Item 1A. Risk Factors
The following describes the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those presented in our forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face but do represent those risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business.
Risks Related to our Business and Operations
We may not be able to execute our manufacturing strategy successfully, which could cause the profitability of our products to suffer.
Our manufacturing strategy is designed to improve product quality and increase productivity, while reducing costs and increasing flexibility to respond to ongoing changes in the marketplace. To implement this strategy, we must be successful in our continuous improvement efforts, which depend on the involvement of management, production employees and suppliers. Any inability to achieve our objectives under our manufacturing strategy could adversely impact the profitability of our products and our ability to deliver desirable products to our consumers.
We have a large fixed cost base that will affect our profitability if our sales decrease.
The fixed cost levels of operating a recreational powerboat manufacturer can put pressure on profit margins when sales and production decline. Our profitability depends, in part, on our ability to spread fixed costs over a sufficiently large number of products sold and shipped, and if we make a decision to reduce our rate of production, gross or net margins could be negatively affected. Consequently, decreased demand or the need to reduce production can lower our ability to absorb fixed costs and materially impact our financial condition or results of operations.
Shortages, or increases in the cost, of raw materials, commodities, component parts and transportation could negatively impact our business.
The primary raw materials used in manufacturing our boats are petroleum-based resins, fiberglass and vinyl. Our profitability is affected by significant fluctuations in the prices of the raw materials and commodities that we use in our products and in the cost of freight and shipping to source materials, commodities, and other component parts necessary to assemble our products. In addition, our suppliers could face increased costs or an inability to meet required production levels due to their own limited market supply and, the tariffs the U.S. has imposed on certain foreign goods, including raw materials and components used in our manufacturing process. This could negatively impact our cost of sales, by increasing the price of raw materials and components used in our supply chain.
Any disruption in our suppliers’ operations could disrupt our production schedule.
Our ability to maintain production is dependent upon our suppliers delivering sufficient amounts of components, raw materials and parts on time to manufacture our products and meet our production schedules. In some instances, we purchase components, raw materials and parts that are ultimately derived from a single source or geographic area and we may therefore be at an increased risk for supply disruptions. Historically, we have not entered into long-term agreements with suppliers of our raw materials and components other than for our engines and outboard motors. Any number of factors, including labor disruptions, weather events, the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness, contractual or other disputes, unfavorable economic or industry conditions, delivery delays or other performance problems or financial difficulties or solvency problems, could disrupt our suppliers’ operations and lead to uncertainty in our supply chain or cause supply disruptions for us, which could, in turn, disrupt our operations. We have experienced supply chain disruptions since fiscal year 2020 related to numerous factors, including COVID-19, severe weather events, labor shortages, ongoing domestic logistical constraints, West Coast port challenges and rising prices to suppliers, in part due to inflationary pressures and geopolitical conflicts. If we continue to experience supply disruptions or they intensify, we may not be able to develop alternate sourcing quickly or at all.
Material disruption of our production schedule caused by a worsening, prolonged or other unexpected shortage of components, raw materials or parts have caused and could cause us not to be able to meet customer demand, to alter production schedules, to delay production launch schedules, or suspend production entirely, which could cause a loss of revenues, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations. These disruptions have had and may continue to have in the future an adverse impact on our prospects and operating results.
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We rely solely on General Motors for the supply of Malibu and Axis engines, which we integrate into our products for marine use.
The availability and cost of engines used in the manufacture of our boats are critical. We purchase engines from General Motors LLC that we then prepare for marine use for our Malibu and Axis boats. Our current agreement with General Motors LLC provides us with engines through model year 2023. We are currently working to renew our agreement with General Motors and anticipate having a new deal complete before the expiration of the existing agreement. If we are required to replace General Motors as our engine supplier for Malibu and Axis boats for any reason, it could cause a decrease in such boats available for sale or an increase in our cost of sales, either of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. For instance, in fiscal year 2020 we experienced interruption to our engine supply as a result of the United Auto Workers’ strike against General Motors. During the UAW strike, General Motors suspended delivery of engine blocks to us and we incurred $2.6 million in costs by entering into purchase agreements with two suppliers for additional engines to supplement our inventory of engine blocks for Malibu and Axis boats.
We have agreed to purchase substantially all of our outboard motors from Yamaha, which makes us reliant on Yamaha for our supply of outboard engines.
We have two joint marketing agreements with Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., or Yamaha, that require us to supply most of our boats that are pre-rigged with outboard motors with Yamaha outboard engines. In August 2018, we entered into a joint marketing agreement with Yamaha that became effective upon completion of our acquisition of Pursuit. Under our agreement with Yamaha, in exchange for certain incentives, we have agreed to purchase Yamaha outboard engines for use in all Pursuit and Cobalt branded boats that are pre-equipped with outboard motors when sold by us, except for up to 10% of Pursuit and Cobalt branded boats for sale in the United States. In addition, Maverick Boat Group has an agreement with Yamaha that we assumed when we acquired Maverick Boat Group. Under that agreement, Maverick Boat Group, in exchange for certain incentives, has agreed to purchase Yamaha outboard engines for use in all Maverick Boat Group branded boats that are pre-equipped with outboard motors when sold by us, except for up to 15% of Maverick Boat Group branded boats for sale in the United States and certain other limited exceptions.
While we believe that these agreements with Yamaha will provide the engines we need for our boats that use outboard motors, Yamaha could potentially exert significant bargaining power over quality, warranty claims, or other terms relating to the outboard engines we use. We also must pay penalties to Yamaha under each agreement if we do not achieve pre-determined purchase volume targets for each year of the agreement and for the entire term of the agreement. We may not be able to meet the purchase volume targets, which would require us to pay penalties to Yamaha. Our agreements with Yamaha that cover our Cobalt, Pursuit and Maverick Boat Group branded boats are scheduled to expire on June 30, 2023, unless extended by the parties to such agreement.
Termination or interruption of informal supply arrangements could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.
We have informal supply arrangements with many of our suppliers of components, raw materials and parts. In the event of a termination of the supply arrangement, there can be no assurance that alternate supply arrangements will be made on satisfactory terms. If we need to enter into supply arrangements on unsatisfactory terms, or if there are any delays to our supply arrangements, it could adversely affect our business and operating results.
Our ability to meet our manufacturing workforce’s needs is crucial to our results of operations and future sales and profitability.
We rely on the existence of an available hourly workforce to manufacture our boats. We cannot assure you that we will be able to attract and retain qualified employees to meet current or future manufacturing needs at a reasonable cost, or at all. For instance, even when there are high unemployment rates in the regions where we have manufacturing facilities, it can be difficult to retain skilled employees. Although none of our employees are currently covered by collective bargaining agreements, we cannot assure you that our employees will not elect to be represented by labor unions in the future. Additionally, competition for qualified employees could require us to pay higher wages to attract a sufficient number of employees. Significant increases in manufacturing workforce costs could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
The nature of our business exposes us to workers' compensation claims and other workplace liabilities.
Certain materials we use require our employees to handle potentially hazardous or toxic substances. While our employees who handle these and other potentially hazardous or toxic materials receive specialized training and wear protective clothing, there is still a risk that they, or others, may be exposed to these substances. Exposure to these substances could result in significant injury to our employees and damage to our property or the property of others, including natural resource damage.
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Our personnel are also at risk for other workplace-related injuries. We have in the past been, and may in the future be, subject to fines, penalties, and other liabilities in connection with any such injury or damage. While we have implemented safety precautions at our facilities to mitigate contagious diseases, such as a pandemic, we may also be subject to possible lawsuits or regulatory actions or suffer from reputational risk if we experience spread in our workplace. We may be unable to maintain insurance for these potential liabilities on acceptable terms or such insurance may not provide adequate protection against potential liabilities.
We have grown our business through acquisitions; however we may not be successful in completing future acquisitions or integrating future acquisitions in a way that fully realizes their expected benefits to our business.
A key part of our growth strategy, as shown by our acquisition of Maverick Boat Groups in 2020, Pursuit in 2018, Cobalt in 2017 and our Australian licensee in 2014, has been to acquire other companies that expand our consumer base, enter new product categories or obtain other competitive advantages. We expect to continue to acquire companies as an element of our growth strategy; however, we may not be able to identify future acquisition candidates or strategic partners as part of our growth strategy that are suitable to our business, or we may not be able to obtain financing on satisfactory terms to complete such acquisitions.
Acquisitions include a number of risks, including our ability to project and evaluate market demand, realize potential synergies and cost savings, and make accurate accounting estimates, as well as diversion of management attention. Uncertainties exist in assessing the value, risks, profitability, and liabilities associated with certain companies or assets, negotiating acceptable terms, obtaining financing on acceptable terms, and receiving any necessary regulatory approvals. As we continue to grow, in part, through acquisitions, our success depends on our ability to anticipate and effectively manage these risks. Our failure to successfully do so could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Further, our inability to successfully integrate future acquisitions within the intended time frames or at all could impede us from realizing all of the benefits of those acquisitions and could severely weaken our business operations. The integration process with any acquisition may disrupt our business and, if implemented ineffectively, may preclude realization of the full benefits expected by us and could harm our results of operations. In addition, the overall integration of the combining companies may result in unanticipated problems, expenses, liabilities and competitive responses and may cause our stock price to decline. Even if the operations of an acquisition are integrated successfully, we may not realize the full benefits of the acquisition, including the synergies, cost savings or growth opportunities that we expect.
Our growth strategy may require us to secure significant additional capital, the amount of which will depend upon the size, timing, and structure of future acquisitions or vertical integrations and our working capital and general corporate needs.
Our growth strategy includes the possible acquisition of other businesses, such as our acquisitions of Cobalt, Pursuit and Maverick, and the potential integration of new product lines or related products to our boats, such as our initiatives to integrate the production of engines and trailers for our Malibu and Axis models. These actions may require us to secure significant additional capital through the borrowing of money or the issuance of equity. Any borrowings made to finance future strategic initiatives could make us more vulnerable to a downturn in our operating results, a downturn in economic conditions, or increases in interest rates on borrowings that are subject to interest rate fluctuations. If our cash flow from operations is insufficient to meet our debt service requirements, we could then be required to sell additional equity securities, refinance our obligations or dispose of assets in order to meet our debt service requirements. Adequate financing may not be available if and when we need it or may not be available on terms acceptable to us. The failure to obtain sufficient financing on favorable terms and conditions could have a material adverse effect on our growth prospects.
Further, we could choose to finance acquisitions or other strategic initiatives, in whole or in part through the issuance of our Class A Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable for our Class A Common Stock. If we do so, existing stockholders will experience dilution in the voting power of their Class A Common Stock and earnings per share could be negatively impacted. The extent to which we will be able and willing to use our Class A Common Stock for acquisitions and other strategic initiatives will depend on the market value of our Class A Common Stock and the willingness of potential third parties to accept our Class A Common Stock as full or partial consideration. Our inability to use our Class A Common Stock as consideration, to generate cash from operations, or to obtain additional funding through debt or equity financings in order to pursue our strategic initiatives could materially limit our growth.
Our reliance upon patents, trademark laws and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient to protect our intellectual property from others who may sell similar products and may lead to costly litigation. We are currently, and may be in the future, party to lawsuits and other intellectual property rights claims that are expensive and time-consuming.
We hold patents and trademarks relating to various aspects of our products and believe that proprietary technical know- how is important to our business. Proprietary rights relating to our products are protected from unauthorized use by third parties
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only to the extent that they are covered by valid and enforceable patents or trademarks or are maintained in confidence as trade secrets. We cannot be certain that we will be issued any patents from any pending or future patent applications owned by or licensed to us or that the claims allowed under any issued patents will be sufficiently broad to protect our technology. In the absence of enforceable patent or trademark protection, we may be vulnerable to competitors who attempt to copy our products, gain access to our trade secrets and know-how or diminish our brand through unauthorized use of our trademarks, all of which could adversely affect our business. Accordingly, we may need to engage in future litigation to enforce intellectual property rights, to protect trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights of others.
We also rely on unpatented proprietary technology. It is possible that others will independently develop the same or similar technology or otherwise obtain access to our unpatented technology. To protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information, we require employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to enter into confidentiality agreements. We cannot assure you that these agreements will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use, misappropriation, or disclosure of such trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information. If we are unable to maintain the proprietary nature of our technologies, we could be materially adversely affected.
In addition, others may initiate litigation or other proceedings to challenge the validity of our patents, or allege that we infringe their patents, or they may use their resources to design comparable products that do not infringe our patents. We may incur substantial costs if our competitors initiate litigation to challenge the validity of our patents, or allege that we infringe their patents, or if we initiate any proceedings to protect our proprietary rights. If the outcome of any litigation challenging our patents is unfavorable to us, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our business operations could be negatively impacted by an outage or breach of our information technology systems, operational technology systems, or a cybersecurity event.
