Item 1A. Risk Factors
Risks Related to Operations of Our Business
A significant portion of our revenues is generated by large, recurring business from certain significant customers, including the U.S. government. A loss, cancellation or delay in projects by our significant customers in the future could negatively affect our financial performance.
A considerable percentage of our revenues, particularly in our GS business segment, is generated from transactions with certain significant customers. Revenues from the U.S. government represented 61% of our total consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022. Budget uncertainty, the potential for U.S. government shutdowns, the use of continuing resolutions and the federal debt ceiling can adversely affect our industry and the funding for our contracts. If appropriations are delayed or a government shutdown were to occur and were to continue for an extended period of time, we could be at risk of contract cancellations and other disruptions and nonpayment. When the U.S. government operates under a continuing resolution, new contract starts are restricted and funding for our programs may be unavailable, reduced or delayed. Shifting funding priorities or federal budget compromises, also could result in reductions in overall defense spending on an absolute or inflation-adjusted basis, which could adversely impact our business.
Our results of operations and cash flows depend on the award of new contracts and the timing of the performance of these contracts.
Our revenues are directly or indirectly derived from contract awards. Reductions in the number and amounts of new awards, delays in the timing of anticipated awards or potential cancellations of such prospects as a result of economic conditions, material and equipment pricing and availability or other factors could adversely impact our long-term projected results. It is particularly difficult to predict whether or when we will receive large-scale international and domestic projects as these contracts usually involve a lengthy and complex bidding and selection process. This process can be affected by a number of factors including market conditions and governmental and environmental approvals. As a portion of our revenues is generated from such projects, our results of operations and cash flows can fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter depending on the timing of our contract awards and the commencement or progress of work under awarded contracts. In addition, many of these contracts are subject to financing and similar contingencies and, as a result, we are subject to the risk that the customer will not be able to secure the necessary financing for a project to proceed.
The uncertainty of our contract award timing can also present difficulties in matching workforce size with contract needs. In some cases, we maintain and bear the cost of a ready workforce that is larger than necessary under existing contracts in expectation of future workforce needs for anticipated contract awards. If an anticipated contract award is delayed or not received, we may incur additional costs resulting from reductions in staff or redundancy of facilities that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and other geopolitical conditions, may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Political, economic and other conditions in foreign countries and regions, including geopolitical risks such as the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, may adversely affect our business and operations as a portion of our revenue is derived from foreign operations. During 2022, we continue to carry out efforts to wind down our operations in Russia in a responsible manner. We do not expect this to have a material adverse impact on our results of operations in the long term. However, current and potential future sanctions and trade control measures implemented against Russia in response to the conflict may have an impact on our ability to operate in the ordinary course of business as we wind down our operations in Russia. Any alleged or actual failure to comply with these measures may subject us to government scrutiny, civil and/or criminal proceedings, sanctions and other liabilities, which may have an adverse effect on our international operations, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, the full scope, duration and broader implications of this conflict, which may include additional international sanctions, embargoes, regional instability and geopolitical shifts; increased tensions between the United States and countries in which we operate; and the extent of the conflict's effects on our business and results of operations as well as the global economy, cannot be predicted.
To the extent the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine or other geopolitical conflicts adversely affect our business, they may also have the effect of heightening many of our other risks identified in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. Such risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
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•adverse effects on macroeconomic conditions, including inflation, demand for our products and potential recessionary economic conditions;
•increased cyber security threats;
•adverse changes in trade policies, taxes, government regulations and tariffs;
•our ability to obtain compensation for increased costs incurred related to rising costs of equipment, materials and labor on fixed-price contracts;
•our ability to implement and execute our business strategy;
•disruptions in global supply chains;
•our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations; and
•constraints, volatility or disruption in the capital markets.
The COVID-19 pandemic and other pandemics, epidemics, outbreaks of infectious diseases or public health crises have disrupted our business and could have a material adverse effect on our future results of operations and financial performance.
The spread of COVID-19 and other pandemics, epidemics, outbreaks of infectious diseases or public health crises across the globe have disrupted, and may in the future disrupt our business, which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and/or future expectations. With respect to COVID-19, our business, operations and financial performance have been, and may continue to be affected by the still ongoing macroeconomic impacts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, our financial performance and growth rates may differ significantly from pre-pandemic historical periods, and our future results may fall below expectations. Any health crisis may negatively affect worldwide economic and commercial activity, disrupt global supply chains and the labor market and create significant volatility and disruption of financial and commodity markets. The extent to which our business will continue to be affected and may in the future be affected depends on a number of factors outside of our control, including:
•labor disruptions due to (i) worker health and availability, (ii) pandemic-related restrictions limiting worksite access or shutting down facilities to ensure the safety of employees and others, (iii) difficulty recruiting, retaining, training, motivating and developing employees due to evolving health and safety protocols, changing worker expectations and market competition regarding return to office and flexible work models and (iv) the challenges of maintaining our strong corporate culture valuing communication, collaboration and connections despite a majority of employees working remotely;
•increased cyber security risk and data accessibility disruptions due to remote working arrangements;
•recommendations of, or restrictions imposed by, government and health authorities, including travel bans, quarantines and vaccine mandates to address the COVID-19 outbreak;
•potential contract delays, modifications or terminations;
•continued or additional supply chain disruptions which could impair our ability to perform under our contracts or deliver services and products on a timely basis, resulting in potential contract delays, modifications or terminations;
•reductions in the number and amounts of new government contract awards, delays in the timing of anticipated awards or potential cancellations of such prospects as a result of the fiscal, economic and budgetary challenges facing our customers, including increased material and equipment costs resulting from inflation and supply chain disruptions;
•increased cost and reduced availability of capital for growth or capital expenditures;
•increased costs of operation attributed to inflation, which costs may not be fully recoverable or adequately covered by insurance; and
•long-term disruption of the U.S. and global economy and financial and commodity markets.
If we are unable to enforce our intellectual property rights, or if our intellectual property rights are challenged or become obsolete, our competitive position could be adversely impacted.
We utilize a variety of intellectual property rights in providing services to our customers. We view our portfolio of process and design technologies as one of our competitive strengths and we use it as part of our efforts to differentiate our service offerings. We may not be able to successfully preserve these intellectual property rights in the future, and these rights could be invalidated, circumvented, challenged or infringed upon. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries in which our services may be sold do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.S. We also license technologies from third parties and there is a risk that our relationships with licensors may terminate, expire or be interrupted or harmed. If we are unable to protect and maintain our intellectual property rights, or if there are any successful intellectual property challenges or infringement proceedings against us, our ability to differentiate our service offerings could diminish. In addition, if our intellectual property rights or work processes become obsolete, we may not be able to differentiate our service offerings and some of our competitors may be able to offer more attractive services to our customers. As a result, our business and financial performance could be materially and adversely affected.
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We may not properly leverage or appropriately invest in technology advancements, which could diminish any sustainable competitive advantage in our service offerings resulting in the potential loss of market share and profits.
Our business is dependent on information technology as we operate in global markets with customers who demand innovation, technical and domain expertise and digitally-enabled, technology-led solutions. Robust information technology systems, platforms and products are integral in our efforts to differentiate our service offerings and maintain our competitive advantages. It is strategically important that we lead the digital transformation occurring in our industry. We may not be successful in structuring our technology or developing, acquiring or implementing technology systems in ways that are competitive and responsive to the needs of our customers. We may lack sufficient resources to continue to make the significant technology investments to effectively compete with our competitors. Certain technology initiatives that management considers important to our long-term success will require capital investment, have significant risks associated with their execution and could take several years to implement. If we are unable to develop and implement these initiatives in a cost-effective, timely manner or at all, it could damage our relationships with our customers and negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations. There can be no assurance that others will not acquire similar or superior technologies sooner than we do or that we will acquire technologies on an exclusive basis or at a significant price advantage. If we do not accurately predict, prepare and respond to new technology innovations, market developments and changing customer needs, our revenues, profitability and long-term competitiveness could be materially adversely affected.
If we are unable to attract and retain senior management and key technical professionals with elite skills, our ability to pursue and compete for projects to grow our business may be adversely affected, our operating income may decrease and our reputation may be negatively impacted.
The reimagined KBR and its forward-looking solutions strategy requires talent with dynamic and elite skills as KBR moves upmarket. Our rate of growth and the success of our business depend upon our ability to attract, develop, retain and replace key qualified technical and management professionals, either through direct hire, subcontracts or acquisition of other firms, who possess the elite skills to successfully deliver the solutions strategy. The market for these professionals is competitive in the sectors in which we compete, and we rely heavily upon the expertise and leadership of our professionals to perform, execute and complete projects as required by our clients. If we are unable to attract and retain a sufficient number of elite skilled professionals, our ability to pursue projects may be adversely affected, our operating income may decline, and our reputation may be damaged.
Our future success depends on the continued services of our executive officers as well as our ability to effectively transition to their successors. Our inability to attract, develop and retain qualified employees that can succeed our executive officers could have a material adverse effect on our operating income and reputation.
The nature of our business exposes us to potential liability claims and contract disputes that may exceed or be excluded from existing insurance coverage.
We engage in activities for large facilities where design, construction or systems failures can result in substantial injury or damage to employees or other third parties or delays in completion or commencement of commercial operations, exposing us to legal proceedings, investigations and disputes. The nature of our business results in clients, subcontractors and vendors occasionally presenting claims against us for recovery of costs they incurred in excess of what they expected to incur or for which they believe they are not contractually liable. If it is determined that we have liability, we may not be covered by insurance or, if covered, the dollar amount of these liabilities may exceed our policy limits. Our professional liability coverage is on a “claims-made” basis covering only claims actually made during the policy period currently in effect. In addition, even where insurance is maintained for such exposures, the policies have deductibles, which result in our assumption of exposure for a layer of coverage with respect to any such claims. Any liability not covered by our insurance, in excess of our insurance limits or if covered by insurance but subject to a high deductible, could result in a significant loss for us, which may reduce our profits and cash available for operations.
We occasionally bring claims against project owners for additional costs exceeding the contract price or for amounts not included in the original contract price. These types of claims occur due to matters such as owner-caused delays or changes from the initial project scope that may result in additional direct and indirect costs. Often these claims can be the subject of lengthy negotiations, arbitration or litigation proceedings, and it is difficult to accurately predict when these claims will be fully resolved. When these types of events occur and unresolved claims are pending, we may invest significant working capital in projects to cover cost overruns pending the resolution of the relevant claims. A failure to recover on these types of claims fully or promptly could have a material adverse impact on our liquidity and financial results.
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For example, we have a 30% ownership interest in JKC, which was contracted to perform the engineering, procurement, supply, construction and commissioning of onshore LNG facilities for a client in Darwin, Australia (the "Ichthys LNG Project"). Prior to completion, the project experienced significant cost increases associated with a variety of issues related to delays, changes in the scope of work and lower than expected subcontractor productivity. These issues resulted in significant unapproved change orders and claims against the client as well as estimated recoveries of claims against suppliers and subcontractors that have been included in the project estimates-at-completion. While JKC entered into binding settlement agreements that resolved the outstanding claims and disputes between JKC and its client, Ichthys LNG Pty, Ltd and JKC and its consortium of subcontractors, we were required to record significant non-cash charges to equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated affiliates in connection with these disputes.
Dependence on third-party subcontractors and equipment manufacturers could adversely affect our financial performance on contracts.
We rely on third-party subcontractors and equipment manufacturers in order to complete many of our projects. Certain subcontractors and suppliers, such as those used on our U.S. government contracts, are subject to the same rigorous government requirements that we are and if they are unable to comply with these requirements, in many cases, there are limited alternative subcontractors and suppliers available in the market, particularly those with the requisite security clearances. In addition, if any subcontractor or a manufacturer is unable to deliver its services, equipment or materials according to the negotiated terms for any reason including, but not limited to, the deterioration of its financial condition, we may be required to purchase the services, equipment or materials from another source at a higher price. This may reduce the profit we expect to realize or result in a loss on a project for which the services, equipment or materials were needed. Furthermore, if the amount we are required to pay for these goods and services exceeds the amount we have estimated in bidding for fixed-price contracts, we could experience losses in the performance of these contracts.
We use estimates in recognizing revenues, and if we make changes to estimates used in recognizing revenues, our profitability may be adversely affected.
A significant portion of our revenues and profits are measured and recognized over time using the cost-to-cost method of revenue recognition. Our use of this accounting method results in recognition of revenues and profits over the life of a contract, based generally on the proportion of costs incurred to date to total costs expected to be incurred for the entire project. The effects of revisions to estimated revenues and costs are recorded when the amounts are known or can be reasonably estimated. In addition, we record unapproved change orders and claims against clients as well as estimated recoveries of claims against suppliers and subcontractors that have been included in the estimated profit at completion for certain projects. Revisions to these estimates could occur in any period and their effects could be material. The uncertainties inherent in estimating the progress towards completion or the recoverability of claims of long-term contracts make it possible for actual revenues and costs to vary materially from our estimates, including reductions or reversals of previously recorded revenues and profits.
