Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risks
We are exposed to four primary types of market risks: foreign currency exchange rate risk, credit and counterparty risk, interest rate risk and commodity price risk.
Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk
A significant portion of our customers are outside the United States, while our financial statements are denominated, and our products are generally priced in U.S. Dollars. A strong U.S. Dollar may result in pricing pressure for our customers that are located outside the United States and that conduct their businesses in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar. Such pricing pressure has caused, and could continue to cause, some of our customers to ask for discounted prices, delay purchasing decisions, consider moving to in-sourcing supply of components or migrating to lower cost alternatives. In addition, because our business is global and some payments may be made in local currency, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates can impact our revenues and expenses and/or the profitability in U.S. Dollars of products and services that we provide in foreign markets.
We may enter into foreign currency forward and option contracts with financial institutions to protect against foreign exchange risks associated with certain existing assets and liabilities, and net investments in foreign subsidiaries. We generally hedge portions of forecasted foreign currency, typically for one month. In addition, we hold a cross-currency swap between the Euro and U.S. Dollar as a Net Investment Hedge of our acquisition of Direct Conversion. Depending on the spot rate between the Euro and U.S. Dollar at the time of settlement and whether we have sufficient Euros available, we may have to borrow incrementally in U.S. Dollars to settle this obligation. However, we may choose not to hedge certain foreign exchange exposures for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, accounting considerations or the prohibitive economic cost of hedging particular exposures.
Credit and Counterparty Risk
We use a centralized approach to manage substantially all of our cash and to finance our operations. Our cash and cash equivalents may be exposed to a concentration of credit risk and we may also be exposed to credit risk and interest rate risk to the extent that we enter into credit facilities.
We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers and we maintain what we believe to be strong credit controls in evaluating and granting customer credit, including performing ongoing evaluations of our customers’ financial condition and creditworthiness and often using letters of credit and requiring certain industrial customers to provide a down payment.
Interest Rate Risk
Borrowings under our ABL Facility bear interest at floating interest rates. At October 2, 2020, we had no borrowings subject to floating interest rates. See Note 10. Borrowings, of the notes to our consolidated financial statements for further information.
Commodity Price Risk
We are exposed to market risks related to volatility in the prices of raw materials used in our products. The prices of these raw materials fluctuate in response to changes in supply and demand fundamentals and our product margins and level of profitability tend to fluctuate with changes in these raw materials prices. We try to protect against such volatility through various business
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strategies. During the fiscal year ended October 2, 2020, we did not have any commodity derivative instruments in place to manage our exposure to price changes.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
The Consolidated Financial Statements and Schedules listed in the Index to Financial Statements, Schedules and Exhibits on page F-1 are filed as part of this Annual Report and incorporated in this Item 8 by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.