STRATTEC SECURITY CORP (STRT) FY 2021 MD&A

ITEM 7.   MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following Discussion and Analysis should be read in conjunction with STRATTEC SECURITY CORPORATION’s accompanying Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in this Form 10-K. Unless otherwise indicated, all references to years or quarters refer to fiscal years or fiscal quarters of STRATTEC.

Executive Overview

Historically, a significant portion of our total net sales have been to domestic automotive OEMs (General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler). During the past two decades these customers lost North American market share to the New Domestic automotive manufacturers (primarily the Japanese and Korean automotive manufacturers). In addition to our dependence on our customers’ maintaining their market share, our financial performance depends in large part on conditions in the overall automotive industry, which in turn, are dependent upon the U.S. and global economies. During fiscal years 2021 and 2020, the above domestic automotive OEMs together represented each year 62 percent, respectively, of our total net sales.

During fiscal years 2021 and 2020, we experienced stronger sales demand for our components from our major North American customers noted above as it relates to light trucks and both sport utility and car based utility vehicles in comparison to passenger cars, which was likely influenced by customer preferences and gas prices. If gas prices continue to remain flat or slightly higher over the next several years, we anticipate this consumer buying trend will continue, which is approximately 77 percent light trucks and sport utility vehicles in comparison to 23 percent passenger car vehicle purchases today. During the last 3-5 years our major customers General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler eliminated passenger car production on several models in North America as a strategy to improve their overall profitability going forward.

Fiscal 2021 net sales were $485 million compared to $385 million in 2020. The fiscal 2021 net sales were impacted by the global semiconductor chip shortage that reduced net sales and profitability primarily in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 and we see these shortages continuing into fiscal year 2022. The reduced sales in fiscal year 2020 was attributed to the General Motors labor strike with the United Auto Workers in September and October 2019 which reduced net sales to General Motors by approximately $10 million and as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. During March, April and May 2020, the North American OEM assembly plant operations were shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic reducing our net sales to our customers by approximately $78 million during that period. Net income attributable to STRATTEC for fiscal 2021 was $22.5 million and the Net loss attributable to STRATTEC in fiscal 2020 was $7.6 million (which included a $3.7 million non-cash compensation expense charges net of tax), which as noted above was primarily attributed to the lost net sales previously described above. In response to the COVID -19 pandemic in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, the Company implemented temporary layoffs of production workers in our Milwaukee, WI and Mexico plant operations, reduced the US Salaried workforce by ten percent, reduced salaried working hours by ten percent, allowed remote working from home, significantly reduced nonessential operating costs, delayed capital expenditures and temporarily suspended the quarterly cash dividend to preserve cash flow during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020. In addition, during fiscal year 2021 the Company produced additional finished goods inventory in anticipation of our OEM customers pipeline fill to their dealers once vehicle production began starting up in July, 2020 coming out of the temporary shutdowns from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We continued to build inventory as it relates to the global chip shortage and low inventory levels at the dealers today. Also impacting profitability in late fiscal year 2021 were increased costs for purchased raw materials relating to zinc, steel, nickel silver, brass, aluminum and plastic resins that in most cases we were not able to pass along all these increased costs to our customers. Another factor impacting our profitability is our U.S. Dollar and Mexican Peso exchange rate that affects our operations in Mexico. In the case of the Mexican Peso, the Company does have certain hedging strategies to offset the impact of the exchange rate effects on profitability.

As we look out into the future, the July 2021 projections from our third-party forecasting service indicate that North American light vehicle production will show a significant increase in demand in vehicle production build for the next four years from our original 2021 forecast which was originally set lower due to the expected lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage. By model year, based on these projections we are expecting a 2021 vehicle build of 14.7 million vehicles, 17.1 million vehicles for 2022, 17.0 million vehicles for 2023, 16.6 million vehicles for 2024 and 16.8 million vehicles for 2025. These vehicle production estimates going forward were significantly increased due to the impact of COVID-19 that lowered vehicle production in late fiscal 2020 and the global semiconductor chip shortage in late fiscal 2021. As part of this third party projection, the Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler are expected to experience slightly decreased vehicle production volumes in their production levels during this time period. Of course, all of these forecasts are subject to variability based on what happens in the overall North American and global economies, especially as it relates to the world wide status of the global semiconductor chip shortage and the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that may shut down our customers assembly facilities and supply chains in the foreseeable future, potential tariff enactment by the United States Government or other foreign countries, the current levels of employment, availability of consumer credit, home equity values, fluctuating fuel prices, changes in customer vehicle and option preferences, product quality issues, including related to recall and product warranty coverage issues, and other key factors that we believe could determine whether consumers can or will purchase new vehicles or particular brands.

