EnerSys (ENS) 10-K2020 FY Annual report

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”) provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of EnerSys. EnerSys and its representatives may, from time to time, make written or verbal forward-looking statements, including statements contained in EnerSys' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and its reports to stockholders. Generally, the inclusion of the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “future,” “intend,” “estimate,” “will,” “plans,” or the negative of such terms and similar expressions identify statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and that are intended to come within the safe harbor protection provided by those sections. All statements addressing operating performance, events, or developments that EnerSys expects or anticipates will occur in the future, including statements relating to sales growth, earnings or earnings per share growth, and market share, as well as statements expressing optimism or pessimism about future operating results, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Reform Act. The forward-looking statements are and will be based on management’s then-current beliefs and assumptions regarding future events and operating performance and on information currently available to management, and are applicable only as of the dates of such statements.

Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although we do not make forward-looking statements unless we believe we have a reasonable basis for doing so, we cannot guarantee their accuracy. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements due to a number of uncertainties and risks, including the risks described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and other unforeseen risks. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, even if subsequently made available by us on our website or otherwise, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise these statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements for a number of reasons, including the following factors:

This list of factors that may affect future performance is illustrative, but by no means exhaustive. Accordingly, all forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty.

EnerSys (the “Company,” “we,” or “us”) is the world’s largest manufacturer, marketer and distributor of industrial batteries. We also manufacture, market and distribute products such as battery chargers, power equipment, battery accessories, and outdoor cabinet enclosures. Additionally, we provide related aftermarket and customer-support services for our products. We market our products globally to over 10,000 customers in more than 100 countries through a network of distributors, independent representatives and our internal sales force.

We operate and manage our business in three geographic regions of the world—Americas, EMEA and Asia, as described below. Our business is highly decentralized with manufacturing locations throughout the world. More than half of our manufacturing capacity is located outside of the United States, and approximately 40% of our net sales were generated outside of the United States. The Company has three reportable business segments based on geographic regions, defined as follows:

We have two primary product lines: reserve power and motive power products. Net sales classifications by product line are as follows:

            

See Note 23 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information on segment reporting.

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, when we refer to our fiscal years, we state “fiscal” and the year, as in “fiscal 2020”, which refers to our fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. The Company reports interim financial information for 13-week periods, except for the first quarter, which always begins on April 1, and the fourth quarter, which always ends on March 31. The four quarters in fiscal 2020 ended on June 30, 2019, September 29, 2019, December 29, 2019, and March 31, 2020, respectively. The four quarters in fiscal 2019 ended on July 1, 2018, September 30, 2018, December 30, 2018, and March 31, 2019, respectively.

EnerSys and its predecessor companies have been manufacturers of industrial batteries for over 125 years. Morgan Stanley Capital Partners teamed with the management of Yuasa, Inc. in late 2000 to acquire from Yuasa Corporation (Japan) its reserve power and motive power battery businesses in North and South America. We were incorporated in October 2000 for the purpose of completing the Yuasa, Inc. acquisition. On January 1, 2001, we changed our name from Yuasa, Inc. to EnerSys to reflect our focus on the energy systems nature of our businesses.

In 2004, EnerSys completed its initial public offering (the “IPO”) and the Company’s common stock commenced trading on the New York Stock Exchange, under the trading symbol “ENS”.

There have been several key stages in the development of our business, which explain to a significant degree our results of operations over the past several years.

In March 2002, we acquired the reserve power and motive power business of the Energy Storage Group of Invensys plc. (“ESG”). Our successful integration of ESG provided global scale in both the reserve and motive power markets. The ESG acquisition also provided us with a further opportunity to reduce costs and improve operating efficiency.

During fiscal years 2003 through 2020, we made thirty-four acquisitions around the globe. In fiscal 2020, we completed the acquisition of NorthStar, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In fiscal 2019, we completed the acquisition of Alpha.

The results of the NorthStar acquisition have been included in our results of operations from the date of acquisition. Pro forma earnings and earnings per share computations have not been presented as this acquisition was not considered material.

The North American and European results of operations of NorthStar have been included in our Americas segment and EMEA segment, respectively.

On December 7, 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding common stock of Alpha Technologies Services, Inc. (“ATS”) and Alpha Technologies Ltd. (“ATL”), resulting in ATS and ATL becoming wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company (the “Alpha share purchase”). Additionally, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets of Alpha Technologies Inc. and certain assets of Altair Advanced Industries, Inc. and other affiliates of ATS and ATL (all such sellers, together with ATS and ATL, “Alpha”), in each case in accordance with the terms and conditions of certain restructuring agreements (collectively, the “Alpha asset acquisition” and together with the Alpha share purchase, the “Alpha acquisition”). Based in Bellingham, Washington, Alpha is a global industry leader in the comprehensive commercial-grade energy solutions for broadband, telecom, renewable, industrial and traffic customers around the world. The initial purchase consideration for the Alpha acquisition was $750.0 million of which $650.0 million was paid in cash and the balance was settled by issuing 1,177,630 shares of EnerSys common stock. These shares were issued out of the Company's treasury stock and were valued at $84.92 per share, which was based on the thirty-day volume weighted average stock price of the Company’s common stock at closing, in accordance with the purchase agreement. The 1,177,630 shares had a closing date fair value of $93.3 million, based upon the December 7, 2018 closing date spot rate of $79.20. The total purchase consideration, consisting of cash paid of $650.0 million, shares valued at $93.3 million and adjustment for working capital (due from seller of $0.8 million) was $742.5 million.

The Company funded the cash portion of the acquisition with borrowings from the Amended Credit Facility (as defined in the Liquidity and Capital Resources section in Item 7. below).

The results of operations of Alpha have been included in the Company’s Americas segment beginning December 8, 2018.

We serve over 10,000 customers in over 100 countries, on a direct basis or through our distributors. We are not overly dependent on any particular end market. Our customer base is highly diverse, and no single customer accounts for more than 10% of our revenues.

Our reserve power customers consist of both global and regional customers. These customers are in diverse markets including telecom, UPS, electric utilities, security systems, emergency lighting, premium starting, lighting and ignition applications and space satellites. In addition, we sell our aerospace and defense products in numerous countries, including the governments of the U.S., Germany and the U.K. and to major defense and aviation original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”).

Our motive power products are sold to a large, diversified customer base. These customers include material handling equipment dealers, forklift and heavy truck OEMs and end users of such equipment. End users include manufacturers, distributors, warehouse operators, retailers, airports, mine operators and railroads.

We distribute, sell and service reserve and motive power products throughout the world, principally through company-owned sales and service facilities, as well as through independent manufacturers’ representatives. Our company-owned network allows us to offer high-quality service, including preventative maintenance programs and customer support. Our warehouses and service locations enable us to respond quickly to customers in the markets we serve. We believe that the extensive industry experience of our sales organization results in strong long-term customer relationships.

We manufacture and assemble our products at manufacturing facilities located in the Americas, EMEA and Asia. With a view toward projected demand, we strive to optimize and balance capacity at our battery manufacturing facilities globally, while simultaneously minimizing our product cost. By taking a global view of our manufacturing requirements and capacity, we believe we are better able to anticipate potential capacity bottlenecks and equipment and capital funding needs.

The primary raw materials used to manufacture our products include lead, plastics, steel and copper. We purchase lead from a number of leading suppliers throughout the world. Because lead is traded on the world’s commodity markets and its price fluctuates daily, we periodically enter into hedging arrangements for a portion of our projected requirements to reduce the volatility of our costs.

The industrial energy storage market is highly competitive both among competitors who manufacture and sell industrial batteries and other energy storage systems and solutions and among customers who purchase industrial energy solutions. Our competitors range from development stage companies to large domestic and international corporations. Certain of our competitors produce energy storage products utilizing technologies or chemistries different from our own. We compete primarily on the basis of reputation, product quality, reliability of service, delivery and price. We believe that our products and services are competitively priced.

We believe that we have the largest market share in the Americas industrial battery market. We compete principally with East Penn Manufacturing, Exide Technologies and New Power in both the reserve and motive products markets; and also C&D Technologies Inc., EaglePicher (GTCR Group), SAFT, as well as Chinese producers in the reserve products market.

We believe that we have the largest market share in the European industrial battery market. Our primary competitors are Exide Technologies, FIAMM, Hoppecke, SAFT, as well as Chinese producers in the reserve products market; and Exide Technologies, Eternity, Hoppecke, Midac, Sunlight and TAB in the motive products market.

We have a small share of the fragmented Asian industrial battery market. We compete principally with GS-Yuasa, Shin-Kobe, Hoppecke and Zibo Torch in the motive products market; and Amara Raja, China Shoto, Coslight, Exide Industries, Leoch and Narada, in the reserve products market.

Warranties for our products vary geographically and by product type and are competitive with other suppliers of these types of products. Generally, our reserve power product warranties range from one to twenty years and our motive power product warranties range from one to seven years. The length of our warranties is varied to reflect regional characteristics and competitive influences. In some cases, our warranty period may include a pro rata period, which is typically based around the

design life of the product and the application served. Our warranties generally cover defects in workmanship and materials and are limited to specific usage parameters.

We have numerous patents and patent licenses in the United States and other jurisdictions but do not consider any one patent to be material to our business. From time to time, we apply for patents on new inventions and designs, but we believe that the growth of our business will depend primarily upon the quality of our products and our relationships with our customers, rather than the extent of our patent protection.

We believe we are leaders in TPPL. We believe that a significant capital investment would be required by any party desiring to produce products using TPPL technology for our markets.

We own or possess exclusive and non-exclusive licenses and other rights to use a number of trademarks in various jurisdictions. We have obtained registrations for many of these trademarks in the United States and other jurisdictions. Our various trademark registrations currently have durations of approximately 10 to 20 years, varying by mark and jurisdiction of registration and may be renewable. We endeavor to keep all of our material registrations current. We believe that many such rights and licenses are important to our business by helping to develop strong brand-name recognition in the marketplace.

