integration expenses) and may divert the attention of our management from ordinary operating matters.
Our corporate development activities also may present financial and operational risks and may have adverse effects on existing business relationships with suppliers and customers. In addition, future acquisitions could result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities and amortization expenses related to certain intangible assets and increased operating expenses, all of which could, individually or collectively, adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The IPO of a minority interest in our BellRing Brands business, which consists of our historical Active Nutrition business, is subject to various risks and uncertainties, any of which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
On October 21, 2019, the IPO of a minority interest in our BellRing Brands business, which consists of our historical Active Nutrition business, was completed. As a result of the IPO and the formation transactions, BellRing Brands, LLC is the holding company for our historical Active Nutrition business. As of October 21, 2019, BellRing is a holding company owning 28.8% of the BellRing Brands, LLC units, and Post owns one share of BellRing’s Class B common stock and 71.2% of the BellRing Brands, LLC units. For so long as Post or its affiliates (other than BellRing and its subsidiaries) directly own more than 50% of the BellRing Brands, LLC units, the share of Class B common stock represents 67% of the combined voting power of the common stock of BellRing.
We may not be able to achieve the anticipated strategic and financial benefits expected as a result of the IPO. In addition, as a result of the IPO and the formation transactions, we will only benefit from a portion of any profits and growth of the BellRing Brands business in the future, and our historical financial information may not be indicative of future results. Further, the BellRing Brands business will be subject to additional costs as a result of being a standalone public company.
We may be unable to realize the anticipated benefits of the Bob Evans acquisition.
The acquisition of Bob Evans involved the combination of two companies that have historically operated independently. In order to realize the anticipated benefits of the Bob Evans acquisition, we have been, and will continue to be, required to devote significant management attention and resources to aligning the business practices, supply chains, cultures and operations of each business. We may encounter difficulties as we continue to align these businesses in a manner that permits us to achieve the synergies and other benefits anticipated to result from the acquisition. Accordingly, the contemplated benefits of the Bob Evans acquisition may not be realized fully, or at all, or may take longer to realize than expected.
We may experience difficulties in integrating acquired businesses, or acquisitions may not perform as expected.
We have acquired multiple businesses, and we may continue to acquire other businesses. The successful integration of these acquisitions depends on our ability to manage the operations and personnel of the acquired businesses. Integrating operations is complex and requires significant efforts and expenses on the part of both us and the acquired businesses. Potential difficulties we may encounter as part of the integration process include, but are not limited to, the following:
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• | employees may voluntarily or involuntarily separate employment from us or the acquired businesses because of the acquisitions; |
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• | our management may have its attention diverted while trying to integrate the acquired businesses; |
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• | we may encounter obstacles when incorporating the acquired businesses into our operations and management, including integrating or separating personnel, financial systems, operating procedures, regulatory compliance programs, technology, networks and other assets in a seamless manner that minimizes any adverse impact on customers, suppliers, employees and other constituencies; |
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• | differences in business backgrounds, corporate cultures and management philosophies; |
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• | integration may be more costly, more time-consuming and more complex or less effective than anticipated; |
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• | inability to maintain uniform standards, controls and procedures; and |
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• | we may discover previously undetected operational or other issues, such as fraud. |
Any of these factors could adversely affect our and the acquired businesses’ ability to maintain relationships with customers, suppliers, employees and other constituencies.
In addition, the success of these acquired businesses will depend, in part, on our ability to realize the anticipated growth opportunities and cost synergies through the successful integration of the businesses we acquire with our existing businesses. Even if we are successful in integrating acquired businesses, we cannot assure you that these integrations will result in the realization of the full benefit of any anticipated growth opportunities or cost synergies or that these benefits will be realized within the expected time frames. In addition, acquired businesses may have unanticipated liabilities or contingencies.
Higher freight costs, commodity price volatility and availability and higher energy costs could negatively impact profits.
Our freight costs may increase due to factors such as increased fuel costs, limited carrier availability, increased compliance costs associated with new or changing government regulations and inflation. The primary ingredients used by our businesses include wheat, oats, rice, corn, other grain products, eggs, pork, pasta, potatoes, cheese, milk, butter, vegetable oils, milk-based, whey-based and soy-based proteins, protein blends, cocoa, corn syrup and sugar. The supply and price of these ingredients are subject to market conditions and are influenced by many factors beyond our control, including animal feed costs, weather patterns affecting ingredient production, governmental programs, regulations and trade and tariff policies, insects, plant diseases and inflation. Our primary packaging materials include linerboard cartons, corrugated boxes, plastic containers, flexible and beverage packaging, cartonboard, and aseptic foil and plastic lined cartonboard. In addition, our manufacturing operations use large quantities of natural gas, propane and electricity. The cost of such commodities may fluctuate widely, and we may experience shortages in commodity items as a result of commodity availability, increased demand, weather conditions and natural disasters, as well as other factors outside of our control. Higher prices for natural gas, propane, electricity and fuel also may increase our ingredient, production and delivery costs. The prices charged for our products may not reflect changes in our freight, commodity, tariff and energy costs at the time they occur, or at all. Accordingly, changes in freight, commodity, tariff or energy costs may limit our ability to maintain existing margins and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. While we try to manage the impact of increases in certain of these costs by locking in prices on quantities required to meet our anticipated production requirements, if we fail, or are unable, to hedge and prices subsequently increase, or if we institute a hedge and prices subsequently decrease, our costs may be greater than anticipated or greater than our competitors’ costs, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.
Our Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail segments’ operating results are significantly affected by egg, sow, potato and cheese prices and the prices of corn and soybean meal, which are the primary grains fed to laying hens. Historically, the prices of these raw materials have fluctuated widely. In addition, our Refrigerated Retail segment’s cheese and butter products are affected by milk price supports established by the USDA. Although steps can be taken to mitigate the effects of changes in raw material costs, fluctuations in prices are outside of our control, and changes in the price of such items may have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Certain supply and demand disruptions, such as those resulting from diseases affecting livestock and those experienced with the 2015 avian influenza outbreak, could create an inability to keep selling prices in line with input costs and may result in significant fluctuations in operating profit margins.
Impairment in the carrying value of intangible assets could negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations. If our goodwill or other intangible assets become impaired, we will be required to record additional impairment charges, which may be significant.
Our balance sheet includes a significant amount of intangible assets, including goodwill, trademarks, trade names and other acquired intangibles. Intangibles and goodwill expected to contribute indefinitely to our cash flows are not amortized, but our management reviews them for impairment on an annual basis or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying value may be impaired. Impairments to intangible assets may be caused by factors outside of our control, such as increasing competitive pricing pressures, lower than expected revenue and profit growth rates, changes in industry EBITDA (which stands for earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) and revenue multiples, changes in discount rates based on changes in cost of capital (interest rates, etc.) or the bankruptcy of a significant customer. These factors, along with other internal and external factors, could have a significant negative impact on our fair value determination, which could then result in a material impairment charge in our results of operations. In fiscal 2019, we had an impairment of both goodwill and other definite-lived intangible assets. In fiscal 2018, we had an impairment of other indefinite-lived intangible assets and no impairment of goodwill. In fiscal 2017, we had an impairment of goodwill and no impairment of other intangible assets. See further discussion of these impairments in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Item 7 of this report and Notes 2 and 8 within “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8 of this report.
Unsuccessful implementation of business strategies to reduce costs may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Many of our costs, such as freight, raw materials and energy, are outside of our control. Therefore, we must seek to reduce costs in other areas, such as through operating efficiency. If we are not able to complete projects designed to reduce costs and increase operating efficiency on time or within budget, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be adversely impacted. In addition, if the cost-saving initiatives we have implemented, or any future cost-saving initiatives, do not generate the expected cost savings and synergies, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be adversely affected.
Economic downturns could limit consumer and customer demand for our products.
The willingness of consumers to purchase our products depends in part on general or local economic conditions and consumers’ discretionary spending habits. In periods of adverse or uncertain economic conditions, consumers may purchase less of our products or may forgo certain purchases altogether. In addition, our customers may seek to reduce their inventories in response to those economic conditions. In those circumstances, we could experience a reduction in sales of our products. In addition, as a result of economic conditions or competitive actions, we may be unable to raise our prices sufficiently to protect profit margins. Any of these events could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
If our products become adulterated or contaminated, or if they are misbranded or mislabeled , we might need to recall or withdraw those items and may experience product liability claims if consumers are injured.
