Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2023
We note your discussion and analysis of the changes in your income tax on page 28. Based on your effective tax rate reconciliation within Note 10, it appears there are material factors impacting your income tax (benefit)/provision that should be fully discussed in MD&A so that readers may fully understand the variances and assess the continuing impact.Rest of the question
For example, it appears that the changes in rates of foreign operations further decreased your effective tax rate in 2023 while the proportion of income before income taxes for your international operations remained fairly consistent. To the extent material factors in your foreign operations including changes in your jurisdictional mix of income may be impacting your effective tax rate, please explain the changes and factors including whether you may expect these changes to continue. Given the materiality of your foreign operations and impact on your effective tax rate, please also tell us your consideration of including a discussion of the primary taxing jurisdictions where your foreign earnings are derived and the relevant statutory rates in those jurisdictions in order for readers to better understand the material impacts such factors have on your effective tax rate. Please refer to Item 303 of Regulation S-K.
The Company respectfully acknowledges the Staff’s comment and wishes to inform the Staff of the following:
Our MD&A discusses the material items impacting our effective tax rate, which for the year ended December 31, 2023 included:
•“the favorable impact of worthless stock deductions related to exiting certain businesses in our Water Solutions segment,”
•“the favorable impact of discrete items primarily related to increases in tax basis in assets located in foreign jurisdictions,” and
•“the favorable mix of global earnings.”
The first two items mentioned above were also disclosed asRead in the reply ↗Rest of the answer
separate line items on our effective tax rate reconciliation within Note 10, and had the most significant impact to the 12.8 percentage point change in our effective rate from 2022 to 2023.
The favorable mix of global earnings impact is generally captured in the effective tax rate reconciliation in Note 10 under the first two line items, “U.K. federal statutory income tax rate” and “Tax effect of international operations.” During 2023, the “U.K. federal statutory income tax rate” increased from 19% to 25%, effective April 1, 2023, which resulted in a 4.5 percentage point increase to the starting point of our effective tax rate reconciliation for 2023. As a result of this increase, we had an offsetting impact to the “Tax effect of international operations” line item, resulting in a favorable increase to this line item. This was due to the limited level of U.K. earnings as disclosed in Note 10. Non-U.K. earnings, which represent a majority of our earnings, were not impacted by this increased tax rate. Overall, the tax impact of international operations did not change materially from 2022 to 2023. When considering these two lines of the effective tax rate reconciliation together, the change from 2022 to 2023 was 1.1 percentage points.
Absent the two items for “the favorable impact of worthless stock deductions related to exiting certain businesses in our Water Solutions segment” and “the favorable impact of discrete items primarily related to increases in tax basis in assets located in foreign jurisdictions” discussed in our MD&A and in the effective tax rate reconciliation in Note 10, the effective tax rate for 2023 was consistent with 2022.
We acknowledge the Staff’s comment regarding primary taxing jurisdictions and statutory tax rates, which we did consider in our analysis. Because there was no material change in our global mix of earnings or the jurisdictions we operate in, we believe our MD&A adequately disclosed the reasons for the changes to our effective tax rate in 2023. We will continue to consider additional disclosures in the future, in accordance with Item 303 of Regulation S-K, to the extent there is a material impact to our tax rate related to the jurisdictions in which we operate.
First report after the company's reply of 2024-06-27: 10-Q filed 2024-07-23 ↗, against the 10-Q filed 2024-04-23 ↗.
Tickdelta does not hold the text of both reports, so they are not compared here.
We note you reorganized the operating segments and classified your operations into three reportable segments: Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool. We also note that the financial information by reportable segment disclosures include an "Other" category, which reconciles to the consolidated amounts.Rest of the question
Please note that if your Other category is presented under ASC 280-10-50-15, it does not represent a reportable segment and should be excluded from the reportable segment total. Please revise or tell us how these disclosures appropriately reflect reconciliations of the total of the reportable segments to your consolidated amounts. Refer also to ASC 280-10-50-15 and ASC 280-1055-48 and 55-49.
As mentioned in the Staff’s comment, the Company has three reportable segments: Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool.
We will revise our Note 14 (our “Segment Information” footnote), in future filings, beginning with the quarter ending June 30, 2024, to change the “Other” category to “Corporate and other,” clearly state that the “Corporate and other” category does not represent a reportable segment, and exclude “Corporate and other” amounts from our reportable segment totals.
Additionally, we will revise our Segment Information footnote in future filings such that the reconciliation of the totalRead in the reply ↗Rest of the answer
reportable segment measure of profit or loss begins with the total reportable segment income, exclusive of “Corporate and other,” in accordance with ASC 280-10-50-15.
For the Staff’s reference, we have included as Appendix A an example of the updated disclosure to show changes against the disclosure in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 as an example, for illustrative purposes only, of how the Company intends to revise its disclosures in future filings (underscored language indicates new disclosure and deletions are indicated in strike-through).
First report after the company's reply of 2024-06-27: 10-Q filed 2024-07-23 ↗, against the 10-Q filed 2024-04-23 ↗.
Tickdelta does not hold the text of both reports, so they are not compared here.
Please disclose the business activities and sources of revenue included in Other as required by ASC 280-10-50-15.
In future filings, we will revise our Segment Information footnote disclosure to state that “Corporate and other” activity primarily consists of corporate expenses not allocated to the segments, including executive office, board of directors, and centrally-managed corporate functional or shared service costs related to finance, human resources, communications and corporate development. These activities do not meet the criteria for a stand-alone reporting segment under ASC 280.Read in the reply ↗Rest of the answer
Refer to Appendix A for an illustrative revised disclosure.
We acknowledge that in addition to the unallocated corporate expenses noted in this suggested revised language, the “Other” as disclosed in Note 14 to the Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 included $1.6 million of net sales and an associated $0.2 million of operating loss related to consulting services revenue and associated expenses that is outside of the business operations of our three reportable segments and does not meet the quantitative thresholds under ASC 280-10-50-12 to be considered a separate reportable segment. We have excluded a description of these net sales and related operating loss from the illustrative revised disclosure due to the amounts being immaterial to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
First report after the company's reply of 2024-06-27: 10-Q filed 2024-07-23 ↗, against the 10-Q filed 2024-04-23 ↗.
Tickdelta does not hold the text of both reports, so they are not compared here.
Please reconcile your reportable segment measure of profit or loss to consolidated income before income taxes. Refer to ASC 280-10-50-30(b).
In future filings, we will show a reconciliation of total reportable segment income to consolidated income from continuing operations before income taxes in accordance with ASC 280-10-50-30(b) instead of the current presentation of a reconciliation from consolidated segment income. Refer to Appendix A for an illustrative revised disclosure. Read in the reply ↗
First report after the company's reply of 2024-06-27: 10-Q filed 2024-07-23 ↗, against the 10-Q filed 2024-04-23 ↗.
Tickdelta does not hold the text of both reports, so they are not compared here.
Also in this review: closing letter, 2024-07-19