Item 1A. Risk Factors
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS, (continued)
Changing laws and regulations relating to privacy, information security and data protection could increase the Company's costs, and the failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in significant business disruptions, litigation or enforcement actions. The Company is subject to many data privacy, data protection, and data breach notification laws, including the GDPR, which became effective in May of 2018, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (the "CCPA"), which became effective in January 2020. The GDPR and the CCPA contain comprehensive data protection compliance requirements. Complying with the GDPR and the CCPA may continue to cause the Company to incur substantial operational costs or require the Company to change certain of its business practices in certain jurisdictions. The Company’s measures to assess the requirements of, and to comply with, the GDPR and the CCPA, as well as new and existing data-related laws and regulations of other jurisdictions, could be challenged, including by authorities that regulate data-related compliance. The Company’s ongoing compliance measures could result in the incurrence of significant expense in facilitating and responding to regulatory investigations, and if the measures initiated by the Company are deemed to be inadequate, the Company could be subject to litigation or enforcement actions that may require operational changes, fines, penalties or damages, which could have an adverse impact on the Company’s business or results of operations.
Future tax law changes and/or interpretation of existing tax laws may adversely affect the Company's effective income tax rate and require adjustments to the Company's tax estimates. Matthews is subject to domestic and international tax laws and cannot predict the scope or effect of future tax law changes. Domestically, the U.S. Department of Treasury has broad authority to issue regulations and interpretive guidance. The Company has applied available guidance to estimate its tax obligations, but new guidance may cause the Company to make adjustments to its tax estimates in future periods.
The Company operates in a regulated environment that requires the Company's compliance with laws and regulations. Non-compliance could subject the Company to sanctions and materially adversely affect the Company's business. Due to the international scope of the Company's operations, Matthews is subject to a complex system of commercial and trade regulations around the world, and the Company's foreign operations are governed by laws, rules and business practices that often differ from those of the United States. The Company cannot predict the nature, scope or effect of future regulatory requirements to which the Company's operations might be subject or the manner in which existing laws might be administered or interpreted, which could have a material and negative impact on the Company's business and results of operation. For example, recent years have seen an increase in the development and enforcement of laws and regulations regarding trade compliance, economic sanctions, anti-money laundering, and anti-corruption, such as the FCPA and similar laws in other countries. While Matthews maintains a variety of internal policies and controls and takes steps, including periodic training and internal audits, that the Company believes are reasonably calculated to discourage, prevent and detect violations of such laws, the Company cannot guarantee that such actions will be effective or that individual employees will not engage in inappropriate behavior in contravention of the Company's policies and instructions. Such conduct, or even the allegation thereof, could result in costly investigations and the imposition of severe criminal or civil sanctions, could disrupt the Company's business, and could materially and adversely affect the Company's reputation, business and results of operations or financial condition. Further, the Company is subject to laws and regulations, worldwide, affecting its operations outside the United States in areas including, but not limited to, intellectual property ownership and infringement, tax, customs, import and export requirements, economic sanctions, anti-money laundering, anti-corruption and anti-bribery, foreign exchange controls and cash repatriation restrictions, foreign investment, data privacy requirements, anti-competition, pensions and social insurance, employment, and environment, health, and safety. Compliance with these laws and regulations may be onerous and expensive and requirements may differ across jurisdictions. Further, the promulgation of new laws, changes in existing laws and abrogation of local regulations by national laws may have a negative impact on the Company's business and prospects. In addition, certain laws and regulations are relatively new and their interpretation and enforcement involve significant uncertainties. There can be no assurance that any of these factors will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, results of operations or financial condition.
Risks Related to the Company's Securities:
The Company's business could be negatively affected as a result of actions of activist shareholders. Activist shareholders have previously nominated candidates for election to the Company's Board of Directors, resulting in a proxy contest, and may do so again in the future. If the Company becomes engaged in a proxy contest with an activist shareholder in the future, the Company's business could be adversely affected because: responding to public proposals and director nominations, special meeting requests and other actions by activist shareholders can disrupt the Company's operations, be costly and time-consuming, and divert the attention of the Company's management and employees; perceived uncertainties as to the Company's future direction may result in the loss of potential business opportunities, and may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel and business partners; cause an event of default under the Company's credit facilities or other agreements due to a change in control (i) if either the Company sustains a series of successful proxy contests or, (ii) if the Company's shareholders approve an amendment to the Company's Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation to declassify the Company's Board of Directors and following such amendment a shareholder successfully engages in a proxy contest; and
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS, (continued)
claims made by activist shareholders in connection with a proxy contest or otherwise may harm the Company's reputation, damage the Company's relations with customers, employees and business relations such as suppliers, or otherwise impair the Company's business. In addition, pursuit of an activist shareholder’s agenda may adversely affect the Company's ability to effectively implement the Company's business strategy and create additional value for the Company's shareholders. Activist investors may seek to influence the Company's corporate strategy, governance, capital allocation, or structure through public campaigns, proxy contests, or direct engagement with the Company's Board of Directors. While the Company values constructive input from shareholders, actions by activist investors could result in significant disruption to the Company's operations, divert management attention, and lead to short-term decision-making that may not align with the Company's long-term strategic goals. In particular, activist investors may advocate for a breakup of the Company through spin-offs, divestitures, or other structural changes. While such proposals may be positioned as enhancing shareholder value, there is no assurance that any resulting transactions would be successful or in the best interests of all shareholders. A breakup could result in: Loss of operational synergies and scale efficiencies; Increased costs associated with separation, including legal, tax, and restructuring expenses; Reduced strategic flexibility and competitive positioning; Potential adverse impacts on employee morale, retention, and recruitment; Market uncertainty and volatility in the Company's stock price. Moreover, if a breakup is pursued under pressure rather than through a deliberate strategic process, it may lead to suboptimal outcomes, including undervaluation of assets or businesses, weakened financial performance, and diminished shareholder returns. These risks could materially and adversely affect the Company's business, financial condition, and results of operations.