Our business generally does not experience significant quarterly fluctuations in net sales as a result of weather or other trends that can be directly linked to seasonality patterns, but historically our fourth quarter is our best quarter with higher revenues and generally more working days and our second quarter is the weakest due to the summer holiday season in Western Europe and North America.

Our product and process development efforts are focused on the creation of new stored energy products, and integrated power systems and controls. We allocate our resources to the following key areas:

At March 31, 2020, we had approximately 11,400 employees. Of these employees, approximately 29% were covered by collective bargaining agreements. Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements that expire in the next twelve months were approximately 12% of the total workforce. The average term of these agreements is two years, with the longest term being three years. We consider our employee relations to be good. We did not experience any significant labor unrest or disruption of production during fiscal 2020.

As of June 1, 2020, our executive officers are:

Chamber Technology Engagement Center Committee.

We are committed to the protection of the environment and train our employees to perform their duties accordingly. In the manufacture of our products throughout the world, we process, store, dispose of and otherwise use large amounts of hazardous materials, especially lead and acid. As a result, we are subject to extensive and evolving environmental, health and safety laws and regulations governing, among other things: the generation, handling, storage, use, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials; emissions or discharges of hazardous materials into the ground, air or water; and the health and safety of our employees. In addition, we are required to comply with the regulation issued from the European Union called Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals or “REACH”. Under the regulation, companies which manufacture or import more than one ton of a covered chemical substance per year are required to register it in a central database administered by the European Chemicals Agency. The registration process requires the submission of information to demonstrate the safety of chemicals as used and could result in significant costs or delay the manufacture or sale of our products in the European Union. Additionally, industry associations and their member companies, including EnerSys, have scheduled meetings with the European Union member countries to advocate for their support of an exemption for lead compounds. Compliance with these laws and regulations results in ongoing costs. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations, or to obtain or comply with required environmental permits, could result in fines, criminal charges or other sanctions by regulators. From time to time, we have had instances of alleged or actual noncompliance that have resulted in the imposition of fines, penalties and required corrective actions. Our ongoing compliance with environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and permits could require us to incur significant expenses, limit our ability to modify or expand our facilities or continue production and require us to install additional pollution control equipment and make other capital improvements. In addition, private parties, including current or former employees, can bring personal injury or other claims against us due to the presence of, or their exposure to, hazardous substances used, stored, transported or disposed of by us or contained in our products.

We currently are responsible for certain environmental obligations at our former battery facility in Sumter, South Carolina, that predate our ownership of this facility. This battery facility was closed in 2001 and is separate from our current metal fabrication facility in Sumter. We have a reserve of $1.1 million for this facility as of March 31, 2020. Based on current information, we believe this reserve is adequate to satisfy our environmental liabilities at this facility.

Seventeen of our facilities in the Americas, EMEA and Asia are certified to ISO 14001 standards. ISO 14001 is a globally recognized, voluntary program that focuses on the implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of an environmental management system and the improvement of environmental performance. Six facilities in EMEA and Asia are certified to OHSAS 18001 standards. OHSAS 18001 is a globally recognized occupational health and safety management systems standard.

The potential impact of climate change on our operations is uncertain. Climate change may result in, among other things, changes in rainfall and storm patterns and intensity and increased temperature and sea levels. As discussed elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (Annual Report), including in Item 1A. Risk Factors, our operating results are significantly influenced by weather, and significant changes in historical weather patterns could significantly impact our future operating results. For example, if climate change results in drier weather and more accommodating temperatures over a greater period of time, we may be able to increase our productivity, which could positively impact our revenues and gross margins. Conversely, if climate change results in a greater amount of rainfall, snow, ice or other less accommodating weather conditions, we could experience reduced productivity, which could negatively impact our revenues and gross margins. Further, while an increase in severe weather events, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, blizzards and ice storms, can create a greater amount of emergency restoration service work, it often also can result in delays or other negative consequences for our manufacturing operations, which could negatively impact our financial results. Climate change may also affect the conditions in which we operate, and in some cases, expose us to potentially increased liabilities associated with those environmental conditions. Concerns about climate change could also result in potential new regulations, regulatory actions or requirements to fund energy efficiency activities, any of which could result in increased costs associated with our operations.

We strive to operate our facilities in a manner that protects the environment and the health and safety of our employees, customers and communities. We have implemented company-wide environmental, health and safety policies and practices, which includes monitoring, training and communication of these policies, formulation of relevant policies and standards.

We utilize a global strategy for quality management systems, policies and procedures, the basis of which is the ISO 9001:2015 standard, which is a worldwide recognized quality standard. We believe in the principles of this standard and reinforce this by requiring mandatory compliance for all manufacturing, sales and service locations globally that are registered to the ISO 9001 standard. This strategy enables us to provide consistent quality products and services to meet our customers’ needs.

Under the direction of our Chief Executive Officer and the board of directors, we are focused on achieving a high level of social responsibility, respectful workplace and strong corporate governance. We operate our business in a manner intended to address climate change and reduce its environmental impact, including by encouraging recycling.

We are also focused on our social responsibility within our workforce and our community. Integrity and respect are our core values and are ingrained in EnerSys’ culture and workplace. We want EnerSys to be the employer of choice for all and are focused on hiring and retaining diverse and highly talented employees and empowering them to create value for our stockholders. In our employee selection process and operation of our business, we adhere to equal employment opportunity policies and encourage the participation of our employees in training programs that will enhance their effectiveness in the performance of their duties.

In order to foster the highest standards of ethics and conduct in all business relationships, we have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. This policy, which covers a wide range of business practices and procedures, applies to our officers, directors and employees.

We also have an active integrity hotline to ensure we address potential issues quickly, efficiently, and with appropriate discretion when poor behaviors or actions are experienced or observed. At EnerSys, we have zero tolerance for behavior that creates a hostile workplace or makes employees feel uncomfortable in their work environment.

The following risks and uncertainties, as well as others described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, could materially and adversely affect our business, our results of operations and financial condition and could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. Stockholders are cautioned that these and other factors, including those beyond our control, may affect future performance and cause actual results to differ from those which may, from time to time, be anticipated. There may be additional risks that are not presently material or known. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” All forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf are qualified by the risks described below.

We compete with a number of major international manufacturers and distributors, as well as a large number of smaller, regional competitors. Due to excess capacity in some sectors of our industry and consolidation among industrial battery purchasers, we have been subjected to significant pricing pressures. We anticipate continued competitive pricing pressure as foreign producers are able to employ labor at significantly lower costs than producers in the U.S. and Western Europe, expand their export capacity and increase their marketing presence in our major Americas and European markets. Several of our competitors have strong technical, marketing, sales, manufacturing, distribution and other resources, as well as significant name recognition, established positions in the market and long-standing relationships with OEMs and other customers. In addition, certain of our competitors own lead smelting facilities which, during periods of lead cost increases or price volatility, may provide a competitive pricing advantage and reduce their exposure to volatile raw material costs. Our ability to maintain and improve our operating margins has depended, and continues to depend, on our ability to control and reduce our costs. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to control our operating expenses, to raise or maintain our prices or increase our unit volume, in order to maintain or improve our operating results.

Our operating results are directly affected by the general global economic conditions of the industries in which our major customer groups operate. Our business segments are highly dependent on the economic and market conditions in each of the geographic areas in which we operate. Our products are heavily dependent on the end markets that we serve and our operating results will vary by geographic segment, depending on the economic environment in these markets. Sales of our motive power products, for example, depend significantly on demand for new electric industrial forklift trucks, which in turn depends on end-user demand for additional motive capacity in their distribution and manufacturing facilities. The uncertainty in global economic conditions varies by geographic segment, and can result in substantial volatility in global credit markets, particularly in the United States, where we service the vast majority of our debt. These conditions affect our business by reducing prices that our customers may be able or willing to pay for our products or by reducing the demand for our products, which could in turn negatively impact our sales and earnings generation and result in a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, results of operations and financial position.

As we operate in various locations around the world, our operations in certain countries are subject to significant governmental scrutiny and may be adversely impacted by the results of such scrutiny. The regulatory environment with regard to our business is evolving, and officials often exercise broad discretion in deciding how to interpret and apply applicable regulations. From time to time, we receive formal and informal inquiries from various government regulatory authorities, as well as self-regulatory organizations, about our business and compliance with local laws, regulations or standards. For example, certain of the Company’s European subsidiaries received subpoenas and requests for documents and, in some cases, interviews from, and have had on-site inspections conducted by the competition authorities of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands relating to conduct and anticompetitive practices of certain industrial battery participants. The Company settled the Belgian regulatory proceeding in February 2016 by acknowledging certain anticompetitive practices and conduct and agreeing to pay a fine of $2.0 million, which was paid in March 2016. In June 2017, the Company settled a portion of its previously disclosed proceeding involving the German competition authority relating to conduct involving the Company's motive power battery business and agreed to pay a fine of $14.8 million, which was paid in July 2017, and settled the remaining portion related to the Company's reserve power battery business and agreed to pay a fine of $7.3 million, which was paid in April 2019. In July 2017, the Company settled the Dutch regulatory proceeding and agreed to pay a fine of $11.2 million, which was paid in August 2017. As of March 31, 2020, the Company had no reserve balance in connection with these investigations and related legal matters. However, the precise scope, timing and time period at issue, as well as the final outcome of the investigations or customer claims, remain uncertain and could be materially adverse to our business. (See Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statement).

Any determination that our operations or activities, or the activities of our employees, are not in compliance with existing laws, regulations or standards could result in the imposition of substantial fines, interruptions of business, loss of supplier, vendor, customer or other third-party relationships, termination of necessary licenses and permits, or similar results, all of which could potentially harm our business and/or reputation. Even if an inquiry does not result in these types of determinations, regulatory authorities could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner materially adverse to our business, and it potentially could create negative publicity which could harm our business and/or reputation.