Selling food products, beverages and nutritional supplements involves a number of legal and other risks, including contamination, spoilage, tampering, mislabeling or other adulteration. Additionally, many of the ingredients used to make certain of our products, particularly eggs, pork, nuts, raw potatoes and grains, are vulnerable to contamination by naturally occurring molds and pathogens, such as salmonella. These pathogens may survive in our products as a result of improper handling by customers or consumers. We do not have control over handling procedures once our products have been shipped for distribution. We may need to recall, withdraw or isolate some or all of our products if they become adulterated, mislabeled or misbranded, whether caused by us or someone in our supply chain. Such an incident could result in destruction of product ingredients and inventory, negative publicity, temporary plant closings, supply chain interruption, substantial costs of compliance or remediation, fines and increased scrutiny by federal, state and foreign regulatory agencies. Should consumption of any product cause injury, we may be liable for monetary damages as a result of a judgment against us. In addition, adverse publicity, including claims, whether or not valid, that our products or ingredients are unsafe or of poor quality, may discourage consumers or customers from buying our products or cause production and delivery disruptions. Any of these events, including a significant product liability claim against us, could result in a loss of consumer or customer confidence in our food products and damage our brands. Although we have various insurance programs in place, any of these events and/or a loss of consumer or customer confidence could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Violations of laws or regulations, as well as new laws or regulations or changes to existing laws or regulations, could adversely affect our business.
The food industry is subject to a variety of federal, state and foreign laws and regulations, including requirements related to food safety, quality, manufacturing, processing, animal welfare, storage, marketing, advertising, labeling and distribution, as well as those related to worker health and workplace safety. Our activities, both inside and outside of the United States, are subject to extensive regulation. In the United States, we are regulated by, and our activities are affected by, among other federal and state authorities and regulations, the FDA, the USDA, the Federal Trade Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65). In Europe, we are regulated by, among other authorities, the U.K.’s Food Standards Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Environment Agency, Environmental Health, the Information Commissioners Office and the Trading Standards Office and their equivalents in other E.U. member states. We also are regulated by similar authorities elsewhere in the world where our products are distributed or licensed. Governmental regulations also affect taxes and levies, tariffs, healthcare costs, energy usage, data privacy and immigration and labor issues, any or all of which may have a direct or indirect effect on our business or the businesses of our customers or suppliers. In addition, we could be the target of claims relating to alleged false or deceptive advertising under federal, state and foreign laws and regulations and may be subject to initiatives to limit or prohibit the marketing and advertising of our products to children.
The impact of current laws and regulations, changes in these laws or regulations or the introduction of new laws or regulations could increase the costs of doing business for us or our customers or suppliers, causing our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows to be adversely affected. As specific examples, Canada has enacted new food safety laws, and some states have passed laws that mandate specific housing requirements for layer hens and mandate specific space requirements for farm animal enclosures, including layer hens and pigs. Further, if we are found to be out of compliance with applicable laws and regulations in these areas, we could be subject to civil remedies, including fines, revocations of required licenses, injunctions or recalls, as well as potential criminal sanctions, any or all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. The limited availability of government inspectors due to a government shutdown also could cause disruption to our manufacturing facilities.
We also may be impacted by changes to administrative policy, including tariffs and trade agreements. As an example, the United States, Canada and Mexico have renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”). Canada and Mexico have ratified the new agreement, named the United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement (“USMCA”). The United States has not yet done so. There remains uncertainty as to whether the United States Congress will adopt the legislation required to implement USMCA. If adopted in its current form by all three countries, we do not anticipate that USMCA will have a material impact on our operations. If USMCA is not adopted, then the current status quo (NAFTA) will prevail until such time as the United States (or another one of the signatories) chooses to withdraw (which can be done, in accordance with Article 2205 of NAFTA, on six months’ notice). Given the integrated nature of our North American operations and supply chain, we continue to monitor closely the implementation of USMCA.
Certain of our Foodservice, Refrigerated Retail and BellRing Brands products are subject to a higher level of regulatory scrutiny, resulting in increased costs of operations and the potential for delays in product sales.
Certain of our Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail businesses’ meat and egg products are subject to continuous on-site inspections by the USDA. Some of our BellRing Brands products are regulated by the FDA as dietary supplements, which are subject to FDA regulations and levels of regulatory scrutiny that are different from those applicable to conventional food. Internationally, certain of our BellRing Brands products are regulated as food, dietary supplements and, in some cases, drug products. There is some risk that product classifications could be changed by the regulators, which could result in significant fines, penalties, discontinued distribution and relabeling costs.
It also is possible that federal, state or foreign enforcement authorities might take regulatory or enforcement action, which could result in significant fines or penalties. If we are found to be significantly out of compliance, an enforcement authority could issue a warning letter and/or institute enforcement actions that could result in additional costs, substantial delays in production or even a temporary shutdown in manufacturing and product sales while the non-conformances are rectified. Also, we may have to recall product or otherwise remove product from the market, and temporarily cease its manufacture and distribution, which would increase our costs and reduce our revenues. Any product liability claims resulting from the failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations would be expensive to defend and could result in substantial damage awards against us or harm our reputation. Any of these events would negatively impact our revenues and costs of operations.
Changes in tax laws may adversely affect us, and the Internal Revenue Service or a court may disagree with our tax positions, which may result in adverse effects on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”), enacted on December 22, 2017, significantly affected United States tax law, including by changing how the United States imposes tax on certain types of income of corporations and by reducing the United States federal corporate income tax rate to 21%. It also imposed new limitations on a number of tax benefits, including deductions for business interest, use of net operating loss carry forwards, taxation of foreign income and the foreign tax credit, among others. There can be no assurance that future tax law changes will not increase the rate of the corporate income tax significantly; impose new limitations on deductions, credits or other tax benefits; or make other changes that may adversely affect the performance of an investment in our stock. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) has yet to issue guidance on a number of important issues regarding the changes made by the Tax Act. In the absence of such guidance, we will take positions with respect to a number of unsettled issues. There is no assurance that the IRS or a court will agree with the positions taken by us, in which case tax penalties and interest may be imposed that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The loss of, a significant reduction of purchases by or the bankruptcy of a major customer may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
A limited number of customer accounts represents a large percentage of our consolidated net sales. Our largest customer, Walmart, accounted for approximately 21% of our consolidated net sales in fiscal 2019. Walmart also is the largest customer of our Post Consumer Brands segment, accounting for approximately 32% of Post Consumer Brands’s net sales in fiscal 2019. The largest customers of our Weetabix segment, Tesco, Walmart and Sainsbury’s, accounted for approximately 41% of Weetabix’s net sales in fiscal 2019. The largest customers of our Foodservice segment, Sysco and US Foods, accounted for approximately 41% of the segment’s net sales in fiscal 2019. Additionally, the largest customer of our Refrigerated Retail segment, Walmart, accounted for approximately 22% of the segment’s net sales in fiscal 2019, and the largest customers of our BellRing Brands segment, Costco and Walmart, accounted for approximately 70% of the segment’s net sales in fiscal 2019. For purposes of this risk factor, “Walmart” refers to Walmart and its affiliates, which include Sam’s Club and Asda.
The success of our businesses depends, in part, on our ability to maintain our level of sales and product distribution through high-volume food distributors, retailers, club stores, super centers and mass merchandisers. The competition to supply products to these high-volume stores is intense. Currently, we do not have long-term supply agreements with a substantial number of our retail customers, including our largest customers. These high-volume customers and mass merchandisers frequently reevaluate the products they carry. A decision by our major customers to decrease the amount of product purchased from us, sell another brand on an exclusive or priority basis or change the manner of doing business with us could reduce our revenues and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, our customers may offer branded and
private label products that compete directly with our products for retail shelf space and consumer purchases. Accordingly, there is a risk that our customers may give higher priority to their own products or to the products of our competitors. In the event of a loss of any of our large customers, a significant reduction of purchases by any of our large customers or the bankruptcy or serious financial difficulty of any of our large customers, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be adversely affected.
Consolidation in the retail and foodservice distribution channels, and competitive, economic and other pressures facing our customers, may hurt our profit margins.
Over the past several years, the retail and foodservice channels have undergone significant consolidations and mass merchandisers and non-traditional retailers are gaining market share. As this trend continues and such customers grow larger, they may seek to use their position to improve their profitability through improved efficiency, lower pricing, increased reliance on their own brand name products, increased emphasis on generic and other value brands and increased promotional programs. If we are unable to respond to these requirements, our profitability or volume growth could be negatively impacted. Additionally, if any of our existing retailer or distributor customers are consolidated with another entity and the surviving entity of any such consolidation is not a customer or decides to discontinue purchasing our products, we may lose significant amounts of our preexisting business with the acquired retailer or distributor. Further, the economic and competitive landscape for our customers is constantly changing, such as the growth of online food retailers and new market participants, and our customers’ responses to those changes could impact our businesses. The consolidation in the retail and foodservice channels also increases the risk that adverse changes to our customers’ business operations or financial performance would have a material adverse effect on us.
Pending and future litigation may impair our reputation or lead us to incur significant costs.