We conduct a portion of our operations through joint ventures and partnerships, exposing us to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control.
We conduct a portion of our operations through project-specific joint ventures where control may be shared with unaffiliated third parties. As with any joint venture arrangement, differences in views among the joint venture partners may result in delayed decisions or in failures to agree on major issues. We also cannot control the actions of our joint venture partners, including failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, nonperformance and default or bankruptcy of our joint venture partners. Also, we often share liabilities on a joint and several basis with our joint venture partners under these arrangements. If our partners do not meet their contractual obligations, the joint venture may be unable to adequately perform and deliver its contracted services, requiring us to make additional investments or perform additional services to ensure the adequate performance and delivery of services to the customer, which could ultimately result in litigation. We could be liable for both our obligations and those of our partners, which may result in reduced profits, significant losses on the project and a negative impact to our cash flows. Additionally, these factors could have a material adverse effect on the business operations of the joint venture and, in turn, our business operations and reputation.
Operating through joint ventures in which we have a minority interest could result in us having limited control over many decisions made with respect to projects and internal controls relating to projects. These joint ventures may not be subject to the same requirements regarding internal controls that are applicable to us. As a result, internal control issues may arise, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
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The nature of our contracts, particularly those that are fixed-price, subjects us to risks associated with cost overruns, operating cost inflation and potential claims for liquidated damages.
We conduct our business under various types of contracts where costs must be estimated in advance of our performance. A portion of the value of our current backlog is attributable to fixed-price contracts where we bear a significant portion of the risk of cost overruns. These types of contracts are priced, in part, on cost and scheduling estimates that are based on assumptions including pricing and availability of experienced labor, equipment and materials as well as productivity, performance and future economic conditions. If these estimates prove inaccurate, if there are errors or ambiguities as to contract specifications or if circumstances change due to, among other things, unanticipated technical problems, poor project execution, difficulties in obtaining permits or approvals, changes in local laws or labor conditions, weather delays, increased costs of equipment and materials from inflation or other factors or our suppliers’ or subcontractors’ inability to perform, then cost overruns may occur. We may not be able to obtain compensation for additional work performed or expenses incurred. Additionally, we have in the past and may in the future be required to pay liquidated damages upon our failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of our contracts. Our failure to accurately estimate the resources and time required for fixed-price contracts or our failure to complete our contractual obligations within a specified time frame or cost estimate could result in reduced profits or, in certain cases, a loss for that contract. If the contract is significant, or we encounter issues that impact multiple contracts, cost overruns could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We work in locations and on projects where there are high security risks, which could result in substantial costs, damage to our reputation and harm to our employees, contractors and clients.
Some of our services are performed in high-risk locations, including but not limited to, certain parts of Africa and the Middle East, where the country or surrounding area is suffering from political, social or economic issues, war or civil unrest. In those locations where we have employees or operations, we may incur substantial costs to maintain the safety of our personnel and clients. Despite these precautions, we have suffered the loss of employees and contractors in the past that resulted in claims and litigation. Furthermore, there is risk of mass casualty or environmentally damaging events that may involve our and third-party personnel and property, which could lead to future claims and litigation, impact our reputation and investor confidence and ultimately result in reduced share price.
Our backlog of unfilled orders is subject to unexpected adjustments and cancellations and, therefore, may not be a reliable indicator of our future revenues or earnings.
As of December 31, 2022, the future revenues we expect to realize as a result of backlog was approximately $15.6 billion. We cannot guarantee that the revenues projected in our backlog will be realized or that the projects will be profitable. Many of our contracts are subject to cancellation, termination or suspension at the discretion of the customer. From time to time, changes in project scope may occur with respect to contracts reflected in our backlog and could reduce the dollar amount of our backlog or the timing of the revenues and profits that we ultimately earn. Projects may remain in our backlog for an extended period of time because of the nature of the project and the timing of the particular services or equipment required by the project. Delays, suspensions, cancellations, payment defaults, scope changes and poor project execution could materially reduce or eliminate profits that we actually realize from projects in backlog. We cannot predict the impact that future economic conditions may have on our backlog, which could include a diminished ability to replace backlog once projects are completed or could result in the termination, modification or suspension of projects currently in our backlog. Such developments could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We make equity investments in privately financed projects in which we could sustain significant losses.
We participate in privately financed projects that enable governments and other customers to finance large-scale projects, such as the acquisition and maintenance of major military equipment, capital projects and service purchases. These projects typically include the facilitation of nonrecourse financing, the design and construction of facilities, the provision of operation and maintenance services and warranty obligations for an agreed-upon period after the facilities have been completed. We may incur contractually reimbursable costs and typically make investments prior to an entity achieving operational status or receiving project financing. If a project is unable to obtain financing, we could incur losses on our investments and any related contractual receivables. After completion of these projects, the return on our investments can be dependent on the operational success of the project and market factors that may not be under our control. As a result, we could sustain a loss on our equity investment in these projects.
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We have made and may continue to make business combinations as a part of our business strategy, which may present certain risks and uncertainties.
We may continue to seek business acquisitions as a means of broadening our offerings and capturing additional market opportunities by our business segments. However, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in identifying target companies that meet our criteria for acquisition. We may also face increased competition from other potential acquirers who have greater financial resources or who are in a position to offer more favorable terms to the target company. This competition may limit our ability to pursue acquisition opportunities which could negatively affect our growth strategies. Additionally, future acquisitions may require us to obtain additional equity or debt financing, which may not be available on attractive terms, if at all.
The success of our historical and future business combinations also depends on our ability to integrate the operations of the acquired businesses efficiently and effectively with our existing operations and realize the anticipated benefits from them. The potential risks associated with successful integration and realization of benefits include, but are not limited to the following:
•our due diligence may not identify or fully assess valuation issues, potential liabilities or other acquisition risks;
•acquired entities may not achieve anticipated revenue targets, cost savings or other synergies or benefits, or acquisitions may not result in improved operating performance, which could adversely affect our operating income or operating margins, and we may be unable to recover investments in any such acquisitions;
•we may have difficulty integrating acquired businesses, resulting in unforeseen difficulties, such as incompatible accounting, information management or other control systems, and greater expenses than expected;
•we may have difficulty entering into new markets in which we are not experienced, in an efficient and cost-effective manner while maintaining adequate standards, controls and procedures;
•key personnel within an acquired organization may resign from their related positions resulting in a significant loss to our strategic and operational efficiency associated with the acquired company;
•the effectiveness of our daily operations may be reduced by the redirection of employees and other resources to acquisition and integration activities;
•we may assume liabilities of an acquired business (including litigation, tax liabilities, contingent liabilities, environmental issues), including liabilities that were unknown at the time of the acquisition, that pose future risks to our working capital needs, cash flows and the profitability of related operations;
•we may assume unprofitable projects that pose future risks to our working capital needs, cash flows and the profitability of related operations; or
•business acquisitions may include substantial transactional costs to complete the acquisition that exceed the estimated financial and operational benefits.
International and political events may adversely affect our operations.
A portion of our revenues is derived from foreign operations, which exposes us to risks inherent in doing business in each of the countries where we transact business. The occurrence of any of the risks described below could have a material adverse effect on our business operations and financial performance. With respect to any particular country, these risks may include, but not be limited to:
•expropriation and nationalization of our assets in that country;
•changes in government regimes and other developments that may cause, directly or indirectly, political and economic instability;
•changes in trade policies affecting the markets for our services (including but not limited to retaliatory tariffs between the United States and other countries);
•civil unrest, acts of terrorism, war or other armed conflict (including but not limited to potential U.S. sanctions on other countries);
•currency fluctuations, devaluations and conversion restrictions;
•confiscatory taxation or other adverse tax policies;
•uncertainties related to any geopolitical, economic and regulatory effects or changes due to recent or upcoming domestic and international elections;
•governmental activities or judicial actions that limit or disrupt markets, restrict payments, limit the movement of funds, result in the deprivation of contract rights or result in the inability for us to obtain or retain licenses required for operation; or
•increased polarization of political parties, in the U.S. and abroad, which may lead to more volatility in government spending or other developments such as trade wars or changes in military priorities.
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Due to the unsettled political conditions in countries where we provide governmental logistical support, our financial performance is subject to the adverse consequences of war, the effects of terrorism, civil unrest, strikes, currency controls and governmental actions. Our operations are conducted in areas that have significant political risk. In addition, military action or unrest could disrupt our operations in such locations and elsewhere and increase our costs related to security worldwide.
Internal or external cybersecurity or privacy breaches, or systems and information technology interruption or failure could adversely impact our ability to operate or expose us to significant financial losses and reputational harm.
As a U.S. government contractor and a provider of IT services operating in multiple regulated industries and geographies, we and our business partners (including our service providers, joint venture partners, suppliers and subcontractors) handle a variety of sensitive information including personally identifiable information, personnel information, protected health information, classified and controlled unclassified information, and financial information, concerning our business, employees and customers. We and our business partners are continuously exposed to cyber and other security threats, including cyberattacks such as malware/computer viruses, ransomware and phishing attacks, insider threats related to malicious and non-malicious activities from authorized and unauthorized employees or third parties, catastrophic events, power outages, natural disasters, computer system or network failures or physical break-ins. Any unauthorized electronic or physical intrusion or other security threat may jeopardize the protection of sensitive or other information stored or transmitted through our IT systems and networks and those of our business partners. This could lead to disruptions in our business and result in decreased performance, significant remediation costs, transaction errors, loss of data (including personally identifiable information), processing inefficiencies, downtime, litigation and the loss of suppliers or customers. Under certain contracts with the U.S. government subject to the FAR and CAS, the adequacy of our business processes and related systems could be called into question. Any significant disruptions or failures could damage our reputation or have a material adverse effect on our business operations, financial performance, financial condition and reputation.
Additionally, we work with the defense industrial base industry and the U.S. government to gather and share threat intelligence and promote increased awareness and enhanced protections against cybersecurity threats. However, because of the evolving nature of these security threats, there can be no assurance that our policies, procedures and other controls will detect or prevent them, and we cannot predict their full impact. We may experience similar security threats to the IT systems that we develop, install or maintain under customer contracts, including customer contracts under which we may have access to or management responsibility for customer databases or networks that contain sensitive information relating to our customers, their employees or related third parties. Although we work cooperatively with our customers to seek to minimize the impacts of cyber and other security threats, we must usually rely on the safeguards used or required by those customers. In the event of unauthorized access to sensitive information for which we are responsible under customer contracts, our customers, their employees, or third parties may seek to hold us liable for any costs or other damages associated with the unauthorized access. In addition, government agencies may bring legal actions against us for violation of or noncompliance with regulatory requirements relating to any unauthorized access to sensitive information. Any remediation costs, damages or other liabilities related to unauthorized access of sensitive information of ours or our customers caused by cyber or other security threats may not be fully insured or indemnified by other means or our insurers. Occurrence of any unauthorized access caused by these security threats could adversely affect our reputation, business operations and impact our financial results.
While we have security measures and technology in place designed to protect our and our clients’ proprietary or classified information, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent all threats to our computer systems. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently, become more sophisticated and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. As a result, we may be required to expend significant resources to protect against the threat of system disruptions and security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by these disruptions and breaches. Any of these events could damage our reputation, cause us to incur significant liability and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We continuously evaluate the need to upgrade and/or replace our systems and network infrastructure to protect our computing environment, to stay current on vendor supported products and to improve the efficiency of our systems and for other business reasons. The implementation of new systems and information technology could adversely impact our operations by imposing substantial capital expenditures, demands on management time and risks of delays or difficulties in transitioning to new systems. In addition, our systems implementations may not result in productivity improvements at the levels anticipated. Systems implementation disruption and any other information technology disruption, if not anticipated and appropriately mitigated, could have a material adverse effect on our business.
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In addition, laws and regulations governing data privacy and the unauthorized disclosure of personal data, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), the United Kingdom Data Protection Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act, the California Privacy Rights Act and other emerging U.S. state and global privacy laws pose increasingly complex compliance challenges and potentially elevate costs and may require changes to our business practices resulting from the variation of regulatory requirements and increased enforcement frequency. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations, including related regulatory enforcement and/or private litigation resulting from a potential privacy breach, could result in governmental investigations, significant fines and penalties, damages from private causes of action or reputational harm. Additionally, we are subject to laws, rules and regulations regarding cross-border transfers of personal data, including laws relating to transfer of personal data outside the European Economic Area. If we cannot rely on existing mechanisms for transferring personal data, we may be unable to transfer personal data of employees and clients in those regions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
An impairment of all or part of our goodwill or our intangible assets could have a material adverse impact on our net earnings and net worth.
