ScanSource (SCSC) Risk Factors

Our financial results, operations and prospects depend significantly on worldwide economic and geopolitical conditions, the demand for our products and services, and the financial condition of our customers and suppliers. Economic weakness and geopolitical uncertainty have in the past resulted, and may result in the future, in reduced demand for products resulting in decreased sales, margins and earnings. Economic weakness and geopolitical uncertainty may also lead us to impair assets, including goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets, take restructuring actions or adjust our operating strategy and reduce expenses in response to decreased sales or margins. We may not be able to adequately adjust our cost structure in a timely fashion, which may adversely impact our profitability. Uncertainty about economic conditions may increase foreign currency volatility in markets in which we transact business, which may negatively impact our results. Economic weakness and geopolitical uncertainty also make it more difficult for us to manage inventory levels and/or collect customer receivables, which may result in provisions to create reserves, write-offs, reduced access to liquidity and higher financing costs. The economic weakness brought about by COVID-19 may result in prolonged recession, which has the potential to disproportionately impact our business depending on which sectors of the economy and which geographies are most impacted.

We currently have significant facilities outside the United States, and a substantial portion of our revenue is derived from our international operations. These operations are subject to a variety of risks that are different from the risks that we face domestically or are similar risks but with potentially greater exposure. These risks include: - Disproportionate negative impact from COVID-19 in a foreign location;- Fluctuations of foreign currency and exchange rates, which can impact sales, costs of the goods we sell and the reporting of our results and assets on our financial statements;- Changes in international trade laws, trade agreements, or trading relationships affecting our import and export activities, including export license requirements, restrictions on the export of certain technology and tariff changes, or the imposition of new or increased trade sanctions;- Difficulties in collecting accounts receivable and longer collection periods;- Changes in, or expiration of, various foreign incentives that provide economic benefits to us;- Labor laws or practices that impact our ability and costs to hire, retain and discharge employees;- Difficulties in staffing and managing operations in foreign countries;- Changes in the interpretation and enforcement of laws (in particular related to items such as duty and taxation), and laws related to data privacy such as GDPR and other similar privacy laws that impact our IT systems and processes;- Global economic and financial market instability related to the U.K.'s referendum withdrawal from the E.U., as well as instability from the possibility of withdrawal of other E.U. member states: - Potential political and economic instability and changes in governments;- Compliance with foreign and domestic import and export regulations and anti-corruption laws, including the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.K. Bribery Act, and similar laws of other jurisdictions, governing our business activities outside the United States, the violation of which could result in severe penalties, including monetary fines, criminal proceedings and suspension of export or import privileges; and - Terrorist or military actions that result in destruction or seizure of our assets or suspension or disruption of our operations or those of our customers, suppliers or service providers. We currently transact business in the UK, where we also have offices. The UK has formally exited the E.U. ("Brexit") and the transition period has now ended. As a result, a number of agreements have been made that alter UK's relationship with the E.U., including the terms of trade between the UK and the E.U. and the rest of the world. The measures could potentially disrupt the markets we serve and the tax jurisdictions in which we operate and adversely change tax benefits or liabilities in these or other jurisdictions. Changes resulting from these measures, including access to free trade agreements, tariffs and customs and currency fluctuations may cause us to lose customers, suppliers and employees and adversely affect our financial condition. We have substantial operations in Brazil and face risks related to these countries' complex tax, labor, trade compliance and consumer protection laws and regulations. Additionally, developing markets such as Brazil have greater political volatility and vulnerability to infrastructure and labor disruptions, are more likely to experience market and interest rate fluctuations and may have higher inflation. In addition, doing business in these countries poses additional challenges, such as finding and retaining qualified employees, particularly management-level employees, navigating underdeveloped infrastructure and identifying and retaining qualified suppliers, resellers, agents and service providers, among other risks. Furthermore, in developing markets it may be common for others to engage in business practices prohibited by laws and regulations applicable to us, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, UK Bribery Act, or similar local anti-bribery laws. Our commitment to legal compliance could put us at a competitive disadvantage, and any lapses in our compliance could subject us to civil and criminal penalties that could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, competition in developing markets is increasing. If we cannot successfully increase our business, our product sales, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

