HEXCEL CORP /DE/ - Annual Report: 2020 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D. C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020

or

For the transition period from                    to                    

Commission File Number 1-8472

Hexcel Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Two Stamford Plaza

281 Tresser Boulevard, 16^th Floor

Stamford, Connecticut 06901

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (203) 969-0666

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

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).     Yes  ☒    No  ☐

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

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any or new revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates was $3,776,131,636 based on the reported last sale price of common stock on June 30, 2020, which is the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter.

The number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

Documents Incorporated by Reference:

Portions of Part III will be incorporated by reference to the registrant’s definitive proxy statement, in accordance with Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission no later than 120 days after the end of the registrant’s fiscal year.

HEXCEL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PART I

ITEM 1. Business.

General Development of Business

Hexcel Corporation and its subsidiaries (herein referred to as “Hexcel”, “the Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), is a leading advanced composites company. We develop, manufacture, and market lightweight, high-performance structural materials, including carbon fibers, specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, honeycomb, adhesives, radio frequency / electromagnetic interference (“RF/EMI”) and microwave absorbing materials, engineered honeycomb and composite structures, for use in Commercial Aerospace, Space & Defense, and Industrial markets. Our products are used in a wide variety of end applications, such as commercial and military aircraft, space launch vehicles and satellites, wind turbine blades, automotive, recreational products, and other industrial applications.  

We serve international markets through manufacturing facilities, sales offices and representatives located in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, India, and Africa. We also have a presence in Malaysia where we are a partner in a joint venture which manufactures composite structures for Commercial Aerospace applications.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.  The outbreak has resulted in governments around the world implementing increasingly stringent measures to help control the spread of the virus, including quarantines, “shelter in place” and “stay at home” orders, travel restrictions, business curtailments, school closures, and other measures.  In addition, governments, and central banks in several parts of the world have enacted fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to counteract the impacts of COVID-19.

Our company is a sole provider for many programs, including critical defense programs. Consistent with national guidelines and with state and local orders to date, we are currently operating across our footprint with some temporary site closures. Notwithstanding our continued operations, COVID-19 has had and may have further negative impacts on our operations, supply chain, transportation networks and customers, all of which have and may continue to compress our margins, even after the preventative and precautionary measures that we, other businesses, and governments, are taking. The COVID-19 pandemic is a widespread public health crisis that is adversely affecting the economies and financial markets globally. The resulting economic downturn has, and could for an extended period of time, adversely affect demand for our products and contribute to volatile supply and demand conditions affecting prices and volumes in the markets for our products, services and raw materials. The progression of the pandemic could also continue to negatively impact our business or results of operations through the temporary closure of our operating locations or those of our customers or suppliers.

In 2020, our operations, margins and results were adversely impacted by lower demand for our products due to substantial reductions in original equipment manufacturer build rates combined with a move to reduce inventory throughout our supply chain, particularly carbon fiber. Since the outbreak began, we have seen the impacts of COVID-19 on our markets and operations including significant decreases in air traffic, temporary shutdowns of our customers’ and suppliers’ facilities and decreased demand from our customers. In response, we have taken certain mitigating actions to align our costs with the lower sales and to preserve liquidity including eliminating approximately 35% of our global headcount, curtailing discretionary spend, and suspending dividend payments and stock repurchases.  The extent to which COVID-19 continues to adversely impact our business depends on future developments, including the timing of the global rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, as well as any other new information concerning the effectiveness of actions taken globally to contain or mitigate its effects and the emergence and impact of new variants of COVID-19. While we expect the pandemic to continue to negatively impact our results of operations, cash flows and financial position, the current level of uncertainty over the economic and operational impacts of COVID-19 means the continuing financial impact to us cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. For further discussion of the impact of COVID-19 on our 2020 results of operations, see Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

On January 12, 2020, we announced that we had entered into an agreement and plan of merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Woodward, Inc. (“Woodward”), which provided for the combination of Hexcel and Woodward in an all-stock merger of equals. In response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 5, 2020, Hexcel and Woodward entered into an agreement to terminate the Merger Agreement. In addition, on April 6, 2020, our board of directors declared a dividend of one preferred share purchase right (a “right”) for each outstanding share of our common stock and adopted a stockholder rights plan, as set forth in the Rights Agreement dated as of April 6, 2020, by and between the Company and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, as rights agent (the “rights agreement”). The dividend was paid on April 16, 2020 to Company stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 16, 2020, and the rights will expire on April 6, 2021. The stockholder rights plan was adopted in response to the extraordinary business and market dislocations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions taken to contain it, as well as the termination of the Merger Agreement with Woodward, Inc. The stockholder rights plan was not adopted in response to any specific takeover bid or other proposal to acquire control of the Company.

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We are a manufacturer of products within a single industry: Advanced Composites. Hexcel has two reportable segments: Composite Materials and Engineered Products. The Composite Materials segment is comprised of our carbon fiber, specialty reinforcements, resin systems, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, and honeycomb core product lines and pultruded profiles. The Engineered Products segment is comprised of lightweight high strength composite structures, RF/EMI and microwave absorbing materials, engineered core and specialty machined honeycomb products with added functionality and 3D thermoplastic printing.

The following summaries describe the ongoing activities related to the Composite Materials and Engineered Products segments as of December 31, 2020.

Composite Materials

The Composite Materials segment manufactures and markets carbon fibers, fabrics, and specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, structural adhesives, honeycomb, molding compounds, tooling materials, polyurethane systems and laminates that are incorporated into many applications, including commercial and military aircraft, wind turbine blades, recreational products, transportation (including automotive, marine and trains) and other industrial applications.

The following table identifies the principal products and examples of the primary end-uses from the Composite Materials segment:

Carbon Fibers: HexTow® carbon fibers are manufactured for sale to third-party customers as well as for our own use in manufacturing certain reinforcements and composite materials. Carbon fibers are also woven into carbon fabrics, used as reinforcement in conjunction with a resin matrix to produce pre-impregnated composite materials (referred to as “prepregs”). Carbon fiber is also used in filament winding to produce finished composite components. Key product applications include structural components for commercial and military aircraft, space launch vehicles, and certain other applications such as recreational and industrial equipment.

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Fabrics, Multi-axials and Specialty Reinforcements: HexForce® fabrics, multi-axials and specialty reinforcements are made from a variety of fibers, including carbon, glass, aramid and other high strength polymers, quartz, ceramic and other specialty fibers. These reinforcements are used in the production of prepregs and other matrix materials for third-party customers as well as for our own use. They are also used in the manufacture of a variety of industrial and recreational products such as wind energy blades, automotive components, oil exploration and production equipment, boats, surfboards, skis and other sporting goods equipment.  

Prepregs: HexPly® prepregs are manufactured for sale to third-party customers and for internal use by our Engineered Products segment in manufacturing composite laminates and monolithic structures.  Prepregs are used in primary and secondary structural aerospace applications such as wing components, horizontal and vertical stabilizer components, fairings, radomes, engine fan blades and cases, engine nacelles as well as overhead storage bins and other interior components.   They are also used in many of the industrial and recreational products noted above.  Prepregs are manufactured by combining high-performance reinforcement fabrics or unidirectional fibers with a resin matrix to form a composite material that, when cured, has exceptional structural properties not present in either of the constituent materials.  Prepregs are applied via hand layup, automatic tape layup and advanced fiber placement to produce finished composite components.  Prepreg reinforcements include glass, carbon, aramid, quartz, ceramic and other specialty fibers. Resin matrices include bismaleimide, cyanate ester, epoxy, phenolic, polyimide and other specialty resins.

Other Fiber-Reinforced Matrix Materials: Fiber reinforced matrix developments include HexMC®, a form of quasi-isotropic carbon fiber prepreg that enables small to medium sized, complex-shaped, composite components to be mass produced. HexTool® is a specialized form of HexMC® for use in the cost-effective construction of high temperature resistant composite tooling. HexFIT® film infusion material is a product that combines resin films and dry fiber reinforcements to save lay-up time in production and enables the manufacture of large contoured composite structures, such as wind turbine blades.

Resins: HexFlow® polymer matrix materials are sold in liquid and film form for use in direct process manufacturing of composite parts. Resins can be combined with fiber reinforcements in manufacturing processes such as resin transfer molding, resin film infusion or vacuum assisted resin transfer molding to produce high quality composite components for both aerospace and industrial applications, without the need for customer investment in autoclaves.

Structural Adhesives: We manufacture and market a comprehensive range of HexBond® film and paste adhesives. These structural adhesives, which bond metal to metal and composites and honeycomb structures, are used in the aerospace industry and for many industrial applications.

Honeycomb: HexWeb® honeycomb is a lightweight, cellular structure generally composed of a sheet of nested hexagonal cells. It can also be manufactured in over-expanded and asymmetric cell configurations to meet special design requirements such as contours or complex curvatures. Honeycomb is primarily used as a lightweight core material and acts as a highly efficient energy absorber. When sandwiched between composite or metallic facing skins, honeycomb significantly increases the stiffness of the structure, while adding very little weight.

We produce honeycomb from a number of metallic and non-metallic materials. Most metallic honeycomb is made from aluminum and is available in a selection of alloys, cell sizes and dimensions. Non-metallic materials used in the manufacture of honeycomb include fiberglass, carbon fiber, thermoplastics, non-flammable aramid papers, aramid fiber and other specialty materials.

We sell honeycomb as standard blocks and in slices cut from a block. Aerospace is the largest market for honeycomb products.

Our HexWeb® Acousti-Cap® sound attenuating honeycomb provides dramatic noise reduction during takeoff and landing without a structural weight penalty, Acousti-Cap® incorporates a non-metallic, permeable cap material is embedded into honeycomb core. In addition, we produce honeycomb for our Engineered Products segment for use in manufacturing finished parts for airframe Original Equipment Manufacturers.

Polyspeed® Pultruded Profiles:  Hexcel manufactures a wide range of pultruded sections including rods, flat sections, tubes and specific profiles that are usually made from carbon fiber but can also be made from glass, quartz, basalt or other fibers.  The profile matrix is a Hexcel formulation of thermoset resin (epoxy or polyurethane).  Hexcel pultruded profiles are used in a wide range of industrial applications.

