Ituran - 20-F annual report 2023

This Annual Report on Form 20-F contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The use of the words “projects,” “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “plans” or “intends,” or words of similar import, identifies a statement as “forward-looking.” The forward-looking statements included herein are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are based on the assumption that we will not lose a significant customer or customers or experience increased fluctuations of demand or rescheduling of purchase orders, that our markets will continue to grow, that our products will remain accepted within their respective markets and will not be replaced by new technology, that competitive conditions within our markets will not change materially or adversely, that we will retain key technical and management personnel, that our forecasts will accurately anticipate market demand, and that there will be no material adverse change in our operations or business. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive and market conditions, and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond our control. In addition, our business and operations are subject to substantial risks which increase the uncertainty inherent in the forward-looking statements. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking information included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that our objectives or plans will be achieved. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations or projections include the risks and uncertainties described in this annual report in Item 3D: Risk Factors. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or other information contained in this report, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to  review any additional disclosures we make in our reports on Form 6-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

PART I

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS

Revenues from our stolen vehicle recovery services, which we refer to as SVR services (“SVR”) and automatic vehicle location (“AVL”) products, which we refer to as telematics products, are primarily dependent on our relationships with insurance companies and car manufactures in Israel. Insurance companies drive demand for our SVR services and telematics products by encouraging and, in some cases, requiring customers to subscribe to vehicle location services and purchase vehicle location products such as ours. For our subsidiaries in Brazil and Argentina, insurance companies typically enter into written agreements to subscribe to our services and purchase or lease our products directly. Our inability to maintain our existing relationships or establish new relationships with insurance companies could adversely affect our revenues and growth potential. In some of the territories in which we operate, we have business relationships with car manufacturers. Our inability to maintain our existing relationships or establish new relationships with car manufacturers could adversely affect our revenues and growth potential.

We depend on insurance company practices in the markets in which we provide our SVR services and sell our telematics products. In Israel, insurance companies either mandate the use of SVR services by use of telematics products, or their equivalent, as a prerequisite for providing insurance coverage to owners of certain medium- and high-end vehicles or provide insurance premium discounts to encourage vehicle owners to subscribe to services and purchase products such as ours. For our subsidiaries in Brazil and Argentina, insurance companies mainly lease our telematics products directly and subsequently require their customers to subscribe to our SVR services.

Therefore, we rely on insurance companies’ continued practice of:

If any of these policies or practices change, revenues from sales of our SVR services and telematics products could decline, which could adversely affect our revenues and growth potential.

Demand for our SVR services and telematics products depends primarily on prevailing or expected vehicle theft rates. Vehicle theft rates may decline as a result of various reasons, such as the availability of improved security systems, implementation of improved or more effective law enforcement measures, or improved economic or political conditions in markets that have high theft rates. If vehicle theft rates in any or all of our existing markets decline, or if insurance companies or our other customers believe that vehicle theft rates have declined or are expected to decline, demand for our SVR services and telematics products may decline.

Our SVR services and telematics products are primarily used to protect vehicles and are often installed before or immediately after their initial sale. Consequently, a reduction in new vehicle sales could reduce our addressable market for SVR services and telematics products. New car sales may decline for various reasons, including an increase in new car tariffs, taxes or gas prices. A decline in vehicle production levels or labor disputes affecting the automobile industry in the markets where we operate may also impact the volume of new vehicle sales. A decline in new car sales in the markets in which we provide our SVR services or sell our telematics products could result in reduced demand for these services and products.

The markets for our services and products are highly competitive. We compete primarily on the basis of the technological innovation, quality and price of our services and products. Our most competitive market is the telematics services market and the related telematics products market, due to the existence of a wide variety of competing services and products and alternative technologies that offer various levels of protection and tracking capabilities, including global positioning systems, or GPS, satellite- or network-based cellular systems and direction-finding homing technologies. Some of these competing services and products, such as certain GPS-based products, are installed in new vehicles by vehicle manufacturers prior to their initial sale, which effectively precludes us from competing for these subscribers in the SVR market. Furthermore, providers of competing services or products may extend their offerings to the locations in which we operate, or new competitors may enter the telematics services market. Our telematics products also compete with less sophisticated theft protection devices such as standard car alarms, immobilizers, steering wheel locks and homing devices, some of which may be significantly cheaper. Some of these competing products have greater brand recognition than our telematics products.

We are engaged in businesses characterized by rapid technological change and frequent new product developments and enhancements. The number of companies developing and marketing new telematics products has expanded considerably in recent years. The development of new or improved products, systems or technologies that compete with our telematics products, for both our SVR and fleet management services, may render our products and services less competitive and we may not be able to enhance our technology in a timely manner. In addition to the competition resulting from new products, systems or technologies, our future product enhancements may not adequately meet the requirements of the marketplace and may not achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenues. Any of the foregoing could cause a decline in our revenues and profitability.

Our telematics products identify the location of vehicles in which our products are installed. Following a notification of an unauthorized entry, or if we receive notification of the vehicle’s theft from a subscriber, we notify the relevant law enforcement agency of the location of the subscriber’s vehicle and generally rely on local law enforcement or governmental agencies to recover the stolen vehicle. We cannot control nor predict the response time of the relevant local law enforcement or other governmental agencies responsible for recovering stolen vehicles, nor that the stolen vehicles, once located, will be recovered at all. In the past, some stolen vehicles in which our telematics products were installed were not recovered on timely manner, from the time an unauthorized entry is confirmed or reported to the time the vehicle is recovered. To the extent that the relevant agencies do not effectively and timely respond to our calls and recover stolen vehicles, our recovery rates would likely diminish, which may, in turn, negatively impact customers’ perception of the usefulness of our SVR services and telematics products, adversely affecting our revenues.

The effectiveness of our telematics products is dependent, in part, on the inability of unauthorized persons to deactivate or otherwise alter the functioning of our telematics products or the vehicle anti-theft devices that work in conjunction with our telematics products. As sales of our telematics products increase, criminals in the markets in which we operate may become increasingly aware of our telematics products and may develop methods or technologies to detect, deactivate or disable our tracking devices or the vehicle anti-theft devices that work in conjunction with our telematics products. We believe that, as is the case with any product intended to prevent vehicle theft, over time, there may be an increased ability of unauthorized persons to detect, deactivate, disable or otherwise inhibit the effectiveness of our telematics products, although it is difficult to verify this fact. An increase in the ability of unauthorized persons to detect, deactivate, disable or otherwise inhibit the effectiveness of our telematics products could adversely affect demand for our products and adversely affect our revenues.

We license from third parties some of the technology that we need in order to provide our SVR services and market and sell some of our telematics products. In the event that such licenses were to be terminated, or if such licenses were rendered unenforceable or invalid and we would not be able to license similar technology from other parties, it would require us, at a minimum, to obtain rights to a different technology and reconfigure our telematics products accordingly. In addition, some of the licenses we obtained from third parties are non-exclusive, which may enable other entities to obtain identical licenses from such third parties to operate in the places in which we conduct our business resulting in increased competition and could adversely affect our revenues. Our ability to sell some of our services and products depends upon the prior receipt and maintenance of various governmental licenses and approvals and our failure to obtain or maintain such licenses and approvals, or third-party use of the same licenses and frequencies, could result in a disruption or curtailment of our operations, a significant increase in costs and a decline in revenues.

We are required to obtain specific licenses and approvals from various governmental authorities in order to conduct our operations. For example, some of our telematics products use radio frequencies that are licensed and renewed periodically from the Ministry of Communications in Israel and similar agencies worldwide. As we continue to expand into additional markets, we will be required to obtain new permits and approvals from relevant governmental authorities. Furthermore, once our telematics infrastructure is deployed and our telematics end-units are sold to subscribers, a change in radio frequencies would require us to recalibrate all of our antennas and replace or modify all end-units held by subscribers, which would be costly and may result in delays in the provision of our SVR services. In addition, some of the governmental licenses for radio frequencies that we currently use may be preempted by third parties. In Israel, our license is designated as a “joint” license, allowing the government to grant third parties a license to use the same frequencies, and in Brazil our license is designated as a “secondary”, non-exclusive license, which allows the government to grant a third party a primary license to use such frequencies, which third-party use could adversely affect, disrupt or curtail our operations. Our inability to maintain necessary governmental licenses and frequency approvals, or third-party use of or interference with the same licenses or frequencies, could result in a significant increase in costs and decline in revenues and profitability.

Our SVR services business model and, consequently, our ability to provide our SVR services and sell our telematics products, relies on our ability to successfully identify markets in which:

The absence of these conditions, our inability to locate markets in which these conditions exist or the loss of any one of these conditions in markets we currently serve could adversely affect our revenues generated in existing markets and our growth potential.

Our success depends upon the efforts and abilities of key management personnel, including our President and our Co-Chief Executive Officers. Loss of the services of one or more of such key personnel could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan. In addition, we believe that our future success depends in part upon our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel necessary for the development of our business. If one or more members of our management team or other key technical personnel become unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, and if additional key personnel cannot be hired and retained as needed, our business and growth prospects could be adversely affected.

We outsource the manufacturing of a significant part of our telematics products to third parties. We use manufacturers for production of our telematics products and we do not maintain significant levels of inventories to support us in the event of unexpected interruptions in the products manufacturing process. If our principal manufacturer or any of our other manufacturers is unable to or fails to manufacture our products in a timely manner, we may not be able to secure alternative manufacturing facilities without experiencing an interruption in the supply of our products or an increase in production costs. Any such interruption or increase in production costs could affect our ability to provide our telematics products in a timely and cost-effective manner, adversely impacting our revenues and profit margins.

We rely on two major suppliers to supply us with various products and software, one of them is our subsidiary. Each of these suppliers supply us with different types of products and software and acts as the single supplier of these products and services.  Termination of relations with one of our major suppliers would adversely affect our operations and revenues.

We and our third-party manufacturers use specialized quality assurance testing equipment in the production of our telematics products. The replacement of any such equipment as a result of its failure or loss could result in a disruption of our production process or an increase in costs, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

There are no established industry standards in all of the businesses in which we sell our telematics products. For example, vehicle location devices may operate by employing various technologies, including network triangulation, GPS, satellite-based or network-based cellular or direction-finding homing systems. The development of industry standards that do not incorporate the technology we use may decrease or eliminate the demand for our services or products and we may not be able to develop new services and products that are in compliance with such new industry standards on a cost-effective basis. If industry standards develop and such standards do not incorporate our telematics products and we are unable to effectively adapt to such new standards, such development could harm our results of operations.

We anticipate future growth to be attributable to our business activities in new markets, particularly in developing countries, where we may encounter additional risks and challenges, such as longer payment cycles, potentially adverse tax consequences, potential difficulties in collecting receivables and potential difficulties in enforcing agreements or other rights in foreign legal systems. The challenges and risks of entering a new market may delay or preclude our ability to generate anticipated revenues and may impede our overall growth strategy.

Part of our business relies on signals from GPS/GPRS satellites built and maintained by third parties. If GPS/GPRS satellites become unavailable to us, or if the costs associated with using GPS/GPRS technology increase such that it is no longer feasible or cost-effective for us to use such technology, we will not be able to adequately provide our services. In addition, if one or more GPS/GPRS satellites malfunction, there could be a substantial delay before such satellites are repaired or replaced, if at all. The occurrence of any of the foregoing events could negatively impact our immediate and future revenues from, or growth of, our telematics services and adversely affect our results of operations.

Our telematics and SVR services, relies on the use of information technology which under a major cyber security breach, could harm our operations. We are using physical services, wireless transmitting stations, GPRS/GPS, and in lesser account cloud computing to provide our services. There are risks associated with storing and transmitting data, which due to cyber security breach may be corrupted, and the store data on remote servers may be destroyed, damaged, seized, or otherwise no longer accessible, which may temporarily decrease our ability to deliver telematics and SVR services.

We implemented cyber security controls – which consists of three pillars: prevention, detection and response (data recovery in the event of a cyber breach). We perform an ongoing review of our systems and an annual external review of our cyber security controls and their implementation. However, such cyber security controls may not be able to prevent all unexpected weaknesses. In the event of a cyber-attack, we could experience the corruption or loss of data, misappropriation of assets or sensitive information, including customer information, or operational disruption. This could result in response costs and various financial loss and may subject us to litigation and cause damage to our reputation, for which we may not be covered under our current insurance policies and may lead to substantial loss of revenues.

Some of our employees in our subsidiaries in Brazil and Argentina are members of labor unions. If a labor dispute were to develop between us and our unionized employees, such employees could go on strike and we could suffer work stoppage for a significant period of time. A labor dispute can be difficult to resolve and may require us to seek arbitration for resolution, which arbitration can be time consuming, distracting to management, expensive and difficult to predict. The occurrence of a labor dispute with our unionized employees could delay or preclude altogether our ability to generate revenues in the markets where such employees are located.

In periods of shortages impacting the semiconductor industry during year 2022, we have placed and may continue to place non-cancellable inventory orders in advance of our historical lead times, and pay premiums and/or provide deposits to secure future supply and capacity. For example, while we previously placed orders with approximately six months’ lead time, we have begun placing orders at least twelve months in advance. Our inventory and purchase commitments reflect our demand expectations for our future quarters and long-term supply and capacity needs. However, we may not be able to accurately predict when such periods of shortage will end, nor do we know whether those inventory orders accurately address our current and future demand needs. These actions increased some of our product costs .If this shortage will sustain we may suffer same economic extra costs in the future.

During the year 2023, we have encountered growing inflation rates and growing interest rates in the main territories where we operate. This has caused additional costs to our financing and operations. This environment has a potential negative impact on our results,  as long as it sustains.

Regional or Global Health Pandemic

The provision of our SVR services depends upon adequate network coverage for accurate tracking information. In Israel, we have installed 98 base sites that provide complete communications coverage in Israel. Similarly, we have communications coverage in Sao Paulo, Brazil (124 sites) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (37 sites). The installation and operation of most of our base sites require building permits from local or regional zoning authorities as well as a number of additional permits from governmental and regulatory authorities.

Currently most of our base sites in Israel and Brazil and some of our base sites in Argentina operate without local building permits or the equivalent. Although relevant authorities in Israel, Brazil and Argentina have not historically enforced penalties for non-compliance with certain permit regulations, following ongoing press coverage and actions by various public interest groups, relevant Israeli authorities have begun seeking enforcement of permit regulations, especially with respect to antennas constructed for cellular phone operators. Some possible enforcement measures include the closure or demolition of existing base sites or the imposition of limitation on the building of new base stations. Should these enforcement measures be imposed upon us in Israel, Brazil or Argentina, the extent, quality and capacity of our network coverage and, as a result, our ability to provide SVR services, may be adversely affected. In Israel we are in process of achieving compliance with the regulation of our base stations, this process can take several years .

The valuation of our assets and liabilities, our revenues received, and the related expenses incurred are not always denominated in the same currency. This lack of correlation between revenues and expenses exposes us to risks resulting from currency fluctuations. These currency fluctuations could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, such currency fluctuations take place in several countries in which we operate which affects our operation results in these countries. In addition, fluctuations in currencies may result in valuation adjustments in our assets and liabilities which could cause our results of operations to decline.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR OPERATIONS IN ISRAEL

Our headquarters are located in Israel and most our key employees, officers and directors are residents of Israel. Accordingly, security, political and economic conditions in Israel directly affect our business. Over the past several decades, a number of armed conflicts have taken place between Israel and its Arab neighbours. During the recent years Israel was engaged in an armed conflicts with a militant group and political party who controls the Gaza Strip. These conflicts involved missile strikes against civilian targets in various parts of Israel, including areas in which our employees and some of our consultants are located, and negatively affected business conditions in Israel.

On October 7^th, 2023, Hamas terrorist organization has launched an horrific hostile military assault against Israel. Hamas has murdered 695 civilians, 373 soldiers and foreigners and kidnapped more than 230 into the Gaza Strip. On that day, where militant groups launched a surprise attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, marking the start of a most significant military escalation in the region. After clearing Hamas militants, the Israeli retribution war actions against Hamas which started from October 8^thwith more than 250,000 Israeli soldiers recruited from reserve. ISRAELI military retaliated by conducting an extensive aerial bombardment campaign on Hamas targets, followed by a large-scale ground military act on Gaza. The aforementioned was also coupled with military actions taken on the Northern part of Israel against the Hasbullah from Lebanon. We were not significantly affected by the aforementioned hostile and military actions. Continued or increased hostilities, future armed conflicts, political developments in other states in the region or continued or increased terrorism could make it more difficult for us to conduct our operations in Israel, which could increase our costs and adversely affect our financial results.

Furthermore, there are number of countries, primarily in the Middle East, that still restrict business with Israel or Israeli companies and as a result our company is precluded from marketing its products in these countries. Restrictive laws or policies directed toward Israel or Israeli businesses could have an adverse effect on our ability to grow our business and our results of operations.

The Israeli government during year 2023 pursued extensive changes to Israel’s judicial system. This has sparked extensive political debate. In response to the foregoing developments, many individuals, organizations and institutions, both within and outside of Israel, have voiced concerns that the proposed changes may negatively impact the business environment in Israel, due to potential reluctance of foreign investors to invest or transact business in Israel, increased currency fluctuations, downgrades in credit rating, increased interest rates, increased volatility in securities markets, and other changes in macroeconomic conditions. To the extent that any of these negative developments occur, they may have an adverse effect on our business, our results of operations, or our ability to raise additional funds.

We have been declared a monopoly under the Israeli Economy competition Law (formerly known as Restrictive Trade Practices Law, 1988) (the “Israeli Antitrust Law”), in the market for the provision of systems for the location of vehicles. Under Israeli law, a monopoly is prohibited from taking certain actions, such as predatory pricing and the provision of loyalty discounts, which prohibitions do not apply to other companies. The Israeli antitrust authority (under its new name - Competition Authority) may further declare that we have abused our position in the market. Any such declaration in any suit in which it is claimed that we engage in anti-competitive conduct would serve as prima facie evidence that we are a monopoly or that we have engaged in anti-competitive behaviour. Furthermore, we may be ordered to take or refrain from taking certain actions, such as set maximum prices, in order to protect against unfair competition. If we breach certain provisions of the Israeli Antitrust Law, including as a monopoly, the Israeli Competition authority may also impose on us in an administrative procedure, financial sanctions in an amount of up to the lower of NIS100 million (approximately US$27.6 million, according to the USD-NIS exchange rate, as of December 31, 2023) or 8% of our annual revenues for the last financial year prior to such breach. Restraints on our operations as a result of being considered a “monopoly” in Israel could adversely affect our ability to grow our business in Israel.

We are incorporated and headquartered in Israel. As a result, our executive officers and directors are non-residents of the United States and a substantial portion of our assets and the assets of these persons are located outside of the United States. Therefore, service of process upon any of these officers or directors may be difficult to effect in the United States. Furthermore, it may be difficult to enforce a judgment issued against us in the United States or any of such persons in both United States courts and other courts abroad.

Additionally, there is doubt as to the enforceability of civil liabilities under United States federal securities laws in actions originally instituted in Israel or in actions for the enforcement of a judgment obtained in the United States on the basis of civil liabilities in Israel.

We may be subject to Israeli corporate law which regulates mergers, requires tender offers for acquisitions of shares above specified thresholds, requires special approvals for transactions involving directors, officers or significant shareholders and regulates other matters that may be relevant to these types of transactions. In addition, our articles of association contain, among other things, provisions that may make it more difficult to acquire our company, such as classified board provisions and certain restrictions on the members of our board pursuant to regulatory requirements of the Israeli Ministry of Communication. Furthermore, Israeli tax considerations may make potential transaction structures involving the acquisition of our company unappealing to us or to some of our shareholders. See Item 10.B. – “Memorandum and Articles of Association” - “Our Corporate Practices under the Israeli Companies Law” under the caption “Approval of Transactions under Israeli law” and Item 10.E. – “Taxation” under the caption “Israeli Tax Considerations” for additional discussion of some anti-takeover effects of Israeli law. These provisions of Israeli law and our articles of association may delay, prevent or otherwise encumber a merger with, or an acquisition of, our company or any of our assets, which could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company, even when the terms of such a transaction could be favourable to our shareholders.

We are incorporated under Israeli law. The rights and responsibilities of holders of our ordinary shares are governed by our memorandum of association, articles of association and by Israeli law. These rights and responsibilities differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders in typical US-based corporations. In particular, a shareholder of an Israeli company has a duty to act in good faith toward the company and other shareholders and to refrain from abusing his, her or its power in the company, including, among other things, in voting at the general meeting of shareholders on certain matters. Israeli corporate law has undergone extensive revisions in recent years and, as a result, there is little case law available to assist in understanding the implications of these provisions that govern shareholders’ actions, which may be interpreted to impose additional obligations on holders of our ordinary shares that are typically not imposed on shareholders of US-based corporations.

GENERAL RISKS RELATED TO OUR ORDINARY SHARES AND THE ECONOMY

Future sales of our ordinary shares could reduce the market price of our ordinary shares.

If we or our shareholders sell substantial amounts of our ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the market price of our ordinary shares may decline.

The stock market in general, and the market price of our ordinary shares in particular, are subject to fluctuation, and changes in our share price may be unrelated to our operating performance. The market price of our ordinary shares has fluctuated in the past, and we expect it will continue to do so, as a result of a number of factors, including:

These factors and price fluctuations may materially and adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares and result in substantial losses to our investors.

Moked Ituran Ltd. currently beneficially owns approximately 20.49% of our outstanding ordinary shares (not including treasury stock held by us). Other than applicable regulatory requirements under applicable law, Moked Ituran Ltd., is not prohibited from selling an interest in our company to a third party. In addition, our articles of association provide for a staggered board which may delay, prevent or deter a change in control. For additional information concerning our staggered board, see Item 6.A – Directors and Senior Management.

If, for any taxable year, our passive income or our assets that produce passive income exceed levels established by the Internal Revenue Code, we may be characterized as a passive foreign investment company, which we refer to as PFIC, for US federal income tax purposes. This characterization could result in adverse US tax consequences to our shareholders who are U.S. Holders. See Item 10.E. – “Taxation” under the caption “United States Tax Considerations” below, for more information about which shareholders may qualify as U.S. Holders. If we were classified as a PFIC, a U.S. Holder could be subject to increased tax liability upon the sale or other disposition of our ordinary shares or upon the receipt of amounts treated as “excess distributions”. Under such rules, the excess distribution and any gain would be allocated rateably over the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the ordinary shares and the amount allocated to the current taxable year and any taxable year prior to the first taxable year in which we were a PFIC would be taxed as ordinary income. The amount allocated to each of the other taxable years would be subject to tax at the highest marginal rate in effect for the applicable class of taxpayer for that year, and an interest charge for the deemed deferral benefit would be imposed on the resulting tax allocated to such other taxable years. In addition, U.S holders of shares in a PFIC may not receive a “step-up” in basis on shares acquired from a decedent. U.S. Holders should consult with their own U.S. tax advisors with respect to the United States tax consequences of investing in our ordinary shares as well as the specific application of the “excess distribution” and other rules discussed in this paragraph. For a discussion of how we might be characterized as a PFIC and related tax consequences, please see Item 10.E. – “Taxation” under the caption “United States Tax Considerations–Passive foreign investment company considerations”.

We may decide to raise additional funds through a public or private debt or equity financing to fund our operations or finance acquisitions. If we issue additional equity securities, the percentage of ownership of our shareholders will be reduced and the new equity securities may have rights superior to those of our ordinary shares, which may, in turn, adversely affect the value of our ordinary shares.

Current and future economic conditions could adversely affect consumer spending in the automobile industry, as such spending is often discretionary and may decline during economic downturns when consumers have less disposable income. Consequently, changes in general economic conditions resulting in a significant decrease in dealer automobile sales or in a tightening of credit in financial markets, such as the 2007 U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and resulting credit crunch, could adversely impact our future revenue and earnings. Such decreases could also affect the financial security of the automobile dealers and manufactures with whom we do business. The delayed payment from or closure of our larger dealer groups could affect our ability to collect on our receivables. Similar effects could result from local economic downturns in either one of our main markets of operations, i.e. Israel, Brazil and other regions which we operate. Given the volatile nature of the current market disruption, we may not timely anticipate or manage such existing or new risks. Our failure to do so could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Our legal name is Ituran Location and Control Ltd. We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Israel in 1994 as a subsidiary of Tadiran Ltd., an Israeli-based designer and manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, software and defence electronic systems, whose original business purpose was to adapt military-grade technologies for the civilian market.

We are mainly engaged in the area of Telematics services, consisting of stolen vehicle recovery, fleet management services, connected cars, UBI, and other tracking services. We also provide telematics products used in connection with our Telematics services and various other applications. We currently primarily provide our services and sell and lease our products in Israel, Brazil, and other regions where we operate. We also provide fleet management services in other countries through distributors.

In May 1998, we completed the initial public offering of our ordinary shares in Israel and our ordinary shares began trading on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange. In September 2005, we publicly offered our ordinary shares in the United States. On May 25, 2016, we voluntarily delisted our shares from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and our ordinary shares are currently quoted only on Nasdaq under the symbol “ITRN”.

Our principal executive offices are located at 3 Hashikma Street, Azour 58001, Israel, and our telephone number is +972-3-557-1333. Our website address is www.ituran.com (the information contained therein or linked thereto shall not be considered incorporated by reference in this annual report). Our agent for service of process in the United States is Ituran USA Inc.1700 NW 64th ST. SUITE 100 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309, and its telephone number is +1 (866) 543-5433.  As a company whose ordinary shares are registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), we report publicly to the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site (http:// www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

We had capital expenditures of $14.2 million in 2023, $26.5 million in 2022, and $16.6 million in 2021 primarily in Israel, Brazil and Mexico, consisting primarily of acquisitions of the operational equipment we use to provide. We financed our capital expenditures with cash flows generated from our operations.

We believe we are a leading provider of telematics services, consisting predominantly of stolen vehicle recovery, fleet management services and other tracking services as well as connected car and usage base insurance (UBI). We also provide telematics products used in connection with our telematics services. We currently primarily provide our services and sell and lease our products in Israel, Brazil, and our other regions which we operate and also other regions through our distributers. We utilize technologies that enable precise and secure high-speed data transmission and analysis. Some of the technology underlying our products was originally developed for the Israeli Defence Forces in order to locate downed pilots.

We generate our revenues from subscription fees paid for our telematics services and from the sale and lease of our telematics products.

We describe below the principal markets in which we compete. For a breakdown of total revenues by category of activity and geographic market for each of the last three financial years, please see Item 5.A - Operating Results under the caption “Revenues”.

In 2023, 73.3% of our revenues were attributable to our telematics services. As of December 31, 2023, we provided our services in Israel, Brazil, and other countries to approximately 814,000, 672,000 and 766,000 subscribers, respectively.

 We have direct agreements with two major car manufacturers and our products are embedded in their vehicles or otherwise approved by the car manufacturers. This connection requires us to meet the highest car manufacturer automotive standards.

Our stolen vehicle recovery and tracking services, which we refer to as SVR services, enable us to locate, track and recover stolen vehicles for our subscribers. Our customers include individual vehicle owners who subscribe to our services directly, car manufacturers and insurance companies that either require their customers to install a security system or offer their customers financial incentives to subscribe to SVR services such as ours. In certain countries, insurance companies directly subscribe to our SVR services on behalf of their customers.

Our fleet management services enable corporate and individual customers to track and manage their vehicles in real time. Our services improve appointment scheduling, route management and fleet usage tracking, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing operating costs for our customers. We market and sell our services to a broad range of vehicle fleet operators and individual vehicle owners in different geographic locations and industries. As of December 31, 2023, we provided our services to approximately 477,000 end-users through corporate customers in countries where we operate directly and through 25,000 distributers.