We manage our business operations through a variety of information technology (IT) and operational technology systems which we continually enhance to increase efficiency and security. We depend on these systems for commercial transactions, customer interactions, manufacturing, branding, employee tracking, and other applications. New system implementations, such as the current implementation of our new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, across the enterprise also pose risks of outages or disruptions, which could affect our suppliers, commercial operations, and customers. We continue to upgrade, streamline, and integrate these systems but, like those of other companies, our systems are susceptible to outages due to natural disasters, power loss, computer viruses, security breaches, hardware or software vulnerabilities, disruptions, and similar events. We exchange information with many trading partners across all aspects of our commercial operations through our IT systems. A breakdown, outage, malicious intrusion, breach, random attack, or other disruption of communications could result in erroneous or fraudulent transactions, disclosure of confidential information, loss of reputation and confidence, and may also result in legal claims or proceedings, penalties, and remediation costs. We have experienced cyber-attacks, but to our knowledge, we have not experienced any material disruptions or breaches of our information technology systems or connected products.
The risk of these systems-related events and security breaches occurring has intensified, in part because we maintain certain information necessary to conduct our businesses in digital form stored on cloud servers. If our security measures are breached or fail, unauthorized persons may be able to obtain access to or acquire personal or other confidential data. Depending on the nature of the information compromised, we may also have obligations to notify consumers and/or employees about the incident, and we may need to provide some form of remedy, such as a subscription to a credit monitoring service, for the individuals affected by the incident. This could negatively affect our relationships with customers or trading partners, lead to potential claims against us, and damage our image and reputation. Moreover, the amount and scope of insurance we maintain against losses resulting from any such events or security breaches may not be sufficient to cover our losses or otherwise adequately compensate us for any disruptions to our businesses that may result, and the occurrence of any such events or security breaches could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We have started the implementation of a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and if we are not able to successfully develop and manage that implementation, it could adversely affect our business or results of operations.
We have begun the process of designing and implementing a new ERP system. We are currently in the design phases of the project. This project will require significant capital and human resources, the re-engineering of many processes of our business, and the attention of our management and other personnel who would otherwise be focused on other aspects of our business. The implementation may be more expensive and take longer to fully implement than we originally plan, resulting in increased capital investment, higher fees and expenses of third parties, delayed deployment scheduling, and more on-going maintenance expense once implemented, and, as such, it will be difficult for us to estimate the ultimate costs and schedules. If for any reason portions of the implementation are not successful, we could be required to expense rather than capitalize related amounts.
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Our operations and sales in international markets require significant management attention, expose us to difficulties presented by international economic, political, legal and business factors, and may not be successful or produce desired levels of sales and profitability.
We currently sell our products throughout the world and we manufacture boats internationally in Australia. Several factors, including weakened international economic conditions and the strength of the U.S. dollar, could adversely affect our international growth. Expansion in our existing international operations and entry into new international markets require significant management attention. Some of the countries in which we market and our distributors sell our products are, to some degree, subject to political, economic or social instability. Our international operations expose us and our representatives, agents and distributors to risks inherent in operating in foreign jurisdictions.
Doing business on a worldwide basis also requires us to comply with the laws and regulations of various foreign jurisdictions. These laws and regulations place restrictions on our operations, trade practices, partners and investment decisions. In particular, our operations are subject to U.S. and foreign anti-corruption and trade control laws and regulations, such as the FCPA, export controls and economic sanctions programs, including those administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or the OFAC. As a result of doing business in foreign countries and with foreign partners, we are exposed to a heightened risk of violating anti-corruption and trade control laws and sanctions regulations.
Our operations and sales have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we must successfully manage the demand, supply, and operational challenges associated with the actual or perceived effects of COVID-19 and the related widespread public health crisis.
Our business has been, and may continue to be, negatively impacted by the fear of exposure to or actual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and other countries where we operate or our dealers or suppliers are located. The impacts of the pandemic on our operations have included:
•The temporary shutdown of our facilities between March and May of 2020, limiting our ability to ship boats to our dealers during the period of shut-down, which negatively impacted our net sales for the second half of fiscal year 2020.
•Supply chain disruptions created by the temporary shutdown of facilities of our suppliers, which led us to limit our production levels during the first half of fiscal 2021 in an attempt to allow our supply chain to partially recover in preparation of higher manufacturing volumes that we planned for the second half of fiscal 2021.
•Lower production levels that, coupled with strong retail demand, contributed to lower inventory levels at our dealers as of June 30, 2021 compared to June 30, 2020.
Furthermore, COVID-19 has impacted and may further impact the general economy, including negatively impacting economic growth, the proper functioning of financial and capital markets, foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates, and liquidity. Despite our efforts to manage and remedy COVID-19 related impacts to us, their ultimate impact also depends on factors beyond our knowledge or control, including any resurgences of the COVID-19 virus, third-party actions taken to contain its spread and mitigate its public health effects, and the related impact on consumer confidence and spending.
Catastrophic events, including natural or environmental disasters, pandemics or other disruptions at our facilities could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on the continuous operation of our facilities in Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, California, Alabama, and Australia. Any natural or environmental disaster, pandemic or other serious disruption to our facilities due to fire, flood, earthquake, acts of terrorism, civil insurrection or social unrest or any other unforeseen circumstances could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If there is a disruption in our business it could result in a reduction of production and cause delays in our ability to meet consumer demand or receive supplies from our vendors. We cannot assure you that we will not have to suspend our operations again, whether voluntarily or as a result of federal, state or local mandates, and such closures could extend for a longer term than the prior shutdown of our facilities relating to COVID-19.
Changes in climate could also adversely affect our operations by limiting or increasing the costs associated with equipment or fuel supplies. In addition, adverse weather conditions, such as increased frequency and/or severity of storms, or floods could impair our ability to operate by damaging our facilities and equipment or restricting product delivery to customers. The occurrence of any disruption at our facilities, even for a short period of time, may have an adverse effect on our productivity and profitability, during and after the period of the disruption. These disruptions may also cause personal injury and loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment and environmental damage. Although we maintain property, casualty and business interruption insurance of the types and in the amounts that we believe are customary for the industry, we are not fully insured against all potential natural disasters or other disruptions to our facilities.
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Increases in income tax rates or changes in income tax laws or enforcement could have a material adverse impact on our financial results.
Changes in domestic and international tax legislation could expose us to additional tax liability and could impact the amount of our tax receivable agreement liability. Although we monitor changes in tax laws and work to mitigate the impact of proposed changes, such changes may negatively impact our financial results. Expected changes in current tax law beyond fiscal 2022 could impact our financial results in a material way. In addition, any increase in individual income tax rates would negatively affect our potential consumers’ discretionary income and could decrease the demand for our products.
We depend on key personnel and we may not be able to retain them or to attract, assimilate, and retain highly qualified employees in the future.
Our future success will depend in significant part upon the continued service of our senior management and our continuing ability to attract, assimilate, and retain highly qualified and skilled managerial, product development, manufacturing, and marketing and other personnel. The loss of services of any members of our senior management or key personnel or the inability to hire or retain qualified personnel in the future could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Markets and the Recreational Powerboat Industry
Weak general economic conditions, particularly in the United States, can negatively impact our industry, demand for our products, and our business and results of operations.
Demand for new recreational powerboats can be negatively influenced by weak economic conditions, low consumer confidence and high unemployment, especially in the United States, and by increased market volatility worldwide. In times of economic uncertainty and contraction, consumers tend to have less discretionary income and defer or avoid expenditures for discretionary items, such as boats. Sales of our products are highly sensitive to personal discretionary spending levels, and our success depends on general economic conditions and overall consumer confidence and personal income levels, especially in the United States and in the specific regional markets where we sell our products. Any deterioration in general economic conditions that diminishes consumer confidence or discretionary income is likely to reduce our sales and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, fiscal and monetary policy could have a material adverse impact on worldwide economic conditions, the financial markets, and availability of credit and, consequently, may negatively affect our industry, businesses, and overall financial condition. Consumers often finance purchases of our boats, and as interest rates rise, the cost of financing the purchase also increases. If credit conditions worsen, and adversely affect the ability of consumers to finance potential purchases at acceptable terms and interest rates, it could result in a decrease in sales or delay improvement in sales of our products.
If we are unable to continue to enhance existing products and develop and market new or enhanced products that respond to customer needs and preferences, we may experience a decrease in demand for our products and our business could suffer.
Market acceptance of our products depends on our technological innovation and our ability to implement technology in our boats. Our failure to introduce new technologies and product offerings that our markets desire could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, we believe we have been able to achieve higher margins in part as a result of the introduction of new features or enhancements to our existing boat models. If we fail to introduce new features or those we introduce fail to gain market acceptance, our margins may suffer.
In addition, some of our direct competitors and indirect competitors may have significantly more resources to develop and patent new technologies. It is possible that our competitors will develop and patent equivalent or superior technologies and other products that compete with ours. We cannot be certain that our products or technologies have not infringed or will not infringe on the proprietary rights of others, including our competitors. They may assert these patents against us and we may be required to license these patents on unfavorable terms or cease using the technology covered by these patents, either of which would harm our competitive position and may materially adversely affect our business.
Our continued success is dependent on the positive perception of our brands, which, if impaired, could adversely affect our sales.
We believe that our brands are significant contributors to the success of our business and that maintaining and enhancing our brands are important to expanding our consumer and dealer base. The value of our brands is based in large part on perceptions and opinions, and broad access to social media makes it easy for anyone to provide public feedback that can influence perceptions of our company. It may be difficult to control negative publicity, regardless of whether it is accurate. Negative incidents, such as quality and safety concerns, product recalls, severe incidents or injuries related to our products or
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actions, or statements or actions of our employees or dealers or the athletes associated with our products, could lead to tangible adverse effects on our business, including lost sales or employee retention and recruiting difficulties. Also, public concerns about the environmental impact of our products could result in diminished public perception of our brands. If the popularity of the sports and activities for which we design, manufacture and sell our boats were to decrease as a result of these risks or any negative publicity, sales of our products could decrease, which could have an adverse effect on our net revenue, profitability and operating results.
Our sales may be adversely impacted by increased consumer preference for used boats or the supply of new boats by competitors in excess of demand.
During the economic downturn that commenced in 2008, we observed a shift in consumer demand toward purchasing more used boats, primarily because prices for used boats are typically lower than retail prices for new boats. If this were to occur again, it could have the effect of reducing demand among retail purchasers for our new boats. Also, while we have taken steps designed to balance production volumes for our boats with demand, our competitors could choose to reduce the price of their products, which could have the effect of reducing demand for our new boats. Reduced demand for new boats could lead to reduced sales by us, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.
An increase in energy and fuel costs may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Higher energy costs result in increases in operating expenses at our manufacturing facility and in the expense of shipping products to our dealers. In addition, increases in energy costs may adversely affect the pricing and availability of petroleum based raw materials, such as resins and foams, that are used in our products. Higher fuel prices may also have an adverse effect on demand for our boats, as they increase the cost of boat ownership and possibly affect product use.
Retail demand for our boats is seasonal and unfavorable weather conditions just before and during spring and summer can have a negative effect on our revenues.
Adverse weather conditions in any year in any particular geographic region may adversely affect sales in that region, especially during the peak boating season. Sales of our products are generally stronger just before and during spring and summer, which represent the peak boating months in most of our markets, and favorable weather during these months generally has a positive effect on consumer demand. Conversely, unseasonably cool weather, excessive rainfall, reduced rainfall levels, or drought conditions during these periods may close area boating locations or render boating dangerous or inconvenient, thereby generally reducing consumer demand for our products. Our annual results would be materially and adversely affected if our net sales were to fall below expected seasonal levels during these periods. We may also experience more pronounced seasonal fluctuation in net sales in the future as we continue to expand our businesses. Additionally, to the extent that unfavorable weather conditions are exacerbated by global climate change or otherwise, our sales may be affected to a greater degree than we have previously experienced. There can be no assurance that weather conditions will not have a material effect on the sales of any of our products.
Our industry is characterized by intense competition, which affects our sales and profits.
The recreational powerboat industry, and in particular the performance sport boat category, is highly competitive for consumers and dealers. Competition affects our ability to succeed in the markets we currently serve, including the saltwater outboard fishing boat market that we recently entered with our acquisitions of Pursuit and Maverick Boat Group, and new markets that we may enter in the future. Competition is based primarily on brand name, price, product selection and product performance. We compete with several large manufacturers that may have greater financial, marketing and other resources than we do and who are represented by dealers in the markets in which we now operate and into which we plan to expand. We also compete with a variety of small, independent manufacturers. We cannot assure you that we will not face greater competition from existing large or small manufacturers or that we will be able to compete successfully with new competitors. Our failure to compete effectively with our current and future competitors would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We compete with a variety of other activities for consumers’ scarce leisure time.