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The following tables identify the key customers and the major manufacturing facilities of the Composite Materials segment:

Net sales for the Composite Materials segment to third-party customers were $1,185.9 million in 2020, $1,863.1 million in 2019, and $1,770.5 million in 2018, which represented about 80% of our net sales each year. Net sales for composite materials are highly dependent upon the number of large commercial aircraft produced as further discussed under the captions “Significant Customers”, “Markets” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”. In addition, less than 5% of our total production of composite materials in 2020 was used internally by the Engineered Products segment.

Engineered Products

The Engineered Products segment manufactures and markets composite structures and precision machined honeycomb parts primarily for use in the aerospace industry. Composite structures are manufactured from a variety of composite and other materials, including prepregs, honeycomb, and structural adhesives, using such manufacturing processes as autoclave processing, multi-axis numerically controlled machining, heat forming, infusion and other composite manufacturing techniques. Composite structures include HexAM 3D printed parts, which offer significant weight cost and time-to-market reductions compared to incumbent metal or traditional composite technologies. This segment also provides advanced interference control materials, structural composites, and services; dielectric absorber foams and honeycomb; magnetic absorbers; and thermoplastics for commercial and defense applications.

The following tables identify the principal products and examples of the primary end-uses from the Engineered Products segment:

Net sales for the Engineered Products segment to third-party customers were $316.5 million in 2020, $492.6 million in 2019, and $418.6 million in 2018, which represented about 20% of our net sales each year.

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The Engineered Products segment includes a 50% ownership interest in a Malaysian joint venture, Aerospace Composites Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (“ACM”) with Boeing Worldwide Operations Limited. Hexcel has historically purchased certain semi-finished composite components from the joint venture and performed inspection and additional skilled assembly work prior to direct delivery to Boeing production lines. This assembly work is being transferred in stages to other parts of the supply chain, including the joint venture over the next few years in support of Boeing’s supply chain optimization. ACM had revenue of $24 million in 2020, and $61 million and $59 million in 2019 and 2018, respectively.

The following table identifies the key customers and the major manufacturing facilities of the Engineered Products segment:

Significant Customers

Approximately 33%, 39% and 41% of our 2020, 2019 and 2018 net sales, respectively, were to Airbus and its subcontractors. Of the 33% of overall sales to Airbus and its subcontractors in 2020, 30% related to Commercial Aerospace market applications and 3% related to Space & Defense market applications. Approximately 19%, 25% and 25% of our 2020, 2019 and 2018 net sales, respectively, were to Boeing and related subcontractors. Of the 19% of overall sales to Boeing and its subcontractors in 2020, 16% related to Commercial Aerospace market applications and 3% related to Space & Defense market applications.

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Markets

Our products are sold for a broad range of end-uses where durability, strength and weight are important factors to our customers. The following tables summarize our net sales to third-party customers by market and by geography for each of the three years ended December 31:

Commercial Aerospace

The Commercial Aerospace industry is our largest user of advanced composites. Commercial Aerospace represented 55% of our 2020 net sales. Approximately 84% of these revenues can be identified as sales to Airbus, Boeing, and their subcontractors for the production of commercial aircraft. Approximately 16% of these revenues were for regional, and business and other commercial aircraft. The economic benefits airlines can obtain from weight savings in both fuel economy and aircraft range, combined with the design enhancement that comes from the advantages of advanced composites over traditional materials, has resulted in the aerospace industry becoming the leader in the adoption and use of these materials. While military aircraft and spacecraft have championed the development of these materials, Commercial Aerospace has had the greater production volumes and has commercialized the use of these products. Accordingly, the demand for advanced structural material products is closely correlated to the demand for new commercial aircraft.

The use of advanced composites in Commercial Aerospace is primarily in the manufacture of new commercial aircraft. These composite materials are designed to last the life of the aircraft and engine so as a result, the aftermarket for these products is minimal. The demand for new commercial aircraft is driven by two principal factors, the first of which is airline passenger traffic (the number of revenue passenger miles flown by the airlines) which affects the required size of airline fleets. Growth in passenger traffic requires growth in the size of the fleet of commercial aircraft operated by airlines worldwide.

A second factor, which is less sensitive to the general economy, is the replacement rates for existing aircraft. The rates of retirement of passenger and freight aircraft, resulting mainly from obsolescence, are determined in part by the regulatory requirements established by various civil aviation authorities worldwide as well as public concern regarding aircraft age, safety, noise, and emissions. These rates may also be affected by the desire of the various airlines to improve operating costs with higher payloads and more fuel-efficient aircraft (which in turn is influenced by the price of fuel) and by reducing maintenance expense. In addition, pressure is increasing on airlines to replace their aging fleet with more fuel efficient and quieter aircraft to be more environmentally responsible. When aircraft are retired from commercial airline fleets, they may be converted to cargo freight aircraft, used for parts, or scrapped.

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An additional factor that may cause airlines to defer or cancel orders is their ability to obtain financing, including leasing, for new aircraft orders. This will be dependent both upon the financial health of the airline operators, as well as the overall availability of financing in the marketplace.

As a result of COVID-19, aircraft manufacturers significantly reduced production rates during 2020 as demand for new aircraft decreased significantly. Additionally, the parked fleet of commercial aircraft reached record levels globally during 2020 as passenger traffic fell and airlines reduced capacity. Future potential aircraft production rate increases will depend on growth in passenger traffic and the number of aircraft retired.

Each new generation of commercial aircraft has used increasing quantities of advanced composites, replacing metals and other materials. This follows the trend previously seen in military fighter aircraft where advanced composites may now exceed 50% of the weight of the airframe. Early versions of commercial jet aircraft, such as the Boeing 707, which was developed in the early 1950’s, contained almost no composite materials. One of the first commercial aircraft to use a meaningful amount of composite materials, the Boeing 767 entered into service in 1983, and was built with an airframe containing approximately 6% composite materials. The airframe of Boeing’s 777 aircraft, which entered service in 1995, is approximately 11% composite. The Airbus A380, which was first delivered in 2007, has approximately 23% composite content by weight. Boeing’s B787, which entered into service in 2011, has a content of more than 50% composite materials by weight. The Airbus A350 XWB (“A350”) which has a composite content of 53% by weight was first delivered in December 2014.  Both Airbus and Boeing introduced new versions of their narrow body aircraft which utilize composite-rich engines and nacelles. Airbus’s A320neo had its first customer delivery in 2016 and Boeing’s B737 MAX entered into service in 2017. Boeing’s B737 MAX was subsequently grounded in March 2019 by the federal Aviation Administration and other regulators, which was lifted in select regions by the end of 2020. In 2014, Airbus announced a new version of its A330, the A330neo, which has new engines, and Boeing announced the B777X, a new version of the B777 with composite wings and composite-rich engines.  It is expected that future aircraft platforms will offer more opportunities for composite materials than their predecessors, as the Commercial Aerospace industry continues to utilize a greater proportion of advanced composite materials with each new generation of aircraft and each new generation of engines and nacelles. We refer to this steady expansion of the use of composites in aircraft as the “secular penetration of composites” as it increases our average sales per airplane over time.

The impact on Hexcel of Airbus and Boeing production rate changes is typically influenced by two factors: the mix of aircraft produced and the inventory supply chain effects of increases or reductions in aircraft production. We have products on all Airbus and Boeing planes. The shipset or dollar value of our materials varies by aircraft type — twin aisle aircraft use more of our materials than narrow body aircraft and newer designed aircraft use more of our materials than older generations. On average, for established programs, we deliver products into the supply chain about six months prior to aircraft delivery, with a range between one and eighteen months depending on the product and specific aircraft platform. For aircraft that are in the development or ramp-up stage we will have sales as much as several years in advance of delivery.   

Set forth below are historical aircraft deliveries as announced by Airbus and Boeing:

Approximately 84% of our Commercial Aerospace revenues can be identified as sales to Airbus, Boeing and their subcontractors for the production of commercial aircraft. Airbus and Boeing combined deliveries in 2020 were 723 aircraft. Their combined backlog at December 31, 2020 was 12,181 aircraft, which decreased approximately 7% compared to December 31, 2019. The production rates in 2020 were unusually low as a result of airlines deferring or cancelling deliveries due to the impact of COVID-19 on air travel and the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX that was only lifted in select regions by the end of 2020. The balance of our Commercial Aerospace sales is related to regional and business aircraft manufacture, and other commercial aircraft applications. These applications also exhibit increasing utilization of composite materials with each new generation of aircraft.

Space & Defense

The Space & Defense market has historically been an innovator in the use of, and source of significant demand for, advanced composites. The aggregate demand by Space & Defense customers is primarily a function of procurement of military aircraft that utilize advanced composites, primarily by the United States and certain European governments, including both commercial and military helicopters. We are qualified to supply materials to a broad range of helicopter, military aircraft, and space programs, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 (“joint strike fighter” or “JSF”), Boeing V-22 (“Osprey”) tilt rotor aircraft, Black Hawk and Airbus A400M military transport. The JSF, which is our largest program, represents less than 25% of revenues in this market. No

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other program accounts for more than 10% of our revenues in this market. The sales that we obtain from these programs will depend upon which are funded and the extent of such funding. Space applications for advanced composites include solid rocket booster cases, fairings and payload doors for launch vehicles, and satellite buss and solar arrays for military and commercial satellites.

Another trend generating growth for Hexcel is the further penetration of composites in helicopter blades. Numerous new helicopter programs in development, as well as upgrade or retrofit programs, have an increased utilization of Composite Materials products such as carbon fiber, prepregs, and honeycomb core to improve blade performance. In addition, our Engineered Products segment provides specialty value added services such as machining, sub-assembly, and even full blade manufacturing for rotorcraft.

Contracts for military and some commercial programs may contain provisions applicable to both U.S. government contracts and subcontracts. For example, a prime contractor may flow down a “termination for convenience” clause to materials suppliers such as Hexcel. According to the terms of a contract, we may be subject to U.S. government Federal Acquisition Regulations, the Department of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement, and associated procurement regulations. As a result of our acquisition of ARC Technologies, LLC (“ARC”), a leading supplier of custom RF/EMI and microwave absorbing composite materials for military, aerospace and industrial applications on January 3, 2019, we have expanded our portfolio of U.S. government contracts and thereby increased our federal legal and regulatory compliance obligations.