The locator services that we offer allow customers to protect valuable merchandise and equipment. We currently provide locator services in Israel, Brazil, and other regions which we operate. In addition, through a call center, we provide 24-hour on-demand navigation guidance, information and assistance to our customers. Such services include the provision of traffic reports, help with directions and information on the location gas stations, car repair shops, post offices, hospitals and other facilities. We offer our concierge services to our subscribers in Israel, Brazil and other regions which we operate.

“Connected Car”- The service platform includes a back-office application, a telematics device installed in the vehicle, mobile apps for both IOS and Android and an interface using the car infotainment screen. Such services include information on car service history, information on some car systems, remote communication with the car in order to detect malfunctions, and to provide pre-emptive car maintenance alerts for both mechanical failures and operational issues such as a low tire pressure alert. The system also enables booking service appointments, both from the infotainment system interface in the system and from the user’s mobile app and additional related operational, and marketing services, as well as information analysis. “Connected Car” is operating in Israel, Brazil, and other regions which we operate.

“Usage Based Insurance” (UBI) – we have developed a unique product (hardware and software) that measure and analyse the driving behaviour in a verity of aspects by the driver, which enables insurance companies to offer a tailor -made and personalized insurance policy. The UBI has already been implemented and marketed by the majority of the insurance companies in Israel.

“Auto Financing” - A strong second-hand car market in many of our geographies in Latin America, and new fintech start-ups as well as banks enter this segment to provide the financing in this market. However, they need a provider of location-based and connected-car technology, such as Ituran, to monitor the car location and driver’s behaviour and thereby decrease the risk of the car loans they make in these markets..

In 2023, 26.7% of our revenues were attributable to the sale of our telematics products. Our telematics products employ short - and medium-range communication between two-way wireless modems and are used for various applications, including automatic vehicle location, which we refer to as telematics products.

Our telematics products enable the location and tracking of vehicles, as well as assets, and are used by us primarily to provide SVR and fleet management services to our customers. Each subscriber to our services has our telematics end-unit installed in their vehicle. Subscribers to services for locating equipment and merchandise use our SMART and GPS/GPRS products.

The regulation referred to the civil work of the support structure of the antenna, (masts / towers / anchors / bracing, etc.) is not the competence of ENACOM (National Communication Entity), so it cannot exercise jurisdiction over it. This situation is determined in articles 39, 40 and 41 of the National Law 19798/72, and in Resolution No. 795 CNT / 92, ratified by Resolution 302 SC / 99. Therefore, the claims and queries related to the installation, the deterioration or poor conditions or related to the support structures, should be addressed to the municipalities. It should be noted that the owner of a station in operation assumes responsibility for the works and accessory facilities that must be executed to install a radio station, attributing the technical responsibility of a civil work, to the designer and the director of the same, being this situation framed in what is established in articles 1273 and following of the Civil and Commercial Code of the Nation.

Other Investments

We fund our operations primarily from cash and cash equivalents generated from operations. As of December, 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023 we had $54.7 million, $28.2 million and $53.6 million in cash and marketable securities and  $58.1 million, $57.7 million and $86.8 million in working capital, respectively. We hold most of our cash and cash equivalents in US dollars or the local currency of their location.

As of December 31, 2023 we had a long term loan at the amount of $0.2 million and a short term loans at the amount of $0.4 million.   As of December 31, 2022 we had a long- term loan from an Israeli bank at the amount of $0.3 million and a short term loans at the amount of $11.8 million. As of December, 2021 we had a long-term loan from an Israeli bank in the amount of $13.7 million and a short term loans at the amount of $17.8 million. As of December 2021 ,2022 and 2023, we also had $1.6 million, $1.7 million and $2.1 million, respectively, available to us under existing lines of credit. As of December 31, 2021 we utilized $0.7 million of our credit line, as of December 31, 2022 we utilized $0.6 million of our credit line and, and as of December 31, 2023 we utilized $0.6 million of our credit line.

We believe that our cash flow from operations, availability under our lines of credit and cash and marketable securities will be adequate to fund our capital expenditures, contractual commitments and other demands and commitments for the foreseeable future as well as for the long-term. We believe that cash flow generated from operations and cash available to us from our credit facilities will be sufficient to cover future expansion of our various businesses into new geographical markets or new products, as currently contemplated and as we describe herein. However, if existing cash and cash generated from operations are insufficient to satisfy our liquidity requirements, we may seek financing elsewhere by selling additional equity or debt securities or by obtaining additional credit facilities.

As of December 31, 2021,2022 and 2023 we had long-term liabilities of $22.5 million, $21.2 million, and $24.6 million, respectively, for employee rights upon retirement for certain of our employees that become payable upon their retirement. Our Israeli employees are entitled to one month’s salary, equal to the applicable monthly salary at the time of such employee’s retirement, for each year of employment, or a portion thereof, upon retirement. This liability is partially funded by deposit balances maintained for these employee benefits in the amount of $16.2 million, $15.1 million and $18.5 million, as of December, 2021 ,2022 and 2023 respectively. The deposited funds include profits accumulated up to the balance sheet date and may be withdrawn upon the fulfilment of the obligation pursuant to Israeli severance pay laws or labor agreements.

In Ecuador, there are two unique Laws which are relevant to our activities:

In Mexico, All Mexican employers, whether individuals or entities, are required to calculate and pay mandatory profit- sharing payments to employees within 60 days following the filing of their annual Mexican tax return. The obligation for employers to make such payments is based on the legal provisions in Section IX of Article 123 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, which establishes that employees shall have the right to participate in their employer’s profits in the amount of 10% of such employer’s taxable income. As such, the following types of employees have the right to receive profit sharing payments: (a) permanent employees hired to carry out normal, long-term work for an employer, without regard to the number of days worked during the January 1 through December 31, 2019 fiscal year; (b) eventual permanent employees who have worked for an employer fewer than 60 days, whether continuously or sporadically, during the fiscal year referred to above; (c) former employees who have the right to claim profit sharing payments, when such rights have not lapsed.

On February 26, 2017 we have revised our dividend policy, which came in force starting from 2017, that our dividends will be declared and distributed on a quarterly basis in an amount of at least 5 million USD subject to the provisions of the Israeli laws concerning lawful distribution of dividends. During years 2021-2022 we reduced our quarterly dividend to $3 million due to Covid-19 ,but on November 2023 our Board decided to resume the same $5 million as dividend distributed quarterly and in February 2024 the board of directors approved the increase of quarterly dividend to $8 million.

Dividend we declared in respect to 2021 result:

On May 25, 2021, we declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of $3 million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on July 14, 2021, with respect to the first quarter of 2021. On August 23, 2021, we declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of $3 million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on October 13, 2021, with respect to the second quarter of 2021. On November 16, 2021, we declared a quarterly dividend on the amount of $3 million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on January 5, 2022, with respect to the third quarter of 2021. On March 7, 2022, we declared a quarterly dividend of $3 million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on April 6, 2022, with respect to the fourth quarter of 2021.

Dividend we declared in respect to 2022 result:

On May 24, 2022, we declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of 3 million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on July 14, 2022, with respect to the first quarter of 2022. On August 29. 2022, we declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of 3, million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on October 13, 2022, with respect to the second quarter of 2022. On November 21, 2022, we declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of 3 million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on January 4, 2023.

Dividend we declared in respect to 2023 result:

On May 21, 2023, we declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of 3 million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on July 12, 2023, with respect to the first quarter of 2023. On August 15. 2023, we declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of 3, million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on October 11 , 2023, with respect to the second quarter of 2023. On November 27, 2023, we declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of 5 million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on January 4, 2024. On February 29,2024 we declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of 8 million, which was paid (net of taxes at the rate of 25%) on April 3, 2024

Until the RTH Transaction, we have repurchased 2,507,314 of our shares, out of these shares (373,489 shares) were resold as part of the consideration in the RTH Transaction. As part of the RTH Transaction price adjustment 300,472 shares were returned to us in April 2019. As part of implementation of our Board of Directors decision of 25 million USD share repurchase program, Share repurchases were funded by our wholly owned subsidiary with available cash. Repurchases of the Company’s ordinary shares were based on Rule 10b-18 terms. During the years 2019 and 2021 we purchased 227,828 and 228,725 of our shares for approximately $6 million each year. During the year 2021, we also directly purchased additional 50,995 shares for approximately $1.3 million not through publicly announced plans. During 2022 we purchased additional 357,362 shares for approximately $5 million. During 2023 we purchased additional 282,644 shares for approximately $6.6 million.

Our operating activities provided cash of  $55.8 million in 2021, $45.1 million in 2022 and $77.2 million in 2023.

Cash from operating activities in 2023 increased in an amount of approximately $32.1 million, this increase was mainly due to the growth in our net profit, decrease in inventory and an increase in our deferred revenues proceeds.

Net cash used in investing activities in 2023 in an amount of approximately $17.2 million, included capital expenditure in the amount of $14.2 million.

Net cash used in investing activities in 2022 in an amount of approximately $27,4 million, included capital expenditure in the amount of $26.5 million.

Net cash used in investing activities in 2021 in an amount of approximately $18.2 million, included capital expenditure in the amount of $16.6 million.

Net cash used in by financing activities in 2021 in an amount of approximately $58.9 million consisted primarily of a repayment of short- and long-term credit from financial institution in amount of $23.8 million, cash dividend payment in an amount of approximately $15.8 million a cash payment to settle the obligation to purchase non-controlling interest in an amount of approximately $11.3 million and an acquisition of company shares in an amount of approximately $7.3 million.

