Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Newell Brands Inc. (collectively with its subsidiaries, the “Company”) have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments (including normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair statement of the financial position and the results of operations of the Company. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements, and the footnotes thereto, included in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2023 has been derived from the audited financial statements as of that date, but it does not include all the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for a complete financial statement. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

Use of Estimates and Risks

Management’s application of U.S. GAAP in preparing the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements requires the pervasive use of estimates and assumptions. The Company continues to be impacted by inflationary pressures, soft global demand, major retailers’ focus on tight control over inventory levels, elevated interest rates and indirect macroeconomic impacts from geopolitical conflicts. These collective macroeconomic trends, the duration or severity of which are highly uncertain, are still changing the retail and consumer landscape and are expected to continue to negatively impact the Company’s operating results, cash flows and financial condition during the current year. As consumers continue to face widespread increases in prices and elevated interest rates, their discretionary spending and purchase patterns may continue to be unfavorably impacted. The high level of uncertainty of these factors has resulted in estimates and assumptions that have the potential for more variability and are more subjective. In addition, some of the other inherent estimates and assumptions used in the Company’s forecasted results of operations and cash flows that form the basis of the determination of the fair value of the reporting units for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment testing are outside the control of management, including interest rates, cost of capital, tax rates, industry growth, credit ratings, foreign exchange rates and labor inflation. Although management has made its best estimates and assumptions based upon current information, actual results could materially differ given the uncertainty of these factors and may require future changes to such estimates and assumptions, including reserves, which may result in future expense or impairment charges.

Seasonal Variations

Sales of the Company’s products tend to be seasonal, with sales, operating income and operating cash flow in the first quarter generally lower than any other quarter during the year, driven principally by reduced volume and the mix of products sold in the first quarter. The seasonality of the Company’s sales volume combined with the accounting for fixed costs, such as depreciation, amortization, rent, personnel costs and interest expense, impacts the Company’s results on a quarterly basis. Also, the Company typically tends to generate the majority of its operating cash flow in the third and fourth quarters of the year due to seasonal variations in operating results, the timing of annual performance-based compensation payments, customer program payments, working capital requirements and credit terms provided to customers. In addition, uncertainty still remains over the volatility and direction of future consumer and customer demand patterns, as well as inflationary pressures. Accordingly, the Company’s results of operations and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2024 may not necessarily be indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2024.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Changes to U.S. GAAP are established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) in the form of accounting standards updates (“ASUs”) to the FASB’s Accounting Standards Codification. The Company considers the applicability and impact of recently issued and proposed ASUs.

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures.” The amendments in this update require that a public entity disclose on an annual and interim basis significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the entity’s chief operating decision maker (the “CODM”), nature and amount of other financial information by reportable segment and any additional measures of a segment’s profit or loss used by the CODM in assessing segment performance and deciding allocation of resources. The amendments in ASU 2023-07 are effective for fiscal

years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2023-07 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures.” The standard requires all entities subject to income taxes to disclose disaggregated information about a reporting entity’s effective tax rate reconciliation as well as information on income taxes paid. The new requirement will be effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. The guidance will be applied on a prospective basis with the option to apply the standard retrospectively. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2023-09 to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

Adoption of New Accounting Guidance

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, “Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting.” In January 2021, the FASB clarified the scope of this guidance with the issuance of ASU 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform: Scope. ASU 2020-04 provides optional expedients and exceptions to account for contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions that reference the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or another reference rate if certain criteria are met. This ASU was further updated with the issuance of ASU 2022-06, Reference Rate Reform: Deferral of the Sunset Date of Topic 848, which extends the sunset date of the guidance. ASU 2020-04 may be applied prospectively to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated on or before December 31, 2024. The Company adopted ASU 2020-04 and it did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In October 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-04, “Supplier Finance Programs (Subtopic 405-50): Disclosure of Supplier Finance Program Obligations.” This ASU requires that a buyer in a supplier finance program disclose sufficient information about the program to allow a user of financial statements to better consider the effect of the programs on an entity’s working capital, liquidity and cash flows. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, except for the amendment on roll forward information which is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023. The Company adopted ASU 2022-04 and it did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. See disclosure hereafter for further information.

Sales of Accounts Receivables

Factored receivables at March 31, 2024 associated with the Company’s existing factoring agreement for certain customer receivables (the “Customer Receivables Purchase Agreement”) were approximately $300 million, an increase of approximately $60 million from December 31, 2023. Transactions under this agreement are accounted for as sales of accounts receivable, and the receivables sold are removed from the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at the time of the sales transaction. The Company classifies the proceeds received from the sales of accounts receivable as an operating cash flow and collections of accounts receivables not yet submitted to the financial institution as a financing cash flow in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. The Company records the discount as other expense, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.

In addition, the Company, through a wholly-owned special purpose entity (“SPE”) has a three-year agreement with a financial institution to sell up to $225 million, between February and April of each year and up to $275 million at all other times, of certain other customer receivables without recourse on a revolving basis (the “New Receivables Facility”). Under the New Receivables Facility, certain of the Company’s subsidiaries continuously sell their accounts receivables, originating in the U.S. to the SPE and the SPE sells the receivables to the financial institution. The SPE is a variable interest entity for which the Company is considered to be the primary beneficiary. The SPE’s sole business consists of the purchase of receivables from certain subsidiaries of the Company and the subsequent transfer of such receivables to the financial institution. Although the SPE is consolidated in the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements, it is a separate legal entity with separate creditors. The assets of the SPE are not available to pay creditors of the Company or its subsidiaries. The fair value of these servicing arrangements as well as the fees earned were immaterial. The Company accounts for receivables sold from the SPE to the financial institution as a sale of financial assets and derecognizes the trade receivables from the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. The balance of outstanding accounts receivables sold to the financial institution as of March 31, 2024 was $110 million, an increase of approximately $65 million from December 31, 2023. Cash received under the New Receivables Facility is classified as an operating cash flow and collections of accounts receivables not yet submitted to the financial institution as a financing cash flow in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. The Company records the discount as other expense, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.

Supplier Finance Program Obligations

The Company has worked with its suppliers of goods and services over the past several years to revisit terms and conditions, including the extension of payment terms. Additionally, a global financial institution offers a voluntary supply chain finance program (the “SCF Program”) which enables suppliers, at their sole discretion, to sell their receivables due from the Company to the financial institution on a non-recourse basis.

The Company and its suppliers agree on contractual terms for the goods and services procured, including prices, quantities and payment terms, regardless of whether the supplier elects to participate in the SCF Program. Supplier payments terms average approximately 128 days. The suppliers sell goods or services, as applicable, to the Company and issue the associated invoices to the Company based on the agreed-upon contractual terms. Suppliers that participate in the SCF Program, at their sole discretion, determine which invoices, if any, they want to sell to the financial institution. The suppliers’ voluntary inclusion of invoices in the SCF Program does not change the Company’s existing contractual terms with its suppliers. The Company does not provide any guarantees or collateral directly under the SCF Program, nor does it have any economic interest in a supplier’s decision to participate in the SCF Program. Pursuant to the Second Amendment (defined hereafter), a lender under the Credit Revolver (defined hereafter) that also participates in the SCF Program secured its related financing pursuant to the terms of the Credit Revolver. See Footnote 8 for further information. In April 2024, the Company exercised its right to terminate the SCF Program with the current financial institution. The Company continued to reflect invoices participating in the SCF Program as current liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet and cash flows from operating activities in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2024, respectively. The termination will not materially impact the Company’s operating results, financial condition or liquidity.

The following table sets forth the outstanding payment obligations due to the financial institution and activities related to the suppliers who participated in the SCF Program:


Balance at December 31, 2023	$	96
Invoices participating in the SCF Program	86
Invoices paid to the financial institution	(88)
Balance at March 31, 2024	$	94