The Space & Defense market represented 30% of our 2020 net sales. While our Space & Defense market has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact has been significantly less than the impact to our Commercial Aerospace market. As a result, our Space & Defense sales comprised a greater percentage of our 2020 net sales than Space & Defense sales have comprised historically. In the prior five fiscal years from 2015 through 2019, Space & Defense sales comprised between 16% and 19% of total net sales. When the Commercial Aerospace market recovers to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, we would expect Space & Defense sales to return to a range generally consistent with historical pre-pandemic percentages.

Industrial  

The revenue from this market includes wind turbine blades, automotive, a wide variety of recreational products, marine and other industrial applications. A number of these applications represent emerging opportunities for our products. In developing new applications, we seek those opportunities where advanced composites technology offers significant benefits to the end user, often applications that demand high engineering performance. Within the Industrial market, wind energy comprises the largest submarket and our primary customer is Vestas Wind Systems A/S (“Vestas”). Demand in our wind energy submarket declined in 2020 due in part to the commoditization and outsourcing of blades with a change in technology from prepreg to infusion. The Industrial market also includes sales to major end user sub-markets, in order of size based on our 2020 sales: general industrial applications (including those sold through distributors), transportation (e.g., automobiles, mass transit and high-speed rail, and marine applications) and recreational equipment (e.g., skis and snowboards, bicycles and hockey sticks). Our participation in Industrial applications complements our commercial and military aerospace businesses, and in many instances, technology or products now used in aerospace were started in Industrial. We are committed to pursuing the utilization of advanced structural material technology and introducing new innovations to support our customers in response to changing market dynamics in Industrial markets where it can generate significant value and we can maintain a sustainable competitive advantage.

Further discussion of our markets, including certain risks, uncertainties, and other factors with respect to “forward-looking statements” about those markets, is contained under the captions “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, “Forward Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors”.

Backlog

In recent years, our customers have demanded shorter order lead times and “just-in-time” delivery performance. While we have many multi-year contracts with our major aerospace customers and our largest Industrial customer, most of these contracts specify the proportion of the customers’ requirements that will be supplied by us and the terms under which the sales will occur, not the specific quantities to be procured or the specific dates for delivery. Our Industrial customers have always desired to order their requirements on as short a lead-time as possible. As a result, twelve-month order backlog is not a meaningful trend indicator for us. As noted above, our Commercial Aerospace sales to Airbus and Boeing and their subcontractors accounted for 46% of our total 2020 sales, and their airplane backlog represents multiple years of production based on production rates at December 31, 2020.  

Raw Materials and Production Activities

Our manufacturing operations are in many cases vertically integrated. One example of the benefits of our vertical integration is that it enables us to control both the carbon fiber surface structure and the resin formulations to optimize their interaction and ensure

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excellent interfacial adhesion or bonding. We produce and internally use carbon fibers, industrial fabrics, composite materials, and composite structures as well as sell these materials to third-party customers for their use in the manufacture of their products.

We manufacture high performance carbon fiber from polyacrylonitrile precursor (“PAN”). The primary raw material for PAN is acrylonitrile. All of the PAN we produce is for internal carbon fiber production. We utilized between 60% and 65% by value of the carbon fiber we produced in 2020 and about 75% in 2019, with the remainder of our output sold to third-party customers. However, as one of the world’s largest consumers of high-performance carbon fiber, we also purchase significant quantities of carbon fiber from external sources for our own use. The sources of carbon fiber we can use in any product or application are generally dictated by customer qualifications or certifications. Otherwise, we select a carbon fiber based on performance, price, and availability. With the increasing demand for carbon fiber, particularly in aerospace applications, in recent years we increased our PAN and carbon fiber capacity to serve the growing needs of our customers and our own downstream products. After a new production line starts operating, it can take up to a year to be certified for aerospace applications. However, these lines can start supplying carbon fiber for many industrial applications within a shorter time period.

We formulate a variety of resin systems that are tailored to specific applications and support the process for manufacturing composite parts. The type of epoxy and curative used in the resin systems vary depending on the application being considered, including the required service temperature, mechanical performance, and rate of cure. We continually focus on innovation that will help our customers reduce their cycle time and increase their through put, including lower curing temperatures, faster curing times, and enhancing the flow characteristics of the resin formulations, particularly for infusion manufacturing processes.

We purchase glass yarn for our aerospace and industrial from a number of suppliers in the United States, Europe and Asia. We also purchase aramid and high strength fibers which are produced by only a few companies, and during periods of high demand, can be in short supply. In addition, epoxy and other specialty resins, aramid paper and aluminum specialty foils are used in the manufacture of composite products. A number of these products have only one or two sources qualified for use, so an interruption in their supply could disrupt our ability to meet our customer requirements. When entering into multi-year contracts with aerospace customers, we attempt to get back-to-back commitments from key raw material suppliers.

Our manufacturing activities are primarily based on “make-to-order”, or “demand pull” based on customer schedules, and to a lesser extent, “make-to-forecast” production requirements. We coordinate closely with key suppliers in an effort to avoid raw material shortages and excess inventories. However, many of the key raw materials we consume are available from relatively few sources, and in many cases the cost of product qualification makes it impractical to develop multiple sources of supply. The lack of availability of these materials could under certain circumstances have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations.

Research and Technology; Patents and Know-How

Research and Technology (“R&T”) departments support our businesses worldwide. Through R&T activities, we maintain expertise in precursor and carbon fiber, chemical and polymer formulation and curatives, fabric forming and textile architectures, advanced composite structures, process engineering, application development, analysis and testing of composite materials, computational design, and other scientific disciplines related to our worldwide business base.

Our products rely primarily on our expertise in materials science, textiles, process engineering and polymer chemistry. Consistent with market demand, we have been placing more emphasis on higher performing products and cost-effective production processes while seeking continually to improve the consistency of our products and our capital efficiency. Towards this end, we have entered formal and informal alliances, as well as licensing and teaming arrangements, with several customers, suppliers, external agencies, and laboratories. We believe that we possess unique capabilities to design, develop, manufacture, and qualify composite materials and structures, including trade secrets and extensive internal knowledge gained from decades of experience. It is our policy to actively enforce our proprietary rights. We believe that the patents and know-how rights currently owned or licensed by Hexcel are adequate for the conduct of our business. We do not believe that our business would be materially affected by the expiration of any single patent or series of related patents, or by the termination of any single license agreement or series of related license agreements.

We spent $46.6 million, $56.5 million and $55.9 million for R&T in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Our spending, on a constant currency basis, in 2020 was more than 17.9% less than 2019 reflecting cost reduction actions due to COVID-19.  In comparison, 2019 spending was 3.3% higher than 2018. Our spending on a quarter-to-quarter basis fluctuates depending upon the amount of new product development and qualification activities, particularly in relation to commercial aircraft applications, that are in progress. These expenditures are expensed as incurred.

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Environmental Matters

We view climate-change as an important social issue that presents some level of risk to our business while also creating opportunities for greater composite adoption. Our strategic and operational decision making is influenced by our commitment to reduce the environmental impact of our operations, including our carbon footprint, air and water emissions and waste reduction. We continue to improve our emissions profile through operational efficiency improvements that lessen our use of fossil fuels and by increasing our use of renewable power. We have applied this same approach to our product life cycle, implementing circular economy principles to reduce waste – both in our manufacturing and product packaging.

The increasing global emphasis on emissions reduction is a trend that is supportive of our advanced composite light weighting solutions. Fuel efficiency is improved from composite light weighting, reducing emissions from aircraft and other transportation vehicles in the select markets that we target. We also market composite solutions that reduce aircraft engine noise, which benefits local communities near airports, supports aircraft operators in geographies that are subject to local noise abatement programs, and enables more direct routes for aircraft that saves fuel rather than having to fly longer routes to avoid noise-sensitive areas.

We are subject to various U.S. and international federal, state, and local environmental and health and safety laws and regulations. We are also potentially subject to liabilities arising under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA” or “Superfund”), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and similar state local and international laws and regulations that impose responsibility for the control, remediation and abatement of air, water and soil pollutants and the manufacturing, storage, handling and disposal of hazardous substances and waste. We believe that our policies, practices, and procedures are properly designed to prevent unreasonable risk of environmental damage and associated financial liability. To date, environmental control regulations have not had a significant adverse effect on our overall operations.

Our aggregate environmental related accruals at December 31, 2020 and 2019 were $2.4 million and $2.5 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, $0.5 million and $0.6 million, respectively, were included in “Other current accrued liabilities”, with the remainder included in “Other non-current liabilities”. As related to certain of our environmental matters, our accruals were estimated at the low end of a range of possible outcomes since there was no better point within the range. If we had accrued, for those sites where we are able to estimate our liability, at the high end of the range of possible outcomes, our accruals would have been $16 million higher at December 31, 2020 and 2019. Environmental remediation spending charged directly to our reserve balance for 2020, 2019 and 2018, was $0.1 million, $0.2 million and $0.4 million, respectively. In addition, our operating costs relating to environmental compliance were $14.1 million, $17.1 million, and $15.6 million for 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively, and were charged directly to expense. Capital expenditures for environmental matters approximated $0.9 million, $3.6 million, and $6.9 million for 2020, 2019 and 2018 respectively.

These accruals can change significantly from period to period due to such factors as additional information on the nature or extent of contamination, the methods of remediation required, changes in the apportionment of costs among responsible parties and other actions by governmental agencies or private parties, as well as the impact, if any, of Hexcel being named in a new remediation matter. A discussion of environmental matters is contained in Item 3, “Legal Proceedings,” and in Note 15 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Other Regulatory Matters

As a materials supplier for U.S. prime contractors, we are subject to certain U.S. government Federal Acquisition Regulations, the Department of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement, and associated procurement regulations. As a result of our acquisition of ARC, we have expanded our portfolio of U.S. government contracts and thereby increased our federal legal and regulatory compliance obligations.  Specifically, we must comply with certain laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration, and performance of U.S. government contracts, including the government security requirements and additional government export control laws and regulations. In complying with these laws and regulations, we may be required to make additional capital expenditures and incur other costs.  Furthermore, failure to comply may result in the imposition of fines and penalties, including contractual damages, civil penalties, criminal penalties, or administrative sanctions, or suspension or debarment from contracting with the U.S. government.

