Strattec Security - 10-Q quarterly report FY

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

    Capital expenditures during the six months ended December 26, 2004, were $2.0 million compared to $3.0 million during the six months ended December 28, 2003. The Company anticipates that capital expenditures will be approximately $5.0 million in fiscal 2005, primarily in support of requirements for new product programs and the upgrade and replacement of existing equipment.

Joint Ventures

On November 28, 2000, the Company signed certain alliance agreements with E. WITTE Verwaltungsgesellschaft GmbH, and its operating unit, WITTE-Velbert GmbH & Co. KG ("WITTE"). WITTE, of Velbert, Germany, is a privately held, QS 9000 and VDA 6.1 certified automotive supplier. WITTE designs, manufactures and markets components including locks and keys, hood latches, rear compartment latches, seat back latches, door handles and specialty fasteners. WITTE’s primary market for these products has been Europe. The WITTE-STRATTEC alliance provides a set of cross-licensing agreements for the manufacture, distribution and sale of WITTE products by the Company in North America, and the manufacture, distribution and sale of the Company’s products by WITTE in Europe. Additionally, a joint venture company ("WITTE- STRATTEC LLC") - in which each company holds a 50 percent interest - has been established to seek opportunities to manufacture and sell both companies’ products in areas of the world outside of North America and Europe.

In November 2001, WITTE-STRATTEC do Brasil, a joint venture formed between WITTE-STRATTEC LLC and Ifer Estamparia e Ferramentaria Ltda. was formed to service customers in South America. On March 1, 2002, WITTE-STRATTEC China was formed and in April 2004, WITTE-STRATTEC Great Shanghai Co. was formed. WITTE-STRATTEC China and WITTE-STRATTEC Great Shanghai Co. are joint ventures between WITTE-STRATTEC LLC and a unit of Elitech Technology Co. Ltd. of Taiwan and are the base of operations to service the Company’s automotive customers in the Asian market.

The investments are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. The activities related to the joint ventures resulted in a loss of approximately $55,000 in the six month period ended December 26, 2004 and a gain of approximately $110,000 in the prior year period.

Critical Accounting Policies

    The Company believes the following represents its critical accounting policies:

 

    Pension and Post-Retirement Health Benefits - The determination of the obligation and expense for pension and post-retirement health benefits is dependent on the selection of certain assumptions used by actuaries in calculating such amounts. Those assumptions are described in the Notes to Financial Statements in the Company’s 2004 Annual Report and include, among others, the discount rate, expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and rates of increase in compensation and health care costs. In accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, actual results that differ from these assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods. While the Company believes that the assumptions used are appropriate, significant differences in the actual experience or significant changes in the assumptions may materially affect the pension and post-retirement health obligations and future expense.

 

    Other Reserves - The Company has reserves such as an environmental reserve, an incurred but not reported claim reserve for self-insured health plans, a worker’s compensation reserve, and a repair and maintenance supply parts reserve. These reserves require the use of estimates and judgement with regard to risk exposure, ultimate liability and net realizable value. The Company believes such reserves are estimated using consistent and appropriate methods. However, changes to the assumptions could materially affect the recorded reserves.

Risk Factors

    The Company understands it is subject to the following risk factors based on its operations and the nature of the automotive industry in which it operates:

 

    Loss of Significant Customers, Vehicle Content and Market Share - Sales to General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler Corporation and Delphi Corporation represent approximately 81 percent of the Company’s annual sales. The contracts with these customers provide for supplying the customer’s requirements for a particular model. The contracts do not specify a specific quantity of parts. The contracts typically cover the life of a model, which averages approximately four to five years. Certain customer models may also be market tested annually. Therefore, the loss of any one of these customers, the loss of a contract for a specific vehicle model, reduction in vehicle content, technological changes or a significant re duction in demand for certain key models could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s existing and future revenues and net income.

 

    The Company’s major customers also have significant underfunded legacy liabilities related to pension and post-retirement health care obligations. The future impact of these items along with a continuing decline in their North American automotive market share to the Foreign-Owned North American Automotive Manufacturers (primarily the Japanese Automotive Manufacturers) may have a significant impact on the Company’s future sales and collectibility risks.

 

    Cost Reduction - There is continuing pressure from the Company’s major customers to reduce the prices the Company charges for its products. This requires the Company to generate cost reductions, including reductions in the cost of components purchased from outside suppliers. If the Company is unable to generate sufficient production cost savings in the future, to offset programmed price reductions, the Company’s gross margin and profitability will be adversely affected.

Cyclicality and Seasonality in the Automotive Market - The automotive market is highly cyclical and is dependent on consumer spending and to a certain extent on customer sales incentives. Economic factors adversely affecting consumer demand for automobiles and automotive production could adversely impact the Company’s revenues and net income. The Company typically experiences decreased revenue and operating income during the first fiscal quarter of each year due to the impact of scheduled customer plant shut-downs in July and new model changeovers.

Foreign Operations - As discussed under Joint Ventures, the Company has joint venture investments in both Brazil and China. These operations are currently not material. However, as these operations expand, their success will depend, in part, on the Company’s and its partners’ ability to anticipate and effectively manage certain risks inherent in international operations including: enforcing agreements and collecting receivables through certain foreign legal systems, payment cycles of foreign customers, compliance with foreign tax laws, general economic and political conditions in these countries, and compliance with foreign laws and regulations.

Currency Exchange Rate Fluctuations - The Company incurs a portion of its expenses in Mexican pesos. Exchange rate fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and the Mexican peso could have an adverse effect on financial results.