The spread of COVID-19 since December 2019 has resulted in the implementation of numerous measures to contain the virus worldwide, such as travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders, business shutdowns, and limitations of in-person gatherings. The pandemic and these containment measures have had a substantial impact on our business, suppliers' businesses and sales partners' businesses. The negative impacts to net sales from the pandemic, including declines in customer demand and supply chain disruptions, were most pronounced during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020, and have since recovered throughout fiscal year 2021. While we are unable to predict the ultimate impact that COVID-19 will have on our business, certain technologies have benefited from the widespread adoption of work-from-home, as well as the accelerated shift to digitize and automate processes. However, our revenues could decrease significantly if our suppliers are not able to supply us products in a timely manner, our distribution centers may not be able to maintain staffing levels and therefore shipments, and our cash flows could suffer. We are also incurring higher employee-related healthcare and prevention costs as a result of the pandemic, including providing protective equipment to our front-line employees, and increased sanitation measures at our offices and warehouses. To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the mitigation efforts and the resulting economic impact could adversely affect many aspects of our business. COVID-19 may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risk factors disclosed herein, such as those relating to our growth strategies, credit exposure, liquidity and capital resources, people, volatility of stock price and economic weakness.

Our operating results could be adversely affected by increased competition for employees, difficulty in recruiting employees, higher employee turnover or increased compensation and benefit costs. Our employees are important to our success and we are dependent in part on our ability to retain the services of our employees in key roles. We have built our business on a set of core values, and we attempt to hire and retain employees who are committed to these values and our culture of providing exceptional service to our customers and suppliers. In order to compete and to continue to grow, we must attract, retain and motivate employees, including those in executive, senior management, sales, marketing, logistics, technical support and other operating positions. Many of our employees work in small teams to provide specific services to customers and suppliers. They are trained to develop their knowledge of products, services, programs and practices and customer business needs, as well as to enhance the skills required to provide exceptional service and to manage our business. As they gain experience and develop their knowledge and skills, our employees become highly desired by other businesses. Therefore, to retain our employees, we have to provide a satisfying work environment and competitive compensation and benefits.

Our business, like that of other distributors, is subject to the risk that the value of our inventory will be adversely affected by price reductions by manufacturers, by technological changes affecting the usefulness or desirability of our products or by foreign currency fluctuations. Most of our supplier agreements and most manufacturers' policies have some price protection and stock rotation opportunities with respect to slow-moving or obsolete inventory items. However, these protections are limited in scope and do not protect against all declines in inventory value, excess inventory, or product obsolescence, and in some instances we may not be able to fulfill all necessary conditions or successfully manage such price protection or stock rotation opportunities. In addition, these protections are not always reflected in supplier agreements and their application in a particular situation is dependent upon negotiations with our suppliers. As a result, occasionally we are required to write down the value of excess and obsolete inventory, and should any of these write-downs occur at a significant level, they could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The market for some of our products and services is subject to rapid technological change, evolving industry standards and changes in customer demand, which can contribute to the decline in value or obsolescence of inventory. Although most of our suppliers provide us with certain protections from the loss in value of inventory (such as price protection and certain return rights), we cannot be sure that such protections will fully compensate for any loss in value, or that the suppliers will choose to, or be able to, honor such agreements. Our ability and our supplier's ability to anticipate and react quickly to new technology trends and customer requirements is crucial to our overall success, financial condition and results of operations. If our suppliers fail to evolve their product and service offerings, or if we fail to evolve our product and service offerings or engage with desirable suppliers in time to respond to, and remain ahead of, new technological developments, it would adversely affect our ability to retain or increase market share and revenues. New technologies may emerge that quickly surpass the capabilities of the products we currently hold in inventory or have access to sell through our existing supplier network, and our customers may no longer view our product offerings as desirable or necessary, which could result in a reduction in our market share and ability to obtain sufficient profit margins. Some of our competitors and our suppliers' competitors may be better at adapting to disruptive technology or entering new markets. Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to adapt and manage our product and service offerings to meet customer needs at prices that our customers are willing to pay.

