RPM International (RPM) Risk Factors

Our foreign manufacturing operations accounted for approximately 29.3% of our net sales for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2024, not including exports directly from the United States which accounted for approximately 0.8% of our net sales for fiscal 2024. We plan to continue to grow our international operations and the growth and maintenance of such operations could be adversely affected by a public health crisis, civil unrest, invasions and conflicts like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, war, changes in social, political and economic conditions, inflation rates, trade protection measures, restrictions on foreign investments and repatriation of earnings, changing intellectual property rights, difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations, changes in regulatory requirements, and other events that restrict the sales of our products or increase our costs. Our ability to effectively manage our foreign operations may pose significant risks that could adversely affect our results of operations, cash flow, liquidity or financial condition.

We conduct business in various regions throughout the world and are therefore subject to market risk due to changes in the exchange rates of foreign currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar. Because our Consolidated Financial Statements are presented in U.S. dollars, increases or decreases in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies in which we transact business have in the past and could in the future have a materially adverse effect on our net revenues and earnings, and the carrying values of our assets located outside the United States.

As an important part of our growth strategy, we intend to continue pursuing acquisitions of complementary businesses or products and creating joint ventures. Our ability to continue to grow in this manner depends upon our ability to identify, negotiate and finance suitable acquisitions or joint venture arrangements. Execution of our acquisition strategy with respect to some companies or product lines could fail or could result in unanticipated costs to us that were not apparent despite our due diligence efforts, either of which could hinder our growth or adversely impact our results of operations. In addition, acquisitions and their subsequent integration involve many risks, including, but not limited to: - inaccurate assessments of disclosed liabilities and the potentially adverse effects of undisclosed liabilities;- unforeseen difficulties in assimilating acquired companies, their products, and their culture into our existing business;- unforeseen delays in realizing the benefits from acquired companies or product lines, including projected efficiencies, cost savings, revenue synergies and profit margins;- unforeseen diversion of our management's time and attention from other business matters;- unforeseen difficulties resulting from insufficient prior experience in any new markets we may enter;- unforeseen difficulties in retaining key associates and customers of acquired businesses;- increased risk to our cybersecurity landscape; and - increases in our indebtedness and contingent liabilities, which could in turn restrict our ability to raise additional capital when needed or to pursue other important elements of our business strategy. Furthermore, we may make strategic divestitures because of portfolio rationalization which may impact our future growth. Divestitures may result in continued financial involvement in the divested business, such as through indemnities or retained liabilities, which could result in financial obligations imposed upon us and could affect our future financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our success largely depends on the performance of our management team and other key associates. If we are unable to identify, attract, retain, and develop talented, highly qualified senior management and other key associates (including the ability to identify, attract, retain and develop key international associates), our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition could be adversely affected. In addition, if we are unable to effectively provide for the succession of senior management, including our Chief Executive Officer, our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition may be adversely affected. While we follow a disciplined, ongoing succession planning process and have succession plans in place for senior management and other key associates, these do not guarantee that the services of qualified senior executives will continue to be available to us at particular moments in time.

We have numerous valuable patents, trade secrets and know-how, domain names, trademarks, trade dress, and trade names, including certain marks that are significant to our business, which are identified under Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary information and rights from unauthorized use or disclosure, other parties may attempt to obtain, disclose or use them without our authorization; such unauthorized action, use or disclosure could negatively impact our business and financial condition. Similarly, the value of our brands may be impacted by reputational damage. The reputations of our branded products depend on numerous factors, including the successful advertising and marketing of our brand names, consumer acceptance, continued trademark validity, the availability of similar products from our competitors, and our ability to maintain product quality, technological advantages and claims of superior performance. Furthermore, the prevalence of social media, online reviews and other digital public forums increases our risk of receiving negative commentary that could damage the perception of our brands resulting in a decreased perception of value. A loss of a brand or in the actual or perceived value of our brands could limit or reduce the demand for our products and could negatively impact our business and financial condition.