Sources of and Fluctuations in Market Prices of Raw Materials - The primary raw materials used by the Company are high-grade zinc, brass, magnesium, aluminum, steel and plastic resins. These materials are generally available from a number of suppliers, but the Company has chosen to concentrate its sourcing with one primary vendor for each commodity or purchased component. The Company believes its sources of raw materials are reliable and adequate for its needs. However, the development of future sourcing issues related to the availability of these materials as well as significant fluctuations in the market prices of these materials may have an adverse affect on the Company’s financial results.

Disruptions Due to Work Stoppages and Other Labor Matters - The Company’s major customers and many of their suppliers have unionized work forces. Work stoppages or slow-downs experienced by the Company’s customers or their suppliers could result in slow-downs or closures of assembly plants where the Company’s products are included in assembled vehicles. For example, strikes by the United Auto Workers led to a shut-down of most of General Motors Corporation’s North American assembly plants in June and July of 1998. A material work stoppage experienced by one or more of the Company’s customers could have an adverse effect on the Company’s business and its financial results. In addition, all production associates at the Company’s Milwaukee facility are unionized. A sixteen-day strik e by these associates in June 2001 resulted in increased costs by the Company as all salaried associates worked with additional outside resources to produce the components necessary to meet customer requirements. The current contract with the unionized associates is effective through June 26, 2005. The Company may encounter further labor disruption after the expiration date of this contract and may also encounter unionization efforts in its other plants or other types of labor conflicts, any of which could have an adverse effect on the Company’s business and its financial results.

Environmental and Safety Regulations - The Company is subject to federal, state, local and foreign laws and other legal requirements related to the generation, storage, transport, treatment and disposal of materials as a result of its manufacturing and assembly operations. These laws include the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (as amended), the Clean Air Act (as amended) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (as amended). The Company has an environmental management system that is ISO-14001 certified. The Company believes that its existing environmental management system is adequate and it has no current plans for substantial capital expenditures in the environmental area. An environmental reserve was established in 1995 for estimated costs to remediate a site at the Co mpany’s Milwaukee facility that was contaminated by a former above-ground solvent storage tank, located on the east side of the facility. The contamination occurred in 1985. This is being monitored in accordance with federal, state and local requirements.

The Company does not currently anticipate any material adverse impact on its results of operations, financial condition or competitive position as a result of compliance with federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws or other legal requirements. However, risk of environmental liability and changes associated with maintaining compliance with environmental laws is inherent in the nature of the Company’s business and there is no assurance that material liabilities or changes could not arise.

Highly Competitive Automotive Supply Industry - The automotive component supply industry is highly competitive. Some of the Company’s competitors are companies, or divisions or subsidiaries of companies, that are larger than the Company and have greater financial and technology capabilities. The Company’s products may not be able to compete successfully with the products of these other companies, which could result in loss of customers and, as a result, decreased revenues and profitability. In addition, the Company’s competitive position in the North American automotive component supply industry could be adversely affected in the event that it is unsuccessful in making strategic acquisitions, alliances or establishing joint ventures that would enable it to expand globally. The Company principally co mpetes for new business at the beginning of the development of new models and upon the redesign of existing models by its major customers. New model development generally begins two to five years prior to the marketing of such new models to the public. The failure to obtain new business on new models or to retain or increase business on redesigned existing models could adversely affect the Company’s business and financial results. In addition, as a result of relatively long lead times for many of its components, it may be difficult in the short-term for the Company to obtain new sales to replace any unexpected decline in the sale of existing products. Finally, the Company may incur significant product development expense in preparing to meet anticipated customer requirements which may not be recovered.

Program Volume and Pricing Fluctuations - The Company incurs costs and makes capital expenditures for new program awards based upon certain estimates of production volumes over the anticipated program life for certain vehicles. While the Company attempts to establish the price of its products for variances in production volumes, if the actual production of certain vehicle models is significantly less than planned, the Company’s revenues and net income may be adversely affected. The Company cannot predict its customers’ demands for the products it supplies either in the aggregate or for particular reporting periods.

Investments in Customer Program Specific Assets - The Company makes investments in machinery and equipment used exclusively to manufacture products for specific customer programs. This machinery and equipment is capitalized and depreciated over the expected useful life of each respective asset. Therefore, the loss of any one of the Company’s major customers or specific vehicle models could result in impairment in the value of these assets and have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial results.

Prospective Information

A number of the matters and subject areas discussed in this Form 10-Q contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "would," "expect," "intend," "may," "planned," "potential," "should," "will," and "could." These include expected future financial results, product offerings, global expansion, liquidity needs, financing ability, planned capital expenditures, management's or the Company's expectations and beliefs, and similar matters discussed in the Company’s Management's Discussion and Analysis. The discussions of such matters and subject areas are qualified by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations ge nerally, and also may materially differ from the Company's actual future experience.

Part II

Other Information

Item 1 Legal Proceedings -

 

    In the normal course of business, the Company may be involved in various legal proceedings from time to time. The Company does not believe it is currently involved in any claim or action the ultimate disposition of which would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial statements.

Item 2 Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds -

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities       

Item 4 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders -

 

At the Company’s Annual Meeting held on October 5, 2004, the shareholders voted to elect Frank J. Krejci as director for a term to expire in 2007. The number of votes cast for and withheld in the election were 3,526,133 and 2,907, respectively. Directors whose term continued after the meeting include Michael J. Koss with a term expiring in 2005, and Harold M. Stratton and Robert Feitler each with a term expiring in 2006.

(a) Exhibits   

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⁽¹⁾   This certification is not "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

Date: February 2, 2005      By /s/ Patrick J. Hansen                                     

                     Patrick J. Hansen