We depend on third parties, including suppliers, distributors, lead toll operators, freight forwarders, insurance brokers, commodity brokers, major financial institutions and other third party service providers, for key aspects of our business, including the provision of derivative contracts to manage risks of (a) commodity cost volatility, (b) foreign currency exposures and (c) interest rate volatility. Failure of these third parties to meet their contractual, regulatory and other obligations to the Company, or the development of factors that materially disrupt our relationships with these third parties, could expose us to the risks of business disruption, higher commodity and interest costs, unfavorable foreign currency rates and higher expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Lead is our most significant raw material and is used along with significant amounts of plastics, steel, copper and other materials in our manufacturing processes. We estimate that raw material costs account for over half of our cost of goods sold. The costs of these raw materials, particularly lead, are volatile and beyond our control. Additionally, availability of the raw materials used to manufacture our products may be limited at times resulting in higher prices and/or the need to find alternative suppliers. Furthermore, the cost of raw materials may also be influenced by transportation costs. Volatile raw material costs can significantly affect our operating results and make period-to-period comparisons extremely difficult. We cannot assure you that we will be able to either hedge the costs or secure the availability of our raw material requirements at a reasonable level or, even with respect to our agreements that adjust pricing to a market-based index for lead, pass on to our customers the increased costs of our raw materials without affecting demand or that limited availability of materials will not impact our production capabilities. Our inability to raise the price of our products in response to increases in prices of raw materials or to maintain a proper supply of raw materials could have an adverse effect on our revenue, operating profit and net income.

We are subject to a variety of litigation, tax, environmental, health and safety and other legal compliance risks. These risks include, among other things, possible liability relating to product liability matters, personal injuries, intellectual property rights, contract-related claims, government contracts, taxes, health and safety liabilities, environmental matters and compliance with U.S. and foreign laws, competition laws and laws governing improper business practices. We or one of our business units could be charged with wrongdoing as a result of such matters. If convicted or found liable, we could be subject to significant fines, penalties, repayments or other damages (in certain cases, treble damages). As a global business, we are subject to complex laws and regulations in the U.S. and other countries in which we operate. Those laws and regulations may be interpreted in different ways. They may also change from time to time, as may related interpretations and other guidance. Changes in laws or regulations could result in higher expenses and payments, and uncertainty relating to laws or regulations may also affect how we conduct our operations and structure our investments and could limit our ability to enforce our rights.

In the area of taxes, changes in tax laws and regulations, as well as changes in related interpretations and other tax guidance could materially impact our tax receivables and liabilities and our deferred tax assets and tax liabilities. Additionally, in the ordinary course of business, we are subject to examinations by various authorities, including tax authorities. In addition to ongoing examinations, there could be additional investigations launched in the future by governmental authorities in various jurisdictions and existing investigations could be expanded. The global and diverse nature of our operations means that these risks will continue to exist and additional legal proceedings and contingencies will arise from time to time. Our results may be affected by the outcome of legal proceedings and other contingencies that cannot be predicted with certainty.

Certain environmental laws assess liability on owners or operators of real property for the cost of investigation, removal or remediation of hazardous substances at their current or former properties or at properties at which they have disposed of hazardous substances. These laws may also assess costs to repair damage to natural resources. We may be responsible for remediating damage to our properties caused by former owners. Soil and groundwater contamination has occurred at some of our current and former properties and may occur or be discovered at other properties in the future. We are currently investigating and monitoring soil and groundwater contamination at several of our properties, in most cases as required by regulatory permitting processes. We may be required to conduct these operations at other properties in the future. In addition, we have been, and in the future, may be liable to contribute to the cleanup of locations owned or operated by other persons to which we or our predecessor companies have sent wastes for disposal, pursuant to federal and other environmental laws. Under these laws, the owner or operator of contaminated properties and companies that generated, disposed of or arranged for the disposal of wastes sent to a contaminated disposal facility can be held jointly and severally liable for the investigation and cleanup of such properties, regardless of fault. Additionally, our products may become subject to fees and taxes in order to fund cleanup of such properties, including those operated or used by other lead-battery industry participants.

Changes in environmental and climate laws or regulations could lead to new or additional investment in production designs and could increase environmental compliance expenditures.

For example, the European Union has enacted greenhouse gas emissions legislation, and continues to expand the scope of such legislation. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has promulgated regulations applicable to projects involving greenhouse gas emissions above a certain threshold, and the United States and certain states within the United States have enacted, or are considering, limitations on greenhouse gas emissions.

Changes in climate change concerns, or in the regulation of such concerns, including greenhouse gas emissions, could subject us to additional costs and restrictions, including increased energy and raw materials costs. Additionally, we cannot assure you that we have been or at all times will be in compliance with environmental laws and regulations or that we will not be required to expend significant funds to comply with, or discharge liabilities arising under, environmental laws, regulations and permits, or that we will not be exposed to material environmental, health or safety litigation.

Also, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws in non-U.S. jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. The FCPA applies to companies, individual directors, officers, employees and agents. Under the FCPA, U.S. companies may be held liable for actions taken by strategic or local partners or representatives. The FCPA also imposes accounting standards and requirements on publicly traded U.S. corporations and their foreign affiliates, which are intended to prevent the diversion of corporate funds to the payment of bribes and other improper payments. Certain of our customer relationships outside of the U.S. are with governmental entities and are therefore subject to such anti-bribery laws. Our policies mandate compliance with these anti-bribery laws. Despite meaningful measures that we undertake to facilitate lawful conduct, which include training and internal control policies, these measures may not always prevent reckless or criminal acts by our employees or agents. As a result, we could be subject to criminal and civil penalties, disgorgement, further changes or enhancements to our procedures, policies and controls, personnel changes or other remedial actions. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction and result in a material adverse effect on our competitive position, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

There is also a regulation to improve the transparency and accountability concerning the supply of minerals coming from the conflict zones in and around the Democratic Republic of Congo. U.S. legislation included disclosure requirements regarding the use of conflict minerals mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries and procedures regarding a manufacturer’s efforts to prevent the sourcing of such conflict minerals. In addition, the European Union adopted a EU-wide conflict minerals rule under which most EU importers of tin, tungsten, tantalum, gold and their ores will have to conduct due diligence to ensure the minerals do not originate from conflict zones and do not fund armed conflicts. Large manufacturers also will have to disclose how they plan to monitor their sources to comply with the rules. Compliance with the regulation is required by January 1, 2021. The implementation of these requirements could affect the sourcing and availability of minerals used in the manufacture of our products. As a result, there may only be a limited pool of suppliers who provide conflict-free metals, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain products in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. Future regulations may become more stringent or costly and our compliance costs and potential liabilities could increase, which may harm our business.

We invoice our foreign sales and service transactions in local and foreign currencies and translate net sales using actual exchange rates during the period. We translate our non-U.S. assets and liabilities into U.S. dollars using current exchange rates as of the balance sheet dates. Because a significant portion of our revenues and expenses are denominated in foreign currencies, changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies, primarily the euro, British pound, Polish zloty, Chinese renminbi, Mexican peso and Swiss franc may adversely affect our revenue, cost of goods sold and operating margins. For example, foreign currency depreciation against the U.S. dollar will reduce the value of our foreign revenues and operating earnings as well as reduce our net investment in foreign subsidiaries. Approximately 40% of net sales were generated outside of the United States in fiscal 2020.

Most of the risk of fluctuating foreign currencies is in our EMEA segment, which comprised approximately one-third of our net sales during the last three fiscal years. The euro is the dominant currency in our EMEA operations. In the event that one or more European countries were to replace the euro with another currency, our sales into such countries, or into Europe generally, would likely be adversely affected until stable exchange rates are established.

The translation impact from currency fluctuations on net sales and operating earnings in our Americas and Asia segments are not as significant as our EMEA segment, as a substantial majority of these net sales and operating earnings are in U.S. dollars or foreign currencies that have been closely correlated to the U.S. dollar.

If foreign currencies depreciate against the U.S. dollar, it would make it more expensive for our non-U.S. subsidiaries to purchase certain of our raw material commodities that are priced globally in U.S. dollars, while the related revenue will decrease when translated to U.S. dollars. Significant movements in foreign exchange rates can have a material impact on our results of operations and financial condition. We periodically engage in hedging of our foreign currency exposures, but cannot assure you that we can successfully hedge all of our foreign currency exposures or do so at a reasonable cost.

We quantify and monitor our global foreign currency exposures. Our largest foreign currency exposure is from the purchase and conversion of U.S. dollar-based lead costs into local currencies in Europe. Additionally, we have currency exposures from intercompany financing and intercompany and third party trade transactions. On a selective basis, we enter into foreign currency forward contracts and purchase option contracts to reduce the impact from the volatility of currency movements; however, we cannot be certain that foreign currency fluctuations will not impact our operations in the future.

If we are unable to effectively hedge against currency fluctuations, our operating costs and revenues in our non-U.S. operations may be adversely affected, which would have an adverse effect on our operating profit and net income.

From time to time we have implemented efficiency and cost reduction initiatives intended to improve our profitability and to respond to changes impacting our business and industry. These initiatives include relocating manufacturing to lower cost regions, working with our material suppliers to lower costs, product design and manufacturing improvements, personnel reductions and voluntary retirement programs, and strategically planning capital expenditures and development activities. In the past we have recorded net restructuring charges to cover costs associated with our cost reduction initiatives involving

restructuring. These costs have been primarily composed of employee separation costs, including severance payments, and asset impairments or losses from disposal. We also undertake restructuring activities and programs to improve our cost structure in connection with our business acquisitions, which can result in significant charges, including charges for severance payments to terminated employees and asset impairment charges.

