Curtiss-Wright - 10-K annual report 2018

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

[X] ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

or

[ ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _______ to _______

Commission File Number 1-134

CURTISS-WRIGHT CORPORATION

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

INDEX TO FORM 10-K

PART I

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Except for historical information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K may be deemed to contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (a) projections of or statements regarding return on investment, future earnings, interest income, sales, volume, other income, earnings or loss per share, growth prospects, capital structure, liquidity requirements, and other financial terms, (b) statements of plans and objectives of management, (c) statements of future economic performance, (d) the effect of laws, rules, regulations, new accounting pronouncements, and outstanding litigation on our business and future performance, and (e) statements of assumptions, such as economic conditions underlying other statements. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expects,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “outlook,” “potential,” “predict,” “should,” “will,” as well as the negative of any of the foregoing or variations of such terms or comparable terminology, or by discussion of strategy. No assurance may be given that the future results described by the forward-looking statements will be achieved. While we believe these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are only predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, other risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and factors that could affect our results and prospects are described in this report, including under the heading “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere, and may further be described in our prior and future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other written and oral statements made or released by us. Such forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K include, without limitation, those contained in Item 1. Business, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, including, without limitation, the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Given these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in or additions to the factors affecting such forward-looking statements.

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

Curtiss-Wright Corporation and its subsidiaries (we, the Corporation, or the Company) is a global, diversified manufacturing and service company that designs, manufactures, and overhauls precision components and provides highly engineered products and services to the aerospace, defense, general industrial, and power generation markets. We were formed in 1929 by the merger of companies founded by the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss, who were aviation pioneers. We are incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware and headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina. We list our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and trade under the symbol CW.

We expect that the diversification and breadth of our portfolio should mitigate the impact of business cycle volatility and allow us to drive growth in new products and markets. We seek to leverage and build upon our critical mass to expand our global manufacturing capabilities, sales channels, and customer relationships. We strive for consistent organic sales growth, operating margin expansion, and free cash flow generation, while maintaining a disciplined capital deployment strategy in order to drive long-term shareholder value.

We are well positioned on high-performance platforms and critical applications that require our technical sophistication and benefit from decades of engineering expertise. Our technologies are relied upon to improve safety, operating efficiency, and reliability, while meeting demanding performance requirements. Our ability to provide these advanced technologies on a cost-effective basis is fundamental to our strategy to drive increased value to our customers. We compete globally, primarily based on technology and pricing.

Business Segments

We manage and evaluate our operations based on the products and services we offer and the different markets we serve. Based on this approach, we operate through three segments: Commercial/Industrial, Defense, and Power.

Our principal domestic manufacturing facilities are located in Arizona, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and internationally in Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

Commercial / Industrial

Sales in the Commercial/Industrial segment are primarily to the general industrial and commercial aerospace markets and, to a lesser extent, the defense and power generation markets. The businesses in this segment provide a diversified offering of highly engineered products and services including: industrial vehicle products such as electronic throttle control devices, joysticks and transmission shifters; sensors, controls and electro-mechanical actuation components and utility systems used on commercial aircraft; valves to both the industrial and naval defense markets; and surface technology services such as shot peening, laser peening, coatings, and advanced analytical testing. The industrial businesses within our Commercial/Industrial segment are impacted primarily by general economic conditions which may include consumer consumption or commercial construction rates, as the nature of their products and services primarily support global industrial, oil and gas, commercial vehicles, medical, and transportation industries. The commercial aerospace business, in particular, is impacted by OEM production rates of new aircraft, while the defense business is impacted by government funding and spending on shipbuilding programs, primarily driven by the U.S. Government. As commercial industrial businesses, production and service processes rest primarily within material modification, machining, assembly, and testing and inspection at commercial grade specifications. The businesses distribute products through commercial sales and marketing channels.

Defense

Sales in the Defense segment are primarily to the defense markets and, to a lesser extent, to the commercial aerospace market. The businesses in this segment provide a diversified offering of products including: Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) embedded computing board-level modules, data acquisition and flight test instrumentation equipment, integrated subsystems, instrumentation and control systems, turret aiming and stabilization products, and weapons handling systems. The businesses within our Defense segment are impacted primarily by government funding and spending, driven primarily by the U.S. Government. Our products typically support government entities in the aerospace defense, ground defense, and naval defense industries. As a result, we have varying degrees of content on most fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), helicopters, ground vehicle platforms, and naval vessels. Additionally, we provide avionics and electronics, flight test equipment, and aircraft data management solutions to the commercial aerospace market. Our defense businesses supporting government contractors typically utilize more advanced and ruggedized production and service processes compared to our commercial

businesses and have more stringent specifications and performance requirements. The businesses in this segment typically market and distribute products through regulated government contracting channels.

Power

Sales in the Power segment are primarily to the commercial nuclear power generation and naval defense markets. For the commercial markets, we provide a diversified offering of products for commercial nuclear power plants and nuclear equipment manufacturers, including hardware, pumps, valves, fastening systems, specialized containment doors, airlock hatches, and spent fuel management products. We also provide Reactor Coolant Pumps (RCPs) and control rod drive mechanisms for commercial nuclear power plants, most notably to support the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design. The businesses are dependent upon the need for ongoing maintenance, repair and overhaul of existing operating power plants, typically to U.S. customers, as well as the construction of new power plants globally. The businesses distribute products through commercial sales and marketing channels and are impacted by pricing and demand for various forms of energy (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear) and also subject to changes in regulation which may impact demand, consumption, and underlying supply. For the defense markets, our products principally support the naval defense market, where we specifically provide naval propulsion and auxiliary equipment, including main coolant pumps, power-dense compact motors, generators, steam turbines, valves and secondary propulsion systems, primarily to the U.S. Navy. We also provide ship repair and maintenance for the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic and Pacific fleets through three service centers. The defense businesses in this segment are impacted by government funding and spending on shipbuilding programs, primarily driven by the U.S. Government.

