Miller Industries (MLR) Risk Analysis

The towing and recovery equipment manufacturing industry is highly competitive. Capital requirements for entry into the towing and recovery manufacturing industry have been relatively low, which could result in an increase in the number of competitors entering the industry. Competition for sales exists domestically and internationally at the manufacturer, distributor and towing-operator levels and is based primarily on product quality and innovation, reputation, technology, customer service, product availability and price. Competition for sales also comes from the market for used towing and recovery equipment. Certain of our competitors may have substantially greater financial and other resources and may provide more attractive dealer and retail customer financing alternatives than us. If these competitors are able to make it more difficult for us to attract or retain customers, it could have a negative impact on our sales, revenue and financial performance.

We act as a subcontractor for certain U.S. and other government programs. As a result, we are subject to extensive regulations and requirements of the U.S. and other government agencies and entities that govern these programs, including with respect to the award, administration and performance of contracts under such programs. Our U.S. and other government business is subject to the following risks, among others: (i) this business is susceptible to changes in government spending, which may reduce future revenues; (ii) most of our contracts with governmental entities through prime contractors are fixed-price contracts, and our actual costs on any of these contracts could exceed our projected costs, (iii) competition for the award of these contracts is intense, and we may not be successful in bidding on future contracts, and (iv) the products we sell to governmental entities are subject to highly technical requirements, and any failure to comply with these requirements could result in unanticipated retrofit costs, delayed acceptance of products, late or reduced payment or cancellation of the contract. Our inability to address any of the foregoing concerns could seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our Board of Directors approved a dividend policy in 2011 to consider and pay quarterly dividends on our common stock subject to our ability to satisfy all applicable statutory requirements and our continued financial strength. While we currently intend to pay a quarterly dividend on shares of our common stock, to the extent that we have sufficient funds available for such purpose, the declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends on shares of common stock will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and we may reduce or discontinue entirely the payment of such dividends at any time. Our Board of Directors may take into account general and economic conditions, our financial condition and operating results, capital requirements, restrictions in financing agreements and such other factors as they may deem relevant from time to time.

Our credit facility contains customary representations and warranties, events of default, and financial, affirmative and negative covenants for loan agreements of this kind. In addition, covenants under our current credit facility restrict our ability to pay cash dividends if the Company would be in violation of the minimum tangible net worth test or the leverage ratio test in the current loan agreement as a result of the dividend, among various restrictions. We have been in compliance with these covenants throughout 2023 and anticipate that we will continue to be in compliance during 2024. If we fail to comply with the requirements of our current credit facility, such non-compliance would result in an event of default. If not waived by the bank, such event of default would result in the acceleration of any amounts due under the current credit facility. We also have certain obligations to repurchase our products repossessed by third-party lenders if our distributors should default in their obligations to those lenders. Such repurchases could result in reduced net revenue in future periods as we resell such products and, if we are unable to sell the products, could adversely impact our financial condition.

Our domestic and international operations require us to comply with a number of U.S. and international laws and regulations, including those involving anti-bribery and anti-corruption. Failure to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act, and other foreign anti-bribery laws could have an adverse effect on our business. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could result in our incurring significant fees and having fines and criminal sanctions imposed on us or our employees, and could adversely impact our business with government entities.

As a result of our international operations, we are subject to various taxes in both U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions. Due to economic and political conditions, tax laws, regulations and rates in these various jurisdictions may be subject to significant change. Our future effective income tax rate could be affected by changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, the adoption of a global minimum tax rate for corporate entities, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets or changes in tax laws or their interpretation. Changes to long-standing tax principles in the countries in which we operate could adversely affect our effective tax rate or result in higher cash tax liabilities. Increases in our effective tax rate or tax liabilities could have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was enacted in August 2022, include a minimum tax equal to 15% of the adjusted financial statement income of certain large corporations, as well as a 1% excise tax on certain share buybacks by public corporations that would be imposed on such corporations.  It is possible that changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was enacted in December 2017, the IRA or other tax legislation could increase our future tax liability, which could in turn adversely impact our business and future profitability.

Historically, we have been able to develop or acquire patented and other proprietary product innovations which have allowed us to produce what management believes to be technologically advanced products relative to most of our competition. While we are continuing to develop new technology and apply for patents, if we are unable to develop or acquire new products and technology in the future, our ability to maintain market share, and, consequently, our revenues and operating results, may be negatively affected. Our industry is marked by rapid technological developments and innovations (such as the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning) and evolving industry standards. If we are unable to provide enhancements and new features and integrations for our existing platform, develop new products that achieve market acceptance, or innovate quickly enough to keep pace with these rapid technological developments, our business could be harmed. Third parties may claim that our products infringe their patents or other intellectual property rights. If a competitor were to challenge our patents, or assert that our products or processes infringe its patent or other intellectual property rights, we could incur substantial litigation costs, be forced to design around their patents, pay substantial damages or even be forced to cease our operations, any of which could be expensive and/or have an adverse effect on our operating results. Third-party infringement claims, regardless of their outcome, would not only consume our financial resources, but also would divert the time and effort of our management and could result in our customers or potential customers deferring or limiting their purchase or use of the affected products or services until resolution of the litigation.

