CRS Carpenter Technology Corporation

Risks

• Our results of operations have been adversely affected and could in the future be materially adversely impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
• The demand for certain products we produce may be cyclical.
• A significant portion of our sales represents products sold to customers in the commercial aerospace and defense and energy markets. The cyclicality of those markets can adversely affect our current business and our expansion objectives.
• Any significant delay or inability to successfully expand our operations in a timely and cost-effective manner could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
• Periods of reduced demand and excess supply as well as the availability of substitute lower cost materials can adversely affect our ability to price and sell our products at the profitability levels we require to be successful.
• We rely on third parties to supply certain raw materials and supplies that are critical to the manufacture of our products and we may not be able to access alternative sources of these raw materials if the suppliers are unwilling or unable to meet our demand.
• We provide benefits to active and retired employees throughout most of our Company, most of which are not covered by insurance; and thus, our financial condition can be adversely affected if our investment returns are insufficient to meet these obligations.
• The extensive environmental, health and safety regulatory regimes applicable to our manufacturing operations create potential exposure to significant liabilities.
• Our manufacturing processes, and the manufacturing processes of many of our suppliers and customers, are energy intensive and generate carbon dioxide and other “Greenhouse Gases”, and pending legislation or regulation of Greenhouse Gases, if enacted or adopted in an onerous form, could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
• Product liability and product quality claims could adversely affect our operating results.
• Our business subjects us to risks of litigation claims, as a routine matter, and this risk increases the potential for a loss that might not be covered by insurance.
• A portion of our workforce is covered by collective bargaining agreements and union attempts to organize our other employees may cause work interruptions or stoppages.
• Our manufacturing processes are complex and depend upon critical, high cost equipment for which there may be only limited or no production alternatives.
• A significant portion of our manufacturing and production facilities are located in Reading and Latrobe, Pennsylvania and Athens, Alabama, which increases our exposure to significant disruption to our business as a result of unforeseeable developments in these geographic areas.
• We rely on third parties to supply energy consumed at each of our energy-intensive production facilities.
• We consider acquisitions, joint ventures and other business combination opportunities, as well as possible business unit dispositions, as part of our overall business strategy, that involve uncertainties and potential risks that we cannot predict or anticipate fully.
• Regulations related to conflict minerals could adversely impact our business.
• Our business may be impacted by external factors that we may not be able to control.
• Our international operations and global sales expose us to various risks including the impact of tariffs, which may adversely affect our business.
• We value most of our inventory using the LIFO method, which could be repealed resulting in adverse effects on our cash flows and financial condition.
• We depend on the retention of key personnel.
• Cybersecurity attacks and other security breaches or failures in functionality of our information technology (“IT”) and computer systems could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations and compromise the integrity of confidential data.
• We are in the process of implementing a new enterprise resource planning system and problems with the design or implementation of this system could interfere with our business and operations.
• The carrying value of goodwill and other long-lived assets may not be recoverable.
• Our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements may be impacted if we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting.