Flex (FLEX) 10-K2021 FY Annual report

Unless otherwise specifically stated, references in this report to "Flex," "the Company," "we," "us," "our" and similar terms mean Flex Ltd. and its subsidiaries.

Except for historical information contained herein, certain matters included in this annual report on Form 10-K are, or may be deemed to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933. The words "will," "may," "designed to," "believe," "should," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "intend," "estimate" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this annual report. These forward-looking statements are contained principally under Item 1, "Business," and under Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." Because these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results could differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements include those described in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" and Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." In addition, new risks emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors or to assess the impact of such risk factors on our business. Given these risks and uncertainties, the reader should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

The FAS segment is optimized for speed to market based on a highly flexible supply and manufacturing system. The FRS segment is optimized for longer product lifecycles requiring complex ramps with specialized production models and critical environments.

Our customers include many of the world's leading technology, healthcare, automotive, and industrial companies. We are focused on establishing long-term relationships with our customers and have been successful in expanding relationships to incorporate additional product lines and services.

We believe that the performance of our Company is impacted by our human capital management, and as a result we consistently work to attract, select, develop, engage and retain strong, diverse talent. Our policies, philosophy and strategies support the inclusion of all people in our working environment. Further, we’re committed to respecting the human rights of our employees and improving their quality of life.

At Flex, our sustainability journey began in 2002 with the creation of the Flex Foundation. For nearly 20 years, sustainability has been integrated into the fabric of our company, a key area of differentiation for Flex. Our focus has been to

Our Internet address is https://www.flex.com. We make available through our Internet website the Company's annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission.

We were incorporated in the Republic of Singapore in May 1990. Our principal corporate office is located at 2 Changi South Lane, Singapore 486123. Our U.S. corporate headquarters is located at 6201 America Center Drive, San Jose, CA 95002.

These statements reflect management’s current beliefs, assumptions and expectations and are subject to a number of factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. Such factors include but are not limited to:

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widespread public health crisis and numerous disease control measures being taken to limit its spread, including travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders, and shutdowns. These measures have materially impacted and are continuing to impact our workforce and operations, the operations of our customers, and those of our respective vendors and suppliers. We have significant operations worldwide, including in China, Mexico, the United States, Brazil, India, Malaysia and Europe, and each of these geographies has been affected by the outbreak and has taken measures to try to contain it. This has resulted in disruptions at many of our manufacturing operations and facilities, and further disruptions could occur in the future. Any such disruptions could materially adversely affect our business. Most recently, with the second wave of the pandemic, we have been experiencing plant closures and/or restrictions at certain manufacturing facilities in Brazil and Malaysia. In addition, India is experiencing a severe COVID-19 resurgence, which has resulted in renewed disease control measures being taken to limit its spread including movement bans and shelter-in-place orders. We have a workforce and operations in India and are closely monitoring the situation. The impact of the pandemic on our business has included and could in the future include:

The global spread of COVID-19 also has created significant macroeconomic uncertainty, volatility and disruption, which may continue to adversely affect our and our customers’ and suppliers’ liquidity, cost of capital and ability to access the capital markets. As a result, the continued spread of COVID-19 could cause further disruptions in our supply chain and customer demand, and could adversely affect the ability of our customers to perform, including in making timely payments to us, which could further adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. The COVID-19 pandemic has, in the short-term, adversely impacted, and may, in the long-term, adversely impact the global economy, potentially leading to an economic downturn. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may continue to experience adverse impacts to our business as a result of the pandemic’s global economic impact, including any recession, economic downturn, government spending cuts, tightening of credit markets or increased unemployment that has occurred or may occur in the future, which could cause our customers and potential customers to postpone or reduce spending on our manufacturing services and solutions.

The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to impact our business and financial results going forward will be dependent on future developments such as the length and severity of the crisis, the potential resurgence of COVID-19 in the future including variants of the virus, the availability and distribution of effective treatments and vaccines, and public health measures and actions taken throughout the world to contain COVID-19, and the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy and capital markets, among many other factors, all of which remain highly uncertain and unpredictable. We cannot at this time quantify or forecast the business impact of COVID-19, and there can be no assurance that the COVID-19

Cancellations, reductions, or delays by a significant customer or by a group of customers have harmed, and may in the future harm, our results of operations by reducing the volumes of products we manufacture and deliver for those customers, by causing a delay in the repayment of our expenditures for inventory in preparation for customer orders and/or an impairment loss for inventory, and by lowering our asset utilization and overhead absorption resulting in lower gross margins and earnings.

As a provider of design and manufacturing services and components for electronics, we must provide increasingly rapid product turnaround times for our customers. We generally do not obtain firm, long-term purchase commitments from our customers, and we often experience reduced lead times in customer orders which may be less than the lead time we require to procure necessary components and materials.

The short-term nature of our customers' commitments and the rapid changes in demand for their products reduces our ability to accurately estimate the future requirements of our customers. This makes it difficult to schedule production and maximize utilization of our manufacturing capacity. In that regard, we must make significant decisions, including determining the levels of business that we will seek and accept, setting production schedules, making component procurement commitments, and allocating personnel and other resources based on our estimates of our customers' requirements.

On occasion, customers require rapid increases in production or require that manufacturing of their products be transitioned from one facility to another to reduce costs or achieve other objectives. These demands may stress our resources, cause supply chain management issues, and reduce our margins. We may not have sufficient capacity at any given time to meet our customers' demands, and transfers from one facility to another can result in inefficiencies and costs due to excess capacity in one facility and corresponding capacity constraints at another. Many of our costs and operating expenses are relatively fixed, and thus customer order fluctuations, deferrals, and transfers of demand from one facility to another, as described above, have had a material adverse effect on our operating results in the past and we may experience such effects in the future.

Sales to our ten largest customers represent a significant percentage of our net sales. Our ten largest customers accounted for approximately 36%, 39% and 43% of net sales in fiscal years 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. No customer accounted for more than 10% of net sales in fiscal year 2021, 2020 and 2019. Our principal customers have varied from year to year. These customers may experience dramatic declines in their market shares or competitive position, due to economic or other forces, that may cause them to reduce their purchases from us or, in some cases, result in the termination of their relationship with us. Significant reductions in sales to any of these customers, or the loss of major customers, would materially harm our business. If we are not able to timely replace expired, canceled or reduced contracts with new business, our revenues and profitability could be harmed. Additionally, mergers, acquisitions, consolidations or other significant transactions involving our key customers generally entail risks to our business. If a significant transaction involving any of our key customers results in the loss of or reduction in purchases by any of our largest customers, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

From time to time, we have experienced shortages of some of the electronic components that we use. These shortages can result from strong demand for those components or from problems experienced by suppliers, such as shortages of raw materials. We have also experienced, and may continue to experience, such shortages due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, we have experienced shortages of semiconductor components which has impacted our end markets including Lifestyle. These unanticipated component shortages have resulted and could continue to result in curtailed production or delays in production, which may prevent us from making scheduled shipments to customers. Our inability to make scheduled shipments could cause us to experience a reduction in sales, increase in inventory levels and costs, and could adversely affect relationships with existing and prospective customers. Component shortages may also increase our cost of goods sold because we may be required to pay higher prices for components in short supply and redesign or reconfigure products to accommodate substitute components. As a result, component shortages have adversely affected and, could in the future adversely affect, our operating results. Our customers also may experience component shortages which may adversely affect customer demand for our products and services.

Our supply chain has also been and may continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and may be impacted by other events outside our control, including macro-economic events, trade restrictions, political crises, other public health emergencies, or natural or environmental occurrences.

Our components business, which includes power supply manufacturing, is part of our strategy to improve our competitive position and to grow our future margins, profitability and shareholder returns by expanding our capabilities. The success of our components business is dependent on our ability to design and introduce world-class components that have performance characteristics which are suitable for a broad market and that offer significant price and/or performance advantages over competitive products.

To create these world class components offerings, we must continue to make substantial investments in the development of our components capabilities, in resources such as research and development, technology licensing, test and tooling equipment, facility expansions, and personnel requirements. We may not be able to achieve or maintain market acceptance for any of our components offerings in any of our current or target markets. The success of our components business will also depend upon the level of market acceptance of our customers' end products, which incorporate our components, and over which we have no control.

As part of our strategy to enhance our end-to-end service offerings, we continue to expand our design and engineering capabilities. Providing these services can expose us to different or greater potential risks than those we face when providing our manufacturing services.

Although we enter into contracts with our design services customers, we may design and develop products for these customers prior to receiving a purchase order or other firm commitment from them. We are required to make substantial investments in the resources necessary to design and develop these products, and no revenue may be generated from these efforts if our customers do not approve the designs in a timely manner or at all. In addition, we may make investments in designing products and not be able to design viable manufacturable products, in which cases we may not be able to recover our investments. Even if we are successful in designing manufacturable products and our customers accept our designs, if our customers do not then purchase anticipated levels of products, we may not realize any profits. Our design activities often require that we purchase inventory for initial production runs before we have a purchase commitment from a customer. Even after we have a contract with a customer with respect to a product, these contracts may allow the customer to delay or cancel deliveries and may not obligate the customer to any particular volume of purchases. These contracts can generally be terminated on short notice. In addition, some of the products we design and develop must satisfy safety and regulatory standards and some must receive government certifications. If we fail to obtain these approvals or certifications on a timely basis, we would be unable to sell these products, which would harm our sales, profitability and reputation.

Our design services offerings require significant investments in research and development, technology licensing, test and tooling equipment, patent applications, facility building and expansion, and recruitment. We may not be able to achieve a high enough level of sales for this business to be profitable. The costs of investing in the resources necessary to expand our design and engineering capabilities, and in particular to support our design services offerings, have historically adversely affected our profitability, and may continue to do so as we continue to make investments to grow these capabilities.

In addition, we often agree to certain product price limitations and cost reduction targets in connection with these services. Inflationary and other increases in the costs of the raw materials and labor required to produce the products have occurred and may recur from time to time. Also, the production ramps for these programs are typically significant and negatively impact our margin in early stages as the manufacturing volumes are lower and result in inefficiencies and unabsorbed manufacturing overhead costs. We may not be able to reduce costs, incorporate changes in costs into the selling prices of our products, or increase operating efficiencies as we ramp production of our products, which would adversely affect our margins and our results of operations.

The expansion of our business, as well as business contractions and other changes in our customers' requirements, including as a result of COVID-19, have in the past, and may in the future, require that we adjust our business and cost structures by incurring restructuring charges. Restructuring activities involve reductions in our workforce at some locations and

In recent years, including fiscal years 2021, 2020, and 2019, we initiated targeted restructuring activities focused on optimizing our portfolio, in particular customers and products in our consumer devices business, optimizing our cost structure in lower growth areas and, more importantly, streamlining certain corporate and segment functions. Restructuring charges are recorded based upon employee termination dates, site closure and consolidation plans generally in conjunction with an overall corporate initiative to drive cost reduction and realign the Company's global footprint.