As a company with significant international operations, we are also subject to numerous laws and regulations, including U.S. export controls and sanctions laws, customs regulations, international treaties and local trade rules around the world.  These laws, rules and regulations may impose significant costs of compliance on the Company and may impact our competitiveness through restricting our ability to do business in certain places or with certain entities and individuals.  The consequences of any failure to comply with trade regulations could limit our ability to conduct business internationally.

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Sales and Marketing

A staff of salaried marketing managers, product managers and sales personnel, sell and market our products directly to customers worldwide. We also use independent authorized distributors for certain products, markets, and regions. In addition, we operate various sales representation offices in the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, India, and Africa.

Competition

In the production and sale of advanced composites, we compete with a number of U.S. and international companies on a worldwide basis. The broad markets for composites are highly competitive, and we have focused on both specific submarkets and specialty products within markets. In addition to competing directly with companies offering similar products, we compete with producers of substitute composites such as structural foam, wood, and metal. Depending upon the material and markets, relevant competitive factors include technology, product performance, historical database of usage, delivery, service, price, customer preference for sole sourcing and customer preferred processes.

We believe that new competitors face significant barriers to entry into many of our markets. These barriers include the intellectual property and unique skills and expertise to design and manufacture carbon fiber and to formulate resin systems for aerospace applications, an extensive database of qualification and performance measurements of our products, the advantages of scale derived from significant global manufacturing capacity for aerospace-grade carbon fiber, and long-term customer relationships developed over decades of designing, manufacturing and working closely with our customers on composite applications. Further, the aerospace industry has rigorous product certification requirements and quality programs including one hundred percent traceability of all raw material and finished goods, and high expectations for consistent on-time delivery, which all act as barriers to entry.

Human Capital

We believe our success depends on the skills, experience, and industry knowledge of our key talent.  As such, our management team places significant focus and attention on the attraction, development, and retention of employees, as well as ensuring our corporate culture reflects Hexcel’s values, and our board of directors provides oversight for various employee initiatives. Our Hexcel values guide our actions, reflect our culture, and drive our performance, as explained in our Code of Business Conduct posted on our website at www.hexcel.com. We have made and continue to make significant investments in training and professional development, and we have well-established performance management and talent development processes that encourage employees to aspire to different career opportunities and for our managers to provide regular feedback and coaching to develop employees.

The health and safety of our employees is also a top priority. Over the past ten years, our focus on the reduction of injuries and illnesses has significantly improved our safety performance. We have attained these improvements by fostering a global safety culture supported with regular training and education that includes robust systems and philosophies centered on personal responsibility and accountability. There is a high-level of leadership engagement, ensuring appropriate safety equipment is installed and operational at all of our manufacturing sites worldwide combined with vigorous reviews of root causation and systemic corrective actions of any safety incidents that may occur.

In response to the emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020, we implemented a proactive internal procedure and complied with local, federal and international governmental guidance that has enabled us to operate safely. Each of our facilities globally continues to adhere to these practices, and we have also adjusted our remote worker safety procedures to ensure that remote employees are better integrated into our safety and health systems.

An engaged, innovative, skilled, and collaborative workforce is critical to our continued leadership in the advanced composites industry. We operate globally under policies and programs that provide competitive wages, benefits, and terms of employment. We are committed to efforts to increase diversity and foster an inclusive work environment that supports our global workforce through recruiting efforts, equitable compensation policies, and educational workshops to promote a positive and collaborative culture. Our diversity recruitment efforts include targeted university recruitment and attendance at conferences promoting racial and gender diversity in engineering, which have historically been a source of candidates for our summer internship program.

Employee levels are managed to align with business demand and management believes it currently has sufficient human capital to operate its business successfully. As of December 31, 2020, we employed 4,647 full-time employees and contract workers: 2,312 in the United States and 2,335 in other countries. We employ a minimal number of contract workers. Approximately 25% of employees in the United States and the majority of those in Europe are represented by collective bargaining agreements. We believe that our relations with employees, unions and works’ councils are good. The total number of full-time employees and contract workers as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 was 6,977 and 6,626, respectively.            

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Other Information

Our internet website is www.hexcel.com. We make available, free of charge through our website, our Form 10-Ks, 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and any amendments to these forms, as soon as reasonably practicable after filing with, or furnishing to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements also relate to future prospects, developments and business strategies. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “would,” “will” and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. Such statements are based on current expectations, are inherently uncertain and are subject to changing assumptions.

Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (a) the estimates and expectations based on aircraft production rates provided by Airbus, Boeing and others; (b) the revenues we may generate from an aircraft model or program; (c) the impact of the possible push-out in deliveries of the Airbus and Boeing backlog and the impact of delays in the startup or ramp-up of new aircraft programs or the final Hexcel composite material content once the design and material selection have been completed; (d) expectations with regard to the build rate of the Boeing 737 MAX following its return to service and the related impact on our revenues (e) expectations with regard to the timing of inventory de-stocking related to a decrease in customer demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; (f) expectations of composite content on new commercial aircraft programs and our share of those requirements; (g) expectations regarding revenues from space and defense applications, including whether certain programs might be curtailed or discontinued; (h) expectations regarding sales for wind energy, recreation, automotive and other industrial applications; (i) expectations regarding working capital trends and expenditures and inventory levels; (j) expectations as to the level of capital expenditures and when we will complete the construction of capacity expansions and qualification of new products; (k) expectations regarding our ability to maintain and improve margins in view of the prevailing economic environment; (l) expectations regarding the outcome of legal matters or the impact of changes in laws or regulations or government policies; (m) our projections regarding our tax rate; (n) expectations with regard to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on worldwide air travel and aircraft programs, as well as on our customers and suppliers and, in turn, on our operations and financial results; and (o) the anticipated impact of the above factors and various market risks on our expectations of financial results for 2021 and beyond. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different.  Such factors include, but are not limited to, the following: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (including continued disruption in global financial markets, ongoing restrictions on movement and travel, employee absenteeism and reduced consumer demand for air travel) on the operations, business and financial condition of Hexcel and its customers and suppliers, reductions in sales to any significant customers, particularly Airbus or Boeing, including reduction in revenue related to the timing of ramp-up of production of the Boeing 737 MAX, as well as due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; our ability to effectively adjust production and inventory levels to align with reduced demand; inability to effectively motivate, retain and hire necessary workforce; our ability to successfully implement or realize our business strategies, plans and objectives of management, including any restructuring or alignment activities in which we may engage; timing of inventory de-stocking caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; changes in sales mix; changes in current pricing and cost levels; changes in aerospace delivery rates; changes in government defense procurement budgets; changes in military aerospace program technology; timely new product development or introduction; industry capacity; increased competition; availability and cost of raw materials and supply chain disruptions; our ability to install, staff and qualify necessary capacity or complete planned manufacturing improvements to meet customer demand; cybersecurity breaches or intrusions; currency exchange rate fluctuations; changes in political, social and economic conditions; including, but not limited to, the effect of change in global trade policies and the impact of the exit of the U.K. from the European Union; work stoppages or other labor disruptions; our ability to

successfully complete any strategic acquisitions, investments or dispositions, compliance with environmental, health, safety and other related laws and regulations; and the unexpected outcome of legal matters or impact of changes in laws or regulations.  

Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. As a result, the foregoing factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read together with other cautionary statements included in this and other reports, we file with the SEC. For additional information regarding certain factors that may cause our actual results to differ from those expected or anticipated see the information under the caption “Risk Factors” which is located in Item 1A of Part I of this report. We do not undertake any obligation to update our forward-looking statements or risk factors to reflect future events or circumstances, except as otherwise required by law.

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ITEM 1A. Risk Factors

You should consider carefully the following risk factors and all other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the documents we incorporate by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business financial condition results of operations and cash flows.

Risks Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Our business has been and will continue to be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations is highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.

  In March 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant uncertainty and economic disruption and has negatively affected the business and results of operations for the Company.  We have taken steps to align our business with the unfavorable economic conditions, including headcount reductions, reductions in employee hours, and/or furloughs, at many of our sites. Given the ongoing and dynamic nature of the pandemic, it is difficult to predict the full extent of the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, and there is no guarantee our efforts to address the adverse impacts of COVID-19 will be effective.

We have experienced lower demand and operational interruptions as a result of COVID-19, including the temporary suspension of operations due to the inability to staff facilities or government-imposed restrictions, which has had an adverse effect on the productivity and profitability of such manufacturing facilities, and in turn an adverse effect on our business and operations.  While most of our manufacturing sites are currently in operation, we have reduced or furloughed certain operations in response to government measures, employee welfare concerns and the impact of COVID-19 on the global demand and supply chain. Our manufacturing operations may be further adversely affected by impacts from COVID-19 including, among other things, additional government actions and other responsive measures, further decreases in demand and/or deeper supply chain disruptions, and health and availability of essential onsite personnel.  To comply with local regulations and ensure workplace safety, enhanced cleaning and sanitation procedures and protocols for the use of personal protective equipment have been instituted, as well as work cell zoning to ensure social distancing, for those sites that remain operational.

We are heavily dependent on sales to customers in the aerospace industry, which has been materially negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 55% of our sales for fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 were derived from sales to Commercial Aerospace customers, which included 84% from Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and 16% from regional and business aircraft. Current travel restrictions, as well as changes in the propensity for the general public to travel by air as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, have caused reductions in demand for commercial aircraft, which has had an adverse impact our sales and operating results and may continue to do so for an extended period of time. While we are unable to predict the magnitude and duration of such and impact at this time, the further loss of, or significant reduction in, purchases by Airbus or Boeing will materially impair our business, operating results, prospects, and financial condition.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in market volatility, which has caused a significant decline in our stock price, subjecting us to increased takeover risk, impaired our ability to declare dividends or other distributions and conduct share buybacks, and may impact our ability to comply with the covenants contained in the agreements that govern our indebtedness and raise additional funds when and as needed. We may also incur additional costs to remedy damages caused by business disruptions, performance delays or interruptions, payment defaults or bankruptcy of our third-party customers and suppliers, which could lead to additional charges, impairments, and other adverse financial impacts.