As of December 31, 2022, we had $2.1 billion of goodwill and $645 million of intangible assets recorded on our consolidated balance sheets. Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair market value of net assets acquired in business combinations. We perform an annual analysis of our goodwill on October 1 to determine if it has become impaired. We perform an interim analysis to determine if our goodwill has become impaired if events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce our enterprise fair value below its book value. These events or circumstances could include a significant change in the business climate, including a significant sustained decline in a reporting unit’s market value, legal factors, operating performance indicators, competition, sale or disposition of a significant portion of our business, potential government actions toward our facilities and various other factors. If the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, we could be required to record an impairment charge. An impairment of all or a part of our goodwill or intangible assets could have a material adverse effect on our net earnings and net worth.
Our actual results could differ from the estimates and assumptions used to prepare our financial statements.
The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of certain assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses for the periods covered and certain amounts disclosed in the notes to our consolidated financial statements. These estimates are based on information available through the date of the issuance of the financial statements and actual results could differ from those estimates, which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We ship a significant amount of cargo using seagoing vessels, exposing us to certain maritime risks.
We execute different projects in remote locations around the world and procure equipment and materials on a global basis. Depending on the type of contract, location, nature of the work and the sourcing of equipment and materials, we may charter seagoing vessels under time and bareboat charter arrangements and assume certain risks typical of those agreements. Such risks may include damage to the ship, liability for cargo and liability that charterers and vessel operators have to third parties “at law.” In addition, we ship a significant amount of cargo and are subject to hazards of the shipping and transportation industry.
Risks Related to Our Industry
The U.S. government awards its contracts through a rigorous competitive process and our efforts to obtain future contracts from the U.S. government may be unsuccessful.
The U.S. government conducts a rigorous competitive process for awarding most contracts. In the services arena, the U.S. government uses multiple contracting approaches. Historically, omnibus contract vehicles have been used for work that is done on a contingency or as-needed basis. In more predictable “sustainment” environments, contracts may include fixed-price, cost-reimbursable and time-and-materials elements. The U.S. government also favors multiple award task order contracts in which several contractors are selected as eligible bidders for future work. Such processes require successful contractors to continually anticipate customer requirements and develop rapid-response bid and proposal teams as well as maintain supplier relationships and delivery systems to react to emerging needs. In addition, U.S. government procurement practices sometimes emphasize price over qualitative factors, such as technical capability and past performance. As a result of these competitive pricing pressures, our profit margins on future U.S. government contracts may be reduced and may require us to make sustained efforts to reduce costs to remain competitive.
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We face rigorous competition and pricing pressures for any additional contract awards from the U.S. government. Many of our existing contracts must be recompeted when their original period of performance ends. Recompetitions represent opportunities for competitors to take market share away from us or for our customers to obtain more favorable terms. We may be required to qualify or continue to qualify under the various multiple award task order contract criteria. Therefore, it may be more difficult for us to win future awards from the U.S. government and we may have other contractors sharing in U.S. government awards that we win. Once a contract is awarded, it may be subject to a lengthy protest process that could result in contract delays, or ultimately, the loss of the contract.
Additionally, our programs for the U.S. Government often operate for periods of time under Undefinitized Contract Actions (UCAs), which means that we begin performing our obligations before the terms, specifications or price are finally agreed to between the parties. The U.S. Government has (and has exercised in the past) the ability to unilaterally definitize contracts, which, absent a successful appeal, obligates us to perform under terms and conditions imposed by the U.S. Government. This can affect our ability to negotiate mutually agreeable contract terms and, if a contract is unilaterally imposed upon on us, it may negatively affect our expected profit and cash flows on a program or impose burdensome terms.
Heightened competition could impact our ability to obtain contracts which could reduce our market share and profits.
We serve markets that are global and highly competitive. We compete with larger companies that have greater name recognition, financial resources and a larger technical staff. We also compete with smaller, more specialized companies that are able to concentrate their resources on particular areas. Additionally, we compete with the U.S. government’s own capabilities.
The markets in which we operate are characterized by rapidly changing technology and the needs of our customers change and evolve regularly. Therefore, our success depends on our ability to invest in and develop our people and technology to enable us to deliver services and products that address these changing needs. To remain competitive, we must consistently provide superior service, technology and performance on a cost-effective basis to our customers while understanding customer priorities and maintaining customer relationships. Our competitors may be able to provide our customers with differentiated or superior capabilities or technologies or more attractive contract terms than we can provide, including technical qualifications, past contract experience, geographic presence, price and the availability of qualified professional personnel. Some of our competitors have made or could make acquisitions of businesses, or establish teaming or other agreements among themselves or third parties, that allow them to offer more competitive and comprehensive solutions. As a result of such acquisitions or arrangements, our current or potential competitors may be able to accelerate the adoption of new technologies that better address customer needs, devote greater resources to bring these products and services to market, initiate or withstand substantial price competition or develop and expand their product and service offerings at a more accelerated rate. These competitive pressures in our market or our failure to compete effectively may result in fewer orders, reduced revenue and margins and loss of market share.
Some of our U.S. government work requires KBR and certain of its employees to qualify for and retain a government-issued security clearance. If we are unable to hire or retain employees with adequate security clearances, we may be unable to perform our obligations to customers.
We currently hold U.S. government-issued facility security clearances and a large number of our employees have qualified for and hold U.S. government-issued personal security clearances necessary to qualify for and ultimately perform certain U.S. government contracts. Obtaining and maintaining security clearances for employees involves lengthy processes, and it is difficult to identify, recruit and retain employees who already hold security clearances. If our employees are unable to obtain or retain security clearances or if our employees who hold security clearances terminate employment with us and we are unable to find replacements with equivalent security clearances, we may be unable to perform our obligations to customers whose work requires cleared employees, or such customers could terminate their contracts or decide not to renew them upon their expiration. Our facility security clearances could be marked as "invalid" for several reasons including unapproved foreign ownership, control or influence, mishandling of classified materials or failure to properly report required activities. An inability to obtain or retain our facility security clearances or engage employees with the required security clearances for a particular contract could disqualify us from bidding for and winning new contracts with security requirements as well as result in the termination of any existing contracts requiring such clearances.
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Our U.S. government contract work is regularly reviewed and audited by the U.S. government, U.S. government auditors and others, and these reviews can lead to withholding or delay of payments to us, non-receipt of award fees, legal actions, fines, penalties and liabilities and other remedies against us.
U.S. government contracts are subject to specific regulations such as the FAR, the Truth in Negotiations Act, CAS, the Service Contract Act and DoD security regulations. Failure to comply with any of these regulations, requirements or statutes may result in contract price adjustments, financial penalties or contract termination. Our U.S. government contracts are subject to audits, cost reviews and investigations by U.S. government contracting oversight agencies such as the DCAA. The DCAA reviews the adequacy of, and our compliance with, our internal control systems and policies, including our labor, billing, accounting, purchasing, property, estimating, compensation and management information systems. The DCAA has the authority to conduct audits and reviews to determine if we are complying with the requirements under the FAR and CAS, pertaining to the allocation, period assignment and allowability of costs assigned to U.S. government contracts. The DCAA presents its report findings to the DCMA. Should the DCMA determine that we have not complied with the terms of our contract or applicable statutes and regulations, payments to us may be disallowed, which could result in adjustments to previously reported revenues and refunding of previously collected cash proceeds. Additionally, we currently are and may be subject to additional qui tam litigation brought by private individuals on behalf of the U.S. government under the Federal False Claims Act, which could include claims for treble damages. These suits may remain under seal (and hence, be unknown to us) for some time while the U.S. government decides whether to intervene on behalf of the qui tam plaintiff. For more information, see Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Given the demands of working for the U.S. government, we may have disagreements or experience performance issues. When performance issues arise under any of our U.S. government contracts, the U.S. government retains the right to pursue remedies, which could include termination under any affected contract. If any contract were so terminated, our ability to secure future contracts could be adversely affected. Other remedies that could be sought by our U.S. government customers for any improper activities or performance issues include sanctions such as forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspensions or debarment from doing business with the U.S. government. Further, the negative publicity that could arise from disagreements with our customers or sanctions as a result thereof could have an adverse effect on our reputation in the industry, reduce our ability to compete for new contracts and may also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Several of our contracts with the U.S. government are classified or subject to other security restrictions, which may limit investor insight into portions of our business.
A significant portion of our revenue is from contracts with the U.S. government that are classified or subject to security restrictions that preclude the disclosure of certain information. Additionally, a large number of our employees have security clearances which prohibit them from providing information to investors and other KBR employees without security clearances regarding certain clients and the related services we provide to them. As we are limited in our ability to provide information about these contracts and services, such as the scope of work, associated risks and any disputes or claims, our investors may have limited insight into a substantial portion of our business which may hinder their ability to fully evaluate the risks related to that portion of our business.
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Demand for our services provided under government contracts are directly affected by spending by our customers.
We derive a significant portion of our revenues from contracts with agencies and departments of the U.S., the U.K. and Australia governments, which is directly affected by changes in government spending and availability of adequate funding. Additionally, government regulations generally include the right for government agencies to modify, delay, curtail, renegotiate or terminate contracts at their convenience any time prior to their completion. As we are a significant government contractor, our financial performance is affected by the allocation and prioritization of government spending. Factors that could affect current and future government spending include:
•policy or spending changes implemented by the current administration, defense department or other government agencies;
•increased polarization of political parties;
•failure to pass budget appropriations, continuing funding resolutions or other budgetary decisions, including any failure of the U.S. federal government to manage its fiscal matters or to raise or further suspend the debt ceiling;
•changes, delays or cancellations of government programs or requirements;
•adoption of new laws or regulations that affect companies providing services to the governments;
•reduced buying power as a result of inflation;
•curtailment of the governments’ outsourcing of services to private contractors; or
•the level of political instability due to war, conflict or natural disasters.
We face uncertainty with respect to our government contracts due to the fiscal, economic and budgetary challenges facing our customers. Potential contract delays, modifications or terminations may arise from resolution of these issues and could cause our revenues, profits and cash flows to be lower than our current projections. The loss of work we perform for governments or decreases in governmental spending and outsourcing could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and cash flows.
Fluctuations in commodity prices may affect our customers’ investment decisions which may result in existing project cancellations or delays or changes in the timing and funding of new awards.
Demand for many of our services in our commodity-based markets depends on capital spending by oil and natural gas companies, including national and international oil companies, and by industrial companies, which is directly affected by trends in oil, natural gas and commodities prices. Fluctuations in oil, natural gas and commodities prices can have a direct effect on the profitability and cash flow of such companies, which may impact their willingness to continue pursuing their current investments or make new capital investments. Additionally, commodity prices can also significantly affect the costs of projects. Rising commodity prices can negatively impact the potential returns on investments that are planned, as well as those in progress, and result in customers deferring new investments or canceling or delaying existing projects. To the extent commodity prices decline or fluctuate, or the perceived risk thereof, and our customers defer new investments or cancel or delay existing projects, the demand for our services may decrease, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Financial Conditions and Markets
Current or future economic conditions, including recession or inflation, in the credit markets may negatively affect the ability to operate our or our customers’ businesses, finance working capital, implement our acquisition strategy and access our cash and short-term investments.
We finance our business using cash provided by operations, but also depend on the availability of and access to credit markets, including bank credit lines, letters of credit and surety bonds. Our ability to obtain capital or financing on satisfactory terms will depend in part on prevailing market conditions as well as our operating results. The lack of adequate credit or funding or the unavailability of funding on terms satisfactory to us, could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial performance.
Disruptions of the capital markets could also adversely affect our clients’ ability to finance projects and could result in contract cancellations or suspensions, project delays and payment delays or defaults by our clients. In addition, clients may be unable to fund new projects, may choose to make fewer capital expenditures or otherwise slow their spending on our services or seek contract terms more favorable to them. Our government clients may face budget deficits that prohibit them from funding proposed and existing projects or that cause them to exercise their right to terminate our contracts with little or no prior notice. Furthermore, any financial difficulties suffered by our subcontractors or suppliers could increase our cost or adversely impact project schedules. These disruptions could materially impact our backlog and financial performance.
