Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
General
Belden Inc. (the Company, us, we, or our) connects and protects the world with the industry’s most complete suite of end-to-end specialty networking solutions. Our comprehensive portfolio of solutions enables customers to transmit and secure data, sound, and video for mission critical applications across complex enterprise and industrial environments. Our business is organized around two global businesses, Enterprise Solutions and Industrial Solutions, both of which benefit from favorable secular trends which we expect to drive future growth. Each business represents a reportable segment. Financial information about our segments appears in Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. We sell our products to distributors, end-users, installers, and directly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Belden Inc. is a Delaware corporation incorporated in 1988, but the Company’s roots date back to its founding by Joseph Belden in 1902.
As used herein, unless an operating segment is identified or the context otherwise requires, “Belden,” the “Company”, and “we” refer to Belden Inc. and its subsidiaries as a whole.
Strategy and Business Model
Our portfolio and strategic priorities align with attractive end markets with favorable secular trends. Within Industrial Solutions, the growing demand for automated production drives demand for our solutions. Enterprise Solutions benefits from increasing consumer demand for more internet bandwidth and faster speeds, investment in 5G technology, and trends requiring integrated networks in smart buildings. We are well positioned to benefit from these secular trends in the form of improved revenue growth which in turn will drive Adjusted EBITDA (as defined in Part II, Item 7) growth in the future.
Our business model is designed to generate shareholder value:
• Operational Excellence —The core of our business model is operational excellence and the execution of our Belden Business System. The Belden Business System has three areas of focus. First, we demonstrate a commitment to Lean enterprise initiatives, which improve not only the quality and efficiency of the manufacturing environment, but our business processes on a company-wide basis. Second, we utilize our Market Delivery System (MDS), a go-to-market model that provides the foundation for organic growth. We believe that organic growth, resulting from both market growth and share capture, is essential to our success. Finally, our Talent Management System supports the development of our associates at all levels, which preserves the culture necessary to operate our business consistently and sustainably.
• Cash Generation —Our pursuit of operational excellence results in the generation of cash flow. We generated cash flows from operating activities of $272.1 million, $173.4 million, and $276.9 million in 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
• Portfolio Improvement— We utilize the cash f low generated by our business to fuel our continued transformation and generate shareholder value. We continuously improve our portfolio to ensure we provide the most complete, end-to-end solutions to our customers. Our portfolio is designed with balance across end markets and geographies to ensure we can meet our goals in most economic environments. We have a disciplined acquisition cultivation, execution, and integration system that allows us to invest in outstanding companies that strengthen our capabilities and enhance our ability to serve our customers.
Segments
We operate our business under the two segments – Enterprise Solutions and Industrial Solutions. A synopsis of the segments is included below:
Enterprise Solutions
The Enterprise Solutions (Enterprise) segment is a leading provider in network infrastructure and broadband solutions, as well as cabling and connectivity solutions for commercial audio/video and security applications. We serve customers in markets such as commercial real estate, hospitality, healthcare, education, financial, government, and broadband and wireless service providers, as well as end-markets, including sport venues, stadiums, data centers, military installations, and academia. Enterprise product lines include copper cable and connectivity solutions, fiber cable and connectivity solutions, interconnect panels, racks and enclosures, and secure, high performance signal extension and matrix switching systems.
2
Table of Contents
Enterprise provides true end-to-end copper and fiber network systems, which are used in applications such as local area networks, data centers, access control, 5G, Fiber to the Home and building automation. Our high-performance solutions support all networking protocols up to and including 100G+ Ethernet technologies. Enterprise’s innovative products can deliver data in addition to power over Ethernet, which meets the higher performance requirements driven by the increasing number of connections in smart buildings. Enterprise products also include intelligent power, cooling, and airflow management for mission-critical data center operations. The Enterprise product portfolio is designed to support Internet Protocol convergence, the increased use of wireless communications, and cloud-based data centers by our customers.