We may be required to take additional charges in the future to align our operations and cost structures with global economic conditions, market demands, cost competitiveness, and our geographic footprint as it relates to our customers' production requirements and in response to the economic challenges in light of recent events with COVID-19. We may consolidate certain manufacturing facilities or transfer certain of our operations to lower cost geographies. If we are required to take additional restructuring charges in the future, our operating results, financial condition, and cash flows could be adversely impacted. Additionally, there are other potential risks associated with our restructurings that could adversely affect us, such as delays encountered with the finalization and implementation of the restructuring activities, work stoppages, and the failure to achieve targeted cost savings.

We are increasingly reliant on our information systems to process, transmit and store electronic information (including sensitive data such as confidential business information and personally identifiable data relating to employees, customers, and other business partners), and to manage or support a variety of critical business processes and activities. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused us to modify our business practices, including requiring many of our office-based employees to work from home. As a result, we are increasingly dependent upon our information systems to operate our business and our ability to effectively manage our business depends on the security, reliability and adequacy of our such information systems. We regularly face attempts by others to gain unauthorized access through the Internet or to introduce malicious software to our information systems. We are also a target of malicious attackers who attempt to gain access to our network or data centers or those of our customers or end users, steal proprietary information related to our business, products, employees, and customers; or interrupt our systems and services or those of our customers or others. We believe such attempts are increasing in number and in technical sophistication. In some instances, we, our customers, and the users of our products and services might be unaware of an incident or its magnitude and effects. We have implemented security systems with the intent of maintaining the physical security of our facilities and inventory and protecting our customers’ and our suppliers’ confidential information. In addition, while we seek to detect and investigate all unauthorized attempts and attacks against our network, products, and services, and to prevent their recurrence where practicable through changes to our internal processes and tools, we are subject to, and at times have suffered from, breach of these security systems which have in the past and may in the future result in unauthorized access to our facilities and/or unauthorized use or theft of the inventory or information we are trying to protect. If unauthorized parties gain physical access to our inventory or if they gain electronic access to our information systems or if such information or inventory is used in an unauthorized manner, misdirected, or lost or stolen during transmission or transport, any theft or misuse of such information or inventory could result in, among other things, unfavorable publicity, governmental inquiry and oversight, difficulty in marketing our services, allegations by our customers that we have not performed our contractual obligations, litigation by affected parties including our customers and possible financial obligations for damages related to the theft or misuse of such information or inventory, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our profitability and cash flow.

In addition, data privacy laws and regulations, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) effective May 2018, pose increasingly complex compliance challenges, which may increase compliance costs, and any failure to comply with data privacy laws and regulations could result in significant penalties. Additionally, California recently enacted legislation, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which became effective January 1, 2020 and was further amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, or CPRA, on November 3, 2020. The CCPA, among other requirements, require covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers, and allow such consumers new abilities to opt-out of certain sales of personal information. The CCPA was amended in September 2018, November 2019, and June 2020. It is unclear whether further modifications will be made to this law. Additionally, new privacy laws and regulations are under development at the U.S. Federal and state level and many international jurisdictions.

The effects of the GDPR, the CCPA and other data privacy laws and regulations may be significant, and may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and to incur substantial costs and expenses in an effort to comply. Any actual or perceived failures to comply with the GDPR, the CCPA or other data privacy laws or regulations, or related

In the past, we have completed numerous strategic transactions with customers. Under these arrangements, we generally acquire inventory, equipment and other assets from the customers, and lease or acquire their manufacturing facilities, while simultaneously entering into multi-year manufacturing and supply agreements for the production of their products. We may pursue these customer divestiture transactions in the future. These arrangements entered into with divesting customers typically involve many risks, including the following:

As a result of these and other risks, we have been, and in the future may be, unable to achieve anticipated levels of profitability under these arrangements. In addition, these strategic arrangements have not, and in the future may not, result in any material revenues or contribute positively to our earnings per share.

To integrate acquired businesses, we must implement our management information systems, operating systems and internal controls, and assimilate and manage the personnel of the acquired operations. The difficulties of this integration may be further complicated by geographic distances. The integration of acquired businesses may not be successful and could result in disruption to other parts of our business. In addition, the integration of acquired businesses may require that we incur significant restructuring charges.

In addition, acquisitions involve numerous risks and challenges, including:

In addition, divestitures involve significant risks, including without limitation, difficulty finding financially sufficient buyers or selling on acceptable terms in a timely manner, and the agreed-upon terms could be renegotiated due to changes in business or market conditions. Divestitures could adversely affect our profitability and, under certain circumstances, require us to record impairment charges or a loss as a result of the transaction. In addition, completing divestitures requires expenses and management attention and could leave us with certain continuing liabilities.

These and other factors have harmed, and in the future could harm, our ability to achieve anticipated levels of profitability at acquired operations or realize other anticipated benefits of an acquisition or divestiture, and could adversely affect our business and operating results.

We are pursuing alternatives for our Nextracker business, including a full or partial separation of the business, through an initial public offering of Nextracker or otherwise. The proposed separation of our Nextracker business may not be consummated as currently contemplated or at all, or may encounter unanticipated delays. If we are unable to consummate a transaction on favorable terms or at all, we may experience negative reactions from the financial markets and from our shareholders and employees. Planning a separation requires significant time, effort, and expense, may divert the attention of our management and employees from other aspects of our business operations and could adversely affect the business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of us and our Nextracker business. In addition, if we complete the proposed separation, there can be no assurance that we will be able to realize the intended benefits. Following a potential separation, the combined value of the two publicly-traded companies may not be equal to or greater than what the value of our ordinary shares would have been had the potential separation not occurred.

Two of our significant end markets are the lifestyle market and the consumer devices market. These markets exhibit particular strength generally in the two quarters leading up to the end of the calendar year in connection with the holiday season. As a result, we have historically experienced stronger revenues in our second and third fiscal quarters as compared to our other fiscal quarters. Economic or other factors leading to diminished orders in the end of the calendar year could harm our business.

Our success depends to a large extent upon the continued services of our executive officers and other key employees. Generally, our employees are not bound by employment or non-competition agreements, and we cannot assure you that we will retain our executive officers and other key employees. We could be seriously harmed by the loss of any of our executive officers or other key employees. In addition, in connection with expanding our design services offerings, we must attract and retain experienced design engineers. There is substantial competition in our industry for highly skilled employees. Additionally, hiring, training and retaining skilled employees may be adversely impacted by global economic uncertainty and office closures caused by COVID-19. Our failure to recruit and retain experienced design engineers, or if they are unable to work effectively or at all due to the COVID-19 pandemic, could limit the growth of our design services offerings, which could adversely affect our business. There also is the risk that we will be unable to achieve our diversity, equity and inclusion objectives and goals or meet the related requirements of our shareholders and other stakeholders.

Our operations or systems could be disrupted by natural disasters, terrorist activity, public health issues (including the COVID-19 pandemic), cyber security incidents, interruptions of service from utilities, transportation or telecommunications providers, or other catastrophic events. Such events could make it difficult or impossible to manufacture or deliver products to our customers, receive production materials from our suppliers, or perform critical functions, which could adversely affect our revenue and require significant recovery time and expenditures to resume operations. While we maintain business recovery plans that are intended to allow us to recover from natural disasters or other events that can be disruptive to our business, some of our systems are not fully redundant and we cannot be sure that our plans will fully protect us from all such disruptions.

We maintain a program of insurance coverage for a variety of property, casualty, and other risks. We place our insurance coverage with multiple carriers in numerous jurisdictions. However, one or more of our insurance providers may be unable or unwilling to pay a claim. The types and amounts of insurance we obtain vary depending on availability, cost, and decisions with respect to risk retention. The policies have deductibles and exclusions that result in us retaining a level of self-insurance. Losses not covered by insurance may be large, which could harm our results of operations and financial condition.

Given the complexity of our supply chain and our geographically dispersed operations, we depend on a variety of common carriers to transport our materials from our suppliers to us, and to transport our products from us to our customers. Problems suffered by any of these common carriers, whether due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a natural disaster, labor problems, increased energy prices, criminal activity or some other issue, could result in shipping delays, increased costs, or other supply chain disruptions, and could therefore have a material adverse effect on our operations.

We derive our revenue from customers in a number of end markets and factors affecting any of these industries in general or our customers in particular, could adversely impact us. These factors include:

We compete with a number of different companies, depending on the type of service we provide or the location of our operations. For example, we compete with major global EMS providers, other smaller EMS companies that have a regional or product-specific focus and Original Design Manufacturer ("ODM") with respect to some of the services that we provide. We also compete with our current and prospective customers, who evaluate our capabilities in light of their own capabilities and cost structures. In the past, some of our customers moved a portion of their manufacturing from us in order to more fully utilize their excess internal manufacturing capacity. Any of these developments could cause a decline in our sales, loss of market acceptance of our products or services, decreases of our profits or loss of our market share. Our industry is extremely competitive, many of our competitors have achieved substantial market share, and some may have lower cost structures or greater design, manufacturing, financial or other resources than we do. We face particular competition from Asian-based competitors, including Taiwanese ODM suppliers who compete in a variety of our end markets and have a substantial share of global information technology hardware production. If we are unable to provide comparable manufacturing services and improved products at lower cost than the other companies in our market, our net sales could decline.

Goodwill represents the excess of the cost of an acquisition over the fair value of the net assets acquired. We also ascribe value to certain identifiable intangible assets, which consist primarily of customer relationships, developed technology and trade names, among others, as a result of acquisitions. We may incur impairment charges on goodwill or identifiable intangible assets if we determine that the fair values of goodwill or identifiable intangible assets are less than their current carrying values. We evaluate, on a regular basis, whether events or circumstances have occurred that indicate all, or a portion, of the carrying amount of goodwill may no longer be recoverable, in which case an impairment charge to earnings would become necessary.

If the financial performance of our businesses were to decline significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we could incur a material non-cash charge to our income statement for the impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets.

Refer to note 2 to the consolidated financial statements and "Critical Accounting Policies" in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for further discussion of the impairment testing of goodwill and identifiable intangible assets.

A decline in general economic conditions or global equity valuations could impact the judgments and assumptions about the fair value of our businesses and we could be required to record impairment charges on our goodwill or other identifiable intangible assets in the future, which could impact our consolidated balance sheet, as well as our consolidated statement of operations. If we are required to recognize an impairment charge in the future, the charge would not impact our consolidated cash flows, liquidity, capital resources, and covenants under our existing credit facilities, asset securitization program, and other outstanding borrowings.

As of March 31, 2021, our total debt was approximately $3.8 billion. This level of indebtedness could limit our flexibility as a result of debt service requirements and restrictive covenants, and may limit our ability to access additional capital or execute our business strategy.

We provide manufacturing services to companies and industries that have in the past, and may in the future, experience financial difficulty. If some of our customers experience financial difficulty, we could have difficulty recovering amounts owed to us by these customers, or demand for our products from these customers could decline. Additionally, if our suppliers experience financial difficulty, we could have difficulty sourcing supplies necessary to fulfill production requirements and meet scheduled shipments. If one or more of our customers were to become insolvent or otherwise were unable to pay for the services provided by us on a timely basis, or at all, our operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected. Such adverse effects could include one or more of the following: an increase in our provision for doubtful accounts, a charge for inventory write-offs, a reduction in revenue, and an increase in our working capital requirements due to higher inventory levels and increases in days our accounts receivables are outstanding. Any of these risks may be heightened by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 21, 2016, SunEdison, Inc. (together with certain of its subsidiaries, “SunEdison”) filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, we recognized a bad debt reserve charge of $61.0 million associated with our outstanding SunEdison receivables and accepted return of previously shipped inventory of approximately $90.0 million. SunEdison stated in schedules filed with the Bankruptcy Court that, within the 90 days preceding SunEdison's bankruptcy filing, the Company received approximately $98.6 million of inventory and cash transfers of $69.2 million, which in aggregate represents the Company's estimate of the maximum reasonably possible contingent loss. On April 15, 2018, a subsidiary of the Company together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, entered into a tolling agreement with the trustee of the SunEdison Litigation Trust to toll any applicable statute of limitations or other time-related defense that might exist in regards to any potential claims that either party might be able to assert against the other for a period that will end at the earlier to occur of: (a) 60 days after a party provides written notice of termination; (b) six years from the effective date of April 15, 2018; or (c) such other date as the parties may agree in writing. No preference claims have been asserted against the Company and consideration has been given to the related contingencies based on the facts currently known. An unfavorable resolution of this matter could be material to our results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows

The stock market in recent years has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have affected the market prices of companies, including technology companies. These fluctuations have often been unrelated to or disproportionately impacted by the operating performance of these companies. The market for our ordinary shares has been and may in the future be subject to similar volatility. Factors such as fluctuations in our operating results, announcements of technological innovations or events affecting other companies in the electronics industry, currency fluctuations, general market fluctuations, and macro-economic conditions may cause the market price of our ordinary shares to decline. Stock price fluctuations could impact the value of our equity compensation, which could affect our ability to recruit and retain employees.

Our credit is rated by credit rating agencies. Our 5.000% Notes due 2023, our 4.750% Notes due 2025, our 3.750% Notes due 2026, our 4.875% Notes due 2029 and our 4.875% Notes due 2030 are currently rated BBB- by Standard and Poor's

In addition, we are exposed to interest rate risk under our variable rate terms loans, bilateral facilities and revolving credit facility for indebtedness we have incurred or may incur under such facilities. The interest rates under these borrowings are based on either (i) a margin over LIBOR or (ii) the base rate (the greatest of the agent's prime rate, the federal funds rate plus 0.50% and LIBOR for a one-month interest period plus 1.00%) plus an applicable margin, in each case depending on our credit rating. Refer to the discussion in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements, "Bank Borrowings and Long-Term Debt" for further details of our debt obligations. We are also exposed to interest rate risk on our invested cash balances, our securitization facilities and our factoring activities.

In addition, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021, though the ICE Benchmark Administration, the administrator of LIBOR, announced that it would consider ceasing the publication of the one week and two-month U.S. dollar LIBOR settings at the end of 2021 and phase out the remaining U.S. dollar LIBOR settings by June 30, 2023. The transition from LIBOR to a new replacement benchmark is uncertain at this time and the consequences of such developments cannot be entirely predicted but could result in an increase in the cost of our borrowings on our variable rate debt, which could adversely impact our interest expense, results of operations and cash flows.

We invest in private funds and companies for strategic reasons and may not realize a return on our investments. We make investments in private funds and companies to further our strategic objectives, support key business initiatives, and develop business relationships with related portfolio companies. Many of the instruments in which we invest are non-marketable at the time of our initial investment. If any of the funds or companies in which we invest fail, we could lose all or part of our investment. From time-to-time we have identified observable price changes, or impairments in investments, and we have written down certain investments fair values and recognized a loss.

We prepare our financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP. These principles are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the SEC and various bodies formed to interpret and create accounting policies. For example, significant changes to lease accounting rules have been enacted and applied to us in fiscal year 2020 per Accounting Standard Update ("ASU") 2016-02 "Leases." Changes to accounting rules or challenges to our interpretation or application of the rules by regulators may have a material adverse effect on our reported financial results or on the way we conduct business. Refer to "Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements" within note 2 of Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Our revenue and gross margin depend significantly on general economic conditions and the demand for products in the markets in which our customers compete. Adverse worldwide economic conditions and geopolitical uncertainty may create challenging conditions in the electronics industry, which has occurred and may continue to occur as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU ("Brexit") may also adversely impact worldwide economic conditions. The political and economic effects of Brexit are still uncertain and will depend, in part, on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, signed on December 30, 2020. Additionally, conditions may be adversely impacted by the actions that the U.S. or other countries have taken or may take with respect to certain treaty and trade relationships with other countries. The U.S. has thus far signaled a desire to reach a broad trade deal with a post-Brexit U.K. , but demands for concessions on issues like tariffs, non-tariff barriers, tax policies, and market access could present obstacles to achieving an agreement. Disagreements over similar issues, including market access, non-tariff barriers, and digital service

These conditions may result in reduced consumer and business confidence and spending in many countries, a tightening in the credit markets, a reduced level of liquidity in many financial markets, high volatility in credit, fixed income and equity markets, currency exchange rate fluctuations, and global economic uncertainty. In addition, longer term disruptions in the capital and credit markets could adversely affect our access to liquidity needed for our business. If financial institutions that have extended credit commitments to us are adversely affected by the conditions of the U.S. and international capital markets, they may become unable to fund borrowings under their credit commitments to us, which could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and our ability to borrow additional funds, if needed, for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, research and development and other corporate purposes.

The geographic distances between the Americas, Asia and Europe create a number of logistical and communications challenges for us. These challenges include managing operations across multiple time zones, directing the manufacture and delivery of products across long distances, coordinating procurement of components and raw materials and their delivery to multiple locations, and coordinating the activities and decisions of the core management team, which is based in a number of different countries.

Facilities in several different locations may be involved at different stages of the production process of a single product, leading to additional logistical difficulties.

Because our manufacturing operations are located in a number of countries throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe, we are subject to risks of changes in economic, social and political conditions in those countries, including:

We operate in a number of different countries and jurisdictions, and we cannot anticipate the potential impact that new or current restrictions in each of these countries or jurisdictions due to COVID-19 may have on our manufacturing operations and facilities, our supply chain, and our business more generally.

The attractiveness of our services to customers and our ability to conduct business with certain customers can be affected by changes in U.S. and other countries' trade policies. In 2018, the U.S. imposed tariffs on a large variety of products of Chinese origin. The U.S. government also, effective May 10, 2019, increased tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25%. Further, on May 15, 2019, President Trump issued an executive order designed to secure the information and communications technology and services supply chain, which would restrict the acquisition or use in the United States of information and communications technology or services designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of foreign adversaries. The executive order is subject to implementation by the Secretary of Commerce and applies to contracts entered into prior to the effective date of the order. In addition, the U.S. Commerce Department has implemented additional restrictions and may implement further restrictions that would affect the conduct of business with certain Chinese companies. A “phase one” trade deal signed between the U.S. and China on January 15, 2020 accompanied a U.S. decision to cancel a plan to increase tariffs on an additional list of Chinese products and to reduce the tariffs imposed on May 13, 2019 from 15% to 7.5% effective February 14, 2020. At present, the majority of tariff exclusions granted have expired and many of the additional tariffs on Chinese origin goods remain, as do concerns over the stability of bilateral trade relations, particularly given the limited scope of the phase one agreement. In addition, the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could make it harder for China to meet its obligations under the deal and increases the potential for China to invoke the deal’s “disaster clause,” which could further challenge US-China bilateral trade relations. Depending upon their duration and implementation as well as our ability to mitigate their impact, these tariffs, the executive order and its implementation and other regulatory actions could materially affect our business, including in the form of increased cost of goods sold, decreased margins, increased pricing for customers, and reduced sales. In addition, the 2020 U.S. presidential election and subsequent transition in the administration has resulted in additional uncertainty regarding the future of U.S. trade relations. At this time, there is no assurance that a broader trade agreement will be successfully negotiated between the United States and China to reduce or eliminate the existing tariffs. Further, one of our former customers, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., and some of its affiliates have been added to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Entity List, and were recently made subject to enhanced restrictions designed to prevent them from having access to foreign-produced items using U.S.-origin semiconductor technology and equipment; we could be subject to reputational harm based on its business activities, including activities with sanctioned countries. In addition, some countries in which we operate, such as Brazil, Hungary, India, Mexico, Malaysia and Poland, have experienced periods of slow or negative growth, high inflation, significant currency devaluations or limited availability of foreign exchange. Furthermore, in countries such as China, Brazil, India and Mexico, governmental authorities exercise significant influence over many aspects of the economy, and their actions could have a significant effect on us. We could be seriously harmed by inadequate infrastructure, including lack of adequate power and water supplies, transportation, raw materials and parts in countries in which we operate. In addition, we may encounter labor disruptions and rising labor costs, in particular within the lower-cost regions in which we operate. Any increase in labor costs that we are unable to recover in our pricing to our customers could adversely impact our operating results.

Operations in foreign countries also present risks associated with currency exchange and convertibility, inflation and repatriation of earnings. In some countries, economic and monetary conditions and other factors could affect our ability to convert our cash distributions to U.S. dollars or other freely convertible currencies, or to move funds from our accounts in these countries. Furthermore, the central bank of any of these countries may have the authority to suspend, restrict or otherwise impose conditions on foreign exchange transactions or to approve distributions to foreign investors.

We have manufacturing operations and industrial parks that are located in various part of the world, including Asia, Eastern Europe, Mexico and Brazil. A portion of our purchases and our sale transactions are denominated in currencies other than the United States dollar. As a result, we are exposed to fluctuations in these currencies impacting our fixed cost overhead or our supply base relative to the currencies in which we conduct transactions.

Currency exchange rates fluctuate on a daily basis as a result of a number of factors, including changes in a country's political and economic policies. The primary impact of currency exchange fluctuations is on the cash, receivables, payables and expenses of our operating entities. As part of our currency hedging strategy, we use financial instruments such as forward exchange, swap contracts, and options to hedge our foreign currency exposure in order to reduce the short-term impact of foreign currency rate fluctuations on our operating results. If our hedging activities are not successful or if we change or reduce these hedging activities in the future, we may experience significant unexpected fluctuations in our operating results as a result of changes in exchange rates.

We are also exposed to risks related to the valuation of the Chinese currency relative to the U.S. dollar. The Chinese currency is the renminbi ("RMB"). A significant increase in the value of the RMB could adversely affect our financial results and cash flows by increasing both our manufacturing costs and the costs of our local supply base. Additionally, the recent COVID-19 pandemic could contribute to foreign currency volatility. Volatility in the functional and non-functional currencies of our entities and the United States dollar could seriously harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

From time to time, we are involved in various claims, suits, investigations and legal proceedings. Additional legal claims or regulatory matters may arise in the future and could involve matters relating to commercial disputes, government regulatory and compliance, intellectual property, antitrust, tax, employment or shareholder issues, product liability claims and other issues on a global basis. If we receive an adverse judgment in any such matter, we could be required to pay substantial damages and cease certain practices or activities. Regardless of the merits of the claims, litigation and other proceedings may be both time-consuming and disruptive to our business. The defense and ultimate outcome of any lawsuits or other legal proceedings may result in higher operating expenses and a decrease in operating margin, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

On May 8, 2018, a putative class action was filed in the Northern District of California against the Company and certain officers alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5, promulgated thereunder, alleging misstatements and/or omissions in certain of the Company’s financial results, press releases and SEC filings made during the putative class period of January 26, 2017 through April 26, 2018. On October 1, 2018, the Court appointed lead plaintiff and lead plaintiff’s counsel in the case. On November 28, 2018, lead plaintiff filed an amended complaint alleging misstatements and/or omissions in certain of the Company’s SEC filings, press releases, earnings calls, and analyst and investor conferences and expanding the putative class period through October 25, 2018. On April 3, 2019, the Court vacated its prior order appointing lead plaintiff and lead plaintiff’s counsel and reopened the lead plaintiff appointment process. On September 26, 2019, the Court appointed a new lead plaintiff and lead plaintiff’s counsel in the case. On November 8, 2019, lead plaintiff filed a further amended complaint. On December 4, 2019, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint. On May 29, 2020, the Court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss without prejudice and gave lead plaintiff 30 days to amend. On June 29, 2020, lead plaintiff filed a further amended complaint. On July 27, 2020, defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint. On December 10, 2020, the Court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss with prejudice and entered judgment in favor of defendants. On January 7, 2021, lead plaintiff filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Lead plaintiff’s opening appeal brief is due May 19, 2021, and defendants’ answering brief is due June 18, 2021. Any existing or future lawsuits could be time-consuming, result in significant expense and divert the attention and resources of our management and other key employees, as well as harm our reputation, business, financial condition or results of operations.

On February 14, 2019, we submitted an initial notification of voluntary disclosure to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") regarding possible noncompliance with U.S. economic sanctions requirements among certain non-U.S. Flex-affiliated operations. On September 28, 2020, we made a submission to OFAC that completed the Company’s voluntary disclosure based on the results of an internal investigation regarding the matter. We intend to continue to cooperate fully with OFAC in this matter going forward. Nonetheless, it is reasonably possible that we could be subject to penalties that could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

We have implemented local and global compliance policies to ensure compliance with our legal obligations across our operations. A significant legal risk resulting from our international operations is compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or similar local laws of the countries in which we do business, including the UK Anti-Bribery Act, which prohibits covered companies from making payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business. Our Code of Business Conduct prohibits corrupt payments on a global basis and precludes us from offering or giving anything of value to a government official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business, to win a business advantage or to improperly influence a decision regarding Flex. Nevertheless, there can be no assurance that all of our employees and agents will refrain from taking actions in violation of this and our related anti-corruption policies and procedures. Any such violation could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Defects in the products we manufacture or design, whether caused by a design, engineering, manufacturing or component failure or deficiencies in our manufacturing processes, could result in product or component failures, which may damage our business reputation and expose us to product liability or product warranty claims.

Product liability claims may include liability for personal injury or property damage. Product warranty claims may include liability to pay for the recall, repair or replacement of a product or component. Although we generally allocate liability for these claims in our contracts with our customers, increasingly we are unsuccessful in allocating such liability, and even where we have allocated liability to our customers, our customers may not have the resources to satisfy claims for costs or liabilities arising from a defective product or component for which they have assumed responsibility.

If we design, engineer or manufacture a product or component that is found to cause any personal injury or property damage or is otherwise found to be defective, we could spend a significant amount of money to resolve the claim. In addition, product liability and product recall insurance coverage are expensive and may not be available for some or all of our services offerings on acceptable terms, in sufficient amounts, or at all. A successful product liability or product warranty claim in excess of our insurance coverage or any material claim for which insurance coverage is denied, limited or is not available could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We are subject to taxes in numerous jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rates could be affected by changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory rates and changes in tax laws or their interpretation including changes related to tax holidays or tax incentives. The international tax environment continues to change as a result of both coordinated efforts by governments and unilateral measures designed by individual countries, both intended to tackle concerns over perceived international tax avoidance techniques, which could ultimately have an adverse effect on the taxation of international businesses. In addition, legislative changes may result from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project. Any such changes, if adopted, could adversely impact our effective tax rate and may have a material impact on our results of operations, cash flows and financial position.

Our taxes could also increase if certain tax holidays or incentives are not renewed upon expiration, or if tax rates applicable to us in such jurisdictions are otherwise increased. Our continued ability to qualify for specific tax holiday extensions will depend on, among other things, our anticipated investment and expansion in these countries and the manner in which the local governments interpret the requirements for modifications, extensions or new incentives.

In addition, the Company and its subsidiaries are regularly subject to tax return audits and examinations by various taxing jurisdictions around the world. In determining the adequacy of our provision for income taxes, we regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from tax examinations. While it is often difficult to predict the final outcome or the timing of the resolution of a tax examination, we believe that our reserves for uncertain tax benefits reflect the outcome of tax positions that are more likely than not to occur. However, we cannot assure you that the final determination of any tax examinations will not be materially different than that which is reflected in our income tax provisions and accruals. Should additional taxes be assessed as a result of a current or future examination, there could be a material adverse effect on our tax provision, operating results, financial position and cash flows in the period or periods for which that determination is made.

As a medical device manufacturer, we have additional compliance requirements. We are required to register with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") and are subject to periodic inspection by the FDA for compliance with the FDA's Quality System Regulation ("QSR") requirements, which require manufacturers of medical devices to adhere to certain regulations, including testing, quality control and documentation procedures. Compliance with applicable regulatory requirements is subject to continual review and is rigorously monitored through periodic inspections and product field monitoring by the FDA. If any FDA inspection reveals noncompliance with QSR or other FDA regulations, and the Company does not address the observation adequately to the satisfaction of the FDA, the FDA may take action against us. FDA actions may include issuing a letter of inspectional observations, issuing a warning letter, imposing fines, bringing an action against the Company and its officers, requiring a recall of the products we manufactured for our customers, refusing requests for clearance or approval of new products or withdrawal of clearance or approval previously granted, issuing an import detention on products entering the U.S. from an offshore facility, or shutting down a manufacturing facility. If any of these actions were to occur, it would harm our reputation and cause our business to suffer.

In the European Union ("EU"), we are required to maintain certain standardized certifications in order to sell our products and must undergo periodic inspections to obtain and maintain these certifications. Continued noncompliance to the EU regulations could stop the flow of products into the EU from us or from our customers. In China, the Safe Food and Drug Administration controls and regulates the manufacture and commerce of healthcare products. We must comply with the

We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations, including regulations governing the use, storage, discharge and disposal of hazardous substances used in our manufacturing processes. We are also subject to laws and regulations governing the recyclability of products, the materials that may be included in products, and our obligations to dispose of these products after end users have finished with them. Additionally, we may be exposed to liability to our customers relating to the materials that may be included in the components that we procure for our customers' products. Any violation or alleged violation by us of environmental laws could subject us to significant costs, fines or other penalties.

We are also required to comply with an increasing number of global and local product environmental compliance regulations focused on the restriction of certain hazardous substances. We are subject to the EU directives, including the Restrictions on RoHS, the WEEE as well as the EU's REACH regulation. In addition, new technical classifications of e-Waste being discussed in the Basel Convention technical working group could affect both our customers' abilities and obligations in electronics repair and refurbishment. Also of note is China's Management Methods for Controlling Pollution Caused by EIPs regulation, commonly referred to as "China RoHS", which restricts the importation into and production within China of electrical equipment containing certain hazardous materials. Similar legislation has been or may be enacted in other jurisdictions, including in the United States. RoHS and other similar legislation bans or restricts the use of lead, mercury and certain other specified substances in electronics products and WEEE requires EU importers and/or producers to assume responsibility for the collection, recycling and management of waste electronic products and components. We have developed rigorous risk mitigating compliance programs designed to meet the needs of our customers as well as applicable regulations. These programs may include collecting compliance data from our suppliers, full laboratory testing and public reporting of other environmental metrics such as carbon emissions, electronic waste and water, and we also require our supply chain to comply. Non-compliance could potentially result in significant costs and/or penalties. In the case of WEEE, the compliance responsibility rests primarily with the EU importers and/or producers rather than with EMS companies. However, customers may turn to EMS companies for assistance in meeting their obligations under WEEE.

In addition, we are responsible for the cleanup of contamination at some of our current and former manufacturing facilities and at some third party sites. If more stringent compliance or cleanup standards under environmental laws or regulations are imposed, or the results of future testing and analyses at our current or former operating facilities indicate that we are responsible for the release of hazardous substances into the air, ground and/or water, we may be subject to additional liability. Additional environmental matters may arise in the future at sites where no problem is currently known or at sites that we may acquire in the future. Additionally, we could be required to alter our manufacturing and operations and incur substantial expense in order to comply with environmental regulations. Our failure to comply with environmental laws and regulations or adequately address contaminated sites could limit our ability to expand our facilities or could require us to incur significant expenses, which would harm our business.

We are subject to a variety of domestic and foreign employment laws, including those related to safety, wages and overtime, discrimination, whistle-blowing, classification of employees and severance payments. Enforcement activity relating to these laws, particularly outside of the United States, can increase as a result of increased media attention due to violations by other companies, changes in law, political and other factors. There can be no assurance that we won't be found to have violated such laws in the future, due to a more aggressive enforcement posture by governmental authorities or for any other reason. Any such violations could lead to the assessment of fines against us by federal, state or foreign regulatory authorities or damages payable to employees, which fines could be substantial and which would reduce our net income.

We may be subject, from time to time, to legal and business challenges in the operation of our company due to actions instituted by activist shareholders or others. Responding to such actions could be costly and time-consuming, may not align with our business strategies and could divert the attention of our Board of Directors and senior management from the pursuit of our business strategies. Perceived uncertainties as to our future direction as a result of shareholder activism may lead to the perception of a change in the direction of the business or other instability and may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel and business partners and may affect our relationships with vendors, customers and other third parties.

There is an increasing focus on Sustainability including the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in our industry. A number of our customers have adopted, or may adopt, procurement policies that include social and environmental responsibility provisions that their suppliers should comply with, or they may seek to include such provisions in their procurement terms and conditions. In addition, an increasing number of investors have adopted, or may adopt, ESG policies with which they expect their portfolio companies to comply. We currently comply with the sustainability standards set forth by various voluntarily sustainability initiatives and organizations, and we have joined the U.N. Global Compact, a voluntary initiative for businesses to develop, implement and disclose sustainability policies and practices. These social and environmental responsibility and ESG practices, policies, provisions and initiatives are subject to change, can be unpredictable, and may be difficult and expensive for us to comply with.