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Focus and Strategy Going Forward

STRATTEC’s long-term strategy is focused on maximizing long-term shareholder value by driving profitable growth. Our management believes productivity improvements and cost reductions are critical to our competitiveness, while enhancing the value we deliver to our customers. In order to accomplish this, we have been pursuing, and we intend to continue to pursue over the foreseeable future, the following objectives as summarized below:

We use several key performance indicators to gauge progress toward achieving these objectives. These indicators include net sales growth, operating margin improvement, return on capital employed and cash flow from operations.

Results of Operations

2021 Compared to 2020

Net Sales to each of our customers or customer groups in the current year and prior year were as follows (millions of dollars):

Current year sales were adversely impacted by the global semiconductor chip shortage, and prior year sales were significantly and negatively impacted by the decision of our OEM customers to fully close their assembly plants in April and May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The impact of these production schedule reductions reduced our net sales in the prior year by approximately $78.0 million. Sales to all customer groups in the current year were higher in comparison to the prior year due to the foregoing impact of the COVID-19 virus disruption on our operations. The following items further impacted sales to the noted customer groups between years:

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The direct material cost increase was due to increased sales volumes between years, as discussed above, and increased purchased costs for certain raw materials and purchased components in the current year as compared to the prior year. The impact of increased zinc, brass, and nickel silver costs increased current year material costs by approximately $1.3 million as compared to the prior year. The increase in our direct material costs as a percentage of our cost of goods sold was due to the increased raw material costs as previously discussed and due to a reduction in our labor and overhead costs as a percentage of our cost of goods sold, as discussed below.

Labor and overhead costs increased between years, yet these costs decreased as a percentage of our cost of goods sold as a result of favorable absorption of fixed overhead costs resulting from production volume increases and cost improvement initiatives at our Milwaukee and Mexico facilities. Labor and overhead costs were impacted by the following:

Cost Increases:

Cost Decreases:

The increase in gross profit dollars in the current year as compared to the prior year was attributed to the increase in net sales between years, partially offset by the increase in cost of goods sold as discussed above. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales improved between years due to the increase in net sales as discussed above, which resulted in more favorable absorption of our fixed costs and due to cost improvement initiatives at our Milwaukee and Mexico facilities.

Engineering, Selling and Administrative Expenses in the current year and prior year were as follows:

Engineering, selling and administrative expenses were impacted by the following:

Cost Increases:

Cost Decreases:

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Income from operations in the current year was $33.9 million compared to loss from operations of $8.7 million in the prior year. This change was the result of increase sales, which were partially offset by an increase in cost of goods sold in the current year as compared to the prior year, all as discussed above.

The equity earnings (loss) of joint ventures was comprised of the following in the current year and prior year (thousands of dollars):

Higher profitability from our VAST LLC joint venture was due to higher net sales and improved profitability in our VAST China operation between years. The improved profitability in our VAST China operation between years stemmed from the extended OEM customer plant shutdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the prior year. VAST China’s profitability in the current year was also partially offset by startup costs for their new plant in Jingzhou, China and by costs associated with the closure of our VAST China plant in Fuzhou, China, which operations were consolidated into the new Jingzhou facility. We continue to believe these actions related to the changes in facilities, will give VAST China added capacity, greater operating efficiencies and a broader geographic footprint in the China market going forward. VAST LLC, including VAST China, is a crucial part of our global strategy and we anticipate that it will contribute to our overall long term sales growth as the China market continues to expand. Our VAST LLC joint ventures in India and Brazil continue to report losses due to our limited amount of business in both regions as well as the impact of COVID-19. SAL LLC was dissolved during fiscal 2020. Our 2020 equity earnings of SAL LLC included a gain on dissolution of $342,000.

Included in other (expense) income, net in the current year and prior year were the following items (thousands of dollars):

Our effective income tax rate for 2021 was 14.6 percent compared to 27.9 percent in 2020. Our effective tax rate for 2020 was higher due to our pre-tax book loss and the beneficial carry-back of losses. Additionally, our income tax provision for each year 2021 and 2020 was affected by the non-controlling interest portion of our pre-tax income, GILTI provisions and R&D tax credit. The non-controlling interest impacts the effective tax rate as our ADAC-STRATTEC LLC and STRATTEC POWER ACCESS LLC entities are taxed as partnerships for U.S. tax purposes.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Working Capital (millions of dollars)

Outstanding Receivable Balances from Major Customers

Our primary source of cash flow is from our major customers, which include Fiat Chrysler Automobiles LLC, General Motors Company and Ford Motor Company. As of the date of filing this Annual Report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of our customers are making payments on their outstanding accounts receivable in accordance with the payment terms included on their purchase orders. A summary of our outstanding receivable balances from our major customers as of June 27, 2021 and June 28, 2020 was as follows (millions of dollars):

Reduced accounts receivable balances as of June 28, 2020 was primarily due to reduced sales levels from the end of March 2020 through June 2020 as a result of our OEM customers reducing production schedules and closing their assembly plants, which reduced orders for our products, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Cash Balances in Mexico

We earn a portion of our operating income in Mexico. As of June 27, 2021, $2.3 million of our $14.5 million cash and cash equivalents balance was held in Mexico. These funds are available for repatriation as deemed necessary.

