HEXCEL CORP DE

Market Risks

As a result of our global operating and financing activities, we are exposed to various market risks that may affect our consolidated results of operations and financial position. These market risks include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which impact the U.S. dollar value of transactions, assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies and fluctuations in interest rates, which impact the amount of interest we must pay on certain debt instruments. Our primary currency exposures are in Europe, where we have significant business activities. To a lesser extent, we are also exposed to fluctuations in the prices of certain commodities, such as electricity, natural gas, acrylonitrile, aluminum, and certain chemicals. In addition, we have several contracts with both suppliers and customers that contain pricing adjustments based on the price of oil outside of a specified band.

We attempt to net individual exposures, when feasible, taking advantage of natural offsets. In addition, we employ or may employ interest rate, commodity and foreign currency financial instruments for the purpose of hedging certain specifically identified interest rate, commodity, and currency exposures. The use of these financial instruments is intended to mitigate some of the risks associated with fluctuations in interest rates, commodities and currency exchange rates but does not eliminate such risks. We do not use financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

Interest Rate Risks

Outstanding balances that exist under our Facility are included in our long-term debt bears interest at variable rates. From time to time we have entered into interest rate swap agreements to change the underlying mix of variable and fixed interest rate debt. These interest rate swap agreements have modified the percentage of total debt that is exposed to changes in market interest rates. Assuming a 10% favorable and a 10% unfavorable change in the underlying weighted average interest rates of our variable rate debt and swap agreements, interest expense for 2023 of $34.0 million would not be materially impacted.

Foreign Currency Exchange Risks

We operated twelve manufacturing facilities in Europe, Asia and Africa which generated approximately 50% of our 2023 consolidated net sales. Our European business activities primarily involve three major currencies — the U.S. dollar, the British pound sterling, and the Euro. We also conduct business and sell products to customers throughout the world. Most of the sales in these countries are denominated in U.S. dollars and they have local currency expenses. Currency risk for the Asia and Africa locations is not considered material.

In 2023, our European subsidiaries had third-party sales of $0.9 billion of which approximately 67% were denominated in U.S. dollars, 32% were denominated in Euros and 1% were denominated in British pounds sterling. While we seek to reduce the exposure of our European subsidiaries to their sales in non-functional currencies through the purchase of raw materials in the same currency as that of the product sale, the net contribution of these sales to cover the costs of the subsidiary in its functional currency will vary with changes in foreign exchange rates, and as a result, so will vary the European subsidiaries’ percentage margins and profitability. For revenues denominated in the functional currency of the subsidiary, changes in foreign currency exchange rates increase or decrease the value of these revenues in U.S. dollars, but do not affect the profitability of the subsidiary in its functional currency. The value of our investments in these countries could be impacted by changes in currency exchange rates over time and could impact our ability to profitably compete in international markets.

We attempt to net individual functional currency positions of our various European subsidiaries, to take advantage of natural offsets and reduce the need to employ foreign currency forward exchange contracts. We attempt to hedge some, but not necessarily all, of the net exposures of our European subsidiaries resulting from sales they make in non-functional currencies. The benefit of such hedges varies with time and the foreign exchange rates at which the hedges are set. For example, when the Euro strengthened against the U.S. dollar, the benefit of new hedges placed was much less than the value of hedges they replaced that were entered into when the U.S. dollar was stronger. We may place additional foreign currency hedges when the dollar strengthens against the Euro or British pound. We do not seek to hedge the value of our European subsidiaries’ functional currency sales and profitability in U.S. dollars. We also enter into short-term foreign currency forward exchange contracts, usually with a term of ninety days or less, to hedge net currency exposures resulting from specifically identified transactions. Any unrealized gain or loss on these foreign currency forward exchange contracts would be offset by corresponding decreases or increases, respectively, of the underlying transaction being hedged.

We have performed a sensitivity analysis as of December 31, 2023 using a modeling technique that measures the changes in the fair values arising from a hypothetical 10% adverse movement in the levels of foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar with all other variables held constant. The analysis includes all of our foreign currency hedge contracts. The sensitivity analysis indicated that a hypothetical 10% adverse movement in foreign currency exchange rates would have an approximately $0.9 million impact on our 2023 operating income. However, it should be noted that over time as the adverse movement (in our case a weaker dollar as compared to the Euro or the British pound sterling) continues and new hedges are layered in at the adverse rate, the impact would be more significant. For example, had we not had any hedges in place for 2023, a 10% adverse movement would have reduced our operating income by approximately $26.1 million.

Foreign Currency Forward Exchange Contracts

A number of our European subsidiaries are exposed to the impact of exchange rate volatility between the U.S. dollar and the subsidiaries’ functional currencies, being either the Euro or the British pound sterling. We entered into contracts to exchange U.S. dollars for Euros and British pound sterling through June 2026. The aggregate notional amount of these contracts was $393.3 million at December 31, 2023. The purpose of these contracts is to hedge a portion of the forecasted transactions of European subsidiaries under long-term sales contracts with certain customers. These contracts are expected to provide us with a more balanced matching of future cash receipts and expenditures by currency, thereby reducing our exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. For the three years ended December 31, 2023, hedge ineffectiveness was immaterial. Cash flows associated with these contracts are classified within net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations.

For further discussion, see Note 15, Derivative Financial Instruments, to the accompanying consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.