Item 1A. Risk Factors
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
The following risk factors and other information included in this Report should be carefully considered. Please also see "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" on page 3 .
Risks related to our Business and Economic Environment
The uncertainty of the ongoing COVID-19, including new variants, could have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, or financial results in future periods.
The novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019 has now spread across the world. The outbreak, and measures taken to contain or mitigate it, have had dramatic adverse consequences for the economy, including on demand, operations, supply chains and financial markets. The nature and scope of the consequences to date are difficult to evaluate precisely, and their future course is impossible to predict with confidence.
The COVID-19 pandemic and related responses are continuing to evolve and, therefore, continue to present potential new risks to our business, particularly in light of new variants of the virus. We have seen and expect to continue to see effects of the COVID-19 crisis on our business operations including impacts such as the following: increased raw material prices, a decline in consumer confidence and spending, further increase in unemployment which could impact consumers' disposable income and, in turn, decrease sales of our products, required isolation in certain markets, disruptions in our supply chain, as the outbreak has disrupted travel, manufacturing and distribution throughout the world, increases in operating costs due to disruptions, the cost of complying with public health vaccine and testing mandates and personal protective equipment requirements and other increased employment-related costs. The rapid development and uncertainty of the pandemic precludes any prediction as to the ultimate impact of COVID-19. The full extent of the impact and effects of COVID-19 on our business,
operations, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations remain uncertain at this time but could be material. Any of these events could potentially result in a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
We operate in a highly competitive industry and if we are unable to compete successfully, we may lose customers and our sales may decline.
Participants in the mattress and pillow industries compete primarily on price, quality, brand name recognition, product availability and product performance across a range of distribution channels.
A number of our significant competitors offer mattress and pillow products that compete directly with our products. The effectiveness of our competition relative to our performance, including by established manufacturers or new entrants into the market, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and/or operating results. For example, market participants continue to improve their channels of distribution to optimize their reach to the consumer, including by pursuing online direct-to-consumer models. In addition, retailers in the U.S. and internationally have integrated vertically in the furniture and bedding industries, and it is possible that such vertical integration may provide conditions that would negatively impact our net sales and results of operations. The pillow industry in particular is characterized by a large number of competitors, none of which is dominant. As such, conditions that substantially increase a single participant's market share could be detrimental to our financial performance. The highly competitive nature of the mattress and pillow industries means we are continually subject to the risk of loss of market share, loss of significant customers, reductions in margins, and the inability to acquire new customers.
Loss of suppliers and disruptions in the supply of our raw materials and components could increase our costs of sales and reduce our ability to compete effectively.
We acquire raw materials and components from a number of suppliers with manufacturing locations around the world. If we were unable to obtain raw materials and components from these suppliers for any reason, we would have to find replacement suppliers. Any substitute arrangements for raw materials and components might not be on terms as favorable to us. We maintain relatively small supplies of our raw materials and components at our manufacturing facilities, and any disruption in the shipment of supplies could interrupt production of our products, which in turn could result in a decrease of our sales or could cause an increase in our cost of sales, either of which could decrease our liquidity and profitability.
Raw materials for Sealy, Sherwood Bedding and Comfort Revolution products consist mainly of polyethylene foam, textiles and steel innerspring components that we purchase from various suppliers. In the U.S. and Canada, we source the majority of our requirements for polyurethane foam components and spring components for our Sealy and Stearns & Foster mattress units from key suppliers for each component. We also purchase a significant portion of our Sealy foundation parts from third party sources under supply agreements. All critical components are purchased under supply agreements. We do not consider ourselves to be dependent in the long term upon any single outside vendor as a source of supply to our bedding business, and we believe over time that sufficient alternate sources of supply for the same, similar or alternate components are available. Our adjustable base products are dependent on components supply chains originating in China. We believe over time that sufficient alternate sources of supply for the same or similar products will be available outside of China from our current and alternate suppliers.