Most of our research and development activities take place in Israel, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador. Our Research and Design department is constantly working on upgrading the service infrastructure and improving our fleet management applications, including by introducing new services and uses of the system, while utilizing both internal development staff and outsourcing such activities to third parties, as well as developing new service platforms for cellular/GPS based devices.

Expenditures for research and development activities undertaken by us were approximately $17.0  million in 2023, $16.8 million in 2022, $14.1 million in 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic had little impact on our business during year 2022. Nevertheless, in case this pandemic or similar in effect will erupt this may have an adverse effect on our business.

Please see Item 4.A. – History and Development of the Company and Item 4.B. – Business Overview above for trend information.

We do not have off-balance sheet arrangements (as such term is defined in Item 5E. of the Form 20-F) that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial conditions, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that are material to investors.

The following table sets forth information regarding our executive officers, key employees and directors as of the date of this annual report:

Izzy Sheratzky is a co-founder of our company and its President. He has previously served as the Chairman of our Board of Directors, which in our company constitutes both an officer and director positions, ever since our company was acquired from Tadiran in 1995. Until 2003, Mr. Sheratzky also served as our Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Sheratzky also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Moked (1973) Investigations Company Ltd., Moked Services, Information and Investments Ltd., and Moked Ituran. He also serves as a director in Tikal Document Collection Ltd. Mr. Sheratzky is the father of Eyal, Nir and Gil Sheratzky, Brother of Efraim Sheratzky and uncle of Tal Sheratzky-Jaffa.

Yehuda Kahane is a co-founder of our company and has served on our board since 1995. Professor Kahane is an entrepreneur in both the academic and business arenas. He is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. He received the 2011 highest international award for his lasting contribution to the theory, practice and education in insurance and risk management, as well as a lifetime achievements award by the Israeli Insurance industry. He is a co-founder and chairperson of the YK Center for Preparing for the New Economy. Kahane is a Professor (Emeritus) from the Collar Business, Tel Aviv University where he headed the Institute for Business and the Environment. He taught at many business schools around the world, including the Wharton School, the University of Texas (Austin), the University of Toronto and the University of Florida, and has founded and served as the first Dean of the Israeli Academic School of Insurance. Professor Kahane chairs and is a major owner of Capital Point Ltd., and is active in the formation, seed investment and management of start-up companies and technological incubators, unrelated to our company. He chairs the association for the visually impaired people in Herzliya and Sharon district, and a board member of the Center for Blind People in Israel (The Umbrella organization). He is an honorary member of the Israel-Brazil Chamber of Commerce. Professor Kahane holds a BA degree in Economics and Statistics, an MA degree in Business Administration and a PhD in Finance from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a Fellow of the Israeli Association of Actuaries. He specializes in insurance, risk management, environmental issues and technological forecasting. He is the father of Yoav Kahane.

Zeev Koren has served as a director of our company since 2006 and since 2011 serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company. In 1988 Brigadier Gen. (Res) Koren retired from the Israel Defence Forces after a career of 25 years, where in his final position he served as the head of human resources planning for the general staff division. Since then he has served in a senior capacity in companies in the fields of international forwarding and medical services. During the past ten years he has also served as the general manager of a Provident Management Company. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Criminology from Bar Ilan University.

Efraim Sheratzky was appointed to the board on February 9, 2015, to replace Mr. Amos Kurz, as a Class A Director. Efraim Sheratzky studied insurance in the Israeli Insurance College. Efraim Sheratzky owns together with Yigal Shani, Tzivtit Insurance Agency (1998) Ltd. Efraim Sheratzky served as our director from 1999 and until 2005. Efraim Sheratzky is the brother of Izzy Sheratzky and the uncle of Eyal, Nir and Gil Sheratzky and father of Ms. Tal Sheratzky-Jaffa. Mr. Efraim Sheratzky was elected, on December 14, 2022, in annual general shareholders meeting, to serve as a director in Class A for additional period until third succeeding Annual General meeting, thereafter.

Eyal Sheratzky has served as a director of our company since its acquisition from Tadiran in 1995 and currently serves as a Co-Chief Executive Officer since 2003. Prior to 2003, he served as Vice President of Business Development during the years 1999 through 2002. Mr. Sheratzky also serves as a director of Moked Ituran and certain of our other subsidiaries, including Ituran Network. From 1994 to 1999, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Moked Services, Information and Investments and as legal advisor to several of our affiliated companies. Mr. Sheratzky holds LLB and LLM degrees from Tel Aviv University School of Law and an Executive MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, USA. Mr. Sheratzky is the son of Izzy Sheratzky and the brother of Nir and Gil Sheratzky and nephew of Effraim Sheratzky. Mr. Eyal Sheratzky was elected, on December 14, 2022, in annual general shareholders meeting, to serve as a director in Class A for additional period until third succeeding Annual General meeting, thereafter.

Nir Sheratzky has served as a director of our company since its acquisition from Tadiran in 1995 and currently serves as a Co-Chief Executive Officer since 2003. Prior to 2003, Mr. Sheratzky served as an Executive Officer in our company from 1995 to 2003. Mr. Sheratzky is also a director in Moked Ituran. He holds BA and MA degrees in Economics from Tel Aviv University. Nir is the son of Izzy Sheratzky and the brother of Eyal and Gil Sheratzky and nephew of Effraim Sheratzky.

Gil Sheratzky serves as a director of our company and since 2013 as our International Activity and Business Development Officer. Mr. Sheratzky has been serving since January 23, 2007 as the Chief Executive Officer of our subsidiary, E-Com Global Electronic Commerce Ltd. From 2003 and until 2013 Mr. Sheratzky served as our marketing communication officer. During the years 2000 - 2001 Gil worked in our control center, and during the years 2001 - 2002 he worked in an advertising agency. Mr. Sheratzky holds a BA in Business Administration from the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, and an MBA degree from the Booth School of Business at Chicago University, USA. Gil serves also as director in Saver One Bringg and chairman of Mapa GIS (a subsidiary of Ituran). Gil Sheratzky is the son of Izzy Sheratzky and the brother of Eyal Sheratzky and Nir Sheratzky and nephew of Effraim Sheratzky

Yoav Kahane (Director and an Independent Director, and also a member of audit committee and a member of compensation committee) has served as director of our company since 1998. Mr. Kahane is serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Vizo Specs Ltd,a startup company he co-founded that develop a non-invasive technology for immediate enhancement of attention and the treatment of ADHD .During 2020 he served as CBO of PrintCB ,developer and manufacturer of advanced copper materials for car electrification. a. During 2006-2014, Mr. Kahane has worked for Enzymotec in various managerial positions including Director of Business Development, VP Sales & Marketing, Infant Nutrition Business Unit Manager, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Advanced Lipids AB, a joint venture of AAK AB and Enzymotec, specializing in nutritional ingredients to the infant nutrition industry. During the years 2004-2005, Mr. Kahane served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing in Elbit Vision Systems Ltd. During the years 2001 and 2002, he served as Manager of Business Development in Denver Holdings and Investments Ltd. In 2000, Mr. Kahane established Ituran Florida Corp. and served as its Chief Executive Officer until 2001. Mr. Kahane holds a BA degree in Life Sciences from Tel-Aviv University, a BA degree in Insurance and an MBA degree from the University of Haifa. Yoav Kahane is the son of Professor Yehuda Kahane. Mr. Kahane. Mr. Kahane was elected, on December 14, 2022, in annual general shareholders meeting, to serve as an Independent Director in Class A for additional period until third succeeding Annual General meeting, thereafter.

Yigal Shani has served as a director of our company since its acquisition from Tadiran in 1995. Mr. Shani is an insurance agent and a partner in the insurance agency Tzivtit Insurance Agency (1998) Ltd. together with Efraim Sheratzky, which provides insurance services to our company. Mr. Shani has resigned on March 13, 2014 in order to allow compliance with the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law, which require that the board of directors to include at least one female and was reappointed on February 9, 2015 to replace Mr. Avner Kurz, as a Class B Director.

Israel Baron has been serving as an external director of our company since 2003 and is the Chairman of our board’s committees. Mr. Baron served as a director in Poalim Trust Services Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of Bank Hapoalim Ltd from 2009 until 2017. In addition, Mr. Baron has been serving as Chief Executive Officer of several public sector employee retirement and saving plans since 2003. Prior to 2003, Mr. Baron managed an organizational consulting firm, served as an investment manager in the Isaac Tshuva group during the years 1999 to 2001 and as Chief Executive Officer of Gmulot Investment Company Ltd. Mr. Baron serves as a director of Quality Baron Management Services Ltd. and until 2004 he served as a director of Brill Shoe Industries Ltd. Mr. Baron is a certified CPA and holds a BA degree in Economics and Accounting from the Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel. Israel Baron was re-elected on Noveember 30, 2023 for additional 3-year term to serve as external director.