We are, or may become, party to various lawsuits and claims arising in the normal course of business, which may include lawsuits or claims relating to contracts, intellectual property, product recalls, product liability, false or deceptive advertising, employment matters, environmental matters or other aspects of our business. There has been a recent increase in lawsuits filed against food and beverage companies alleging deceptive advertising and labeling. Negative publicity resulting from allegations made in lawsuits or claims asserted against us, whether or not valid, may adversely affect our reputation. In addition, we may be required to pay damage awards or settlements or become subject to injunctions or other equitable remedies, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. The outcome of litigation is often difficult to predict, and the outcome of pending or future litigation may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Although we have various insurance programs in place, the potential liabilities associated with these litigation matters, or those that could arise in the future, could be excluded from coverage or, if covered, could exceed the coverage provided by such programs. In addition, insurance carriers may seek to rescind or deny coverage with respect to pending or future claims or lawsuits. If we do not have sufficient coverage under our policies, or if coverage is denied, we may be required to make material payments to settle litigation or satisfy any judgment. Any of these consequences could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We are currently dependent on third party suppliers and manufacturers for the manufacturing of many of our products. Our business could suffer as a result of a third party’s inability to supply materials for our products or produce our products for us on time or to our specifications.
Our business relies on independent third parties for the supply of materials for, and the manufacture of, many products, such as RTD protein shakes, protein bars and powders, nutritional supplements, breakfast drinks, certain cereal and granola products, shell eggs, potatoes and certain refrigerated food products. Our business could be materially affected if we fail to develop or maintain our relationships with these third parties, if these third parties fail to comply with governmental regulations applicable to the manufacturing of our products or if any of these third parties cease doing business with us or go out of business. Additionally, we cannot be certain that we will not experience operational difficulties with these third parties, such as increases in costs, reductions in the availability of materials or production capacity, errors in complying with specifications, insufficient quality control and failure to meet production or shipment deadlines. The inability of a third party supplier or manufacturer to ship orders in a timely manner or in desirable quantities or to meet our safety, quality and social compliance standards or regulatory requirements could have a material adverse impact on our business. Certain of our relationships with these third party manufacturers and suppliers are subject to minimum volume commitments, whereby the third party manufacturer has committed to produce, and we have committed to purchase, a minimum quantity of product and the third party supplier has committed to provide, and we have committed to purchase, a minimum quantity of materials, respectively. Despite these commitments, we may nonetheless experience situations where such third parties are unable to fulfill their obligations under our agreements or cannot produce or supply, as applicable, adequate amounts to allow us to meet customer demands.
8th Avenue has been separately capitalized with an unaffiliated third party, and as a result, we have less control over our historical Private Brands business.
On October 1, 2018, we separately capitalized 8th Avenue, which became the holding company for our historical Private Brands business, with THL (the transactions to separately capitalize 8th Avenue are referred to as the “8th Avenue Transactions”). As a result of the 8th Avenue Transactions, we hold 6.05 million shares of 8th Avenue Class B common stock, and THL and members of 8th Avenue’s management team together hold 3.95 million shares of 8th Avenue Class A common stock and 2.5 million shares of 8th Avenue Series A preferred stock. Although we hold a substantial majority of the voting power of 8th Avenue’s common stock and have the power to appoint a majority of the members of 8th Avenue’s board of directors, THL holds certain corporate governance and other rights with respect to 8th Avenue, and we cannot control the actions of THL. THL may have economic or business interests or goals that are inconsistent with our business interests or goals. Differences in views among THL and us may result in delayed decisions or disputes. THL’s interest could be sold to a third party, or 8th Avenue or its subsidiaries could be disposed of, in whole or in part, to third parties. These factors could potentially adversely impact the business and operations of 8th Avenue and, in turn, our business and operations.
Our historical financial information may not be indicative of our future financial performance as a result of the 8th Avenue Transactions. In addition, if our investment in 8th Avenue is not profitable, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted.
As of October 1, 2018, in connection with the 8th Avenue Transactions, 8th Avenue and its subsidiaries were deconsolidated from our financial statements. As a result, our balance sheets and statements of operations following the deconsolidation will not be comparable to the balance sheets and statements of operations reflected in our historical financial statements for periods prior to deconsolidation.
In addition, as of October 1, 2018, we hold 60.5% of the common equity of 8th Avenue. The 60.5% retained interest in 8th Avenue is accounted for using the equity method, and the carrying value of the investment in 8th Avenue is included on our balance sheet and returns from our investment in 8th Avenue are included in our results of operations. If our investment in 8th Avenue is not profitable, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted.
We are subject to certain continuing obligations, including indemnification obligations and lease guarantor obligations, related to the sale of the Bob Evans restaurants business that could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
In April 2017, prior to our acquisition of Bob Evans, Bob Evans completed the sale and separation of its restaurants business (the “Bob Evans Restaurants Transaction”) to Bob Evans Restaurants, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company formed by affiliates of Golden Gate Capital Opportunity Fund, L.P. (the “Bob Evans Restaurants Buyer”), pursuant to a sale agreement between Bob Evans and the Bob Evans Restaurants Buyer (the “Restaurants Sale Agreement”). As a result of our acquisition of Bob Evans, we have the obligation to indemnify the Bob Evans Restaurants Buyer for certain breaches of the Restaurants Sale Agreement and certain other liabilities set forth in the Restaurants Sale Agreement.
In addition, in connection with the Bob Evans Restaurants Transaction, the Bob Evans Restaurants Buyer assumed the lease obligations of the Bob Evans restaurants business. However, as part of a sale leaseback transaction of 143 of Bob Evans’s restaurant properties that Bob Evans completed in 2016, Bob Evans and one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries entered into payment and performance guaranties relating to the leases on such restaurant properties, which remained in place after the completion of the Bob Evans Restaurants Transaction. Although the Bob Evans Restaurants Buyer assumed responsibility for the payment and performance obligations under the leases on the sale leaseback properties, under the terms of the guaranties, we remain liable for payments due under these leases if the Bob Evans Restaurants Buyer fails to satisfy its lease obligations. Any such unexpected expenses related to our obligations under the payment and performance guaranties or under the Restaurants Sale Agreement could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our Post Consumer Brands and Weetabix segments operate in the mature RTE cereal category, and the failure or weakening of this category could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our Post Consumer Brands and Weetabix segments together produce and distribute branded, licensed and private label RTE cereals and hot cereals, other cereal-based food products and muesli, selling products to grocery stores, discounters, big box retailers, foodservice distributors, wholesalers and convenience stores across the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Ireland and the rest of the world. The RTE cereal category has experienced weakness in recent years, and we expect this trend may continue. Although we have achieved synergies in connection with our acquisition of the Weetabix Group, continuing weakness in the RTE cereal category, or the weakening of our major products competing in this category, could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our sales and profit growth are dependent upon our ability to expand existing market penetration and enter into new markets.
Successful growth depends in part on our ability to add new retail and foodservice customers, as well as expand the number of products sold through existing customers. This growth would include expanding the number of our items our customers offer for sale and our product placement. The expansion of the business of our existing segments depends on our ability to obtain new, or expand our business with existing, large-account customers, such as grocery store chains, mass merchandisers and foodservice distributors. Our failure to obtain new, or expand our business with existing, large-account customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Termination of our material intellectual property licenses could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We market certain of our products in the United States, Canada, the U.K. and several other locations pursuant to intellectual property license agreements. These licenses give us the right to use certain names, characters and logos in connection with our products and to sell the products in certain regions. If we were to breach any material term of these license agreements and not timely cure the breach, the licensor could terminate the agreement. If the licensor were to terminate our rights to use the names, characters and logos for this reason or any other reason, or if a licensor decided not to renew a license agreement upon the expiration of the license term, the loss of such rights could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our private label products may not be able to compete successfully with nationally branded products.
We participate in the private label food category, producing and distributing private label products, including through our investment in 8th Avenue. In many cases, competitors with nationally branded products have a competitive advantage over private label products due to name recognition. In addition, when branded competitors focus on price and promotion, the environment for private label producers and distributors becomes more challenging because the price differential between private label products and branded products may become less significant. Competitive pressures or promotions of branded products could cause us or our customers to lose sales, which may require us to lower prices or increase the use of our own discounting or promotional programs, each of which would adversely affect our margins, business, financial condition, results of operations, profitability and cash flows.
Disruption of our supply chain and changes in weather conditions could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
In coordination with our suppliers, business partners and third party manufacturers, our ability to make, move and sell products is critical to our success. Damage or disruption to our collective supply, manufacturing or distribution capabilities resulting from weather, freight carrier availability, any potential effects of climate change, natural disaster, disease, fire, explosion, cyber-attacks, terrorism, pandemics, strikes, repairs or enhancements at our facilities or other reasons could impair our ability to manufacture, sell or timely deliver our products.