However, if a key supplier for an applicable component failed to supply components in the amount we require, this could significantly interrupt production of our products and increase our production costs in the near term. Such a disruption could occur for a variety of reasons, including changes in international trade duties and other aspects of international trade policy, labor shortages, natural disasters, pandemics and political events. For example, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine could result in a temporary disruption in supply of a component in our International segment.
If we are not able to successfully mitigate such supply chain risks, we could experience disruptions in production or increased costs, which may result in a decrease in our gross margin or reduced sales, and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Changes in economic conditions, including inflationary trends in the price of our input costs, such as raw materials, could adversely affect our business and financial results.
The bedding industry is subject to volatility in the price of petroleum-based and steel products, which affects the cost of polyurethane foam, polyester, polyethylene foam and steel innerspring component parts. The price and availability of these raw materials are subject to market conditions affecting supply and demand. Given the significance of the cost of these materials to our products, volatility in the prices of the underlying commodities can significantly affect profitability.
We have experienced and may continue to experience, volatility and increases in the price of certain of these raw materials as a result of a global market and supply chain disruptions and the broader inflationary environment related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout 2021, we implemented pricing actions to mitigate these known commodity headwinds. In January 2022, we implemented pricing actions designed to offset the dollar impact of these inflationary headwinds. To the extent we are unable to absorb higher costs, or pass any such higher costs to our customers, our gross margin could be negatively affected, which could result in a decrease in our liquidity and profitability.
Risks related to operating our business
The performance of our business depends on our ability to implement strategic initiatives and actions taken to increase sales growth may not be effective.
The performance of our business depends upon a number of factors, including the following:
• our ability to continuously improve our products to offer new and enhanced consumer benefits and better quality;
• the ability of our current and future product launches to increase net sales;
• the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns and other marketing programs to build product and brand awareness, driving traffic to our distribution channels and increasing sales;
• our ability to successfully launch new products;
• our ability to compete in the mattress and pillow industry;
• our ability to continue to expand into new distribution channels and optimize our existing channels;
• our ability to continue to successfully execute our strategic initiatives;
• our ability to manage growth and limit cannibalization associated with new or expanded supply agreements;
• our ability to reduce costs, including the level of consumer acceptance of our products at optimal price points;
• our ability to successfully mitigate the impact of headwinds facing our business, including increased commodity prices and the influx of low-end, imported beds that compete with certain of our products;
• our ability to successfully integrate potential acquisition opportunities; and
• general economic factors that impact consumer confidence, disposable income or the availability of consumer financing.
Our new product launches may not be successful due to development delays, failure of new products to achieve anticipated levels of market acceptance and significant costs associated with failed product introductions, which could adversely affect our revenues and profitability.
Each year we invest significant time and resources in research and development to improve our product offerings and launch new products. In 2021, we began refreshing our Sealy portfolio with the launch of new models in our Posturepedic Plus TM , Posturepedic® and Essentials product lines and expect to complete this rollout in 2022. Additionally in 2022, we are launching a refreshed Stearns & Foster product line and introducing a new Sealy® Naturals™ product line in the U.S. and beginning the launch of a new line of Tempur mattresses internationally. There are a number of risks that are inherent in our new product line introductions, including that the anticipated level of market acceptance may not be realized, which could negatively impact our sales. Further, introduction costs and manufacturing inefficiencies may be greater than anticipated, while the rollout of the product could be delayed, each of which could impact profitability.
Because we depend on certain significant customers, a decrease or interruption in their business with us would reduce our sales and results of operations.