Industrial Solutions
The Industrial Solutions (Industrial) segment is a leading provider of high performance networking and machine connectivity products. Industrial products include physical network and fieldbus infrastructure components and on-machine connectivity systems to meet end user and OEM needs. Products are designed to provide reliability and confidence of performance for a wide range of industrial automation applications. The products are used in markets that include discrete automation, process automation, energy and mass transit. Applications include network and fieldbus infrastructure; sensor and actuator connectivity; and power, control, and data transmission. Industrial products include solutions such as industrial Ethernet switches, network management software, routers, firewalls, gateways, input/output (I/O) connectors/systems, industrial Ethernet cables, optical fiber industrial Ethernet cables, Fieldbus cables, IP and networking cables, I/O modules, distribution boxes, and customer specific wiring solutions.
Our industrial cable products are used in discrete manufacturing and process operations involving the connection of computers, programmable controllers, robots, operator interfaces, motor drives, sensors, printers, and other devices. Many industrial environments, such as petrochemical and other harsh-environment operations, require cables with exterior armor or jacketing that can endure physical abuse and exposure to chemicals, extreme temperatures, and outside elements. Other applications require conductors, insulation, and jacketing materials that can withstand repeated flexing. In addition to cable product configurations for these applications, we supply heat-shrinkable tubing and wire management products to protect and organize wire and cable assemblies. Our industrial connector products are primarily used as sensor and actuator connections in factory automation supporting various fieldbus protocols as well as power connections in building automation. These products are used both as components of manufacturing equipment and in the installation and networking of such equipment. Industrial Solutions products are sold directly to industrial equipment OEMs and through a network of industrial distributors, value-added resellers, and system integrators. See Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Stateme nts for additional information regarding our segments.
Acquisitions
A key part of our business strategy includes acquiring companies to support our growth and enhance our product portfolio. Our acquisition strategy is based upon targeting leading companies that offer innovative products and strong brands. We utilize a disciplined approach to acquisitions based on product and market opportunities. When we identify acquisition candidates, we conduct rigorous financial and cultural analyses to make certain that they meet both our strategic plan targets and our goal for return on invested capital.
We have completed a number of acquisitions in recent years as part of this strategy. Most recently, in January 2022, we acquired macmon secure GmbH (Macmon), a leading provider of products and services that secure network infrastructures in a variety of mission critical industries - refer to Note 26, Subsequent Events , for further discussion. I n January 2021, we acquired OTN Systems N.V. (OTN Systems), a leading provider of automation networking infrastructure solutions. I n December 2019, we acquired substantially all of the assets of Special Product Company (SPC), a leading designer, manufacturer, and seller of outdoor cabinet products for optical fiber cable installations. In April 2019, we acquired the FutureLink business from Suttle Inc. as well as Opterna International Corp. (Opterna), which designs and manufactures complementary fiber connectivity, cabinet, and enclosure products used in optical networks. The results of OTN Systems have been included in our Consolidated Financial Statements as of its acquisition date and are reported within the Industrial Solutions segment. The results of SPC, FutureLink, and Opterna have been included in our Consolidated Financial Statements as of their respective acquisition dates and are reported within the Enterprise Solutions segment. For more information regarding these transactions, see Note 4 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Customers
We sell to distributors, OEMs, installers, and end-users. For the year ended December 31, 2021, sales to our largest distributor represented approximately 16% of our consolidated revenues. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our revenues in 2021.
3
Table of Contents
We have supply agreements with distributors and OEM customers. In general, our customers are not contractually obligated to buy our products exclusively, in minimum amounts, or for a significant period of time. We believe that our relationships with our customers and distributors are good and that they are loyal to Belden products as a result of our reputation, the breadth of our product portfolio, the quality and performance characteristics of our products, and our customer service and technical support, among other reasons.
International Operations
In addition to manufacturing facilities in the United States (U.S.), we have manufacturing and other operating facilities in Canada, China, India, Mexico, and St. Kitts, as well as various countries in Europe . During 2021, approximately 47% of Belden’s sales were to customers outside the U.S. Our primary channels to international markets include both distributors and direct sales to end users and OEMs. Financial information for Belden by country is shown in Note 6 to the Co nsolidated Financial Statements.
Competition
The markets in which we operate can be generally categorized as highly competitive with many players. In order to maximize our competitive advantages, we manage our product portfolio to capitalize on secular trends and high-growth applications in those markets. Based on available data for our served markets, we estimate that our market share across our segments is significant, ranging from approximately 5% – 20%. A substantial acquisition in one of our served markets would be necessary to meaningfully change our estimated market share percentage.