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In addition, we are subject to the risk that the lending counterparties to our Revolver may be unable to meet their contractual obligations to us if they suffer catastrophic demands on their liquidity. We also routinely enter into contracts with counterparties, including vendors, suppliers and subcontractors that may be negatively affected by events in the capital markets. If those counterparties are unable to perform their obligations to us or our clients, we may be required to provide additional services or make alternate arrangements on less favorable terms with other parties to ensure adequate performance and delivery of service to our clients. These circumstances could also lead to disputes and litigation with our partners or clients, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Furthermore, our cash balances and short-term investments are maintained in accounts held at major banks and financial institutions located primarily in North America, the U.K. and Australia. Deposits are in amounts that exceed available insurance. Although none of the financial institutions in which we hold our cash and investments have gone into bankruptcy, been forced into receivership or have been seized by their governments, there is a risk that this may occur in the future. If this were to occur, we would be at risk of not being able to access our cash and investments, which may result in a temporary decrease in liquidity that could impede our ability to fund operations or execute acquisitions.
We may be unable to obtain new contract awards if we are unable to provide our customers with letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements.
Customers may require us to provide credit enhancements, including letters of credit, bank guarantees or surety bonds. We are often required to provide performance guarantees to customers to indemnify the customer should we fail to perform our obligations under the contract. Failure to provide the required credit enhancements on terms required by a customer may result in an inability to bid, win or comply with the contract. Historically, we have had adequate letters of credit capacity but such capacity beyond our Senior Credit Facility is generally at the provider’s sole discretion. Due to events that affect the banking and insurance markets generally, letters of credit or surety bonds may be difficult to obtain or may only be available at significant cost. Moreover, many projects are very large and complex, which often necessitates the use of a joint venture, often with a market competitor, to bid on and perform the contract. Entering into joint ventures or partnerships exposes us to the credit and performance risk of third parties, many of whom may not be financially as strong or may encounter financial difficulties. If our joint ventures or partners fail to perform, we may be required to complete the project activities. In addition, future projects may require us to obtain letters of credit that extend beyond the term of our Senior Credit Facility. Any inability to bid for or win new contracts due to the failure of obtaining adequate letters of credit, surety bonds or other customary credit enhancements could have a material adverse effect on our business prospects and future revenues.
Our Senior Credit Facility imposes restrictions that limit our operating flexibility and may result in additional expenses, and such facility may not be available if financial covenants are violated or if an event of default occurs.
Our Senior Credit Facility includes a $1 billion revolving credit facility which matures in November 2026. It contains a number of covenants restricting, among other things, our ability to incur liens and indebtedness, sell assets, repurchase our equity shares and make certain types of investments. We are also subject to certain financial covenants, including but not limited to maintenance of a maximum consolidated net leverage ratio and a consolidated interest coverage ratio as defined in the Senior Credit Facility agreement.
A breach of any covenant or our inability to comply with the required financial ratios could result in a default under our Senior Credit Facility, and we can provide no assurance that we will be able to obtain the necessary waivers or amendments from our lenders to remedy a default. In the event of any default not cured or waived, the lenders are not obligated to provide funding or issue letters of credit and could elect to require us to apply available cash to collateralize any outstanding letters of credit and declare any outstanding borrowings, together with accrued interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable, thus requiring us to apply available cash to repay any borrowings then outstanding. If we are unable to cash collateralize our letters of credit or repay borrowings with respect to our Senior Credit Facility when due, our lenders could proceed against the guarantees of our major domestic subsidiaries. If any future indebtedness under our Senior Credit Facility is accelerated, we can provide no assurance that our assets would be sufficient to repay such indebtedness in full.
On February 6, 2023, we amended our Senior Credit Facility (Amendment No. 8 to our Senior Credit Facility) to transition from LIBOR to SOFR. The publication of SOFR began in April 2018 and has a limited history, and the future performance of SOFR cannot be predicted based on historical performance. The future level of SOFR may bear little or no relation to the historical level of SOFR. Prior observed patterns, if any, in the behavior of market variables, such as correlations, may change in the future. While pre-publication indicative historical data has been released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, such analysis inherently involves assumptions, estimates and approximations. The future performance of SOFR is impossible to predict and therefore no future performance of SOFR may be inferred from any of the historical simulations or
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historical performance. Hypothetical or historical performance data are not indicative of, and have no bearing on, the potential performance of SOFR.
LIBOR is expected to no longer be available after June 30, 2023 for the primary U.S. dollar LIBOR settings used by the Company. Certain of our term loans, including Term Loan B, continue to use LIBOR as a funding benchmark. The terms of our Senior Credit Facility allows us and the administrative agent to replace LIBOR with an alternative benchmark rate, subject to the right of the majority of the lenders to object thereto, as set forth in the Senior Credit Facility. Any discontinuation of LIBOR and use of an alternative benchmark rate under our term loans is expected to be accompanied by a spread adjustment. The implementation of such alternative reference rates and spread adjustments could cause our funding costs to increase, including if there arises a differential between the alternative reference rate and/or spread adjustment under our credit facility.
Our indebtedness and the associated covenants could materially adversely affect our ability to obtain additional financing, including for acquisitions and capital expenditures, limit our flexibility to manage our business, prevent us from fulfilling our financial obligations and restrict our use of capital.
We had approximately $1.7 billion of indebtedness outstanding as of December 31, 2022 which could have negative consequences to us, including, but not limited to:
•requiring us to dedicate cash flow from operations to the repayment of debt, interest and other related amounts, which reduces the funds we have available for other purposes, such as working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, payment of dividends and share repurchase programs;
•making it more difficult or expensive for us to obtain any necessary future financing for working capital, capital expenditures, debt service requirements, debt refinancing, acquisitions or other purposes;
•reducing our flexibility in planning for or reacting to changes in our industry and market conditions;
•causing us to be more vulnerable in the event of a downturn in our business;
•exposing us to increased interest rate risk given that a portion of our debt obligations are at variable interest rates; and
•increasing our risk of a covenant violation under our Senior Credit Facility.
We may be required to contribute additional cash to meet any unfunded benefit obligations associated with defined benefit plans we manage.
We have frozen defined benefit pension plans for employees primarily in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. At December 31, 2022, our defined benefit pension plans had an aggregate funding surplus (calculated as the excess of fair value of plan assets over the projected benefit obligations) of approximately $35 million. The largest potential source of deficit is related to our defined benefit pension plan in the U.K that is in a funding surplus position at December 31, 2022. In the future, our pension surpluses and deficits may increase or decrease depending on changes in the levels of interest rates, pension plan performance and other factors that may require us to make additional cash contributions to our pension plans and recognize further increases in our net pension cost to satisfy our funding requirements. If we are required or elect to make up all or a significant portion of the deficit for any underfunded benefit plans, our financial position could be materially and adversely affected.
Our U.K. defined benefit pension plan has had in the past, and may have in the future, an aggregate funding deficit. Our U.K. pension plan has been frozen to new participants for a number of years, but can still have an aggregate funding deficit due to assumptions and factors noted below. For our frozen defined benefit pension plan in the U.K., the annual minimum funding requirements are based on a binding agreement with the plan trustees that is negotiated on a triennial basis. This agreement also includes other assurances and commitments regarding the business and assets that support the U.K. pension plan. It is possible that, following future valuations of our U.K. pension plan assets and liabilities or following future discussions with the trustees, the annual funding obligation will change. The future valuations under our U.K. pension plan can be affected by a number of assumptions and factors, including legislative changes, assumptions regarding interest rates, inflation, mortality and retirement rates, the investment strategy and performance of the plan assets and (in certain circumstance) actions by the U.K. pensions regulator. Adverse changes in the equity markets, interest rates or actuarial assumptions and legislative or other regulatory actions could increase the risk that the funding requirements increase following the next triennial negotiation. A significant increase in our funding requirements for our U.K. pension plan could result in a material adverse effect on our cash flows and financial position.
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We are subject to foreign currency exchange risks that could adversely affect our results of operations and our ability to reinvest earnings from operations. Our ability to mitigate our foreign exchange risk through hedging transactions may be limited.
We generally attempt to denominate our contracts in U.S. dollars or in the currencies of our costs. However, we enter into contracts that subject us to currency risk exposure, primarily when our contract revenues are denominated in a currency different from the contract costs. A portion of our consolidated revenues and consolidated operating expenses are in foreign currencies. As a result, we are subject to foreign currency risks, including risks resulting from changes in currency exchange rates and limitations on our ability to reinvest earnings from operations in one country to fund the financing requirements of our operations in other countries.
The governments of certain countries have or may in the future impose restrictive exchange controls on local currencies and it may not be possible for us to engage in effective hedging transactions to mitigate the risks associated with fluctuations of a particular currency. We are often required to pay all or a portion of our costs associated with a project in the local currency. As a result, we generally attempt to negotiate contract terms with our customer, who is often affiliated with the local government, or has a significant local presence, to provide that we are only paid in the local currency for amounts that match our local expenses. If we are unable to match our local currency costs with revenues in the local currency, we would be exposed to the risk of adverse changes in currency exchange rates.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
If we need to sell or issue additional shares of common stock to refinance existing debt or to finance future acquisitions, our existing shareholder ownership could be diluted. In addition, the convertible note hedge and warrant transactions that we entered into in connection with the pricing of the Convertible Notes may affect the value of our common stock.
Part of our business strategy is to expand into new markets and enhance our position in existing markets, both domestically and internationally, which may include the acquisition and merging of complementary businesses. To successfully fund and complete such potential acquisitions, or to refinance our existing debt, we may issue additional equity securities that may result in dilution of our existing shareholder ownership's earnings per share.
In addition, in connection with the pricing of the Convertible Notes, we entered into convertible note hedge transactions with certain option counterparties. We also entered into warrant transactions with the option counterparties. The convertible note hedge transactions are generally expected to reduce potential dilution to our common stock upon any conversion of the Convertible Notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted Convertible Notes, as the case may be. However, the warrant transactions could separately have a dilutive effect to the extent that the market value per share of our common stock exceeds the strike price of the warrants at the time of exercise.
Provisions in our charter documents, Delaware law and our Senior Credit Facility may inhibit a takeover or impact operational control that could adversely affect the value of our common stock.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as Delaware corporate law, contain provisions that could delay or prevent a change of control or changes in our management that a stockholder might consider favorable. These provisions include, among others, prohibiting stockholder action by written consent, advance notice for making nominations at meetings of stockholders, providing for the state of Delaware as the exclusive forum for lawsuits concerning certain corporate matters and the issuance of preferred stock with rights that may be senior to those of our common stock without stockholder approval. These provisions would apply even if a takeover offer may be considered beneficial by some of our stockholders. If a change of control or change in management is delayed or prevented, the market price of our common stock could decline. Additionally, our Senior Credit Facility contains a default provision that is triggered upon a change in control of at least 25%, which would impede a takeover and/or make a takeover more costly.
We may change our dividend policy in the future.
We have maintained a regular cash dividend program since 2007. We anticipate continuing to pay quarterly dividends during 2023. However, any future payment of dividends, including the timing and amount of any such dividends, is at the discretion of our Board of Directors and may depend upon our earnings, liquidity, financial condition, alternate capital deployment opportunities or any other factors that our Board of Directors considers relevant. A change in our regular cash dividend program could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
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Risks Related to Regulations and Compliance
We could be adversely impacted if we fail to comply with international export and domestic laws, which are rigorously enforced by the U.S. government.
To the extent that we export products, technical data and services outside of the U.S., we are subject to laws and regulations governing trade and exports, including, but not limited to, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations, and trade sanctions against embargoed countries, including sanctions and export restrictions related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which are administered by the Office of Foreign Asset Control within the Department of the Treasury. A failure to comply with these laws and regulations could result in civil or criminal sanctions, including the imposition of fines as well as the denial of export privileges and debarment from participation in U.S. government contracts. U.S. government contract violations could result in the imposition of civil and criminal penalties or sanctions, contract termination, forfeiture of profit or suspension of payment, any of which could result in losing our status as an eligible U.S. government contractor and cause us to suffer serious reputational harm, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We are subject to anti-bribery laws in the U.S. and other jurisdictions, violations of which could result in suspension or debarment of our ability to contract with the U.S. state or local governments, U.S. government agencies or the U.K. MoD, third-party claims, loss of customers, adverse financial impact, damage to reputation and adverse consequences on financing for current or future projects.
The FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act and similar anti-bribery laws ("Anti-bribery Laws") in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Our policies mandate compliance with these Anti-bribery Laws. We operate in many parts of the world that have experienced governmental corruption to some degree and, in certain circumstances, strict compliance with Anti-bribery Laws may conflict with local customs and practices. We train our staff concerning Anti-bribery Laws and we also inform our partners, subcontractors, agents and other third parties who work for us or on our behalf that they must comply with the requirements of these Anti-bribery Laws. We also have procedures and controls in place to monitor internal and external compliance. We cannot provide complete assurance that our internal controls and procedures will always protect us from the reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees or third parties working on our behalf. If we are found to be liable for violations of these laws (either due to our own acts or our inadvertence, or due to the acts or inadvertence of others), we could suffer from criminal or civil penalties or other sanctions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Certain of our work sites are inherently dangerous and we are subject to various environmental and worker health and safety laws and regulations. If we fail to maintain safe work sites or to comply with these laws and regulations, we may suffer damage to our reputation and incur significant costs and penalties that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Certain work sites often expose our employees and others to chemical and manufacturing processes, large pieces of mechanized equipment and moving vehicles. Additionally, our employees and others at certain project sites may be exposed to severe weather events or high security risks. Failure to implement effective safety procedures may result in injury, disability or loss of life to these parties. In addition, the projects may be delayed and we may be exposed to litigation or investigations.