OTHER INFORMATION

In accordance with normal U.S. Government business practices, contracts and orders are subject to partial or complete termination at any time at the option of the customer. In the event of a termination for convenience by the government, there generally are provisions for recovery of our allowable incurred costs and a proportionate share of the profit or fee on the work completed, consistent with regulations of the U.S. Government. Fixed-price redeterminable contracts usually provide that we absorb the majority of any cost overrun. In the event that there is a cost underrun, the customer recoups a portion of the underrun based upon a formula in which the customer’s portion increases as the underrun exceeds certain established levels.

We own and license a number of United States and foreign patents and patent applications, which have been obtained or filed over a period of years. We also license intellectual property to and from third parties. Specifically, the U.S. Government receives licenses to our patents that are developed in performance of government contracts, and it may use or authorize others to use the technology covered by such patents for government purposes. Additionally, trade secrets, unpatented research and development, and engineering, some of which have been acquired by the company through business acquisitions, make an important contribution to our business. While our intellectual property rights in the aggregate are important to the operation of our business, we do not consider the success of our business or business segments to be materially dependent upon the timing of expiration or protection of any one or group of patents, patent applications, or patent license agreements under which we now operate.

We have summarized the known, material risks to our business below. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely impacted if any of these risks materialize. Additional risk factors not currently known to us or that we believe are immaterial may also impair our business, financial condition, and results of operations and cash flows. The risk factors below should be considered together with information included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as other required filings by us to the Securities Exchange Commission, such as our Form 10-Q’s, Form 8-K’s, proxy statements for our annual shareholder meetings, and subsequent amendments, if any.

We store sensitive data, including intellectual property, proprietary business information, and confidential employee information on our servers and databases. Despite our implementation of firewalls, switchgear, and other network security measures, our servers, databases, and other systems may be vulnerable to computer hackers, physical or electronic break-ins, sabotage, computer viruses, worms, and similar disruptions from unauthorized tampering with our computer systems. We continue to review and enhance our computer systems as well as provide training to our employees in an attempt to prevent unauthorized and unlawful intrusions, but in the future it is possible that we may not be able to prevent all intrusions. Such intrusions could result in our network security or computer systems being compromised and possibly result in the misappropriation or corruption of sensitive information or cause disruptions in our services. We might be required to expend significant capital and resources to protect against, remediate, or alleviate problems caused by such intrusions. Any such intrusion could cause us to be non-compliant with applicable laws or regulations, subject us to legal claims or proceedings, disrupt our operations, damage our reputation, and cause a loss of confidence in our products and services, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We must comply with and are affected by laws and regulations relating to the award, administration, and performance of U.S. Government contracts. Government contract laws and regulations affect how we do business with our customers and, in some instances, impose added costs on our business. A violation of specific laws and regulations could result in the imposition of fines and penalties, the termination of our contracts, or debarment from bidding on contracts. These fines and penalties could be imposed for failing to follow procurement integrity and bidding rules, employing improper billing practices or otherwise failing to follow cost accounting standards, receiving or paying kickbacks, or filing false claims. We have been, and expect to continue to be, subjected to audits and investigations by government agencies. The failure to comply with the terms of our government contracts could harm our business reputation. It could also result in our progress payments being withheld. In some instances, these laws and regulations impose terms or rights that are more favorable to the government than those typically available to commercial parties in negotiated transactions. For example, the U.S. Government may terminate any of our government contracts and, in general, subcontracts, at its convenience as well as for default based on performance. Upon termination for convenience of a fixed-price type contract, we normally are entitled to receive the purchase price for delivered items, reimbursement for allowable costs for work-in-process, and an allowance for profit on work actually completed on the contract or adjustment for loss if completion of performance would have resulted in a loss. Upon termination for convenience of a cost reimbursement contract, we normally are entitled to reimbursement of allowable costs plus a portion of the fee. Such allowable costs would normally include our cost to terminate agreements with our suppliers and subcontractors. The amount of the fee recovered, if any, is related to the portion of the work accomplished prior to termination and is determined by negotiation.

A termination arising out of our default could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete for future contracts and orders. In addition, on those contracts for which we are teamed with others and are not the prime contractor, the U.S. Government could terminate a prime contract under which we are a subcontractor, irrespective of the quality of our services as a subcontractor.

Our U.S. Government contracts typically span one or more base years and multiple option years. The U.S. Government generally has the right to not exercise option periods and may not exercise an option period if the agency is not satisfied with

our performance on the contract or does not receive funding to continue the program. U.S. Government procurement may adversely affect our cash flow or program profitability.

Furthermore, we are subject to other risks in connection with government contracts, including without limitation:

We have contracts and operations in many parts of the world subject to United States and foreign laws and regulations, including the False Claims Act, regulations relating to import-export control (including the International Traffic in Arms Regulation promulgated under the Arms Export Control Act), technology transfer restrictions, repatriation of earnings, exchange controls, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Anti-Bribery Act, and the anti-boycott provisions of the U.S. Export Administration Act. Although we have implemented policies and procedures and provided training that we believe are sufficient to address these risks, we cannot guarantee that our operations will always comply with these laws and regulations. From time to time, we may file voluntary disclosure reports with the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Commerce regarding certain violations of U.S. export control laws and regulations discovered by us in the course of our business activities, employee training, or internal reviews and audits. To date, our voluntary disclosures have not resulted in a fine, penalty, or export privilege denial or restriction that has had a material adverse impact on our financial condition or ability to export. Our failure, or failure by our sales representatives or consultants to comply with these laws and regulations could result in administrative, civil, or criminal liabilities and could, in the extreme case, result in suspension or debarment from government contracts or suspension of our export privileges, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected if the United States were to withdraw from or materially modify certain international trade agreements, or if tariffs or other restrictions on the foreign-sourced goods that we sell were to increase.