Our top five customers, collectively, accounted for approximately 33% of our net sales in 2021, and of these, there was one wholesale customer that contributed approximately 15%. The credit environment in which our customers operate has been
relatively stable over the past few years. However, there have been signs of deterioration in the U.S. retail sector, both nationally and regionally. Some additional retailers that carry our products may consolidate, undergo restructurings or reorganizations, experience financial difficulty, or realign their affiliations, any of which could decrease the number of stores that carry our products or increase the ownership concentration in the retail industry. An increase in the concentration of our sales to large customers may negatively affect our profitability due to the impact of volume and other incentive programs related to these customers. Furthermore, if sales to our large customers grow, our credit exposure to these customers may also increase. Some of these retailers may decide to carry only a limited number of brands of mattress products, which could affect our ability to sell products to them on favorable terms, if at all. A substantial decrease or interruption in business from these significant customers could result in the loss of future business and could reduce revenue, liquidity and profitability.
We rely significantly on information technology and any failure, inadequacy, interruption or security lapse of that technology, including cyber-based attacks, could harm our ability to effectively operate our business.
Consistent with other manufacturing and retail operations, we are dependent on information technology, including the Internet, for the storage, processing, and transmission of our electronic, business-related information assets. We leverage our internal information technology, infrastructures, and those of our service providers, to enable, sustain and support our global business interests. As such, our ability to effectively manage our business depends significantly on our information systems. The failure of our current systems, or future upgrades, to operate effectively or to integrate with other systems, or a breach in security of these systems could cause reduced efficiency of our operations, and remediation of any such failure, problem or breach could reduce our liquidity and profitability. Any disruptions caused by the failure of these systems could adversely impact our day-to-day business and decision making and could have a material adverse effect on our performance.
We are subject to laws and regulations relating to information technology security and personal data protection and privacy and this legislative landscape is forever evolving. For example, the GDPR, which took effect in May 2018, the CCPA, which took effect in January 2020 and the PIPL, which took effect in November 2021, have imposed new and expanded compliance requirements on companies, including us, that process personal data from citizens living in the European Union, California and China. In addition, there are country-specific data privacy laws in Europe and elsewhere in the world, such as those in Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Mexico, and state-specific data privacy laws forthcoming in the U.S., such as those in Virginia and Colorado, which broadly follow key principles laid out in the GDPR and the CCPA, but in some cases, impose different and additional requirements on businesses like ours. We are actively working to ensure ongoing compliance with all data privacy and information technology security laws and regulations worldwide to which we are subject, which involves substantial resource and costs. Despite our ongoing efforts to maintain compliance, we may not be successful due to various factors within or outside of our control. Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could result in costly investigations from regulators and litigation, expose us to potentially significant penalties, and result in negative publicity that could damage our reputation and credibility.
Prior to 2020, we successfully implemented a new enterprise resource planning, or "ERP," system across several of our global subsidiaries. We successfully implemented new ERP systems in certain significant U.S. subsidiaries in 2020 and January 2021 and are continuing to implement this ERP system in other significant U.S. subsidiaries with key go-live dates in 2022. This new system replaces a substantial portion of our legacy systems that have historically supported our operations. If we are unable to successfully continue the implementation of the replacement system or if errors or failures in the implementation process lead to production shutdowns, our business may be materially impacted and disrupted and we may be required to engage in unanticipated additional use of capital and other resources, which may adversely impact our results of operations. In addition, if the cost of implementing this ERP system increases above our estimates, this could have a significant adverse effect on our profitability.
We rely on third party technology service providers in the ordinary course of our Direct channel. The services provided include website infrastructure and hosting services, digital advertising platforms, private label credit card financing program and credit card payment authorization and capture services in support of our business, all of which are customarily provided by third party technology service providers for similarly-situated retail business operations. Like others in the industry, we experience cyber-based attacks and incidents from time to time. In the event that we or our service providers are unable to prevent or detect and remediate cyber-based attacks or other security incidents in a timely manner, our operations could be disrupted or we may incur financial or reputational losses arising from the theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure or destruction of our information assets.
Deterioration in labor relations could disrupt our business operations and increase our costs, which could decrease our liquidity and profitability.