Our operations are subject to a variety of environmental, worker health and safety laws and regulations governing the generation, management and use of regulated materials, the discharge of materials into the environment, the remediation of environmental contamination associated with the release of hazardous substances and human health and safety. Violations of these laws and regulations can cause significant delays and additional costs to a project. When we perform our services, our personnel and equipment may be exposed to radioactive and hazardous materials and conditions. We may be subject to claims alleging personal injury, property damage or natural resource damages by employees, customers and third parties as a result of alleged exposure to or contamination by hazardous substances. In addition, we may be subject to fines, penalties or other liabilities arising under environmental and employee safety laws. A claim, if not covered by insurance at all or only partially, could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, more stringent regulation of our customers' operations with respect to the protection of the environment could also adversely affect their operations and reduce demand for our services.
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Various U.S. federal, state and local as well as foreign environmental laws and regulations may impose liability for property damage and costs of investigation and cleanup of hazardous or toxic substances on property currently or previously owned by us or arising out of our waste management or environmental remediation activities. These laws may impose responsibility and liability without regard to knowledge or causation of the presence of contaminants. The liability under these laws may be joint and several. The ongoing costs of complying with existing environmental laws and regulations could be substantial and have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Changes in the environmental laws and regulations, remediation obligations, enforcement actions, stricter interpretations of existing requirements, future discovery of contamination or claims for damages to persons, property, natural resources or the environment could result in material costs and liabilities that we currently do not anticipate.
Our effective tax rate and tax positions may vary.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining certain components of our worldwide provision for income taxes and a change in tax laws, treaties or regulations, or their interpretation, in any country in which we operate could result in higher taxes on our earnings, which could have a material impact on our earnings and cash flows from operations. In the ordinary course of our business, there are certain transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. We are audited by various U.S. and foreign tax authorities in the ordinary course of business, and our tax estimates and tax positions could be materially affected by many factors including the final outcome of tax audits and related litigation, the introduction of new tax accounting standards, legislation, regulations and related interpretations, our global mix of earnings, the realizability of deferred tax assets and changes in uncertain tax positions. A significant increase in tax rates could have a material adverse effect on our profitability and liquidity.
Risks Related to Climate Change
There is a rapidly evolving awareness and focus from stakeholders, such as investors, customers and current and future employees, with respect to global climate change and the related emphasis on environmental, social and governance practices, which could affect our business.
Continued attention to issues concerning climate change or other environmental matters may result in the imposition of additional environmental regulations that seek to restrict, or otherwise impose limitations or costs upon, the emission of greenhouse gases. International agreements, national, regional and state legislation and regulatory measures or other restrictions on emissions of greenhouse gases could affect our clients, including those who are involved in the exploration, production or refining of fossil fuels and those who emit greenhouse gases through the combustion of fossil fuels, or through mining, manufacturing or the utilization or production of materials or goods. Such legislation or restrictions could increase the costs of projects for us and our clients or, in some cases, prevent a project from going forward, thereby potentially reducing the need for our services that could in turn have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition. However, policy changes and climate legislation could also increase the overall demand for our services as our clients and partners work to comply with such policies, such as by decarbonizing their industries, transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and developing integrated and sustainable solutions, which could have a positive impact on our business. We cannot predict when or whether any of these various legislative and regulatory proposals may become law or what their effect will be on us and our customers.
Furthermore, investor and societal expectations with respect to environmental, social and governance ("ESG") matters have been rapidly evolving and increasing. We risk damage to our reputation if we do not act responsibly in the following key areas: inclusion and diversity, environmental stewardship, support for local communities and corporate governance and transparency. A failure to adequately meet stakeholders' expectations may result in loss of business, diluted market valuation, an inability to attract and retain customers and talented personnel, increased negative investor sentiment toward us and/or our customers and the diversion of investment to other industries, which could have a negative impact on our stock price and our access to and costs of capital.
In addition, standards for tracking and reporting ESG matters continue to evolve. New laws, regulations, policies and international accords relating to ESG matters, including sustainability, climate change, human capital and diversity, are being developed and formalized in Europe, the United States, Asia and elsewhere, which may entail specific, target-driven frameworks and/or disclosure requirements. Our selection of voluntary disclosure frameworks and standards, and the interpretation or application of those frameworks and standards, may change from time to time or differ from those of others, and may not be in line with any new and forthcoming related disclosure rules in the United States and abroad. Methodologies for reporting ESG data may be updated and previously reported ESG data may be adjusted to reflect improvement in availability and quality of internal and third-party data, changing assumptions, changes in the nature and scope of our
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operations and other changes in circumstances. Our processes and controls for reporting ESG matters across our operations and supply chain are evolving along with multiple disparate standards for identifying, measuring and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required by the SEC, European and other regulators, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our current goals, reported progress in achieving such goals or ability to achieve such goals in the future. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply fully with developing interpretations of ESG laws and regulations could harm our business, reputation, financial condition and operating results and require significant time and resources to make the necessary adjustments. If our ESG practices do not meet evolving investor or other stakeholder expectations and standards, then our reputation or our attractiveness as an investment, business partner, acquirer, service provider or employer could be negatively impacted.
Climate change and related environmental issues could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Climate change related events, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, floods, wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, freezing conditions and other natural disasters, may have a long-term impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although we are proactively seeking measures to mitigate our business risks associated with climate change, we recognize that there are innate climate related risks regardless of where and how we conduct our businesses. As such, a potential disruption to our and our customer's businesses from a natural disaster may cause us to experience work stoppages, project delays, financial losses and additional costs to resume operations such as increased insurance costs or loss of coverage, legal liability and reputational damage.
We may be unable to achieve our sustainability commitments and targets which could result in the loss of investors and customers and damage to our reputation.
We are continuously committed to advancing our environmental, social and governance strategy as evidenced by the establishment and continued focus on delivering on our 2030 operational net-zero carbon ambitions after we achieved carbon neutrality in 2019. However, achievement of our sustainability commitments and targets is subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: our ability to execute our operational strategies and achieve our goals within the currently projected costs and the expected timeframes; the availability and cost of alternative fuels, global electrical charging infrastructure, off-site renewable energy and other materials and components; unforeseen design, operational and technological difficulties; the outcome of research efforts and future technology developments, including the ability to scale projects and technologies on a commercially competitive basis such as carbon sequestration and/or other related processes; compliance with, and changes or additions to, global and regional regulations, taxes, charges, mandates or requirements relating to greenhouse gas emissions, carbon costs or climate-related goals; labor-related regulations and requirements that restrict or prohibit our ability to impose requirements on third party contractors; adapting products to customer preferences and customer acceptance of sustainable supply chain solutions; the actions of competitors and competitive pressures; an acquisition of or merger with another company that has not adopted similar carbon negative goals or whose progress towards reaching its carbon negative goals is not as advanced as ours; and the pace of regional and global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although we believe that our sustainability commitments and targets are achievable, there is no assurance that we will be able to successfully implement our strategies and achieve our 2030 operational net-zero targets. Investors have recently increased their focus on environmental, social and governance matters, including practices related to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Additionally, an increasing percentage of the investment community considers sustainability factors in making investment decisions, and an increasing number of entities are considering sustainability factors in awarding business. The implementation of these goals and initiatives may require considerable investments, and our goals, with all of their contingencies, dependencies and in certain cases, reliance on third-party verification and/or performance, are complex and ambitious and may change, and we cannot guarantee that we will achieve them. If we are unable to meet our commitments and targets and appropriately address sustainability enhancement, we may lose investors, customers or partners, our stock price may be negatively impacted, our reputation may be negatively affected and it may be more difficult for us to compete effectively, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition, as well as on the price of our common stock.
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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2.Properties
Our operations are conducted at both owned and leased properties in domestic and foreign locations. Our corporate headquarters are located at 601 Jefferson Street, Houston, Texas 77002. While we have operations worldwide, the following table describes the locations of our more significant existing office facilities:
Location Owned/Leased Business Segment
North America:
Houston, Texas Leased All
Fulton, Maryland Leased Government Solutions
Columbia, Maryland Leased Government Solutions
Lexington Park, Maryland Leased Government Solutions
Chantilly, Virginia Leased Government Solutions
Vienna, Virginia Leased Government Solutions
Fairfax, Virginia Leased Government Solutions
Dayton/Beavercreek, Ohio Leased Government Solutions
Huntsville, Alabama Leased Government Solutions
Phoenix, Arizona Leased Government Solutions
Europe, Middle East and Africa:
Leatherhead, United Kingdom Owned All
Glasgow, United Kingdom Leased Government Solutions
Wiltshire, United Kingdom Leased / Owned Government Solutions
Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia Leased Sustainable Technology Solutions
Asia-Pacific:
Chennai, India Leased All
Majura Park, Australia Leased Government Solutions
Delhi (Gurgaon), India Leased Sustainable Technology Solutions
Brisbane, Australia Leased Government Solutions
Sydney, Australia Leased Government Solutions
Melbourne, Australia Leased Government Solutions
We also own or lease numerous small facilities that include sales, administrative and offices as well as warehouses and equipment yards located throughout the world. Our owned Leatherhead property is pledged to secure certain pension obligations in the U.K. and we believe all properties that we currently occupy are suitable for their intended use.
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Item 3.Legal Proceedings
Information relating to various commitments and contingencies is described in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” contained in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in Notes 6, 14 and 15 to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the information discussed therein is incorporated by reference into this Part I, Item 3.
Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5.Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock is listed on the NYSE and trades under the symbol “KBR.” We have declared a dividend in each quarter during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, and we currently expect that comparable quarterly cash dividends will continue to be paid for the foreseeable future. The declaration, payment and amount of future cash dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors. On February 10, 2023, the Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.135 per share, which will be paid on April 14, 2023.
At January 31, 2023, there were 64 shareholders of record. In calculating the number of shareholders, we consider clearing agencies and security position listings as one shareholder for each agency or listing.
Share Repurchases
On February 25, 2014, the Board of Directors authorized a plan to repurchase up to $350 million of our outstanding shares of common stock, which replaced and terminated the August 26, 2011 share repurchase program. As of December 31, 2019, $160 million remained available under this authorization. On February 19, 2020, the Board of Directors authorized an increase of approximately $190 million to our share repurchase program, returning the authorization level to $350 million. As of December 31, 2021, $225 million remained available for repurchase under this authorization.
On October 18, 2022, the Board of Directors authorized an increase of approximately $420 million to our share repurchase program, increasing the authorization level to $500 million. As of December 31, 2022, $451 million remains available for repurchase under this authorization. The authorization does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular number of shares of common stock and may be commenced, suspended or discontinued without prior notice. The share repurchases are intended to be funded through the Company’s current and future cash flows and the authorization does not have an expiration date.
The following is a summary of share repurchases of our common stock settled during the three months ended December 31, 2022, and the amount available to be repurchased under the authorized share repurchase program:
(1)Included within the shares repurchased herein are 14,819 shares acquired from employees in connection with the settlement of income tax and related benefit withholding obligations arising from issuance of share-based equity awards under the KBR Stock and Incentive Plan at an average price of $50.51 per share.
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Performance Graph
The following performance graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC, nor shall the information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent that the Company specifically incorporates it by reference into such filing.
The following performance graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return on shares of our common stock for the five-year period ended December 31, 2022, with the cumulative total return on the S&P 1500 IT Consulting & Other Services Index, the Russell 1000 Index, the Russell 2000 Index, the S&P MidCap 400 Index and the Dow Jones Heavy Construction Industry Index for the same period. The comparisons assume the investment of $100 on December 31, 2017 and reinvestment of all dividends. The shareholder return is not necessarily indicative of future performance.
As KBR is no longer a constituent of the Russell 2000 index and is now a constituent of the Russell 1000 index, the Russell 2000 index will be removed from this performance graph and will be replaced by the Russell 1000 index going forward.