In addition, the manufacturing capabilities for certain of our products are concentrated with certain third party manufacturers and at certain of our and our third party manufacturers’ facilities. If we had to close or limit production of all or part of the operations at one or more of such facilities for any reason, or if certain of our facilities or such third party manufacturers were unable to produce our desired quantities, we may be unable to increase production at our other facilities or with other third party manufacturers in a timely manner, which could adversely affect our customer relationships, business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Changes in weather conditions and natural disasters also may affect the cost and supply of commodities and raw materials, including grains, eggs, sows, potatoes, corn syrup, proteins and sugar. Additionally, these events can result in lower recoveries of usable raw materials. Competitors can be affected differently by weather conditions and natural disasters depending on the location of their suppliers and operations. Failure to take adequate steps to reduce the likelihood or mitigate the potential impact of such events, or to effectively manage such events if they occur, particularly when a commodity or raw material is sourced from a single location, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and/or require additional resources to restore our supply chain.
Our international operations subject us to additional risks.
We are subject to a number of risks related to doing business internationally, any of which could significantly harm our business. These risks include:
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• | restrictions on the transfer of funds to and from foreign countries, including potentially negative tax consequences; |
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• | unfavorable changes in tariffs, quotas, trade barriers or other export or import restrictions; |
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• | unfavorable foreign exchange controls and currency exchange rates; |
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• | increased exposure to general market and economic conditions outside of the United States; |
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• | political and economic uncertainty and volatility; |
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• | the potential for substantial penalties and litigation related to violations of a wide variety of laws, treaties and regulations, including anti-corruption regulations (including the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act) and privacy laws and regulations (including the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation, which applies to certain of our businesses); |
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• | the difficulty and costs of designing and implementing an effective control environment across diverse regions and employee bases; |
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• | the difficulty and costs of maintaining effective data security; and |
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• | unfavorable and/or changing foreign tax treaties and policies. |
Our financial performance on a United States dollar denominated basis is subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Our principal exposure is to the British pound sterling, the Canadian dollar and the Euro.
The uncertainty surrounding the implementation and effect of Brexit may cause increased economic volatility and could result in tariffs, which could adversely affect our operations and business.
The results of the referendum relating to the membership of the U.K. in the E.U., advising for the exit of the U.K. from the E.U. (“Brexit”), may cause disruptions to and create uncertainty surrounding our business, including affecting our relationships with our existing and future customers, suppliers and employees. The effects of Brexit will depend on any agreements the U.K. makes to retain access to E.U. markets either during a transitional period or more permanently. The measures could potentially disrupt the markets we serve and may cause us to lose customers, suppliers and employees. In addition, Brexit could lead to legal uncertainty and potentially divergent national laws and regulations as the U.K. determines which E.U. laws to replace or replicate. Further, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, our business could be adversely impacted by tariffs on imports to the U.K. as well as exports from the U.K.
These developments may have a material adverse effect on global economic conditions and the stability of global financial markets, and may significantly reduce global market liquidity and restrict the ability of key market participants to operate in certain financial markets. Any of these factors could depress economic activity and restrict our access to capital, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, tariffs could impact the ability of our Weetabix business to continue to sell product in some of the markets where it currently does business.
United States and global capital and credit market issues could negatively affect our liquidity, increase our costs of borrowing and disrupt the operations of our suppliers and customers.
United States and global credit markets have, from time to time, experienced significant dislocations and liquidity disruptions which caused the spreads on prospective debt financings to widen considerably. These circumstances materially impacted liquidity in the debt markets, making financing terms for borrowers less attractive and in certain cases resulted in the unavailability of certain types of debt financing. Events affecting the credit markets also have had an adverse effect on other financial markets in the United States, which may make it more difficult or costly for us to raise capital through the issuance of common stock or other equity securities or refinance our existing debt, sell our assets or borrow money, if necessary. Our business also could be negatively impacted if our suppliers or customers experience disruptions resulting from tighter capital and credit markets or a slowdown in the general economy. Any of these risks could impair our ability to fund our operations or limit our ability to expand our business or increase our interest expense, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Changing currency exchange rates may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We have operations and assets in the United States as well as foreign jurisdictions, and a portion of our contracts and revenues are denominated in foreign currencies. Our consolidated financial statements are presented in United States dollars. We therefore must translate our foreign assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses into United States dollars at applicable exchange rates. Consequently, fluctuations in the value of foreign currencies relative to the United States dollar may negatively affect the value of these items in our consolidated financial statements. To the extent we fail to manage our foreign currency exposure adequately, we may suffer losses in value of our net foreign currency investment, and our business and our consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be negatively affected.
Technology failures, cybersecurity incidents and corruption of our data privacy protections could disrupt our operations and negatively impact our business.
We rely on information technology networks and systems to process, transmit and store operating and financial information, to manage and support a variety of business processes and activities, including production, and to comply with regulatory, legal and tax requirements. For example, our production and distribution facilities and inventory management utilize information technology to increase efficiencies and control costs. Our and our third party vendors’ information technology systems may be vulnerable to a variety of interruptions or malfunctions due to events beyond our or their control, including, but not limited to,
natural disasters, terrorist attacks, telecommunications failures, power outages, computer viruses and malware, hardware or software failures, cybersecurity incidents, hackers and other causes. Such interruptions or malfunctions could negatively impact our business.
If we do not allocate and effectively manage the resources necessary to build and sustain the proper technology infrastructure and to maintain and protect the related automated and manual control processes, or if one of our third party service providers fails to provide the services we require, we could be subject to billing and collection errors, business disruptions or damage resulting from such events, particularly material security breaches and cybersecurity incidents. Cyber-attacks and other cyber incidents are occurring more frequently, are constantly evolving in nature, are becoming more sophisticated and are being made by individuals and groups (including criminal hackers, hacktivists, state-sponsored institutions, terrorist organizations and individuals or groups participating in organized crime) with a wide range of expertise and motives (including monetization of corporate, payment or other internal or personal data, theft of trade secrets and intellectual property for competitive advantage and leverage for political, social, economic and environmental reasons).
If any of our significant information technology systems suffers severe damage, disruption or shutdown, and our business continuity plans do not effectively resolve the issues in a timely manner, our product sales, business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be materially and adversely affected, and we could experience delays in reporting our financial results. In addition, there is a risk of business interruption, litigation and reputational damage from leaks of confidential or personal information. While we have insurance programs in place related to these matters, the potential liabilities associated with such events, or those that could arise in the future, could be excluded from coverage or, if covered, could exceed the coverage provided by such programs. Although we have not detected a material security breach or cybersecurity incident to date, we have been the target of events of this nature and expect them to continue.
We also are subject to an evolving body of federal, state and foreign laws, regulations, guidelines and principles regarding personal information, data privacy, data protection and data security. Several foreign governments, including the E.U., have laws and regulations dealing with the collection and use of personal information obtained from their data subjects, and we could incur substantial penalties or litigation related to violations of such laws and regulations.
Agricultural diseases or pests could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Many of our business activities are subject to a variety of agricultural risks, including diseases and pests, which can adversely affect the quality and quantity of the raw materials we use and the products we produce and distribute (or have produced or distributed by third parties), as well as increase the costs of production. Any actual or potential contamination of our products could result in product recalls, market withdrawals, safety alerts, cessation of manufacturing or distribution or, if we fail to comply with applicable FDA, USDA or other United States or international regulatory authority requirements, enforcement actions. We also could be subject to product liability claims or adverse publicity if any of our products are alleged to have caused illness or injury.
Avian influenza occasionally affects the domestic poultry industry, leading to hen deaths. In 2015, an avian influenza outbreak occurred in the Midwest of the United States affecting a substantial portion of our owned and third party contracted flocks. Although we utilize biosecurity measures at our layer locations to protect against disease exposures, if our facilities are exposed to diseases and pests, such exposure could affect a substantial portion of our production facilities in any year and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Diseases affecting livestock occasionally impact sow supply, which also could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our intellectual property rights are valuable and any inability to protect them could reduce the value of our products and brands.
We consider our intellectual property rights, particularly our trademarks, but also our patents, trade secrets, know-how, copyrights and licenses, to be a significant and valuable asset of our business. We attempt to protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, as well as exclusive and nonexclusive licensing agreements, third party nondisclosure, confidentiality and assignment agreements and confidentiality provisions in third party agreements and the policing of third party misuses of our intellectual property. Our failure or inability to obtain or maintain adequate protection of our intellectual property rights, or any change in law or other changes that serve to lessen or remove the current legal protections of intellectual property, may diminish our competitiveness and could materially harm our business. In addition, as certain of our trademarks, trade names and trade secrets are subject to licenses and are shared and used by third parties, negative events outside of our control could have an adverse impact on us and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We face the risk of claims that we have infringed third parties’ intellectual property rights. Any claims of intellectual property infringement, even those without merit, could be expensive and time-consuming to defend; cause us to cease making, licensing or using products that incorporate the challenged intellectual property; require us to redesign or rebrand our products or packaging, if feasible; divert management’s attention and resources; or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements in order to obtain the right to use a third party’s intellectual property. Any royalty or licensing agreements, if required, may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. Additionally, a successful claim of infringement against us could require us to pay significant damages,
enter into costly license or royalty agreements or stop the sale of certain products, any or all of which could have a negative impact on our operating profits and harm our future prospects.