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 12,000 full-time employees. Our joint ventures also employ approximately 1,350 full-time employees. Approximately 19% of our employees are represented by various labor unions with separate collective bargaining agreements or government labor union contracts for certain international locations. Our North American collective bargaining agreements, which are typically three years in length, expire at various times during any given three year period. Due to the large number of collective bargaining agreements, we are periodically in negotiations with certain of the unions representing our employees. We may at some point be subject to work stoppages by some of our employees and, if such events were to occur, there may be a material adverse effect on our operations and profitability. Further, we may not be able to renew our various collective bargaining agreements on a timely basis or on favorable terms, or at all. Any significant increase in our labor costs could decrease our liquidity and profitability and any deterioration of employee relations, slowdowns or work stoppages at any of our locations, whether due to union activities, employee turnover or otherwise, could result in a decrease in our net sales or an increase in our costs, either of which could decrease our liquidity and profitability.
We may face exposure to product liability claims and premises liability claims, which could reduce our liquidity and profitability and reduce consumer confidence in our products.
We face an inherent business risk of exposure to product liability claims if the use of any of our products results in personal injury or property damage. In the event that any of our products prove to be defective or otherwise fail to meet safety standards, we may be required to recall, redesign or even discontinue those products. We maintain insurance against product liability claims, but such coverage may not continue to be available on terms acceptable to us or be adequate for liabilities actually incurred. A successful claim brought against us in excess of available insurance coverage could impair our liquidity and profitability, and any claim or product recall that results in significant adverse publicity against us could result in consumers purchasing fewer of our products, which would also impair our liquidity and profitability.
We also face inherent business risks by operating physical stores that are open to the public. By opening retail stores, we have increased our exposure to premises liability claims. We maintain insurance against premises liability claims, but such coverage may not continue to be available on terms acceptable to us or be adequate for liabilities actually incurred. A successful claim brought against us in excess of available insurance coverage could impair our liquidity and profitability, and any claim or product recall that results in significant adverse publicity against us could adversely affect our reputation or result in consumers purchasing fewer of our products, which would also impair our liquidity and profitability.
If we are not able to protect our trade secrets or maintain our trademarks, patents and other intellectual property, we may not be able to prevent competitors from developing similar products or from marketing in a manner that capitalizes on our intellectual property rights, and this loss of a competitive advantage could decrease our profitability and liquidity.
We rely on patents and trade secrets to protect the design, technology and function of our products. To date, we have not sought U.S. or international patent protection for our principal product formula for Tempur® material and certain of our manufacturing processes. Accordingly, we may not be able to prevent others from developing certain visco-elastic material and products that are similar to or competitive with our products. Our ability to compete effectively with other companies also depends, to a significant extent, on our ability to maintain the proprietary nature of our owned and licensed intellectual property. We own a significant number of patents or have patent applications pending on some aspects of our products and certain manufacturing processes. However, the principal product formula and manufacturing processes for our Tempur® material are not patented and we must maintain these as trade secrets in order to protect this intellectual property. We own U.S. and foreign registered trademarks and service marks and have applications for the registration of trademarks and service marks pending domestically and abroad. We also license certain intellectual property rights from third parties.
Certain of our trademarks are currently registered in the U.S. and are registered or pending in foreign jurisdictions. Certain other trademarks are the subject of protection under common law. However, those rights could be circumvented, or violate the proprietary rights of others, or we could be prevented from using them if challenged. A challenge to our use of our trademarks could result in a negative ruling regarding our use of our trademarks, their validity or their enforceability, or could prove expensive and time consuming in terms of legal costs and time spent defending against such a challenge. Any loss of trademark protection could result in a decrease in sales or cause us to spend additional amounts on marketing, either of which could decrease our liquidity and profitability. In addition, if we incur significant costs defending our trademarks, that could also decrease our liquidity and profitability. In addition, we may not have the financial resources necessary to enforce or defend our trademarks. Furthermore, our patents may not provide meaningful protection and patents may never issue from pending applications. It is also possible that others could bring claims of infringement against us, as our principal product formula and
manufacturing processes are not patented, and that any licenses protecting our intellectual property could be terminated. If we were unable to maintain the proprietary nature of our intellectual property and our significant current or proposed products, this loss of a competitive advantage could result in decreased sales or increased operating costs, either of which would decrease our liquidity and profitability.