The principal competitive factors in all our product markets are technical features, quality, availability, price, customer support, and distribution coverage. The relative importance of each of these factors varies depending on the customer. Some products are manufactured to meet published industry specifications and are less differentiated on the basis of product characteristics. We believe that Belden stands out in many of our markets on the basis of the breadth of our product portfolio, the quality and performance characteristics of our products, our customer service, and our technical support.
Research and Development
We conduct research and development on an ongoing basis, including new and existing hardware and software product development, testing and analysis, and process and equipment development and testing. See the Consolidated Statements of Operations for amounts incurred for research and development. Many of the markets we serve are characterized by advances in information processing and communications capabilities, including advances driven by the expansion of digital technology, which require increased transmission speeds and greater bandwidth. Our markets are also subject to increasing requirements for mobility, information security, and transmission reliability. We believe that our future success will depend in part upon our ability to enhance existing products and to develop, manufacture and deliver new products that meet or anticipate such changes in our served markets.
In our Industrial Solutions segment, customers are rapidly adopting new technology to enable digital transformations and improve their Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) impact. This includes deploying Industry 4.0 to increase visibility of their digitized assets and adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase analytics and autonomous decision-making in their systems. These approaches need users to refine workflows by collecting data from disparate sources, transmitting it to points of consolidation and decision making, and converting it to standard formats that application software can use. This overall process can be referred to as "digitization" and a key part of our research and development is focused on supporting these customer journeys with technology that add value at multiple steps in the digitization process, during data acquisition, data transmission, and data orchestration and management. Our research and development enables customized enhanced solutions to support customers' innovative methods surrounding the collection, analysis, and transmission of data.
Additionally, in our Industrial Solutions segment, there is a compelling need among customers to detect, prevent and respond to cyber security threats. This is a long-standing need within corporate networks, but we believe the rapid proliferation of new devices in the “internet of things” will continue to cause this need to broaden and accelerate in manufacturing settings. Furthermore, there is a growing trend toward adoption of Industrial Ethernet technology, bringing to the critical infrastructure the advantages of digital communication and the ability to network devices made by different manufacturers and integrate them with enterprise systems. While the adoption of this technology is at a more advanced stage in certain regions of the world, we believe that the trend will globalize. This trend will also lead to a rising need for wireless systems for some applications and for cybersecurity to protect this critical infrastructure. Part of our research and development is focused on creating scalable, efficient technologies to provide real-time instrumentation and analytics across entire networks. This includes delivering high-
4
Table of Contents
fidelity visibility and deep intelligence about networked systems, their vulnerabilities, and providing actionable information about how to effectively secure them.
Enterprise Solutions R&D efforts are aligned to the secular trends in our markets for increased communication at faster speeds of transmission. This phenomenon is visible across all of our markets. We continue to invest in R&D to support the continuing growth in capacity and bandwidth between the data center and the consumer to enhance their experience in their living, work and play interactions.
To support the demand for additional bandwidth and to improve service integrity, broadband service providers will continue to invest in their networks to enhance delivery capabilities to customers for the foreseeable future. The growing bandwidth demand exposes bottlenecks in the network and leads broadband service operators to improve and upgrade residential networks with higher performance connectivity products. Broadband service providers are also investing in the deployment of 5G technology. Our R&D efforts are focused on the development of fiber connectivity and 5G solutions that support the investment plans of the broadband service providers.
The ability to integrate across the multitude of applications within service providers and on-premise networks requires a deep understanding of the unique challenges posed by heavier and faster transmission of data. Common across the Enterprise Solutions segment, our R&D efforts are focused on ensuring continuously evolving solutions, be it copper and coax cable or fiber optic cable and connectivity as it becomes more pervasive across all networks including wireless. We anticipate the need to develop the ability to customize networks in the various systems in close collaboration with our partners to advise our mutual end customers.