The market price for the Company's common stock has experienced significant price and volume volatility and is likely to continue to experience significant volatility in the future. This volatility may impair the ability to finance strategic transactions with the Company's stock and otherwise harm the Company's business. The Company's stock price has experienced significant price and volume volatility for the past several years, and the Company's stock price is likely to experience significant volatility in the future. The trading price of the Company's common stock may be influenced by factors beyond the Company's control, such as the volatility of the financial markets, uncertainty surrounding domestic and foreign economies, conditions and trends in the markets the Company serves, changes in the estimation of the future size and growth rate of the Company's markets, publication of research reports, and recommendations by financial analysts relating to the Company's business, the business of competitors, or the industries in which the Company operates and compete, changes in market valuation or earnings of competitors, legislation or regulatory policies, practices, or actions, sales of the Company's common stock by principal shareholders, actions or other announcements by activist shareholders regarding the Company's business or the trading price of the Company's common stock, and the trading volume of the Company's common stock. The historical market prices of the Company's common stock may not be indicative of future market prices and the Company may be unable to sustain or increase the value of the Company's common stock. The Company has historically used equity incentive compensation as part of the Company's overall compensation arrangements. The effectiveness of equity incentive compensation in retaining key employees may be adversely impacted by volatility in the Company's stock price. Significant declines in the Company's stock price may also interfere with the ability, if needed, to raise additional funds through equity financing or to finance strategic transactions with the Company's stock. In addition, there may be increased risk of securities litigation following periods of fluctuations in the Company's stock price. Securities class action lawsuits are often brought against companies after periods of volatility in the market price of their securities. These and other consequences of volatility in the Company's stock price which could be exacerbated by macroeconomic conditions that affect the market generally, or the Company's industries in particular, could have the effect of diverting management’s attention and could materially harm the Company's business.
The Company's Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation grants the Company's board of directors the power to designate and issue additional shares of common and/or preferred stock. The Company's authorized capital consists of 70,000,000 shares of common stock and 10,000 shares of preferred stock. In addition, there are authorized 30,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock, none of which are outstanding and all of which have previously converted into shares of Class A Common Stock and may not be reissued. The Company's preferred stock may be designated into series pursuant to authority granted by the Company's Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (the “Articles of Incorporation”), and on approval from the Company's board of directors (the “Board of Directors” or “Board”). The Board of Directors, without any action by the Company's common shareholders, may designate and issue additional shares of preferred stock in such classes or series as it deems appropriate and establish the rights, preferences and privileges of such shares, including dividends, liquidation and voting rights. The rights of holders of other classes or series of stock that may be issued could be superior to the rights of holders of the Company's common stock. The designation and issuance of shares of capital stock having preferential rights could adversely affect other rights appurtenant to shares of the Company's common stock.
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS, (continued)
Provisions of the Company's charter documents or Pennsylvania law could discourage, delay or prevent the Company from being acquired even if being acquired would be beneficial to the Company's shareholders and could make it more difficult to change management. The Articles and the Amended and Restated Bylaws contain a number of provisions relating to corporate governance and to the rights of the Company’s shareholders. Certain of these provisions may have a potential “anti-takeover” effect by delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of the Company. In addition, certain provisions of Pennsylvania law may have a similar effect. See “Anti-takeover Effect of the Company’s Governing Documents and Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law” included in the Description of Securities filed as Exhibit 4.4 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of such provisions. Such provisions may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company, even if such transaction would be beneficial to most or all of the shareholders.
General Risk Factors:
The Company's business is affected by general economic conditions, and any economic decline or other circumstances that result in reductions in the Company's customers’ spending could negatively impact the Company's sales volume and revenues. Generally, changes in domestic and international economic conditions affect the industries in which the Company and its customers and suppliers operate. These changes include changes in the rate of consumption or use of the Company's products due to economic downturns, volatility in currency exchange rates, and changes in raw material prices resulting from supply and/or demand conditions. Uncertainty about current global economic conditions poses a risk, as consumers and businesses may continue to postpone or cancel spending. Other factors that could influence customer spending include energy costs, conditions in the credit markets, consumer confidence, global pandemics, and other factors affecting consumer spending behavior. These and other economic factors could have an effect on demand for the Company's products and services and negatively impact the Company's financial condition and results of operations.