Our boats are used for recreational and sport purposes, and demand for our boats may be adversely affected by competition from other activities that occupy consumers’ leisure time and by changes in consumer life style, usage pattern or taste. Similarly, an overall decrease in consumer leisure time may reduce consumers’ willingness to purchase and enjoy our products.
Changes in currency exchange rates can adversely affect our results.
A portion of our sales are denominated in a currency other than the U.S. dollar. Consequently, a strong U.S. dollar may adversely affect reported revenues. We also maintain a portion of our manufacturing operations in Australia which partially
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mitigates the impact of a strengthening U.S. dollar in that country. A portion of our selling, general and administrative costs are transacted in Australian dollars as a result. We also sell U.S. manufactured products into certain international markets in U.S. dollars, including the sale of products into Canada, Europe and Latin America. Demand for our products in these markets may also be adversely affected by a strengthening U.S. dollar. We do not currently use hedging or other derivative instruments to mitigate our foreign currency risks.
Inflation could adversely affect our financial results.
The market prices of certain materials and components used in manufacturing our products, especially resins that are made with hydrocarbon, feedstocks, copper, aluminum and stainless steel, can be volatile. While, historically, inflation has not had a material effect on our results of operations, significant increases in inflation, particularly those related to wages and increases in the cost of raw materials, recently have, and may continue to have, an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, new boat buyers often finance their purchases. Inflation typically results in higher interest rates that could translate into an increased cost of boat ownership. Should inflation and increased interest rates occur, prospective consumers may choose to forego or delay their purchases or buy a less expensive boat in the event credit is not available to finance their boat purchases.
Risks Related to our Dealers
We depend on our network of independent dealers, face increasing competition for dealers and have little control over their activities.
Substantially all of our sales are derived from our network of independent dealers. Our top ten dealers represented 39.9%, 38.7% and 38.5% of our net sales for fiscal year 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Sales to our dealers under common control of OneWater Marine, Inc. represented approximately 16.8%, 16.3% and 15.2% of consolidated net sales in fiscal years 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The loss of a significant number of these dealers could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. We have agreements with the dealers in our network that typically provide for one-year terms, although some agreements have a term of up to three years.
The number of dealers supporting our products and the quality of their marketing and servicing efforts are essential to our ability to generate sales. Competition for dealers among recreational powerboat manufacturers continues to increase based on the quality, price, value and availability of the manufacturers’ products, the manufacturers’ attention to customer service and the marketing support that the manufacturer provides to the dealers. We face competition from other manufacturers in attracting and retaining independent boat dealers. In addition, independent dealers in the recreational powerboat industry have experienced significant consolidation in recent years, which could result in the loss of one or more of our dealers in the future if the surviving entity in any such consolidation purchases similar products from a competitor. A significant deterioration in the number or effectiveness of our dealers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success depends, in part, upon the financial health of our dealers and their continued access to financing.
Because we sell nearly all of our products through dealers, the financial health of our dealers is critical to our success. Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected if the financial health of the dealers that sell our products suffers. Their financial health may suffer for a variety of reasons, including a downturn in general economic conditions, rising interest rates, higher rents, increased labor costs and taxes, compliance with regulations and personal financial issues.
Our dealers also require adequate liquidity to finance their operations, including purchases of our boats. Dealers are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could unfavorably affect their liquidity positions, including, among other things, continued access to adequate financing sources on a timely basis on reasonable terms. These sources of financing are vital to our ability to sell products through our distribution network. Access to floor plan financing generally facilitates our dealers’ ability to purchase boats from us, and their financed purchases reduce our working capital requirements. If floor plan financing were not available to our dealers, our sales and our working capital levels would be adversely affected.
We may be required to repurchase inventory of certain dealers.
Many of our dealers have floor plan financing arrangements with third-party finance companies that enable the dealers to purchase our products. In connection with these agreements, we may have an obligation to repurchase our products from a finance company under certain circumstances, and we may not have any control over the timing or amount of any repurchase obligation nor have access to capital on terms acceptable to us to satisfy any repurchase obligation. This obligation is triggered
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if a dealer defaults on its debt obligations to a finance company, the finance company repossesses the boat and the boat is returned to us. Our obligation to repurchase a repossessed boat for the unpaid balance of our original invoice price for the boat is subject to reduction or limitation based on the age and condition of the boat at the time of repurchase, and in certain cases by an aggregate cap on repurchase obligations associated with a particular floor plan financing program. If boats are returned to us, it would have an adverse impact on our net sales and could result in downward pressure on pricing of our boats. Since fiscal year 2020, we have repurchased a total of two units from lenders to former dealers and those units were subsequently resold above their cost and at a minimal margin loss.
One or more dealers may default on the terms of a credit line in the future. In addition, applicable laws regulating dealer relations may also require us to repurchase our products from our dealers under certain circumstances, and we may not have any control over the timing or amount of any repurchase obligation nor have access to capital on terms acceptable to us to satisfy any repurchase obligation. If we are required to repurchase a significant number of units under any repurchase agreement or under applicable dealer laws, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Risks Related to our Regulatory, Accounting, Legal and Tax Environment
The manufacture and sale of boats exposes us to product liability risks and a significant adverse determination in any material claim against us could adversely affect our operating results or financial condition.
The manufacture and sale of our boats expose us to significant risks associated with product liability, economic loss, and other claims. If our products are found to be defective or used incorrectly by our customers, bodily injury, property damage or other injury, including death, may result and this could give rise to additional product liability or economic loss claims against us and adversely affect our brand image or reputation.
For instance, a jury recently found that our subsidiary, Malibu Boats, LLC, and another entity that was the manufacturer of the boat at issue, Malibu Boats West, Inc., negligently failed to warn of a hazard posed by the boat and that such failure was a proximate cause of the death of a passenger in the boat. Malibu Boats West, Inc. is not, and has never been, a subsidiary of ours but was a separate legal entity whose assets were purchased by Malibu Boats, LLC in 2006. Based on the jury’s finding of successor liability, the trial court entered judgment for the full amount of the verdict against Malibu Boats, LLC, with a potential maximum liability to Malibu Boats, LLC of $140 million, plus post-judgment interest at a rate of 6.25% per annum. Malibu Boats, LLC may also be required to pay an award of reasonable attorney’s fees to the plaintiffs, which the plaintiffs claim should be approximately $56 million. The trial court has postponed any ruling on the plaintiffs' contested motion for attorney’s fees pending the resolution of our post-trial motions and related appeals. On July 17, 2022, the trial court denied the post-trial motions of Malibu Boats, LLC, and we have since filed a notice of appeal. Pending resolution of the appeals process, the payment of any damages in this matter is expected to be stayed. While we maintain product liability insurance applicable to this case, such insurance coverage may be limited to $26 million. Further, while we have other claims that we may decide to pursue with respect to this matter, we cannot provide any assurance that we will pursue those claims or be successful if we do. If the outcome of the case is ultimately unfavorable to us after appeal, we would need to pay for any final judgment in excess of the amount paid by our insurance providers. See Note 17 of our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
As noted, we maintain product and general liability insurance policies, including excess insurance coverage for product liability claims. However, we are not fully insured against all potential claims and we may experience legal claims in excess of our insurance coverage or claims that are not covered by insurance, either of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any losses that we may suffer from any such claims, including any unanticipated adverse determination of a material product liability claim or other material claim (particularly an uninsured matter), could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, and the effect that any such liability may have upon the reputation and marketability of our products may have a negative impact on our business and operating results.
Significant product repair and/or replacement costs due to product warranty claims or product recalls could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.
We provide limited warranties for our boats. Although we employ quality control procedures, sometimes a product is distributed that needs repair or replacement. Our standard warranties require us, through our dealer network, to repair or replace defective products during such warranty periods. In addition, if any of our products are, or are alleged to be, defective, we may be required to participate in a recall of that product if the defect or alleged defect relates to safety. For example, in fiscal year 2019 we announced a recall on fuel pumps supplied to us by a third-party vendor and used in certain Malibu and Axis boats. While this recall did not have a material impact on our business, the repair and replacement costs we could incur in connection with a recall could materially and adversely affect our business and could cause consumers to question the safety or reliability of our products.
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Changes to U.S. trade policy, tariffs, and import/export regulations may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Changes in laws and policies governing foreign trade could adversely affect our business and trigger retaliatory actions by affected countries. There is significant uncertainty with respect to future trade regulations, including the imposition by the U.S. of tariffs and penalties on products manufactured outside the U.S., and existing international trade agreements, as shown by Brexit in Europe. The institution of global trade tariffs, trade sanctions, new or onerous trade restrictions, embargoes and other stringent government controls have the potential to adversely impact the U.S. economy, our industry, our suppliers, and global demand for our products and, as a result, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We must comply with environmental laws and regulations as a boat manufacturer that could increase the costs of our products and reduce consumer demand.
As with boat construction in general, our manufacturing processes involve the use, handling, storage and contracting for recycling or disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. The failure to manage or dispose of such hazardous substances and wastes properly could expose us to material liability or fines, including liability for personal injury or property damage due to exposure to hazardous substances, damages to natural resources, or for the investigation and remediation of environmental conditions. Under certain environmental laws, we may be liable for remediation of contamination at sites where our hazardous wastes have been disposed or at our current or former facilities, regardless of whether such facilities are owned or leased or whether we caused the condition of contamination. We have not been notified of and are otherwise currently not aware of any contamination at our current or former facilities, or at any other location, for which we could have any material liability under environmental laws or regulations, and we currently are not undertaking any remediation or investigation activities in connection with any contamination. Also, the components in our boats may become subject to more stringent environmental regulations. For example, boat engines and other emission producing components may become subject to more stringent emissions standards, which could increase the cost of our engines, components and products, which, in turn, may reduce consumer demand for our products.
Our customers use our boats for recreational water and fishing activities. Environmental regulations, permitting and zoning requirements and other commercial policies and practices that limit access to water, including availability of slip locations and/or the ability to transfer boats among different waterways, access to fisheries, or the ability to fish in some areas could negatively affect demand for our boats. Future licensing requirements, including any licenses imposed on recreational boating, may also deter potential customers, thereby reducing our sales. Furthermore, regulations allowing the sale of fuel containing higher levels of ethanol for automobiles, which is not appropriate or intended for use in marine engines, may nonetheless result in increased warranty, service costs, customer dissatisfaction with products, and other claims against us if boaters mistakenly use this fuel in marine engines, causing damage to and the degradation of components in their marine engines.
In addition to environmental regulations, we must also comply with product safety, workforce and other laws and regulations that may increase our costs and could result in harm to our reputation if we fail to comply with such regulations.
We are subject to federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations, including product safety, workforce, and other regulations. For instance, we are subject to laws governing our relationships with employees, including, but not limited to, employment obligations such as employee wage, hour, and benefits issues. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also imposes standards of conduct for and regulates workplace safety, including physical safety and limits on the amount of emissions to which an employee may be exposed without the need for respiratory protection or upgraded plant ventilation. Our facilities are also regularly inspected by OSHA and by state and local inspection agencies and departments.
Any of these laws, rules, or regulations may cause us to incur significant expenses to achieve or maintain compliance, require us to modify our products, or modify our approach to our workforce, adversely affecting the price of or demand for some of our products, and ultimately affect the way we conduct our operations. Failure to comply with any of these laws, rules, or regulations could result in harm to our reputation and/or could lead to fines and other penalties, including restrictions on the importation of our products into, and the sale of our products in, one or more jurisdictions until compliance is achieved. In addition, legal requirements are constantly evolving, and changes in laws, regulations or policies, or changes in interpretations of the foregoing, could result in compliance shortfalls, require additional product development investment, increase consumer pricing, and increase our costs or create liabilities where none exists today.
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Risks Related to our Capital Structure
The only material asset of Malibu Boats, Inc. is our interest in the LLC, and therefore Malibu Boats, Inc. is dependent upon distributions from the LLC for any cash obligations of Malibu Boats, Inc.
Malibu Boats, Inc. is a holding company and has no material assets other than its ownership of LLC Units in the LLC. Malibu Boats, Inc. has no independent means of generating revenue. We intend to cause the LLC to make distributions to its unit holders in an amount sufficient to cover all applicable taxes at assumed tax rates and payments under the tax receivable agreement. To the extent that Malibu Boats, Inc. need funds, and the LLC is restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or under the terms of its financing arrangements, or is otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition. For example, our credit agreement generally prohibits the LLC, Malibu Boats, LLC, Malibu Australian Acquisition Corp., Cobalt Boats, LLC, PB Holdco, LLC, MBG Holdco, Inc. and Maverick Boat Group, Inc. from paying dividends or making distributions to Malibu Boats, Inc. Our credit agreement permits, however, (i) distributions to members of the LLC, including Malibu Boats, Inc., based on the member’s allocated taxable income, (ii) distributions to fund payments that are required under the our tax receivable agreement, (iii) purchases of stock or stock options of the LLC from former officers, directors or employees of loan parties under the credit agreement or payments pursuant to stock option and other benefit plans up to $3.0 million in any fiscal year, and (iv) distributions to Malibu Boats, Inc. for the repurchase of its capital stock of up to $35.0 million in any fiscal year subject to one-year carry forward and compliance with other financial covenants. In addition, the LLC may make dividends and distributions of up to $10.0 million in any fiscal year, subject to compliance with other financial covenants.