Our research and development has a strong focus on improving the performance of fiber optic technology, making it easier to handle and install, more robust for technicians and end users, leading to networks that can be deployed more quickly, with higher performance and reliability. Even with the explosive growth in fiber, connections to the end devices that consumers utilize to live, work and play, be it wireless access points or IoT devices, are still going to strongly benefit from the remaining advantages of copper-based connectivity, with a heavy focus on powering the ever-increasing collection of data consuming and generating devices connected to our increasingly digitized world. Building automation and the rapid rise of IoT has catalyzed the need to add more devices on the network. This is turn necessitates the distribution of power across the network. There will be a need for solutions offering power to these distributed devices and the Enterprise Solutions segment continues to innovate in this area in preparation for a world with a need to upgrade legacy systems as we build greenfield installations.
Patents and Trademarks
We have a policy of seeking patents when appropriate on inventions concerning new products, product improvements, and advances in equipment and processes as part of our ongoing research, development, and manufacturing activities. We own many patents and registered trademarks worldwide that are used by our operating segments, with pending applications for numerous others. We consider our patents and trademarks to be valuable assets. Our most prominent trademarks are: Belden®, Alpha Wire™, GarrettCom®, Hirschmann®, Lumberg Automation™, Mohawk®, OTN Systems™, PPC®, ProSoft Technology®, Thinklogical®, Tofino®, Tripwire® and West Penn Wire™. The Tripwire® trademark will be sold as part of the Tripwire divestiture in the first quarter of 2022 - see Note 26.
Raw Materials
The principal raw material used in many of our cable products is copper. Other materials we purchase in large quantities include fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene, aluminum-clad steel and copper-clad steel conductors, aluminum, brass, other metals, optical fiber, printed circuit boards, and electronic components. With respect to all major raw materials used by us, we generally have either alternative sources of supply or access to alternative materials.
Over the past three years, the prices of metals, particularly copper, have been highly volatile. The chart below illustrates the high and low spot prices per pound of copper over the last three years.
2021 2020 2019
Copper spot prices per pound
High
$ 4.78 $ 3.63 $ 2.98
Low
$ 3.54 $ 2.12 $ 2.51
5
Table of Contents
Prices for materials such as PVC and other plastics derived from petrochemical feedstocks have also fluctuated. Since Belden utilizes the first in, first out (FIFO) inventory costing methodology, the impact of copper and other raw material cost changes on our cost of goods sold is delayed by approximately two months based on our rate of inventory turnover.
While we generally are able to adjust our pricing for fluctuations in commodity prices, we can experience short-term favorable or unfavorable variances. When the cost of raw materials increases, we are generally able to recover these costs through higher pricing of our finished products. The majority of our products are sold through distribution, and we manage the pricing of these products through published price lists, which we update from time to time, with new prices typically taking effect a few weeks after they are announced. Some OEM customer contracts have provisions for passing through raw material cost changes, generally with a lag of a few weeks to three months.
Backlog
Our business is characterized generally by short-term order and shipment schedules. Our backlog consists of product orders for which we have received a customer purchase order or purchase commitment and which have not yet been shipped. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, our backlog wa s $705.7 million and $223.0 million, respectively. The majority of the backlog at December 31, 2021 is scheduled to ship in 2022.
Environmental Matters
We are subject to numerous federal, state, provincial, local, and foreign laws and regulations relating to the storage, handling, emission, and discharge of materials into the environment, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; the Clean Water Act; the Clean Air Act; the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; and similar laws in the other countries in which we operate. While we believe that our existing environmental control procedures are adequate, we will continue to evaluate and update our procedures as needed to address new or changing aspects of environmental matters.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) at Belden
At Belden, we believe that we have a responsibility to make a positive impact in our industry, in the communities in which we operate, and to all affected by our business operations. Our ESG journey is guided by our shared values, and we are dedicated to continuously improving our impact through establishing visible and measurable progress.
We acknowledge our role in protecting the environment and are currently assessing our impacts. Our strong desire is to identify and prioritize areas of improvement and we are committed to doing our part for future generations and for the planet. In 2021, under the oversight of our ESG Steering Committee, we engaged a third party to conduct our first materiality assessment to identify the ESG topics that are most relevant to our stakeholders and to our business. By engaging both internal and external stakeholders, we have developed a framework for our management of the identified material priority topics and to guide our strategy in making measurable progress. To put our ambitions into action, we have established goals for our material topics, including carbon reduction goals for 2025, and look forward to communicating our continuous improvements. Upholding transparency and open communication, we launched our dedicated ESG website on Earth Day 2021, which includes key data across a range of current ESG initiatives. Our ESG website includes our first formal greenhouse gas inventory for direct emissions (Scope 1 and 2). We are working to validate further historical information to serve as a verified baseline for improvements to our carbon footprint.