In addition, the laws of certain foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights and confidential information to the same extent as the laws of the U.S. or the EU. Third parties, including competitors, may assert intellectual property infringement or invalidity claims against us that could be upheld. Intellectual property litigation, which could result in substantial cost to and diversion of effort by us, may be necessary to protect our trade secrets or proprietary technology, or for us to defend against claimed infringement of the rights of others and to determine the scope and validity of others’ proprietary rights. We may not prevail in any such litigation, and if we are unsuccessful, we may not be able to obtain any necessary licenses on reasonable terms or at all.
The loss of the services of any members of our executive management team could impair our ability to execute our business strategy and as a result, reduce our sales and profitability.
We depend on the continued services of our executive management team. The loss of key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our ability to execute our business strategy and on our financial condition and results of operations. We do not maintain key-person insurance for members of our executive management team.
Regulatory, Legal and Financial Risks
We entered into the Advance Pricing Agreement Program to resolve a tax matter in Denmark, and a failure to resolve the matter or a change in factors or circumstances could adversely impact our income tax expense, effective tax rate and cash flows.
We are a participant in the Advance Pricing Agreement Program (the "APA Program") for the tax years 2012 through 2022, under which the U.S. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), on our behalf, will negotiate directly with the Danish Tax Authority ("SKAT") with respect to the royalty to be paid by a U.S. subsidiary of the Company to the Company's Danish subsidiary for the right to utilize certain intangible assets owned by the Danish subsidiary. If this matter is not resolved successfully or there is a change in facts or circumstances, we may be required to further increase our uncertain income tax provision or decrease our deferred tax asset related to this matter, which could have a material impact on the Company's reported earnings. For a description of these matters and additional information please refer to Note 13, "Income Taxes," to the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements.
We may be adversely affected by fluctuations in exchange rates, which could affect our results of operations, the costs of our products and our ability to sell our products in foreign markets.
Approximately 23.9% of our net sales were generated outside of the U.S. in 2021. We conduct our business in a wide variety of currencies and are therefore subject to market risk relating to changes in foreign exchange rates. If the U.S. dollar strengthens relative to the Euro or other foreign currencies where we have operations, for example, there will be a negative impact on our operating results upon translation of those foreign operating results into the U.S. dollar. In 2021, foreign currency exchange rate changes positively impacted our net income by approximately 1.8% and positively impacted adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, by approximately 1.4%. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates could have an adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Except for the use of foreign exchange forwards contracts described immediately below, we do not hedge the translation of foreign currency operating results into the U.S. dollar.
We use foreign exchange forward contracts to manage a portion of the exposure to the risk of the eventual net cash inflows and outflows resulting from foreign currency denominated transactions among certain subsidiaries. These hedging transactions may not succeed or may be only partially successful in managing our foreign currency exchange rate risk.
Refer to "Management's Discussion and Analysis" included in Part II, ITEM 7 of this Report and "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" included in Part II, ITEM 7A of this Report for further discussion on the impact of foreign exchange rates on our operations.
Our leverage affects how we manage our business and may limit our flexibility.
We operate in the ordinary course of our business with a certain amount of leverage. Our degree of leverage could have important consequences, such as:
• increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic, industry or competitive developments;
• requiring a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness, thereby reducing our ability to use our cash flow to fund our operations, capital expenditures and other business opportunities;
• making it more difficult for us to satisfy the obligations related to our indebtedness;
• restricting us from making strategic acquisitions or investments or causing us to make non-strategic divestitures;
• limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, product development, debt service requirements, acquisitions and general corporate or other purposes;
• limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business or the industry in which we operate;
• exposing us to variability in interest rates, as a substantial portion of our indebtedness is and will be at variable rates; and
• limiting our ability to return capital to our stockholders, including through share repurchases and dividends.
