The following discussion and analysis provides information which management believes is relevant to an assessment and understanding ofNewell Brands Inc.'s ("Newell Brands ," the "Company," "we," "us" or "our") consolidated financial condition and results of operations. The discussion should be read in conjunction with the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto. Forward-Looking Statements Forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this "Quarterly Report") are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "explore," "project," "target," "plan," "expect," "setting up," "beginning to," "will," "should," "would," "resume," "remains optimistic for," or similar statements. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are not guarantees because there are inherent difficulties in predicting future results, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, there are no assurances that the Company will complete any or all of the potential transactions, or other initiatives referenced here. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: •the Company's ability to manage the demand, supply, and operational challenges associated with the actual or perceived effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; •the Company's dependence on the strength of retail, commercial and industrial sectors of the economy in various parts of the world; •competition with other manufacturers and distributors of consumer products; •major retailers' strong bargaining power and consolidation of the Company's customers; •risks related to the Company's substantial indebtedness, potential increases in interest rates or additional adverse changes in the Company's credit ratings; •the Company's ability to improve productivity, reduce complexity and streamline operations; •future events that could adversely affect the value of our assets and/or stock price and require additional impairment charges; •the Company's ability to remediate the material weakness in internal control over financial reporting and to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting; •the Company's ability to develop innovative new products, to develop, maintain and strengthen end user brands and to realize the benefits of increased advertising promotion and spend; •unexpected costs or expenses associated with acquisitions and divestitures; •changes in the prices and availability of labor, transportation, raw materials and sourced products and the Company's ability to obtain them in a timely manner; •the impact of governmental investigations, inspections, lawsuits or other activities by third parties; •the risks inherent to the Company's foreign operations, including currency fluctuations, exchange controls and pricing restrictions; •a failure of one of the Company's key information technology systems, networks, processes or related controls or those of the Company's services providers; •the impact ofU.S. or foreign regulations on the Company's operations, including the escalation of tariffs on imports into theU.S. and exports toCanada ,China and theEuropean Union and environmental remediation costs; •the potential inability to attract, retain and motivate key employees; •newTreasury or tax regulations and the resolution of tax contingencies resulting in additional tax liabilities; •product liability, product recalls or related regulatory actions; •the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property rights; •significant increases in the funding obligations related to the Company's pension plans; and •other factors listed from time to time in ourSEC filings, including but not limited to our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The information contained in this Report is as of the date indicated. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this Report as a result of new information or future events or developments. In addition, there can be no assurance that the Company has correctly identified and assessed all of the factors affecting the Company or that the publicly available and other information the Company receives with respect to these factors is complete or correct. 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents OverviewNewell Brands is a global marketer of consumer and commercial products that make life better every day for consumers, where they live, learn, work and play. Our products are marketed under a strong portfolio of leading brands, including Paper Mate®, Sharpie®, Dymo®, EXPO®, Parker®, Elmer's®, Coleman®, Marmot®, Oster®, Sunbeam®, FoodSaver®, Mr. Coffee®, Rubbermaid Commercial Products®, Graco®, Baby Jogger®, NUK®, Calphalon®, Rubbermaid®, Contigo®, First Alert®, Mapa®, Spontex®, Quickie® and Yankee Candle®. The Company sells its products in nearly 200 countries around the world and has operations on the ground in over 40 of these countries, excluding third-party distributors. Business Strategy The Company is currently executing a turnaround strategy, with the vision of building a global, next generation consumer products company that can unleash the full potential of its brands in a fast moving omni-channel environment. These strategies are designed to address key challenges facing the Company, including: shifting consumer preferences and behaviors; a highly competitive operating environment; a rapidly changing retail landscape, including the growth in e-commerce; continued macroeconomic and political volatility; and an evolving regulatory landscape. The Company has identified the following strategic imperatives to address and adapt to these challenges during its turnaround period: •Strengthen the portfolio by investing in attractive categories aligned with its capabilities and strategy; •Sustainable profitable growth by focusing on innovation, as well as growth in digital marketing, e-commerce and its international businesses; •Attractive margins by driving productivity and overhead savings, while reinvesting into the business; •Cash efficiency by improving key working capital metrics, resulting in a lower cash conversion cycle; and •Build a winning team through engagement and focusing the best people on the right things. Execution of these strategic imperatives will better position the Company for long-term sustainable growth in order to achieve its short-to-near-term goals of: •Growing core sales; •Improving operating margins; •Accelerating cash conversion cycle; and •Strengthening organizational capability and employee engagement. 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Organizational Structure
The Company's five primary reportable segments are the following:
Segment Key Brands Description of Primary Products Appliances and Cookware Calphalon®, Crock-Pot®, Mr. Coffee®,
Household products, including kitchen appliances,
Oster® and Sunbeam® gourmet cookware, bakeware and cutlery Commercial Solutions BRK®, First Alert®, Mapa®, Quickie®, Commercial cleaning and maintenance solutions; hygiene Rubbermaid Commercial Products®, and systems and material handling solutions; connected Spontex® home and security and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms Home Ball® (1), Chesapeake Bay Candle®,
Food and home storage products; fresh preserving Solutions
FoodSaver®, Rubbermaid®, Sistema®,
products, vacuum sealing products and home fragrance
WoodWick® and Yankee Candle® products Learning and Aprica®, Baby Jogger®, Dymo®, Elmer's®, Baby gear and infant care products; writing Development EXPO®, Graco®, Mr. Sketch®, NUK®,
Paper instruments, including markers and highlighters, pens
Mate®, Parker®, Prismacolor®,
Sharpie®, and pencils; art products; activity-based adhesive and
Tigex® Waterman® and X-Acto® cutting products and labeling solutionsOutdoor and Recreation Coleman®, Contigo®, ExOfficio®,
Marmot® Products for outdoor and outdoor-related activities
(1) Ball® TM of Ball Corporation, used under license.