The Company is subject to various risks related to the local and international nature of the Company's business, including domestic and foreign laws, regulations and standards. In recent years, there have been significant shifts in governments’ priorities with respect to enforcing such laws, regulations and standards. Notwithstanding such shifts, failure to comply with such laws and regulations or the occurrence of unforeseen developments such as litigation, investigations, governmental proceedings or enforcement actions could adversely affect the Company's business. In recent years, a number of new laws and regulations have been adopted, new executive orders have been announced, and there has been expanded enforcement of certain existing laws and regulations by federal, state and local agencies. These laws and regulations, and related interpretations and enforcement activity, may change as a result of a variety of factors, including political, economic or social events. For example, since taking office, the current administration of the U.S. government has sought to adopt new regulations and policies and to suspend, revise or rescind prior policies that are identified as conflicting with the administration’s position, which has resulted in increased regulatory uncertainty. Any changes in, expanded enforcement of, or adoption of new federal, state or local laws and regulations could increase the Company's costs of doing business or impact the Company's operations. Failure to comply with any of these laws, regulations and standards has in the past and may in the future result in civil, criminal, monetary and non-monetary penalties as well as potential damage to the Company's reputation. Furthermore, while the Company has implemented policies and procedures designed to facilitate compliance with these laws, regulations and standards, there can be no assurance that associates, contractors or agents will not violate such laws, regulations and standards or the Company's policies. Any failure to comply with or violation of the various laws, regulations and standards to which the Company is subject could individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The Company's results of operations could be adversely affected by labor shortages, turnover and labor cost increases. Labor is a significant component of the Company's operations. Several factors may adversely affect the labor force available to Matthews or increase labor costs (i.e., labor rates and overtime levels), including high employment levels, unemployment subsidies, increased wages offered by other employers, vaccine mandates and other government regulations and the Company’s responses thereto. An overall labor shortage, lack of skilled labor, increased turnover, or labor inflation, caused by pandemics or as a result of general macroeconomic factors, could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business and operating results.
The Company relies on information technology to operate the Company's business. Security breach incidents and breakdowns of information technologies, or failure to comply with laws governing data privacy and data protection, could disrupt the Company's operations, subject the Company to legal claims, and impact the Company's financial results. In the course of business, the Company collects and stores sensitive data and proprietary business information. The Company could be subject to service outages or breaches of security systems which may result in disruption, unauthorized access, misappropriation, or corruption of this information. Security breaches of the Company's network or data, including physical or electronic break-ins, vendor service outages, computer viruses, attacks by hackers or similar breaches, can create system disruptions, shutdowns, or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Although the Company is not aware of
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS, (continued)
any significant incidents to date, if it is unable to prevent, detect and timely remediate such security or privacy breaches, its operations could be disrupted or the Company may suffer legal claims, reputational damage, financial loss, property damage, or regulatory penalties because of lost or misappropriated information. The Company expects that compliance with laws governing data privacy and data protection will require ongoing investment in systems, policies and personnel and will continue to impact Matthews’ business in the future by increasing legal, operational and compliance costs. There can be no assurance that the Company’s efforts will meet the evolving standards imposed by governmental and regulatory agencies, including data protection authorities, with respect to standards that may be adopted in the future. If the Company is found or suspected to have violated data privacy or data protection laws, it may be subject to potential private consumer, business partner or securities litigation, regulatory inquiries, governmental investigations and proceedings, and may incur damage to its reputation. Any such developments may subject Matthews to material fines and other monetary penalties and damages, divert management’s time and attention, and lead to enhanced regulatory oversight, all of which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business and results of operations.
If the Company fails to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting at a reasonable assurance level, the Company may not be able to accurately report the Company's financial results, and may require the restatement of previously published financial information, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's operations, investor confidence in the Company's business and the trading price of the Company's securities. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires a comprehensive evaluation of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. To comply with this statute, the Company is required to document and test its internal control over financial reporting, management is required to assess and issue a report concerning internal control over financial reporting, and the Company's independent registered public accounting firm is required to attest to and report on the Company's assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Any failure to maintain or implement required new or improved controls could cause the Company to fail to meet its periodic reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in the consolidated financial statements, and substantial costs and resources may be required to rectify these or other internal control deficiencies. If the Company cannot produce reliable financial reports, investors could lose confidence in the Company's reported financial information, the market price of the Company's Class A Common Stock could decline significantly, and its business, financial condition, and reputation could be harmed.
The Company's efforts to comply with Dodd-Frank and other evolving laws and regulations could result in increased costs and expenses related to compliance and potential violations. The Company is required to comply with various securities laws and regulations, including but not limited to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank"). Dodd-Frank contains provisions, among others, designed to improve transparency and accountability concerning the supply chains of certain minerals originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries that are believed to be benefiting armed groups ("Conflict Minerals"). While Dodd-Frank does not prohibit companies from using Conflict Minerals, the SEC mandates due diligence, disclosure and reporting requirements for companies for which Conflict Minerals are necessary to the functionality or production of a product. The Company's efforts to comply with Dodd-Frank and other evolving laws, regulations and standards could result in increased costs and expenses related to compliance and potential violations.