There is increasing concern that a gradual increase in global average temperatures due to increased concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will cause significant changes in weather patterns around the globe and an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters. Changes in weather patterns and an increased frequency, intensity and duration of extreme weather conditions could, among other things, impair our production capabilities, disrupt the operation of our supply chain, and impact our customers and their demand for our services. As a result, the effects of climate change could have a long-term adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In many of the countries in which we operate, governmental bodies are increasingly enacting legislation and regulations in response to the potential impacts of climate change. These laws and regulations have, and will continue to have, the potential to impact our operations directly or indirectly as a result of required compliance by us and our suppliers. In addition, we have committed to cut our operational emissions in half by 2030 as part of our long-term sustainability strategy and we may take additional voluntary steps to mitigate our impact on climate change. As a result, we may experience increases in energy, production, transportation and raw material costs, capital expenditures and insurance premiums and deductibles. Inconsistency of legislation and regulations among jurisdictions may also affect the costs of compliance with such laws and regulations. Any assessment of the potential impact of future climate change legislation, regulations or industry standards, as well as any international treaties and accords, is uncertain given the scope of potential regulatory change in the countries in which we operate. Given the political significance and uncertainty around the impact of climate change and how it should be addressed, we cannot predict how legislation and regulation will affect our financial condition, operating performance and ability to compete. Furthermore, even without such regulation, increased awareness and any adverse publicity in the global marketplace about potential impacts on climate change by us or other companies in our industry could harm our reputation. Any of the foregoing could result in a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We retain certain intellectual property rights to some of the technologies that we develop as part of our engineering, design, and manufacturing services and components offerings. The measures we have taken to prevent unauthorized use of our technology may not be successful. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, this could reduce or eliminate the competitive advantages of our proprietary technology, which would harm our business.

Our engineering, design and manufacturing services and component offerings involve the creation and use of intellectual property rights, which subject us to the risk of claims of infringement or misuse of intellectual property from third parties and/or breach of our agreements with third parties, as well as claims arising from the allocation of intellectual property risk among us and our customers. From time to time, we enter into intellectual property licenses (e.g., patent licenses and software licenses) with third parties which obligate us to report covered behavior to the licensor and pay license fees to the licensor for certain activities or products, or that enable our use of third party technologies. We may also decline to enter into licenses for intellectual property that we do not think is useful for or used in our operations, or for which our customers or suppliers have licenses or have assumed responsibility.

Given the diverse and varied nature of our business and the location of our business around the world, certain activities we perform, such as providing assembly services in China and India, may fall outside the scope of those licenses or may not be subject to the applicable intellectual property rights. Our licensors may disagree and claim royalties are owed for such activities. In addition, the basis (e.g., base price) for any royalty amounts owed are audited by licensors and may be challenged. Our customers are increasingly requiring us to indemnify them against the risk of intellectual property-related claims and licensors are claiming that activities we perform are covered by licenses to which we are a party.

If any claims of infringement or misuse of intellectual property from third parties and/or breach of our agreements with third parties, as well as claims arising from the allocation of intellectual property risk among us and our customers, are brought against us or our customers, whether or not these have merit, we could be required to expend significant resources in defense of such claims. In the event of such a claim, we may be required to spend a significant amount of money to develop alternatives or obtain licenses or to resolve the issue through litigation. We may not be successful in developing such alternatives or obtaining such licenses on reasonable terms or at all, and any such litigation might not be resolved in our favor, in which cases we may be required to curtail certain of our services and offerings. Additionally, litigation could be lengthy and costly, and could materially harm our financial condition regardless of outcome.

We also face certain heightened risks to our intellectual property rights due to our extensive operations in foreign jurisdictions, including the risk of theft or misuse of our intellectual property rights in certain foreign jurisdictions. The laws of certain countries in which we operate may not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and the mechanisms to enforce intellectual property rights may be inadequate to protect our rights, which could harm our business.

None.

Our facilities consist of a global network of industrial parks, regional manufacturing operations, and design, engineering and product introduction centers, providing approximately 27 million square feet of productive capacity as of March 31, 2021. We do not identify or allocate assets by operating segment, as they are interchangeable in nature and used by multiple operating segments.

The composition of the square footage of our facilities, by region, is as follows:

Our facilities include large industrial parks, ranging in size from approximately 100,000 to 4.4 million square feet in Brazil, China, India, and Mexico. We also have regional manufacturing operations, generally ranging in size from under 100,000 to approximately 2.7 million square feet in Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States. We also have smaller design and engineering centers, innovation centers and product introduction centers at a number of locations in the world's major industrial and electronics markets.

Our facilities are well maintained and suitable for the operations conducted. The productive capacity of our plants is adequate for current needs.

For a description of our material legal proceedings, see note 13 "Commitments and Contingencies" to the consolidated financial statements included under Item 8, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Not applicable

Our ordinary shares are quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "FLEX."

As of May 14, 2021 there were 2,933 holders of record of our ordinary shares. This does not include persons whose stock is in nominee or "street name" accounts through brokers.

Since inception, we have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares. We currently do not have plans to pay any cash dividends in fiscal year 2022.

The graph below compares the cumulative total shareholder return on our ordinary shares, the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index and a peer group comprised of Benchmark Electronics, Inc., Celestica Inc., Jabil Inc., and Sanmina Corporation.

The graph below assumes that $100 was invested in our ordinary shares, in the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index and in the peer group described above on March 31, 2016 and reflects the annual return through March 31, 2021, assuming dividend reinvestment.

The comparisons in the graph below are based on historical data and are not indicative of, or intended to forecast, the possible future performances of our ordinary shares.

The following table provides information regarding purchases of our ordinary shares made by us for the period from January 1, 2021 through March 31, 2021.

None.

Shareholders who apply, or who are required to apply, the Singapore Financial Reporting Standard 109 Financial Instruments ("FRS 109") for the purposes of Singapore income tax may be required to recognize gains or losses (not being gains or losses in the nature of capital) in accordance with the provisions of FRS 109 (as modified by the applicable provisions of Singapore income tax law) even though no sale or disposal of shares is made.

An individual shareholder who is a U.S. citizen or resident (for U.S. estate tax purposes) will have the value of the shares included in the individual's gross estate for U.S. estate tax purposes. An individual shareholder generally will be entitled to a tax credit against the shareholder's U.S. estate tax to the extent the individual shareholder actually pays Singapore estate tax on the value of the shares; however, such tax credit is generally limited to the percentage of the U.S. estate tax attributable to the inclusion of the value of the shares included in the shareholder's gross estate for U.S. estate tax purposes, adjusted further by a pro rata apportionment of available exemptions. Individuals who are domiciled in Singapore should consult their own tax advisors regarding the Singapore estate tax consequences of their investment.

These historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected in the future. The following selected consolidated financial data set forth below was derived from our historical audited consolidated financial statements and is qualified by reference to, and should be read in conjunction with, Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data." On April 1, 2018, we adopted the new revenue standard and as a result we recognized the cumulative effect of initially applying the new revenue standard as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect at the time. As further discussed in note 2 to the consolidated financial statement in Item 8, the prior year amounts related to interest expense (income), net are now presented separately under interest, net, and the remaining balances under interest and other, net have been reclassified to the other charges (income), net within the consolidated statement of operations. For comparability purposes, the prior periods have been recast to conform to the current presentation. The reclassifications had no effect on the previously reported results of operations (Amounts may not sum due to rounding).

This report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The words "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "plans" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements which refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly disclose any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring subsequent to filing this Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, those discussed in this section and in Item 1A, "Risk Factors." In addition, new risks emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors or to assess the impact of such risk factors on our business. Accordingly, our future results may differ materially from historical results or from those discussed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, the reader should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Over the past few years, we have seen an increased level of diversification by many companies, primarily in the technology sector. Some companies that have historically identified themselves as software providers, Internet service providers or e-commerce retailers have entered the highly competitive and rapidly evolving technology hardware markets, such as mobile devices, home entertainment and wearable devices. This trend has resulted in a significant change in the manufacturing and supply chain solutions requirements of such companies. While the products have become more complex, the supply chain

We use a portfolio approach to manage our extensive service offerings. As our customers change the way they go to market, we have the capability to reorganize and rebalance our business portfolio in order to align with our customers' needs and requirements in an effort to optimize operating results. The objective of our business model is to allow us to be flexible and redeploy and reposition our assets and resources as necessary to meet specific customer's supply chain solutions needs across all the markets we serve and earn a return on our invested capital above the weighted average cost of that capital.

We believe that our continued business transformation is strategically positioning us to take advantage of the long-term, future growth prospects for outsourcing of advanced manufacturing capabilities, design and engineering services and after-market services.

As anticipated, our results were negatively impacted by COVID-19 disruptions to our factories, workforce, and suppliers most notably in our first quarter as the impact from the pandemic extended throughout the entire quarter. Total COVID-19 related costs incurred over fiscal year 2021 were over $150 million and were primarily comprised of enhanced health and safety protocols, incremental labor incentives, incremental supply chain costs and forced under-absorption of idle and underutilized labor and overhead costs. As we expected, these incremental costs persisted during fiscal year 2021, but declined significantly over the period as demand improved. Although not materially impacting our results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021, most recently, with the second wave of the pandemic, we have also been experiencing temporary plant closures and/or restrictions at certain manufacturing facilities in Brazil and Malaysia. In addition, India is experiencing a severe COVID-19 resurgence, which has resulted in renewed disease control measures being taken to limit its spread including movement bans and shelter-in-place orders. We have workforce and operations in India and are closely monitoring the situation in India. Our priority is the welfare of our employees.

As part of our continuous response to the outbreak, we initiated salary cuts, furloughs and other programs to cut costs during the first half of fiscal year 2021. This also included aggressively reducing discretionary corporate spend. Employees that have been operating on a work-from-home basis are continuing to do so. While there still remains an elevated degree of uncertainty, we have removed specific austerity measures involving employee compensation.

We are continuously evaluating our capital structure in response to the current environment and expect that our current financial condition, including our liquidity sources are adequate to fund future commitments. See additional discussion in the Liquidity and Capital Resources section below.

