Certain statements contained in or incorporated by reference into this presentation constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance. They are based on management’s expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historic or current facts. They use words such as "will," “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial condition, performance and/or sales. In particular, these include statements relating to future actions; prospective changes in raw material costs, product pricing or product demand; future performance; estimated capital expenditures; results of current and anticipated market conditions and market strategies; sales efforts; expenses; the outcome of contingencies such as legal proceedings and environmental liabilities; and financial results.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:
- Disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit markets that could adversely impact the availability of credit already arranged and the availability and cost of credit in the future;
- The effect on foreign operations of currency fluctuations, tariffs and other political, economic and regulatory risks;
- Changes in laws and regulations regarding plastics in jurisdictions where we conduct business;
- Fluctuations in raw material prices, quality and supply, and in energy prices and supply;
- Production outages or material costs associated with scheduled or unscheduled maintenance programs;
- Unanticipated developments that could occur with respect to contingencies such as litigation and environmental matters;
- Our ability to achieve strategic objectives and successfully integrate acquisitions, including Avient Protective Materials (APM);
- An inability to raise or sustain prices for products or services;
- Our ability to pay regular quarterly cash dividends and the amounts and timing of any future dividends;
- Information systems failures and cyberattacks;
- Amounts for cash and non-cash charges related to restructuring plans that may differ from original estimates, including because of timing changes associated with the underlying actions; and
- Other factors affecting our business beyond our control, including without limitation, changes in the general economy, changes in interest rates, changes in the rate of inflation and any recessionary conditions
Use of Non-GAAP Measures
This presentation includes the use of both GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) and non-GAAP financial measures. The non-GAAP financial measures include: Adjusted Earnings Per Share, Free Cash Flow, Net Debt/Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin.
Avient’s chief operating decision maker uses these financial measures to monitor and evaluate the ongoing performance of Avient and each business segment and to allocate resources.
A reconciliation of each historical non-GAAP financial measure with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is attached to this presentation which is posted on our website at www.avient.com.
When showing constant dollar figures on GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures, the foreign exchange impact is calculated by using current foreign exchange rates and applying them to the prior period results.
Avient does not provide reconciliations of forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures, such as outlook for Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Earnings Per Share, Net Debt/Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow to the most comparable GAAP financial measures on a forward-looking basis because Avient is unable to provide a meaningful or accurate calculation or estimation of reconciling items and the information is not available without unreasonable effort. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing and amount of certain items, such as, but not limited to, mark-to-market adjustments associated with benefit plans, environmental remediation costs, acquisition-related costs, and other non-routine costs. Each of such adjustments has not yet occurred, are out of Avient’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. For the same reasons, Avient is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information.
Pro Forma Financial Information
The Company acquired Avient Protective Materials (“Dyneema”) on September 1, 2022 (the “Acquisition Date”) and sold the Distribution segment on November 1, 2022. To provide comparable results, the company references “pro forma” financial metrics, which include the business results of Avient Protective Materials for periods prior to the Acquisition Date, as if the transaction occurred on January 1, 2021 and reflect Distribution as a discontinued operation. Management believes this provides comparability of the performance of the combined businesses.
Unless otherwise stated, Adjusted EBITDA figures included in this presentation exclude the impact of special items as defined in our quarterly earnings releases. Additionally, Adjusted EPS excludes the impact of special items and amortization expense associated with intangible assets.