A significant portion of our business activities are conducted in foreign countries, including Mexico and Canada. Our business benefits from free trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and we also rely on various U.S. corporate tax provisions related to international commerce as we build, market, and sell our products globally. On November 30, 2018, President Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to replace NAFTA. The USMCA maintains duty-free access for most products and leaves most key provisions of the NAFTA agreement largely intact. The USMCA still requires approval by the U.S. Congress, Mexico’s National Assembly, and Canada’s Parliament before it enters into force. Additionally, President Trump recently announced his intention for the United States to withdraw from NAFTA. The outcome of the Congressional approval process is uncertain, but it is possible that withdrawal or revisions to NATFA or failure to secure Congressional approval of the USMCA could cause an increase in customs duties which in turn could adversely affect intercompany transactions among our operating subsidiaries in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., as well as increase transaction costs with third party suppliers and customers. Furthermore, the current administration has threatened tougher trade terms with China and other countries, leading to the imposition of substantially higher U.S. tariffs on $250 billion of imports from China as well as higher Chinese tariffs on a large amount of U.S. exports to China. All of this could lead to increased costs and diminished sales opportunities in the U.S. and Chinese markets. Media and political reactions in the affected countries could potentially exacerbate the impact on our operations in those countries. The U.S. Administration’s assertive trade policies could result in further conflicts with U.S. trading partners, affecting our supply chains, sourcing, and markets. Foreign countries may impose additional burdens on us through the use of local regulations, tariffs or other requirements, which could increase our operating costs in those foreign jurisdictions. At this time, it remains unclear what actions, if any, President Trump will take with respect to other international trade agreements and U.S. tax provisions related to international commerce. If Congress does not pass the USMCA and if the United States were to withdraw from or materially modify NAFTA or other international trade agreements to which it is a party, or change corporate tax policy related to international commerce, or if tariffs were raised on the foreign-sourced goods that we sell, such goods may no longer be

available at a commercially attractive price or at all. This in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our business operates in many locations under government jurisdictions that impose income taxes. Changes in domestic or foreign income tax laws and regulations, or their interpretation, could result in higher or lower income tax rates assessed or changes in the taxability of certain revenues or the deductibility of certain expenses, thereby affecting our income tax expense and profitability. In addition, the amount of income taxes paid by us is subject to ongoing audits by U.S. federal, state, and local tax authorities and by non-U.S. tax authorities. If these audits result in assessments different from amounts reserved, future financial results may include unfavorable adjustments to our tax liabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Although we currently generate significant operating cash flows, which combined with access to the credit markets provides us with significant discretionary funding capacity, global economic and financial disruptions and tightening of the credit markets could affect our ability to fund our operations. In addition, certain of our customers and suppliers could be affected directly by an economic downturn and could face credit issues or cash flow problems that could give rise to payment delays, increased credit risk, bankruptcies, and other financial hardships, which could impact customer demand for our products as well as our ability to manage normal commercial relationships with our customers and suppliers. Depending on their severity and duration, the effects and consequences of a global economic downturn could have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.

Many of our products and services are sold in highly competitive markets and are affected by varying degrees of competition. We compete against companies that often have higher sales volumes and greater financial, technological, research and development, human, and marketing resources than we have. As a result, they may be better able to withstand the effects of periodic economic downturns. In addition, some of our largest customers could develop the capability to manufacture products or provide services similar to products that we manufacture or services that we provide. This would result in these customers supplying their own products or services and competing directly with us for sales of these products or services, all of which could significantly reduce our revenues. Furthermore, we are facing increased international competition and cross-border consolidation of competition. Our management believes that the principal points of competition in our markets are technology, product quality, product performance, price, technical expertise, timeliness of delivery, superior customer service and support, and continued certification under customer quality requirements and assurance programs. If we are unable to compete successfully with existing or new competitors in these areas, we may experience a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may be exposed to liabilities for personal injury, death, or property damage due to the failure of a product that we have sold. We typically agree to indemnify our customers against certain liabilities resulting from the products we sell, and any third-party indemnification we seek from our suppliers and our liability insurance may not fully cover our indemnification obligations to customers. We may also not be able to maintain insurance coverage in the future at an acceptable cost. Any

liability for which third-party indemnification is not available that is not covered by insurance could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition, an accident caused by one of our products could damage our reputation for selling quality products. We believe that our customers consider safety and reliability as key criteria in selecting our products and believe that our reputation for quality assurance is a significant competitive strength. If an accident were to be caused by one of our products, or if we were to otherwise fail to maintain a satisfactory record of safety and reliability, our ability to retain and attract customers may be materially adversely affected.

The majority of our contracts contain provisions which expose us to potential liability for warranty claims made by customers or third parties with respect to products that have been designed, manufactured, or serviced by us or our suppliers. Material product warranty obligations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Further, our reputation may be adversely affected by such defective product claims, whether or not successful, including potential negative publicity about our products.

A downturn in the aircraft market could adversely affect our business.

Our sales to large commercial aircraft manufacturers are cyclical in nature and can be adversely affected by a number of factors, including current and future traffic levels, increasing fuel and labor costs, intense price competition, the retirement of older aircraft, regulatory changes, outbreak of infectious disease, terrorist attacks, general economic conditions, worldwide airline profits, and backlog levels, all of which can be unpredictable and are outside our control. Any decrease in demand resulting from a downturn in the aerospace market could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Governmental agencies throughout the world, including the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency, prescribe standards and qualification requirements for aircraft components, including virtually all commercial airline and general aviation products. Specific regulations vary from country to country, although compliance with FAA requirements generally satisfies regulatory requirements in other countries. We include documentation with our products sold to aircraft manufacturing customers certifying that each part complies with applicable regulatory requirements and meets applicable standards of airworthiness established by the FAA or the equivalent regulatory agencies in other countries. In order to sell our products, the Corporation as well as the products we manufacture must also be certified by our individual original equipment manufacturers (OEM) customers. If any of the material authorizations or approvals qualifying us to supply our products is revoked or suspended, then the sale of such product would be prohibited by law, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