We are one of the world's largest providers of global supply chain solutions, with revenues of $24.1 billion in fiscal year 2021. We have established an extensive network of manufacturing facilities in the world's major consumer and enterprise markets (Asia, the Americas, and Europe) to serve the growing outsourcing needs of both multinational and regional customers. We design, build, ship, and service consumer and enterprise products for our customers through a network of over 100 facilities in approximately 30 countries across four continents. As of March 31, 2021, our total manufacturing capacity was approximately 27 million square feet. The following tables set forth the relative percentages and dollar amounts of net sales by region and by country, and net property and equipment, by country, based on the location of our manufacturing sites (amounts may not sum due to rounding):

We believe that the combination of our extensive open innovation platform solutions, design and engineering services, advanced supply chain management solutions and services, significant scale and global presence, and manufacturing campuses in low-cost geographic areas provide us with a competitive advantage and strong differentiation in the market for designing, manufacturing and servicing consumer and enterprise products for leading multinational and regional customers. Specifically, we offer our customers the ability to simplify their global product development, manufacturing process, and after-sales services, and enable them to meaningfully accelerate their time to market and cost savings.

Our operating results are affected by a number of factors, including the following:

We also are subject to other risks as outlined in Item 1A, "Risk Factors".

Cash provided by operations increased by approximately $1.6 billion to a cash inflow of $0.1 billion for fiscal year 2021 compared with a cash outflow of $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2020 primarily driven by the $0.5 billion increase in net income and the reduced cash outflow related to accounts receivables during fiscal year 2021. Our net working capital ("NWC") is calculated as current quarter accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts, plus inventories and contract assets, less accounts payable and certain other current liabilities related to vendor financing programs. Our net working capital as a percentage of annualized sales for fiscal year 2021 increased to 11.5% from 6.3% in the prior year as a direct result of reducing the outstanding balance of accounts receivable sold through our ABS and accounts receivable factoring programs.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP" or "GAAP") requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been and will continue to be uncertainty and disruption in the global economy and financial markets. We have made estimates and assumptions taking into consideration certain possible impacts due to COVID-19. These estimates may change, as new events occur, and additional information is obtained. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.

We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. For further discussion of our significant accounting policies, refer to note 2 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."

In determining the appropriate amount of revenue to recognize, we apply the following steps: (i) identify the contracts with the customers; (ii) identify performance obligations in the contracts; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations per the contracts; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) we satisfy a performance obligation. Further, we assess whether control of the product or services promised under the contract is transferred to the customer at a point in time (PIT) or over time (OT). We are first required to evaluate whether our contracts meet the criteria for OT recognition. We have determined that for a portion of our contracts, we are manufacturing products for which there is no alternative use (due to the unique nature of the customer-specific product and intellectual property restrictions) and we have an enforceable right to payment including a reasonable profit for work-in-progress inventory with respect to these contracts. As a result, revenue is recognized under these contracts OT based on the cost-to-cost method as it best depicts the transfer of control to the customer measured based on the ratio of costs incurred to date as compared to the total estimated costs at completion of the performance obligation. For all other contracts that do not meet these criteria, we recognize revenue when we have transferred control of the related manufactured products which generally occurs upon delivery and passage of title to the customer. Refer to note 4 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further details.

We have an established customer credit policy through which we manage customer credit exposures through credit evaluations, credit limit setting, monitoring, and enforcement of credit limits for new and existing customers. We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers' financial condition and make provisions for doubtful accounts based on the outcome of those credit evaluations. We evaluate the collectability of accounts receivable based on specific customer circumstances, current economic trends, historical experience with collections and the age of past due receivables. To the extent we identify exposures as a result of customer credit issues, we also review other customer related exposures, including but not limited to inventory and related contractual obligations.

We recognize restructuring charges related to our plans to close or consolidate excess manufacturing facilities and rationalize administrative functions and to realign our corporate cost structure. In connection with these activities, we recognize restructuring charges for employee termination costs, long-lived asset impairment and other exit-related costs.

The recognition of these restructuring charges requires that we make certain judgments and estimates regarding the nature, timing and amount of costs associated with the planned restructuring activity. To the extent our actual results differ from our estimates and assumptions, we may be required to revise the estimates of future liabilities, requiring the recognition of additional restructuring charges or the reduction of liabilities already recognized. Such changes to previously estimated amounts may be material to the consolidated financial statements. At the end of each reporting period, we evaluate the remaining accrued balances to ensure that no excess accruals are retained, and the utilization of the provisions are for their intended purpose in accordance with developed exit plans.

Refer to note 15 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further discussion of our restructuring activities.

Our inventories are stated at the lower of cost (on a first-in, first-out basis) or net realizable value. Our industry is characterized by rapid technological change, short-term customer commitments and rapid changes in demand. We purchase our inventory based on forecasted demand, and we estimate write downs for excess and obsolete inventory based on our regular

We review property and equipment and acquired amortizable intangible assets for impairment at least annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the asset group may not be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized when the carrying amount of the asset group exceeds its fair value. Recoverability of property and equipment and acquired amortizable intangible assets are measured by comparing their carrying amount to the projected cash flows the assets are expected to generate. If such asset groups are determined to be impaired, the impairment loss recognized, if any, is the amount by which the carrying amount of the property and equipment and acquired amortizable intangible assets exceeds fair value. Our judgments regarding projected cash flows for an extended period of time and the fair value of assets may be impacted by changes in market conditions, general business environment and other factors including future developments of the COVID-19 pandemic which remain highly uncertain and unpredictable. To the extent our estimates relating to cash flows and fair value of assets change adversely we may have to recognize additional impairment charges in the future.

Goodwill is tested for impairment on an annual basis and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of goodwill may not be recoverable. Recoverability of goodwill is measured at the reporting unit level by comparing the reporting unit's carrying amount, including goodwill, to the fair value of the reporting unit, which is measured based upon, among other factors, market multiples for comparable companies as well as a discounted cash flow analysis. These approaches use significant unobservable inputs, or Level 3 inputs, as defined by the fair value hierarchy and require us to make various judgmental assumptions about sales, operating margins, growth rates and discount rates which consider our budgets, business plans and economic projections, and are believed to reflect market participant views. Some of the inherent estimates and assumptions used in determining fair value of the reporting units are outside the control of management, including interest rates, cost of capital, tax rates, market EBITDA comparables and credit ratings. While we believe we have made reasonable estimates and assumptions to calculate the fair value of the reporting units, it is possible a material change could occur. If our actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions used to calculate fair value, it could result in material impairments of our goodwill. Refer to note 2 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further detail on our goodwill.

Our deferred income tax assets represent temporary differences between the carrying amount and the tax basis of existing assets and liabilities, which will result in deductible amounts in future years, including net operating loss carry forwards. Based on estimates, the carrying value of our net deferred tax assets assumes that it is more likely than not that we will be able to generate sufficient future taxable income in certain tax jurisdictions to realize these deferred income tax assets. Our judgments

We are regularly subject to tax return audits and examinations by various taxing jurisdictions and around the world, and there can be no assurance that the final determination of any tax examinations will not be materially different than that which is reflected in our income tax provisions and accruals. Should additional taxes be assessed as a result of a current or future examination, there could be a material adverse effect on our tax position, operating results, financial position and cash flows. Refer to note 14 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further discussion of our tax position.

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, certain statements of operations data expressed as a percentage of net sales (amounts may not sum due to rounding). The financial information and the discussion below should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data." As previously disclosed, we made certain changes in our organization structure. As a result of these changes, we revised our reportable segments as further discussed in note 20 to the consolidated financial statement in Item 8. There was no change to our consolidated financial statements. Additionally, as further discussed in note 2 to the consolidated financial statement in Item 8, the prior year amounts related to interest expense (income), net are now presented separately under interest, net, and the remaining balances under interest and other, net have been reclassified to other charges (income), net within the consolidated statement of operations. For comparability purposes, the prior periods have been recast to conform to the current presentation. The reclassifications had no effect on the previously reported results of operations.

The data below, and discussion that follows, represents our results from operations.

Net sales during fiscal year 2021 totaled $24.1 billion, representing a decrease of $0.1 billion, or less than 1%, from $24.2 billion during fiscal year 2020. The decrease in net sales was most notable in our FAS segment, down $0.6 billion, or 4%, from the prior year, mainly due to a drop of 25% in our Consumer Devices business resulting from lower demand due to the impact of COVID-19 in the earlier part of fiscal year 2021, and our continued strategic shift away from high volatility, short cycle businesses that we initiated in fiscal year 2019. CEC grew 2% in fiscal year 2021 from the prior year driven by cloud and critical infrastructure spending. Lifestyle grew 5% in fiscal year 2021 from the prior year due to new customer ramps and continued market strength driven by work, learn and live-from-home trends. Largely offsetting the overall decline in revenue in our FAS segment was an increase in revenues from our FRS segment of $0.5 billion, or 5%, driven primarily by an increase of roughly 25% in sales from prior year of our Health Solutions business as a result of continued demand for critical care products, ventilator project ramps initiated earlier in fiscal year 2021, and continued growth in our chronic care business. Industrial revenue grew approximately 3% from the prior year with steady demand in core industrial. These increases in our FRS segment were offset by a drop of approximately 7% in our Automotive business due to the factory shutdowns in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 despite the recovery noted in the subsequent quarters of fiscal year 2021.

Net sales were also lower in our Americas and Asia regions during fiscal year 2021, with decreases of $0.4 billion and less than $0.1 billion, respectively, partially offset by higher sales in Europe of $0.3 billion during the same period.

Net sales during fiscal year 2020 totaled $24.2 billion, representing a decrease of $2.0 billion, or 8%, from $26.2 billion during fiscal year 2019. The decrease in net sales was most notable in our FAS segment, down $2.8 billion, or 17%, from fiscal year 2019, driven by our targeted reductions of high volatility, low margin, short-cycle customers and product categories and further impacted by significant COVID-19 related supply chain constraints in our fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020. Additionally, our FAS segment was impacted by a 15% reduced demand from our CEC business due to the slower roll-out of 5G technology and our previously announced disengagement with Huawei Technologies Co., coupled with production disruptions due to COVID-19 in our fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020. Partially offsetting the overall decrease in revenue was a $0.8 billion, or 9% increase in our FRS segment. The increase in our FRS segment was primarily driven by a 19% increase in demand from our Industrial business throughout the year, which more than offset the underlying supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 that impacted product ramps for various businesses within the FRS segment in our fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020. Offsetting the increase from our Industrial businesses were modest decreases of 2% in our Automotive businesses due to COVID-19 disruptions as multiple factories shut down late in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020.

Net sales were also lower in our Asia and Europe regions during fiscal year 2020, with decreases of $2.1 billion and less than $0.1 billion, respectively, partially offset by slightly higher sales in the Americas with an increase of $0.2 billion during the same period.

Our ten largest customers during fiscal years 2021, 2020 and 2019 accounted for approximately 36%, 39% and 43% of net sales, respectively. We have made substantial efforts to diversify our portfolio which allows us to operate at scale in many different industries, and, as a result, no customer accounted for greater than 10% of net sales in fiscal year 2021, 2020 or 2019.