We cannot assure you that our efficiency and cost reduction initiatives will be successfully or timely implemented, or that they will materially and positively impact our profitability. Because our initiatives involve changes to many aspects of our business, the associated cost reductions could adversely impact productivity and sales to an extent we have not anticipated. In addition, our ability to complete our efficiency and cost-savings initiatives and achieve the anticipated benefits within the expected time frame is subject to estimates and assumptions and may vary materially from our expectations, including as a result of factors that are beyond our control. Furthermore, our efforts to improve the efficiencies of our business operations and improve growth may not be successful. Even if we fully execute and implement these activities and they generate the anticipated cost savings, there may be other unforeseeable and unintended consequences that could materially adversely impact our profitability and business, including unintended employee attrition or harm to our competitive position. To the extent that we do not achieve the profitability enhancement or other benefits of our efficiency and cost reduction initiatives that we anticipate, our results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

Some countries have greater political and economic volatility and greater vulnerability to infrastructure and labor disruptions than others. Our business could be negatively impacted by adverse fluctuations in freight costs, limitations on shipping and receiving capacity, and other disruptions in the transportation and shipping infrastructure at important geographic points of exit and entry for our products. Operating in different regions and countries exposes us to a number of risks, including:

The occurrence of one or more of these events may negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Many new energy storage technologies have been introduced over the past several years. For certain important and growing markets, such as aerospace and defense, lithium-based battery technologies have a large and growing market share. Our ability to achieve significant and sustained penetration of key developing markets, including aerospace and defense, will depend upon our success in developing or acquiring these and other technologies, either independently, through joint ventures or through acquisitions. If we fail to develop or acquire, and manufacture and sell, products that satisfy our customers’ demands, or we fail to respond effectively to new product announcements by our competitors by quickly introducing competitive products, then

market acceptance of our products could be reduced and our business could be adversely affected. We cannot assure you that our portfolio of primarily lead-acid products will remain competitive with products based on new technologies.

We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws, non-disclosure agreements and other confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to establish, protect and maintain our proprietary intellectual property and technology and other confidential information. Certain of these technologies, especially TPPL technology, are important to our business and are not protected by patents. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary intellectual property and technology and other confidential information, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property and proprietary technologies. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property and technology, we may lose any technological advantage we currently enjoy and may be required to take an impairment charge with respect to the carrying value of such intellectual property or goodwill established in connection with the acquisition thereof. In either case, our operating results and net income may be adversely affected.

The trend by a number of our North American and Western European customers to move manufacturing operations and expand their businesses in faster growing and low labor-cost markets may have an adverse impact on our business. As our customers in traditional manufacturing-based industries seek to move their manufacturing operations to these locations, there is a risk that these customers will source their energy storage products from competitors located in those territories and will cease or reduce the purchase of products from our manufacturing plants. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete effectively with manufacturing operations of energy storage products in those territories, whether by establishing or expanding our manufacturing operations in those lower-cost territories or acquiring existing manufacturers.

The success of our business will depend upon the quality of our products and our relationships with customers. In the event that our products fail to meet our customers’ standards, our reputation could be harmed, which would adversely affect our marketing and sales efforts. We cannot assure you that our customers will not experience quality problems with our products.

We rely upon a combination of trademark, licensing and contractual covenants to establish and protect the brand names of our products. We have registered many of our trademarks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. In many market segments, our reputation is closely related to our brand names. Monitoring unauthorized use of our brand names is difficult, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent their unauthorized use, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the U.S. We cannot assure you that our brand names will not be misappropriated or utilized without our consent or that such actions will not have a material adverse effect on our reputation and on our results of operations.

As part of our business strategy, we have grown, and plan to continue growing, by acquiring other product lines, technologies or facilities that complement or expand our existing business, such as the acquisition of Alpha during fiscal 2019 and NorthStar during fiscal 2020. There is significant competition for acquisition targets in the stored energy industry. We may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates or negotiate attractive terms. In addition, we may have difficulty obtaining the financing necessary to complete transactions we pursue. In that regard, our credit facilities restrict the amount of additional indebtedness that we may incur to finance acquisitions and place other restrictions on our ability to make acquisitions. Exceeding any of these restrictions would require the consent of our lenders. Even if acquisition candidates are identified, we cannot be sure that our diligence will surface all material issues that may be present, including as they relate to inside Alpha and/or NorthStar or their respective business, or that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of such acquisition candidate, Alpha, NorthStar and their business and outside of their respective control will not arise later. If any such material issues arise, they may materially and adversely impact the on-going business of EnerSys and our stockholders’ investment. We may be unable to successfully integrate any assets, liabilities, customers, systems and management personnel we acquire into our operations and we may not be able to realize related revenue synergies and cost savings within expected time frames. For example, the ability of EnerSys to realize the anticipated

benefits of the Alpha and NorthStar acquisitions will depend, to a large extent, on our ability to combine Alpha’s, NorthStar's and our businesses in a manner that facilitates growth opportunities and realizes anticipated synergies, and achieves the projected stand-alone cost savings and revenue growth trends identified by each company. It is expected that we will benefit from operational and general and administrative cost synergies resulting from the warehouse and transportation integration, direct procurement savings on overlapping materials, purchasing scale on indirect spend categories and optimization of duplicate positions and processes. We may also enjoy revenue synergies, driven by a strong portfolio of brands with exposure to higher growth segments and the ability to leverage our collective distribution strength. In order to achieve these expected benefits, we must successfully combine the businesses of Alpha, NorthStar and EnerSys in a manner that permits these cost savings and synergies to be realized and must achieve the anticipated savings and synergies without adversely affecting current revenues and investments in future growth. If we experience difficulties with the integration process or are not able to successfully achieve these objectives, the anticipated benefits of the Alpha and NorthStar acquisitions may not be realized fully or at all or may take longer to realize than expected. Our failure to execute our acquisition strategy could have a material adverse effect on our business. We cannot assure you that our acquisition strategy will be successful or that we will be able to successfully integrate acquisitions we do make.

Future acquisitions may involve the issuance of our equity securities as payment, in part or in full, for the businesses or assets acquired. Any future issuances of equity securities would dilute stockholder ownership interests. In addition, future acquisitions might not increase, and may even decrease, our earnings or earnings per share and the benefits derived by us from an acquisition might not outweigh or might not exceed the dilutive effect of the acquisition. We also may incur additional debt or suffer adverse tax and accounting consequences in connection with any future acquisitions.

We operate a number of critical computer systems throughout our business that can fail for a variety of reasons. If such a failure were to occur, we may not be able to sufficiently recover from the failure in time to avoid the loss of data or any adverse impact on certain of our operations that are dependent on such systems. This could result in lost sales and the inefficient operation of our facilities for the duration of such a failure.

In addition, these computer systems are essential for the exchange of information both within the company and in communicating with third parties. Despite our efforts to protect the integrity of these systems and network as well as sensitive, confidential or personal data or information, our facilities and systems and those of our third-party service providers may be vulnerable to security breaches, theft, misplaced or lost data, programming and/or human errors that could potentially lead to the compromising of sensitive, confidential or personal data or information, improper use of our systems, software solutions or networks, unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or destruction of information, defective products, production downtimes and operational disruptions, which in turn could adversely affect our reputation, competitiveness, and results of operations.

Our ability to continue our ongoing business operations and fund future growth depends on our ability to maintain adequate credit facilities and to comply with the financial and other covenants in such credit facilities or to secure alternative sources of financing. However, such credit facilities or alternate financing may not be available or, if available, may not be on terms favorable to us. If we do not have adequate access to credit, we may be unable to refinance our existing borrowings and credit facilities when they mature and to fund future acquisitions, and this may reduce our flexibility in responding to changing industry conditions.

As of March 31, 2020, we had $1,160.6 million of total consolidated debt (including finance leases). This level of debt could:

During fiscal 2020, we announced the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.175 per share of common stock for quarters ended June 30, 2019, September 29, 2019, December 29, 2019 and March 31, 2020. On May 21, 2020, we announced a fiscal 2021 first quarter cash dividend of $0.175 per share of common stock. Future payment of a regular quarterly cash dividend on our common shares will be subject to, among other things, our results of operations, cash balances and future cash requirements, financial condition, statutory requirements of Delaware law, compliance with the terms of existing and future indebtedness and credit facilities, and other factors that the Board of Directors may deem relevant. Our dividend payments may change from time to time, and we cannot provide assurance that we will continue to declare dividends at all or in any particular amounts. A reduction in or elimination of our dividend payments could have a negative effect on our share price.

Our Board of Directors has authorized two share repurchase programs, one authorizing the repurchase of up to $100 million of our common stock, of which authority, as of March 31, 2020, approximately $59 million remains available and another authorizing the repurchase of up to such number of shares as shall equal the dilutive effects of any equity based award granted during such fiscal year and the number of shares exercised through stock option awards during such fiscal year. Although our board of directors has authorized these share repurchase programs, the programs do not obligate us to repurchase any specific dollar amount or to acquire any specific number of shares. We cannot guarantee that the programs will be fully consummated or that they will enhance long-term stockholder value. The programs could affect the trading price of our stock and increase volatility, and any announcement of a termination of these programs may result in a decrease in the trading price of our stock. In addition, these programs could diminish our cash reserves. The Company does not plan on utilizing the share repurchase authorization in the present financial environment.

Our success depends in part on our ability to attract, retain and motivate senior management and other key employees. Achieving this objective may be difficult due to many factors, including fluctuations in global economic and industry conditions, competitors’ hiring practices, cost reduction activities, and the effectiveness of our compensation programs. Competition for qualified personnel can be very intense. We must continue to recruit, retain and motivate senior management and other key employees sufficient to maintain our current business and support our future projects. We are vulnerable to attrition among our current senior management team and other key employees. A loss of any such personnel, or the inability to recruit and retain qualified personnel in the future, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if we are unsuccessful in our succession planning efforts, the continuity of our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our income tax obligations are based in part on our corporate operating structure and intercompany arrangements, including the manner in which we operate our business, develop, value, manage, protect, and use our intellectual property and the valuations of our intercompany transactions. We may also be subject to additional indirect or non-income taxes. The tax laws applicable to our business, including the laws of the United States and other jurisdictions, are subject to interpretation and certain jurisdictions are aggressively interpreting their laws in new ways in an effort to raise additional tax revenue from multi-national companies, like us. The taxing authorities of the jurisdictions in which we operate may challenge our methodologies for valuing developed technology or intercompany arrangements, which could increase our worldwide effective tax rate and harm our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. Although we believe that our provision for income taxes is reasonable, the ultimate tax outcome may differ from the amounts recorded in our financial statements and may materially affect our

financial results in the period or periods for which such determination is made. In addition, our future income tax rates could be adversely affected by earnings being lower than anticipated in jurisdictions that have lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated in jurisdictions that have higher statutory tax rates, by changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, or by changes in tax laws, regulations, or accounting principles.