The credit agreement governing our revolving credit facility contains restrictive covenants which may limit our operating flexibility and may impair our ability to access sufficient capital to operate our business.
We rely on our revolving credit facility to provide us with adequate liquidity to operate our business. The credit agreement governing our revolving credit facility contains restrictive covenants regarding indebtedness, liens, fundamental changes, investments, restricted payments, disposition of assets, transactions with affiliates, negative pledges, hedging transactions, certain prepayments of indebtedness, accounting changes and governmental regulation. The credit agreement also requires compliance with financial covenants consisting of a minimum ratio of EBITDA to interest expense and a maximum ratio of total debt to EBITDA. We have the option to request that lenders increase the amount available under the revolving credit facility by, or obtain incremental term loans of, up to $200.0 million, subject to the terms of the credit agreement and only if existing or new lenders choose to provide additional term or revolving commitments. Any incremental revolving commitments or term loan facility established under the credit agreement will also be subject to these same covenants and restrictions.
These covenants may affect our ability to operate and finance our business as we deem appropriate. Violation of these covenants could constitute an event of default under the credit agreement governing our revolving credit facility. If there were an event of default under the credit agreement, our lenders could reduce or terminate our access to amounts under our credit facilities or declare all of the indebtedness outstanding under our revolving credit facility immediately due and payable. We may not have sufficient funds available, or we may not have access to sufficient capital from other sources, to continue funding our operations or to repay any accelerated debt. Even if we could obtain additional financing, the terms of the financing may not be favorable to us. In addition, substantially all of our assets are subject to liens securing our revolving credit facility. If amounts outstanding under the revolving credit facility were accelerated, our lenders could foreclose on these liens and we could lose substantially all of our assets. Any event of default under the credit agreement governing our revolving credit facility could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.
Borrowings under our revolving credit facility are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. Interest rates are currently at relatively low levels. If interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness will increase even though the amount borrowed remains the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, will correspondingly decrease.
On July 8, 2022, we entered into a Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Amended Credit Agreement”) that amended and restated our second amended and restated credit agreement dated as of June 28, 2017 (the “Prior Credit Agreement”). The Amended Credit Agreement provides us a revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $350.0 million (of which $121.7 million was drawn on July 8, 2022 to refinance the loans under the Prior Credit Agreement as well as to pay certain fees and expenses related to entering into the Amended Credit Agreement) with a maturity date of July 8, 2027. Borrowings under the Amended Credit Agreement bear interest at a rate equal to either, at our option, (i) the highest of the prime rate, the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.5%, or one-month Term SOFR plus 1% (the “Base Rate”) or (ii) SOFR, in each case plus an applicable margin ranging from 1.25% to 2.00% with respect to SOFR borrowings and 0.25% to 1.00% with
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respect to Base Rate borrowings. The applicable margin will be based upon the consolidated leverage ratio of the LLC and its subsidiaries.
If the rate used to calculate interest on our outstanding floating rate debt under our Prior Credit Agreement or Amended Credit Agreement were to increase by 1.0%, we would expect to incur additional interest expense on such indebtedness as of June 30, 2022 of approximately $1.2 million on an annualized basis. While we do not expect the potential impact of our transition from LIBOR to SOFR as the benchmark rate under our credit agreement to have a material effect on our financial results based on our currently outstanding debt, uncertainty as to the use of SOFR or other reforms that could occur could adversely impact our interest expense on our floating rate debt. For instance, the use of SOFR may result in interest that does not correlate over time with the payments that would have been made on our indebtedness if LIBOR were available in its current form.
We will be required to pay the pre-IPO owners (or any permitted assignee) for certain tax benefits pursuant to our tax receivable agreement with them, and the amounts we may pay could be significant.
We entered into a tax receivable agreement with the pre-IPO owners (or their permitted assignees) that provides for the payment by us to the pre-IPO owners (or any permitted assignee) of 85% of the tax benefits, if any, that we are deemed to realize as a result of (1) the increases in tax basis resulting from our purchases or exchanges of LLC Units and (2) certain other tax benefits related to our entering into the tax receivable agreement, including tax benefits attributable to payments under the tax receivable agreement. These payment obligations are the obligations of Malibu Boats, Inc. and not of the LLC. For purposes of the agreement, the benefit deemed realized by Malibu Boats, Inc. will be computed by comparing its actual income tax liability (calculated with certain assumptions) to the amount of such taxes that it would have been required to pay had there been no increase to the tax basis of the assets of the LLC as a result of the purchases or exchanges, and had we not entered into the tax receivable agreement.
Estimating the amount of payments that may be made under the tax receivable agreement is by its nature imprecise, insofar as the calculation of amounts payable depends on a variety of factors. The actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the agreement, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including:
•the timing of purchases or exchanges - for instance, the increase in any tax deductions will vary depending on the fair value, which may fluctuate over time, of the depreciable or amortizable assets of the LLC at the time of each purchase or exchange;
•the price of shares of our Class A Common Stock at the time of the purchase or exchange - the increase in any tax deductions, as well as the tax basis increase in other assets, of the LLC is directly related to the price of shares of our Class A Common Stock at the time of the purchase or exchange;
•the extent to which such purchases or exchanges are taxable - if an exchange or purchase is not taxable for any reason, increased deductions will not be available; and
•the amount and timing of our income - Malibu Boats, Inc. will be required to pay 85% of the deemed benefits as and when deemed realized. If we do not have taxable income, we generally will not be required (absent a change of control or other circumstances requiring an early termination payment) to make payments under the tax receivable agreement for that taxable year because no benefit will have been realized. However, any tax benefits that do not result in realized benefits in a given tax year will likely generate tax attributes that may be utilized to generate benefits in previous or future tax years. The utilization of such tax attributes will result in payments under the tax receivable agreement.
We expect that the payments that Malibu Boats, Inc. may make under the tax receivable agreement may be substantial. Assuming no material changes in the relevant tax law, and that we earn sufficient taxable income to realize all tax benefits that are subject to the agreement, we expect that future payments under the tax receivable agreement relating to the purchases by Malibu Boats, Inc. of LLC Units will be approximately $45.5 million over the next fifteen (15) years. Future payments to pre-IPO owners (or their permitted assignees) in respect of subsequent exchanges or purchases would be in addition to these amounts and are expected to be substantial. The foregoing numbers are estimates and the actual payments could differ materially. It is possible that future transactions or events, such as changes in tax legislation, could increase or decrease the actual tax benefits realized and the corresponding tax receivable agreement payments.
Further, there may be a material negative effect on our liquidity if distributions to Malibu Boats, Inc. by the LLC are not sufficient to permit Malibu Boats, Inc. to make payments under the tax receivable agreement after it has paid taxes. For example, Malibu Boats, Inc. may have an obligation to make tax receivable agreement payments for a certain amount while receiving distributions from the LLC in a lesser amount, which would negatively affect our liquidity. The payments under the
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tax receivable agreement are not conditioned upon the pre-IPO owners’ (or any permitted assignees’) continued ownership of us.
Malibu Boats, Inc. is required to make a good faith effort to ensure that it has sufficient cash available to make any required payments under the tax receivable agreement. The limited liability company agreement of the LLC requires the LLC to make “tax distributions” which, in the ordinary course, will be sufficient to pay the actual tax liability of Malibu Boats, Inc. and to fund required payments under the tax receivable agreement. If for any reason the LLC is not able to make a tax distribution in an amount that is sufficient to make any required payment under the tax receivable agreement or we otherwise lack sufficient funds, interest would accrue on any unpaid amounts at LIBOR, plus 500 basis points until they are paid.Recent actions taken by the Chief Executive of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”), which regulates LIBOR, indicate that the continuation of U.S. LIBOR on the current basis cannot and will not be guaranteed after June 30, 2023. Moreover, it is possible that U.S. LIBOR will be discontinued or modified prior to June 30, 2023. Our tax receivable agreement, however, does not provide for an alternative reference rate to LIBOR and, while we do not currently anticipate failing to pay any amounts owed under our tax receivable agreement, it is unclear how we would determine interest on any such amounts should we fail to pay as required under our tax receivable agreement.
In certain cases, payments under the tax receivable agreement to the pre-IPO owners (or any permitted assignees) of LLC Units may be accelerated or significantly exceed the actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the tax receivable agreement.
The tax receivable agreement provides that, in the event that we exercise our right to early termination of the tax receivable agreement, or in the event of a change in control or a material breach by us of our obligations under the tax receivable agreement, the tax receivable agreement will terminate, and Malibu Boats, Inc. will be required to make a lump-sum payment equal to the present value of all forecasted future payments that would have otherwise been made under the tax receivable agreement, which lump-sum payment would be based on certain assumptions, including those relating to our future taxable income. The change in control payment and termination payments to the pre-IPO owners (or any permitted assignees) could be substantial and could exceed the actual tax benefits that Malibu Boats, Inc. receives as a result of acquiring the LLC Units because the amounts of such payments would be calculated assuming that we would have been able to use the potential tax benefits each year for the remainder of the amortization periods applicable to the basis increases, and that tax rates applicable to us would be the same as they were in the year of the termination. In these situations, our obligations under the tax receivable agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity. There can be no assurance that we will be able to finance our obligations under the tax receivable agreement.
Payments under the tax receivable agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that we determine. Although we are not aware of any issue that would cause the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, to challenge a tax basis increase, Malibu Boats, Inc. will not be reimbursed for any payments previously made under the tax receivable agreement. As a result, in certain circumstances, payments could be made under the tax receivable agreement in excess of the benefits that Malibu Boats, Inc. actually realizes in respect of (1) the increases in tax basis resulting from our purchases or exchanges of LLC Units and (2) certain other tax benefits related to our entering into the tax receivable agreement, including tax benefits attributable to payments under the tax receivable agreement.
Risks Related to our Common Stock
Our stock price may be volatile and stockholders may be unable to sell shares at or above the price at which they purchased them.
Our closing stock price ranged from $48.72 per share to $84.87 per share during fiscal year 2022. The market price of our Class A Common Stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to the risk factors listed in this section and others beyond our control. Further, stock markets may experience extreme price and volume fluctuations that can affect the market prices of equity securities. These fluctuations can be unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political and market conditions such as recessions, interest rate changes or international currency fluctuations, could harm the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
Future sales of our Class A Common Stock in the public market could cause our share price to fall; furthermore, you may be diluted by future issuances of Class A Common Stock in connection with our incentive plans, acquisitions or otherwise.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A Common Stock in the public market, in particular sales by our directors, officers or other affiliates, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Class A Common Stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Furthermore, any Class A Common Stock that we issue in connection with our Long-Term Incentive Plan or other equity incentive plans that we
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may adopt in the future, our acquisitions or otherwise would dilute the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A Common Stock.
Our governing documents and Delaware law could prevent a takeover that stockholders consider favorable and could also reduce the market price of our stock.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain certain provisions that could delay or prevent a change in control. These provisions could also make it more difficult for stockholders to elect directors and take other corporate actions. These provisions include, without limitation:
•a classified board structure;
•a requirement that stockholders must provide advance notice to propose nominations or have other business considered at a meeting of stockholders;
•supermajority stockholder approval to amend our bylaws or certain provisions in our certificate of incorporation; and
•authorization of blank check preferred stock.
In addition, we are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. These provisions may prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding Class A Common Stock, from engaging in certain business combinations without the approval of substantially all of our stockholders for a certain period of time.
These and other provisions in our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and under Delaware law could discourage potential takeover attempts, reduce the price that investors might be willing to pay for shares of our Class A Common Stock in the future and result in the market price being lower than it would be without these provisions.
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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Properties
Tennessee
Our Malibu and Axis boats are manufactured in Loudon, Tennessee. We lease the property where we have our 197,000 square-foot facility that is used to manufacture Malibu and Axis boats. This property also includes warehouses and office space. The property is leased pursuant to a lease agreement that has a term through March 31, 2028, with the option to extend for three additional terms of ten years each. We also lease the property where we have our 23,500 square-foot facility that is used to store our warranty parts. This property also includes warehouses and office space. The property is leased pursuant to a lease agreement that has a term through December 31, 2022, with the option to extend for one additional term of two years.