Gross profit is affected by a fluctuation in costs of sales elements as outlined above and further by a number of factors, including product life cycles, unit volumes, pricing, competition, new product introductions, and the expansion or consolidation of manufacturing facilities, as well as specific restructuring activities initiated from time to time. The flexible design of our manufacturing processes allows us to manufacture a broad range of products in our facilities and better utilize our manufacturing capacity across our diverse geographic footprint and service customers from all segments. In the cases of new programs, profitability normally lags revenue growth due to product start-up costs, lower manufacturing program volumes in the start-up phase, operational inefficiencies, and under-absorbed overhead. Gross margin for these programs often improves over time as manufacturing volumes increase, as our utilization rates and overhead absorption improve, and as we increase the level of manufacturing services content. As a result of these various factors, our gross margin varies from period to period.

Gross profit during fiscal year 2021 increased $0.3 billion to $1.7 billion, or 7.0% of net sales, from $1.3 billion, or 5.5% of net sales, during fiscal year 2020, an improvement of 150 basis points. The increase in gross profit and gross margin during fiscal year 2021 primarily resulted from lower restructuring costs, $0.1 billion in fiscal year 2021, versus $0.2 billion in fiscal year 2020. The decline of $0.1 billion was primarily due to higher charges taken in fiscal year 2020 due to geopolitical challenges and uncertainties which impacted certain of our customers. Gross profit also increased due to the $0.1 billion of customer assets impairment charges recorded in the prior year for customers that were experiencing financial difficulties coupled with the write-down of inventory not recoverable due to the significant reductions in future customer demand as we reduced our exposure to certain higher volatility businesses. These increases were partially offset by the decline in revenue and gross profit in our Consumer Devices and Automotive end markets reflecting COVID-19 demand and production pressures during the first half of fiscal year 2021.

In order to support our strategy and build a sustainable organization, and after considering that the economic recovery from the pandemic will be slower than anticipated, we identified certain structural changes to restructure the business. These restructuring actions will eliminate non-core activities primarily within our corporate function, align our cost structure with our reorganizing and optimizing of our operations model along our two reporting segments, and further sharpen our focus to winning business in end markets where we have competitive advantages and deep domain expertise. During fiscal year 2021, we recognized approximately $0.1 billion of restructuring charges, most of which related to employee severance.

Refer to note 15 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further discussion of our restructuring activities.

Selling, general and administrative expenses ("SG&A") totaled $0.8 billion, or 3.4% of net sales, during fiscal year 2021, compared to $0.8 billion, or 3.4% of net sales, during fiscal year 2020, decreasing by $17 million or 2%, which reflects strong cost discipline practiced across the enterprise as well as the benefits from our distinct actions taken to temporarily reduce

SG&A totaled $0.8 billion, or 3.4% of net sales, during fiscal year 2020, compared to $1.0 billion, or 3.6% of net sales, during fiscal year 2019, decreasing by $0.2 billion or 12%, due to strict cost discipline focused on driving further productivity improvements which enabled us to respond quickly to current market conditions by taking targeted actions on our discretionary spends coupled with a refined cost structure benefiting from prior restructuring initiatives.

Amortization of intangible assets in fiscal years 2021 and 2020 were $62 million and $64 million, respectively, representing a decrease of $2 million and $10 million, from their respective prior years as a result of certain intangible assets being fully amortized during the respective periods.

Interest, net was $148 million during fiscal year 2021, compared to $174 million during fiscal year 2020, decreasing $26 million primarily due to lower expenses from our asset-backed securitization programs, partially offset by a higher average borrowing level during fiscal year 2021.

Interest, net was $174 million during fiscal year 2020, remaining relatively constant from $175 million during fiscal year 2019. The slight decrease was driven by a lower interest rate environment during fiscal year 2020 compared to the prior year.

During fiscal year 2021, we recorded $67 million of other income, net, primarily as a result of recognizing $83 million of equity in earnings, driven by the value increase in certain investment funds resulting from discrete market events including IPOs of certain companies included in the funds. Out of the $83 million equity in earnings recorded in fiscal year 2021, we collected $48 million of cash proceeds as we sold certain shares received as a distribution from one of our funds' investments. Partially offsetting the income was an impairment charge of $37 million related to certain non-core investments that were determined to be other than temporarily impaired.

During fiscal year 2020, and in connection with our ongoing assessment of our investment portfolio strategy, we concluded that the carrying amounts of certain non-core investments were other than temporarily impaired and recognized a $98 million total impairment charge.

During the last half of fiscal year 2019, we reassessed our strategy with respect to our entire investment portfolio. As a result, we recognized an aggregate net charge related to investment impairments and dispositions of approximately $193 million for the year ended March 31, 2019. The aggregate charge was primarily driven by write-downs of our investment positions in a non-core cost method investment and Elementum that were recognized in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2019, respectively. We also incurred other investment impairments that were individually immaterial as a result of our strategy shift and due to market valuation changes. Offsetting these charges was an $87 million non-cash gain from the deconsolidation of Bright Machines.

Refer to note 16 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further discussion of our other charges (income), net.

We are regularly subject to tax return audits and examinations by various taxing jurisdictions around the world, and there can be no assurance that the final determination of any tax examinations will not be materially different than that which is reflected in our income tax provisions and accruals. Should additional taxes be assessed as a result of a current or future examination, there could be a material adverse effect on our tax position, operating results, financial position and cash flows.

We provide a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets that in our estimation are not more likely than not to be realized. During fiscal year 2021, we released a valuation allowance of $25 million mainly related to certain operations in Canada as this amount was deemed to be more likely than not to be realized due to the sustained profitability during the past three fiscal years as well as continued forecasted profitability of those subsidiaries. Various other valuation allowance positions were also reduced due to varying factors such as recognition of uncertain tax positions impacting deferred tax assets, one-time income recognition in loss entities, and foreign exchange impacts on deferred tax balances. Lastly, these valuation allowance reductions and eliminations were offset by current period valuation allowance additions due to increased deferred tax assets as a result of current period losses in legal entities with existing full valuation allowance positions.

In response to the recent challenging environment following the COVID-19 pandemic, we continuously evaluate our ability to meet our obligations over the next 12 months and have proactively reset our capital structure during these times to improve maturities and liquidity. As a result, we expect that our current financial condition, including our liquidity sources are adequate to fund current and future commitments. As of March 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $2.6 billion and bank and other borrowings of approximately $3.8 billion. We have a new $2.0 billion revolving credit facility, that is due to mature in January 2026 (the "2026 Credit Facility"), under which we had no borrowings outstanding as of March 31, 2021. The new credit facility replaced the previous $1.75 billion credit facility that was to mature in June 2022. We also issued $675 million of 3.750% Notes due February 2026 and $650 million of 4.875% Notes due May 2030 and repaid $433 million for the term loan due June 2022 in fiscal year 2021. Refer to note 8 to the consolidated financial statement in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for additional details on the new credit facility and the new notes. As of March 31, 2021, we were in compliance with the covenants under all of our credit facilities and indentures.

Our cash balances are held in numerous locations throughout the world. As of March 31, 2021, over half of our cash and cash equivalents were held by foreign subsidiaries outside of Singapore. Although substantially all of the amounts held outside of Singapore could be repatriated, under current laws, a significant amount could be subject to income tax withholdings. We provide for tax liabilities on these amounts for financial statement purposes, except for certain of our foreign earnings that are considered indefinitely reinvested outside of Singapore (approximately $1.5 billion as of March 31, 2021). Repatriation could result in an additional income tax payment; however, for the majority of our foreign entities, our intent is to permanently reinvest these funds outside of Singapore and our current plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate them to fund our operations in jurisdictions outside of where they are held. Where local restrictions prevent an efficient intercompany transfer of funds, our intent is that cash balances would remain outside of Singapore and we would meet our liquidity needs through ongoing cash flows, external borrowings, or both.

Cash provided by operating activities was $0.1 billion during fiscal year 2021. The total cash provided by operating activities resulted primarily from $0.6 billion of net income for the period plus $0.6 billion of non-cash charges such as depreciation, amortization, non-cash lease expense, restructuring and impairment charges, provision for doubtful accounts, deferred income taxes and stock-based compensation. Depreciation expense was $0.4 billion and relatively consistent with prior years. These additions were offset by a net change in our operating assets and liabilities of $1.1 billion, primarily driven by cash outflows related to accounts receivables resulting from the reduction of our outstanding balances of accounts receivable sold through our ABS and accounts receivable factoring programs.

We believe NWC, and net working capital as a percentage of annualized net sales are key metrics that measure our liquidity. NWC is calculated as current quarter accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts, plus inventories and contract assets, less accounts payable and certain other current liabilities related to vendor financing programs. NWC increased by $1.5 billion to $2.9 billion as of March 31, 2021, from $1.4 billion as of March 31, 2020. This increase is primarily driven by a $1.7 billion increase in net receivables as we reduced our outstanding balances on our ABS and accounts receivable factoring programs as discussed above, coupled with a $0.1 billion increase in inventories, and partially offset with a $0.1 billion decrease in contract assets and a $0.1 billion increase in accounts payable. Our net working capital as a percentage of annualized net sales as of March 31, 2021 increased to 11.5% as compared to 6.3% of annualized net sales as of March 31, 2020 as a direct result of reducing the outstanding balance of accounts receivable sold through our ABS and accounts receivable factoring programs. We expect to operate in this range going forward. Though we have mitigated most of the initial supplier constraints and component shortages that we had encountered in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, we continue to operate in an unusual and dynamic environment with respect to COVID-19 related production limitations and fluctuating demand. We expect it will take additional time to adequately drive down our inventory levels to align with the current demand environment. We are actively working with our partners to rebalance safety and buffer stock requirements and we have an established enterprise-wide cross-functional initiative resetting our load planning. Component shortages are also expected to persist at least in the near future as we are seeing increasing supply constraints. We are working diligently with our partners to secure needed parts and fulfill demand.

Cash provided by financing activities was $0.7 billion during fiscal year 2021. This was primarily driven by $1.4 billion of proceeds received in aggregate, net of discounts and after premiums, following the issuance of the 2026 Notes and the 2030 Notes, partially offset by $0.4 billion of cash paid for the repayment of the term loan due June 2022. Refer to note 8 to the consolidated financial statement in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for additional details. Also offsetting cash provided by financing activities was $0.2 billion of cash paid for the repurchase of our ordinary shares.

Cash used in operating activities was $1.5 billion during fiscal year 2020. The total cash used in operating activities resulted primarily from $88 million of net income for the period plus $0.8 billion of non-cash charges such as depreciation, amortization, restructuring and impairment charges, provision for doubtful accounts, and stock-based compensation. Depreciation expense was $0.4 billion and slightly lower than prior years. These additions were more than offset by a net change in our operating assets and liabilities of $2.4 billion, primarily driven by cash outflows related to accounts receivable. Cash collections from the deferred purchase price on our ABS sales programs of $2.6 billion were included in cash from investing activities.

Cash provided by investing activities totaled $2.3 billion during fiscal year 2020. This was primarily driven by $2.6 billion of cash collections on deferred purchase price receivables from our ABS Programs offset by approximately $0.4 billion of net capital expenditures for property and equipment to continue expanding capabilities and capacity in support of our expanding Health Solutions and Industrial businesses. In addition, other investing activities include $44 million of proceeds from the sale of our partial investment in Bright Machines.