We cannot predict at this time the full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will adversely impact our business, results, and financial condition, which will depend on many factors that are not known at this time, as the situation is unprecedented and continues to evolve. These include, among others, the extent of harm to public health, including the duration of the pandemic, any potential subsequent waves of COVID-19 infection, the emergence of new variants of COVID-19, some of which may be more transmissible or virulent than the initial strain, and the availability and distribution of effective vaccines and medical treatments, further disruption to the manufacturing of and demand for our products, our ability to effectively manage inventory levels and adjust our production schedules to align with changing demand, potential future restructuring actions, impairments and other charges, the impact of the global business and economic environment on liquidity and the availability of capital, the costs incurred to keep our employees safe while maintaining continued operations, and our ability to effectively motivate and retain the necessary workforce. We are staying in close communication with our manufacturing facilities, employees, customers, and suppliers, and acting to mitigate the impact of this dynamic and evolving situation through cost-savings and other measures, which may not be successful and are subject to the factors described above, many of which are uncertain or outside of our control.  Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may continue to experience adverse impacts to our business as a result of its global economic impact, including the current recession and the impact on air travel.

In addition to the foregoing, many of the risk factors disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have been, and we anticipate will continue to be further, heightened or exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Risks Related to Our Strategy

The markets in which we operate can be cyclical, and downturns in them may adversely affect the results of our operations.

Some of the markets in which we operate have been, to varying degrees, cyclical and have experienced downturns. A downturn in these markets could occur at any time as a result of events that are industry specific or macroeconomic, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the event of an economic downturn, including the current recession, we have no way of knowing if, when and to what extent there might be a recovery. Any deterioration in any of the cyclical markets we serve could adversely affect our financial performance and operating results, as occurred during 2020 with respect to the aerospace industry.

At December 31, 2020, Airbus and Boeing had a combined backlog of 12,181 aircraft, which represents multiple years of production. To the extent any significant deferrals, cancellations, or reduction in demand results in decreased aircraft build rates, including as a result of the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it would reduce sales for our Commercial Aerospace products and as a result reduce our operating income. Approximately 55% of our sales for 2020 were derived from sales to the Commercial Aerospace industry, which includes 84% from Airbus and Boeing aircraft and 16% from regional and business aircraft. Reductions in demand for commercial aircraft or a delay in deliveries could result from many factors, including delays in the startup or ramp-up of new programs, suspension or discontinuation of current programs, such as the suspension of production of the Boeing 737 MAX in 2020, changes in the propensity for the general public to travel by air (including as a result of terrorist events and any subsequent military response or a public health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic), a significant change in the cost of aviation fuel, a change in technology resulting in the use of alternative materials, consolidation and liquidation of airlines, availability of funding for new aircraft purchases or leases, inventory corrections or disruptions throughout the supply chain and slower macroeconomic growth. During 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aerospace industry, we experienced a material decrease in demand resulting in order cancellations and deferrals from our Commercial Aerospace customers, which resulted in decreased sales for our Commercial Aerospace products and reduced operating income for the year ended December 31, 2020. To the extent significant reductions in demand continue to occur it would have further negative impact on our sales.  

Our content on the A350 is approximately $4.8 million per plane and it is our largest program. Both Airbus and Boeing have experienced various delays in the start and ramp up of several aircraft programs, including the A380, B787, B747-8, A400M, A350 and B777X. In the past, these have delayed our expected growth, or our effective utilization of capacity installed for such growth. Future delays, or production cuts arising from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, future pandemics or other macro-economic factors in these or other major new customer programs could similarly impact our results.

In addition, our customers continue to emphasize the need for cost reduction or other improvements in contract terms throughout the supply chain. In response to these pressures, we may be required to accept increased risk or face the prospects of margin compression on some products in the future. Where possible, we seek to offset or mitigate the impact of such pressures through productivity and performance improvements, index clauses, hedging and other actions.

A significant decline in business with Airbus, Boeing, or other significant customers could materially impact our business, operating results, prospects, and financial condition.

We have concentrated customers in the Commercial Aerospace and the Space & Defense markets. In the Commercial Aerospace market, approximately 84%, and in the Space & Defense market, approximately 20%, of our 2020 sales were made to Airbus and Boeing and their related subcontractors. For the years ended December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, approximately 33% and 39% of our total consolidated sales, respectively, were to Airbus, and its related subcontractors and approximately 19% and 25% of our total consolidated sales, respectively, were to Boeing and its related subcontractors. Significant changes in the demand for our customers’ end products, program delays, the share of their requirements that is awarded to us or changes in the design or materials used to construct their products could result in a significant loss of business with these customers. The loss of, or significant reduction in, purchases by Airbus or Boeing or any of our other significant customers could materially impair our business, operating results, prospects and financial condition. The level of purchases by our customers is often affected by events beyond their control, including general economic conditions, demand for their products, disruptions in deliveries, business disruptions, strikes and other factors, including the recent grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX by the Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators, which resulted in a suspension of production in January 2020, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on air travel and general economic conditions. Further delays in the production ramp-up of the Boeing 737 MAX, and the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Reductions in space and defense spending could result in a decline in our sales.

Space and defense production that has occurred in recent years may not be sustained, individual programs important to Hexcel may be cancelled, production may not continue to grow and the increased demand for composite-intensive programs may not continue. In addition, the production of military aircraft depends upon defense budgets and the related demand for defense and related equipment. Approximately 30% of our sales in 2020 were to the Space & Defense market of which approximately 77% were related to

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military programs in the United States and other countries. In addition to normal business risks, our indirect supply of products to the U.S. government is subject to unique risks largely beyond our control. Department of Defense budgets could be negatively impacted by several factors, including, but not limited to, a change in defense spending policy as a result of the new Biden Administration or otherwise, the U.S. government’s budget deficits, spending priorities (e.g., allocating more spending to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic), the cost of sustaining the U.S. military presence internationally and possible political pressure to reduce military spending, each of which could cause the Department of Defense budget to remain unchanged or to decline.

If we fail to comply with government procurement laws and regulations, we could lose business and be liable for various penalties or sanctions.

We must comply with laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration, and performance of U.S. government contracts, including the government security requirements and additional government export control laws and regulations. In complying with these laws and regulations, we may incur significant costs, and non-compliance may result in the imposition of fines and penalties, including contractual damages. If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations or if a government audit, review, or investigation uncovers improper or illegal activities, we may be subject to civil penalties, criminal penalties, or administrative sanctions or suspension or debarment from contracting with the U.S. government.

If we are unable to develop new products on a timely basis, it could adversely affect our business and prospects.

We believe that our future success depends, in part, on our ability to develop, on a timely basis, technologically advanced products that meet or exceed current industry standards. Although we believe we have certain technological and other advantages over our competitors, maintaining such advantages will require us to continue investing in research and development and sales and marketing. There can be no assurance that we will be able to make the technological advances necessary to maintain such competitive advantages or that we can recover major research and development expenses.

Acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, business combinations or joint ventures may entail certain operational and financial risks.

Over the past several years, we have completed strategic acquisitions of complementary manufacturing companies, as well as strategic investments in companies. We expect to continue to explore complementary mergers, acquisitions, investments and joint ventures and may also pursue divestures of business lines or investments that do not fit with our core strategy. We may also engage in further vertical integration. We may face competition for attractive targets and may not be able to source appropriate acquisition targets at prices acceptable to us, if at all. In addition, these types of transactions may require significant liquidity, which may not be available on terms favorable to us, or at all.

We cannot provide any assurance that we will realize the intended benefits from any such transactions. The process of integrating acquired businesses into our existing operations may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and may require additional financial resources and attention from management that would otherwise be available for the ongoing development or expansion of our existing operations. Even if successfully integrated, the acquired business may not achieve the results we expect or produce expected benefits in the time frame planned.

Risks Related to Our Operations

Our operations would be adversely affected by a shortage of trained personnel or work stoppages.

Our business has historically been dependent on a highly trained workforce because of the complex nature of our products. Furthermore, as of December 31, 2020, approximately 25% of employees in the United States and the majority of those in Europe were represented by collective bargaining agreements. Since April 2020, we have furloughed or eliminated a significant portion of our skilled workforce as a result of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our customer demand. If the demand for trained personnel returns to pre-COVID-19 levels, and we are unable to quickly reassemble our workforce and subsequently retain a sufficient number of trained personnel, or we experience a significant or prolonged work stoppage in such an environment, our ability to secure new business and our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We have engaged in restructuring and alignment activities from time to time and there can be no assurance that our efforts will have the intended effects.

From time to time, we have responded to changes in our industry and the markets we serve, or other changes in our business, by restructuring or aligning our operations. In 2020, in an effort to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we took certain actions to align our costs with decreased sales and to preserve liquidity, including eliminating approximately 35% of our global headcount costs, curtailing discretionary spending, and suspending dividend payments and stock repurchases.  In November 2020, we closed our wind energy prepreg production facility in Windsor, Colorado to align with decreased production demand.  Due to necessary cost reduction measures or changes in the industry and markets in which we compete, we may decide to implement

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restructuring or alignment activities in the future, such as closing plants or making additions, reductions or other changes to our management or workforce. These restructuring and/or alignment activities generally result in charges and expenditures that may adversely affect our financial results for one or more periods.  Restructuring and/or alignment activities can also create unanticipated consequences, such as instability or distraction among our workforce, and we cannot provide any assurance that any restructuring or alignment efforts that we undertake will be successful. A variety of risks could cause us not to realize expected cost savings, including, among others: (a) higher than expected severance costs related to headcount reductions; (b) higher than expected costs of closing plants; (c) incurring costs to hire new employees or delays or difficulty hiring the employees needed; and (d) delays in the anticipated timing of activities related to our cost-saving plan.  If we are unable to align our operations in light of evolving market conditions, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

A decrease in supply, interruptions at key facilities or an increase in cost of raw materials could result in a material decline in our profitability.

Our profitability depends largely on the price and continuity of supply of raw materials, which may be supplied through a sole source or a limited number of sources. We purchase large volumes of raw materials, such as epoxy and phenolic resins, acrylonitrile, carbon fiber, fiberglass yarn, aluminum foil and aramid paper. Any restrictions on the supply, or an increase in the cost, of our raw materials could significantly reduce our profit margins. Efforts to mitigate restrictions on the supply or price increases of these raw materials by long-term purchase agreements, productivity improvements, hedging or by-passing cost increases to our customers may not be successful.