We also own 165,000 square-feet of space neighboring our manufacturing facility in Loudon, Tennessee that we use for trailer production, engine production, shipping and office space. Our Tennessee facilities are used in our Malibu segment.
Kansas
Our Cobalt boats are manufactured in Neodesha, Kansas. We own the property in Neodesha, where we have four manufacturing facilities aggregating to 493,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Our Neodesha facilities are used in our Cobalt segment.
Florida
Our Pursuit boats are manufactured in Fort Pierce, Florida. We own the property where our Pursuit facilities are located which consist of six manufacturing facilities for aggregating to 398,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
Our Maverick Boat Group boats are manufactured at a separate location in Fort Pierce, Florida. We own the property where our Maverick Boat Group facilities are located. Our two manufacturing facilities for Maverick Boat Group aggregate to 330,000 square feet of manufacturing space, including the expansion completed in 2022 of 110,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
Our Fort Pierce facilities for Pursuit and the Maverick Boat Group are used in our Saltwater Fishing segment.
California
We lease a 172,500 square-foot facility in Merced, California pursuant to a lease agreement that has a term through March 31, 2028, with the option to extend for three additional terms of ten years each. Our Merced site houses both our product development team that focuses on design innovations as well as our tower and tower accessory manufacturing operations. The components assembled at this site are delivered to our facilities in Tennessee, Kansas and our Australian subsidiary. Our Merced site is used to develop and design boats, towers and tower accessories primarily for our Malibu segment and to a lesser extent for our Cobalt segment.
Alabama
We own a 130,000 square-foot facility in Alexander City, Alabama that focuses on the design and manufacturing of our wiring harnesses operations that are used in our Malibu, Axis and some Cobalt models. The components assembled at this site are delivered to our facilities in Tennessee and Kansas.
Australia
We manufacture and test boats at two facilities in Albury, Australia with combined square-footage of 68,200. Each facility is leased pursuant to a lease agreement and each with a term through October 22, 2024, with two five-year options to extend lease term. Our Albury facilities are used in our Malibu segment.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
The discussion of legal matters under the section entitled "Legal Proceedings" is incorporated by reference from Note 17 of our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
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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
Market Information
Our Class A Common Stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "MBUU".
On August 23, 2022, the last reported sale price on the Nasdaq Global Select Market of our Class A Common Stock was $66.82 per share. As of August 23, 2022, we had approximately five holders of record of our Class A Common Stock and 10 holders of record of our Class B Common Stock. The actual number of holders of Class A Common Stock is greater than this number of record holders, and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners, but whose shares of Class A Common Stock are held in street name by brokers and other nominees.
Dividends
Malibu Boats, Inc. has never declared or paid any cash dividends on its capital stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings for use in the expansion and operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable law and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.
Stock Performance Graph
The stock price performance graph below shall not be deemed soliciting material or to be filed with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Exchange Act or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, nor shall it be incorporated by reference into any past or future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent we specifically request that it be treated as soliciting material or specifically incorporate it by reference into a filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
The following graph shows the cumulative total stockholder return of an investment of $100 in cash at market close at the end of each of the years within the five-year period ended June 30, 2022 for (i) our Class A Common Stock, (ii) the Russell 2000 Index and (iii) the Dow Jones Recreational Product Index. Pursuant to applicable SEC rules, all values assume reinvestment of the full amount of all dividends, however no dividends have been declared on our Class A Common Stock to date. The stockholder return shown on the graph below is not necessarily indicative of future performance, and we do not make or endorse any predictions as to future stockholder returns.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
On November 3, 2021, our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program to allow for the repurchase of up to $70.0 million of our Class A Common Stock and the LLC's LLC Units (the “ Repurchase Program”) for the period from November 8, 2021 to November 8, 2022. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, we repurchased 554,995 shares of Class
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A Common Stock for $34.6 million in cash including related fees and expenses. As of June 30, 2022, $35.4 million was available to repurchase shares of Class A Common Stock and LLC Units under the Repurchase Program. During the three months ended June 30, 2022, we repurchased 79,852 shares of Class A Common Stock for $4.4 million in cash including related fees and expenses. The Repurchase Program expires on November 8, 2022.
This table provides information with respect to purchases by us of shares of our Class A Common Stock under our Repurchase Program during the quarter ended June 30, 2022 (in thousands except share and per share data).
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
Not Applicable.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
Equity compensation plan information required by this Item 5 will be included in our definitive proxy statement for our annual meeting of stockholders, which will be filed with the SEC no later than 120 days after the end of our fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 (the "Proxy Statement"), and is incorporated herein by reference.
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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
Overview 36
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic 37
Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations 39
Components of Results of Operations 41
Results of Operations 42
GAAP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures 47
Liquidity and Capital Resources 51
Critical Accounting Policies 55
New Accounting Pronouncements 56
Overview
We are a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a diverse range of recreational powerboats, including performance sport boats, sterndrive and outboard boats. Our product portfolio of premium brands are used for a broad range of recreational boating activities including, among others, water sports, general recreational boating and fishing. Our passion for consistent innovation, which has led to propriety technology such as Surf Gate, has allowed us to expand the market for our products by introducing consumers to new and exciting recreational activities. We design products that appeal to an expanding range of recreational boaters and water sports enthusiasts whose passion for boating and water sports is a key component of their active lifestyle and provide consumers with a better customer-inspired experience. With performance, quality, value and multi-purpose features, our product portfolio has us well positioned to broaden our addressable market and achieve our goal of increasing our market share in the expanding recreational boating industry.
We currently sell our boats under eight brands as shown in the table below, and we report our results of operations under three reportable segments, Malibu, Cobalt and Saltwater Fishing. We revised our segment reporting effective December 31, 2020 to account for our acquisition of Maverick Boat Group and to conform to changes in our internal management reporting based on our boat manufacturing operations. Prior to December 31, 2020, we had three reportable segments, Malibu, Pursuit and Cobalt. All segment information in the accompanying consolidated financial statements has been revised to conform to our current reporting segments for comparison purposes. Additional segment information is contained in Note 19 - Segment Reporting, in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
% of Total Revenues
Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
Axis
Maverick
Cobia
Pathfinder
Hewes
Our Malibu segment participates in the manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sale throughout the world of Malibu and Axis performance sports boats. Our flagship Malibu boats offer our latest innovations in performance, comfort and convenience, and are designed for consumers seeking a premium performance sport boat experience. We are the market leader in the United States in the performance sport boat category through our Malibu and Axis Wake Research boat brands. Our Axis boats appeal to consumers who desire a more affordable performance sport boat product but still demand high performance,
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functional simplicity and the option to upgrade key features. Retail prices of our Malibu and Axis boats typically range from $70,000 to $225,000.
Our Saltwater Fishing segment participates in the manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sale throughout the world of Pursuit boats and the Maverick Boat Group family of boats (Maverick, Cobia, Pathfinder and Hewes). Our Pursuit boats expand our product offerings into the saltwater outboard fishing market and include center console, dual console and offshore models. We recently acquired Maverick Boat Group in December 2020 and added Maverick, Cobia, Pathfinder and Hewes to our brands. Our Maverick Boat Group family of boats are highly complementary to Pursuit, expanding our saltwater outboard offerings with a strong focus in length segments under 30 feet. We are among the market leaders in the fiberglass outboard fishing boat category with the brands in our Saltwater Fishing segment. Retail prices for our Saltwater Fishing boats typically range from $45,000 to $1,300,000.
Our Cobalt segment participates in the manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sale throughout the world of Cobalt boats. Our Cobalt boats consist of mid to large-sized luxury cruisers and bowriders that we believe offer the ultimate experience in comfort, performance and quality. We are the market leader in the United States in the 20’ - 40’ segment of the sterndrive boat category through our Cobalt brand. Retail prices for our Cobalt boats typically range from $65,000 to $525,000.
We sell our boats through a dealer network that we believe is the strongest in the recreational powerboat category. As of July 1, 2022, our worldwide distribution channel consisted of over 400 dealer locations globally. Our dealer base is an important part of our consumers’ experience, our marketing efforts and our brands. We devote significant time and resources to find, develop and improve the performance of our dealers and believe our dealer network gives us a distinct competitive advantage.
We achieved fiscal year 2022 net sales, net income and adjusted EBITDA of $1,214.9 million, $163.4 million and $246.5 million, respectively, which were an increase from $926.5 million, $114.3 million and $190.1 million, respectively, for fiscal year 2021. For the definition of adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation to net income, see “GAAP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Our operations have continued to be impacted by a variety of external factors. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our operations and financial results since the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and continues to have an impact on us. We elected to suspend operations at all of our facilities from March 2020 until late April and early May 2020, depending on the facility. As a result, we were not able to ship boats to our dealers during the period of shut-down, which negatively impacted our net sales for the second half of fiscal year 2020. During the first half of fiscal 2021, we constrained our production levels to allow our supply chain to more fully recover from the impacts of COVID-19 in preparation of higher wholesale manufacturing volumes that we planned for the second half of fiscal 2021. While our net sales for fiscal year 2021 were impacted by our lower production levels, retail sales improved during fiscal year 2021 as consumers turned to boating as a form of outdoor, socially-distanced recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in retail sales during fiscal year 2021 combined with our lower wholesale shipment levels during the second half of fiscal year 2020 and constrained production in the first half of fiscal year 2021 resulted in lower inventory levels at our dealers throughout fiscal year 2021 and continued into fiscal year 2022. Fiscal year 2022 retail demand continued at a strong pace, albeit at lower levels than the record fiscal year 2021 levels, and in spite of limited inventory. Increases in fiscal year 2022 wholesale production combined with lower retail demand levels, as compared to fiscal year 2021, have combined to increase inventory levels modestly at our Malibu and Cobalt segment dealers at the end of fiscal year 2022. Saltwater Fishing segment dealers remain low on inventory. Dealer inventories continue to be well below historical levels and a full recovery to historical inventory levels will depend on the ability of our supply chain to provide materials to us timely and the level of retail demand during the upcoming year.
Additionally, we experienced supply chain disruptions throughout fiscal year 2022 that we believe were driven by numerous factors, including labor shortages, ongoing domestic logistical constraints, West Coast port challenges and rising prices to our suppliers, in part due to inflationary pressures. Such supply chain disruptions along with increased costs for raw materials, parts and components, shipping and labor, are having industry-wide impacts affecting us and our suppliers, dealers and customers.
The future impact of COVID-19 and ongoing supply chain disruptions on our financial condition and results of operations may result in further constrained production and increased costs and will depend on a number of factors, including factors that we may not be able to forecast at this time. See the risk factors around COVID-19 impact, supply chain disruptions and increases in costs under Part I. Item 1A. of this Form 10-K
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Outlook
Industry-wide marine retail registrations continue to recover from the years following the global financial crisis. According to Statistical Surveys, Inc., domestic retail registration volumes of performance sport boats, fiberglass sterndrive and fiberglass outboards increased at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 5% between 2011 and 2021, for the 50 reporting states. Within the recreational powerboat categories, the performance sport boats category, which we primarily serve with our Malibu and Axis brands, has produced a double-digit compound annual growth rate between 2011 and 2021. Outboard boats and fiberglass sterndrive boats have seen their combined market grow at a 4% compound annual growth rate between 2011 and 2021. This combined growth has been driven primarily by the outboard market. We target the outboard market with our Pursuit, Cobia, Pathfinder, Maverick and Hewes brands, as well as our Cobalt brand, which is a new entrant to the outboard market, and we plan to meaningfully expand our share of the fiberglass outboard category in the future. We cater to the sterndrive market through our Cobalt brand. While the market for sterndrive propulsion, particularly in lower foot length products, has been challenged, Cobalt’s performance continues to be helped by the higher foot length product market it serves, which has grown, and through gains in market share by Cobalt.
Although retail growth in powerboats was negatively impacted by weak retail sales in March and April 2020 due to COVID-19, domestic retail demand growth for powerboats accelerated during calendar year 2020, in part because consumers turned to boating as a form of outdoor, socially-distanced recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the impact of COVID-19 early in 2020, the increased demand during 2020 was broad based across recreational powerboat categories leading to the highest growth rate the industry has seen in decades. We continued to see strong year-over-year retail growth during the first half of 2021. However, beginning in May 2021, we experienced lower growth and in certain markets year-over-year decreases in retail registrations driven by the lack of available inventory at our dealers and the high growth in those months during 2020. Retail registration activity declined meaningfully during the second half of calendar 2021 versus the comparable period in 2020 given the limited available inventory and the strong sales activity and resulting destocking in 2020 and the first half of 2021. The domestic retail market decreased year-over-year during calendar 2021 for the performance sport boat segment by 2%, while the fiberglass outboard and sterndrive segments were down a combined 7%, in line with expectations given the prior year retail environment. However, when compared to the pre-COVID market conditions of calendar year 2019, the performance sport boat segment and the combined fiberglass outboard and sterndrive segments increased 21% and 3%, respectively, in calendar year 2021 despite depleted channel inventory levels. The first half of calendar 2022 has continued to show year over year decreases in retail registration activity, much of which are in the double digits against significantly high comparative periods due to increased retail demand in the first half of calendar 2021. We believe that despite recent retail registration declines, retail activity at our dealers continued to be strong during much of fiscal year 2022 and but for a lack of inventory may have been higher. We believe the second half of 2022 will show year over year increases as the second half of calendar 2021 was significantly affected by decreased retail demand due to the lack of available dealer inventory.
The combination of strong retail market activity through 2020 and into early 2021 and supply chain disruptions experienced in 2021 and continuing through 2022 have depleted our inventory levels at our dealers below pre-COVID levels throughout 2021 and 2022. Operational challenges and supply chain constraints created by severe winter weather delayed our ability to add to depleted inventory levels in the second half of fiscal 2021. We experienced an increase in supply chain disruptions throughout fiscal 2022 that we believe were driven by numerous factors, including labor shortages, ongoing domestic logistical constraints, West Coast port challenges and rising prices to our suppliers, in part due to inflationary pressures. The duration of these challenges is unknown, and they may meaningfully impact our ability to restock our dealers’ inventories in a timely manner. We believe supply chain disruptions will continue to challenge wholesale production output through at least the remainder of calendar 2022. As a result of lower dealer inventory levels and lower wholesale production volumes due to the foregoing factors, we expect to see meaningful wholesale demand to restock our dealer inventories into fiscal 2023 and potentially beyond, but the primary driver of restocking timing will be retail activity. We expect lower dealer inventory levels will support our wholesale shipments and financial performance in the first half of fiscal year 2023 and retail activity will be the key driver of wholesale production in the second half of fiscal 2023. The duration of such heightened dealer restocking demand may be extended by our suppliers' inability to increase production to match our desired wholesale production targets, however, it may alternatively be reduced if retail activity deteriorates materially from existing levels.
We have also experienced elevated raw material, components and transportation costs, partly due to inflationary pressures, and we anticipate those costs to remain at elevated levels for the remainder of calendar year 2022 and likely beyond. To combat this, we implemented a surcharge across all brands effective December 1, 2021. We do not believe the surcharges impacted our wholesale shipments in fiscal 2022. We believe our competitors have increased prices at similar rates to us and we have therefore not been at a competitive disadvantage from a pricing perspective. At the beginning of fiscal 2023, we made our surcharges permanent price changes and have worked aggressively to minimize incremental price increases to lessen any volume impact associated with increased prices. Numerous other variables also have the potential to impact our volumes, both positively and negatively. For example, increasing interest rates that we are currently experiencing could reduce retail consumer appetite for our product or reduce the appetite or availability for credit for our dealers and retail consumers. Further, we believe
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a substantial increase or decrease in the price of oil, strength or weakness of the U.S. dollar and tariffs can result in greater or reduced demand for our boats in certain markets. Consumer confidence, expanded or eroded, is a variable that can also impact demand for our products in both directions. Other challenges that could impact demand for recreational powerboats include, fuel costs, a meaningful reduction in the value of global or domestic equity markets, the continued acceptance of our new products in the recreational boating market, our ability to compete in the competitive power boating industry, and the costs of labor and certain of our raw materials and key components. Retail demand may be negatively impacted in the second half of calendar year 2022 as a result of rising gas prices (albeit falling the past several months), increasing interest rates and continuing concerns over inflation, all of which are outside of our control.
Since 2008, we have increased our market share among manufacturers of performance sport boats with new product development, improved distribution, new models, and innovative features. However, our market remains highly competitive and our competitors have become more aggressive in their product introductions, increased their distribution and launched surf systems competitive with our patented Surf Gate system. Notwithstanding this increasingly competitive environment, we expanded our market share lead in 2019 in the performance sport boats category over our nearest competitors. We believe decreased dealer inventory levels driven by strong retail growth and competitive new product introductions led to a reduction in our market share through 2021; however, we continue to maintain the leading market share in the performance sport boat category. In addition, we continue to be the market share leader in both the premium and value-oriented product sub-categories for performance sports boats, we continue to maintain the number one market share position in the United States for the 24’—29’ segment of the sterndrive boat category, and we have the number two market share position in the outboard fiberglass fishing market. Our ability to continue to increase inventory levels at our dealers will be important to maintain and grow our market share across our brands. We believe our new product pipeline, strong dealer network and ability to increase production will allow us to maintain and potentially expand our industry leading market position in performance sports boats.
We believe that our track record of expanding our market share with our Malibu and Axis brands due to new product development, improved distribution, new models, and innovative features is directly transferable to our Cobalt, Pursuit and Maverick Boat Group acquisitions. We have seen the impact of this strategy at Cobalt as we have realized growing market share with the introduction of ten new products in the last twenty-one months. While Cobalt, Pursuit and the Maverick Boat Group brands are market leaders in certain areas, we believe our experience positions us to execute a strategy to drive enhanced share by expanding the Cobalt, Pursuit and Maverick Boat Group product offerings with different foot lengths, different boat types and different propulsion technologies. Our new product development efforts at Pursuit and Maverick Boat Group will take time and our ability to influence near-term model introductions is limited, but we have already begun to execute on this strategy. With respect to Cobalt, we introduced four new models during fiscal year 2022 and six new models of boats during fiscal year 2021. For the Pursuit brand, our focus has been on expanding the award-winning Dual Console, Sport and Offshore product offerings that continue to combine innovative features and dependable performance in refined designs that accommodate a broad array of activities on the water, including the Electric Sliding Entertainment Center on the S 378. Our newest acquisition, Maverick Boat Group, is in the very early stages of integration into the business and meaningful product and innovation changes will be developed for coming years. We believe enhancing new product development combined with diligent management of the Cobalt, Pursuit and Maverick Boat Group dealer networks will position us to meaningfully improve our share of the sterndrive and outboard markets over time.
Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations
We believe that our results of operations and our growth prospects are affected by a number of factors, which we discuss below.
Economic Environment and Consumer Demand
Our product sales are impacted by general economic conditions, which affect the demand for our products, the demand for optional features, the availability of credit for our dealers and retail consumers, and overall consumer confidence. Consumer spending, especially purchases of discretionary items, tends to decline during recessionary periods and tends to increase during expansionary periods. The recreational powerboat industry has shown continued growth from 2010 through 2021 based on retail sales. While there is still some uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, on-going supply chain disruptions, and rising prices to our suppliers, in part due to inflationary pressures, we believe we are well positioned strategically in the recreational powerboat market with brands that are market leaders in their segments.
Inflation has impacted the prices of our materials and our labor costs, which has had a negative impact on our gross margin and our operations. In particular, the market prices of certain materials and components used in manufacturing our products, especially resins that are made with hydrocarbon, feedstocks, copper, aluminum and stainless steel, are increasing. To combat this, we implemented a surcharge across all brands effective December 1, 2021. These surcharges could have negatively impacted retail demand, but we do not believe they have impacted our wholesale shipments in fiscal 2022. Further, new boat
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buyers often finance their purchases. Efforts to stop or limit inflation are resulting in higher interest rates that translate into an increased cost of boat ownership. We have seen increased interest rates for our customers in the first half of calendar year 2022. We expect higher than recent years’ levels of inflation to persist for the foreseeable future. Should inflation and increased interest rates continue at elevated rates, we may experience less retail demand because prospective consumers may choose to forgo or delay their purchases or buy a less expensive or used boat. We intend to minimize the effect of inflation through selective price increases, cost reductions and improved productivity.
New Product Development and Innovation
Our long-term revenue prospects are based in part on our ability to develop new products and technological enhancements that meet the demands of existing and new consumers. Developing and introducing new boat models and features that deliver improved performance and convenience are essential to leveraging the value of our brands. By introducing new boat models, we are able to appeal to a new and broader range of consumers and focus on underserved or adjacent segments of the broader powerboat category. To keep product fresh and at the forefront of technological innovation in the boating industry, we aim to introduce a number of new boat models per year. We also believe we are able to capture additional value from the sale of each boat through the introduction of new features, which results in increased average selling prices and improved margins. We allocate most of our product development costs to new model and feature designs, usually with a specific consumer base and market in mind. We use industry data to analyze our markets and evaluate revenue potential from each major project we undertake. Our product development cycle, or the time from initial concept to volume production, can be up to two years. As a result, our development costs, which may be significant, may not be offset by corresponding new sales during the same periods. Once new designs and technologies become available to our consumers, we typically realize revenue from these products from one year up to 15 years. We may not, however, realize our revenue expectations from each innovation. We believe our close communication with our consumers, dealers and sponsored athletes regarding their future product desires enhances the efficiency of our product development expenditures.
Product Mix
Leveraging our robust product offering and features to enhance our sales growth and gross margins. Our product mix, as it relates to our brands, types of boats and features, not only makes our offerings attractive to consumers but also helps drive higher sales and margins. Historically, we have been able to realize higher sales and margins when we sell larger boats compared to our smaller boats, our premium brands compared to our entry-level brands and our boats that are fully-equipped with optional features. We intend to continue to develop new features and models and maintain an attractive product mix that optimizes sales growth and margins.
Ability to Manage Manufacturing Costs, Sales Cycles and Inventory Levels
Our results of operations are affected by our ability to manage our manufacturing costs effectively and to respond to changing sales cycles. Our product costs vary based on the costs of supplies and raw materials, as well as labor costs. We have implemented various initiatives to reduce our cost base and improve the efficiency of our manufacturing process. We are continuously monitoring and reviewing our manufacturing processes to identify improvements and create additional efficiencies.
Our ability to maintain production is dependent upon our suppliers delivering sufficient amounts of components, raw materials and parts to manufacture our products and on time to meet our production schedules. Historically, we have not entered into long-term agreements with suppliers of our raw materials and components other than for our engines and outboard motors. Any number of factors, including labor disruptions, weather events, the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness, contractual or other disputes, unfavorable economic or industry conditions, delivery delays or other performance problems or financial difficulties or solvency problems, could disrupt our suppliers’ operations and lead to uncertainty in our supply chain or cause supply disruptions for us, which could, in turn, disrupt our operations. We have experienced supply chain disruptions since fiscal year 2020 related to numerous factors, including COVID-19, severe weather events, labor shortages, ongoing domestic logistical constraints, West Coast port challenges and rising prices to suppliers, in part due to inflationary pressures. If we continue to experience supply disruptions or they intensify, we may not be able to develop alternate sourcing quickly or at all. Any material disruption of our production schedule caused by an unexpected shortage of components, raw materials or parts could cause us not to be able to meet customer demand, to alter production schedules or suspend production entirely, which could cause a loss of revenues, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
We completed the expansion of our facility in Florida for Maverick Boat Group in the last quarter of fiscal year 2022. We expect this expanded facility will allow us to continue improving the manufacturing process and increase volume at this location. We rely on our insights into the market gleaned from dealer inventory levels, industry reports about anticipated demand for our products in the upcoming sales cycle and our own estimates and assumptions in formulating our manufacturing
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plan for the following fiscal year. Throughout our consumer sales cycle, which reaches its peak from March through August of each year, we adjust our manufacturing activities in order to adapt to variability in demand.
Dealer Network, Dealer Financing and Incentives
We rely on our dealer network to distribute and sell our products. We believe we have developed the strongest distribution network in the performance sport boat category. To improve and expand our network and compete effectively for dealers, we regularly monitor and assess the performance of our dealers and evaluate dealer locations and geographic coverage in order to identify potential market opportunities. Our acquisitions of Cobalt, Pursuit and Maverick Boat Group has allowed us to expand into each of their strong dealer networks as well. We intend to continue to add dealers in new territories in the United States as well as internationally, which we believe will result in increased unit sales.
Our dealers are exposed to seasonal variations in consumer demand for boats. We address anticipated demand for our products and manage our manufacturing in order to mitigate seasonal variations. We also use our dealer incentive programs to encourage dealers to order in the off-season by providing floor plan financing relief, which typically permits dealers to take delivery of current model year boats between July 1 and April 30 on an interest-free basis for a specified period. We also offer our dealers other incentives, including rebates, seasonal discounts, promotional co-op arrangements and other allowances. We facilitate floor plan financing programs for many of our dealers by entering into repurchase agreements with certain third-party lenders, which enable our dealers, under certain circumstances, to establish lines of credit with the third-party lenders to purchase inventory. Under these floor plan financing programs, a dealer draws on the floor plan facility upon the purchase of our boats and the lender pays the invoice price of the boats. We will continue to review and refine our dealer incentive offerings and monitor any exposures arising under these arrangements.
