Hexcel (HXL) Risk Factors

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. In some cases, regulatory bodies have decided and may decide in the future to limit or ban certain materials we use in our manufacturing process due to potentially significant health and safety risks to people or the environment. Such limitations or bans have resulted in, and may in the future require us to consider, the use of alternative raw materials or changes to our method of operations. Such alternatives often require customer approval and may result in additional costs, including higher raw material expenses, changes in operational methods, and additional customer qualifications. The formulation changes could also impact the utility of our products. We have been named as a "potentially responsible party" under Superfund or similar state laws at certain 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 Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We may also 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. As our business expands to meet customer and market demands, and community growth impacts local ambient air and water limits, additional controls are anticipated to be required. In addition, concerns about the relationship between greenhouse gases and global climate change, and an increased focus on carbon neutrality, has resulted, and may continue to result, in additional regulations at the national and international level to monitor, regulate, control and tax emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. A number of governmental bodies have introduced or are contemplating legislative or regulatory changes in response to climate change, including regulating greenhouse gas emissions. The continued lack of consistent climate legislation creates economic and regulatory uncertainty. The outcome of new legislation or regulation in the U.S. and other jurisdictions in which we operate has resulted in, and may in the future result in, new or additional requirements, including mandatory disclosure requirements, and fees or restrictions on certain activities. 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. Compliance with greenhouse gas and climate change initiatives has resulted, and may in the future result in, additional costs to us, including increased energy, transportation and raw material costs, additional taxes,reduced emission allowances or additional restrictions on production or operations. We expect we will be required to make additional investments in our facilities and equipment, change our manufacturing processes, obtain substitute materials, which may cost more or be less available or harder to source, fund offset projects, or undertake other costly activities. In addition, failure to comply with applicable regulations could result in fines or government investigations or actions, which could affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We could also face increased costs related to defending and resolving legal claims and other litigation related to climate change and the alleged impact of our operations on climate change. In addition to compliance obligations related to climate change, growing customer environmental and sustainability requirements, including procurement policies that include social and emissions reduction or other environmental standards and requirements that suppliers are required comply with, as well as sustainability goals and targets that we have adopted, could cause us to alter our manufacturing, operations or equipment processes, and incur substantial expense to meet these requirements. We are actively reviewing and implementing projects to reduce our energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions, but there is no guarantee that such options or projects will be technologically and/or environmentally feasible, or that we will be able to implement any such projects on a timely or cost-effective basis. The failure to comply with customer environmental or sustainability requirements, or similar types of requests, could adversely affect our relationships with such customers, which in turn could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Furthermore, 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, or if we fail to achieve our sustainability goals or targets, which could limit our ability to grow and otherwise adversely affect our results of operations.

Our success, competitiveness and ability to execute on our global strategies and maintain a culture of innovation depend in large part on our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified employees and leaders with expertise and capabilities, representing diverse backgrounds and experiences. Achieving this objective may be difficult due to many factors, including fluctuations in global economic and industry conditions, such as the impact of inflation, management changes, increasing local and global competition for talent, particularly due to the increase in remote working opportunities, the availability of qualified employees, restructuring and alignment activities (including workforce reductions), and the attractiveness of our compensation and benefit programs. If we are unable to attract, retain and motivate qualified employees and leaders, we may be unable to fully capitalize on current and new market opportunities, which could adversely impact our business and results of operations. The loss or retirement of employees presents particular challenges to the extent they involve the departure of knowledgeable and experienced employees and the resulting need to identify and train existing or new candidates to perform necessary functions, and ineffective succession planning could result in unexpected costs, reduced productivity, and/or difficulties with respect to internal processes and controls. There is also the risk that we are unable to achieve our diversity, equity and inclusion objectives or, more broadly, to meet diversity or other sustainability goals increasingly required by our stockholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders. If we are unable to attract and retain a qualified and diverse workforce, we may be unable to maintain our competitive position and our future success could be materially adversely affected.

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 or may decrease 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 2023 were to the Space & Defense market, of which approximately 80% were related to 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. The level of U.S. defense spending is hard to predict, and U.S. 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 current political environment or otherwise, military aid to countries experiencing global conflict, the U.S. government's budget deficits or breach of the debt ceiling, other spending priorities, increased defense regulatory requirements resulting in additional expenses, the cost of sustaining the U.S. military presence internationally, potential political pressure to reduce military spending and future potential government shutdowns, each of which could cause the U.S. Department of Defense budget to remain unchanged or to decline.