Cash Flow Analysis

The increase in cash provided by operating activities between 2020 and 2021 was due to an increase in operating income as previously discussed. The increase in operating income was partially offset by a net increase in working capital requirements between these years of $28.7 million, with the net increase in our working capital requirements being made up of the following working capital changes (millions of dollars):

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Net cash used by investing activities of $9.0 million during 2021 and $12.3 million during 2020 included capital expenditures of $8.9 million and $12.4 million, respectively. Capital expenditures during each year were made in support of requirements for new product programs and the upgrade and replacement of existing equipment. Net cash used by investing activities during 2021 also included an investment in our VAST LLC joint venture of $100,000. The investment was made for the purpose of funding general operating expenses for Sistema de Acesso Veicular Ltda, our Brazilian joint venture.

Net cash used in financing activities of $22.9 million during 2021 included repayments of borrowings under credit facilities of $23.0 million and $490,000 of dividend payments to non-controlling interests in our subsidiaries, partially offset by $604,000 received for the exercise of stock options under our stock incentive plan and purchases under our employee stock purchase plan. Net cash used in financing activities of $9.0 million during 2020 included repayments of borrowings under credit facilities of $15.0 million, $1.6 million of regular quarterly dividend payments to shareholders and $980,000 of dividend payments to non-controlling interests in our subsidiaries, partially offset by $8 million in additional borrowings under credit facilities as well as $560,000 received for the exercise of stock options under our stock incentive plan and purchases under our employee stock purchase plan.

Dividends

On May 13, 2020, our Board of Directors took action to temporarily suspend payment of our quarterly dividend for the foreseeable future in order to conserve cash as a result of the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. During the first nine months of fiscal 2020, prior to the suspension of dividend payments as discussed above, approximately $1.6 million of cash dividends were paid to our shareholders. No dividends were paid to shareholders during fiscal 2021.

VAST LLC Cash Requirements

We currently anticipate that VAST China has adequate debt facilities in place over the next fiscal year to cover the future operating and capital requirements of its business. During 2021, capital contributions totaling $300,000 were made to VAST LLC for purposes of funding operations in Brazil. STRATTEC’s portion of the capital contribution totaled $100,000.  No capital contributions were made to VAST LLC in 2020. Due to economic conditions in Brazil, we anticipate Sistema de Acesso Veicular Ltda may require an additional capital contribution of approximately $300,000 collectively by all VAST LLC partners to fund operations during our fiscal year 2022. STRATTEC’s portion of these capital contributions is anticipated to be $100,000. During 2021 and 2020, VAST LLC made no capital contributions to Minda-VAST Access Systems. Due to Minda-VAST Access System recently experiencing losses and due to the COVID-19 outbreak, future capital contributions may be required by the partners in this joint venture.

Future Capital Expenditures

We anticipate capital expenditures will be approximately $13 million in fiscal 2022 in support of requirements for new product programs and the upgrade and replacement of existing equipment.

Stock Repurchase Program

Our Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program to buy back outstanding shares of our common stock. Shares authorized for buy back under the program totaled 3,839,395 at June 27, 2021. A total of 3,655,322 shares have been repurchased over the life of the program through June 27, 2021, at a cost of approximately $136.4 million. No shares were repurchased during fiscal 2021 or 2020. Additional repurchases may occur from time to time and are expected to continue to be funded by cash flow from operations and current cash balances. At this time, we anticipate minimal or no stock repurchase activity in fiscal year 2022.