In addition, the instruments governing our debt contain customary financial and other restrictive covenants, which limit our operating flexibility and could prevent us from taking advantage of business opportunities and reduce our flexibility to respond to changing business and economic conditions. Failure to comply with our debt covenants may result in a default or event of default under the related credit document. If such default or event of default is not cured or waived, as applicable, we may suffer adverse effects on our operations, business or financial condition, including acceleration of the maturity date of all amounts outstanding under our debt facilities. For further discussion regarding our debt covenants and compliance, refer to "Management’s Discussion and Analysis" included in Part II, ITEM 7 of this Report and Note 6, "Debt," in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, ITEM 8 of this Report.
Our variable rate debt agreements, including our 2019 Credit Agreement, use LIBOR, which is subject to uncertainty. In March 2021, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA"), which regulates LIBOR, confirmed that all of the LIBOR settings for Euro and Swiss Franc and some of the LIBOR settings for Japanese Yen, Sterling and US dollars will cease in December 2021 and the remainder of the LIBOR settings for U.S. dollars will cease in June 2023. When LIBOR ceases to exist or is no longer representative of the underlying market, our variable rate debt agreements with interest rates that are indexed to LIBOR will use various alternative methods to calculate the applicable interest rate, which could result in increases in interest rates on such debt and adversely impact our interest expense, results of operations and cash flows. Further, we may need to amend our variable rate debt agreements to replace LIBOR with a new reference rate. As of December 31, 2021, we do not utilize any derivatives or hedging strategies that have a LIBOR component. The U.S. Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of large U.S. financial institutions, may replace U.S. Dollar LIBOR with a new index calculated by short term repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities called the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"). Whether or not SOFR attains market traction as a LIBOR replacement remains a question and the future of LIBOR and any successor rates for LIBOR is uncertain.
For information regarding our sensitivity to changes in interest rates, refer to "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" included in Part II, ITEM 7A of this Report.
We are subject to risks from our international operations, such as complying with U.S. and foreign laws, foreign exchange exposure, tariffs, increased costs, political risks and our ability to expand in certain international markets, which could impair our ability to compete and our profitability.
We are a global company, selling our products in approximately 100 countries worldwide. We generated approximately 23.9% of our net sales outside of the U.S. in the year ended December 31, 2021. We operate through multiple wholly owned subsidiaries and we also participate in international license and joint venture arrangements with independent third parties.
Our international operations are subject to the customary risks of operating in an international environment, including complying with U.S. laws affecting operations outside of the U.S. such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; complying with foreign laws and regulations, including disparate anti-corruption laws and regulations; and the potential imposition of trade or foreign exchange restrictions, tariffs and other tax increases, inflation and unstable political situations and labor issues. We are also limited in our ability to independently expand in certain international markets where we have granted licenses to
manufacture and sell Sealy® bedding products. Fluctuations in the rate of exchange between currencies in which we do business may affect our financial condition or results of operations. Additionally, changes in international trade duties and other aspects of international trade policy, both in the U.S. and abroad, could materially impact our business.
Regulatory requirements, including, but not limited to, trade, environmental, health and safety requirements, may require costly expenditures and expose us to liability.
