Item 8.01 Other Events.
On March 19, 2020, The J. M. Smucker Company (the “Company”) sent a letter to the Company’s retail customers to provide an update on the business impacts of the rapidly evolving COVID-19 outbreak. A copy of the letter issued by the Company, dated March 19, 2020, is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference into this Item 8.01.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Current Report on Form 8-K contains forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. Readers should understand that the risks, uncertainties, factors, and assumptions listed and discussed in this Current Report on Form 8-K, including the following important factors and assumptions, could affect the future results of the Company and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements:
•the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Company’s business, suppliers, consumers, customers, and employees;
•disruptions or inefficiencies in the supply chain, including any impact of the COVID-19 outbreak;
•the ability to achieve cost savings related to the Company’s cost management programs in the amounts and within the time frames currently anticipated;
•the ability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet the Company’s cash deleveraging objectives;
•volatility of commodity, energy, and other input costs;
•risks associated with derivative and purchasing strategies the Company employs to manage commodity pricing and interest rate risks;
•the availability of reliable transportation on acceptable terms;
•the ability to implement and realize the full benefit of price changes, and the impact of the timing of the price changes to profits and cash flow in a particular period;
•the success and cost of marketing and sales programs and strategies intended to promote growth in the Company’s businesses, including product innovation;
•general competitive activity in the market, including competitors’ pricing practices and promotional spending levels;
•the impact of food security concerns involving either the Company’s products or its competitors’ products;
•the impact of accidents, extreme weather, and natural disasters;
•the concentration of certain of the Company’s businesses with key customers and suppliers, including single-source suppliers of certain key raw materials and finished goods, and the Company’s ability to manage and maintain key relationships;
•the timing and amount of capital expenditures and share repurchases;
•impairments in the carrying value of goodwill, other intangible assets, or other long-lived assets or changes in useful lives of other intangible assets;
•the impact of new or changes to existing governmental laws and regulations and their application, including tariffs;
•the outcome of tax examinations, changes in tax laws, and other tax matters;
•foreign currency and interest rate fluctuations; and
•risks related to other factors described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2019.
Readers are cautioned not to unduly rely on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, when evaluating the information contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect new events or circumstances.