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Credit Facilities

STRATTEC has a $40 million secured revolving credit facility (the “STRATTEC Credit Facility”) with BMO Harris Bank N.A. ADAC-STRATTEC LLC has a $25 million secured revolving credit facility (the “ADAC-STRATTEC Credit Facility”) with BMO Harris Bank N.A., which is guaranteed by STRATTEC. The credit facilities were extended during June 2021 and both expire August 1, 2024. Borrowings under either credit facility are secured by our U.S. cash balances, accounts receivable, inventory, and fixed assets located in the U.S. Interest on borrowings under the STRATTEC Credit Facility through May 31, 2021 was at varying rates based, at our option, on the London Interbank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”) plus 1.0 percent or the bank’s prime rate. Interest on borrowings under the ADAC-STRATTEC Credit Facility through May 31, 2021 was at varying rates based, at our option, on LIBOR plus 1.25 percent or the bank’s prime rate. Effective June 1, 2021 interest on borrowings under both credit facilities were at varying rates based, at our option, on the London Interbank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”) plus 1.25 percent or the bank’s prime rate. Both credit facilities contain a restrictive financial covenant that requires the applicable borrower to maintain a minimum net worth level. The ADAC-STRATTEC Credit Facility includes an additional restrictive financial covenant that requires the maintenance of a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio. As of June 27, 2021, we were in compliance with all financial covenants required by these credit facilities. There were no outstanding borrowings under the STRATTEC Credit Facility as of June 27, 2021. Outstanding borrowings under the STRATTEC Credit Facility totaled $18 million at June 28, 2020. The average outstanding borrowings and weighted average interest rate on the STRATTEC Credit Facility loans were approximately $8.8 million and 1.2 percent, respectively, during 2021. The average outstanding borrowings and weighted average interest rate on the STRATTEC Credit Facility loans were approximately $13.8 million and 2.6 percent, respectively, during 2020. Outstanding borrowings under the ADAC-STRATTEC Credit Facility totaled $12 million at June 27, 2021 and $17 million at June 28, 2020. The average outstanding borrowings and weighted average interest rate on the ADAC-STRATTEC Credit Facility loans were approximately $14.3 million and 1.4 percent, respectively, during 2021. The average outstanding borrowings and weighted average interest rate on the ADAC-STRATTEC Credit Facility loans were approximately $19.1 million and 2.9 percent, respectively, during 2020. We believe that the credit facilities are adequate, along with existing cash flows from operations, to meet our anticipated capital expenditure, working capital, dividend, and operating expenditure requirements.

Inflation and Other Changes in Prices

Over the past several years, we have been impacted by rising health care costs, which have increased our cost of associate medical coverage. A portion of these increases have been offset by plan design changes and associate wellness initiatives. We have also been impacted by increases in the market price of zinc, steel, brass, nickel silver, and aluminum as well as inflation in Mexico, which impacts the U. S. dollar costs of our Mexican operations. We have negotiated raw material price adjustment clauses with certain, but not all, of our customers to offset some of the market price fluctuations in the cost of zinc. We own and operate manufacturing operations in Mexico.  As a result, a portion of our manufacturing costs are incurred in Mexican pesos. We have from time to time entered into contracts with Bank of Montreal that provide for bi-weekly and monthly Mexican peso currency forward contracts for a portion of our estimated peso denominated operating costs to minimize our earnings volatility resulting from changes in exchange rates affecting the U.S. dollar cost of our Mexican operations. Refer to the discussion of Derivative Instruments under Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies included in the Notes to Financial Statements included as part of Item 8 within this Form 10-K.

Joint Ventures and Majority Owned Subsidiaries

Refer to the discussion of Investment in Joint Ventures and Majority Owned Subsidiaries and discussion of Equity Earnings (Loss) of Joint Ventures included in the Notes to Financial Statements included within this Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Policies

We believe the following represents our critical accounting policies:

Liability for Uncertain Tax Positions – We are subject to income taxation in many jurisdictions around the world. Significant management judgment is required in the accounting for income tax contingencies because the outcomes are often difficult to determine. We are required to measure and recognize uncertain tax positions that we have taken or expect to take in our income tax returns. The benefit of an uncertain tax position can only be recognized in the financial statements if management concludes that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained with the tax authorities. For a position that is likely to be sustained, the benefit recognized in the financial statements is measured at the largest amount that is greater than 50 percent likely of being realized. A reserve is established for the difference between a position taken in an income tax return and the amount recognized in the financial statements. Refer to the discussion of Income Taxes included in the Notes to Financial Statements included as part of Item 8 within this Form 10-K.

Warranty Reserve – We have a warranty liability recorded related to our exposure to warranty claims in the event our products fail to perform as expected, and we may be required to participate in the repair costs incurred by our customers for such products. The recorded warranty liability balance involves judgment and estimates. Our liability estimate is based on an analysis of historical

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warranty data as well as current trends and information, including our customers’ recent extension or expansion of their warranty programs. Actual warranty costs might differ from estimates due to the level of actual claims varying from our claims experience and estimates and final negotiations and settlements reached with our customers. Therefore, future actual claims experience could result in changes in our estimates of the required liability. Refer to the discussion of Warranty Reserve under Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies included in the Notes to Financial Statements included as part of Item 8 within this Form 10-K.

We believe the reserve discussed above is estimated using consistent and appropriate methods. However, changes to the assumptions could materially affect the recorded reserve amount.

New Accounting Standards

Refer to the discussion of New Accounting Standards under Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies included in the Notes to Financial Statements included as part of Item 8 within this Form 10-K.