Our products and our marketing and advertising programs are subject to regulation in the U.S. by various federal, state and local regulatory authorities, including the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In addition, other governments and agencies in other jurisdictions regulate the sale and distribution of our products. These rules and regulations may change from time to time, or may conflict. There may be continuing costs of regulatory compliance including continuous testing, additional quality control processes and appropriate auditing of design and process compliance. For example, the CPSC and many foreign jurisdictions have adopted rules relating to fire retardancy standards for the mattress industry. Further, some cities, states and the U.S. Congress continue to consider fire retardancy regulations that may be different or more stringent than the CPSC standard. Adoption of multi-layered regulatory regimes, particularly if they conflict with each other, could increase our costs, alter our manufacturing processes and impair the performance of our products which may have an adverse effect on our business. We are also subject to various health and environmental provisions, such as California Proposition 65 (the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986) and 16 CFR Part 1633 (Standard for the Flammability (Open Flame) of Mattress Sets) and in our international jurisdictions we are subject to the medical devices regulatory authorities such as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK and the International Chamber of Commerce Advertising and Marketing Communications Code.
Our marketing and advertising practices could also become the subject of proceedings before regulatory authorities or the subject of claims by other parties and could require us to alter or end these practices or adopt new practices that are not as effective or are more expensive.
In addition, we are subject to laws and regulations both in the U.S. and internationally, relating to pollution, environmental protection and occupational health and safety. We may not be in complete compliance with all such requirements at all times. We have made and will continue to make capital and other expenditures to comply with environmental and health and safety requirements. If a release of hazardous substances occurs on or from our properties or any associated offsite disposal location, or if contamination from prior activities is discovered at any of our properties, we may be held liable and the amount of such liability could be material. As a manufacturer of bedding and related products, we use and dispose of a number of substances, such as glue, lubricating oil and solvents, as well as certain foam ingredients, that may subject us to regulation under numerous foreign, federal and state laws and regulations governing the environment. Among other laws and regulations, we are subject in the U.S. to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act and related state and local statutes and regulations in our international jurisdictions we are subject to the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) and the General Product Safety Directive amongst others.
Our operations could also be impacted by a number of pending legislative and regulatory proposals to address greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and other countries. Certain countries have adopted the Kyoto Protocol. New greenhouse gas reduction targets have been established under the Kyoto Protocol, as amended, and certain countries, including Denmark, have adopted the new reduction targets. This and other international initiatives under consideration could affect our International operations. These actions could increase costs associated with our operations, including costs for raw materials, pollution control equipment and transportation. Because it is uncertain what laws will be enacted, we cannot predict the potential impact of such laws on our future consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
We have made and will continue to make expenditures to comply with environmental and health and safety requirements. In the event contamination is discovered with respect to one or more of our current or former properties, government authorities or third parties may bring claims related to these properties, which could have a material effect on our profitability.
Our pension plans are currently underfunded and we may be required to make cash payments to the plans, reducing our available cash.
We maintain certain single employer defined benefit pension plans at certain of our manufacturing facilities. These plans cover both active employees and retirees. The plans are currently underfunded, and under certain circumstances, including the decision to close or sell a facility, we could be required to pay amounts with respect to this underfunding. Such events may significantly impair our profitability and liquidity and the possibility of having to make these payments could affect our decision on whether to close or sell a particular facility.
We also contribute to multi-employer pension plans according to collective bargaining agreements that cover certain union-represented employees. Participating in these multi-employer plans exposes us to potential liabilities if the multi-employer plan is unable to pay its underfunded obligations or we trigger a withdrawal event. The withdrawal liability is an exit fee for employers who cease contributions to multi-employer defined benefit pension plans with unfunded vested benefits. We participate in several plans which are in the Red Zone for 2021. A plan is in the Red Zone (Critical) if it has a current funded percentage of less than 65.0%. The following risks of participating in these multi-employer plans differ from single employer pension plan risks:
• Employer contributions to a multi-employer plan may be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers.
• If a participating employer stops contributing to a multi-employer plan, the remaining participating employers assume the unfunded obligations of the plan.
• If the multi-employer plan becomes significantly underfunded or is unable to pay its benefits, we may be required to contribute additional amounts in excess of the rate required by the collective bargaining agreements.
For more information, refer to Note 8, "Retirement Plans," in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, ITEM 8 of this Report.