The software and related services that we offer, including those as a result of the Alpha acquisition, are highly technical and complex. Our services or any other products that we may introduce in the future may contain undetected software bugs, hardware errors, and other vulnerabilities. These bugs and errors can manifest in any number of ways in our products, including through diminished performance, security vulnerabilities, malfunctions, or even permanently disabled products. We have a practice of regularly updating our products and some errors in our products may be discovered only after a product has been used by users, and may in some cases be detected only under certain circumstances or after extended use. Any errors, bugs or other vulnerabilities discovered in our code or backend after release could damage our reputation, drive away users, allow third parties to manipulate or exploit our software, lower revenue and expose us to claims for damages, any of which could seriously harm our business. Additionally, errors, bugs, or other vulnerabilities may, either directly or if exploited by third parties, affect our ability to make accurate royalty payments.

 

We also could face claims for product liability, tort or breach of warranty. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management’s attention and seriously harm our reputation and our business. In addition, if our liability insurance coverage proves inadequate or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our business could be seriously harmed.

None.

The Company’s worldwide headquarters is located in Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Geographic headquarters for our Americas, EMEA and Asia segments are located in Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., Zug, Switzerland and Singapore, respectively. The Company owns approximately 80% of its manufacturing facilities and distribution centers worldwide. The following sets forth the Company’s principal owned or leased facilities by business segment:

We consider our plants and facilities, whether owned or leased, to be in satisfactory condition and adequate to meet the needs of our current businesses and projected growth. Information as to material lease commitments is included in Note 3 - Leases to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

From time to time, we are involved in litigation incidental to the conduct of our business. See Litigation and Other Legal Matters in Note 19 - Commitments, Contingencies and Litigation to the Consolidated Financial Statements, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Not applicable.

The Company’s common stock has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ENS” since it began trading on July 30, 2004. Prior to that time, there had been no public market for our common stock.

As of May 28, 2020, there were approximately 303 record holders of common stock of the Company. Because many of these shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, the Company is unable to estimate the total number of stockholders represented by these record holders.

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, we did not issue any unregistered securities.

During fiscal 2020, the Company’s quarterly dividend was $0.175 per share. The Company declared aggregate regular cash dividends of $0.70 per share in each of the years ended March 31, 2019 and 2018.

The Company anticipates that it will continue to pay quarterly cash dividends in the future. However, the payment and amount of future dividends remain within the discretion of the Board and will depend upon the Company's future earnings, financial condition, capital requirements, restrictions under existing or future credit facilities or debt and other factors. See “There can be no assurance that we will continue to declare cash dividends at all or in any particular amounts.” Under Item 1A. Risk Factors for additional information.

The following table summarizes the number of shares of common stock we purchased from participants in our equity incentive plans as well as repurchases of common stock authorized by the Board of Directors. As provided by the Company’s equity incentive plans, (a) vested options outstanding may be exercised through surrender to the Company of option shares or vested options outstanding under the Company’s equity incentive plans to satisfy the applicable aggregate exercise price (and any withholding tax) required to be paid upon such exercise and (b) the withholding tax requirements related to the vesting and settlement of equity awards may be satisfied by the surrender of shares of the Company’s common stock.

        

The Company does not plan on utilizing the share repurchase authorization in the present financial environment.

The following graph compares the changes in cumulative total returns on EnerSys’ common stock with the changes in cumulative total returns of the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index, a broad equity market index, and the total return on a selected peer group index. The peer group selected is based on the standard industrial classification codes (“SIC Codes”) established by the U.S. government. The index chosen was “Miscellaneous Electrical Equipment and Suppliers” and comprises all publicly traded companies having the same three-digit SIC Code (369) as EnerSys.

The graph was prepared assuming that $100 was invested in EnerSys’ common stock, the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index and the peer group (duly updated for changes) on March 31, 2015.

EnerSys (the “Company,” “we,” or “us”) is the world’s largest manufacturer, marketer and distributor of industrial batteries. We also manufacture, market and distribute products such as battery chargers, power equipment, battery accessories, and outdoor cabinet enclosures. Additionally, we provide related aftermarket and customer-support services for our products. We market our products globally to over 10,000 customers in more than 100 countries through a network of distributors, independent representatives and our internal sales force.

We operate and manage our business in three geographic regions of the world—Americas, EMEA and Asia, as described below. Our business is highly decentralized with manufacturing locations throughout the world. More than half of our manufacturing capacity is located outside the United States, and approximately 40% of our net sales were generated outside the United States. The Company currently has three reportable business segments based on geographic regions, defined as follows:

We evaluate business segment performance based primarily upon operating earnings exclusive of highlighted items. Highlighted items are those that the Company deems are not indicative of ongoing operating results, including those charges that the Company incurs as a result of restructuring activities, impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles and other assets, acquisition activities and those charges and credits that are not directly related to operating unit performance, such as significant legal proceedings, ERP system implementation, amortization of recently acquired intangible assets and tax valuation allowance changes, including those related to the adoption of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Because these charges are not incurred as a result of ongoing operations, or are incurred as a result of a potential or previous acquisition, they are not as helpful a measure of the performance of our underlying business, particularly in light of their unpredictable nature and are difficult to forecast. All corporate and centrally incurred costs are allocated to the business segments based principally on net sales. We evaluate business segment cash flow and financial position performance based primarily upon capital expenditures and primary working capital levels (see definition of primary working capital in “Liquidity and Capital Resources” below). Although we

monitor the three elements of primary working capital (receivables, inventory and payables), our primary focus is on the total amount due to the significant impact it has on our cash flow.

Our management structure, financial reporting systems, and associated internal controls and procedures, are all consistent with our three geographic business segments. We report on a March 31 fiscal year-end. Our financial results are largely driven by the following factors:

We have two primary product lines: reserve power and motive power products. Net sales classifications by product line are as follows:

The COVID-19 pandemic has weakened economic activity around the world. China’s economic activity was the hardest hit during our fourth fiscal quarter and two of our plants in China were shut down for several weeks and order demand slowed significantly. In Europe and North America, the impact of COVID-19 was felt towards the end of our fourth quarter so the economic impact was not as severe as in China. We believe that EMEA and Americas economies will be much harder hit by the impact of COVID-19 during our first fiscal quarter of fiscal 2021.

While the adverse direct impact from COVID-19 was felt by our factories in China and our overall supply chain, our factories in both the Americas and EMEA, deemed essential critical infrastructure suppliers, remain in operation with some near full capacity while others are experiencing lower demand, particularly those in our motive power lines of business. We have been able to meet customer demand while maintaining the safety considerations for those in our facilities and as many employees continue to work effectively from home. The pandemic continues to pose challenges in many of our markets including delayed 5G deployments and lower OEM sales to our transportation and motive power customers as they experience lower demand with their end customers. 

 

Our most significant commodity and foreign currency exposures are related to lead and the Euro, respectively. Historically, volatility of commodity costs and foreign currency exchange rates have caused large swings in our production costs. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and a forecasted global economic recession, we anticipate that our commodity costs will be lower in the near future and foreign currency exposures may continue to fluctuate as they have in the past several years. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in our fourth fiscal quarter of 2020, we have experienced declining commodity costs.

Our selling prices fluctuated during the last several years to offset the volatile cost of commodities. Approximately 30% of our revenue is currently subject to agreements that adjust pricing to a market-based index for lead. Lead prices rose for the most part of fiscal 2018, peaked in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and then declined sequentially in every quarter in fiscal 2019. In fiscal 2020, our selling prices declined in response to declining commodity costs, including lead. Based on current commodity markets, we will likely see year over year benefits from declining commodity prices, with some related reduction in our selling prices in the upcoming year.

In fiscal 2020, we issued $300 million in aggregate principal amount of our 4.375% Senior Notes due 2027 (the “2027 Notes”). Proceeds from this offering, net of debt issuance costs were $296.3 million and were utilized to pay down the balance outstanding on the revolver borrowings.

In fiscal 2018, we entered into a credit facility (“2017 Credit Facility”) that consisted of a $600.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility (“2017 Revolver”) and a $150.0 million senior secured term loan (“2017 Term Loan”) with a maturity date of September 30, 2022. On December 7, 2018, we amended the 2017 Credit Facility (as amended, the “Amended Credit Facility”). The Amended Credit Facility consists of $449.1 million senior secured term loans (the “Amended 2017 Term Loan”), including a CAD 133.1 million ($99.1 million) term loan and a $700.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Amended 2017 Revolver”). The amendment resulted in an increase of the 2017 Term Loan and the 2017 Revolver by $299.1 million and $100.0 million, respectively.

In fiscal 2020 and 2019 we repurchased $34.6 million and $56.0 million of our common stock under existing authorizations, respectively. In fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2019, we reissued 17,410 and 3,256 shares out of our treasury stock, respectively, to participants under the Company's Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

In fiscal 2019, we reissued 1,177,630 shares from our treasury stock to satisfy $100.0 million of the initial purchase consideration of $750.0 million, in connection with the Alpha acquisition.

In fiscal 2018, we repurchased $121.0 million of our common stock through an accelerated share repurchase program (“ASR”) with a major financial institution and through open market purchases.

A substantial majority of the Company’s cash and investments are held by foreign subsidiaries. The majority of that cash and investments is expected to be utilized to fund local operating activities, capital expenditure requirements and acquisitions. The Company believes that it has sufficient sources of domestic and foreign liquidity.

We believe that our strong capital structure and liquidity affords us access to capital for future capital expenditures, acquisition and stock repurchase opportunities and continued dividend payments.

Cost savings programs remain a continuous element of our business strategy and are directed primarily at further reductions in plant manufacturing (labor and overhead), raw material costs and our operating expenses (primarily selling, general and administrative). In order to realize cost savings benefits for a majority of these initiatives, costs are incurred either in the form of capital expenditures, funding the cash obligations of previously recorded restructuring expenses or current period expenses.