From time to time, the FAA or equivalent regulatory agencies in other countries propose new regulations or changes to existing regulations, which are usually more stringent than existing regulations. If these proposed regulations are adopted and enacted, we may incur significant additional costs to achieve compliance, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In general, our contracts may be terminated for our failure to satisfy our contractual obligations. In addition, some of our contracts contain substantial liquidated damages provisions and financial penalties related to our failure to satisfy our contractual obligations. For example, the terms of the Electro-Mechanical Division's AP1000 China and AP1000 U.S. contracts with Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) include liquidated damage penalty provisions for failure to meet contractual delivery dates if we caused the delay and the delay was not excusable. On October 10, 2013, we received a letter from WEC stating entitlements to the maximum amount of liquidated damages allowable under the AP1000 China contract of approximately $25 million.  To date, we have not met certain contractual delivery dates under the AP 1000 China and U.S. contracts; however there are significant uncertainties as to which parties are responsible for the delays, and we believe we have adequate legal defenses. Consequently, as a result of the above matters, we may incur significant costs or liabilities, including penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. As of

Our business and facilities are subject to numerous federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations relating to the use, manufacture, storage, handling, and disposal of hazardous materials and other waste products. Environmental laws generally impose liability for investigation, remediation, and removal of hazardous materials and other waste products on property owners and those who dispose of materials at waste sites, whether or not the waste was disposed of legally at the time in question. We are currently addressing environmental remediation at certain current and former facilities, and we have been named as a potentially responsible party along with other organizations in a number of environmental clean-up sites and may be named in connection with future sites. We are required to contribute to the costs of the investigation and remediation and to establish reserves in our financial statements for future costs deemed probable and estimable. Although we have estimated and reserved for future environmental remediation costs, the final resolution of these liabilities may significantly vary from our estimates and could potentially have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position.

Our success is dependent upon the efforts of our senior management personnel and our ability to attract and retain other highly qualified management and technical personnel. We face competition for management and qualified technical personnel from other companies and organizations. Therefore, we may not be able to retain our existing management and technical personnel or fill new management or technical positions or vacancies created by expansion or turnover at our existing compensation levels. Although we have entered into change of control agreements with some members of senior management, we do not have employment contracts with our key executives. As some of our key executives approach retirement age, we have made a concerted effort to reduce the effect of the loss of our senior management personnel through management succession planning. However, we may be required to devote significant time and resources to identify and integrate key new personnel should key management losses occur earlier than anticipated. The loss of members of our senior management and qualified technical personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Long-term contract accounting requires judgment relative to assessing risks, estimating contract revenues and costs, and making assumptions for schedule and technical issues. Due to the size and nature of many of our contracts, the estimation of total revenues and costs at completion is complicated and subject to many variables. For example, assumptions have to be made regarding the length of time to complete the contract as costs also include expected increases in wages and prices for materials. Similarly, assumptions have to be made regarding the future impact of efficiency initiatives and cost reduction efforts. Incentives, awards, price escalations, liquidated damages, or penalties related to performance on contracts are considered in estimating revenue and profit rates and are recorded when there is sufficient information to assess anticipated performance. It is possible that materially different amounts could be obtained, because of the significance of the judgments and estimation processes described above, if different assumptions were used or if the underlying circumstances were to change. Changes in underlying assumptions, circumstances, or estimates may have a material adverse effect upon future period financial reporting and performance. See “Critical Accounting Estimates and Policies” in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K.

Obtaining, maintaining, and enforcing our intellectual property rights and avoiding infringing on the intellectual property rights of others are important factors to the operation of our business. While we take precautionary steps to protect our technological advantages and intellectual property and rely in part on patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright laws, we cannot assure that the precautionary steps we have taken will completely protect our intellectual property rights. Because patent applications in the United States are maintained in secrecy until either the patent application is published or a patent is issued, we may not be aware of third-party patents, patent applications, and other intellectual property relevant to our products that may block our use of our intellectual property or may be used in third-party products that compete with our products and processes. When others infringe on our intellectual property rights, the value of our products is diminished, and we may incur substantial litigation costs to enforce our rights. Similarly, we may incur substantial litigation costs and the obligation to pay royalties if others claim we infringed on their intellectual property rights. When we develop intellectual property and technologies with funding from U.S. Government contracts, the government has the royalty-free right to use that property.

In addition to our patent rights, we also rely on unpatented technology, trade secrets, and confidential information. Others may independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques or otherwise gain access to or disclose our technology. We may not be able to protect our rights in unpatented technology, trade secrets, and confidential information effectively. We require each of our employees and consultants to execute a confidentiality agreement at the commencement of an employment or consulting relationship with us. There is no guarantee that we will succeed in obtaining and retaining executed agreements from all employees or consultants. Moreover, these agreements may not provide effective protection of our information or, in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure, they may not provide adequate remedies.

Our businesses depend on suppliers and subcontractors for raw materials and components. At times subcontractors perform services that we provide to our customers. We depend on these subcontractors and vendors to meet their contractual obligations in full compliance with customer requirements. Nonperformance or underperformance by subcontractors and vendors could materially impact our ability to perform obligations to our customers, which could result in a customer terminating our contract for default, expose us to liability, and substantially impair our ability to compete for future contracts and orders. Generally, raw materials and purchased components are available from a number of different suppliers, though several suppliers are our sole

source of certain components. If a sole-source supplier should cease or otherwise be unable to deliver such components, our operating results could be adversely impacted. In addition, our supply networks can sometimes experience price fluctuations. Our ability to perform our obligations as a prime contractor may be adversely affected if one or more of these suppliers are unable to provide the agreed-upon supplies or perform the agreed-upon services in a timely and cost-effective manner. While we have attempted to mitigate the effects of increased costs through price increases, there are no assurances that higher prices can effectively be passed through to our customers or that we will be able to fully offset the effects of higher raw materials costs through price increases on a timely basis.

Our manufacturing processes depend on certain sophisticated and high-value equipment. Unexpected failures of this equipment may result in production delays, revenue loss, and significant repair costs. In addition, equipment failures could result in injuries to our employees. Moreover, the competitive nature of our businesses requires us to continuously implement process changes intended to achieve product improvements and manufacturing efficiencies. These process changes may at times result in production delays, quality concerns, and increased costs. Any disruption of operations at our facilities due to equipment failures or process interruptions could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Virtually all of the products produced and sold by us are highly engineered and require sophisticated manufacturing and system-integration techniques and capabilities. The commercial and government markets in which we operate are characterized by rapidly changing technologies. The product and program needs of our government and commercial customers change and evolve regularly. Accordingly, our future performance depends in part on our ability to: identify emerging technological trends in our current and target markets, develop and manufacture competitive products, systems, and services, enhance our offerings by adding technological innovations that differentiate our products, systems, and services from those of our competitors, and develop, manufacture, and bring those products, systems, and service to market quickly at cost-effective prices.

We self-insure health benefits and may be adversely impacted by unfavorable claims experience.

We are self-insured for our health benefits. If the number or severity of claims increases, or we are required to accrue or pay additional amounts because the claims prove to be more severe than our original assessment, our operating results would be adversely affected. Our future claims expense might exceed historical levels, which could reduce our earnings. We expect to periodically assess our self-insurance strategy. We are required to periodically evaluate and adjust our claims reserves to reflect our experience. However, ultimate results may differ from our estimates, which could result in losses over our reserved amounts. In addition, because we do not carry “stop loss” insurance, a significant increase in the number of claims that we must cover under our self-insurance retainage could adversely affect our profitability.

Our earnings may be positively or negatively impacted by the amount of income or expense we record for our pension and other postretirement benefit plans. U.S. GAAP requires that we calculate income or expense for the plans using actuarial valuations. These valuations reflect assumptions relating to financial markets and other economic conditions. Changes in key economic indicators can change the assumptions. The most significant year-end assumptions used to estimate pension or other postretirement benefit expense for the following year are the discount rate, the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets, expected future medical cost inflation, and expected compensation increases. In addition, we are required to make an annual measurement of plan assets and liabilities, which may result in a significant change to equity through a reduction or increase to other comprehensive income. For a discussion regarding how our financial statements can be affected by pension and other postretirement benefit plans accounting policies, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis—Critical Accounting Estimates and Policies—Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits” in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K. Although U.S. GAAP expense and pension or other postretirement contributions are not directly related, the key economic factors that affect U.S. GAAP expense would also likely affect the amount of cash we would contribute to the pension or other postretirement plans. Potential pension contributions include both mandatory amounts required under federal law, Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and discretionary contributions to improve the plans’ funded status. An obligation to make contributions to pension plans could reduce the cash available for working capital and other corporate uses.

Implementing our acquisition strategy involves risks, and our failure to successfully implement this strategy could have a material adverse effect on our business.

As part of our capital allocation strategy, we aim to grow our business by selectively pursuing acquisitions to supplement our organic growth.  We are continuing to actively pursue additional acquisition opportunities, some of which may be material to our business and financial performance.  Although we have been successful with this strategy in the past, we may not be able to grow our business in the future through acquisitions for a number of reasons, including:

In addition, there are potential risks associated with growing our business through acquisitions, including the failure to successfully integrate and realize the expected benefits of an acquisition.  For example, with any past or future acquisition, there is the possibility that:

Failure to successfully implement our acquisition strategy, including successfully integrating acquired businesses, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Despite our concerted effort to minimize risk to our production capabilities and corporate information systems and to reduce the effect of unforeseen interruptions through business continuity planning and disaster recovery plans, we could be adversely impacted by terror attacks, war, natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, pandemic diseases, or other events such as strikes by the workforce of a significant customer or supplier. These risks could negatively impact demand for or supply of our products and could also cause disruption to our facilities or systems, which could also interrupt operational processes and adversely impact our ability to manufacture our products and provide services and support to our customers. We operate facilities in areas of the world that are exposed to natural disasters. Financial difficulties of our customers, delays by our customers in production of their products, high fuel prices, the concern of another major terrorist attack, and the overall decreased demand for our products could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

Item 2. Properties.

The buildings on the properties referred to in this Item are well maintained, in good condition, and are suitable and adequate for current needs. Management believes that the productive capacity of our properties is adequate to meet our anticipated volume for the foreseeable future.

In the ordinary course of business, the Corporation and its subsidiaries are subject to various pending claims, lawsuits, and contingent liabilities. We do not believe that the disposition of any of these matters, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

We have been named in pending lawsuits that allege injury from exposure to asbestos. To date, we have not been found liable or paid any material sum of money in settlement in any case. We believe that the minimal use of asbestos in our past operations and the relatively non-friable condition of asbestos in our products make it unlikely that we will face material liability in any asbestos litigation, whether individually or in the aggregate. We maintain insurance coverage for these potential liabilities and we believe adequate coverage exists to cover any unanticipated asbestos liability.

On March 29, 2017, WEC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Case No. 17-10751.  The Bankruptcy Court overseeing the Bankruptcy Case approved, on an interim basis, an $800 million Debtor-in-Possession Financing Facility to help WEC finance its business operations during the reorganization process. On January 4, 2018, WEC announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Brookfield Business Partners L.P (Brookfield) for approximately $4.6 billion. The acquisition, which was completed on August 1, 2018, is not expected to have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations as WEC plans to continue operating in the ordinary course of business under existing senior management.

On January 18, 2019, we executed an agreement to settle substantially all of our general unsecured claims with WEC, including pre-petition billings. As it relates to post-petition work, we will continue to honor our executory contracts and expect to collect all amounts due. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the status of the WEC bankruptcy for potential impacts on our business.

PART II

MARKET INFORMATION

Our common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol CW.

DIVIDENDS

SECURITIES AUTHORIZED FOR ISSUANCE UNDER EQUITY COMPENSATION PLANS

On December 12, 2018, the Corporation authorized $100 million of share repurchases through a 10b5-1 program. Of this authorization, the Company used $50 million for additional opportunistic share repurchases in December 2018. Beginning in January 2019, the Company expects to repurchase $50 million of additional shares via a 10b5-1 program.

The following performance graph does not constitute soliciting material and should not be deemed filed or incorporated by reference into any of our other filings under the Securities Act or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, except to the extent we specifically incorporate this information by reference therein.