We make extensive use of online services and integrated information systems, including through third-party service providers. The secure maintenance and transmission of customer information is a critical element of our operations. Our information technology and other systems that maintain and transmit customer or employee information or those of service providers or business partners may be compromised by a malicious third-party penetration of our network security, or that of a third-party service provider or business partner, or impacted by advertent or inadvertent actions or inactions by our employees, or those of a third-party service provider or business partner. With constant changes in the security landscape, experienced computer programmers and hackers may be able to penetrate our network security, or that of our third-party service providers, and misappropriate or compromise our confidential information, create system disruptions, or cause shutdowns. As a result, our customers' information may be lost, disclosed, accessed or taken without our customers' consent. We are subject to laws and regulations relating to customer privacy and the protection of personal information. Any such loss, disclosure or misappropriation of, or access to, customers' or business partners' information or our information or other breach of such information security can result in legal claims or legal proceedings, including regulatory investigations and actions, may have a serious impact on our reputation and may adversely affect our businesses, operating results and financial condition.

We are highly dependent upon a variety of computer and telecommunication systems to operate our business, including our enterprise resource planning systems. As we are dependent upon our ability to gather and promptly transmit accurate information to key decision makers, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected if our information systems do not allow us to transmit accurate information, even for a short period of time. Failure to properly or adequately address these issues could impact our ability to perform necessary business operations, which could adversely affect our reputation, competitive position, business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the information systems of companies we acquire may not meet our standards or we may not be able to successfully convert them to provide acceptable information on a timely and cost-effective basis. Furthermore, we must attract and retain qualified people to operate our systems, expand and improve them, integrate new programs effectively with our existing programs and convert to new systems efficiently when required. Any disruption to our business due to such issues, or an increase in our costs to cover these issues, could have an adverse effect on our financial results and operations. Our customers rely on our electronic ordering and information systems as a source for product information, including availability and pricing. There can be no assurance that our systems will not fail or experience disruptions, and any significant failure or disruption of these systems could prevent us from making sales, ordering and delivering products and otherwise conducting our business. Many of our customers use our website to check product availability, see their customized pricing and place orders. While our website has not experienced any material disruptions or security breakdowns, it may in the future and any disruptions could harm our relationship with our suppliers, customers and other business partners. Any material disruption of our website or the Internet in general could impair our order processing or prevent our suppliers and customers from accessing information and cause us to lose business.

Certain of our customers sell our products to government entities, which requires us to comply with additional laws, regulations and contractual requirements relating to how we conduct business. In complying with such laws, regulations, and other requirements, we may incur additional costs. In addition, non-compliance with such laws, regulations, and other requirements also may expose us to fines and penalties, including contractual damages or the loss of certain contracts or business. We also may be subject to increased scrutiny and investigation into our business practices, which may increase operating costs and increase legal liability, as well as expose us to additional reputational risk.

In the ordinary course of our business, we are involved in a wide range of disputes, some of which result in litigation. We are routinely involved in litigation related to commercial disputes surrounding our business activities, intellectual property disputes, employment disputes and accounts receivable collection activity. In addition, as a public company with a large shareholder base, we are susceptible to class-action lawsuits and other litigation resulting from disclosures that we or our officers and directors make (or do not make) and our other activities. Litigation is expensive to bring and defend, and the outcome of litigation can be adverse and significant. Not all adverse outcomes can be anticipated, and applicable accounting rules do not always require or permit the establishment of a reserve until a final result has occurred or becomes probable and estimable. In some instances we are insured or indemnified for the potential losses; in other instances we are not. An uninsured, under insured or non-indemnified adverse outcome in significant litigation could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We can make no assurances that we will ultimately be successful in our defense of any of these disputes. See Item 3. "Legal Proceedings" for further discussion of our material legal matters.

We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations addressing environmental and other impacts from product disposal, use of hazardous materials in products, recycling of products at the end of their useful life and other related matters. Compliance with these environmental laws may have a material adverse effect on our business. These laws include the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, ("RoHS"), RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU ("RoHS 2") and the European Union Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive ("WEEE") as enacted by individual European Union countries and other similar legislation adopted in North America. These directives can make companies involved in the production or distribution of electrical goods, including computers and printers, responsible for collection, recycling, treatment and disposal of recovered products. In addition, these directives and similar legislation can have an impact on the types and design of products we are able to sell in jurisdictions that have adopted such restrictions. While we strive to ensure we are in compliance with all applicable regulations, certain of these regulations impose strict liability. Additionally, we may be held responsible for the prior activities of entities that we have acquired or will acquire in the future. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in substantial costs, fines and civil or criminal sanctions, as well as third party claims for property damage or personal injury. Further, environmental laws may become more stringent over time, imposing greater compliance costs and increasing risks and penalties associated with violation, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.