Vertical Integration
We have vertically integrated a number of key components of our manufacturing process, including the manufacturing of boat trailers, towers and tower accessories, machined and billet parts, soft grip flooring, and most recently, wiring harnesses. We began producing our own engines, branded as Malibu Monsoon engines, in our Malibu and Axis boats for model year 2019. We believe our vertical integration initiatives will reduce our reliance on third-party suppliers while reducing the risk that a change in cost or production from any third-party supplier could adversely affect our business. In fiscal year 2022, we acquired a facility to begin manufacturing our own wiring harnesses. As a result of this acquisition, we reduced the risk of production delays due to delays in receipt of wiring harnesses from third-party suppliers.
Vertical integration of key components of our boats gives us the ability to increase incremental margin per boat sold by reducing our cost base and improving the efficiency of our manufacturing process. Additionally, it allows us to have greater control over design, consumer customization options, construction quality, and our supply chain. We continually review our manufacturing process to identify opportunities for additional vertical integration investments across our portfolio of premium brands.
Components of Results of Operations
Net Sales
We generate revenue from the sale of boats to our dealers. The substantial majority of our net sales are derived from the sale of boats, including optional features included at the time of the initial wholesale purchase of the boat. Net sales consists of the following:
•Gross sales from:
•Boat and trailer sales—consists of sales of boats and trailers to our dealer network. Nearly all of our boat sales include optional feature upgrades purchased by the consumer, which increase the average selling price of our boats; and
•Parts and other sales—consists of sales of replacement and aftermarket boat parts and accessories to our dealer network; and consists of royalty income earned from license agreements with various boat manufacturers, including Nautique, Chaparral, Mastercraft, and Tige related to the use of our intellectual property.
•Net sales are net of:
•Sales returns—consists primarily of contractual repurchases of boats either repossessed by the floor plan financing provider from the dealer or returned by the dealer under our warranty program; and
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•Rebates and free flooring —consists of incentives, rebates and free flooring, we provide to our dealers based on sales of eligible products. For our Malibu and Cobalt segments, if a domestic dealer meets its monthly or quarterly commitment volume, as well as other terms of the dealer performance program, the dealer is entitled to a specified rebate. For our Saltwater Fishing segment, if a dealer meets its quarterly or annual retail volume goals, the dealer is entitled to a specific rebate applied to their wholesale volume purchased. For Malibu, Cobalt and select Saltwater Fishing models, our dealers that take delivery of current model year boats in the offseason, typically July through April in the U.S., are also entitled to have us pay the interest to floor the boat until the earlier of (1) the sale of the unit or (2) a date near the end of the current model year, which incentive we refer to as “free flooring.” From time to time, we may extend the flooring program to eligible models beyond the offseason period. For more information, see "Item 1. Business - Dealer Management."
Cost of Sales
Our cost of sales includes all of the costs to manufacture our products, including raw materials, components, supplies, direct labor and factory overhead. For components and accessories manufactured by third-party vendors, such costs represent the amounts invoiced by the vendors. Shipping costs and depreciation expense related to manufacturing equipment and facilities are also included in cost of sales. Warranty costs associated with the repair or replacement of our boats under warranty are also included in cost of sales.
Operating Expenses
Our operating expenses include selling and marketing, general and administrative costs and amortization costs. Each of these items includes personnel and related expenses, supplies, non-manufacturing overhead, third-party professional fees and various other operating expenses. Further, selling and marketing expenditures include the cost of advertising and various promotional sales incentive programs. General and administrative expenses include, among other things, salaries, benefits and other personnel related expenses for employees engaged in product development, engineering, finance, information technology, human resources and executive management. Other costs include outside legal and accounting fees, investor relations, risk management (insurance) and other administrative costs. General and administrative expenses also include product development expenses associated with our vertical integration initiative and acquisition or integration related expenses. Amortization expenses are associated with the amortization of intangibles.
Other (Income) Expense, Net
Other (income) expense, net consists of interest expense and other income or expense, net. Interest expense consists of interest charged under our outstanding debt, interest on our interest rate swap arrangement and change in the fair value of our interest rate swap we entered into on July 1, 2015, which matured on March 31, 2020, and amortization of deferred financing costs on our credit facilities. Other income or expense includes adjustments to our tax receivable agreement liability and sublease income.
Income Taxes
Malibu Boats, Inc. is subject to U.S. federal and state income tax in multiple jurisdictions with respect to our allocable share of any net taxable income of the LLC. The LLC is a pass-through entity for federal purposes but incurs income tax in certain state jurisdictions. Maverick Boat Group is separately subject to U.S. federal and state income tax with respect to its net taxable income.
Net Income Attributable to Non-controlling Interest
As of June 30, 2022 and 2021, we had a 97.2% controlling economic interest and 100% voting interest in the LLC and, therefore, we consolidate the LLC's operating results for financial statement purposes. Net income attributable to non-controlling interest represents the portion of net income attributable to the non-controlling LLC members.
Results of Operations
The table below sets forth our consolidated results of operations, expressed in thousands (except unit volume and net sales per unit) and as a percentage of net sales, for the periods presented. Our consolidated financial results for these periods are not necessarily indicative of the consolidated financial results that we will achieve in future periods. Certain totals for the table below will not sum to exactly 100% due to rounding.
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Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
$ % Revenue $ % Revenue $ % Revenue
Operating expenses:
Other expense (income), net:
Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
Unit Volumes % Total Unit Volumes % Total Unit Volumes % Total
Volume by Segment
(1) We acquired all of the outstanding stock of Maverick Boat Group on December 31, 2020.
Comparison of the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2022 to the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2021
Net Sales
Net sales for fiscal year 2022 increased $288.4 million, or 31.1%, to $1,214.9 million, compared to fiscal year 2021. The increase in net sales was driven primarily by increased unit volumes across all three segments, year-over-year price increases and a favorable model mix. We recognized an increase in net sales and volumes across all three segments during fiscal year 2022. Unit volume for fiscal year 2022 increased 1,070 units, or 13.1%, to 9,255 units compared to fiscal year 2021.
Net sales attributable to our Malibu segment increased $124.0 million, or 25.6%, to $607.6 million for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021. Unit volumes attributable to our Malibu segment increased 332 units for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021. The increase in net sales was driven by year-over-year price increases, a favorable model mix and increased volume resulting from strong demand for our Malibu and Axis model boats.
Net sales from our Saltwater Fishing segment increased $99.0 million, or 40.8%, to $341.9 million for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021. Unit volumes increased 607 units for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021. The increase in net sales was driven primarily by the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group on December 31, 2020, year-over-year price
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increases and a favorable model mix. The increase in unit volumes resulted primarily from our addition of the Maverick Boat Group.
Net sales from our Cobalt segment increased $65.4 million, or 32.7%, to $265.4 million for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021. Unit volumes attributable to Cobalt increased 131 units for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021. The increase in net sales was driven primarily by a favorable model mix, year-over-year price increases and increased volume. We experienced increased volume at Cobalt as a result of our prior year investments in the Cobalt facilities to optimize efficiency and expand capacity.
Our overall net sales per unit increased 16.0% to $131,267 per unit for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021. Net sales per unit for our Malibu segment increased 17.6% to $117,445 per unit for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021, primarily driven by year-over-year price increases and a favorable model mix. Net sales per unit for our Saltwater Fishing segment decreased 1.2% to $168,025 per unit for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021, primarily driven by mix of models due mostly to the inclusion of lower priced models from our acquisition of Maverick Boat Group on December 31, 2020. Net sales per unit for our Cobalt segment increased 24.2% to $129,655 per unit for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021, driven primarily by a favorable model mix and year-over-year price increases.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales for fiscal year 2022 increased $214.8 million, or 31.1%, to $904.8 million compared to fiscal year 2021. The increase in cost of sales was driven by higher costs related to higher net sales in all our segments and increased prices due to supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures that have impacted prices on parts and components. In the Malibu segment, higher per unit material and labor costs contributed $66.7 million to the increase in cost of sales and were driven by an increased mix of larger products that corresponded with higher net sales per unit. Within our Saltwater Fishing segment, higher per unit material and labor costs contributed $87.3 million to the increase in cost of sales and were driven by the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group on December 31, 2020 and an increased mix of larger products that corresponded with higher net sales per unit. In the Cobalt segment, higher per unit material and labor costs contributed $44.8 million to the increase in cost of sales and were driven by an increased mix of larger products that corresponded with higher net sales per unit.
Gross Profit
Gross profit for fiscal year 2022 increased $73.6 million, or 31.1%, compared to fiscal year 2021. The increase in gross profit was driven primarily by higher sales revenue with a more favorable product mix and the contribution of Maverick Boat Group partially offset by the increased cost of sales for the reasons noted above. Gross margin remained flat at 25.5% in fiscal year 2022.
Operating Expenses
Selling and marketing expense for fiscal year 2022 increased $5.4 million, or 30.6% to $22.9 million compared to fiscal year 2021. The increase was driven primarily by incremental selling and marketing expenses from the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group, increased compensation and personnel-related expenses, increased travel and promotional events that resumed in fiscal year 2022 after being suspended for COVID-19 during the early portion of fiscal year 2021. As a percentage of sales, selling and marketing expense remained flat at 1.9% for fiscal year 2022. General and administrative expense for fiscal year 2022 increased $4.5 million, or 7.2%, to $66.4 million compared to fiscal year 2021. The increase in general and administrative expenses was driven primarily by an increase in compensation and personnel-related expenses, travel related expenses, information technology infrastructure expenses, incremental general and administrative expenses due to the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group, facility maintenance expenses and insurance expenses partially offset by lower professional fees and a decrease in acquisition expenses related to the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group on December 31, 2020.As a percentage of sales, general and administrative expenses decreased 120 basis points to 5.4% for fiscal year 2022 compared to 6.6% for fiscal year 2021. Amortization expense for fiscal year 2022 decreased $0.3 million, or 4.1%, to $7.0 million compared to fiscal year 2021, due to a decrease of amortization expense related to fully amortized intangibles.
Other Expense (Income), Net
Other expense, net for fiscal year 2022 increased by $2.3 million, or 154.8% to $3.9 million as compared to fiscal year 2021. In fiscal year 2022, we increased our tax receivable agreement liability by $1.0 million that resulted in a corresponding amount being recognized as other expense during the same period, compared to fiscal year 2021, when we reduced our tax receivable agreement liability by $0.1 million that resulted in a corresponding amount being recognized as other income during fiscal year 2021. Our interest expense increased by $0.3 million during fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021 due to higher average interest rates on outstanding debt.
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Provision for Income Taxes
Our provision for income taxes for fiscal year 2022 increased $12.6 million, or 37.0% to $46.5 million compared to fiscal year 2021. This increase was primarily driven by higher pre-tax earnings and increased U.S. state taxes. For fiscal year 2022, our effective tax rate of 22.2% differed from the statutory federal income tax rate of 21% primarily due to the impact of U.S. state taxes. This increase in tax rate was partially offset by a windfall benefit generated by certain stock-based compensation, as well as the benefits of the research and development tax credit, and the impact of non-controlling interests in the LLC. For fiscal year 2021, our effective tax rate of 22.9% differed from the statutory federal income tax rate of 21% primarily due to the impact of U.S. state taxes, and partially offset by the impact of non-controlling interests in the LLC.
Non-controlling interest
Non-controlling interest represents the ownership interests of the members of the LLC other than us and the amount recorded as non-controlling interest in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income is computed by multiplying pre-tax income for the applicable fiscal year by the percentage ownership in the LLC not directly attributable to us. For fiscal years 2022 and 2021, the weighted average non-controlling interest attributable to ownership interests in the LLC not directly attributable to us was 2.8% and 3.1%, respectively.
Comparison of the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2021 to the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2020
Net Sales
Net sales for fiscal year 2021 increased $273.4 million, or 41.9%, to $926.5 million, compared to fiscal year 2020. Unit volume for fiscal year 2021 increased 1,741 units, or 27.0%, to 8,185 units compared to fiscal year 2020. The increase in net sales was driven primarily by a favorable model mix in our Malibu and Cobalt segment and increased unit volume in our Malibu and Saltwater fishing segments. The increase in unit volume for our Saltwater Fishing segment was due mostly to our acquisition of Maverick Boat Group on December 31, 2020.
Net sales attributable to our Malibu segment increased $128.8 million, or 36.3%, to $483.5 million for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020. Unit volumes attributable to our Malibu segment increased 861 units for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020. The increase in net sales and unit volumes was driven primarily by strong demand for our new, larger models and optional features.
Net sales from our Saltwater Fishing segment increased $119.3 million, or 96.5%, to $242.9 million for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020. Unit volumes increased 920 units for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020. The increase in net sales was driven primarily by the increased volumes at Pursuit and due to the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group on December 31, 2020.