PERFORMANCE GRAPH

The following graph compares the annual change in the cumulative total return on our common stock during the last five fiscal years with the annual change in the cumulative total return of the Russell 2000 Index, the S&P MidCap 400 Index, and our self-constructed proxy peer group. The proxy peer group companies are as follows:

The graph assumes an investment of $100 on December 31, 2013 and the reinvestment of all dividends paid during the following five fiscal years.

Our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations begins with an overview of our company, followed by economic and industry-wide factors impacting our company and the markets we serve, a discussion of the overall results of continuing operations, and finally a more detailed discussion of those results within each of our reportable operating segments.

COMPANY ORGANIZATION

Curtiss-Wright Corporation and its subsidiaries is a global, diversified, industrial provider of highly engineered, technologically advanced, products and services to a broad range of industries which are reported through our Commercial/Industrial, Defense, and Power segments. We are positioned as a market leader across a diversified array of niche markets through engineering and technological leadership, precision manufacturing, and strong relationships with our customers. We provide products and services to a number of global markets, including the commercial aerospace, defense, general industrial, and power generation markets. Our overall strategy is to be a balanced and diversified company, less vulnerable to cycles or downturns in any one market, with a focus on establishing and expanding strong technological breadth, market positions, and financial performance.

We have not historically been and do not expect to be significantly impacted by inflation. Increases in payroll costs and any increases in raw material costs that we have encountered are generally offset through lean manufacturing activities. We have consistently made annual investments in capital that deliver efficiencies and cost savings. The benefits of these efforts generally offset the margin impact of competitive pricing conditions in all of the markets we serve.

Throughout management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations, the terms “incremental” and “organic” are used to explain changes from period to period. The term “incremental” is used to highlight the impact acquisitions had on the current year results for which there was no comparable prior-year period. Therefore, the results of operations for acquisitions are incremental for the first twelve months from the date of acquisition. The remaining businesses are referred to as the “organic”. The definition of “organic” excludes the effect of foreign currency translation.

Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a global, diversified manufacturing and service company that designs, manufactures, and overhauls precision components and provides highly engineered products and services to the aerospace, defense, general industrial, and power generation markets. Many of Curtiss-Wright’s industrial businesses are driven in large part by global economic growth, primarily led by operations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and China.

The U.S. economy, as measured by real gross domestic product (GDP), has slowly improved since 2009, aided by decreased levels of unemployment, improvements in the housing market, and a low interest rate environment. In 2018, U.S. GDP is expected to show solid growth of 3.0%, according to the most recent estimate, led by tax cuts and corporate spending increases which drove an acceleration in growth through mid-2018, ahead of GDP growth of 2.2% in 2017 and 1.6% in 2016. Looking ahead to 2019, economists have mixed views on the broader U.S. economy, with current estimates for U.S. real GDP growth indicating a rate of growth between 2% and 3%, despite the administration’s goal to raise the pace of expansion to 4% per year through increased fiscal stimulus.

Meanwhile, the global environment’s rebound in economic activity that began in mid-2016 is expected to moderate somewhat from recent peak levels, influenced by international trade tensions, tightening financial conditions, and rising geopolitical uncertainty. As a result, 2019 GDP growth in world economies is expected to grow by approximately 3.5%, below the 2018 growth rate of 3.7%, according to the International Monetary Fund. This outlook is expected to be driven by a moderation in U.S. and European economic growth rates, as well as a flattening of growth in emerging market and developing economies. Looking ahead to the next few years, we remain cautiously optimistic that our economically-sensitive commercial and industrial markets will improve based on normalized global conditions.

We have a well-diversified portfolio of products and services that supply all branches of the U.S. military, with content on many high performance programs and platforms, as well as a growing international defense business. A significant portion of our defense business operations is attributed to the United States market, and characterized by long-term programs and contracts driven primarily by the Department of Defense (DoD) budgets and funding levels.

The U.S. Defense budget serves as a leading indicator of our growth in the defense market. Following across-the-board sequestration mandated by the BCA, defense spending and related supplemental budgets bottomed in 2015. However, growth has stabilized in recent years, and in early 2018, Congress signed a bill to provide relief against the spending caps associated with the BCA. Further, a two-year budget agreement, signed in 2018, paved the way for lawmakers to fund defense at $700 billion in Fiscal Year 2018 and $716 billion in Fiscal Year 2019, both significant increases from the Fiscal Year 2017 budget. These growth rates are expected to provide the DoD with additional stability and flexibility to enter into multi-year contracts without the impact of sequestration. In addition, the Fiscal Year 2019 Defense Appropriations Bill, signed by the President in September 2018, was the first to be signed into law on time in over a decade. Looking ahead, the Fiscal Year 2020 budget is expected to range from $700 to $750 billion, with most reports indicating the likelihood of a $733 billion budget and continued growth in defense.

We derive revenue from the naval defense, aerospace defense, and ground defense markets. In the naval defense market, we expect continued solid funding for the U.S. shipbuilding program, particularly as it relates to production on the Ford class aircraft carrier, as well as the Columbia class and Virginia class submarine programs. We have a long legacy of providing products that support nuclear propulsion systems on naval vessels. In addition, through our service centers, we are a critical provider of ship repair and maintenance for the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic and Pacific fleets. In the aerospace defense market, we expect to benefit from increased funding levels on Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR), electronic warfare, unmanned systems, and communications programs. As a leading supplier of COTS and COTS+ solutions, we continue to demonstrate that electronics technology will enhance our ability to design and develop future generations of advanced systems and products for high performance applications, while also meeting the military’s Size, Weight, and Power considerations. We are also a leading designer and manufacturer of high-technology data acquisition and comprehensive flight test instrumentation systems. In the ground defense market, the modernization of the existing U.S. ground vehicle fleet is expected to recover slowly, while international demand should remain solid, particularly for our turret drive stabilization systems (TDSS).

While we monitor the budget process as it relates to programs in which we participate, we cannot predict the ultimate impact of future DoD budgets, which tend to fluctuate year-by-year and program-by-program.