We may not be able to operate successfully if we lose key personnel, are unable to hire qualified additional personnel or experience turnover of our management team.
We are highly dependent on our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel to operate and expand our business. If we lose key personnel or one or more members of our senior management team, or if we fail to attract new qualified employees, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be harmed.
Labor strikes or work stoppages by our employees could harm our business.
Some of our full-time production, maintenance and warehouse employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. A dispute with a union or employees represented by a union could result in production interruptions caused by work stoppages. If a strike or work stoppage were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected. In addition, we could be subject to unionization efforts at our non-union facilities. Increased unionization of our workforce could lead to disruptions in our business, increases in our operating costs and constraints on our operating flexibility.
In the event of a work stoppage, we have contingency plans in place to hire additional labor or manufacture products in other locations to mitigate disruption to our business. However, there are limitations inherent in any plan to mitigate disruption to our business in the event of a work stoppage, and particularly in the case of a prolonged work stoppage, there can be no assurance that it would not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We may experience losses or be subject to increased funding and expenses to our qualified pension and other postretirement plans, which could negatively impact profits.
We maintain qualified defined benefit plans in the United States, Canada and the U.K. primarily for our Post Consumer Brands and Weetabix businesses, and we are obligated to ensure that these plans are funded or paid in accordance with applicable regulations. In the event the assets in which we invest do not perform according to expectations, or the valuation of the projected benefit obligation increases due to changes in interest rates or other factors, we may be required to make significant cash contributions to these plans and recognize increased expense on our financial statements.
Increases in costs of medical and other employee health and welfare benefits may reduce our profitability.
With approximately 10,100 employees as of November 1, 2019 (which excludes the employees of our unconsolidated subsidiaries), our profitability may be substantially affected by costs of medical and other health and welfare benefits for these employees as well as certain former employees. Although we try to control these costs, they can vary because of changes in health care laws and claims experience, which have the potential to increase the cost of providing medical and other employee health and welfare benefits. Any substantial increase could negatively affect our profitability.
We are subject to environmental laws and regulations that can impose significant costs and expose us to potential financial liabilities.
We are subject to extensive federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to the protection of human health and the environment, including those limiting the discharge and release of pollutants into the environment and those regulating the transport, storage, disposal and remediation of, and exposure to, solid and hazardous wastes. In addition, our Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail businesses are subject to particular federal and state requirements governing animal feeding operations and the management of animal waste. Certain environmental laws and regulations can impose joint and several liability without regard to fault on responsible parties, including past and present owners and operators of sites, related to cleaning up sites at which hazardous materials were disposed of or released. Failure to comply with environmental laws and regulations could result in severe fines and penalties by governments or courts of law. In addition, future laws may more stringently regulate the emission of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide and methane. We cannot predict the impact that such regulation may have, or that climate change may otherwise have, on our business.
Future events, such as new or more stringent environmental laws and regulations, new environmental claims, the discovery of currently unknown environmental conditions requiring response action or more vigorous interpretations or enforcement of existing environmental laws and regulations, might require us to incur additional costs that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Climate change, or legal or market measures to address climate change, may negatively affect our business and operations.
There is growing concern that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may have an adverse impact on global temperatures, weather patterns and the frequency and severity of extreme weather and natural disasters. If any of these climate changes has a negative effect on agricultural productivity, we may be subject to decreased availability or less favorable pricing for certain commodities that are necessary for our products, including wheat, oats and other grain products, proteins, eggs, potatoes and sows. In addition, increases in the frequency and severity of extreme weather and natural disasters may result in damage and
disruptions to our manufacturing operations and distribution channels, particularly where a product is primarily sourced from a single location. The increasing concern over climate change also may result in more federal, state, local and foreign legal requirements to reduce or mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases. If such laws are enacted, we may experience significant increases in our costs of operation and delivery. As a result, climate change could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Actual operating results may differ significantly from our or BellRing’s guidance.
From time to time, we release guidance regarding our future performance, the future performance of some or all of our unconsolidated and consolidated subsidiaries or the expected future performance of companies or businesses that we have agreed to acquire. This guidance, which consists of forward-looking statements, is prepared by our management and is qualified by, and subject to, the assumptions and the other information contained or referred to in such release and the factors described under “Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements” in our current and periodic reports filed with the SEC. Our guidance is not prepared with a view toward compliance with published guidelines of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and neither our independent registered public accounting firm nor any other independent expert or outside party has audited, reviewed, examined, compiled or applied agreed upon procedures with respect to the guidance and, accordingly, no such person expresses any opinion or any other form of assurance with respect thereto. The independent registered public accounting firm report included herein relates to our previously issued financial statements. It does not extend to any guidance and should not be read to do so.
Guidance is based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, although presented with numerical specificity, are inherently subject to business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control and are based upon specific assumptions with respect to future business decisions, some of which will change. We generally state possible outcomes as high and low ranges which are intended to provide a sensitivity analysis as variables are changed but are not intended to represent that actual results could not fall outside of the suggested ranges. The principal reason that we release this data is to provide a basis for our management to discuss our business outlook with analysts and investors. We do not accept any responsibility for any projections or reports published by any such persons.
Guidance is necessarily speculative in nature, and it can be expected that some or all of the assumptions of the guidance furnished by us will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results. Accordingly, our guidance is only an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date of release. Actual results will vary from the guidance. Investors also should recognize that the reliability of any forecasted financial data diminishes the farther in the future that the data is forecast. In light of the foregoing, investors are urged to put the guidance in context and not to place undue reliance on it.
Any failure to successfully implement our operating strategy or the occurrence of any of the risks or uncertainties set forth in this report could result in actual operating results being different than the guidance, and such differences may be adverse and material.
Similarly, BellRing, as a separate publicly-traded company whose financial results are consolidated into Post’s financial statements, releases guidance regarding its future performance, which consists of forward-looking statements. These statements are prepared by BellRing’s management, and we do not accept any responsibility for any such statements.
If we are unable to continue to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, the reliability of our financial statements may be questioned, and our stock price may suffer.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”) requires any company subject to the reporting requirements of the United States securities laws to perform a comprehensive evaluation of its and its consolidated subsidiaries’ internal control over financial reporting. To comply with this statute, we are required to document and test our internal control procedures, our management is required to assess and issue a report concerning our internal control over financial reporting and our independent registered public accounting firm is required to issue an opinion on its audit of our internal control over financial reporting.
The rules governing the standards that must be met for management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation to meet the detailed standards under the rules. During the course of its testing, our management may identify material weaknesses or significant deficiencies which may not be remedied in time to meet the annual deadline imposed by SOX. If our management cannot favorably assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting or our independent registered public accounting firm identifies material weaknesses in our internal controls, investor confidence in our financial results may weaken, and our stock price may consequently suffer. In addition, in the event we do not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, we might fail to timely prevent or detect potential financial misstatements. As of September 30, 2019, management determined that our internal control over financial reporting was effective.
Actions of shareholders could cause us to incur substantial costs, divert management’s attention and resources and have an adverse effect on our business.
From time to time, we may be subject to proposals and other requests from shareholders urging us to take certain corporate actions, including proposals seeking to influence our corporate policies or effecting a change in our management. In the event of such shareholder proposals, particularly with respect to matters which our management and Board of Directors, in exercising their fiduciary duties, disagree with or have determined not to pursue, our business could be adversely affected because responding to actions and requests of shareholders can be costly and time-consuming, disrupting our operations and diverting the attention of management and our employees. Additionally, perceived uncertainties as to our future direction may result in the loss of potential business opportunities and may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel, business partners and customers.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
We have substantial debt and high leverage, which could have a negative impact on our financing options and liquidity position and which could adversely affect our business.
We have a significant amount of debt. We had $7,119.3 million in aggregate principal amount of total debt as of September 30, 2019. Additionally, our secured revolving credit facility had borrowing capacity of $780.5 million at September 30, 2019 (all of which would be secured when drawn).
In connection with the IPO and the formation transactions, Post borrowed $1,225.0 million under a bridge loan facility on October 11, 2019 (the “2020 Bridge Loan”), which was assumed by BellRing Brands, LLC upon the closing of the IPO and the formation transactions on October 21, 2019 pursuant to a borrower assignment and assumption agreement (the “Borrower Assignment and Assumption Agreement”). Under the Borrower Assignment and Assumption Agreement, Post retained the cash proceeds of the 2020 Bridge Loan, which it used to repay a portion of the $1,309.5 million balance of the existing term loan under its existing credit agreement. In addition, in connection with the closing of the IPO and the formation transactions, BellRing Brands, LLC repaid in full the balance of the 2020 Bridge Loan and all interest thereunder, entered into a credit agreement, which provides for a term B loan facility in an aggregate principal amount of $700.0 million (the “Term B Facility”) and a revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of $200.0 million (the “BellRing Revolving Credit Facility”), and borrowed the full amount of the Term B Facility and $100.0 million under the BellRing Revolving Credit Facility. Subsequently, on October 31, 2019, BellRing Brands, LLC repaid $40.0 million of outstanding borrowings under the BellRing Revolving Credit Facility. These transactions are collectively referred to herein as the “BellRing Financing Transactions.”