The Company also provides general corporate services to its segments which is reported as a non-operating segment, Corporate. See Footnote 17 of the Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further information. Recent Developments Coronavirus (COVID-19) Beginning late in the fourth quarter of 2019 and into 2020, COVID-19 emerged and subsequently spread globally, ultimately being declared as a pandemic by theWorld Health Organization . The pandemic resulted in various federal, state and local governments, as well as private entities, mandating restrictions on travel and public gatherings, closure of non-essential commerce, stay at home orders and quarantining of peoplewho may have been exposed to the virus. The Company experienced significant COVID-19 related disruption to its business in three primary areas: •Supply chain. While the majority of the Company's factories are considered essential in their applicable jurisdictions and have remained operational, the company experienced disruption at certain of its facilities. Of its 135 manufacturing and distribution facilities, approximately 20 were temporarily closed at the end of the first quarter of 2020, the most significant of which were itsSouth Deerfield, MA , Home Fragrance plant, itsMexicali, Mexico and India Writing facilities and itsJuarez, Mexico Connected Home and Security facility, all of which were closed in line with state government guidelines. By the end of the second quarter, substantially all of the Company's manufacturing and distribution facilities reopened and were operating at or near capacity. Since then, the Company's facilities have replenished most of the inventory levels that were depleted by lost production during the temporary closure period. The Company does, however, continue to face intermittent supply and labor shortages, capacity constraints, and transportation and logistical challenges and expects this to persist until the conditions improve globally. •Retail. While the Company's largest retail customers experienced a surge in sales as their stores remained open, a number of secondary customers, primarily in the specialty and department store channels, temporarily closed their brick and mortar doors, and began to reopen towards the end of the second quarter in certain regions where conditions improved. These dynamics, in combination with some retailers' prioritization of essential items, have had a meaningful impact on retailers' order patterns. In addition, the Company temporarily closed itsYankee Candle retail stores inNorth America as of mid-March. All of these stores reopened during the third quarter.
•Consumer demand patterns. During the quarantine phase of the pandemic, consumer purchasing behavior strongly shifted to certain focused categories. While certain of the Company's product categories in the Food, Commercial,
38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Appliances and Cookware, andOutdoor and Recreation business units have benefited from this shift, others experienced significant slowing. The Company anticipates the changes in consumer purchasing patterns in the Writing business unit as well as the shift to remote learning for schools and other higher education programs this Fall to continue to adversely impact the segment's performance through the remainder of 2020. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company focused on protecting the health and well-being of its employees; maintaining financial viability and business continuity; and keeping manufacturing facilities and distribution centers operating, where permitted and deemed prudent, to provide products to our consumers. The Company established internal protocols including the establishment of a COVID-19 task force to monitor the situation, as well as communications and guidance issued by foreign, federal, state and local governments. In the first quarter 2020, the Company instituted mandatory work-from-home policies for employees able to work from home in various locations around the world and implemented a number of precautionary measures at its manufacturing plants, warehouses, distribution centers and R&D centers to reduce person to person contact and improve the personal safety for our front-line employees. Furthermore, beginning inmid-March 2020 , the Company temporarily closed all of the world-wide retail stores within the Home Solutions segment. By the end of the third quarter, all of the Company's temporarily closed manufacturing and distribution sites reopened and are operating at or near capacity. In addition, most of the Company's office locations have reopened on a limited basis. The Company continues to monitor developments, including government requirements and recommendations at the national, state, and local level to evaluate possible cessation or extensions to all or part of such initiatives. As part of the Company's efforts to contain costs and maintain financial liquidity and flexibility, it has taken certain actions including: instituting a hiring freeze for non-essential roles, furloughing all field-based and most corporate retail employees inNorth America , effectiveApril 1, 2020 , tightening discretionary spending as well as reducing and optimizing advertising and promotional expenses. During the second quarter largely in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company also announced a new restructuring program to reduce overhead costs, streamline certain underperforming operations and improve future profitability. See "2020 Restructuring Program" below for further information. While the negative effects from the COVID-19 global pandemic in the first half of 2020 were material to the Company's operating results, the Company has seen positive sequential momentum and experienced 5% year-over-year sales growth during the third quarter. Due to this performance, the Company remains optimistic for improvement in its financial results over the second half of 2020, however, it believes the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to its businesses, operating results, cash flows, liquidity and financial condition will be primarily driven by the severity and duration of the pandemic, the pandemic's impact on theU.S. and global economies and the timing, scope and effectiveness of federal, state and local governmental responses to the pandemic, especially in areas where conditions have recently worsened. Those primary drivers are beyond the Company's knowledge and control, and as a result, at this time it is difficult to predict the cumulative impact, both in terms of severity and duration, COVID-19 will have on its sales, operating results, cash flows and financial condition. Furthermore, the impact to the Company's businesses, operating results, cash flows, liquidity and financial condition may be further adversely impacted if the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to exist or worsens for a prolonged period of time. See Footnote 1 of the Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements,Goodwill and Other Indefinite-Lived Intangible Asset Trigger Event, Liquidity and Capital Resources, Significant Accounting Policies and Critical Estimates for information and Risk Factors in Part II, Item 1A for further information.