We rely on the accuracy, capacity and security of our IT systems and our ability to update these systems in response to the changing needs of our business. We use our IT systems to collect and store confidential and sensitive data, including information about our business, our customers, our suppliers and our employees. We rely on IT systems to protect this information and to keep financial records, process orders, manage inventory, coordinate shipments to customers, and operate other critical functions. Our IT systems may be disrupted or fail for a number of reasons, including natural disasters, such as fires; power loss; software "bugs", hardware defects or human error or malfeasance; or security breaches caused by hacking, computer viruses, malware, ransomware or other cyber-attacks. The risk of such cyber-attacks may be heightened as a result of the Russian conflict with Ukraine. As technology continues to evolve, we anticipate that we will collect and store even more data in the future and that our systems will increasingly use remote communication features that are susceptible to both willful and unintentional security breaches. We have incurred costs and expect to incur significant additional costs in order to implement security measures that we feel are appropriate to protect our IT systems. Despite these efforts, future attacks could result in our systems or data being breached and/or damaged by computer viruses or unauthorized physical or electronic access. Such a breach could result in theft of our intellectual property or trade secrets and/or unauthorized access to controlled data and personal information stored in connection with our human resources function. In the event of a breach in security that allows third parties access to personal information, we are subject to a variety of ever-changing laws on a global basis that may require us to provide notification to the data owners, and that may subject us to lawsuits, fines and other means of regulatory enforcement or harm employee morale. Any disruption, outage or breach of our IT systems could result in interruption of our business operations, damage to our reputation and a loss of confidence in our security measures, all of which could adversely affect our business. In addition, if our systems are improperly implemented, breached, damaged or cease to function properly, we may have to make significant investments to fix or replace them. To the extent that any data is lost or destroyed or any confidential information is inappropriately disclosed or used, it could adversely affect our competitive position or customer relationships, harm our business and possibly lead to significant claims, liability, or fines based upon alleged breaches of contract or applicable laws, which liabilities may not be covered by insurance. The Company is also required to comply with increasingly complex and changing laws and regulations enacted to protect business and personal data in the United States and other jurisdictions regarding privacy, data protection and data security, including those related to the collection, storage, use, transmission and protection of personal information and other customer, vendor or employee data. Regulators globally are also imposing greater monetary fines for privacy violations including the GDPR that became effective in the European Union in 2018. The GDPR and other changes in laws or regulations associated with the enhanced protection of certain types of sensitive data, such as healthcare data or other personal information, could increase our cost of providing our products and services.

Global economic events and other factors, such as restrictive monetary and fiscal policy, the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, have contributed to significant inflation in many of the markets in which we operate. In order to combat inflation and restore price stability, the U.S. Federal Reserve and central banks worldwide have raised interest rates and may continue incrementally raising interest rates in 2024. The combination of increased inflation and interest rates may hinder the economic growth in the U.S. and in the global economy. This economic weakness and the possibility of a global recession have had, and may continue to have, a negative effect on our business and financial condition. We continue to monitor these inflationary pressures closely and, when possible, attempt to mitigate the risk associated with them, including by implementing several price increases and surcharges during 2022 and a price increase effective in the first quarter of 2023. While we have attempted to pass increased costs on to our customers, there can be no assurances that we will be able to continue doing so in the future. It is possible that sustained price increases, surcharges or price inflation (or inflation pressure generally), in turn, may lead to declines in volume, and while we seek to project tradeoffs between price increases, surcharges and inflation, on the one hand, and volume, on the other, there can be no assurance that our projections will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, the continued decline of the United States' credit rating or a recession in global or regional economy could negatively impact our business, financial condition, and liquidity. Any potential inflation or further pressure on credit markets could also adversely affect our and our customers' ability to continue to access preferred sources of liquidity resulting in increased borrowing costs.

Historically, a portion of our net sales occur outside the United States, primarily in Europe. We also have manufacturing operations at two facilities located in Europe. As such, our operations are subject to various international political, economic and other uncertainties, including risks of restrictive taxation policies, changing political conditions and governmental regulations and trade policies. The uncertainty surrounding the ongoing military conflicts in Ukraine, and more recently in the Middle East, and the United Kingdom's "Brexit" from the European Union and their impact on European and worldwide economic and supply chain conditions. These developments have created and may continue to create legal, political and economic uncertainties and impacts, including disruptions to trade and free movement of goods, services and people to and from Europe, disruptions to our workforce or the workforce of our suppliers or business partners. All of the foregoing risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, a portion of our net sales derived outside the United States, as well as salaries of employees located outside the United States and certain other expenses, are denominated in foreign currencies, including the British pound sterling and the euro. We are, therefore, subject to risk of financial loss resulting from fluctuations in exchange rates of these currencies against the US dollar. Brexit has caused, and may continue to result in, significant volatility in global stock markets and currency exchange rate fluctuations of the US dollar relative to other foreign currencies in which we conduct business, including both the British pound sterling and the euro. In addition, political unrest, terrorist acts, military conflict, including the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the more recent conflict in the Middle East, and disease outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have increased the risks of doing business abroad in general.