We rely on information technology systems, products and applications to conduct our business, including recording and processing transactions, administering human resource activities and associate benefits, manufacturing, marketing, and selling our products, researching and developing new products, maintaining and growing our businesses, and supporting and communicating with our associates, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. The importance of such systems has increased due to many of our associates working remotely. Some of these systems and applications are operated by third parties. If we do not allocate and effectively manage the resources necessary to build, sustain, and protect an appropriate information technology infrastructure, we do not effectively implement system upgrades in a timely manner, or our due diligence regarding third-party providers fails our businesses, our business or financial results could be negatively impacted. Additionally, we, ourselves and through our third parties, digitally collect and process different types of information including personal, confidential, proprietary, and sensitive data about our business, which may include information about our customers, associates, suppliers, distributors and others. Some of this data is stored, accessible or transferred internationally. The interpretation and application of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, biometric, and privacy laws, rules and regulations around the world applicable to our business (collectively, the "Data Protection Laws") are uncertain and evolving. It is possible that the Data Protection Laws may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our data practices. Complying with these various laws is difficult and could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner adverse to our business. In addition, some of our systems, tools and resources use, integrate or will integrate some form of artificial intelligence which has the potential to result in bias, miscalculations, data errors, intellectual property infringement and other unintended consequences. It is possible that the information technology tools we use may negatively affect our reputation, disrupt our operations, or have a material impact on our financial results. Further, although we have implemented internal controls and procedures designed to manage compliance with the Data Protection Laws and protect our data, there can be no assurance that our controls will prevent a breach or that our procedures will enable us to be fully compliant with all Data Protection Laws. Cyber-attacks or breaches due to security vulnerabilities, associate error, supplier or third-party error, malfeasance or other disruptions may still occur. We have been and may in the future be subject to attempts to gain unauthorized access to our data, information technology systems and/or applications. We have in the past experienced data security incidents that have disrupted our operations, but which did not have a material impact on our financial results. These risks have and may in the future be increased as a result of remote work, a public health crisis similar to the Covid pandemic or foreign affairs such as war or civil unrest. Future loss, inaccessibility, alteration or misappropriation of information related to us, our associates, former associates, customers, suppliers or others may have a negative impact on our business. A violation of, or failure to comply with, the Data Protection Laws by us, our suppliers, or other third parties, a cyber-attack or a security breach of our systems or that of one of our key suppliers or third parties could lead to negative publicity, legal claims, extortion, ransom, theft, modification or destruction of proprietary information or key information, damage to or inaccessibility of critical systems, manufacture of defective products, production downtimes, operational disruptions, data breach claims, privacy violations and other significant costs, which could adversely affect our reputation, financial condition and results of operations.

The markets in which we operate are fragmented, and we do not face competition from any one company across all our product lines. However, any significant increase in competition, resulting from the consolidation of competitors or otherwise, may cause us to lose market share or compel us to reduce prices to remain competitive, which could result in reduced gross profit margins. Increased competition may also impair our ability to grow or to maintain our current levels of revenues and earnings. Some companies that compete in our markets include Akzo Nobel, Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., Carlisle Companies Inc., H.B. Fuller, Masco Corporation, PPG Industries, Inc., The Sherwin-Williams Company and Sika AG. Several of these companies are much larger than we are and may have greater financial resources than we do. Increased competition with these or other companies could prevent the institution of price increases or could require price reductions or increased spending to maintain our market share, any of which could adversely affect our results of operations.

Some of our operating companies, particularly in the Consumer reportable segment, face a substantial amount of customer concentration. For example, our key customers in the Consumer reportable segment include Ace Hardware, Amazon, Do It Best, The Home Depot, Inc., Lowe's, Menards, Orgill, True Value, W.W. Grainger, and Wal-Mart. Within our Consumer segment, sales to these customers accounted for approximately 67%, 67% and 64% of net sales for the fiscal years ended May 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. On a consolidated basis, sales to these customers across all of our reportable segments accounted for approximately 24%, 25% and 22% of our consolidated net sales for the fiscal years ended May 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Sales to The Home Depot, Inc. represented less than 10% of our consolidated net sales for fiscal 2024, 2023, and 2022, and 23%, 23% and 25% of our Consumer segment net sales for fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. If we were to lose one or more of our key customers, experience a delay or cancellation of a significant order, incur a significant decrease in the level of purchases, or experience difficulty in collecting amounts due from any of our key customers, our net revenues could decline materially and our operating results could be reduced materially.