Curtiss-Wright derives revenue from the global commercial aerospace market, principally to the commercial jet market, and to a lesser extent the regional jet and commercial helicopter markets. Our primary focus in this market is OEM products and services for commercial jets, which is highly dependent on new aircraft production from our primary customers - Boeing and Airbus. We provide a combination of flight control and utility actuation systems, sensors, and other sophisticated electronics, as well as shot and laser peening services utilized on highly stressed components of turbine engine fan blades, landing gear, and aircraft structures.

Steady growth in airline travel, along with the demand for and delivery of new aircraft to replace an aging fleet, continue to be key drivers in the commercial aerospace market. Fiscal 2011 marked the beginning of a multi-year production up-cycle for the commercial aerospace market. This up-cycle is expected to continue based on planned increases in production by Boeing and Airbus on both legacy and new aircraft, particularly narrow-body aircraft, and is further supported by their strong backlogs. Additionally, the steady decline in oil prices during the past few years has been a key contributor to increased passenger growth, as declining fuel prices have led to cheaper airfares for consumers. According to the International Air Transport Association, air travel continues to be strong and is likely to display passenger growth of approximately 6.0% in 2019, which is growing faster than the 20-year trend. Industry data supports a continued, steady increase in commercial aircraft deliveries to meet this growing demand.

While we closely monitor these industry metrics, our success and future growth in the commercial aerospace market is primarily tied to the growth in aircraft production rates, the timing of our order placement, and continued partnering with aerospace original equipment manufacturers.

We derive revenue from the commercial nuclear power generation market, where we supply a variety of highly engineered products and services, including reactor coolant pumps, control rod drive mechanisms, valves, motors, spent fuel management, containment doors, bolting solutions, enterprise resource planning, plant process controls, and coating services. We provide equipment and services to both the aftermarket and new build markets and have content on every reactor operating in the U.S. today.

According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), nuclear power comprises approximately 20% of all the electric power produced in the United States, with 98 reactors operating across 59 nuclear power plants in 30 states. Our growth opportunities for aftermarket products and services are driven by plant aging, plant closures, requirements for planned outages, plant life extensions (from the end of their original 40-year operating lives to 60-year and now 80-year lives), the levying of regulatory requirements, suppliers abandoning the commercial nuclear market, and plants seeking technology and innovation advances.

One of the industry’s most significant challenges is electricity market competitiveness, primarily driven by sustained low natural gas prices. As a result, the industry has been tasked with reassessing operating practices, improving efficiency, and reducing costs to help keep nuclear power competitive in a changing electricity market, which are collectively referred to as "Delivering the Nuclear Promise." Additionally, U.S. reactor operators were faced with increased security and post-Fukushima regulatory requirements over the past few years. All of these factors contributed to plant operators diverting and deferring their typical plant capital expenditure budgets significantly away from planned maintenance. However, in late 2017, as those necessary requirements abated and plant operators resumed a more normalized maintenance schedule, the industry began to turn the corner. As a result, we expect increased opportunities for our vast portfolio of advanced nuclear technologies moving forward.

Longer term, there are several factors that are expected to drive global commercial nuclear power demand. The Energy Information Administration forecasts that worldwide total energy consumption is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 1.0% through 2050. Continued growth in global demand for electricity, especially in developing countries with limited supply such as China and India, will require increased capacity. In addition, the continued supply constraints and environmental concerns attributed to the current dependence on fossil fuels have led to a greater appreciation of the value of nuclear technology as the most efficient and environmentally friendly source of energy available today. As a result, we expect growth opportunities in this market both domestically and internationally, although the timing of orders remains uncertain.

We also play an important role in the new build market for the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design, for which we are a supplier of RCPs and also expect to supply a variety of ancillary plant products and services. Domestically, two new build reactors remain under construction in Georgia utilizing the AP1000 design. On a global basis, nuclear plant construction is active. Currently, there are approximately 57 new reactors under construction across 17 countries, with approximately 132 planned and 376 proposed over the next several decades. In particular, China intends to expand its nuclear power capabilities

significantly through the construction of new nuclear power plants over the next few decades, led by the successful start-up and operation of the first two AP1000 plants (four reactors) in late 2018 and early 2019, which are the first Generation III+ reactors in operation worldwide. We continue to expect to play a role in new build nuclear plant construction with our largest opportunities in China and India.

Our future success in this industry will be led by new order activity for our vast array of nuclear technologies due to ongoing maintenance and upgrade requirements on operating nuclear plants, a renewed interest in products to aid safety and extend the reliability of existing reactors, and the continued emphasis on global nuclear power construction.

Revenue derived from our widely diversified offering to the general industrial market consists of industrial sensors and control systems, critical-function valves and valve systems, as well as surface treatment services. We supply our products and services to OEMs and aftermarket industrial customers, including the transportation, commercial trucking, off-road equipment, agriculture, construction, automotive, chemical, and oil and gas industries. Our performance in these markets is typically sensitive to the performance of the U.S. and global economies, with changes in global GDP rates and industrial production driving our sales, particularly for our surface treatment services.

One of the key drivers within our general industrial market is our sensors and controls systems products, most notably for electronic throttle controls, shift controls, joysticks, power management systems, traction control systems, serving on-and-off highway, medical mobility and specialty vehicles markets. Increased industry demand for electronic control systems and sensors has been driven by the need for improved operational efficiency, safety, repeatability, reduced emissions, enhanced functionality, and greater fuel efficiencies to customers worldwide. Key to our future growth is expanding the human-machine interface technology portfolio and providing a complete system solution to our customers. Existing and emerging trends in commercial vehicle safety, emissions control, and improved driver efficiency are propelling commercial vehicle OEMs toward higher performance subsystems. These trends are accelerating the evolution from discrete human machine interface components towards a more integrated vehicle interface architecture. Meanwhile, our surface treatment services, including shot and laser peening, engineered coatings, and analytical testing services, which are used to increase the safety, reliability, and longevity of components, are primarily driven by demand from general industrial customers.