Cash used in financing activities was $0.5 billion during fiscal year 2020. This was primarily the result of (i) $0.7 billion of cash paid for the repayment of the term loan due November 2021, (ii) $0.5 billion of cash paid for the tender and redemption of the outstanding balance of our 4.625% Notes due February 2020, (iii) $0.1 billion of cash paid to pay off the outstanding balance of our short-term bank borrowings facility in India, and (iv) $0.3 billion of cash paid for the repurchase of our ordinary shares. Partially offsetting the payments described above were $0.7 billion of proceeds, net of discount and premium, received following the issuance of the 2029 Notes, $0.3 billion of proceeds following the execution of our term loan agreement due in April 2024, $59 million of proceeds from drawdowns from our India term loan facility coupled with $47 million of proceeds from the execution of our term loan due in March 2021.

Cash used in operating activities was $3.0 billion during fiscal year 2019. As further discussed below, cash collections on the deferred purchase price from our ABS Programs of $3.6 billion were included in cash from investing activities instead of cash from operating activities in accordance with new accounting guidance adopted in fiscal year 2019. The total cash used in operating activities resulted primarily from $93 million of net income for the period plus $0.8 billion of non-cash charges such as depreciation, amortization, restructuring and impairment charges, provision for doubtful accounts, and stock-based compensation, net of a gain of $87 million from the deconsolidation of Bright Machines which were included in the determination of net income. Depreciation expense was $0.4 billion and relatively consistent with prior years. These additions were more than offset by a net change in our operating assets and liabilities of $3.9 billion. In accordance with the new accounting guidance adopted in fiscal year 2019, cash collections on deferred purchase price from our ABS Programs were classified as cash flows from investing activities and no longer included in cash receipts related to accounts receivable. As a result, while accounts receivable only increased by approximately $95 million from fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2019, the impact to operating cash flows is an outflow of $3.6 billion. Year over year increases in inventory and contract assets also added to the net change in our operating assets and liabilities reflected on our cash flow from operations.

Cash provided by investing activities totaled $3.3 billion during fiscal year 2019. This was primarily driven by the impact of our adoption of ASU 2016-15 during fiscal year 2019 referred to above, which required us to classify cash collections on the deferred purchase price from our ABS Programs that were previously classified as operating cash inflows as cash flows from investing activities. In addition, we received $0.3 billion of proceeds, net of cash held, in connection with the divestiture of our China-based Multek operations as further described in note 18 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data". We also invested $0.6 billion of net capital expenditures for property and equipment to expand capabilities and capacity in support of our Industrial, Automotive and Health Solutions businesses.

Our cash balances are generated and held in numerous locations throughout the world. Liquidity is affected by many factors, some of which are based on normal ongoing operations of the business and some of which arise from fluctuations related to global economics and markets. Local government regulations may restrict our ability to move cash balances to meet cash needs under certain circumstances; however, any current restrictions are not material. We do not currently expect such regulations and restrictions to impact our ability to pay vendors and conduct operations throughout the global organization. We believe that our existing cash balances, together with anticipated cash flows from operations and borrowings available under our credit facilities, will be sufficient to fund our operations through at least the next twelve months.

Future liquidity needs will depend on fluctuations in levels of inventory, accounts receivable and accounts payable, the timing of capital expenditures for new equipment, the extent to which we utilize operating leases for new facilities and equipment, and the levels of shipments and changes in the volumes of customer orders.

We maintain global paying services agreements with several financial institutions. Under these agreements, the financial institutions act as our paying agents with respect to accounts payable due to our suppliers who elect to participate in the program. The agreements allow our suppliers to sell their receivables to one of the participating financial institutions at the discretion of both parties on terms that are negotiated between the supplier and the respective financial institution. Our obligations to our suppliers, including the amounts due and scheduled payment dates, are not impacted by our suppliers’ decisions to sell their receivables under this program. During fiscal years ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, the cumulative payments due to suppliers participating in the programs amounted to approximately $1.0 billion and $0.9 billion, respectively. Pursuant to their agreements with one of the financial institutions, certain suppliers may elect to be paid early at their discretion. We are not always notified when our suppliers sell receivables under these programs. The available capacity under these programs can vary based on the number of investors and/or financial institutions participating in these programs at any point in time.

In addition, we maintain various uncommitted short-term financing facilities including but not limited to commercial paper program and revolving sale and repurchase of subordinated note established under the securitization facility, under which there were no borrowings outstanding as of March 31, 2021.

Historically, we have funded operations from cash and cash equivalents generated from operations, proceeds from public offerings of equity and debt securities, bank debt and lease financings. We also sell a designated pool of trade receivables under ABS Programs and sell certain trade receivables, which are in addition to the trade receivables sold in connection with these securitization agreements. We may enter into debt and equity financings, sales of accounts receivable and lease transactions to fund acquisitions and anticipated growth as needed.

During fiscal years 2021, 2020 and 2019, we received approximately $0.6 billion, $7.6 billion and $6.8 billion, respectively from transfers of receivables under our ABS Programs, and $0.8 billion, $1.6 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively from other sales of receivables. As of March 31, 2021, and 2020, the outstanding balance on receivables sold for cash was $0.2 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively, under all our ABS programs and accounts receivable factoring program, which were removed from accounts receivable balances in our consolidated balance sheets.

Historically we have been successful in refinancing and extending the maturity dates on our term loans and credit facilities. In January 2021, we entered into a $2.0 billion credit agreement which matures in January 2026 and consists of a $2.0 billion revolving credit facility with a sub-limit of $360 million available for swing line loans, and a sub-limit of $175 million available for the issuance of letters of credit. The 2026 Credit Facility replaced the previous $1.75 billion credit facility, which was due to mature in June 2022.

The sale or issuance of equity or convertible debt securities could result in dilution to current shareholders. Further, we may issue debt securities that have rights and privileges senior to those of holders of ordinary shares, and the terms of this debt

Refer to the discussion in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further details of our debt obligations.

We have purchase obligations that arise in the normal course of business, primarily consisting of binding purchase orders for inventory related items and capital expenditures. Additionally, we have leased certain of our property and equipment under finance lease commitments, and certain of our facilities and equipment under operating lease commitments.

We have excluded $266 million of liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits from the contractual obligations table as we cannot make a reasonably reliable estimate of the periodic settlements with the respective taxing authorities. See note 14, "Income Taxes" to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for further details.

Our purchase obligations can fluctuate significantly from period to period and can materially impact our future operating asset and liability balances, and our future working capital requirements. We intend to use our existing cash balances, together with anticipated cash flows from operations to fund our existing and future contractual obligations.

As of March 31, 2021 and 2020, the outstanding balance on receivables sold for cash was $0.2 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively, under our asset-backed securitization programs and accounts receivable factoring program, which were removed from accounts receivable balances in our consolidated balance sheets. For further information, see note 11 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data".

Refer to note 2 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" for recent accounting pronouncements.

A portion of our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates to our highly liquid investment portfolio, with maturities of three months or less from original dates of purchase and are classified as cash equivalents on our consolidated balance sheet. We do not use derivative financial instruments in our highly liquid investment portfolio. We place cash and cash equivalents with various major financial institutions and highly rated money market accounts. Our investment policy has strict guidelines focusing on preservation of capital. The portfolio is comprised of various instruments including term deposits with banks, marketable securities and money market accounts. Our cash is principally invested in the U.S. dollar and China renminbi serving as a natural hedge of our renminbi denominated costs. As of March 31, 2021, the outstanding amount in the highly liquid investment portfolio was $1.5 billion, the largest components of which were U.S. dollar, Brazilian real, China renminbi and Indian rupee denominated money market accounts with an average return of 1%. A hypothetical 10% change in interest rates would not be expected to have a material effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows over the next fiscal year.

We had variable rate debt outstanding of approximately $0.6 billion as of March 31, 2021. Variable rate debt obligations consisted of borrowings under our term loans. Interest on these obligations is discussed in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data".

Our variable rate debt instruments create exposures for us related to interest rate risk. Primarily due to the current low interest rates, a hypothetical 10% change in interest rates would not be expected to have a material effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows over the next fiscal year.

As of March 31, 2021, the approximate average fair value of our debt outstanding under our Notes due February 2023, June 2025, February 2026, June 2029, and May 2030 was 111.8% of the face value of the debt obligations based on broker trading prices.

In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) that regulates LIBOR announced it intends to stop compelling banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. On November 30, 2020, ICE Benchmark Administration, the administrator of LIBOR, with the support of the United States Federal Reserve and the FCA, announced plans to consult on ceasing publication of LIBOR on December 31, 2021 for only the one week and two month LIBOR tenors, and on June 30, 2023 for all other LIBOR tenors. While this announcement extends the transition period to June 2023, the United States Federal Reserve concurrently issued a statement advising banks to stop new LIBOR issuances by the end of 2021. In light of these recent announcements, the future of LIBOR at this time is uncertain and any changes in the methods by which LIBOR is determined or regulatory activity related to LIBOR’s phaseout could cause LIBOR to perform differently than in the past or cease to exist. The consequences of these developments cannot be entirely predicted, but could include an increase in the cost of our borrowings.

We transact business in various foreign countries and are, therefore, subject to risk of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We have established a foreign currency risk management policy to manage this risk. To the extent possible, we manage our foreign currency exposure by evaluating and using non-financial techniques, such as currency of invoice, leading and lagging payments and receivables management. In addition, we may borrow in various foreign currencies and enter into short-term foreign currency derivative contracts, including forward, swap, and option contracts to hedge only those currency exposures associated with certain assets and liabilities, mainly accounts receivable and accounts payable, and cash flows denominated in non-functional currencies.

We endeavor to maintain a partial or fully hedged position for certain transaction exposures. These exposures are primarily, but not limited to, revenues, customer and vendor payments and inter-company balances in currencies other than the functional currency of the operating entity. The credit risk of our foreign currency derivative contracts is minimized since all contracts are with large financial institutions and accordingly, fair value adjustments related to the credit risk of the counter-party financial institution were not material. The gains and losses on foreign currency derivative contracts generally offset the losses and gains on the assets, liabilities and transactions hedged. The fair value of currency derivative contracts is reported on the balance sheet. The aggregate notional amount of outstanding contracts as of March 31, 2021 amounted to $8.9 billion and the recorded fair values of the associated assets and liabilities were not material. The majority of these foreign exchange contracts expire in less than three months. They will settle primarily in the British pound, Canadian dollar, China renminbi, Euro, Hungarian forint, Israeli shekel, Malaysian ringgit, Mexican peso, Swedish krona, and U.S. dollar.

Based on our overall currency rate exposures as of March 31, 2021, including the derivative financial instruments intended to hedge the nonfunctional currency-denominated monetary assets, liabilities and cash flows, and other factors, a 10%