In January 2017, we started our Operational Excellence program, referred to as the EnerSys Operating System, or EOS, which serves as our continuous improvement engine. During fiscal 2018 and 2019, we were able to fund our investment in new product development and digital core with savings of approximately $25 million in each year, primarily from restructuring programs. Our global deployment of EOS began to slow in fiscal 2019 and we have struggled to maintain pace with surging customer demand for TPPL amidst disruptions in fiscal 2019 from our ERP implementation and in fiscal 2020 from a fire, both

adversely impacting our productivity at our Richmond motive power facility. We constantly evaluate the return on investment to ensure we achieve our targeted improvement by the end of fiscal 2021.

Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 1 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. In preparing our financial statements, management is required to make estimates and assumptions that, among other things, affect the reported amounts in the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes. These estimates and assumptions are most significant where they involve levels of subjectivity and judgment necessary to account for highly uncertain matters or matters susceptible to change, and where they can have a material impact on our financial condition and operating performance. We discuss below the more significant estimates and related assumptions used in the preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements. If actual results were to differ materially from the estimates made, the reported results could be materially affected.

We adopted the new accounting standard for the recognition of revenue under ASC 606 for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2019. Under this standard, we recognize revenue only when we have satisfied a performance obligation through transferring control of the promised good or service to a customer. The standard indicates that an entity must determine at contract inception whether it will transfer control of a promised good or service over time or satisfy the performance obligation at a point in time through analysis of the following criteria: (i) the entity has a present right to payment, (ii) the customer has legal title, (iii) the customer has physical possession, (iv) the customer has the significant risks and rewards of ownership and (v) the customer has accepted the asset. Our primary performance obligation to our customers is the delivery of finished goods and products, pursuant to purchase orders. Control of the products sold typically transfers to our customers at the point in time when the goods are shipped as this is also when title generally passes to our customers under the terms and conditions of our customer arrangements.

We assess collectibility based primarily on the customer’s payment history and on the creditworthiness of the customer.

Management believes that the accounting estimates related to revenue recognition are critical accounting estimates because they require reasonable assurance of collection of revenue proceeds and completion of all performance obligations. Also, revenues are recorded net of provisions for sales discounts and returns, which are established at the time of sale. These estimates are based on our past experience. For additional information on the new accounting standard for the recognition of revenue see Note 1 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

We test for the impairment of our goodwill and indefinite-lived trademarks at least annually and whenever events or circumstances occur indicating that a possible impairment has been incurred.

We perform our annual goodwill impairment test on the first day of our fourth quarter for each of our reporting units based on the income approach, also known as the discounted cash flow (“DCF”) method, which utilizes the present value of future cash flows to estimate fair value. We also use the market approach, which utilizes market price data of companies engaged in the same or a similar line of business as that of our company, to estimate fair value. A reconciliation of the two methods is performed to assess the reasonableness of fair value of each of the reporting units.

The future cash flows used under the DCF method are derived from estimates of future revenues, operating income, working capital requirements and capital expenditures, which in turn reflect our expectations of specific global, industry and market conditions. The discount rate developed for each of the reporting units is based on data and factors relevant to the economies in which the business operates and other risks associated with those cash flows, including the potential variability in the amount and timing of the cash flows. A terminal growth rate is applied to the final year of the projected period and reflects our estimate of stable growth to perpetuity. We then calculate the present value of the respective cash flows for each reporting unit to arrive at the fair value using the income approach and then determine the appropriate weighting between the fair value estimated using the income approach and the fair value estimated using the market approach. Finally, we compare the estimated fair value of each reporting unit to its respective carrying value in order to determine if the goodwill assigned to each reporting unit is potentially impaired. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, goodwill is not impaired and no further testing is required. If the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value, an impairment charge is recognized for

the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value; however, the loss recognized should not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit.

Significant assumptions used include management’s estimates of future growth rates, the amount and timing of future operating cash flows, capital expenditures, discount rates, as well as market and industry conditions and relevant comparable company multiples for the market approach. Assumptions utilized are highly judgmental, especially given the role technology plays in driving the demand for products in the telecommunications and aerospace markets.

The indefinite-lived trademarks are tested for impairment by comparing the carrying value to the fair value based on current revenue projections of the related operations, under the relief from royalty method. Any excess carrying value over the amount of fair value is recognized as impairment. Any impairment would be recognized in full in the reporting period in which it has been identified.

With respect to our other long-lived assets other than goodwill and indefinite-lived trademarks, we test for impairment when indicators of impairment are present. An asset is considered impaired when the undiscounted estimated net cash flows expected to be generated by the asset are less than its carrying amount. The impairment recognized is the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the fair value of the impaired asset.

We account for business combinations in accordance with ASC 805, Business Combinations. We recognize assets acquired and liabilities assumed in acquisitions at their fair values as of the acquisition date, with the acquisition-related transaction and

restructuring costs expensed in the period incurred. Determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed often involves estimates based on third-party valuations, such as appraisals, or internal valuations based on discounted cash flow analyses and may include estimates of attrition, inflation, asset growth rates, discount rates, multiples of earnings or other relevant factors. In addition, fair values are subject to refinement for up to a year after the closing date of an acquisition. Adjustments recorded to the acquired assets and liabilities are applied prospectively.

Fair values are based on estimates using management's assumptions using future growth rates, future attrition of the customer base, discount rates, multiples of earnings or other relevant factors.

Any change in the acquisition date fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed may materially affect our financial position, results of operations and liquidity.

From time to time, the Company has been or may be a party to various legal actions and investigations including, among others, employment matters, compliance with government regulations, federal and state employment laws, including wage and hour laws, contractual disputes and other matters, including matters arising in the ordinary course of business. These claims may be brought by, among others, governments, customers, suppliers and employees. Management considers the measurement of litigation reserves as a critical accounting estimate because of the significant uncertainty in some cases relating to the outcome

of potential claims or litigation and the difficulty of predicting the likelihood and range of potential liability involved, coupled with the material impact on our results of operations that could result from litigation or other claims.

In determining legal reserves, management considers, among other inputs:

For certain matters, management is able to estimate a range of losses. When a loss is probable, but no amount of loss within a range of outcomes is more likely than any other outcome, management will record a liability based on the low end of the estimated range. Additionally, management will evaluate whether losses in excess of amounts accrued are reasonably possible, and will make disclosure of those matters based on an assessment of the materiality of those addition possible losses.

Accruals for environmental loss contingencies (i.e., environmental reserves) are recorded when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can reasonably be estimated. Management views the measurement of environmental reserves as a critical accounting estimate because of the considerable uncertainty surrounding estimation, including the need to forecast well into the future. From time to time, we may be involved in legal proceedings under federal, state and local, as well as international environmental laws in connection with our operations and companies that we have acquired. The estimation of environmental reserves is based on the evaluation of currently available information, prior experience in the remediation of contaminated sites and assumptions with respect to government regulations and enforcement activity, changes in remediation technology and practices, and financial obligations and creditworthiness of other responsible parties and insurers.

We record a warranty reserve for possible claims against our product warranties, which generally run for a period ranging from one to twenty years for our reserve power batteries and for a period ranging from one to seven years for our motive power batteries. The assessment of the adequacy of the reserve includes a review of open claims and historical experience.

Management believes that the accounting estimate related to the warranty reserve is a critical accounting estimate because the underlying assumptions used for the reserve can change from time to time and warranty claims could potentially have a material impact on our results of operations.

We encounter risks associated with sales and the collection of the associated accounts receivable. We record a provision for accounts receivable that are considered to be uncollectible. In order to calculate the appropriate provision, management analyzes the creditworthiness of specific customers and the aging of customer balances. Management also considers general and specific industry economic conditions, industry concentration and contractual rights and obligations.

Management believes that the accounting estimate related to the allowance for doubtful accounts is a critical accounting estimate because the underlying assumptions used for the allowance can change from time to time and uncollectible accounts could potentially have a material impact on our results of operations.

We use certain economic and demographic assumptions in the calculation of the actuarial valuation of liabilities associated with our defined benefit plans. These assumptions include the discount rate, expected long-term rates of return on assets and rates of increase in compensation levels. Changes in these assumptions can result in changes to the pension expense and recorded liabilities. Management reviews these assumptions at least annually. We use independent actuaries to assist us in formulating assumptions and making estimates. These assumptions are updated periodically to reflect the actual experience and expectations on a plan-specific basis, as appropriate. 

For benefit plans which are funded, we establish strategic asset allocation percentage targets and appropriate benchmarks for significant asset classes with the aim of achieving a prudent balance between return and risk. We set the expected long-term rate of return based on the expected long-term average rates of return to be achieved by the underlying investment portfolios. In establishing this rate, we consider historical and expected returns for the asset classes in which the plans are invested, advice from pension consultants and investment advisors, and current economic and capital market conditions. The expected return on plan assets is incorporated into the computation of pension expense. The difference between this expected return and the actual return on plan assets is deferred and will affect future net periodic pension costs through subsequent amortization.

We believe that the current assumptions used to estimate plan obligations and annual expense are appropriate in the current economic environment. However, if economic conditions change materially, we may change our assumptions, and the resulting change could have a material impact on the Consolidated Statements of Income and on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

We recognize compensation cost relating to equity-based payment transactions by using a fair-value measurement method whereby all equity-based payments to employees, including grants of restricted stock units, stock options, market and performance condition-based awards are recognized as compensation expense based on fair value at grant date over the requisite service period of the awards. We determine the fair value of restricted stock units based on the quoted market price of our common stock on the date of grant. The fair value of stock options is determined using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which uses both historical and current market data to estimate the fair value. The fair value of market condition-based awards is estimated at the date of grant using a Monte Carlo Simulation. The fair value of performance condition-based awards is based on the closing stock price on the date of grant, adjusted for a discount to reflect the illiquidity inherent in these awards.