We are committed to building a workforce centered on our values and promoting the well-being of people across our entire value chain—employees, customers, partners and suppliers. We believe in the potential of our workforce and the importance of providing career development for those who want to learn and grow with us. We celebrate diversity and embrace differences to broaden our perspectives and strengthen the work we do. Our focus is to foster a culture of teamwork that is diverse and inclusive, and we are dedicated to creating an equitable environment for our employees. Under the leadership of our director of Inclusive Culture, we are building out a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy and look forward to sharing our progress with this initiative.
For further details on our ESG program and progress, please visit https://www.belden.com/resources/sustainability.
6
Table of Contents
Human Capital Resources
During 2021, our employees continued to experience disruptions and challenges stemming from the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Across our locations, we have also experienced changes in working practices as well as health and safety protocols as we work together to keep each other safe and our customers supplied. Throughout 2021, many of our employees continued to work remotely as they navigated through varying degrees of the crisis. We have implemented improved technologies that better enable collaboration, connection and teamwork wherever team members are based. Some employees work with equipment and machinery that are fixed at locations, and thus were unable to work remotely. However, mask protocols, hygiene guidelines and social distancing kept people safe.
The engagement of our team members, as measured in our twice-a-year employee survey, remained high at 89%. We were also very pleased to once again be recognized as a Great Place to Work® in Germany and India, with our facilities in Denmark and Netherlands also receiving Great Place to Work® recognition. Voluntary turnover of management and professional staff remained low at 8% worldwide, in line with the historically low turnover in prior years. We continue to live our value of We Invest in Talent with 70% of vacancies in our top 165 positions being filled with people that have been promoted from within, continuing our strong balance of external hiring to introduce new ideas and perspectives with career development practices that enable internal promotions.
As part of our work on Inclusive Culture, we launched our new AVID council (Authentic Voices for Inclusion and Diversity). Its purpose is to advise, guide and support our colleagues around the world as we seek to become an even more diverse and inclusive organization. The council is made up of team members from a wide variety of backgrounds across the company. We also completed a worldwide Workplace Inclusion survey with our DEI partners at Kaleidescope Group. The survey had a response rate of 75% and highlighted areas of strength and opportunities as we continue to evolve our culture. We learned that our team members have strong feelings of belonging and mutual respect in a culture which is honest and authentic. However, we also identified opportunities to improve equity and employee “voice” in certain locations. We have incorporated this feedback into our DEI action plans. While our senior leadership reflects both ethnic and gender diversity, we remain committed to further increasing diversity throughout all levels of the organization, including our Board of Directors.
We launched our Be Well program in the USA and have commenced plans to expand this internationally. The program supports our team members as they strive to achieve their own physical, financial, social and emotional well-being. The program consists of events, challenges, active learning and incentives that help our team members reflect upon and improve their overall well-being.
Available Information
We file annual, quarterly, and current reports, proxy statements, and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These reports, proxy statements, and other information contain additional information about us. These electronic SEC filings are available on the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov .
Belden maintains an Internet web site at www.belden.com where our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, and all amendments to those reports and statements are available without charge, as soon as reasonably practicable following the time they are filed with or furnished to the SEC.
We will provide upon written request and without charge a printed copy of our Annual Report on Form 10-K. To obtain such a copy, please write to the Corporate Secretary, Belden Inc., 1 North Brentwood Boulevard, 15 th Floor, St. Louis, MO 63105.