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Item 6.[Reserved]
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Item 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Introduction
The purpose of the MD&A is to provide our stockholders and other interested parties with information necessary to gain an understanding of our financial condition and disclose changes in our financial condition since the most recent fiscal year-end and results of operations during the current fiscal period as compared to the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal year. The MD&A should be read in conjunction with Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Company Overview
KBR Inc., a Delaware corporation ("KBR"), delivers science, technology, engineering and logistics support solutions to governments and companies around the world. Drawing from its rich 100-year history and culture of innovation and mission focus, KBR creates sustainable value by combining deep domain expertise with its full life cycle capabilities to help clients meet their most pressing challenges. Our capabilities and offerings include the following:
•Scientific research such as quantum science and computing; health and human performance; materials science; life science research; and earth sciences;
•Defense systems engineering such as rapid prototyping; test and evaluation; aerospace acquisition support; systems and platform integration; and sustainment engineering;
•Operational support such as space domain awareness; C5ISR; human spaceflight and satellite operations; integrated supply chain and logistics; and military aviation support;
•Information operations such as cyber analytics and cybersecurity; data analytics; mission planning systems; virtual/augmented reality and technical training; artificial intelligence and machine learning; and
•Sustainable decarbonization solutions that accelerate and enable energy transition and climate change solutions such as proprietary, sustainability-focused process licensing; advisory services focused on energy transition; high-end engineering, design and management program offerings; and digitally-enabled asset optimization solutions.
KBR's strategic growth vectors include:
•Defense modernization;
•Space superiority;
•Health and human performance;
•Sustainable technology;
•High-end engineering;
•Energy transition and security; and
•Technology-led asset optimization
Key customers include U.S. DoD agencies such as the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force, Missile Defense Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office and other intelligence agencies; U.S. civilian agencies such as NASA, U.S. Geological Survey and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the U.K. MoD, London Metropolitan Police, and other U.K. Crown Services; the Royal Australian Air Force, Navy and Army; other national governments; and a wide range of commercial and industrial companies.
Our deployment priorities are to fund organic growth, maintain responsible leverage, maintain an attractive dividend, make strategic, accretive acquisitions and repurchase shares. Our acquisition thesis is centered around moving upmarket, expanding capabilities and broadening customer sets across strategic growth vectors. KBR also develops and prioritizes investment in technologies that are disruptive, innovative and sustainability- and safety-focused. These technologies and engineering solutions enable clients to achieve a cleaner, greener, more energy efficient global future.
On October 1, 2020, we acquired Centauri, a provider of high-end engineering and development solutions for critical, well-funded, national security missions associated with space, intelligence, cyber and emerging technologies such as directed energy and missile defense.
On October 20, 2021, we acquired Frazer-Nash Consultancy Limited ("Frazer-Nash"), a leading provider of high-end systems engineering, assurance and technology advisory services used to solve complex challenges. Frazer-Nash provides a broad range of professional advisory services across the defense, renewable energy and critical infrastructure sectors primarily in the U.K. and Australia.
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On August 2, 2022, we acquired VIMA Group ("VIMA"), a U.K. based leading provider of digital transformation solutions to defense and other public sector clients. VIMA delivers solutions across a number of large-scale, high priority digital transformation programs to support its clients in ensuring availability of effective digital and information technology as guided by the U.K.'s Digital Strategy for Defence. The company is a trusted advisor and a top five supplier to Defence Digital and Navy Digital – both organizations within the UK MoD with several highly strategic, fast-growing programs.
Additional information relating to the Centauri, Frazer-Nash and VIMA acquisitions is described in Part II of this Annual Report on Form 10-K in Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements.
Our Business Segments
KBR's business is organized into two core business segments and one non-core business segment as follows:
Core business segments
•Government Solutions
•Sustainable Technology Solutions
Non-core business segment
•Other
See additional information on our business segments in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements and under "Item 1. Business" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Business Environment and Trends
Government Outlook
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the $1.7 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which included $858 billion in defense spending, of which $817 billion is for the DoD, and $773 billion for non-defense discretionary spending which represents an increase from the fiscal 2022 budget of 10% and 6%, respectively. The U.S. defense spending budget prioritizes and furthers a national security strategy to confront near peer threats around the world, enhances the DoD’s cybersecurity strategy and cyber warfare capabilities, increases the priority of military space superiority, directs innovation to meet long-range emerging threats, continues the restoration of military readiness and increases support for the U.S. European Command. The budget includes several measures to strengthen emerging technologies including cyber-science and technologies, artificial intelligence, directed energy, hypersonics and biotechnologies. The non-defense discretionary spending proposal includes $25 billion, or a 6% increase from the fiscal 2022 budget, in funding for NASA to support the continuation of scientific research, exploration and space technology, as well as increased funding across all agencies to address the climate crisis. However, uncertainty continues to exist regarding the raising of the debt ceiling. The current statutory limit was reached in January 2023, requiring the Treasury Department to take extraordinary measures to continue financing U.S. government obligations while avoiding exceeding the debt ceiling. It is expected, however, the U.S. government will exhaust these measures by June 2023. If the debt ceiling is not raised, the U.S. government may not be able to fulfill its funding obligations and there could be significant disruption to all discretionary programs and wider financial and economic repercussions. The federal budget and debt ceiling are expected to continue to be the subject of considerable congressional debate. Although we believe DoD programs will continue to receive consensus support for increased funding and would likely receive priority if this scenario came to fruition, the effect on individual programs or KBR cannot be predicted at this time.
Internationally, our Government Solutions work is performed primarily for the U.K. MoD and the Australian Department of Defence. In November 2022, the U.K. government announced its intent to maintain its budget to at least 2% of GDP. Recognizing the importance of strong defense and the role the U.K. plays across the globe, the U.K. has prioritized investment in military research and investment in key areas to advance and develop capabilities around artificial intelligence, cyber security and space superiority. The Australian government continues to invest in defense spending, with particular focus on enhancing regional security, modernizing defense capabilities, strengthening cyber defenses and promoting broader economic stability. In October 2022, the Australian government announced that Australia's defense spending for the 2022 - 2023 financial year will increase by 7.8% to AUD 48.7 billion, or 1.96% of GDP.
In November 2021, we announced that HomeSafe Alliance LLC (“HomeSafe”), a KBR led joint venture with Tier One Relocation, was awarded the global household goods contract by U.S. Transportation Command. The contract ceiling value is $20 billion with a potential 9-year term, inclusive of all options periods. HomeSafe is the exclusive household goods move
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management service provider for the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. DoD civilians and their families. Under this contract, HomeSafe plans to modernize and infuse technology to improve the global relocation experience for all military personnel and their families. In October 2022, the award was upheld in the Court of Federal Claims, and the period for appeal of the Court's decision has expired. Subsequent to the Court of Federal Claims ruling, U.S. Transportation Command lifted the stop work order on the contract in November 2022 and KBR is proceeding with work under the award.
With defense and civil budgets driven in part by political instability, military conflicts, aging platforms and infrastructure and the need for technology advances, we expect continued opportunities to provide solutions and technologies to mission critical work aligned with our customers’ and our nation’s critical priorities.
Sustainable Technology Outlook
Long-range commercial market fundamentals are supported by global population growth, expanding global development and an acceleration of demand for energy transition, renewable energy sources and climate change solutions. The globe is in search of the solution to the energy trilemma, the balance between energy affordability, ensuring energy security and achieving environmental sustainability. Clients are prioritizing their efforts to solve the energy trilemma by investing in digital solutions to optimize operations, increase end-product flexibility and energy efficiency, reduce unplanned downtime and minimize environmental footprint. As the global focus on energy security intensifies and companies continue to commit to near-term carbon neutrality and longer-range net-zero carbon emissions, we expect spending to continue in areas such as decarbonization; carbon capture, utilization and sequestration; biofuels; and circular economy. Further, leading companies across the world are proactively evaluating clean energy alternatives, including hydrogen and green ammonia which complements KBR's proprietary process technologies, solutions and capabilities.
We expect climate change and energy transition to continue to be areas of priority and investment as many countries, including the U.S., look to boost their economies and invest in a cleaner future. Specifically, on August 16, 2022, the President signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law which includes provisions intended to, among other things, incentivize domestic clean energy, manufacturing and production.
In response to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, we continue to carry out efforts to wind down operations in Russia in a responsible manner. We expect that the reconfiguration of global supply and demand stemming from expanding sanctions on Russia will result in near and mid-term investments to enable energy, chemical and food production security globally.
In June 2022, we announced that we entered into an agreement to invest an additional £80 million in Mura Technology ("Mura") that will bring KBR's aggregate investment in Mura to approximately 18.5%. This investment provides Mura incremental capital to accelerate development of its plastics recycling projects and enables KBR to participate more fully in this sustainability-focused, high growth sector. Funding will be in two tranches with the first payment made in the quarter ended June 30, 2022 and the remainder in 2023. With a strategic approach to commercializing and scaling its proprietary, differentiated plastics recycling solution, Mura is well positioned for profitable growth and value creation as the plastics circular economy develops and matures.
Additionally, in May 2022, KBR's joint venture with Zachry Group, KZJV, was issued a full notice to proceed with Phase 1 of Plaquemines LNG. KZJV, in which KBR holds a non-majority interest, will integrate highly modularized, owner-furnished equipment for the 13.3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) nameplate facility. KBR will provide project management, engineering, program integration and interface management and commissioning support under an innovative commercial structure that promotes collaboration and enhances overall program performance.
Change in Fiscal Year End
On December 13, 2022, the Board of Directors approved a change in the fiscal year end from a calendar year ending on December 31 to a 52 – 53 week year ending on the Friday closest to December 31, effective beginning with fiscal year 2023. The Company is making the fiscal year change on a prospective basis and will not adjust operating results for prior periods. The change to our fiscal year will not impact our results for the year ended December 31, 2022. While the change will impact the prior year comparability of each of the fiscal quarters and the annual period in 2023, we do not expect the impact to be material. The Company believes this change will improve comparability between periods by eliminating the year-over-year variability in calendar month productive days and provide a more consistent reporting cadence for operational leaders to aid in strategic decision making.
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Overview of 2022 Financial Results and Significant Bookings
2022 was a year of significant achievement for KBR as we continued to execute toward our long-term vision. The Company benefits from a significant base of long-term enduring contracts in our government business, a diverse portfolio of high quality proprietary process technologies, market tailwinds that benefit our capabilities and technologies in areas such as defense modernization, energy transition, energy security and high-end engineering and a truly global client base. Together, these attributes distinguish KBR and have contributed directly to the Company’s growth in earnings during the year. Although we experienced significantly reduced volume from the OAW program in 2022 compared to 2021, GS delivered increased profitability attributed to increased activity in 2022 to support exercises, training and other activities of the European Command and the acquisition of Frazer-Nash, and STS delivered significantly increased 2022 earnings growth. Our teams continued to deliver operational performance, healthy profitability and strong cash flow. Importantly, we drove innovation and extended our footprint through new program wins and technology advances, developments and investments, such as our commitment to invest an additional £80 million in Mura Technology for which we have already contributed £48 million in 2022 with the second payment expected to be paid in early 2023. These accomplishments have assisted us in continuing our track record of innovation, bringing new technologies to market and advising, consulting and delivering expertise in the vital area of energy transition, energy security, hydrogen future and plastics circular economy. We progressed in our strategic journey to advance upmarket to deliver digital transformation solutions by completing the VIMA acquisition. Additionally, KZJV received a full notice to proceed on Phase 1 of Plaquemines LNG in which KBR will provide project management, engineering, program integration and interface management and commissioning support. In October 2022, we prevailed in the Court of Federal Claims bid protest actions and, as such, our HomeSafe joint venture is moving forward with transition work. Lastly, we entered into a settlement agreement to resolve outstanding claims and disputes between JKC and the consortium of subcontractors of the Combined Cycle Power Plant.
Our GS business landed new awards, including a $640 million ceiling, 5-year ground systems and mission operations contract to support more than 10 NASA missions, including continued efforts on the James Webb Space Telescope; a $229 million task order as a part of the Axiom team to build the next generation astronaut spacesuits to support the Artemis lunar missions as a part of NASA's 10 year Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services ("xEVAS") contract with a potential value of $3.5 billion across the life of the program; and a $4.8 billion ceiling multiple-award to our Xandar joint venture for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center to support research and development of new and existing hardware, systems and software capabilities enabling scientific and technical intelligence production through 2033. Our STS business landed $4.1 billion in bookings, including our proportionate share of Phase 1 of the Plaquemines LNG project and numerous projects across the ammonia landscape, including traditional, blue and green ammonia, multiple Hydro-PRT licenses and studies and other projects spanning carbon capture, utilization and storage, hydrogen, biofuels and renewables.
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Results of Operations
The following tables set forth our results of operations for the periods presented, including by segment. A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 is included in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, as filed with the SEC on February 22, 2022.