The occurrence of material operational problems or interruptions, including but not limited to, a result of the failure of key equipment, the effects of natural disasters, the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the inability to install, staff and/or qualify necessary capacity, the failure to achieve planned manufacturing improvements, or any other inability to meet customer specifications, may have a material adverse effect on the productivity and profitability of a particular manufacturing facility, and could have a material effect on the Company as a whole.

We have substantial international operations subject to uncertainties which could affect our operating results.

We believe that revenue from sales outside the U.S. will continue to account for a material portion of our total revenue for the foreseeable future. In 2020, 47% of our production and 53% of our customer sales occurred outside of the United States. Additionally, we have invested significant resources in our international operations, and we intend to continue to make such investments in the future. Our international operations are subject to numerous risks, including: (a) general economic, political, legal, social and health conditions in the countries where we operate may have an adverse effect on our operations in those countries or not be favorable to our growth strategy, such as the impact of a public health crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on employees and the global economy; (b) the difficulty of enforcing agreements and collecting receivables through some foreign legal systems; (c) foreign customers may have longer payment cycles than customers in the United States; (d) cost of compliance with international trade laws of all of the countries in which we do business, including export control laws, relating to sales and purchases of goods and equipment and transfers of technology; (e) loss of sales to international customers, including those located in China and Russia, as a result of more stringent trade control laws in the United States; (f) tax rates may vary and foreign earnings may be subject to withholding requirements or the imposition of tariffs, exchange controls or other restrictions; (g) governments may adopt regulations or take other actions that would have a direct or indirect adverse impact on our business and market opportunities, including, but not limited to, resulting from the exit of the U.K. from the European Union; and (h) the potential difficulty in enforcing our intellectual property rights in some foreign countries, and the potential for the intellectual property rights of others to affect our ability to sell product in certain markets. Any one of these could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. With respect to tariffs, implementation of new tariff schemes by various governments, such as those implemented by the United States and China in recent years, could potentially increase the costs of our materials, increase our cost of production, and ultimately increase the landed cost of our products sold from one country into another country. In addition, a significant portion of the 53% of our customer sales that occurred outside of the United States in 2020 occurred in the U.K. and the European Union.  We have production facilities within the U.K. that supply customers in the European Union and customers within the U.K. that are supplied by most of the production facilities in the European Union, and any future tariffs or other disruptions to these trade flows related to the exit of the U.K. from the European Union could negatively impact our business. Although the U.K. and the European Union reached a trade agreement, removing a degree of uncertainty and financial risk, the details and overall impact on our U.K. business and other business is still being assessed.  The new trading relationship between the U.K. and European Union will likely result in increased costs of goods imported and exported between the U.K. and European Union, together with potential delays arising from the increase of formalities.  There will also likely be additional costs arising between the U.K. and other countries where there is no current trade agreement in place. Our ability to increase pricing of our products in light of increased costs is uncertain and, to the extent we are unable to fully do so, our profitability will decline. Other potential adverse consequences of the exit of the U.K. from the European Union include global market uncertainty, volatility in currency exchange rates, and increased regulatory complexities.

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Fluctuations in currency exchange rates may influence the profitability and cash flows of our business. For example, most of our European operations sell a majority of the products they produce in U.S. dollars, yet the labor, overhead costs and portions of material costs incurred in the manufacture of those products are primarily denominated in Euros, British pound sterling or U.S. dollars. As a result, the local currency margins of goods manufactured with costs denominated in local currency, yet sold in U.S. dollars, will vary with fluctuations in currency exchange rates, reducing when the U.S. dollar weakens against the Euro and British pound sterling. In addition, the reported U.S. dollar value of the local currency financial statements of our foreign subsidiaries will vary with fluctuations in currency exchange rates. While we enter into currency hedge agreements from time to time to mitigate these types of fluctuations, we cannot remove all fluctuations or hedge all exposures, and our earnings are impacted by changes in currency exchange rates.

We currently do not have political risk insurance in the countries in which we conduct business. While we carefully consider these risks when evaluating our international operations, we cannot provide assurance that we will not be materially adversely affected as a result of such risks.

We could be adversely affected by environmental and safety requirements.

Our operations require the handling, use, storage, transport and disposal of certain regulated materials and wastes. As a result, we are subject to various laws and regulations pertaining to pollution and protection of the environment, health, and safety. These requirements govern, among other things, emissions to air, discharge to waters, the generation, handling, storage, transport, treatment and disposal of regulated materials and waste, and remediation of contaminated sites. We have made, and will continue to make, capital and other expenditures in order to comply with these laws and regulations. These laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and could become more stringent in the future.

We have been named as a “potentially responsible party” under Superfund or similar state laws at our former and current sites requiring clean up. These laws generally impose liability for costs to investigate and remediate contamination without regard to fault. Under certain circumstances liability may be joint and several, resulting in one responsible party being held responsible for the entire cleanup obligation. Liability may also include damages to natural resources. We have incurred and likely will continue to incur expenses to investigate and clean up certain of our existing and former facilities, for which we believe we have adequate reserves. The ongoing operation of our manufacturing plants also entails environmental risks, and we may incur material costs or liabilities in the future that could adversely affect us. Although most of our properties have been the subject of environmental site assessments, there can be no assurance that all potential instances of soil and groundwater contamination have been identified, even at those sites where assessments have been conducted. Accordingly, we may discover previously unknown environmental conditions and the cost of remediating such conditions may be material. See “Legal Proceedings” below and Note 15 to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In addition, we may be required to comply with evolving environmental, health and safety laws, regulations or requirements that may be adopted or imposed in the future or to address newly discovered information or conditions that require a response. In particular, climate change is receiving increased attention worldwide, which presents both risks and opportunities for our businesses as legislative and regulatory efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions increase.  Our manufacturing plants use energy, including electricity and natural gas, and some of our plants emit amounts of greenhouse gases that may in the future be affected by these legislative and regulatory efforts. Potential consequences could include increased energy, transportation and raw material costs and may require the Company to make additional investments in its facilities and equipment, increase our expenditures or limit our ability to grow. In addition, our reputation could be damaged if we or others in our industry do not act, or are perceived not to act, responsibly with respect to our impact on the environment, which could limit our ability to grow and otherwise adversely affect our results of operations.

Our business and operations may be adversely affected by cybersecurity breaches or other information technology system or network intrusions.

We depend heavily on information technology and computerized systems to communicate and operate effectively. We store sensitive data including proprietary business information, intellectual property and confidential employee or other personal data on our servers and databases. From time to time, we experience cyberattacks on our information technology systems, and attempts by others to gain unauthorized access to our information technology system have become more sophisticated. These attempts, which might be related to industrial or foreign government espionage, activism, or other motivations, include covertly introducing malware to our computers and networks, performing reconnaissance, impersonating authorized users, and stealing, corrupting, or restricting our access to data, among other activities. We continue to update our infrastructure, security tools, employee training and processes to protect against security incidents, including both external and internal threats, and to prevent their occurrence or recurrence. While Company personnel have been tasked to detect and investigate such incidents, future cybersecurity attacks could still occur and may lead to potential data corruption or loss of data and exposure of proprietary and confidential information, disruptions in critical

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systems and theft of data, funds, or intellectual property. The unauthorized use of our intellectual property and/or confidential business information could harm our competitive position, reduce the value of our investment in research and development and other strategic initiatives or otherwise adversely affect our business. Any intrusion may also cause operational stoppages or result in fines, penalties, litigation or governmental investigations and proceedings, diminished competitive advantages through reputational damages and increased operational costs. Additionally, we may incur additional costs to comply with our customers’, including the U.S. government’s, increased cybersecurity protections and standards.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for certain legal actions between us and our stockholders, which could discourage lawsuits against the Company and our directors and officers.

Our amended and restated bylaws provide to the fullest extent permitted by law that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders, any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, or amended and restated bylaws, or any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the State of Delaware.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, this exclusive forum provision applies to state and federal law claims, including claims under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, although the Company will not be deemed to have waived its compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ organizational documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with claims arising under federal securities laws or otherwise, a court could find the exclusive forum provision contained in the amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable.

This exclusive forum provision may limit the ability of our stockholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such stockholders find favorable for disputes with the Company or our directors or officers, which may discourage such lawsuits against the Company and our directors and officers. Alternatively, if a court were to find this exclusive forum provision inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings described above, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 The short-term rights agreement that we entered into in 2020 could discourage third parties from seeking strategic transactions with us that could be beneficial to our stockholders.

On April 6, 2020, our board of directors declared a dividend of one right for each outstanding share of the Company’s common stock and adopted a stockholder rights plan, as set forth in the rights agreement. The stockholder rights plan was adopted in response to the extraordinary business and market dislocations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions taken to contain it, as well as the termination of the Company’s previously announced merger of equals with Woodward, Inc. The stockholder rights plan was not adopted in response to any specific takeover bid or other proposal to acquire control of the Company. In general, the rights agreement works by imposing a significant penalty upon any person or group that acquires 15% or more of the Company’s outstanding common stock without the approval of the board of directors. The rights agreement is intended to deter any person or group from triggering the rights without such acquisition first being approved by the board of directors. If triggered by an acquiring person, the provisions of the rights agreement, among other things, will substantially dilute the equity and voting interests of any potential acquiring person unless the board of directors approves the acquisition, and may have the effect of delaying, discouraging, or preventing a change in control that might otherwise be beneficial to stockholders and might adversely affect the market price of our common stock. The rights agreement will expire on April 6, 2021. 

ITEM 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

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ITEM 2. Properties

We own and lease manufacturing facilities and sales offices located throughout the United States and in other countries, as noted below. The corporate offices and principal corporate support activities are located in leased facilities in Stamford, Connecticut. Our research and technology administration and principal laboratories are located in Dublin, California; Duxford, England; Les Avenières, France; Salt Lake City, Utah and Decatur, Alabama.

The following table lists our manufacturing facilities by geographic location, related segment, and principal products manufactured. This table does not include manufacturing facilities owned by any of our joint ventures.