We also service the oil and gas, chemical, and petrochemical industries through numerous industrial valve products, where nearly all of our industrial valve sales are to the downstream markets. We maintain a global maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) business for our pressure-relief valve technologies as refineries opportunistically service or upgrade equipment that has been operating at or near full capacity. We also produce severe service, operation-critical valves for the power and process industries. Earlier in the decade through mid-2014, the industry had experienced solid performance driven by new exploration and expansion of sub-segments, including offshore drilling and shale gas, which boosted end-user demand. As a result of these market initiatives and reduced global economic growth, the industry experienced an excess of oil supply globally, driving a steady decline in crude oil prices throughout 2014 and 2015, as well as reducing capital expenditures. Though oil prices rebounded in late 2016 and throughout the past two years, they remain well below the recent 2014 peak. Despite the challenges in the oil and gas market, we have seen an industrial renaissance in the U.S. chemical industry due to plentiful, affordable natural gas, which has led to further adoption of severe service valve technology. Over the long run, we believe improved economic conditions and continued global expansion will be key drivers for future growth of our severe service and operation-critical valves serving the process industry.

accounting costs from our Dresser-Rand Government Business (DRG) acquisition. Additionally, the benefits of our ongoing margin improvement initiatives were recognized across all segments.

 

RESULTS BY BUSINESS SEGMENT

Commercial/Industrial

Sales in the Commercial/Industrial segment are primarily generated from the general industrial and commercial aerospace markets and, to a lesser extent, the defense and power generation markets.

The following tables summarize sales, operating income and margin, and new orders within the Commercial/Industrial segment.

on the CVN-80 aircraft carrier program. Aerospace defense sales increased $6 million, primarily due to higher sales of actuation systems on fighter jets. Sales in the commercial aerospace market increased as higher sales of surface treatment services and sensors and controls products were partially offset by the timing of FAA directive revenues. Favorable foreign currency translation benefited sales $9 million.

Defense

Sales in the Defense segment are primarily to the defense markets and, to a lesser extent, the commercial aerospace and the general industrial markets.

The following tables summarize sales, operating income and margin, and new orders, within the Defense segment.

Power

Sales in the Power segment are primarily to the power generation and naval defense markets.

The following tables summarize sales, operating income and margin, and new orders, within the Power segment.

 

The table below depicts sales by end market. End market sales help provide an enhanced understanding of our businesses and the markets in which we operate. The table has been included to supplement the discussion of our consolidated operating results.

Defense sales increased $84 million, or 11%, to $877 million, as compared to the prior year period, primarily due to higher sales in the aerospace defense and ground defense markets. The sales increase in the aerospace defense market was primarily due to the incremental impact of our TTC acquisition, which contributed $54 million of sales. The aerospace defense market also benefited from increased demand of $7 million for UAVs and higher production of $8 million on the F-16 program, partially offset by declines in helicopter sales of $5 million. Sales in the ground defense market increased primarily due to higher demand of $8 million for our TDSS products on international ground defense platforms.

Commercial sales increased $78 million, or 6%, to $1,394 million, as compared to the prior year period, due to higher sales across all markets. In the commercial aerospace market, our TTC acquisition contributed $8 million of incremental sales. Sales also benefited from increased demand for both our actuation and sensors and controls products. Within the power generation market, we generated higher production revenues of $52 million on the AP1000 China Direct program, partially offset by lower aftermarket sales of $25 million supporting domestic nuclear operating reactors and lower total production revenues of $13 million on the AP1000 U.S. and China programs. In the general industrial market, we experienced higher demand for our industrial vehicle products which resulted in a sales increase of $52 million.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We derive the majority of our operating cash inflow from receipts on the sale of goods and services and cash outflow for the procurement of materials and labor; cash flow is therefore subject to market fluctuations and conditions. Most of our long-term contracts allow for several billing points (progress or milestone) that provide us with cash receipts as costs are incurred throughout the project rather than upon contract completion, thereby reducing working capital requirements.

Future acquisitions will depend, in part, on the availability of financial resources at a cost of capital that meet our stringent criteria. As such, future acquisitions, if any, may be funded through the use of our cash and cash equivalents, through additional financing available under the credit agreement, or through new financing alternatives.

 

Cash provided by operating activities decreased $34 million to $389 million during the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to the prior year period. The decrease in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to prior year collections related to the AP1000 China Direct program of $102 million and a one-time $20 million benefit in the prior year as a result of the interest rate swap termination. This was partially offset by the timing of advanced collections of $48 million and higher cash earnings of $36 million during the current period.

Our capital expenditures were $53 million in 2017 as compared to $47 million in 2016. This increase was primarily due to increased capital investment in our Defense and Power segments.

No material divestitures took place during 2017 or 2016.

In 2017, we acquired two businesses for a total purchase price of $233 million. No material acquisitions took place in 2016.

There were no debt issuances in 2017 or 2016. In 2017, we fully repaid the $150 million 2005 Senior Notes that had matured. No principal payments on outstanding notes took place in 2016.

As of December 31, 2017, the Corporation had no borrowings outstanding under the Credit Agreement and $21 million in letters of credit supported by the credit facility. The unused credit available under the Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2017 was $479 million, which could be borrowed in full without violating any of our debt covenants.

During 2017, the Company repurchased approximately 526,000 shares of its common stock for $52 million. In 2016, the Company repurchased approximately 1,300,000 shares of its common stock for $105 million.

During 2017 and 2016, the Company made dividend payments of approximately $25 million and $23 million, respectively.

Management continually evaluates cash utilization alternatives, including share repurchases, acquisitions, and increased dividends to determine the most beneficial use of available capital resources. We believe that our cash and cash equivalents, cash flow from operations, available borrowings under the credit facility, and ability to raise additional capital through the credit markets are sufficient to meet both the short-term and long-term capital needs of the organization, including the return of capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases and growing our business through acquisitions.

We do not have material purchase obligations. Most of our raw material purchase commitments are made directly pursuant to specific contract requirements.