7
Table of Contents
Information about our Executive Officers
The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the persons who were Belden executive officers as of February 15, 2022. All executive officers are elected to terms that expire at the organizational meeting of the Board of Directors following the Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Name Age Position
Roel Vestjens 47 President and Chief Executive Officer
Brian Anderson 47 Senior Vice President, Legal, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Ashish Chand 47 Executive Vice President, Industrial Automation
Dean McKenna 53 Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Anshu Mehrotra 51 Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Jeremy Parks 46 Senior Vice President, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer
Doug Zink 46 Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer
Roel Vestjens was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer on May 21, 2020. Prior to that, he was the Chief Operating Officer since July 2019; Executive Vice President, Industrial Solutions from February 2018 to July 2019; Executive Vice President, Industrial Solutions and Broadcast IT Solutions from January 2017 to February 2018; and the Executive Vice President, Broadcast Solutions from March 2014 to January 2017. Mr. Vestjens joined Belden in 2006 as Director of Marketing for the EMEA region. In April 2008, Mr. Vestjens was promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing for the Industrial Solutions business, and in January 2009, he was appointed General Manager of Belden’s Wire and Cable Systems business in EMEA. Mr. Vestjens relocated to Asia in November 2010, and became President of the APAC OEM business, followed by President of all APAC Operations in May 2012. Mr. Vestjens joined Belden from Royal Philips Electronics where he held various European sales and marketing positions. Mr. Vestjens holds a bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science and Management degree from Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands.
Brian Anderson has been Senior Vice President, Le gal, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since April 2015. Prior to that, he served as Corporate Attorney for the Company from May 2008 through March 2015. Prior to joining Belden, Mr. Anderson was in private practice at the law firm Lewis Rice. Mr. Anderson has a B.S.B. in Accounting and an M.B.A. from Eastern Illinois University and holds a J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis.
Ashish Chand was appointed Executive Vice President, Industrial Automation in July 2019. Prior to that, he served as Managing Director, Industrial Solutions, for the Company’s APAC division from August 2017 to June 2019. Mr. Chand joined the Company in 2002 and has assumed positions of increasing responsibility in sales and marketing, operations, business devel opment and general management since that time. Prior to joining Belden, Mr. Chand had experience in the oil and gas and non-ferrous metals segments. Mr. Chand holds a doctoral degree in Business from the City University of Hong Kong, an M.B.A. from XLRI Jamshedpur, India and a B.A. from Loyola College Chennai, India.
Dean McKenna has been Senior Vice President, Human Resources since May 2015. Prior to joining Belden, he was Vice President of Human Resources for the international business of SC Johnson. Prior to SC Johnson, he worked in various senior international human resource, organizational development and talent positions at Ingredion, Akzo Nobel and ICI Group PLC. He received his degree in Strategic Human Resource Management at the Nottingham Business School in the United Kingdom.
Anshu Mehrotra was appointed Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing in January 2021. Prior to joining Belden, he was Group President for Welding at Illinois Tool Works (ITW), leading the global Industrial Welding platform. Prior to ITW, he has had a number of leadership roles in general management and sales at Ingersoll Rand, Allegion and Johnson Controls. He has a B.S. in Electronics Engineering from Delhi University, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Northern Illinois University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University at Kellogg School of Management.
Jeremy Parks was appointed Senior Vice President, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer on February 16, 2021. Prior to re-joining Belden in 2021, Mr. Parks worked as the Chief Financial Officer of International Wire Corp. From 2008 through August of 2020, Mr. Parks worked for the Company in various financial roles, most recently as Vice President of Finance of the Company’s Industrial Solutions segment. Mr. Parks has a B.A. and M.A. in economics from State University of New York – Buffalo, and an M.B.A from Xavier University.
8
Table of Contents
Doug Zink has been Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since September 2013. Prior to that, he has served as the Company’s Vice President, Internal Audit; Corporate Controller; and Director of Financial Reporting, after joining Belden in May 2007. Prior to joining the Company, he was a Financial Reporting Manager at TLC Vision Corporation, an eye care service company, from 2004 to 2007, and has five years of experience in public accounting with KPMG LLP and Arthur Andersen LLP. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Accounting from Texas Christian University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
We make forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, in other materials we file with the SEC or otherwise release to the public, and on our website. In addition, our senior management might make forward-looking statements orally to investors, analysts, the media, and others. Statements concerning our future operations, prospects, strategies, financial condition, future economic performance (including growth and earnings) and demand for our products and services, and other statements of our plans, beliefs, or expectations, including the statements contained in Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. In some cases these statements are identifiable through the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “guide,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “target,” “can,” “could,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements we make are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to various assumptions, risks, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, those set forth in the following section and in the other documents that we file with the SEC.
We expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.