Manufacturing Facilities

We lease the land and buildings in Nantes, France; Amesbury, Massachusetts; and South Windsor, Connecticut, and the land on which the Tianjin, China; Burlington, Washington and Roussillon, France facilities are located. We also lease portions of the facilities located in Casa Grande, Arizona; Pottsville, Pennsylvania; Parla, Spain; and Leicester, England. In early November 2020 we closed our wind energy prepreg production facility in Windsor, Colorado and the plant is currently held for sale. We own all other remaining facilities. For further information, refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and to Note 6 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ITEM 3. Legal Proceedings

The information required by Item 3 is contained within Note 15 on pages 74 through 75 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.   

ITEM 4. Mine Safety Disclosure

Not applicable.

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PART II

ITEM 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Hexcel common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol HXL.

During 2020, 2019 and 2018 the Company repurchased a total of $25 million, $143 million, and $358 million of shares, respectively. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in April 2020, we announced that we have suspended our dividend payments and stock repurchases.

On January 29, 2021, there were 463 holders of record of our common stock.

ITEM 6. Selected Financial Data

The information required by Item 6 is contained on page 29 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the caption “Selected Financial Data” and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The information required by Item 7 is contained on pages 30 to 38 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

The information required by Item 7A is contained under the heading “Market Risks” on pages 38 to 40 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

The information required by Item 8 is contained on pages 41 to 81 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” and is incorporated herein by reference. The Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm are contained on page 43 to 45 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the captions “Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” and are incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

None.

ITEM 9A. Controls and Procedures

Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have evaluated our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020 and have concluded that these disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. These disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit is accumulated and communicated to management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that there have not been any changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s report on our internal control over financial reporting is contained on page 42 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 9B. Other Information

None.

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PART III

ITEM 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

The information required by Item 10 will be incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement, in accordance with Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K, to be filed with the SEC no later than 120 days after the end of the Company’s fiscal year.

ITEM 11. Executive Compensation

The information required by Item 11 will be incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement, in accordance with Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K, to be filed with the SEC no later than 120 days after the end of the Company’s fiscal year.

ITEM 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

The information required by Item 12 will be incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement, in accordance with Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K, to be filed with the SEC no later than 120 days after the end of the Company’s fiscal year.

ITEM 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

The information required by Item 13 will be incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement, in accordance with Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K, to be filed with the SEC no later than 120 days after the end of the Company’s fiscal year.

ITEM 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services

The information required by Item 14 will be incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement, in accordance with Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K, to be filed with the SEC no later than 120 days after the end of the Company’s fiscal year.

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PART IV

ITEM 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules

(a) Financial Statements, Financial Statement Schedules and Exhibits

(3) Exhibits:  

The following list of exhibits includes exhibits submitted with this Form 10-K as filed with the SEC and those incorporated by reference to other filings.

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25

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ITEM 16.  Form 10-K Summary

None.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

KNOWN TO ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints each of Nick L. Stanage, Patrick Winterlich and Gail Lehman, individually, his or her attorney-in-fact, with the power of substitution, for him or her in any and all capacities, to sign any amendments to this report, and to file the same, with exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each said attorney-in-fact, or his or her substitute or substitutes, may do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

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Selected Financial Data

The following table summarizes selected financial data as of and for the five years ended December 31:

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Following is management’s discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020, and comparison to the year ended December 31, 2019 when relevant.

On January 12, 2020, we announced that we had entered into an agreement and plan of merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Woodward, Inc. (“Woodward”), which provided for the combination of Hexcel and Woodward in an all-stock merger of equals. In response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 5, 2020, Hexcel and Woodward entered into an agreement to terminate the Merger Agreement.

For discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations for 2019 compared to 2018 refer to Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on February 18, 2020, which is incorporated by reference into this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Business Overview

Reconciliations to adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted net income per share and free cash flow are provided below:

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The Company uses non-GAAP financial measures, including sales and expenses measured in constant dollars (prior year sales and expenses measured at current year exchange rates); operating income, net income and earnings per share adjusted for items included in operating expense and non-operating expenses; the effective tax rate adjusted for certain out of period items; and free cash flow. Management believes these non-GAAP measures are meaningful to investors because they provide a view of Hexcel with respect to ongoing operating results and comparisons to prior periods. These adjustments can represent significant charges or credits that we believe are important to an understanding of Hexcel’s overall operating results in the periods presented. Such non-GAAP measurements are not determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and should not be viewed in isolation or as an alternative to or substitute for GAAP measures of performance.  Our calculation of these measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies, and the measures exclude financial information that some may consider important in evaluating our performance.

Business Trends

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. The outbreak has resulted in governments around the world implementing increasingly stringent measures to help control the spread of the virus, including quarantines, “shelter in place” and “stay at home” orders, travel restrictions, business curtailments, school closures, and other measures. In addition, governments, and central banks in several parts of the world have enacted fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to counteract the impacts of COVID-19.

Our company is a sole provider for many programs, including critical defense programs. We are operating consistently with national, state, and local guidelines. Notwithstanding our continued operations, COVID-19 has had and may have further negative impacts on our operations, supply chain, transportation networks and customers, all of which have and may continue to compress our margins, even after the preventative and precautionary measures that we, other businesses, and governments, are taking. The COVID-19 outbreak is a widespread public health crisis that is adversely affecting the economies and financial markets globally. The resulting economic downturn has, and could for an extended period, adversely affect demand for our products and contribute to volatile supply and demand conditions affecting prices and volumes in the markets for our products, services, and raw materials. The progression of the pandemic could also continue to negatively impact our business or results of operations through the temporary closure of our operating locations or those of our customers or suppliers.

The Company had total sales in 2020 of $1.5 billion, a 36.2% (36.3% in constant currency) decrease as compared to 2019. Commercial Aerospace sales decreased 48.5%, Space & Defense sales increased slightly by 0.9% and Industrial sales decreased 26.1% from 2019. The Commercial Aerospace market represents 55% of our sales, followed by Space & Defense at 30% and Industrial at 15%.

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Results of Operations

We have two reportable segments: Composite Materials and Engineered Products. Although these segments provide customers with different products and services, they often overlap within our three end business markets: Commercial Aerospace, Space & Defense and Industrial. Therefore, we also find it meaningful to evaluate the sales of our segments through the three end business markets. Further discussion and additional financial information about our segments may be found in Note 18 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Net Sales: Consolidated net sales of $1,502.4 million for 2020 were $853.3 million, or 36.2%, lower than the $2,355.7 million of net sales for 2019. The sales decrease in 2020 was the result of lower demand for our products as a result of a substantial reduction in commercial aerospace original equipment manufacturer build rates combined with a move to reduce inventory throughout our supply chain, particularly carbon fiber. Since the outbreak began, we have seen the impacts of COVID-19 on our markets and operations including significant decreases in air traffic, temporary shutdowns of our customers’ and suppliers’ facilities and decreased demand from our customers.       

Composite Materials: Net sales of $1,185.9 million for 2020 decreased 36.3% from 2019. Commercial Aerospace declined 46.4% primarily driven by lower sales across all major programs as build rates decreased significantly compounded by extensive supply chain adjustments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Industrial sales decreased 27.0% over 2019. This decrease reflects a customer demand shift in the U.S. market which led Hexcel to close its wind energy prepreg production facility in Windsor, Colorado in November 2020 as well as global production disruptions caused by the pandemic. The 6.4% decline in Space & Defense sales was driven largely by lower military aircraft structure sales outside of the Americas due to pandemic-induced disruptions.

Engineered Products: Net sales of $316.5 million for 2020 decreased $176.1 million, or 35.7% from 2019, driven by lower sales and lower build rates across Commercial Aerospace in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth in Space & Defense is largely attributable to U.S. military helicopter programs.

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The following table summarizes net sales to third-party customers by segment and end market in 2020 and 2019:

Commercial Aerospace: Net sales to the Commercial Aerospace market decreased $775.4 million or 48.5% to $822.3 million for 2020 as compared to net sales of $1,597.7 million for 2019.

In 2020, sales for Airbus and Boeing aircraft decreased about 50.9% as a result of build rate reductions driven by the COVID-19 pandemic combined with significant inventory destocking. Sales for the regional and business aircraft market decreased 32.5% as compared to 2019, due to significantly lower business jet demand resulting from the impact of COVID-19.

Space & Defense: Net sales of $448.5 million in 2020 were $3.8 million higher than 2019. While 2020 sales for defense platforms were negatively impacted by temporary pandemic-induced disruptions, the overall increase was driven largely by the U.S. military helicopter programs. We are on a wide range of helicopter, military aircraft, and space programs, including the F-35, V-22 tilt rotor aircraft, Black Hawk and the A400M military transport.

Industrial: Net sales of $231.6 million for 2020 decreased by $81.7 million, or 26.1% from 2019. The wind energy submarket sales decreased 28.9% compared to 2019 as a result of a customer demand shift within the US market. As a result of this demand change, Hexcel closed its wind energy prepreg production facility in Windsor, Colorado in November 2020. The Hexcel wind material prepreg production facility in Austria that serves the European market and the wind material facility in China that serves the Asian market continue to operate to produce materials for our wind energy customers. The remainder of the Industrial sales were down 20.9% from 2019 due to production disruptions caused by the pandemic and lower customer demand, specifically in the U.S.

Gross Margin: Gross margin for 2020 was $239.7 million or 16.0% of net sales as compared to $640.4 million or 27.2% of net sales in 2019. The dramatic reduction in demand combined with the unfavorable mix impact of lower carbon fiber sales drove the decline in margin performance in 2020.    

Selling, General and Administrative (“SG&A”) Expenses: SG&A expenses for 2020 were $121.1 million or 8.1% of net sales as compared to $158.7 million or 6.7% of net sales for 2019. The decrease in spend in 2020 is due to management’s cost reduction actions which included headcount reductions and minimizing discretionary spending.

Research and Technology (“R&T”) Expenses: R&T expenses for 2020 were $46.6 million or 3.1% of net sales and in 2019 were $56.5 million or 2.4% of net sales.     

Other operating expense (income): Other operating expenses of $57.9 million for 2020 primarily included severance costs across a number of facilities, the restructuring charge for the Windsor facility closure and costs related to the terminated merger with Woodward.