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Asset Trigger Event
During the third quarter of 2020, the Company concluded that a triggering event had occurred for an indefinite-lived intangible asset in the Learning and Development segment. Pursuant to the authoritative literature the Company performed an impairment test and determined that an indefinite-lived intangible asset was impaired. During the three months endedSeptember 30, 2020 , the Company recorded a non-cash charge of$2 million to reflect impairment of this indefinite-lived trade name as its carrying value exceeded their fair value.
See Footnotes 1 and 7 of the Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Significant Accounting Policies and Critical Estimates for information.
39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Impacts of Tariffs The United States Trade Representative ("USTR") has imposed increased tariffs on some Chinese goods imported intothe United States , resulting in increased costs for the Company. The Company has been successful at securing from the USTR exemptions and exclusions for some of its products, with the most notable exemptions being for certain of its baby gear products, which represents a substantial portion of the Company's tariff exposure. The Company has largely mitigated its tariff exposure, in part through pricing, productivity and, in some cases, relocation. The Phase 1 agreement signed onJanuary 15, 2020 withChina reduced tariffs under List 4a from 15% to 7.5%, effectiveFebruary 14, 2020 , and suspended 301 tariffs under List 4b, which were due to go into effect onDecember 15, 2019 . The terms of the agreement significantly reduced the estimated impact on tariffs for 2020. In spite of the agreement, a full year of previously implemented tariffs could have a material impact on the Company's operating results and cash flows, with an estimated gross impact of approximately$80 million in 2020, primarily relating to its Appliances and Cookware, Commercial Solutions, andOutdoor and Recreation businesses. During the three and nine months endedSeptember 30, 2020 , the gross impact was approximately$25 million and$60 million , respectively. The Company will continue to monitor the trade negotiations and deploy mitigation efforts to offset the gross exposure. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in its mitigation efforts.
OnJune 18, 2019 , theU.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") released temporary regulations under IRC Section 245A ("Section 245A") as enacted by the 2017 U.S. Tax Reform Legislation ("2017 Tax Reform") and IRC Section 954(c)(6) (the "Temporary Regulations") to apply retroactively to the date the 2017 Tax Reform was enacted. OnAugust 21, 2020 , theU.S. Treasury andIRS released finalized versions of the Temporary Regulations (collectively with the Temporary Regulations, the "Regulations"). The Regulations seek to limit the 100% dividends received deduction permitted by Section 245A for certain dividends received from controlled foreign corporations and to limit the applicability of the look-through exception to foreign personal holding company income for certain dividends received from controlled foreign corporations. Before the retroactive application of the Regulations, the Company benefited in 2018 from both the 100% dividends received deduction and the look-through exception to foreign personal holding company income. The Company analyzed the Regulations and concluded the relevant Regulations were not validly issued. Therefore, the Company has not accounted for the effects of the Regulations in its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the period endingSeptember 30, 2020 . The Company believes it has strong arguments in favor of its position and believes it has met the more likely than not recognition threshold that its position will be sustained. However, due to the inherent uncertainty involved in challenging the validity of regulations as well as a potential litigation process, there can be no assurances that the relevant Regulations will be invalidated or that a court of law will rule in favor of the Company. If the Company's position on the Regulations is not sustained, the Company would be required to recognize an income tax expense of approximately$180 million to$220 million related to an income tax benefit from fiscal year 2018 that was recorded based on regulations in existence at the time. In addition, the Company may be required to pay any applicable interest and penalties. The Company intends to vigorously defend its position. 40
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