Gidon Kotler is an external director of our company. He was nominated on April 30, 2014. Prior to his retirement on 2016, Mr. Kotler has been serving as the assets manager of Strauss-Group Ltd., one of Israel’s largest public companies, since 1997. Prior to that, Mr. Kotler has served for 3 years as the chief executive officer of the Tel-Aviv New Central Bus Station, and for 14 years as the chief executive officer of the Dizengof Center’s management company. Mr. Kotler has served as an external director of Elran Real Estate Ltd. from 2007 until 2010. On December 28, 2016, an annual general shareholders meeting approved the extension of the term of Mr. Gideon Kotler, our external director, for additional three years (beginning April 30, 2017). On December 12, 2019, an annual general shareholder meeting approved additional extension of the term of Mr. Gideon Kotler, our external director, for additional three years (beginning April 30, 2020), which was extended for an additional three years (beginning April 30, 2023), in an annual shareholder’s general meeting held on December 14, 2022.

Ms. Tal Sheratzky-Jaffa was until recently a Vice President at Margalit Startup City, a unique Israeli organization focused on building and creating centers of excellence worldwide. Prior to joining Margalit Startup City, Ms. Sheratzky-Jaffa was a Strategy and Development Manager at Reality Investment Funds, Israeli value-add real estate fund. Prior to joining Reality Investment Funds, Ms. Sheratzky-Jaffa was a partner at the Israeli law firm Amit, Pollak, Matalon and Co., specializing in the fields of investment funds, mergers and acquisitions, high-tech and corporate governance, and an associate at the New York offices of the US law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Ms. Sheratzky-Jaffa holds LL.M degree from Columbia University (New York), LL. B from Haifa University and B.A (economics) from Haifa University and is a member of the Israeli Bar Association and the New York State Bar. Ms. Sheratzky-Jaffa is the nephew of Izzy Sheratzky and the cousin of Eyal, Nir and Gil Sheratzky and the daughter of Efraim Sheratzky. Ms. Sheratzky – Jaffa was elected, on December 14, 2022, in annual general shareholders meeting, to serve as director in Class A for additional period until third succeeding Annual General meeting, thereafter.

Ami Saranga has been serving as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of our company since 2011. Prior to that Mr. Saranga served as our VP Marketing since 2008. Prior to 2008, Mr. Saranga managed the SME division of Pelephone Communications Ltd., one of Israel’s largest telecommunication network operators. Mr. Saranga holds a BA degree in Business Administration from Ruppin Academic Center, Israel.

Eli Kamer has served as Executive Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of our company since 1999, after serving as its Finance Department Manager since 1997. Prior such date, Mr. Kamer worked as an accountant in Fahn Kanne & Co., our independent registered public accountant. Mr. Kamer is a CPA and holds a BA degree in Business Administration from the Israel College of Management and an MBA degree in business administration from Bar Ilan University.

Guy Aharonov has served as our in-house legal counsel since 1999. Prior to joining our company, he has worked as an attorney in Cohen Lahat & Co. Mr. Aharonov holds LLB and LLM degrees from Tel Aviv University.

Udi Mizrahi has served as our VP Finance since 2000. On his current position Mr. Mizrahi serve as a Deputy Chief Executive Officer International Operation and VP of Finance. Mr. Mizrahi is a CPA and holds a BA degree in accounting and economics from Ruppin Academic Center, Israel.

Our articles of association provide for staggered three-year terms for all our directors (except our external directors, who are elected in accordance with the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law). The directors on our board (excluding the external directors) are divided into three classes, and each class of directors serves for a term of three years, as follows: Izzy Sheratzky, Gil Sheratzky and Zeev Koren (class C), who were re-elected on December 13, 2021; Nir Sheratzky, Yigal Shani and Yehuda  Kahane (class B), who were re-elected on December 10, 2020; and Eyal Sheratzky, Efraim Sheratzky, Tal Sheratzky-Jaffa and Yoav Kahane (class A), who were re-elected on December 12, 2019. This classification of the board of directors may delay or prevent a change of control of our company.

On December 28, 2016, an annual general shareholders meeting approved the extension of the term of Mr. Gidon Kotler, our external director, for additional three years (beginning April 30, 2017), which was extended to additional term of three years.  On November 30, 2023, an annual general and special shareholders meeting approved the re-election of Mr. Israel Baron, our external director, for additional three years.

Pursuant to Moked Ituran Ltds articles of association and agreement (as amended) between its shareholders, there is a mechanism in place with regard to directors to be designated and voted for election by Moked Ituran Ltd in each of our annual shareholders meeting for the relevant class of directors (four directors in class A and B and three in class C). This arrangement for the election of directors is only effective for as long as Moked Ituran Ltd. holds at least 15% of our issued and outstanding share capital.

During 2023, we set aside $455,000 for the benefit of our officers for pension, retirement or similar benefits. We do not set aside any funds for the benefit of our directors who are not employees for any pension, retirement or similar benefits.

All numbers in this section are rounded to the nearest thousand.

For further details concerning such terms of service, please see Item 7.B – Related Parties Transactions under the caption “Transactions with our directors and principal officers.”

In 2006, our compensation committee has devised a bonus scheme pursuant to which some of our officers and employees received shares of our profit before tax on a consolidated basis, based on their seniority, level of global and domestic involvement, contribution to our operations and other criteria set by the compensation committee. In 2010, our compensation committee resolved that additional managers shall be entitled to receive bonuses under this bonus scheme and that some of the grantees should continue to receive a bonus based on our consolidated results and some should receive a bonus based only on our solo financial statements. During 2023, we paid a total of $1,086,000 to our officers and employees pursuant to the above bonus schemes.

In December 2012, amendment no. 20 to the Israeli Companies Law became effective. Among other things, this amendment requires Israeli public companies to set forth their policy regarding their office holders’ terms of office, including fixed compensation, target-based incentives, equity awards, severance and other benefits. The amendments also set forth the considerations that should be applied when devising a compensation policy for office holders.

The term “office holder” is defined in the Israeli Companies Law, to mean the chief executive officer, chief business officer, deputy chief executive officer, vice chief executive officer, any other person fulfilling such position even if his title is different, as well as a director or a manager directly subordinate to the chief executive officer.

The compensation policy must be approved every three years by the board of directors, after considering the recommendations of the compensation committee; and generally requires the approval of the company’s general meeting of shareholders by a special majority of shareholders who are not controlling shareholders and who do not have a personal interest in the approval of the policy; or, alternatively, that the non-controlling shareholders and shareholders who do not have a personal interest in the matter who are present and vote against the policy hold two percent or less of the voting power of the company.

The compensation policy does not intend to amend any officer’s existing terms of office; nor to bestow any officer with a right to receive the compensation, or any element thereof set forth therein. However, generally, once the compensation policy is approved, all future terms of service of office holders should conform to its provisions. The specific terms of office of each officer shall be separately determined in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Israeli Companies Law and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

Our general shareholders meeting approved our compensation policy for office holders on October 31, 2013, and on November 7, 2016, and later on December 14, 2022 approved a renewal of the  compensation policy . The policy applies to office holders of the Company (see definition above), who serve as the Company’s President, Chief Executive Officer(s) and other executives who are deemed office holders of the Company, as well as office holders of the Company’s Israeli wholly owned subsidiaries, provided they report to the chief executive officer. The policy also applies to directors of the Company.

Our compensation policy for office holders was formulated in view of our belief that our business success is the result of the excellence of our human resources and their devotion to the achievement of our company’s goals. Therefore, it is aimed at offering our officers with a competitive compensation package that will align their incentives with those of our company and our shareholders, and at motivating them to achieve the goals of our company, while avoiding undue pressure to take excessive risks. Among other factors, our compensation committee and board of directors have considered, as required by amendment no. 20 to the Israeli Companies Law and as reflected in the policy: (a) the advancement of the company’s goals, its business plan and its policy with a long-term view; (b) the creation of appropriate incentives for office holders, considering the company’s risk management policy; (c) the size of the company and the nature of its business; (d) with respect to variable components of the terms of office – the contribution of the office holders to the achievement of the company’s goals and to the maximization of its profits, with a long-term view and in accordance with the position of the office holder.

The compensation policy incorporates all matters required to be included in a compensation policy as mandated by amendment 20 to the Israeli Companies Law, including (without limitation): (a) the requirement to consider the office holders’ education, skills, professional experience, expertise, position and past compensation agreements; (b) consideration of the ratios between overall compensation of the officers and the average and median salary of the other employees of the Company; (c) the board’s right to reduce variable compensation; (d) the determination of a maximum period for advanced and transition periods upon termination of services; (e) basing variable components of compensation on key performance indicators and on measurable criteria; (f) determining the ratio between fixed and variable components of compensation and setting forth caps on the amount of variable compensation payable; and (g) a claw-back provision with respect to restatements of financial statements.

Pursuant to our articles of association as presently in effect, our board of directors generally consists of twelve directors, including at least three independent directors in accordance with the listing rules of Nasdaq concerning the composition of audit committees, of whom two directors are external directors as required by Israeli law. Our independent directors, as such term is defined under the Nasdaq listing rules, are Mr. Baron, Mr. Kotler, Mr. Koren, Mr. Yoav Kahane and Ms. Tal Sheratzky - Jaffa, Pursuant to our articles of association, other than the external directors, for whom special election requirements apply (see “External directors” below), our directors are elected, by majority of our shareholders and may be removed by special majority. However, see Item 6.A – Directors and Senior Management for a description of our staggered board and the shareholders agreement and articles of association of Moked Ituran Ltd. Our board of directors may at any time and from time to time appoint any other person as a director to fill a vacancy until the general meeting of shareholders in which the term of service of the replaced director was scheduled to expire.

Pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law, our chairman convenes and presides over the meetings of the board. In addition, any two directors may convene a meeting of the board of directors, as well as a director who becomes aware of a company’s matter that allegedly involves a breach of the law or an improper business conduct. A quorum consists of a majority of the members of the board, and decisions are taken by a vote of the majority of the members present. Our articles of association provide that such quorum will in no event be less than two directors.

We are incorporated in Israel and are therefore subject to the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law, including certain corporate governance provisions. Our ordinary shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (Our shares were delisted from the Tel Aviv stock exchange on May 25, 2016, for additional information see Item 9.A – Price History of Our Shares), and we are therefore subject to certain provisions of the Israeli securities laws, the U.S. securities laws and the Nasdaq listing rules. See also Item 16.G. – Corporate Governance below for additional information concerning our compliance with the Nasdaq listing rules and exemptions therefrom.

According to our Articles of Association, some of our officers and employees (including the chairman of our board and at least one third member of the Board) should be citizens and residents of Israel and receive clearance approval from the Israeli General Security Service. All the members of our board comply with these requirements.

On February 26, 2017 our board has adopted an Internal Compliance policy, which following review of our internal process included a comprehensive update of our internal regulations and codification of our internal regulations, all pursuant to the applicable Israeli laws.

Under Israeli law, the board of directors of companies whose shares are publicly traded are required to include at least two members who qualify as external directors. External directors are to be elected by a majority vote at a shareholders’ meeting, provided that either:

External directors are generally elected to serve an initial term of three years and may be re-elected to serve in that capacity for two additional three-year terms; however, companies whose securities are listed on recognized foreign exchanges, such as Nasdaq, may extend the service terms of their external directors for additional unlimited terms, each of no more of than three years , subject to the approval of the audit committee and the board of directors that such extension is for the benefit of the company in view of the directors’ expertise and special contribution to the operation of the board and its committees and these reasons together with the term served by the external director were presented to the shareholders prior to their approval (see the Israeli Companies Regulations (Allowances for Companies with Securities Listed on an Exchange Outside Israel), 2000-5760). The appointment of an external director for additional terms may be brought for the approval of the shareholders either by the board of directors or by a shareholder that holds at least 1% of the company’s voting rights, provided that the nominee is not a related or competing shareholder (as defined below) or a relative thereof, at the time of the appointment, and does not have an affinity to such shareholder (as defined below) at the time of the appointment or the two years preceding such appointment. The term “related or competing shareholder” means the shareholder who proposed the appointment or a 5% shareholder of the company if, at the time of the appointment, his controlling person or a company controlled by either of them, has business relations with the company, or if he, his controlling person or a company controlled by either of them are competitors of the company. The term “affinity” means the on-going existence of work relationship, business or professional relationship or control and the service as an officer.

External directors may generally be removed from office by the same majority of shareholders required for their election or by a court, in each case, only under limited circumstances, including if they cease to meet the statutory qualification for their appointment or violate the duty of loyalty to the company.

If at the time of the appointment of an external director, all directors who are not controlling persons or their relatives are of the same gender, then the elected external director must be of the other gender.

Each committee of the board of directors that is vested with an authority of the board must include at least one external director, except that the audit committee and compensation committee must include all external directors then serving on the board of directors. The Israeli Companies Law prohibits external directors from receiving, directly or indirectly, any compensation other than for services as an external director pursuant to the provisions and limitations set forth in the applicable regulations promulgated under the Israeli Companies Law.

Israeli law provides that a person is not qualified to serve as an external director if he is a relative (as defined in the Israeli Companies Law) of the company’s controlling person, or if, at the time of his/her appointment and/or at any time during the two years preceding his or her appointment, that person, a relative, partner or employer of that person, or any entity under that person’s control, has or has had an affinity (as defined above) to the company, its controlling person or its relative or to any entity that, as of the date of appointment, or at any time during the two years preceding that date, is controlled by the company or by its controlling person. In addition, no person may serve as an external director if that person’s professional activities create, or may create, a conflict of interest with that person’s responsibilities as a director or otherwise interfere with that person’s ability to serve as a director; and, a person already serving as a director of one company may not be appointed as an external director of the company if at that time a director of the company is serving as an external director of the first company. In addition, a company, controlling shareholder and any other entity controlled by the controlling shareholder may not grant to such external director, its spouse or child, any benefits, directly or indirectly, and the external director, its spouse or child may not be appointed to serve in any position, may not be employed by and may not, directly or indirectly, render any professional services to the company, such controlling shareholder or any other entity controlled by the controlling shareholder, during the first two years following such external director’s termination of tenure of office, and with respect to a relative who is not the external director’s spouse or child – during the first year following such termination.

Mr. Israel Baron is now serving his seventh term as an external director of the Company, who was re-elected on of November 30, 2023 for a term of 3 years. Mr. Gideon Kotler was appointed on April 30, 2014 by an extraordinary shareholders meeting as our new external director, following the death of our former external director, Dr. Orna Ophir, in January 2014 and was re-elected by our general shareholders meeting on December 28, 2016, for his second term, of additional 3 years term starting from April 30, 2017, which was later extended for additional term of three years beginning ,April 30 , 2023.

Under Israeli law, the board of directors of a public company must appoint an audit committee. The audit committee must comprise of at least three directors, including all of the external directors and the chairman of the audit committee must be an external director. In addition, the majority of the members of the audit committee must be independent directors. Under the Israeli Companies Law, a director is considered “independent” if he/she is an external director or if he/she meets the qualifications of an external director, has not served as a director of the company for over 9 consecutive years, and has been classified as such. Under Israeli regulations a director who serves more than 9 consecutive years as a director may still be deemed as “independent director” provided the Audit committee and thereafter the board of directors resolved that his-her tenure as a director for an extend term is for the benefit of the company based on his/her expertise and unique contribution to the board and its committees. Our Audit committee and board of directors so resolved with regard to Messrs. Israel Baron Gidon Kotler. The audit committee may not include the chairman of the board, any director who is employed by the company or regularly provides services to the company (other than as a board member), a controlling shareholder or any relative of such person. All audit committee decisions must be approved by a majority of the committee members of which the majority of members present are independent directors. Furthermore, a person who is not eligible to serve on the audit committee is restricted from participating in its meetings and votes, unless the chairman of the audit committee determines that such person’s presence is necessary in order to present a certain matter, provided however, that the company employees who are not controlling shareholders or relatives of such shareholders may be present in the meetings but not in the actual votes and likewise, company counsel and secretary who are not controlling shareholders or relatives of such shareholders may be present in meetings and decisions of such present is requested by the audit committee.

Our audit committee must also meet the requirements of the Nasdaq listing rules concerning audit committees.

Our board of directors has formed an audit committee that is empowered, among other things, to exercise the powers of the board of directors concerning our accounting, reporting and financial control practices. Our audit committee operates in accordance with a charter, which complies with the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law and the Nasdaq listing rules. The members of the audit committee are currently Messrs. Israel Baron, Gidon Kotler and Yoav Kahane, all of whom are independent as required of members of the audit committee under the Nasdaq listing rules. Mr. Gidon Kotler was appointed on April 30, 2014 to replace Dr. Orna Ophir who passed away in January 2014. Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Israel Baron possesses financial sophistication as required by Rule 5605(c)(2) under the Nasdaq listing rules, and that both Mr. Baron and Mr. Kotler possess accounting and financial expertise as defined by Israeli regulations.

Pursuant to the Israeli Companies Regulations (Provisions and Conditions regarding the Financial Statements’ Authorization Process), 2010, a reporting entity, except for a reporting entity that is subject to Chapter E(3) of the Israeli Securities Act, is required to establish a committee of the board of directors for the examination of financial statements. Since we are a reporting entity under Chapter E(3), we are not obliged to constitute a committee for the examination of financial statements; and therefore, commencing with the financial statements for the first quarter of 2013, we ceased holding meetings of the examination of financial statements committee; and instead, our audit committee considers the financial statements prior to their approval by the board.

Pursuant to the 22^nd amendment in the Israeli Company law, which was set to define new rules to approve transaction of the public company with its controlling shareholders, or the transaction in which the controlling shareholder has interest. The law requires from our Audit committee to set up rules to define the criteria for classification of transactions, which are neither Insignificant Transactions nor extraordinary transactions, and their procedures of approval that will be determined per each year in advance. In addition, the law requires from the Audit Committee to set methods of examining transactions with the controlling shareholders, in order to enable their classification and their comparison to the conditions in the free market. The Audit Committee resolved on September 29, 2014 as follows:

The Israeli Companies Law mandates the appointment of a compensation committee comprising of at least three directors. The compensation committee must include all of the external directors, who shall constitute the majority of the members thereof, and its remaining members shall be directors whose terms of service comply with the provisions promulgated concerning the remuneration of external directors. The chairman of the committee must be an external director. The members of the Compensation committee are currently Israel Baron, Gideon Kotler and Yoav Kahane. Mr. Gidon Kotler was appointed on April 30, 2014 to replace Dr. Orna Ophir who passed away in January 2014. All members of our compensation committee are independent directors as defined by the Nasdaq listing rules, and all of whom meet the composition requirements under the Israeli Companies Law. Since February 2016, the Israeli Companies Law permits that Audit Committee can serve also as a Compensation committee, provided that it will comply with requirements of the Compensation Committee as explained above.