Operating Income: Operating income for 2020 was $14.1 million compared with operating income in 2019 of $425.2 million. Operating income as a percent of sales was 0.9% and 18.0% in 2020 and 2019, respectively. Depreciation and amortization expense for 2020 decreased $0.8 million from 2019.

One of the Company’s performance measures is operating income adjusted for other (expense) income, which is a non-GAAP measure. Adjusted operating income for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $72.0 million, or 4.8% of net sales as compared to 18.0% in 2019. A reconciliation from operating income to adjusted operating income is provided on page 31.

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Almost all of the Company’s sales and costs are either in U.S. dollars, Euros or British Pound sterling, with less than 15% of our sales in Euros or British Pound sterling. In addition, much of our European Commercial Aerospace business has sales denominated in dollars and costs denominated in all three currencies. The net impact is that as the dollar strengthens against the Euro and the British Pound sterling, sales will decrease while operating income will increase. We have an active hedging program to minimize the impact on operating income, but our operating income as a percentage of net sales is affected. Foreign exchange did not have a significant impact on operating margins in either 2020 or 2019.  

Operating income for the Composite Materials segment decreased $350.6 million to $60.7 million, or 4.9% of net sales from $411.3 million in 2019 driven by lower Commercial Aerospace and Industrial volume as a result of pandemic-induced production cuts in aircraft programs. Operating income for the Engineered Products segment in 2020 decreased by $62.6 million to $9.4 million, or 2.9% of net sales, driven by lower Commercial Aerospace and Industrial volume, partially offset by an increase in Space and Defense sales.  

We did not allocate corporate net operating expenses of $56.0 million, and $58.1 million to segments in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Interest Expense: Interest expense was $41.8 million for 2020 and $45.5 million for 2019, decreasing due to lower effective interest rates.    

Income tax (benefit) expense: For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, we had a tax benefit of $61.0 million and a tax provision of $76.8 million, respectively. The tax benefit in 2020 was primarily due to the release of a valuation allowance in a foreign jurisdiction.                          

(Loss) Equity in Earnings from Affiliated Companies: Loss in earnings primarily represents our portion of the (losses) or earnings from our joint venture in Malaysia.

Net Income: Net income was $31.7 million or $0.38 per diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to net income of $306.6 million or $3.57 per diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2019. During 2020 and 2019 there were other discrete tax benefits of $54.7 million ($0.65 diluted EPS) and $3.0 million ($0.03 diluted EPS), respectively. Lower sales volume, particularly in the Commercial Aerospace and Industrial markets as a result of the adverse impact of COVID-19 led to a decline in earnings in 2020.  Also see the table on page 31 for a reconciliation of GAAP net income from continuing operations to our adjusted “Non-GAAP” measure.

Significant Customers

Approximately 33% and 39% of our 2020 and 2019 net sales, respectively, were to Airbus and its subcontractors. Of the 33% of overall sales to Airbus and its subcontractors in 2020, 30% related to Commercial Aerospace market applications and 3% related to Space & Defense market applications. Approximately 19% and 25% of our 2020 and 2019 net sales were to Boeing and related subcontractors. Of the 19% of overall sales to Boeing and its subcontractors in 2020, 16% related to Commercial Aerospace market applications and 3% related to Space & Defense market applications.

Financial Condition

In 2020, we ended the year with total debt, net of cash, of $823.1 million and generated $264.3 million of operating cash resulting in $213.7 million of free cash flow (cash provided by operating activities less cash paid for capital expenditures). Our cash flow needs for fiscal year 2021 will be funded by our available borrowings under our Senior Unsecured Revolving Facility (the “Facility”) as needed.

We have a portfolio of derivatives related to currencies, interest rates and commodities. We monitor our counterparties and we only use those rated A- or better.

Liquidity

Our cash on hand at December 31, 2020 was $103.3 million and we had $772.0 million of borrowings available under our Facility. Our total debt as of December 31, 2020 was $926.4 million, a decrease of $133.7 million from the December 31, 2019 balance. The decrease in debt is primarily due to the payment and termination of our European term loan in January 2020, lower capital expenditures and lower usage of working capital. As of December 31, 2020, we were in compliance with all debt covenants.

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The level of available borrowing capacity fluctuates during the course of the year due to factors including capital expenditures, share repurchases and dividend payments, acquisitions, interest and variable compensation payments, changes to working capital, as well as timing of receipts and disbursements within the normal course of business.

In June 2019, the Company refinanced its Facility, increasing borrowing capacity from $700 million to $1 billion. The maturity of the Facility is June 2024. The initial interest rate for the Facility is LIBOR + 1.0%. The interest rate ranges from LIBOR + 0.875% to a maximum of LIBOR + 1.50%, depending upon the Company’s leverage ratio. The Facility agreement permits us to issue letters of credit up to an aggregate amount of $50 million. Outstanding letters of credit reduce the amount available for borrowing under the Facility. As defined in the Facility agreement, we are required to maintain a minimum interest coverage ratio of 3.50 (based on the ratio of earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization, “EBITDA”, to interest expense) and may not exceed a maximum leverage ratio of 3.75 (based on the ratio of total debt to EBITDA) with a step up to 4.25 allowed following certain acquisitions. In addition, the Facility agreement contains other customary terms and conditions such as representations and warranties, additional covenants, and events of default.    

In September 2020, we amended our Facility to allow for relief from certain terms of the Facility from October 1, 2020 through and including September 30, 2021 (the “Covenant Relief Period”).  During the Covenant Relief Period, we are required to maintain a leverage ratio not greater than: 4.25, 5.75, 5.00 and 4.25, respectively, for each of the quarterly test periods from December 31, 2020 through September 30, 2021. During the Covenant Relief Period, consolidated total debt is calculated net of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents in an amount not to exceed $200 million. Additionally, during the Covenant Relief Period, we are subject to (i) limitations on share repurchases, (ii) further limitations on the incurrence of secured indebtedness, and (iii) an increase in pricing based on the then existing leverage ratio.

In January 2021, we amended our Facility (the “Amendment”) a second time to allow for relief from certain terms of the Facility from January 28, 2021 through and including March 31, 2022 (the “Liquidity Covenant Period”). During the Liquidity Covenant Period, we will not be subject to a maximum leverage ratio covenant but will instead be required to maintain liquidity of at least $250 million.  Additionally, during such period, the Company will be subject to limitations on share repurchases, cash dividends, and its ability to incur secured debt, in each case subject to certain exceptions; the applicable margin and commitment fees are increased; the incremental facility will not be available; and if the Company’s public debt rating is downgraded to (i) BB or lower by Standard & Poor’s and (ii) Ba2 or lower by Moody’s, we will be required to grant liens on certain of our assets, which liens will be released upon the Company’s public debt rating being upgraded to BB+ or higher by Standard & Poor’s or Ba1 or higher by Moody’s.  The Company’s current public debt rating is BBB-/Baa3. Additionally, the Amendment provides that the Company will not be subject to an interest coverage ratio covenant until the test period ending on December 31, 2021.  Finally, in connection with the Amendment, revolving commitments under the Facility were reduced to $750 million.      

As of December 31, 2020, total borrowings under the Facility were $228.0 million, which approximates fair value. The Facility agreement permits us to issue letters of credit up to an aggregate amount of $50 million. Outstanding letters of credit reduce the amount available for borrowing under the Facility. Under the terms of the first amendment, the interest rate ranges from LIBOR + 1.50% to a maximum of LIBOR + 2.0%, depending upon the Company’s leverage ratio. The interest rate for the revolver at December 31, 2020 was LIBOR + 1.50%. 

In 2017, the Company issued $400 million in aggregate principal amount of 3.95% Senior Unsecured Notes due in 2027. In 2015, the Company issued $300 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.7% Senior Unsecured Notes due in 2025.  The interest rate on these senior notes may be increased by 0.25% each time a credit rating applicable to the notes is downgraded. The maximum rate is 5.95% and 6.7%, respectively. The effective interest rates on these two note issuances at December 31, 2020 were 3.87% and 4.83%, respectively.

Short-term liquidity requirements consist primarily of normal recurring operating expenses and working capital needs, capital expenditures, acquisition costs, dividend payments and debt service requirements. We expect to meet our short-term liquidity requirements through net cash from operating activities, cash on hand and, if necessary, our Facility. As of December 31, 2020, long-term liquidity requirements consist primarily of obligations under our long-term debt obligations. We do not have any significant required debt repayments until June 2024 when the Facility expires.

Operating Activities: We generated $264.3 million in cash from operating activities during 2020, a decrease of $226.8 million from 2019 primarily driven by a decrease in net income partially offset by an increase in working capital.

Investing Activities: Cash used for investing activities, primarily for capital expenditures, was $50.6 million in 2020 compared to $367.3 million in 2019. Cash usage in 2019 included $163.2 million for the acquisition of ARC Technologies LLC.

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Financing Activities: Financing activities were a use of cash of $178.5 million in 2020 as compared to $91.4 million in 2019.In 2020 and 2019, we repurchased $24.6 million, and $143.0 million of common stock, respectively. We paid $14.2 million and $54.2 million in dividends during 2020 and 2019, respectively. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic we have suspended our dividend payments and stock repurchases.

In May 2018, our Board authorized the repurchase of $500 million of the Company’s stock (“2018 Repurchase Plan”).During 2020 and 2019, the Company spent $24.6 million and $143.0 million, respectively, to repurchase common stock. At December 31, 2020, we had $217.2 million remaining under the 2018 Repurchase Plan. We suspended our share repurchase program in April 2020 because of the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic had on our business. We have further limitations on share repurchases through March 2022 under the amended Facility.

Financial Obligations and Commitments: We had $0.9 million of current debt maturities as of December 31, 2020. The next significant scheduled debt maturity will not occur until 2024, the year the Facility matures. In addition, certain sales and administrative offices, data processing equipment, vehicles and manufacturing equipment, land and facilities are leased under operating leases.

Total letters of credit issued and outstanding were $6.0 million as of December 31, 2020. These letters of credit were not issued under the Facility.

The following table summarizes the scheduled maturities as of December 31, 2020 of financial obligations and expiration dates of commitments for the years ended 2021 through 2025 and thereafter.