Genuine Parts Company (GPC) Risk Factors

Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable and accurate financial statements and to effectively prevent fraud. However, a control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. There can be no assurance that all control issues or fraud will be detected. As we continue to grow our business, our internal controls continue to become more complex and require more resources. Further, some of our employees work remotely and could introduce potential vulnerabilities to our financial reporting systems and our internal control environment and the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. Any failure to maintain effective controls could prevent us from timely and reliably reporting financial results and may harm our operating results. In addition, if we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide an unqualified report as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as of each fiscal year end, we may be exposed to negative publicity, which could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. Any failure to maintain effective internal controls and any such resulting negative publicity may negatively affect our business and stock price. Additionally, the existence of any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies would require management to devote significant time and incur significant expense to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and management may not be able to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in a timely manner. The existence of any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting could also result in errors in our financial statements that could require us to restate our financial statements, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and cause stockholders to lose confidence in our reported financial information, all of which could materially and adversely affect us and the market price of our common stock.

We have an unsecured revolving credit facility and unsecured senior notes, which could have important consequences to our financial health. For example, our level of indebtedness could, among other things: - make it more difficult to satisfy our financial obligations, including those relating to our unsecured revolving credit facility and our unsecured senior notes;- increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions;- limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes and opportunities in our industry, which may place us at a competitive disadvantage;- require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flows to service the principal and interest on the debt, reducing the funds available for other business purposes, such as working capital, capital expenditures or other cash requirements;- limit our ability to incur additional debt with acceptable terms; and - expose us to fluctuations in interest rates. The terms of our financing obligations include restrictions, such as affirmative, negative and financial covenants, conditions on borrowing and subsidiary guarantees. A failure to comply with these restrictions could result in a default under our financing obligations or could require us to obtain waivers from our lenders for failure to comply with these restrictions. The occurrence of a default that remains uncured or the inability to secure a necessary consent or waiver could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We also guarantee the borrowings of certain independently owned automotive parts stores and certain other affiliates in which we have a non-controlling equity ownership interest. To date, we have not experienced any significant losses in connection with these guarantees. However, if any of the borrowers under these guarantees experienced a default, we may be required to satisfy their payment obligations in an amount that could be material. In addition, our indebtedness is rated by credit rating agencies. Our overall credit rating may be negatively impacted by deteriorating and uncertain credit markets or other factors that may or may not be within our control. The interest rates on our unsecured revolving credit facility, as well as any additional indebtedness we may incur in the future, are impacted by our credit ratings. Accordingly, any negative impact of our credit ratings, or placement of our credit ratings on "review" or "watch" status, could result in higher interest expense and could impact the terms of any additional indebtedness we incur in the future.

We regularly consider and enter into strategic transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, investments, alliances, and other growth and market expansion strategies, with the expectation that these transactions will result in increases in sales, cost savings, synergies and various other benefits. Assessing the viability and realizing the benefits of these transactions is subject to significant uncertainty, and we face significant competition in pursuing strategically beneficially transactions. Pursuing strategic transactions is also a time-consuming process that can involve significant expenses and management attention. For each of our acquisitions, we need to successfully integrate the target company's products, services, associates and systems into our business operations, including in particular the challenges associated with the integration of foreign operations to ensure the adequacy of internal controls. Integration can be a complex and time-consuming process, and if the integration is not fully successful or is delayed for a material period of time, we may not achieve the anticipated synergies or benefits of the acquisition. Furthermore, even if the target companies are successfully integrated, the acquisitions may fail to further our business strategy as anticipated, expose us to increased competition or challenges with respect to our products or services, and expose us to additional liabilities. Any impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets acquired in a strategic transaction may reduce our earnings. In addition, any investments we hold in other companies are subject to a risk of partial or total loss of our investment. We also consider and enter into divestitures from time to time, with the expectation that these transactions will result in increases in cost savings and various other benefits. Strategic divestitures are subject to uncertainty and can be a complex and time-consuming process. If the divestiture is not fully successful or is delayed for a material period of time, or if we are unable to reinvest the proceeds of the divestiture in a manner consistent with our strategic objectives, we may not achieve the anticipated benefits of the divestiture. Additionally, as we undertake the transformation plan for our business, we have integrated our strategic initiatives into a cohesive business model which balances competing priorities. If we are unable to implement these strategic initiatives efficiently and effectively, or if these strategic initiatives are unsuccessful, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected. To facilitate this transformation plan, we are making substantial investments, recruiting new talent, and optimizing our business model, management system, and organization. Accordingly, a strong balance sheet that provides the flexibility to invest in these new growth opportunities and maintaining discipline in our capital allocation is critical to the success of our transformation plans. If we are unable to maintain a strong balance sheet or optimize our capital allocation or are otherwise not successful in executing our strategic initiatives and transformation plan (or are delayed for reasons outside of our control), we may not be able to realize the full benefits of our plan. Furthermore, if we are unable to successfully drive employee or customer adoption of certain strategic initiatives, we may not realize the full benefits of our plan. Additionally, failure to make progress on our plans (or failure to accurately measure progress on our plan), may disrupt the conduct of our business and divert management's attention and resources. All of which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.