Under the Israeli Companies Law, the compensation committee is responsible for: (i) making recommendations to the board of directors with respect to the approval of the compensation policy for office holders and any extensions thereto; (ii) periodically reviewing the implementation of the compensation policy and providing the board of directors with recommendations with respect to any amendments or updates thereto; (iii) reviewing and resolving whether or not to approve arrangements with respect to the terms of office of office holders; and (iv) determining whether or not to exempt a transaction with a candidate for chief executive officer from shareholders’ approval.

Furthermore, our compensation committee oversees, on behalf of the Board, the management of Ituran’s compensation and other human resources-related issues and otherwise carries out on behalf of the Board its responsibilities relating to these issues. The committee is responsible for establishing annual and long-term performance goals and objectives for our executive officers. In addition, as required under the Nasdaq listing rules, our compensation committee is responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any compensation consultant, legal counsel and other adviser retained by the committee; and may retain such advice only after taking into account the considerations set forth in the Nasdaq listing rules in this respect. Our compensation committee operates in accordance with a charter, which complies with the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law and the Nasdaq listing rules.

According to our compensation committee charter, the compensation committee, among its other duties, is responsible on reviewing the disclosure in this form which concerns the Compensation Policy and the sections describing the Terms of Service of Officers, controlling persons and their relatives.

Under the Israeli Companies Law, the board of directors of a public company must appoint an internal auditor nominated by the audit committee. An internal auditor may not be:

The role of the internal auditor is to examine, among other things, the compliance of the company’s conduct with applicable law and orderly business procedures. Our internal auditor in 2020 was Shimon Yarel, CPA, who has served as our internal auditor since January 1999. On March 2, 2021, the audit committee and the board of directors approved the appointment of Ms. Alexandra Meron Yarel as an internal auditor instead of Mr Shimon Yarel, and that is due to his retirement.

The following table sets forth the total number of our employees at the end of each of the past three years, and a breakdown of such employees by main category of activity and by geographic location:

We consider our relations with our employees to be satisfactory and have no ongoing major labor disputes or material labor-related litigation. Our employees are subject to local labor laws and regulations, which in some countries are more stringent than others. Some of our senior executives also have employment agreements that may grant them rights in excess of those provided by the applicable laws.

Our employees in Israel are subject to Israeli labor laws and regulations and employment customs. The applicable labor laws and regulations principally concern matters such as paid annual vacation, paid sick days, length of the workday, payment for overtime and severance pay. Israeli law generally requires severance pay equal to one month’s salary for each year of employment upon retirement or death of an employee or termination of employment without cause. Furthermore, Israeli employees and employers are required to pay predetermined sums to the National Insurance Institute, which is similar to the United States Social Security Administration. Since January 1, 1995, these amounts also include payments for national health insurance.

Israeli labor laws impose on employers increased liability, including monetary sanctions and criminal liability, in cases of violations of certain labor laws and certain violations by contractors providing maintenance, security and cleaning services.

Our employment agreements in Brazil are subject to Brazilian labor laws and regulations, to collective labor agreements or bargaining arrangements with unions and contract. The laws and regulations in Brazil govern almost all aspects of an employment relationship and do not leave much room to be negotiated with the employee. Still, employment contracts create obligations to the parties if they are in compliance with the law. The Labor Code mainly governs the employees’ right to paid annual vacation, paid sick days, the maximum length of a workday, minimum payment for overtime and statutory severance pay. Brazilian law generally requires severance pay equal to 40% of the balance of the employee’s FGTS account (a mandatory fund to guarantee severance and unemployment). The FGTS can also be withdrawn when the employee retires, dies or his employment is terminated without cause, among others. Brazilian employers are required to purchase health insurance for employees only in the event it is set forth by the applicable collective labor agreement, contract or company policy, and are required to cover employees’ food and travel costs whenever a business trip is required, and to make deposits into a Guarantee Severance Fund (the so-called “FGTS”). Furthermore, Brazilian employees and employers are required to make contributions to the National Insurance Institute (“INSS”), similar to the United States Social Security Administration. Our collections to the National Insurance Institute amount to 34.8% to 39.8% of the payrolls, out of which 8% to 11% (limited to R$5,839.45 of individual salary) corresponds to contributions by the employees deducted from salaries and 26.8% is the fixed part we pay. Our contribution of 26.8% includes mandatory contribution to the Public Insurance for Labor Accidents and Diseases (SAT). According to Decree Law 6957/2009 such portion, which varies from 1% to 3% of payroll, should be multiplied by another factor (FAP) from 0.5 to 2 in order to reduce or increase our burden to reflect statistics of occupational accidents and diseases in our business.

All of our employees in Brazil, excluding the chief executive officer, some directors (VPs) and some IT providers are represented by a labor union and the employees’ mandatory contributions to their union are paid by us. The law no. 13.467/2017, which entered into force on November 11, 2017, made the labor union contribution optional (i.e., discounted only upon the employees’ consent).

Our employees in Argentina are subject to Argentine labor laws and regulations and other special practices and employment customs. The laws and regulations in Argentina control all aspects of labor relations and designate a general Employment Contract with which all employees and employers must comply. This general Employment Contract adopts by reference the provisions of the Labor Law which principally concerns matters such as paid annual vacation, paid sick days, the length of the workday, and payment for overtime and severance pay.

Argentine law generally requires severance pay equal to one month per year of service upon the termination of employment without a justified cause.

Argentine employers are also required to contribute for the following items: (a) Pension funds 20.70 % (b) health insurance for employees 6% (c) occupational accident insurance 1.56% for January to December 2023 and 1,74% since December 2021 on %; and (d) Retirement fund insurance 2.5% (only this item is for Union Employees). All the rates should be applied on the gross salary.

Our employees in Argentina, excluding the chief executive officer and several other employees, are members of a labor union and the employee member fees are paid by them.

We have no collective bargaining agreements with any of our employees in the United States and none of our employees are members of a union.

The hiring of employees in Mexico is subject to the regulations of the Federal Labor Law, the Social Security Law, the Infonavit Law, the Income Tax Law, Afore, and Infonacot In these laws both workers and employers have obligations and rights; the percentage corresponding to the employer is 40% in Payroll and Employee Tax depending on their level of income. The working relationship between employer and employee is regulated by the Individual work contract In Mexico we have several modalities of types of Labor Contract, according to the permanence and type of contract, example: Contract for a Determined Time, Permanent Contract, and Contract for Determined Work. In these Contracts the conditions of the work are specified. Within our company we also have working relationships through outsourcing, where our employees have the same rights and obligations and adhere to the same internal and legal guidelines. Contract terminations without cause by the employer require the payment of 3 months’ salary as a concept of damages.

Our employees in Ecuador are subject by the Ecuadorian Labor Code. The Labor Code provides for a 40-hour work week, 15 calendar days of annual paid vacation, restrictions and sanctions for those who employ child labor, general protection of worker health and safety, minimum wages and bonuses, maternity and paternity leave, and employer-provided benefits. The 2008 Constitution bans child labor, requires hiring workers with disabilities, and unpaid internships are not permitted in Ecuador. The law also mandates that employees’ thirteenth and fourteenth month bonuses, which are required by law, be paid in instalments throughout the year instead of in lump sums. Employees have the option to opt out of this change and continue to receive the payments in lump sums. The law eliminates fixed-term employee contracts and replaced them with indefinite contracts, which shortens the allowable trial period for employees to 90 days. The Law for Labor Justice and Recognition of Work in the Home, which included several changes related to labor and social security, took effect in April 2015. Workers in the private sector have the constitutional right to form trade unions and local law allows for unionization of any company with more than 30 employees. Private employers are required to engage in collective bargaining with recognized unions. The Labor Code provides for resolution of union´s conflicts through a tripartite arbitration and conciliation board process. The Code also prohibits discrimination against union members and requires that employers provide space for union activities.

Our employees in Colombia are subject to Colombian labor laws and regulations. All employees have an indefinite term employment contract and the law determines a minimum monthly salary (SMM), which is increased annually by the government and used to calculate labor obligations. 48 hours are the maximum hours for a week. All employees are affiliated with the Social Security System (Health, Pension and Occupational Risks), a percentage is paid by the company and the other by the employee, the calculation depends on the salary. The law determines additional benefits called social benefits payable by the company: Holidays: 15 working days for each year worked; Premium corresponds to the payment of 15 days of salary per semester worked or fraction; Unemployment corresponds to the payment of 30 days of salary per year worked or fraction; Unemployment interest corresponds to 12% of severance pay; Employees who earn less than 2 SMM must be given 3 times a year clothing and footwear or equivalent in bonuses. Termination of employment relationship by the company without a justified reason, is coupled with compensation to the employee. Additionally, for every 20 employees, the company must hire an apprentice who will receive financial support from 1 SMM, and who will be employed for a period of 6 months. Currently the company doesn’t have any unionized employee. For year 2022, Income Tax raises to 35%, as a result of tax reform approved by Colombia congress on 2021 (2021 income tax rate was 31%).

The following table sets forth share ownership information for our directors and executive officers listed in Item 6.A above as of April 10, 2024. All of the information with respect to beneficial ownership by our directors and executive officers has been furnished by the respective director or executive officer, as the case may be.

The following table shows the number of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by (a) the shareholders known to us as of April 10, 2024, to beneficially own more than 5% of our outstanding ordinary shares and (b) all of our directors and executive officers as a group.

The shareholders listed below do not have any different or special voting rights from any other shareholders of our company. Except where otherwise indicated, we believe, based on information furnished by the owners, that the beneficial owners of the ordinary shares listed below have sole investment and voting power with respect to such shares.