Net sales from our Cobalt segment increased $25.3 million, or 14.5%, to $200.1 million for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020. Unit volumes attributable to Cobalt decreased 40 units for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020. The increase in net sales was driven by a favorable product mix of our Cobalt models impacting net sales per unit, offset by lower volume. Our unit volumes for our Cobalt segment decreased during fiscal year 2021 because of lower production levels related to our investment in the Cobalt facilities to optimize efficiency and expand capacity, the introduction of six new Cobalt models during fiscal year 2021 and challenges around labor and supply as a result of the pandemic and severe winter weather.
Our overall net sales per unit increased 11.7% to $113,197 per unit for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020. Net sales per unit for our Malibu segment increased 12.1% to $99,881 per unit for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020, primarily driven by higher sales of new, more expensive models and optional features. Net sales per unit for our Saltwater Fishing segment decreased 30.1% to $170,108 per unit for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020, primarily driven by mix of models due to the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group on December 31, 2020. Net sales per unit for our Cobalt segment increased 16.9% to $104,424 per unit for fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020, driven by higher sales of larger, more expensive models and optional features.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales for fiscal year 2021 increased $186.1 million, or 36.9%, to $690.0 million compared to fiscal year 2020. The increase in cost of sales was driven by higher costs related to higher net sales in our Malibu and Saltwater Fishing segments. In the Malibu segment, higher material and labor costs contributed $70.4 million to the increase in cost of sales and were driven by an increased mix of larger product that corresponded with higher net sales per unit. Within our Saltwater Fishing segment, higher volumes, primarily related to the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group, drove $83.7 million of increase in cost of sales which was also modestly impacted by higher per unit costs. In the Cobalt segment, higher material and labor costs contributed
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$14.7 million to the increase in cost of sales and were driven by an increased mix of larger product that corresponded with higher net sales per unit.
Gross Profit
Gross profit for fiscal year 2021 increased $87.2 million, or 58.4%, compared to fiscal year 2020. The increase in gross profit was driven primarily by higher sales revenue with a more favorable product mix and the contribution of Maverick Boat Group partially offset by the increased cost of sales for the reasons noted above. Gross margin increased 270 basis points from 22.8% in fiscal 2020 to 25.5% in fiscal year 2021.
Operating Expenses
Selling and marketing expense for fiscal year 2021 decreased $0.4 million, or 2.1% to $17.5 million compared to fiscal year 2020. The decrease was driven primarily by decreased travel and promotional events due mostly to restrictions imposed by COVID-19 offset by incremental selling and marketing expenses with the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group. As a percentage of sales, selling and marketing expense decreased 90 basis points from 2.8% for fiscal year 2020 to 1.9% for fiscal year 2021. General and administrative expense for fiscal year 2021 increased $22.0 million, or 55.1%, to $61.9 million compared to fiscal year 2020. The increase in general and administrative expenses was driven primarily by acquisition and integration related costs, compensation, higher legal expenses related to intellectual property litigation and incremental general and administrative expenses due to the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group. As a percentage of sales, general and administrative expenses increased 50 basis points to 6.6% for fiscal year 2021 compared to 6.1% for fiscal year 2020. Amortization expense for fiscal year 2021 increased $1.1 million, or 18.3%, to $7.3 million compared to fiscal year 2020, due to additional amortization from intangible assets acquired as a result of the acquisition of Maverick Boat Group on December 31, 2020.
Other (Income) Expense, Net
Other expense, net for fiscal year 2021 decreased by $0.1 million, or 4.1% to $1.5 million as compared to fiscal year 2020. In fiscal year 2021, we reduced our tax receivable agreement liability by $0.1 million that resulted in a corresponding amount being recognized as other income during the same period, compared to fiscal year 2020, when we reduced our tax receivable agreement liability by $1.7 million that resulted in a corresponding amount being recognized as other income during fiscal year 2020. Our interest expense decreased by $1.3 million during fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020 due to lower interest rates on outstanding debt.
Provision for Income Taxes
Our provision for income taxes for fiscal year 2021 increased $14.9 million, or 78.1% to $34.0 million compared to fiscal year 2020. This increase was primarily driven by higher pre-tax earnings and increased U.S. state taxes. For fiscal year 2021, our effective tax rate of 22.9% differed from the statutory federal income tax rate of 21% primarily due to the impact of U.S. state taxes, and partially offset by the impact of non-controlling interests in the LLC. For fiscal year 2020, our effective tax rate of 22.8% differed from the statutory federal income tax rate of 21% primarily due to the impact of U.S. state taxes, and partially offset by the impact of non-controlling interests in the LLC.
Non-controlling interest
Non-controlling interest represents the ownership interests of the members of the LLC other than us and the amount recorded as non-controlling interest in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income is computed by multiplying pre-tax income for the applicable fiscal year by the percentage ownership in the LLC not directly attributable to us. For fiscal years 2021 and 2020, the weighted average non-controlling interest attributable to ownership interests in the LLC not directly attributable to us was 3.1% and 3.8%, respectively.
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GAAP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP financial measures that are used by management as well as by investors, commercial bankers, industry analysts and other users of our financial statements.
We define adjusted EBITDA as net income before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and non-cash, non-recurring or non-operating expenses, including certain professional fees, acquisition and integration-related expenses, non- cash compensation expense, expenses related to interruption to our engine supply during the labor strike by United Auto Workers ("UAW") against General Motors and adjustments to our tax receivable agreement liability. We define adjusted EBITDA margin as adjusted EBITDA divided by net sales. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are not measures of net income as determined by GAAP. Management believes adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin allow investors to evaluate the Company’s operating performance and compare our results of operations from period to period on a consistent basis by excluding items that management does not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management uses adjusted EBITDA to assist in highlighting trends in our operating results without regard to our financing methods, capital structure and non-recurring or non-operating expenses.
We exclude the items listed above from net income in arriving at adjusted EBITDA because these amounts can vary substantially from company to company within our industry depending upon accounting methods and book values of assets, capital structures, the methods by which assets were acquired and other factors. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net income as determined in accordance with GAAP or as an indicator of our liquidity. Certain items excluded from adjusted EBITDA are significant components in understanding and assessing a company’s financial performance, such as a company’s cost of capital and tax structure, as well as the historical costs of depreciable assets. Our presentation of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin should not be construed as an inference that our results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. Our computations of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.
The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net income as determined in accordance with GAAP to adjusted EBITDA and presentation of net income margin and adjusted EBITDA margin for the periods indicated (dollars in thousands):
Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
Acquisition and integration related expenses 2 — 5,112 —
UAW strike impact 4 — — 2,564
Adjustment to tax receivable agreement liability 5 1,025 (88) (1,672)
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Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income
We define Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income as net income attributable to Malibu Boats, Inc. (i) excluding income tax expense, (ii) excluding the effect of non-recurring or non-cash items, (iii) assuming the exchange of all LLC units into shares of Class A Common Stock, which results in the elimination of non-controlling interest in the LLC, and (iv) reflecting an adjustment for income tax expense on fully distributed net income before income taxes at our estimated effective income tax rate. Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income is a non-GAAP financial measure because it represents net income attributable to Malibu Boats, Inc., before non-recurring or non-cash items and the effects of non-controlling interests in the LLC.
We use Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income to facilitate a comparison of our operating performance on a consistent basis from period to period that, when viewed in combination with our results prepared in accordance with GAAP, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business than GAAP measures alone.
We believe Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income assists our board of directors, management and investors in comparing our net income on a consistent basis from period to period because it removes non-cash or non-recurring items, and eliminates the variability of non-controlling interest as a result of member owner exchanges of LLC Units into shares of Class A Common Stock.
In addition, because Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income is susceptible to varying calculations, the Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income measures, as presented in this Annual Report, may differ from and may, therefore, not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.
The following table shows the reconciliation of the numerator and denominator for net income available to Class A Common Stock per share to Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income per Share of Class A Common Stock for the periods presented (in thousands except share and per share data):
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Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
Fair value adjustment for interest rate swap 3 — — 68
UAW strike impact 5 — — 2,564
Adjustment to tax receivable agreement liability 6 1,025 (88) (1,672)
Net income attributable to non-controlling interest 7 5,798 4,441 3,094
Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
Adjustments to weighted average shares of Class A Common Stock:
The following table shows the reconciliation of net income available to Class A Common Stock per share to Adjusted Fully Distributed Net Income per Share of Class A Common Stock for the periods presented:
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Fiscal Year Ended June 30,
Net income available to Class A Common Stock per share $ 7.60 $ 5.29 $ 2.98
Impact of adjustments:
Acquisition and integration related expenses 2 0.32 0.51 0.21
Fair value adjustment for interest rate swap 3 — — —
UAW strike impact 5 — — 0.12
Adjustment to tax receivable agreement liability 6 0.05 — (0.08)
Net income attributable to non-controlling interest 7 0.28 0.21 0.15
Fully distributed net income per share before income taxes 10.80 8.20 4.50
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Liquidity and Capital Resources
Overview and Primary Sources of Cash
Our primary uses of cash have been for funding working capital and capital investments, repayments under our debt arrangements, acquisitions, cash distributions to members of the LLC, cash payments under our tax receivable agreement and stock repurchases under our stock repurchase program. For both the short term and the long term, our sources of cash to meet these needs have primarily been operating cash flows, borrowings under our revolving credit facility and short and long-term debt financings from banks and financial institutions. We believe that our cash on hand, cash generated by operating activities and funds available under our revolving credit facility will be sufficient to finance our operating activities for at least the next twelve months and beyond.
Material Cash Requirements
Capital Expenditures. For fiscal year 2022, we incurred approximately $55.1 million in capital expenditures related to the expansion of our Florida facility used for Maverick Boats Group as well as new models, capacity enhancements and vertical integration initiatives. We expect capital expenditures between $65.0 million and $70.0 million for fiscal year 2023 primarily for investments in new models, capacity enhancements and vertical integration initiatives. Other investment opportunities, such as potential strategic acquisitions, may require additional funding.
Principal and Interest Payments. In June 2022, we fully repaid the $72.0 million of outstanding term loans that matured on July 1, 2022 by drawing on our existing revolving credit facility. As of June 30, 2022, we maintained a revolving credit facility with a borrowing capacity of $170.0 million, of which, $97.0 million was outstanding. On July 8, 2022, we entered into a Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Amended Credit Agreement”) that amended and restated our second amended and restated credit agreement dated as of June 28, 2017 (the “Prior Credit Agreement”). The Amended Credit Agreement provides us a revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $350.0 million (of which $121.7 million was drawn on July 8, 2022 to refinance the loans under our Prior Credit Agreement as well as to pay certain fees and expenses related to entering into the Amended Credit Agreement) with a maturity date of July 8, 2027. Assuming no additional repayments or borrowings on our revolving credit facility after July 8, 2022, our interest payments would be approximately $3.3 million for fiscal year 2023 based on the interest rate at July 8, 2022 of 2.75%. See below under “Revolving Credit Facility” for additional information regarding our revolving credit facility, including the interest rate applicable to any borrowing under such facility.
Tax Receivable Agreement. We entered into a tax receivable agreement with our pre-IPO owners at the time of our initial public offering. Under the tax receivables agreement, we pay the pre-IPO owners (or any permitted assignees) 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize, or in some circumstances are deemed to realize, as a result of an expected increase in our share of tax basis in LLC’s tangible and intangible assets, including increases attributable to payments made under the tax receivable agreement. These obligations will not be paid if we do not realize cash tax savings. We estimate that approximately $4.0 million will be due under the tax receivable agreement within the next 12 months. In accordance with the tax receivable agreement, the next payment is anticipated to occur approximately 75 days after filing the federal tax return which is due on April 15, 2023.
Operating Lease Obligations. Lease commitments consist principally of leases for our manufacturing facilities. For fiscal year 2023, our expected operating lease payments will be $2.5 million and our total committed lease payments are $13.4 million as of June 30, 2022. Additional information regarding our operating leases is available in Note 11, Leases, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Purchase Obligations. In the ordinary course of business, we enter into purchase orders from a variety of suppliers, primarily for raw materials, in order to manage our various operating needs. The orders are expected to be purchased throughout fiscal year 2023. We or the vendor can generally terminate the purchase orders at any time. These purchase orders do not contain any termination payments or other penalties if cancelled. As of June 30, 2022, we had purchase orders in the amount of $139.1 million due within the next 12 months.
Stock Repurchase Program.On November 3, 2021, our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program to allow for the repurchase of up to $70.0 million of our Class A Common Stock and the LLC's LLC Units (the “Repurchase Program”) for the period from November 8, 2021 to November 8, 2022. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, we repurchased 554,995 shares of Class A Common Stock for $34.6 million in cash including related fees and expenses. As of June 30, 2022, $35.4 million was available to repurchase shares of Class A Common Stock and LLC Units under the Repurchase Program. We may repurchase shares of our common stock at any time or from time to time, without prior notice, subject to market conditions
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and other considerations. We have no obligation to repurchase any shares of our common stock under the share repurchase program.