All models incorporate various assumptions such as the risk-free interest rate, expected volatility, expected dividend yield and expected life of the awards. When estimating the requisite service period of the awards, we consider many related factors including types of awards, employee class, and historical experience. Actual results, and future changes in estimates of the requisite service period may differ substantially from our current estimates.

The recognition and measurement of a tax position is based on management’s best judgment given the facts, circumstances and information available at the reporting date. We evaluate tax positions to determine whether the benefits of tax positions are more likely than not of being sustained upon audit based on the technical merits of the tax position. For tax positions that are more likely than not of being sustained upon audit, we recognize the largest amount of the benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement in the financial statements. For tax positions that are not more likely than not of being sustained upon audit, we do not recognize any portion of the benefit in the financial statements. If the more likely than not threshold is not met in the period for which a tax position is taken, we may subsequently recognize the benefit of that tax position if the tax matter is effectively settled, the statute of limitations expires, or if the more likely than not threshold is met in a subsequent period.

We evaluate, on a quarterly basis, our ability to realize deferred tax assets by assessing our valuation allowance and by adjusting the amount of such allowance, if necessary. The factors used to assess the likelihood of realization are our forecast of future taxable income and available tax planning strategies that could be implemented to realize the net deferred tax assets.

To the extent we prevail in matters for which reserves have been established, or are required to pay amounts in excess of our reserves, our effective tax rate in a given financial statement period could be materially affected.

The following table presents summary Consolidated Statement of Income data for fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, compared to fiscal year ended March 31, 2019:

 NM = not meaningful

Our sales in fiscal 2020 were $3.1 billion, a 10% increase from prior year's sales. This increase was the result of a 17% increase due to the Alpha and NorthStar acquisitions (as discussed in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report), partially offset by a 4% decrease in organic volume, a 2% decrease in foreign currency translation impact and a 1% decrease in pricing. Organic volume decline in fiscal 2020 reflects the impact of the recent fire and ERP execution challenges in our Richmond, Kentucky facility and weakness in the European and Asian markets.

A discussion of specific fiscal 2020 versus fiscal 2019 operating results follows, including an analysis and discussion of the results of our reportable segments.

The Americas segment’s net sales increased by $391.4 million or 23.1% in fiscal 2020, as compared to fiscal 2019, primarily due to a 26% increase from the Alpha and NorthStar acquisitions, partially offset by a 1% decrease each in organic volume, pricing and currency translation impact.

The EMEA segment’s net sales decreased by $73.3 million or 8.5% in fiscal 2020, as compared to fiscal 2019, primarily due to a 6% decrease in organic volume, a 4% decrease in currency translation impact and a 1% decrease in pricing, partially offset by a 2% increase from the NorthStar acquisition. The decrease in organic volume was driven in part by the return of a competitor to the market in fiscal 2020. This competitor was absent in fiscal 2019 due to a fire at their facility.

The Asia segment’s net sales decreased by $38.3 million or 14.9% in fiscal 2020, as compared to fiscal 2019, primarily due to a 11% decrease in organic volume reflecting dramatic declines of telecom demand in China and the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, a 3% decrease in currency translation impact and a 1% decrease in pricing.

Sales in our reserve power products increased in fiscal 2020 by $323.4 million or 22.8% compared to the prior year, primarily due to a 33% increase from the Alpha and NorthStar acquisitions, partially offset by a 7% decrease in organic volume, a 2% decrease in currency translation impact and a 1% decrease in pricing. The decrease in organic volume in fiscal 2020 is primarily from the deferral of spending by telecom and broadband customers and the conclusion of a large enclosure order a year ago.

Gross profit increased $91.8 million or 13.3% in fiscal 2020 compared to fiscal 2019. Gross profit, as a percentage of net sales, increased 70 basis points in fiscal 2020 compared to fiscal 2019. This increase in the gross profit margin is largely a function of declines in commodity costs relative to pricing, partially offset by higher manufacturing costs.

Operating expenses increased $88.3 million or 20% in fiscal 2020 from fiscal 2019 and increased as a percentage of net sales by 140 basis points. Excluding the impact of the foreign currency translation, the increase reflects the inclusion of Alpha and NorthStar, as well as an increase of $25.0 million towards new product development.

Selling expenses, our main component of operating expenses, were 44.7% of sales in fiscal 2020, compared to 46.4% of sales in fiscal 2019.

Goodwill is tested annually for impairment during the fourth quarter or earlier upon the occurrence of certain events or substantive changes in circumstances that indicate goodwill is more likely than not impaired.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, we conducted our annual goodwill impairment test which indicated that the fair value of Asia was less than its carrying value. We recorded a non-cash charge of $39.7 million related to goodwill impairment in Asia under the caption “Impairment of goodwill” in the Consolidated Statements of Income. We also recorded a non-cash charge of $4.5 million related to indefinite-lived trademarks in EMEA, under the caption “Impairment of indefinite-lived intangibles” in the Consolidated Statements of Income. The key factors contributing to the impairment in Asia was the increasing pressure on organic sales growth that we began to experience in fiscal 2019 due to a slowdown in telecom spending in the PRC amidst growing trade tensions between the U.S.A and China. The impact of these trade tensions on our ability to capture market share in PRC accelerated in the second half of the fiscal year. Throughout fiscal 2020, there was a general slowdown in the Chinese economy which was further exacerbated by the outbreak of the COVID -19 pandemic, causing disruption to two of our plants in China in the fourth quarter. Also contributing to the poor performance of the Asia region was a general softening of demand in Australia, that began in fiscal 2019 and continued throughout fiscal 2020. We monitored the performance of our Asia reporting unit for interim impairment indicators throughout fiscal 2020, but the emergence of COVID-19 in China in December 2019 coupled with the totality of economic headwinds in the region resulted in the recognition of a goodwill impairment loss in connection with our annual impairment test.

 

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, management completed its evaluation of key inputs used to estimate the fair value of its indefinite-lived trademarks and determined that an impairment charge relating to two of its trademarks in the EMEA reporting unit, that were acquired through legacy acquisitions was appropriate, as it plans to phase out these trademarks.

Included in our fiscal 2019 operating results are restructuring and exit charges of $4.0 million in Americas, $27.0 million in EMEA and $3.8 million in Asia. Of the $27.0 million charges in EMEA, $17.7 million related to the closure of our facility in Targovishte, Bulgaria, $4.9 million related to the disposition of GAZ Geräte - und Akkumulatorenwerk Zwickau GmbH, a wholly-owned German subsidiary, $3.4 million related to improving efficiencies of our general operations and $1.0 million related to dissolving a joint venture in Tunisia. The facility in Bulgaria produced diesel-electric submarine batteries. Management determined that the future demand for batteries of diesel-electric submarines was not sufficient given the number of competitors in the market. The $17.7 million charges were primarily non-cash charges of $15.0 million related to the write-off of fixed assets and $2.7 million of severance payments. In addition, cost of goods sold also included a $2.5 million of inventory write-off relating to the closure of the Bulgaria facility. These exit activities are a consequence of the Company's strategic decision to streamline its product portfolio and focus its efforts on new technologies. The charges in Asia primarily relate to improving efficiencies in the PRC in light of recent decline in demand.

Operating earnings by segment were as follows:

  NM = not meaningful

 

The Americas segment’s operating earnings, increased $20.0 million or 10.8% in fiscal 2020 compared to fiscal 2019, with the operating margin decreasing 110 basis points to 9.9%. The decrease is primarily due to the recent fire at our Richmond, Kentucky, facility which continued to result in missed sales opportunities and higher manufacturing costs. This negative impact was partially offset by the impact of lower commodity costs and Alpha's contribution to operating earnings of $53.2 million or 9.7% of its sales for fiscal 2020.

The EMEA segment’s operating earnings, decreased $21.7 million or 30.3% in fiscal 2020 compared to fiscal 2019, with the operating margin decreasing 200 basis points to 6.4%. The decrease was primarily due to the lower volume previously discussed.

The Asia segment's operating earnings, decreased $3.2 million in fiscal 2020 compared to fiscal 2019, with the operating margin decreasing by 130 basis points to 0%. Lower organic volume caused by the slowdown in the Chinese economy as well as the recent disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic to our two plants were the primary reasons for the poor performance of our Asia region.

Interest expense of $43.7 million in fiscal 2020 (net of interest income of $2.2 million) was $12.8 million higher than the $30.9 million in fiscal 2019 (net of interest income of $2.1 million).

Our average debt outstanding was $1,097.9 million in fiscal 2020, compared to our average debt outstanding of $742.0 million in fiscal 2019. Our average cash interest rate incurred in fiscal 2020 was 3.8% and was 4.1% in fiscal 2019. The increase in interest expense was primarily due to higher average debt incurred to fund the Alpha and NorthStar acquisitions.

In connection with the issuance of the 2027 Notes, we capitalized $4.6 million of debt issuance costs. Included in interest expense were non-cash charges related to amortization of deferred financing fees of $1.7 million in fiscal 2020 and $1.3 million in fiscal 2019.

Other (income) expense, net was income of $0.5 million in fiscal 2020 compared to income of $0.5 million in fiscal 2019. Foreign currency losses were $0.3 million in fiscal 2020 compared to foreign currency gains of $3.1 million in fiscal 2019.

As a result of the factors discussed above, fiscal 2020 earnings before income taxes were $147.0 million, a decrease of $35.1 million or 19.4% compared to fiscal 2019.

Our effective income tax rate with respect to any period may be volatile based on the mix of income in the tax jurisdictions in which we operate and the amount of our consolidated income before taxes. 

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) was enacted into law. Among the significant changes resulting from the law, the Tax Act reduced the U.S. federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018, and required companies to pay a one-time transition tax on unrepatriated cumulative non-U.S. earnings of foreign subsidiaries and created new taxes on certain foreign sourced earnings. The U.S. federal statutory tax rate for fiscal 2020 and 2019 is 21.0%.

The Company’s income tax provision consists of federal, state and foreign income taxes. The effective income tax rate was 6.7% in fiscal 2020 compared to the fiscal 2019 effective income tax rate of 11.9%. The rate decrease in fiscal 2020 compared

to fiscal 2019 is primarily due to changes in mix of earnings among tax jurisdictions, Swiss tax reform, and items related to the Tax Act in fiscal 2019.