Challenges to our pricing or promotional allowance policies or practices could adversely affect our operations .
Certain of our retail pricing and promotional allowance policies or practices are subject to antitrust and consumer protection regulations in the U.S. and abroad. If regulators or private parties in any jurisdiction in which we do business initiate investigations or claims that challenge our pricing or promotional allowance policies or practices, our efforts to respond could force us to divert management resources and we could incur significant unanticipated costs. If such an investigation or claim were to result in a charge that our practices or policies were in violation of applicable antitrust, consumer protection or other laws or regulations, we could be subject to significant additional costs of defending such charges in a variety of venues and, ultimately, if there were a finding that we were in violation of antitrust, consumer protection or other laws or regulations, there could be an imposition of fines, and damages for persons injured, as well as injunctive or other relief. Any requirement that we pay fines or damages (which, under the laws of certain jurisdictions, may be trebled) could decrease our liquidity and profitability, and any investigation or claim that requires significant management attention or causes us to change our business practices could disrupt our operations or increase our costs, also resulting in a decrease in our liquidity and profitability. An antitrust or consumer protection class action or individual suit against us could result in potential liabilities, substantial costs, treble damages, and the diversion of our management’s attention and resources, regardless of the outcome.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Although we recently announced a quarterly cash dividend, there can be no assurance as to the declaration or amount of future dividends.
We previously announced our intention to begin paying a quarterly cash dividend beginning in 2021 and recently declared a dividend of 10 cents per share for the first quarter of 2022. Any decision to declare and pay dividends, and the amount of any such dividends, will be dependent on a variety of factors, including compliance with Section 170 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; changes to our capital allocation policies; our results of operation, liquidity and cash flows; contractual restrictions in our debt agreements; economic conditions, including the impact of COVID-19 and related macroeconomic impacts on our business and financial condition; and other factors the Board of Directors may deem relevant. There can be no assurance that we will declare dividends in any particular amounts or at all, and changes in our dividend policy could adversely affect the market price for our stock.
Our share repurchase program could be suspended or terminated, and may not enhance long-term stockholder value.
Our Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program in 2016 pursuant to which we are authorized to repurchase shares of our common stock. From 2016 through December 31, 2021, we had repurchased an aggregate of 36.6 million shares for approximately $1,762.7 million under our share repurchase program. As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $1,400.7 million remaining under the share repurchase authorization. The share repurchase program may be suspended or terminated at any time. Shares may be repurchased from time to time, in the open market or through private transactions, subject to market conditions, in compliance with applicable state and federal securities laws. The timing and amount of repurchases, if any, will depend upon several factors, including market and business conditions, restrictions in our debt agreements, the trading price of our common stock and the nature of other investment opportunities. Repurchases of our common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program could affect the market price of our common stock or increase its volatility. Although our share repurchase program is intended to enhance long-term stockholder value, there is no assurance that it will do so and short-term stock price fluctuations could reduce the program's effectiveness.
Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain anti-takeover provisions, any of which could delay or discourage a merger, tender offer, or assumption of control of the Company not approved by our Board of Directors that some stockholders may consider favorable.
Provisions of Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation and by-laws could hamper a third party's acquisition of us, or discourage a third party from attempting to acquire control of us. You may not have the opportunity to participate in these transactions. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. These provisions include:
• our ability to issue preferred stock with rights senior to those of the common stock without any further vote or action by the holders of our common stock;
• the requirements that our stockholders provide advance notice and certain disclosures when nominating our directors; and
• the inability of our stockholders to convene a stockholders' meeting without the chairperson of the Board of Directors, the president, or a majority of the Board of Directors first calling the meeting.
Our Board of Directors could determine in the future that adoption of a stockholder rights agreement is in the best interest of our stockholders and any such stockholder rights agreement, if adopted, could render more difficult, or discourage, a merger, tender offer, or assumption of control of the Company that is not approved by our Board of Directors.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.