Consolidated Results
Years Ended December 31, Change
Gain on disposition of assets and investments $ 19 $ 2 $ 18 $ 17 n/m $ (16) 89 %
Goodwill impairment $ — $ — $ (99) $ — n/m $ (99) (100) %
Unrealized gain on other investment $ 16 $ 4 $ — $ 12 300 % $ 4 n/m
Other non-operating income (expense) $ 12 $ (9) $ 1 $ 21 n/m $ (10) n/m
(1) As adjusted for the adoption of ASU 2020-06 using the full retrospective method.
n/m - not meaningful
Revenues. Revenues decreased by $775 million, or 11%, to $6.6 billion in 2022, compared to $7.3 billion in 2021. The decrease was primarily attributable to reduced revenues of approximately $1.3 billion from the completion of contingency work associated with the OAW program in early 2022 that commenced in August 2021 and reduced activity in the Middle East associated with the U.S. DoD's exit in early 2021. Additionally, the decrease was driven by the non-cash impact of our efforts to continue winding down operations in Russia in 2022, and the completion or near completion of projects we strategically exited in 2020. This decrease was offset by increased activity in 2022 to support exercises, training and other activities of the European Command, the acquisition of Frazer-Nash in October 2021 and increased revenues in STS primarily from engineering and professional services and technology sales.
Gross profit. The $22 million increase in gross profit was primarily driven by increased activity in the European Command, as described above, and the acquisition of Frazer-Nash in October 2021. We also benefited from lower amortization of intangible assets in 2022 from the Centauri acquisition. These increases were partially offset by decreased gross profit attributable to reduced volume in 2022 from OAW and reduced activity in the Middle East associated with the U.S. DoD's exit in early 2021, as described above, and a net favorable resolution of legacy matters in our STS business in 2021 that did not recur in 2022.
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Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated affiliates. Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated affiliates increased by $90 million, or 53%, from a loss of $170 million in 2021 compared to a loss of $80 million in 2022. During 2021, a non-cash charge of $203 million was recorded associated with the settlement agreement between JKC and its client, Ichthys LNG Pty, Ltd, compared to a $137 million non-cash charge recorded during 2022 relating to the settlement agreement with the consortium of subcontractors of the Combined Cycle Power Plant. Additionally, the reduction in loss is attributed to equity in earnings from commencement of services on an LNG project in the second quarter of 2022. These reductions in losses were offset by a charge on a joint venture acquired as part of a historical GS acquisition in 2022.
Selling, general and administrative expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $27 million higher in 2022 compared to 2021, which was primarily driven by growth in the core business, incremental expenses from the Frazer-Nash business and other corporate initiatives.
Acquisition and Integration Related Costs. Acquisition and integration related costs in 2021 were primarily comprised of costs associated with our acquisition and integration of Centauri in October 2020 and Frazer-Nash in October 2021. Acquisition and integration costs in 2022 are primarily related to the acquisition of VIMA in August 2022.
Gain on Disposition of Assets and Investments. The 2022 gain on disposition of assets and investments was primarily driven by a gain of $16 million from the sale of our investment interest in three U.K. Road investments and a gain of $5 million for the sale of a property in our GS business offset by a loss on sale of $3 million of a joint venture that was acquired as a part of a historical GS acquisition.
Interest Expense. The increase in interest expense was primarily driven by increases in the U.S. federal reserve funds rate in 2022.
Unrealized Gain on Other Investment. The unrealized gain on other investment in 2022 is related to the appreciation in the value of our Mura Technology investment as a result of revaluations triggered by the observable transactions associated with our additional investment and investments from other third parties. In 2021, the gain is related to the appreciation in the value of our Mura Technology investment as a result of additional investments from other third parties.
Other non-operating income (expense). Other non-operating income (expense) includes interest income, foreign exchange gains and losses and other non-operating income or expense items. The net increase is primarily driven by foreign exchange gains and losses. In 2022, we recorded approximately $8 million in net foreign exchanges gains primarily related to foreign exchange impacts from the Australian dollar tranche of Term Loan A that has since been redenominated into U.S. dollars following the execution of an amendment to our existing Credit Agreement in the fourth quarter of 2022. In 2021, we recorded approximately $8 million in net losses related to the changes in fair values of our balance sheet hedges offset by remeasurement of our balance sheet positions.
Provision for income taxes. The decrease in the provision for incomes taxes in 2022 compared to 2021 was primarily driven by the non-deductibility of losses incurred with respect to the settlement of outstanding matters related to the Ichthys LNG project to which KBR is a joint venture partner. Additionally, the decrease is attributable to a tax benefit recognized in 2022 associated with research and development credits. See Note 13 to our consolidated financial statements for further discussion on income taxes.
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests. The decrease in net income attributable to noncontrolling interests was primarily driven by decreased income from a Middle East joint venture project in our STS business segment that was sold in the third quarter of 2021.
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Results of Operations by Business Segment
We analyze the financial results of our two core business segments and one non-core business segment. The business segments presented are consistent with our reportable segments discussed in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements.
Years Ended December 31, Change
Revenues
Operating income
n/m - not meaningful
Government Solutions
GS revenues decreased by $829 million, or 13%, to $5.3 billion in 2022 compared to $6.1 billion in 2021. The decrease is primarily attributable to reduced revenues of approximately $1.3 billion from the completion of contingency work associated with the OAW program in early 2022 that commenced in August 2021 and reduced activity in the Middle East associated with the U.S. DoD's exit in early 2021. This decrease was offset by increased activity in 2022 to support exercises, training and other activities of the European Command and the acquisition of Frazer-Nash in October 2021.
GS operating income increased by $27 million, or 7%, to $441 million in 2022, compared to $414 million in 2021. The increase is primarily driven by items discussed above, lower amortization of intangibles from the Centauri acquisition, favorable project close out of an international GS project and net gains from sales of investments completed in 2022. These increases were partially offset by a charge on a joint venture acquired as part of a historical GS acquisition that was divested in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Sustainable Technology Solutions
The increase in STS revenues of $54 million, or 5%, from 2021 to 2022 is primarily driven by increased revenues from technology sales and engineering and professional services, partially offset by a $15 million non-cash impact of our continued efforts to wind down operations in Russia in 2022, timing of certain STS projects and the completion or near completion of projects that we strategically exited in 2020.
STS operating income increased by $77 million from 2021 to 2022. The increase in operating income is primarily driven by increased revenues from technology sales and engineering and professional services and a decrease in equity in losses related to the Ichthys LNG project. During 2021, a non-cash charge of $203 million was recorded for the settlement agreement between JKC and its client, Ichthys LNG Pty, Ltd, compared to a $137 million non-cash charge recorded during 2022 for the settlement agreement with the consortium of subcontractors of the Combined Cycle Power Plant. The increase is also attributed to equity in earnings from commencement of services on an LNG project in the second quarter of 2022. These increases are partially offset by a $22 million non-cash impact of our continued efforts to wind down operations in Russia and a net favorable resolution of legacy matters in our STS business in 2021 that did not recur in 2022.
Other
Other operating loss decreased by $8 million, or 5%, to 145 million in 2022, compared to $153 million in 2021. The decrease in operating loss is primarily attributed to decreased acquisition and integration costs.
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Backlog of Unfilled Orders
Backlog generally represents the dollar amount of revenues we expect to realize in the future as a result of performing work on contracts and our pro-rata share of work to be performed by our consolidated and unconsolidated joint ventures. We generally include total expected revenues in backlog when a contract is awarded under a legally binding agreement. In many instances, arrangements included in backlog are complex, nonrepetitive and may fluctuate over the contract period due to the release of contracted work in phases by the customer. Additionally, nearly all contracts allow customers to terminate the agreement at any time for convenience. Certain contracts provide maximum dollar limits, with actual authorization to perform work under the contract agreed upon on a periodic basis with the customer. In these arrangements, only the amounts authorized are included in backlog. For projects where we act solely in a project management capacity, we only include the expected value of our services in backlog.
We define backlog, as it relates to U.S. government contracts, as our estimate of the remaining future revenue from existing signed contracts over the remaining base contract performance period (including customer approved option periods) for which work scope and price have been agreed with the customer. We define funded backlog as the portion of backlog for which funding currently is appropriated, less the amount of revenue we have previously recognized. We define unfunded backlog as the total backlog less the funded backlog. Our GS backlog does not include any estimate of future potential delivery orders that might be awarded under our government-wide acquisition contracts, agency-specific indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts or other multiple-award contract vehicles, nor does it include option periods that have not been exercised by the customer.
Within our GS business segment, we calculate estimated backlog for long-term contracts associated with the U.K. government's PFIs based on the aggregate amount that our client would contractually be obligated to pay us over the life of the project. We update our estimates of the future work to be executed under these contracts on a quarterly basis and adjust backlog if necessary.
Refer to "Item 1A. Risk Factors" contained in Part 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of other factors that may cause backlog to ultimately convert into revenues at different amounts.
We have included in the table below our proportionate share of unconsolidated joint ventures' estimated backlog. As these projects are accounted for under the equity method, only our share of future earnings from these projects will be recorded in our results of operations. Our proportionate share of backlog for projects related to unconsolidated joint ventures totaled $3.9 billion and $2.6 billion at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. As a result of our continued efforts to wind down operations in Russia, ending STS backlog was reduced by $47 million as of December 31, 2022. Additionally, as a result of U.S. Transportation Command lifting the stop work order on the HomeSafe contract in November 2022, we have booked $39 million in backlog as of December 31, 2022 for our transition work.
The following table summarizes our backlog by business segment for the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively:
Sustainable Technology Solutions 4,012 2,345
We estimate that as of December 31, 2022, 36% of our backlog will be executed within one year. Of this amount, 77% will be recognized in revenues on our consolidated statement of operations and 23% will be recorded by our unconsolidated joint ventures. As of December 31, 2022, $98 million of our backlog relates to active contracts that are in a loss position.
As of December 31, 2022, 11% of our backlog was attributable to fixed-price contracts, 40% was attributable to PFIs, 24% was attributable to cost-reimbursable contracts and 25% was attributable to time-and-materials contracts. For contracts that contain fixed-price, cost-reimbursable and time-and-materials components, we classify the individual components as either fixed-price, cost-reimbursable or time-and materials according to the composition of the contract; however, for smaller contracts, we characterize the entire contract based on the predominant component. As of December 31, 2022, $8.3 billion of our GS backlog was currently funded by our customers.
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As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $4.2 billion of priced option periods not yet exercised by the customer for U.S. government contracts that are not included in the backlog amounts presented above.
The difference between backlog of $15.6 billion and the remaining performance obligations as defined by ASC 606 of $11.2 billion is primarily due to our proportionate share of backlog related to unconsolidated joint ventures which is not included in our remaining performance obligations. See Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements for discussion of the remaining performance obligations.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Liquidity is provided by available cash and cash equivalents, cash generated from operations, our Senior Credit Facility (as defined below) and access to capital markets. Our operating cash flow can vary significantly from year to year and is affected by the mix, terms, timing and stage of completion of our projects. We often receive cash in advance on certain of our sustainable technology projects. On time-and-material and cost reimbursable contracts, we may utilize cash on hand or availability under our Senior Credit Facility to satisfy any periodic operating cash requirements for working capital, as we incur costs and subsequently invoice our customers.
Certain STS services projects may require us to provide credit support for our performance obligations to our customers in the form of letters of credit, surety bonds or guarantees. Our ability to obtain new project awards in the future may be dependent on our ability to maintain or increase our letter of credit and surety bonding capacity, which may be further dependent on the timely release of existing letters of credit and surety bonds. As the need for credit support arises, letters of credit may be issued under the Revolver (as defined below) or with lending counterparties on a bilateral, syndicated or other basis.
As discussed in Note 12 "Debt and Other Credit Facilities" of our consolidated financial statements, on December 30, 2022, we entered into Amendment No. 7 under our existing Credit Agreement, dated as of April 25, 2018, consisting of a $1 billion revolving credit facility (the "Revolver"), a $442 million Term Loan A, ("Term Loan A") with debt tranches denominated in US dollars, Australian dollars and British pound sterling and a $512 million Term Loan B ("Term Loan B"), with an aggregate capacity of $1.954 billion ("Senior Credit Facility"). Amendment No. 7 replaces the Australian dollar tranche of Term Loan A with new term loans in an aggregate principal amount of $99 million ("2022 Refinancing Term Loan A tranche") after deducting estimated deferred financing fees and foreign exchange conversion. The amendment redenominates the original loans in the Australian dollar tranche from Australian dollars into U.S. dollars and establishes SOFR as the reference borrowing rate for such loans. Additionally, on February 6, 2023, we entered into Amendment No. 8 under our existing Credit Agreement, dated as of April 25, 2018, to replace the LIBOR-based reference borrowing rate with a SOFR-based reference borrowing rate for the U.S. dollar tranche of Term Loan A and the Revolving Credit Loans under our existing Credit Agreement.