On May 19, 2019, a public referendum held in Switzerland approved the Federal Act on Tax Reform and AHV (Old-Age and Survivors Insurance) Financing (TRAF) as adopted by the Swiss Federal Parliament on September 28, 2018. The Swiss tax reform measures are effective January 1, 2020. Certain provisions of the TRAF were enacted during the second quarter of fiscal 2020. Significant changes in the tax reform include the abolishment of preferential tax regimes for holding companies, domicile companies and mixed companies at the cantonal level. The transitional provisions of the TRAF allow companies to elect tax basis adjustments to fair value, which is used for tax depreciation and amortization purposes resulting in a deduction over the transitional period. We recorded a net deferred tax asset of $22.5 million during fiscal 2020, related to the amortizable goodwill.

The fiscal 2020 foreign effective income tax rate was (7.4%) on foreign pre-tax income of $110.7 million compared to effective income tax rate of 12.3% on foreign pre-tax income of $128.9 million in fiscal 2019. For both fiscal 2020 and 2019, the difference in the foreign effective tax rate versus the U.S. statutory rate of 21% is primarily attributable to lower tax rates in the foreign countries in which we operate. The rate decrease in fiscal 2020 compared to fiscal 2019 is primarily due to Swiss tax reform and changes in the mix of earnings among tax jurisdictions. Income from our Swiss subsidiary comprised a substantial portion of our overall foreign mix of income for both fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2019 and was taxed, excluding the impact from Swiss tax reform, at approximately 3% and 4%, respectively.

The following table presents summary Consolidated Statement of Income data for fiscal year ended March 31, 2019, compared to fiscal year ended March 31, 2018:

Our sales in fiscal 2019 were $2.8 billion, an 8.8% increase from prior year's sales. This increase was the result of a 6% increase due to the Alpha acquisition (as discussed in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report), a 3% increase in organic volume and a 2% increase in pricing, partially offset by a 2% decrease in foreign currency translation impact.

A discussion of specific fiscal 2019 versus fiscal 2018 operating results follows, including an analysis and discussion of the results of our reportable segments.

The Americas segment’s net sales increased by $261.1 million or 18.3% in fiscal 2019, as compared to fiscal 2018, primarily due to an 11% increase due to the Alpha acquisition, a 6% increase in organic volume and a 3% increase in pricing, partially offset by a 2% decrease in currency translation impact.

The EMEA segment’s net sales increased by $11.1 million or 1.3% in fiscal 2019, as compared to fiscal 2018, primarily due to a 5% increase in organic volume, partially offset by a 4% decrease in currency translation impact.

The Asia segment’s net sales decreased by $46.0 million or 15.2% in fiscal 2019, as compared to fiscal 2018, primarily due to a 14% decrease in organic volume reflecting dramatic declines in China telecom demands and a general softening of demand in Australia, and a 3% decrease in currency translation impact, partially offset by a 2% increase in pricing.

Sales in our reserve power products increased in fiscal 2019 by $168.3 million or 13.5% compared to the prior year, primarily due to a 13% increase due to the Alpha acquisition, a 2% increase in pricing, and a 1% increase in organic volume, partially offset by a 2% decrease in currency translation impact.

Sales in our motive power products increased in fiscal 2019 by $57.9 million or 4.3% compared to the prior year, primarily due to a 5% increase in organic volume and a 1% increase in pricing, partially offset by a 2% decrease in currency translation impact.

Gross profit increased $34.7 million or 5.3% in fiscal 2019 compared to fiscal 2018. Gross profit, as a percentage of net sales, decreased 80 basis points in fiscal 2019 compared to fiscal 2018. The decrease in the gross profit margin was primarily due to an increase in commodity costs, freight and tariffs of approximately $60 million, which were offset by comparable increase in organic volume and pricing, but still resulted in gross margin dilution. However, this dilutive effect had reversed by our fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, due to a decline in commodity costs. Gross profit, as a percentage of net sales, was also negatively impacted by the opening balance sheet adjustment to Alpha inventories of $7.2 million.

NM = not meaningful

Operating expenses increased $59.3 million or 15.5% in fiscal 2019 from fiscal 2018 and increased as a percentage of net sales by 90 basis points. The impact of foreign currency translation resulted in a decrease of $8.5 million. Excluding the impact of the foreign currency translation, the increase in dollars was primarily due to Alpha acquisition related costs and payroll related expenses.

Selling expenses, our main component of operating expenses, were 46.4% in fiscal 2019, compared to 51.5% in fiscal 2018.

With the recent Alpha acquisition, the Company commenced restructuring in the Americas, as part of its targeted synergy plans. The Company also continued meaningful restructuring actions in EMEA with the intent to improve profitability and streamline management’s focus.

Included in our fiscal 2019 operating results were restructuring and exit charges of $4.0 million in Americas, $27.0 million in EMEA and $3.8 million in Asia. Of the $27.0 million charges in EMEA, $17.7 million related to the closure of our facility in Targovishte, Bulgaria, $4.9 million related to the disposition of GAZ Geräte - und Akkumulatorenwerk Zwickau GmbH, a wholly-owned German subsidiary, $3.4 million related to improving efficiencies of our general operations and $1.0 million related to dissolving a joint venture in Tunisia. The facility in Bulgaria produced diesel-electric submarine batteries. Management determined that the future demand for batteries of diesel-electric submarines was not sufficient given the number of competitors in the market. The $17.7 million charges were primarily non-cash charges of $15.0 million related to the write-off of fixed assets and $2.7 million of severance payments. In addition, cost of goods sold also included a $2.5 million of inventory write-off relating to the closure of the Bulgaria facility. These exit activities were a consequence of the Company's strategic decision to streamline its product portfolio and focus its efforts on new technologies. The charges in Asia primarily related to improving efficiencies in the PRC in light of recent decline in demand.

Included in our fiscal 2018 operating results is a $5.5 million charge of restructuring and other exit charges, comprising $1.3 million in Americas, $4.0 million in EMEA and $0.2 million in Asia. The charges in the Americas primarily related to improving efficiencies of our general operations, while charges in EMEA related to restructuring programs to improve efficiencies in our manufacturing, supply chain and general operations. In addition, cost of goods sold also included a $3.4 million of inventory write-off relating to the closing of our Cleveland, Ohio charger manufacturing facility.

Certain of our European subsidiaries had received subpoenas and requests for documents and, in some cases, interviews from, and have had on-site inspections conducted by the competition authorities of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands relating to conduct and anticompetitive practices of certain industrial battery participants. We settled the Belgian regulatory proceeding in February 2016 by acknowledging certain anticompetitive practices and conduct and agreeing to pay a fine of $2.0 million, which was paid in March 2016. During fiscal 2019, the Company paid $2.4 million towards certain aspects of this matter, which are under appeal. As of March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2018, the Company had a reserve balance of $0 million and $2.3 million, respectively.

In June 2017, the Company settled a portion of its previously disclosed proceeding involving the German competition authority relating to conduct involving the Company's motive power battery business and agreed to pay a fine of $14.8 million, which was paid in July 2017. Also in June 2017, the German competition authority issued a fining decision related to the Company's reserve power battery business, which constitutes the remaining portion of the previously disclosed German proceeding. The Company appealed this decision. In March 2019, the Company settled this matter by agreeing to pay $7.3 million, which was paid in April 2019. As of March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2018, the Company had a reserve balance of $7.3 million and $0, respectively.

For the Dutch regulatory proceeding, we reserved $10.2 million as of March 31, 2017. In July 2017, the Company settled the Dutch regulatory proceeding and agreed to pay a fine of $11.2 million, which was paid in August 2017. As of March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2018, the Company had a reserve balance of $0 and $10.2 million, respectively, relating to the Dutch regulatory proceeding.

As of March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2018, we had a total reserve balance of $7.3 million and $2.3 million, respectively, in connection with these remaining investigations and other related legal matters, included in Accrued Expenses on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The foregoing estimate of losses is based upon currently available information for these proceedings. However, the precise scope, timing and time period at issue, as well as the final outcome of the investigations or customer claims, remain uncertain. Accordingly, the Company’s estimate may change from time to time, and actual losses could vary.

Operating earnings by segment were as follows:

NM = not meaningful

The Americas segment’s operating earnings, decreased $2.5 million or 1.4% in fiscal 2019 compared to fiscal 2018, with the operating margin decreasing 230 basis points to 11.0%. This decrease was primarily due to higher commodity costs, transaction costs related to the Alpha acquisition and product delays caused by ERP execution challenges, partially offset by organic volume improvement, price recoveries and cost saving initiatives.

The EMEA segment’s operating earnings, decreased $5.8 million or 7.3% in fiscal 2019 compared to fiscal 2018, with the operating margin decreasing 70 basis points to 8.4%. This decrease was primarily due to higher commodity costs and freight, partially offset by organic volume improvement and cost saving initiatives.

Operating earnings in Asia, decreased $9.4 million or 74.6% in fiscal 2019 compared to fiscal 2018, with the operating margin decreasing by 290 basis points to 1.3%. This was primarily due to a decrease in organic volume from a slow down in telecom spending in the PRC and a general softening of demand in Australia as well as higher commodity costs, in the first half of fiscal 2019 in the PRC.

Interest expense of $30.9 million in fiscal 2019 (net of interest income of $2.1 million) was $5.9 million higher than the $25.0 million in fiscal 2018 (net of interest income of $3.0 million).

Our average debt outstanding was $742.0 million in fiscal 2019, compared to our average debt outstanding of $672.8 million in fiscal 2018. Our average cash interest rate incurred in fiscal 2019 was 4.1% compared to 3.7% in fiscal 2018. The increase in interest expense was primarily due to higher interest rates and higher average debt. The increased borrowings was primarily to fund the Alpha acquisition.

Included in interest expense were non-cash charges related to amortization of deferred financing fees of $1.3 million in fiscal 2019 and $1.6 million in fiscal 2018.