Our overall leverage and the terms of our financing arrangements could:
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• | limit our ability to obtain additional financing in the future for working capital, for capital expenditures, for acquisitions, to fund growth or for general corporate purposes, even when necessary to maintain adequate liquidity, particularly if any ratings assigned to our debt securities by rating organizations were revised downward; |
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• | make it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations under the terms of our financing arrangements; |
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• | trigger limitations on our ability to deduct interest paid on such indebtedness; |
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• | limit our ability to refinance our indebtedness on terms acceptable to us or at all; |
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• | limit our flexibility to plan for and to adjust to changing business and market conditions in the industries in which we operate and increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions; |
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• | require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to make interest and principal payments on our debt, thereby limiting the availability of our cash flow to fund future investments, capital expenditures, working capital, business activities and other general corporate requirements; |
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• | increase our vulnerability to adverse economic or industry conditions; and |
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• | subject us to higher levels of indebtedness than our competitors, which may cause a competitive disadvantage and may reduce our flexibility in responding to increased competition. |
Our ability to meet expenses and debt service obligations will depend on our future performance, which will be affected by financial, business, economic and other factors, including potential changes in consumer preferences, the success of product and marketing innovation and pressure from competitors. If we do not generate enough cash to pay our debt service obligations, we may be required to refinance all or part of our existing debt, sell assets, borrow more money or issue additional equity.
Despite our current level of indebtedness, we may be able to incur substantially more debt, which could further exacerbate the risks described above.
We may be able to incur significant additional indebtedness in the future. Although the financing arrangements governing our indebtedness contain restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions, and the additional indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. These restrictions also will not prevent us from incurring obligations that do not constitute indebtedness, as defined in the documents governing our indebtedness.
The agreements governing our debt, including the indentures governing our senior notes, contain, or may in future financings contain, various covenants that limit our ability to take certain actions and also require us to meet financial maintenance tests, and failure to comply with these covenants could have a material adverse effect on us.
Our financing arrangements contain restrictions, covenants and events of default that, among other things, require us to satisfy certain financial tests and maintain certain financial ratios and restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness and to refinance our existing indebtedness. Financing arrangements which we enter into in the future could contain similar restrictions and could additionally require us to comply with similar, new or additional financial tests or to maintain similar, new or additional financial ratios. The terms of our financing arrangements, financing arrangements which we enter into in the future and any future indebtedness may impose various restrictions and covenants on us that could limit our ability to pay dividends, respond to market conditions, provide for capital investment needs or take advantage of business opportunities by limiting the amount of additional borrowings we may incur. These restrictions include compliance with, or maintenance of, certain financial tests and ratios and may limit or prohibit our ability to, among other things:
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• | borrow money or guarantee debt; |
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• | pay dividends on or redeem or repurchase stock or other securities; |
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• | make investments and acquisitions; |
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• | enter into or permit to exist contractual limits on the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends to us; |
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• | enter into new lines of business; |
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• | enter into transactions with affiliates; and |
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• | sell assets or merge with other companies. |
Various risks, uncertainties and events beyond our control could affect our ability to comply with these restrictions and covenants. Failure to comply with any of the restrictions and covenants in our existing or future financing arrangements could result in a default under those arrangements and under other arrangements containing cross-default provisions.
Our credit agreement contains customary financial covenants, including a covenant requiring us to maintain a senior secured leverage ratio (as defined in our credit agreement) not to exceed 4.25 to 1.00, measured as of the last day of any fiscal quarter if, as of the last day of such fiscal quarter, the aggregate outstanding amount of all revolving credit loans, swing line loans and letter of credit obligations (subject to certain exceptions specified in our credit agreement) exceeds 30% of our revolving credit commitments. Our credit agreement permits us, subject to certain exceptions, to incur additional unsecured debt only if, among other conditions, our pro forma consolidated interest coverage ratio, calculated as provided in our credit agreement, would be greater than or equal to 2.00 to 1.00 after giving effect to such new debt. The indentures that govern our senior notes, subject to certain exceptions, contain a similar restriction.
A default would permit lenders to accelerate the maturity of the debt under these arrangements and to foreclose upon any collateral securing the debt. Under these circumstances, we might not have sufficient funds or other resources to satisfy all of our obligations, including our obligations under our indentures and credit agreement. In addition, the limitations imposed by financing agreements on our ability to incur additional debt and to take other actions might significantly impair our ability to obtain other financing.
Certain of our subsidiaries are not subject to the restrictive covenants in our debt, and their financial resources and assets may not be available to us to pay our obligations on our indebtedness.
We have designated 8th Avenue and its subsidiaries and BellRing and its subsidiaries as unrestricted subsidiaries under our credit agreement and senior note indentures. Any subsidiary that is designated as unrestricted is not a guarantor under our credit agreement or under our senior note indentures, and the assets of our unrestricted subsidiaries do not secure our obligations under our credit agreement. 8th Avenue and BellRing Brands, LLC have entered into secured credit facilities that are separate from our credit agreement and senior note indentures and that restrict, among other matters, their ability to make distributions to us or engage in transactions with us. Accordingly, the financial resources and other assets of 8th Avenue and its subsidiaries and BellRing Brands,
LLC and its subsidiaries may not be available to us to pay our obligations on our indebtedness or, if available, may be significantly limited.
To service our indebtedness and other cash needs, we will require a significant amount of cash. Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control.
Our ability to pay interest on our outstanding senior notes, to satisfy our other debt obligations and to fund any planned capital expenditures, dividends and other cash needs will depend in part upon the future financial and operating performance of our subsidiaries and upon our ability to renew or refinance borrowings. Prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, will affect our ability to make these payments.
If we are unable to make payments or refinance our debt or obtain new financing under these circumstances, we may consider other options, including:
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• | reduction or delay of capital expenditures, strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances; or |
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• | negotiations with our lenders to restructure the applicable debt. |
Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations, and future borrowings may not be available to us in a sufficient amount, to enable us to pay our indebtedness, including the senior notes and our other debt obligations, or to fund our other liquidity needs. We may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity. We may not be able to refinance any of our debt on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
Increases in interest rates may negatively affect earnings.
As of September 30, 2019, the aggregate principal amount of our debt instruments with exposure to interest rate risk was $1,309.5 million, based on the outstanding debt balance of our term loan. Higher interest rates will increase the cost of servicing our financial instruments with exposure to interest rate risk and could materially reduce our profitability and cash flows. In May 2017, we entered into $1,000.0 million of long-term interest rate swap agreements to lock into a fixed LIBOR base rate, beginning on May 24, 2017 and ending on May 24, 2024, of which $200.0 million remained outstanding as of September 30, 2019. As of September 30, 2019, each one hundred basis points change in LIBOR rates would result in an approximate $11 million change in the annual cash interest expense, before any principal payment, on our financial instruments with exposure to interest rate risk, including the impact of the $200.0 million in interest rate swap agreements.
As previously disclosed, in connection with the IPO and the formation transactions, Post and BellRing Brands, LLC entered into a series of BellRing Financing Transactions in October 2019. After giving effect to the BellRing Financing Transactions, each one hundred basis points change in LIBOR rates would result in an approximate $7 million change in the annual cash interest expense, before any principal payment, on our financial instruments with exposure to interest rate risk.
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021. Certain of our variable rate debt use LIBOR as a benchmark for establishing interest rates. In addition, certain hedging transactions reference LIBOR as a benchmark rate in order to determine the applicable interest rate or payment amount. In the event LIBOR is discontinued, replaced or significantly changed, or ceases to be recognized as an acceptable benchmark, there may be uncertainty or differences in the calculation of the applicable interest rate or payment amount depending on the terms of the governing instrument. This could result in different financial performance for existing transactions, require different hedging strategies and require renegotiation for existing instruments. In addition, the transition from LIBOR could have a significant impact on the overall interest rate environment. While we do not expect the transition from LIBOR and the risks thereto to have a material adverse effect on us, it remains uncertain at this time.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
Your percentage ownership in Post may be diluted in the future.
As with any publicly-traded company, our shareholders’ percentage ownership in Post may be diluted in the future because of equity issuances for acquisitions, capital market transactions or otherwise, including equity awards that we expect will be granted to our directors, officers and employees and the vesting of other equity awards. For a brief discussion of our equity incentive plan, see Note 20 within “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8 of this report.
The market price and trading volume of our common stock may be volatile.
The market price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly for many reasons, including in response to the risks and uncertainties discussed in this report or for reasons unrelated to our performance, such as reports by industry analysts, investor
perceptions or negative developments relating to our customers, competitors or suppliers, as well as general economic and industry conditions.
Provisions in our articles of incorporation and bylaws and provisions of Missouri law may prevent or delay an acquisition of the Company, which could decrease the trading price of our common stock.
Our amended and restated articles of incorporation (as amended, the “articles of incorporation”), our amended and restated bylaws (the “bylaws”) and Missouri law contain provisions intended to deter coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids by making such practices or bids unacceptably expensive and incentivizing prospective acquirers to negotiate with our Board of Directors rather than to attempt a hostile takeover. These provisions include, among others:
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• | the Board of Directors is divided into three classes with staggered terms; |
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• | the Board of Directors fixes the number of members on the Board; |
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• | elimination of the rights of our shareholders to act by written consent (except when such consent is unanimous) and to call shareholder meetings; |
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• | rules regarding how shareholders may present proposals or nominate directors for election at shareholder meetings; |
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• | the right of our Board of Directors to issue preferred stock without shareholder approval; |
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• | supermajority vote requirements for certain amendments to our articles of incorporation and bylaws; |
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• | anti-takeover provisions of Missouri law which may prevent us from engaging in a business combination with an interested shareholder, or which may deter third parties from acquiring amounts of our common stock above certain thresholds; and |
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• | limitations on the right of shareholders to remove directors. |
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
We own our principal executive offices and lease corporate administrative offices in St. Louis, Missouri. The general offices and locations of our principal operations for each of our businesses are set forth in the summary below. We also lease sales offices mainly in the United States and maintain a number of stand-alone distribution facilities. In addition, there is on-site warehouse space available at many of our manufacturing facilities, and in addition to the owned and leased warehouse space discussed below, we contract for the usage of additional warehouse space on an as needed basis, as appropriate. Utilization of manufacturing capacity varies by manufacturing facility based upon the type of products assigned and the level of demand for those products.
We own many of our manufacturing facilities. Certain of our owned real properties are subject to mortgages or other applicable security interests pursuant to our financing arrangements. Management believes our facilities are suitable and adequate for the purposes for which they are used and are adequately maintained. We generally believe our facilities, with our announced plans for expansion, provide adequate capacity for current and anticipated future customer demand.
Post Consumer Brands
The main administrative office for Post Consumer Brands, which we own, is located in Lakeville, Minnesota. Post Consumer Brands also leases administrative office space in Bentonville, Arkansas; Cincinnati, Ohio and Toronto, Canada.
Post Consumer Brands has eight owned manufacturing facilities located in Asheboro, North Carolina; Battle Creek, Michigan; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Northfield, Minnesota (which consists of two facilities and also includes warehouse space); St. Ansgar, Iowa and Tremonton, Utah. Post Consumer Brands also leases land for another owned manufacturing facility located in Cobourg, Ontario. Post Consumer Brands maintains approximately 5.3 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space throughout the United States and Canada, approximately 1.0 million of which is owned by us and approximately 4.3 million of which is leased by us.
Weetabix
Weetabix has four owned manufacturing facilities in the U.K. in Burton Latimer, Corby and Ashton-under-Lyne. In addition, Weetabix’s joint ventures in Kenya and South Africa each owns a manufacturing facility in those respective countries. Weetabix also leases office space in the United Arab Emirates, Spain and China, and leases warehouse space in China.
Foodservice
The Foodservice segment has administrative offices, which are leased, in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Operations for our Foodservice segment include nine owned egg products production facilities in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Oregon, and four leased egg products production facilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Dakota. The egg products business also owns eight layer facilities in the United States. In addition, operations for our Foodservice segment include two owned potato processing facilities in Mars Hill, Maine and Chaska, Minnesota, as well as a leased potato processing facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
Refrigerated Retail
The Refrigerated Retail segment has administrative offices, which are leased, in New Albany, Ohio. In addition to certain of the egg products production facilities previously referenced for our Foodservice business, our Refrigerated Retail operations include owned sausage production plants in Hillsdale, Michigan and Xenia, Ohio. In addition to the facilities in Chaska, Minnesota and Mars Hill, Maine previously referenced for our Foodservice business, our Refrigerated Retail operations include a leased manufacturing plant in Sulphur Springs, Texas, which produces RTE products, such as sandwiches, soups and gravies, and a leased potato and side dish processing facility in Lima, Ohio. Refrigerated Retail also uses an owned transportation facility in Springfield, Ohio and a leased transportation facility in Sunnyvale, Texas. The Refrigerated Retail segment additionally owns a cheese processing and packaging facility and warehouse in Lake Mills, Wisconsin for its cheese and other dairy-case products business.
BellRing Brands
The BellRing Brands segment leases research and development facilities and administrative offices in Emeryville, California and Dallas, Texas, an additional research and development facility in Boise, Idaho and an administrative office in Rogers, Arkansas. The BellRing Brands business also uses administrative office space in St. Louis, Missouri pursuant to a master services agreement by and among Post, BellRing and BellRing Brands, LLC entered in connection with the IPO and the formation transactions. The BellRing Brands segment also leases administrative offices in Munich, Germany; Worb, Switzerland and Manchester, England. In addition, the BellRing Brands segment leases warehouse space in Tagelswangen, Switzerland, a distribution center with warehouse space in Kleve, Germany and, through a third party logistics firm, warehouse space in Farmers Branch, Texas. The BellRing Brands business manufactures protein and energy bars and gels and conducts research and development through an owned facility in Voerde, Germany.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Antitrust claims
In late 2008 and early 2009, approximately 22 class action lawsuits were filed in various federal courts against Michael Foods, Inc. (“MFI”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and approximately 20 other defendants (producers of shell eggs and egg products and egg industry organizations), alleging violations of federal and state antitrust laws in connection with the production and sale of shell eggs and egg products, and seeking unspecified damages. All cases were transferred to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for coordinated and/or consolidated pretrial proceedings.
The cases involved three plaintiff groups: (i) a nationwide class of direct purchasers of shell eggs (the “direct purchaser class”); (ii) individual companies (primarily large grocery chains and food companies that purchase considerable quantities of eggs) that opted out of various settlements and filed their own complaints related to their purchases of shell eggs and egg products (“opt-out plaintiffs”); and (iii) indirect purchasers of shell eggs (“indirect purchaser plaintiffs”).
Resolution of claims: To date, MFI has resolved the following claims, including all class claims: (i) in December 2016, MFI settled all claims asserted against it by the direct purchaser class for a payment of $75.0 million, which was approved by the district court in December 2017; (ii) in January 2017, MFI settled all claims asserted against it by opt-out plaintiffs related to shell egg purchases on confidential terms; (iii) in June 2018, MFI settled all claims asserted against it by indirect purchaser plaintiffs on confidential terms; and (iv) between June 2019 and September 2019, MFI individually settled on confidential terms egg product opt-out claims asserted against it by four separate opt-out plaintiffs. MFI has at all times denied liability in this matter, and no settlement contains any admission of liability by MFI.
Remaining portion of the cases: MFI remains a defendant only with respect to claims that seek damages based on purchases of egg products by three opt-out plaintiffs. The district court had granted summary judgment precluding any claims for egg products purchases by such opt-out plaintiffs, but the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded these claims for further pre-trial proceedings. Defendants filed a second motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of the claims, which was denied in June 2019. The remaining opt-out plaintiffs have not yet been assigned trial dates.
Although the likelihood of a material adverse outcome in the egg antitrust litigation has been significantly reduced as a result of the MFI settlements described above, the remaining portion of the cases could still result in a material adverse outcome.
Bob Evans Appraisal Proceedings
Prior to completion of the Company’s acquisition of Bob Evans on January 12, 2018, Bob Evans received demands from certain stockholders demanding appraisal of their shares of Bob Evans common stock. After the completion of the acquisition, several such former stockholders filed petitions in the Delaware Court of Chancery (Arbitrage Fund v. Bob Evans Farms, Inc. filed on January 23, 2018; Blue Mountain Credit Alternatives Master Fund L.P., et al. v. Bob Evans Farms, Inc. filed on April 30,
2018; and 2017 Clarendon LLC, et al. v. Bob Evans Farms, Inc. filed on April 30, 2018) seeking appraisal of their shares of Bob Evans common stock pursuant to Section 262 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“Section 262”). The lawsuits sought appraisal for such shares, plus statutory interest, as well as the costs of the proceedings and such other relief as appropriate. Under Section 262, persons who were stockholders at the time of the closing were entitled to have their shares appraised by the Delaware Court of Chancery and receive payment of the “fair value” of such shares (plus statutory interest) as determined by the Delaware Court of Chancery. In May 2018, the court consolidated the lawsuits into one action.
In December 2018, the Company settled with one petitioner, Arbitrage Fund, and Arbitrage Fund was dismissed with prejudice from the consolidated action. In addition, in December 2018, the Company pre-paid the $77.00 per share merger consideration to the Blue Mountain and 2017 Clarendon petitioners, effectively stopping the continued accrual of statutory interest on that amount. The Company made total payments of $257.6 million, inclusive of the aforementioned prepayment of $77.00 per share merger consideration, related to these matters in fiscal 2019. In September 2019, the Company reached settlement terms on a confidential basis with the remaining petitioners regarding their outstanding appraisal claims. The settlement was finalized and the remaining portion of the case was dismissed in October 2019. All former Bob Evans stockholders who demanded appraisal of their shares were paid for their shares of Bob Evans common stock.
Weetabix Limited Environmental Matter
In March 2019, Weetabix Limited, one of the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, received notification from the U.K. Environment Agency (the “Environment Agency”) that the Environment Agency intended to charge Weetabix Limited in relation to a spill of diesel fuel into the ground at Weetabix Limited’s Burton Latimer site in the U.K. that occurred in November 2016, prior to the Company’s acquisition of the Weetabix Group. Upon discovery of the spill, Weetabix Limited informed the Environment Agency and took all necessary steps to address the spill, including putting in place monitoring and improvement measures. Weetabix Limited has fully cooperated with the Environment Agency at all times regarding the containment and assessment of the incident. The matter was allocated to the Northampton Crown Court which was heard on November 20, 2019, during which Weetabix Limited pleaded guilty to the offense under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 and the Court imposed a fine of $0.1 million, plus costs.
Other
The Company is subject to various other legal proceedings and actions arising in the normal course of business. In the opinion of management, based upon the information presently known, the ultimate liability, if any, arising from such pending legal proceedings, as well as from asserted legal claims and known potential legal claims which are likely to be asserted, taking into account established accruals for estimated liabilities (if any), are not expected to be material individually or in the aggregate to the consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows of the Company. In addition, although it is difficult to estimate the potential financial impact of actions regarding expenditures for compliance with regulatory matters, in the opinion of management, based upon the information currently available, the ultimate liability arising from such compliance matters is not expected to be material to the consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows of the Company.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
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ITEM 5. | MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES |
Market for Common Stock and Dividends
Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “POST”. There were approximately 4,840 shareholders of record on November 18, 2019. We did not pay any cash dividends on our common stock during the years ended September 30, 2019 or 2018. We have no plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future, and the indentures governing our debt securities and our credit facilities restrict our ability to pay dividends. The information required under this Item 5 concerning equity compensation plan information is set out below under Item 12 of this report and is incorporated herein by this reference.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table sets forth information with respect to shares of our common stock that we purchased during the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2019:
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Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Average Price Paid per Share (a) | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs (b) | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that may yet be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (a) (b) |
July 1, 2019 - July 31, 2019 | 21,023 |
| $104.81 | 21,023 |
| $217,188,057 |
August 1, 2019 - August 31, 2019 | 1,721,679 |
| $97.49 | 1,721,679 |
| $49,348,287 |
September 1, 2019 - September 30, 2019 | 684,867 |
| $105.27 | 684,867 |
| $338,514,852 |
Total | 2,427,569 |
| $99.75 | 2,427,569 |
| $338,514,852 |
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(a) | Does not include broker’s commissions. |
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(b) | On May 2, 2018, our Board of Directors authorized the Company to repurchase up to $350,000,000 of shares of our common stock. The authorization had an expiration date of May 7, 2020. However, on September 4, 2019, our Board of Directors terminated the authorization effective September 4, 2019 and approved a new authorization to repurchase up to $400,000,000 of shares of our common stock to begin on September 4, 2019. As of September 4, 2019, the approximate dollar value of shares that could yet be repurchased under the prior authorization was $38,736,776. The table discloses the approximate dollar value of shares that may yet be repurchased under the new authorization as of September 30, 2019. |
Performance Graph
The following performance graph compares the changes, for the period indicated, in the cumulative total value of $100 hypothetically invested in each of (i) Post common stock; (ii) the Russell 1000 index; and (iii) a peer group composed of 11 United States-based public companies in the food and consumer packaged goods industries.
The peer group companies are: B&G Foods, Inc.; Brown-Forman Corporation; Coca-Cola Bottling Co.; Cott Corporation; Darling International Inc.; Flowers Foods, Inc.; The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.; J&J Snack Foods Corp.; Sanderson Farms, Inc.; Sunopta Inc. and TreeHouse Foods Inc. Pinnacle Foods Inc. was removed from the peer group for the most recent period as it was acquired in 2018 and is no longer a publicly-traded company.
This graph covers the period from September 30, 2014 through September 30, 2019.
* $100 invested on 9/30/14 in stock or index.
Performance Graph Data
|
| | | | | | | | |
| Post ($) | | Russell 1000 Index ($) | | Peer Group ($) |
9/30/2014 | 100.00 |
| | 100.00 |
| | 100.00 |
|
9/30/2015 | 178.12 |
| | 97.45 |
| | 107.90 |
|
9/30/2016 | 232.58 |
| | 109.65 |
| | 107.11 |
|
9/29/2017 | 266.03 |
| | 127.40 |
| | 121.54 |
|
9/28/2018 | 295.48 |
| | 147.25 |
| | 116.43 |
|
9/30/2019 | 318.99 |
| | 149.96 |
| | 136.43 |
|
The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
This performance graph shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or incorporated by reference into any of our filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
FIVE YEAR FINANCIAL SUMMARY
(in millions, except per share data) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Year Ended September 30, |
(dollars in millions, except per share data) | | 2019 (a) | | 2018 (a) | | 2017 (a) | | 2016 (a) | | 2015 (a) |
Statements of Operations Data | | | | | | | | | | |
Net sales (b) | | $ | 5,681.1 |
| | $ | 6,257.2 |
| | $ | 5,225.8 |
| | $ | 5,026.8 |
| | $ | 4,648.2 |
|
Cost of goods sold (c) | | 3,889.0 |
| | 4,403.2 |
| | 3,655.0 |
| | 3,476.3 |
| | 3,468.2 |
|
Gross profit | | 1,792.1 |
| | 1,854.0 |
| | 1,570.8 |
| | 1,550.5 |
| | 1,180.0 |
|
Selling, general and administrative expenses (b)(c) | | 911.6 |
| | 976.4 |
| | 867.7 |
| | 839.7 |
| | 734.1 |
|
Amortization of intangible assets | | 161.3 |
| | 177.4 |
| | 159.1 |
| | 152.6 |
| | 141.7 |
|
Gain on sale of business (d) | | (126.6 | ) | | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets (e) | | 63.3 |
| | 124.9 |
| | 26.5 |
| | — |
| | 60.8 |
|
Other operating expenses, net | | 1.5 |
| | 1.8 |
| | 0.8 |
| | 9.4 |
| | 25.1 |
|
Operating profit | | 781.0 |
| | 573.5 |
| | 516.7 |
| | 548.8 |
| | 218.3 |
|
Interest expense, net | | 322.4 |
| | 387.3 |
| | 314.8 |
| | 306.5 |
| | 257.5 |
|
Loss on extinguishment of debt, net (f) | | 6.1 |
| | 31.1 |
| | 222.9 |
| | 86.4 |
| | 30.0 |
|
Expense (income) on swaps, net (g) | | 306.6 |
| | (95.6 | ) | | (91.8 | ) | | 182.9 |
| | 92.5 |
|
Other (income) expense, net (c) | | (13.2 | ) | | (14.0 | ) | | (3.6 | ) | | 3.1 |
| | 5.6 |
|
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and equity method loss | | 159.1 |
| | 264.7 |
| | 74.4 |
| | (30.1 | ) | | (167.3 | ) |
Income tax (benefit) expense (h) | | (3.9 | ) | | (204.0 | ) | | 26.1 |
| | (26.8 | ) | | (52.0 | ) |
Equity method loss, net of tax (i) | | 37.0 |
| | 0.3 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Net earnings (loss) including noncontrolling interest | | 126.0 |
| | 468.4 |
| | 48.3 |
| | (3.3 | ) | | (115.3 | ) |
Less: Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interest (i) | | 1.3 |
| | 1.1 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Net earnings (loss) | | 124.7 |
| | 467.3 |
| | 48.3 |
| | (3.3 | ) | | (115.3 | ) |
Less: Preferred stock dividends | | 3.0 |
| | 10.0 |
| | 13.5 |
| | 25.1 |
| | 17.0 |
|
Net earnings (loss) available to common shareholders | | $ | 121.7 |
| | $ | 457.3 |
| | $ | 34.8 |
| | $ | (28.4 | ) | | $ | (132.3 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Earnings (Loss) Per Share | | | | | | | | | |
|
|
Basic | | $ | 1.72 |
| | $ | 6.87 |
| | $ | 0.51 |
| | $ | (0.41 | ) | | $ | (2.33 | ) |
Diluted | | $ | 1.66 |
| | $ | 6.16 |
| | $ | 0.50 |
| | $ | (0.41 | ) | | $ | (2.33 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Statements of Cash Flows Data | | | | | | | | | | |
Depreciation and amortization | | $ | 379.6 |
| | $ |
|