We believe that existing cash balances, internally generated cash flows, availability under our Senior Credit Facility and other lines of credit are sufficient to support our business operations for the next 12 months. As of December 31, 2022, we were in compliance with all financial covenants related to our debt agreements.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $389 million at December 31, 2022 and $370 million at December 31, 2021 and consisted of the following:
December 31,
Domestic U.S. cash $ 27 $ 34
Joint venture and Aspire Defence project cash 107 116
Our cash balances are held in numerous accounts throughout the world to fund our global activities. Domestic cash relates to cash balances held by U.S. entities and is largely used to support project activities of those businesses as well as general corporate needs such as the payment of dividends to shareholders, repayment of debt and potential repurchases of our outstanding common stock.
Our international cash balances may be available for general corporate purposes but are subject to local restrictions, such
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as capital adequacy requirements and maintaining sufficient cash balances to support our U.K. pension plan and other obligations incurred in the normal course of business by those foreign entities. Repatriations of our undistributed foreign earnings are generally free of U.S. tax but may incur withholding and/or state taxes. We consider our future U.S. and non-U.S. cash needs as 1) our anticipated foreign working capital requirements, including funding of our U.K. pension plan, 2) the expected growth opportunities across all geographical markets and 3) our plans to invest in strategic growth opportunities, which may include acquisitions around the world, including whether foreign earnings are permanently reinvested.
In 2021, we changed our permanent reinvestment assertion on the unremitted earnings, as well as all current and future earnings in a wholly owned subsidiary in India. Accordingly, we recorded the income tax expense which was less than $2 million. In addition, we changed our permanent reinvestment assertion on all current and future earnings in our subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia. The associated income tax expense is and will be reflected in the periods in which the earnings are generated. The impact is not material to income tax expense. If management were to completely remove the indefinite investment assertion on all foreign subsidiaries, the exposure to local withholding taxes would be less than $9 million.
Joint venture cash and Aspire Defence project cash balances reflect the amounts held by joint venture entities that we consolidate for financial reporting purposes. These amounts are limited to those entities' activities and are not readily available for general corporate purposes; however, portions of such amounts may become available to us in the future should there be a distribution of dividends to the joint venture partners. We expect that the majority of the joint venture cash balances will be utilized for the corresponding joint venture purposes or for paying dividends.
As of December 31, 2022, substantially all of our excess cash was held in interest bearing operating accounts or short-term investment accounts with the primary objectives of preserving capital and maintaining liquidity.
Cash Flows
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated:
Years ended December 31,
Cash flows provided by operating activities $ 396 $ 278 $ 367
Cash flows used in investing activities 37 (428) (877)
Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities (399) 87 225
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash (15) (3) 9
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $ 19 $ (66) $ (276)
Operating activities. Cash provided by operations totaled $396 million and $278 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively as compared to net income of $192 million and $35 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Cash flows from operating activities result primarily from earnings and are affected by changes in operating assets and liabilities, which consist primarily of working capital balances for projects. Working capital levels vary from year to year and are primarily affected by the Company's volume of work. These levels are also impacted by the mix, stage of completion and commercial terms of projects. Working capital requirements also vary by project depending on the type of client and location throughout the world.
The primary components of our working capital accounts are accounts receivable, contract assets, accounts payable and contract liabilities. These components are impacted by the size and changes in the mix of our cost-reimbursable and time-and-material projects versus fixed price projects, and as a result, fluctuations in these components are not uncommon in our business. Specifically, the $455 million favorable cash flow impact related to accounts receivable and the $376 million unfavorable cash flow impact related to accounts payable were primarily driven by collections and payments in the first quarter of 2022 related to the significant volume from the OAW program in the fourth quarter of 2021 that was substantially completed in the first quarter of 2022. Additionally, we made an advance payment in October 2022 to our U.K. pension plan for approximately £29 million of the £33 million required minimum annual contributions for the year ending December 31, 2023.
Investing activities. Cash provided by investing activities totaled $37 million in 2022 and was primarily due to a return of investment of approximately $190 million from JKC resulting from the receipt of the first payment from the Subcontractor Settlement Agreement, a return of investment from BRIS of $10 million as our cumulative distributions from inception of the joint venture exceeded our cumulative earnings and proceeds of $55 million from the sale of our investment interest in three U.K. Road Projects. See Note 10 "Equity Method Investments and Variable Interest Entities" for further details. This was partially offset by our first payment related to an additional investment of $61 million in Mura Technology, $71 million in
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capital expenditures, $13 million net cash paid upon divestiture of a joint venture acquired as part of a historical GS acquisition and $73 million netcash used for the acquisition of VIMA. See Note 4 "Acquisitions" for further details.
Cash used in investing activities totaled $428 million in 2021, which included $406 million of net cash used for the acquisition of Frazer-Nash and Harmonic and the acquisition of a technology license, $29 million of cash used primarily for funding our proportionate share of JKC's ongoing legal and commercial costs, $7 million for our initial investment in Mura Technology and $30 million used for capital expenditures, partially offset by proceeds received of $44 million, which was primarily from the sale of our investment interest in the Middle East Petroleum Corporation (EBIC Ammonia project).
Financing activities. Cash used in financing activities totaled $399 million in 2022 and was primarily due to $193 million of repurchases of common stock under our share repurchase program, $66 million of dividend payments to common shareholders, $116 million in net payments on borrowings related to our Senior Credit Facility, $11 million repayment on our finance lease obligations, $10 million for the repurchase of common stock under our "withheld to cover" program and dividends paid to NCI shareholders of $4 million. These decreases were partially offset by $5 million in net proceeds received from the issuance of common stock and $3 million in investments from NCI shareholders.
Cash provided by financing activities totaled $87 million in 2021 and was primarily due to borrowings of $290 million on our Senior Credit Facility and $12 million in net proceeds received from the issuance of common stock, offset by $78 million for the repurchase of common stock under our share repurchase program, $61 million of dividend payments to common shareholders, $27 million in payments on borrowings related to our Senior Credit Facility, $13 million repayment on our finance lease obligations, $4 million for the repurchase of common stock under our "withheld to cover" program, $4 million repayment on our non-recourse debt associated with our Fasttrax joint venture and dividends paid to NCI shareholders of $23 million (of which $15 million was driven by the dividends paid to the minority interest of the sale of the EBIC Ammonia plant). See Note 12 "Debt and Other Credit Facilities" for further discussion of our Senior Credit Facility and Note 19 "Share Repurchases" for further discussion on our share repurchase program.
Future sources of cash. We believe that future sources of cash include cash flows from operations (including accounts receivable monetization arrangements), cash derived from working capital management and cash borrowings under the Senior Credit Facility.
Future uses of cash. We believe that future uses of cash include working capital requirements, joint venture capital calls, capital expenditures, dividends, pension funding obligations, repayments of borrowings, share repurchases and strategic investments including acquisitions. Our capital expenditures will be focused primarily on facilities and equipment to support our businesses. In addition, we will use cash to make payments under leases and various other obligations, including potential litigation payments, as they arise.
Other factors potentially affecting liquidity
Ichthys LNG Project. In reference to Note 6 "Unapproved Change Orders and Claims Against Clients and Estimated Recoveries of Claims Against Suppliers and Subcontractors” to our consolidated financial statements, in October 2021, JKC entered into a binding settlement agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) that resolved the outstanding claims and disputes between JKC and its client, Ichthys LNG Pty, Ltd (collectively, “the Parties”). As a result of the Settlement Agreement, the Parties agreed to withdraw all claims and terminate all ongoing arbitration and court proceedings between the Parties. As part of the Settlement Agreement, KBR’s letters of credit were also reduced to $82 million from $164 million.
In April 2022, JKC entered into the Subcontractor Settlement Agreement to resolve outstanding claims and disputes between JKC and the consortium of subcontractors. As a result of the Subcontractor Settlement Agreement, JKC received the first payment of AUD 270 million in April 2022. In May 2022, JKC distributed the payment to KBR at current exchange rates and net of legal expenses resulting in the receipt of approximately $190 million. The second payment of AUD 90 million is expected to be paid to JKC in March 2023. KBR recorded a non-cash charge to equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated affiliates in the amount of $137 million during the first quarter of 2022, which reflected KBR’s proportionate share of JKC's claims against the Consortium.
On May 17, 2022, we entered into Amendment No.6 under our existing Credit Agreement, dated as of April 25, 2018, to (i) remove certain provisions requiring that the net cash proceeds received from the Subcontractor Settlement Agreement be applied to prepay principal amounts owed under Term Loan A and (ii) amend a certain provision to permit KBR instead to apply such net cash proceeds for working capital and other general corporate purposes. As such, the net cash proceeds were used for repayment of the Revolver, funding of the first tranche of the Mura investment and other working capital requirements.
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U.K. pension obligation. We have recognized on our consolidated balance sheets a funding surplus of $46 million (measured as the difference between the fair value of plan assets and the projected benefit obligation as of December 31, 2022) for our frozen U.K. defined benefit pension plan. The total amount of employer pension contributions paid for the year ended December 31, 2022 is $73 million for our defined benefit plan in the U.K. This amount includes an advance payment disbursed in October 2022 to our U.K. pension plan for approximately £29 million of the £33 million required minimum annual contributions for the year ending December 31, 2023. The funding requirements for our U.K. pension plan are determined based on the U.K. Pensions Act 1995. Annual minimum funding requirements are based on a binding agreement with the Trustee of the U.K. pension plan that is negotiated on a triennial basis. In June 2022, KBR and the Trustee executed an agreement requiring minimum annual contributions of approximately £33 million ($39 million at current exchange rates) for the period through March 2028. This schedule of contributions will be reviewed by the Trustee and KBR no later than 15 months after the effective date of each actuarial valuation, due every three years. In the future, pension funding may increase or decrease depending on changes in the levels of interest rates, pension plan asset return performance and other factors. A significant increase in our funding requirements for the U.K. pension plan could result in a material adverse impact on our financial position.
Sales of Receivables. From time to time, we sell certain receivables to unrelated third-party financial institutions under various accounts receivable monetization programs. One such program is with MUFG Bank, Ltd. (“MUFG”) under a Master Accounts Receivable Purchase Agreement (the “RPA”), which provides the sale to MUFG of certain of our designated eligible receivables, with a significant portion of such receivables being owed by the U.S. government. We plan to continue to utilize these programs to ensure we have flexibility in regards to meeting our capital needs. Refer to Note 22 "Financial Instruments and Risk Management" to our consolidated financial statements for further discussion on our sales of receivables.
Mura Technology. In June 2022, we announced that we entered into an agreement to invest an additional £80 million in Mura Technology in which the funding is expected in two tranches. The first payment of £48 million was distributed during the quarter ended June 30, 2022 and the second payment of £32 million is expected to be paid in Q1 of 2023 with cash on hand.
Senior Credit Facility
Information relating to our Senior Credit Facility is described in Note 12 "Debt and Other Credit Facilities" to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the information discussed therein is incorporated by reference into this Part II, Item 7.
Senior Notes
Information relating to our Senior Notes is described in Note 12 "Debt and Other Credit Facilities" to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the information discussed therein is incorporated by reference into this Part II, Item 7.
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Convertible Senior Notes
On November 15, 2018, we issued and sold $350 million of 2.50% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 (the "Convertible Notes") pursuant to an indenture between us and Citibank, N.A., as trustee. The Convertible Notes mature on November 1, 2023 and, as such, are classified as current liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2022. The Convertible Notes are convertible into cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock, at our election. It is our current intent to settle the principal balance of the Convertible Notes in cash. We may settle any excess value upon conversion in cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of both at our election.
Concurrent with the issuance of the Convertible Notes, we entered into privately negotiated convertible note hedge transactions (the "Note Hedge Transactions") and warrant transactions (the "Warrant Transactions") with the option counterparties. These transactions represent a call spread overlay, whereby the cost of the Note Hedge Transactions we purchased to cover the cash outlay upon conversion of the Convertible Notes was reduced by the sales price of the Warrant Transactions.
As of December 31, 2022, the if-converted value of the Convertible Notes based on the closing share price exceeded the $350 million principal amount by approximately $381 million. The incremental value over the principal amount would be fully offset by the shares we are allowed to purchase under the Note Hedge Transaction. However, the counterparties holding the warrants would have the right to purchase the same number of shares we would receive at a strike price of $39.63 resulting in value of $182 million that would have been delivered to the counterparties as of December 31, 2022.
For more information relating to our Convertible Notes, Note Hedge Transactions and Warrant Transactions, refer to Note 12 "Debt and Other Credit Facilities" to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the information discussed therein is incorporated by reference into this Part II, Item 7.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements