TRIMAS CORP (TRS)

Item 7.    Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The statements in the discussion and analysis regarding industry outlook, our expectations regarding the performance of our business and the other non-historical statements in the discussion and analysis are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in Item 1A "Risk Factors." Our actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements. You should read the following discussion together with Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."

Introduction

TriMas designs, develops and manufactures a diverse set of products primarily for the consumer products, aerospace & defense and industrial markets through its TriMas Packaging, TriMas Aerospace and Specialty Products groups. Our wide range of innovative products are designed and engineered to solve application-specific challenges that our customers face. We believe our businesses share important and distinguishing characteristics, including: well-recognized and leading brand names in the markets we serve; innovative product technologies and features; a high-degree of customer approved processes and qualifications; established distribution networks; modest capital investment requirements; strong cash flow conversion and long-term growth opportunities. While the majority of our revenue is in the United States, we manufacture and supply products globally to a wide range of companies. We report our business activity in three segments: Packaging, Aerospace and Specialty Products.

Key Factors Affecting Our Reported Results

Demand for the products our businesses produce and results of operations depend upon general economic conditions. We serve customers in industries that are highly competitive and that may be significantly impacted by changes in economic or geopolitical conditions.

Our results of operations have been materially impacted over the past few years by macro-economic factors, first by the onset and proliferation of the coronavirus pandemic ("pandemic"), then further from increased energy costs and supply chain disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and more recently by cost inflation (raw materials, wage rates and freight) a lack of material and in certain regions skilled labor availability, as well as recent periods of destocking from prior periods of over-ordering by customers. These factors significantly affected each of our businesses and how we operate, albeit in different ways and magnitudes. Sales in our Packaging segment for dispensing and closure products used in applications to help fight the spread of germs have experienced extreme volatility in demand, with demand spiking to record highs after the onset of the pandemic, demand abating as expected from those high levels beginning mid-2022 and continuing through most of 2023, as a result of some of our larger customers' choices to rebalance on-hand inventory levels and caution in purchasing behaviors given the current inflationary macro-economic environment. Sales of certain of our aerospace-related products were significantly depressed from historical levels following the onset of the pandemic, but demand has significantly increased in recent quarters as air travel has picked-up and new aircraft build rates improve. Certain of our products for industrial applications, for example steel cylinders for packaged gas applications, have experienced volatility in demand related to customers securing high order rates in prior periods, only to enter a period of destocking in more recent periods. Altogether, this significant level of volatility in demand levels, input and transportation costs, and material and labor availability, have pressured our ability to operate efficiently in recent periods. While some areas of demand volatility and softness remain, such as in our Specialty Products segment, and more specifically our Norris Cylinder business, we have experienced more steady and consistent demand in our Packaging and Aerospace segments.

Overall, 2024 net sales increased $31.5 million, or 3.5%, compared to 2023. We experienced growth from acquisitions, as well as organic growth of 16.6% and 10.3% within our Aerospace and Packaging segments, respectively, compared to 2023. These increases were partially offset by lower sales of 37.2% in our Specialty Products segment as compared to the prior year as we work through a cyclical demand trough and destocking.

The most significant drivers affecting our financial results in 2024 compared with 2023, other than as directly impacted by sales changes, were the impact of our recent acquisitions, accelerated depreciation charges related to shortening the useful lives of certain machinery and equipment in our Specialty Products segment, increased costs and decreased sales resulting from a prolonged labor union strike at one of our manufacturing facilities within our Aerospace segment, a charge to update our asbestos liability based on our recent actuarial valuation, improved material availability within our Aerospace segment, charges associated with environmental remediation liabilities, increased input costs, including expedited freight within our Packaging segment, lower realignment charges, and a decrease in our effective tax rate.

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In April 2023, we acquired Weldmac Manufacturing Company ("Weldmac"), a designer and manufacturer of complex metal fabricated components and assemblies for the aerospace, defense and space launch end markets for a purchase price of $34.0 million, with additional contingent consideration of $5.5 million paid in July 2023 and $2.25 million paid in October 2024 based on achievement of earnings targets. Weldmac, which is reported in our Aerospace segment, is located in El Cajon, California. Weldmac contributed $12.9 million of acquisition-related net sales growth during 2024.

In February 2023, we acquired Aarts Packaging B.V. ("Aarts"), a luxury packaging solutions provider for beauty and lifestyle brands, as well as for customers in the food and life sciences end markets, for a purchase price of $37.8 million, net of cash acquired. Aarts, which is reported in our Packaging segment, is located in Waalwijk, the Netherlands, and contributed $2.8 million of acquisition-related sales growth during 2024 resulting from its January 2024 sales.

In 2024, following a strategic demand and profitability study of our cylinders products within our Specialty Products segment, we ceased use of our second hot forge which primarily produced lower profitability products, resulting in pre-tax non-cash charges related to accelerated depreciation expense of $8.2 million due to the shortening of the assets expected useful lives.

In August 2024, our labor agreement with the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) at our TriMas Aerospace facility in Commerce, California, expired. On August 4, 2024, the UAW initiated a strike, causing a work stoppage that resulted in lost production volumes, reduced sales, manufacturing inefficiencies and $3.4 million of strike-related costs in 2024, with the Company and the UAW reaching a new labor agreement in mid-October 2024.

In 2024, we commissioned our actuary to update our asbestos study, and upon completion we recorded a pre-tax charge of $5.5 million, which is included in selling, general and administrative expenses.

In 2024, we recorded a pre-tax charges of $3.6 million for environmental remediation for waste sites in which we had been named a potential responsible party.

During 2024, we experienced abrupt increases in orders for certain products within our Packaging segment, requiring us to incur incremental input costs, including expedited freight, in order to timely fulfill certain customer's orders.

Over the past few years, we have been executing certain realignment actions in response to current and expected future end market demand and rising input costs. During 2024, we incurred pre-tax realignment charges of $0.9 million within our Packaging segment, related to the closure of our facility in Irwindale, California. In 2023, we recorded pre-tax realignment charges of $10.3 million, primarily related to our actions to close and consolidate two production facilities in China into one new, larger facility in Haining, China, and to close and consolidate our Rohnert Park, California, manufacturing facility operations into other existing U.S. production locations. These charges consisted of $2.1 million employee-related costs, $0.8 million for the write down of inventory to fair value, $5.2 million related to other facility move and consolidation costs, and $2.2 million were related to charges to accelerate the depreciation of certain fixed assets.

Our effective tax rate for 2024 and 2023 was 19.3%, and 20.2%, respectively. The decrease in effective tax rate 2024 as compared to 2023 is primarily as a result of a change in the mix of domestic and foreign pre-tax results.

Additional Key Risks that May Affect Our Reported Results

We have executed meaningful realignment actions over the past few years to address variable and structural costs where demand has fallen. We will continue to assess and take further actions if required. However, as a result of the current period of macroeconomic inflation and uncertainty and the potential impact of such factors to our future results of operations, as well as if there is an impact to TriMas' overall performance and market capitalization, we may record additional cash and non-cash charges related to further realignment actions, asset impairments, including impairments to our goodwill, intangible assets, fixed assets, inventory or customer receivable account balances.

Despite the potential for declines in future demand levels and results of operations, at present, we believe our capital structure is in a strong position. We have sufficient cash and available liquidity under our revolving credit facility to meet our debt service obligations, capital expenditure requirements and other short-term and long-term obligations for the foreseeable future.

Critical factors affecting our ability to succeed include: our ability to generate organic growth through product development, cross-selling and extending product-line offerings, and our ability to quickly and cost-effectively introduce and successfully launch new products; our ability to acquire and integrate companies or products that supplement existing product lines, add adjacent distribution channels and new customers, or expand our geographic coverage; our ability to manage our cost structure more efficiently via supply chain management, internal sourcing and/or purchasing of materials, selective outsourcing and/or purchasing of support functions, working capital management, and greater leverage of our administrative functions; and our ability to absorb, or recover via commercial actions, inflationary or other cost increases, including tariffs and duties.

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Our overall business does not experience significant seasonal fluctuation, other than our fourth quarter, which has tended to be the lowest net sales quarter of the year due to holiday shutdowns at certain customers or other customers deferring capital spending to the following year. A growing amount of our sales is derived from international sources, which exposes us to certain risks, including currency risks.

We are sensitive to price movements and availability of our raw materials supply. Our largest raw material purchases are for polypropylene, polyethylene, steel, aluminum, superalloys (such as titanium, A286 stainless steel and Inconel) and other oil and metal-based purchased components, the costs for each of which are subject to volatility. There has also been some volatility over the past two years as a direct and indirect result of foreign trade policy, where tariffs on certain of our commodity-based products sourced from Asia have been instituted, the conflict in Eastern Europe, creating certain input material shortages, and labor shortages at certain of our raw material suppliers. We will continue to take actions to mitigate such increases, including implementing commercial pricing adjustments, holding extra inventories, resourcing to alternate suppliers and insourcing of previously sourced products. Although we believe we are generally able to mitigate the impact of higher commodity costs over time, we may experience additional material costs and disruptions in supply in the future and may not be able to pass along higher costs to our customers in the form of price increases or otherwise mitigate the impacts to our operating results.

Although we have escalator/de-escalator clauses in commercial contracts with certain of our customers to address fluctuations in input costs, or can modify prices based on market conditions to recover higher costs, our price increases generally lag the underlying input cost increase, and we cannot be assured of full cost recovery in the open market. If input costs increase at rapid rates, our ability to recover cost increases on a timely basis is made more difficult by the lag nature of these contracts.

Oil-based commodity costs are a significant driver of raw materials and purchased components used within our Packaging segment. As such, an increase in crude oil often is a precursor to rising polymeric raw material costs, for which we may experience a contractual commercial recover lag. Separately, our Arrow Engine business in our Specialty Products segment is sensitive to the demand for natural gas and crude oil in North America. For example, demand for engine, pump jack and compressor products are impacted by active oil and gas rig counts and wellhead investment activities.

Each year, as a core tenet of the TriMas Business Model, our businesses target cost savings from Kaizen (continuous improvement) initiatives in an effort to reduce, or otherwise offset, the impact of increased input and conversion costs through increased throughput and yield rates, with a goal of at least covering inflationary and market cost increases. In addition, we continuously review our operating cost structures to ensure alignment with current market demand.

We continue to evaluate alternatives to redeploy the cash generated by our businesses, one of which includes returning capital to our shareholders. In 2020, our Board of Directors increased the authorization of share repurchases to a cumulative amount of $250 million. During 2024, we purchased 771,067 shares of our outstanding common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $19.3 million. As of December 31, 2024, we had $67.6 million remaining under the repurchase authorization.

In addition, in 2024, we declared quarterly dividends of $0.04 per share of common stock, aggregating to dividends declared and paid on common shares during 2024 of $6.6 million. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to return capital to shareholders through the purchase of our common stock, as well as dividends, depending on market conditions and other factors.

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Segment Information and Supplemental Analysis

The following table summarizes financial information for our three reportable segments (dollars in thousands):

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The following table summarizes detail on the year-over-year sales growth percentages for our reportable segments for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023:

The following "Results of Operations Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2023" section presents an analysis of our consolidated operating results displayed in the Consolidated Statement of Income. A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 can be found under Item 7 in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 29, 2024.

Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2023

The principal factors impacting us during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared with the year ended December 31, 2023 were:

•Increases in demand for products within our Packaging and Aerospace segments;

•Significant demand decrease in our Specialty Products segment;

•The impact of recent acquisitions, primarily Aarts in February 2023 and Weldmac in April 2023;

•Expedited freight costs within our Packaging segment related to the abrupt increase in demand for certain products;

•Accelerated depreciation charges related to shortening the useful lives of certain machinery and equipment in our Specialty Products segment;

•Increased costs, decreased sales levels and manufacturing inefficiencies resulting from a prolonged labor union strike at one of our manufacturing facilities in our Aerospace segment that ended in mid-October 2024;

•Expenses associated with our asbestos exposure to update the liability to recent actuarial studies;

•Improved material availability and resulting production efficiencies in our Aerospace segment;

•Environmental remediation expenses related to waste sites in which we had been named a potential responsible party;

•The impact of realignment expenses taken in 2023 in response to changes in end market demand; and

•A decrease in our effective tax rate in 2024 compared with 2023.

Overall, net sales increased $31.5 million, or 3.5%, to $925.0 million in 2024, as compared to $893.6 million in 2023. Acquisition-related sales growth was $15.7 million, comprised of $2.8 million from our February 2023 acquisition of Aarts and $12.9 million from our April 2023 acquisition of Weldmac. Organic sales, excluding the impact of currency exchange and acquisitions, increased $17.9 million, or 2.0%, driven by organic sales increases of 10.3% and 16.6% within our Packaging and Aerospace segments, respectively, due to end market demand improvements and growth initiatives. These increases were partially offset by a 37.2% sales decrease in our Specialty Products segment due to lower market demand. The increase in net sales was also offset by $2.0 million due to currency exchange, as our reported results in U.S. dollars were unfavorably impacted as a result of the strengthening U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies.

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Gross profit margin (gross profit as a percentage of sales) approximated 21.6% and 22.5% in 2024 and 2023, respectively. Gross profit margin decreased due to reduced sales, significantly less favorable absorption of fixed costs, and $8.2 million of accelerated depreciation charges for certain machinery and equipment within our Specialty Products segment as well as increased input costs, the impact of a $2.6 million commercial settlement in 2023 that did not repeat in 2024, and higher production costs, which started to abate in fourth quarter 2024, related to demand reversion above peak capacity for certain product lines in our Packaging segment. Also contributing to the decrease in gross profit were increased costs and manufacturing inefficiencies resulting from labor union strikes within our Aerospace segment. The decrease in gross profit was partially offset by higher sales levels and related improved fixed cost absorption and the impact of a charge related to purchase accounting in 2023 that did not repeat within our Packaging and Aerospace segments. Additionally, gross margin was favorably impacted by reduced material availability constraints, a more favorable product sales mix, and commercial recoveries within our Aerospace segment, and the lower year-over-year impact of realignment costs within our Packaging segment.

Operating profit margin (operating profit as a percentage of sales) approximated 5.1% and 7.3% in 2024 and 2023, respectively. Operating profit decreased $18.3 million, to $47.2 million in 2024, as compared to $65.4 million in 2023, primarily due to decreased sales, significantly less favorable absorption of fixed costs and accelerated depreciation charges for certain machinery and equipment within our Specialty Products segment, a $5.5 million pre-tax charge related to updating our asbestos studies, and $3.6 million of pre-tax charges related to our environmental remediation obligations. Additionally, operating profit decreased due to increased input costs and higher production costs, which started to abate in fourth quarter 2024, related to high demand for certain dispensing products within our Packaging segment, as well as increased costs and manufacturing inefficiencies resulting from the labor union strike within our Aerospace segment. These decreases were partially offset by higher sales levels and related improved fixed cost absorption and the impact of a charge related to purchase accounting in 2023 that did not repeat within our Packaging and Aerospace segments. Operating profit was favorably impacted by lower realignment costs and the impact of $1.0 million higher net gains on sales of non-core properties within the Packaging segment, as well as reduced material availability constraints, a more favorable product sales mix, and commercial recoveries within the Aerospace segment.

Interest expense increased $3.6 million, to $19.6 million in 2024, as compared to $15.9 million in 2023, due to a higher effective interest rate and an increase in our weighted average borrowings as a result of increased borrowings from our revolving credit facility.

Other income increased $1.3 million to $2.4 million in 2024, from $1.1 million in 2023, primary due to the $2.2 million reversal of the Weldmac contingent consideration liability in 2024 and by a non-cash settlement charge for our Canadian defined benefit obligations during 2023, partially offset by increased foreign translation losses.

The effective income tax rate for 2024 was 19.3%, compared to 20.2% for 2023. We recorded income tax expense of $5.8 million in 2024, as compared to $10.2 million in 2023. During 2024, we reported domestic and foreign pre-tax income of $3.3 million and $26.7 million, respectively, as compared to domestic and foreign pre-tax income of $20.7 million and $29.9 million, respectively, in 2023. The rate for 2024 is lower primarily as a result of a change in the mix of domestic and foreign pre-tax results.

Net income decreased $16.1 million to $24.3 million in 2024, compared to $40.4 million in 2023. This decrease was primarily a result of a decrease in operating profit of $18.3 million and a $3.6 million increase in interest expense, partially offset by a decrease in income tax expense of $4.4 million and a $1.3 million increase in other income.

See below for a discussion of operating results by segment.

Packaging.  Net sales increased $48.7 million, or 10.5% (of which 10.3% was organic, 0.6% related to acquisitions, and (0.4)% was foreign currency exchange), to $512.3 million in 2024, as compared to $463.6 million in 2023. Acquisition-related sales growth was $2.8 million from the January 2024 sales of our February 2023 acquisition of Aarts. Sales of dispensing products used primarily for beauty, personal care and home care applications increased organically by $38.2 million. Sales of products used for industrial applications increased by $13.0 million. These increases were partially offset by the decrease in sales of products used in food and beverage applications of $3.1 million, primarily due to reduced demand for certain flexible packaging applications in North America and beverage closure applications in Europe as certain customers prepare for cutting over to a new product design. The increase in net sales was also offset by $2.0 million due to currency exchange, as our reported results in U.S. dollars were unfavorably impacted as a result of the strengthening U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies, as compared to 2023.

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Packaging's gross profit increased $14.6 million to $123.7 million, or 24.1% of sales, in 2024, as compared to $109.1 million, or 23.5% of sales, in 2023, primarily due to higher sales levels and resulting improved fixed cost absorption, the favorable impact of prior year cost reduction efforts, the impact of $8.9 million lower realignment costs and a $0.8 million purchase accounting charge related to the step-up of inventory to fair value in 2023 that did not repeat in 2024. The increase in gross profit was partially offset by a $2.6 million commercial settlement in 2023 that did not repeat, and increased input costs, including expedited freight and labor required to timely fulfill an abrupt increase in customer orders in the first half of 2024, as well as higher production costs through third quarter 2024 associated with capacity restraints and high demand for certain product lines.

Packaging's selling, general and administrative expenses increased $7.7 million to $56.4 million, or 11.0% of sales, in 2024, as compared to $48.8 million, or 10.5% of sales, in 2023, primarily due to $4.7 million higher information technology costs allocated from Corporate, higher employee-related costs and higher professional fees.

Packaging's operating profit increased $8.0 million to $68.1 million, or 13.3% of sales, in 2024, as compared to $60.1 million, or 13.0% of sales, in 2023, primarily due to higher sales levels, improved fixed cost absorption, and the favorable impact of prior realignment actions, and the impact of $1.0 million higher net gains on sales of non-core properties. These increases were partially offset by higher selling, general and administrative expenses, the impact of a commercial settlement in 2023 that did not repeat, and increased input costs, including expedited freight to timely fulfill an abrupt increase in customer orders.

Aerospace.    Net sales increased $52.8 million, or 21.9% (of which 16.6% was organic and 5.3% related to acquisitions), to $294.2 million in 2024, as compared to $241.4 million in 2023. Acquisition-related sales growth from our April 2023 acquisition of Weldmac was $12.9 million. Sales of our fasteners products increased by $22.3 million due to increases in aircraft build rates, improved production yield and commercial recoveries, partially offset by a decrease in sales due to the labor union strike at our Aerospace facility in Commerce, California. Sales of our engineered components products increased by $17.6 million due to improved throughput, commercial recoveries and new business wins.

Gross profit within Aerospace increased $21.9 million to $69.9 million, or 23.8% of sales, in 2024, from $48.0 million, or 19.9% of sales, in 2023. Gross profit increased primarily due to higher sales levels and resulting improved fixed cost absorption, reduced material availability constraints, a more favorable product sales mix, favorable commercial recoveries, and a $2.4 million purchase accounting charge related to the step-up of inventory to fair value in 2023 that did not repeat. These increases were partially offset by increased costs and manufacturing inefficiencies resulting from the labor union strike.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $4.8 million to $36.2 million, or 12.3% of sales, in 2024, as compared to $31.4 million, or 13.0% of sales, in 2023, primarily due to higher employee-related costs, higher information technology costs,$1.8 million of increased costs related to the labor union strike, and higher ongoing selling, general and administrative costs associated with our acquisition of Weldmac. These increases were partially offset by lower legal costs and lower intangible asset amortization expense due to certain assets becoming fully amortized.

Operating profit within Aerospace increased $18.2 million to $33.8 million, or 11.5% of sales, in 2024, as compared to $15.5 million, or 6.4% of sales, in 2023, primarily due to the impact of higher sales levels, improved fixed cost absorption, reduced material availability production constraints, a more favorable product sales mix, commercial recoveries, a purchase accounting adjustment related to Weldmac's inventory step-up to fair value in 2023 that did not repeat, and a $1.1 million indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment charge in 2023 that did not repeat. These increases were partially offset by higher selling, general and administrative expenses and increased costs and manufacturing inefficiencies related to the strike.

Specialty Products.    Net sales decreased $70.1 million, or 37.2%, to $118.5 million in 2024, as compared to $188.6 million in 2023. Sales of forged steel cylinders decreased $45.2 million, or 31.3%, due to lower demand resulting primarily from certain large distributor customers closely managing overstocked positions given high order rates in previous years which were in reaction to disruptions in the global supply chain. Sales of natural gas fired engines, compressors and related parts used in remote power generation and assistance applications for natural gas and crude oil extraction decreased by $24.9 million, or 56.4%, primarily as a result of lower compression package sales from a customer that has reduced their ordering rate significantly as compared to the prior year.

Gross profit within Specialty Products decreased $38.4 million to $5.9 million, or 5.0% of sales, in 2024, as compared to $44.3 million, or 23.5% of sales, in 2023. Gross profit decreased due to lower sales levels, which resulted in significantly lower fixed cost absorption, and from $8.2 million of accelerated depreciation charges for certain machinery and equipment.

Selling, general and administrative expenses within Specialty Products was $7.8 million, or 6.6% of sales, in 2024, as compared to $7.8 million, or 4.2% of net sales, in 2023, as $1.8 million of higher information technology costs allocated from Corporate was offset by cost reduction actions in 2024, in response to lower market demand levels.

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Operating profit (loss) within Specialty Products decreased $38.4 million to an operating loss of $2.0 million, or 1.7% of sales, in 2024, as compared to an operating profit of $36.4 million, or 19.3% of sales, in 2023, primarily due to lower sales levels, which resulted in significantly less favorable absorption of fixed costs, and accelerated depreciation charges for certain machinery and equipment.

Corporate Expenses.    Corporate expenses included in operating profit consist of the following (dollars in millions):

Corporate expenses increased $6.1 million to $52.7 million in 2024, from $46.6 million in 2023, primarily due to a $5.5 million pre-tax charge related to updating our asbestos studies in 2024, $3.6 million of pre-tax charges related to our environment remediation obligations and $1.3 million of higher professional costs associated with business acquisition, diligence and transaction related activity. These increases were partially offset by a $2.7 million decrease in non-cash stock compensation due to expected attainment of existing awards and a $1.3 million decrease in technology costs, as $5.3 million of higher costs associated with upgrades of certain of our information technology applications were more than offset by $6.6 million of technology costs allocated to our segments that was not allocated in 2023.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash Flows

Cash flows provided by operating activities in 2024 were $63.8 million, as compared to $88.2 million in 2023. Significant changes in cash flows provided by operating activities and the reasons for such changes are as follows:

•In 2024, the Company generated $107.3 million in cash flows, based on the reported net income of $24.3 million and after considering the effects of non-cash items related to impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets, depreciation, amortization of intangible assets and debt issuance costs, (gain) loss on dispositions of assets, changes in deferred income taxes, stock-based compensation, provision for losses on accounts receivable, change in asbestos and environmental liability estimates and other operating activities. In 2023, the Company generated $110.5 million in cash flows based on the reported net income of $40.4 million and after considering the effects of similar non-cash items.

•Increases in accounts receivable resulted in a use of cash of $20.5 million and $5.5 million in 2024 and 2023, respectively. The increased use of cash for 2024 and 2023 is due primarily to the timing of sales and related collection of cash during the periods. Days sales outstanding of receivables increased by two days in 2024 and six days in 2023.

•We increased our investment in inventory by $21.2 million and $7.1 million in 2024 and 2023, respectively. Our days sales in inventory decreased by four days in 2024, primarily as a result of moderating inventory levels with higher sales levels within our Packaging and Aerospace segments. Our days sales in inventory increased by eleven days in 2023, primarily as a result of investing in certain inventories in our Aerospace segment as a result of increased customer demand.

•Increases in prepaid expenses and other assets resulted in a use of cash of $2.3 million in 2024, while decreases in prepaid expenses and other assets resulted in a source of cash of $4.8 million in 2023. The changes in 2024 and 2023 are primarily as a result of the timing of payments made for income taxes and certain operating expenses.

•Increases in accounts payable and accrued liabilities resulted in a source of cash of $0.6 million in 2024, as compared to a use of cash of $14.5 million in 2023. Our days accounts payable on hand decreased by six day through 2024 and increased by one day through 2023. Our days accounts payable on hand fluctuate primarily as a result of the timing of payments made to suppliers and the mix of vendors and related terms.

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Net cash used for investing activities was $47.0 million and $134.4 million in 2024 and 2023, respectively. During 2024, we invested $51.0 million in capital expenditures as we continued our investment in growth, capacity and productivity-related capital projects. We also received proceeds of $4.0 million from the disposition of property and equipment. During 2023, we paid $77.3 million, net of cash acquired, to acquire Aarts and Weldmac, invested $54.2 million in capital expenditures, made a payment of $3.4 million related to the expiration of one of our cross-currency swap agreements, and received proceeds of $0.5 million from the disposition of property and equipment.

Net cash used for financing activities was $28.6 million and $30.9 million in 2024 and 2023, respectively. During 2024, we received net proceeds of $1.4 million from borrowings on our revolving credit facilities, purchased $19.3 million of outstanding common stock, used a net cash amount of $1.8 million related to our stock compensation arrangements, paid dividends of $6.6 million, and paid $2.3 million related to other financing activities, which includes $2.25 million of cash paid as final contingent consideration for the Weldmac acquisition. Our reported net proceeds from borrowings on our revolving credit facilities considers the impact of foreign currency translation. During 2023, we received net proceeds of $0.6 million from borrowings on our revolving credit facilities, purchased $18.8 million of outstanding common stock, used a net cash amount of $2.7 million related to our stock compensation arrangements, paid dividends of $6.7 million, and paid $3.3 million related to liabilities assumed in our acquisition of Aarts.

Our Debt and Other Commitments

The $400.0 million aggregate principal amount of our senior notes due 2029 ("Senior Notes") accrues interest at a rate of 4.125% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears on April 15 and October 15. The payment of principal and interest is jointly and severally guaranteed, on a senior unsecured basis by certain named subsidiaries of the Company. The Senior Notes are pari passu in right of payment with all existing and future senior indebtedness and subordinated to all existing and future secured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness. In 2024, our consolidated subsidiaries that do not guarantee the Senior Notes represented 30% of the total of guarantor and non-guarantor net sales, treating each as a consolidated group and excluding intercompany transactions between guarantor and non-guarantor subsidiaries. In addition, our non-guarantor subsidiaries represented 37% and 15% of the total guarantor and non-guarantor assets and liabilities, respectively, as of December 31, 2024, treating the guarantor and non-guarantor subsidiaries each as a consolidated group.

We may redeem all or part of the Senior Notes at the redemption prices (expressed as percentages of principal amount) set forth below, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date, if redeemed during the twelve-month period beginning on April 15 of the years indicated below:

We are party to a credit agreement ("Credit Agreement"), consisting of a $300.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility, which permits borrowings denominated in specific foreign currencies, subject to a $125.0 million sub limit, maturing on March 29, 2026.

In April 2023, we amended the Credit Agreement to replace LIBOR. As of December 31, 2024, monthly borrowings under the Credit Agreement are subject to benchmark interest rates that are based on the currency denomination of borrowings, with British pound sterling borrowings subject to the Sterling Overnight Index Average and Euro borrowings subject to the Euro InterBank Offered Rate, both plus a spread of 1.75%, and U.S. dollar borrowings subject to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate plus a spread of 1.85%. The interest rate spread is based upon the leverage ratio, as defined, as of the most recent determination date.

The Credit Agreement provides for incremental revolving credit commitments in an amount not to exceed the greater of $200 million and an amount such that, after giving effect to such incremental commitments and the incurrence of any other indebtedness substantially simultaneously with the making of such commitments, the senior secured net leverage ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, is no greater than 3.00 to 1.00. The terms and conditions of any incremental revolving credit facility commitments must be no more favorable than the existing credit facility.

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Amounts drawn under our revolving credit facility fluctuate daily based upon our working capital and other ordinary course needs. Availability under our revolving credit facility depends upon, among other things, compliance with our Credit Agreement's financial covenants. Our Credit Agreement contains various negative and affirmative covenants and other requirements affecting us and our subsidiaries, including the ability to, subject to certain exceptions and limitations, incur debt, liens, mergers, investments, loans, advances, guarantee obligations, acquisitions, assets dispositions, sale-leaseback transactions, hedging agreements, dividends and other restricted payments, transactions with affiliates, restrictive agreements and amendments to charters, bylaws, and other material documents. The terms of our Credit Agreement require us and our subsidiaries to meet certain restrictive financial covenants and ratios computed quarterly, including a maximum total net leverage ratio (total consolidated indebtedness plus outstanding amounts under any accounts receivable securitization facility, less the aggregate amount of certain unrestricted cash and unrestricted permitted investments, as defined, over consolidated EBITDA, as defined) and a minimum interest expense coverage ratio (consolidated EBITDA, as defined, over the sum of consolidated cash interest expense, as defined, and preferred dividends, as defined). Our permitted total net leverage ratio under the Credit Agreement is 4.00 to 1.00 as of December 31, 2024. If we were to complete an acquisition which qualifies for a Covenant Holiday Period, as defined in our Credit Agreement, then our permitted total net leverage ratio cannot exceed 4.50 to 1.00 during that period. Our actual total net leverage ratio was 2.57 to 1.00 at December 31, 2024. Our permitted interest expense coverage ratio under the Credit Agreement is 3.00 to 1.00, and our actual interest expense coverage ratio was 8.24 to 1.00 as of December 31, 2024. At December 31, 2024, we were in compliance with our financial covenants.

The following is a reconciliation of net income, as reported, which is a GAAP measure of our operating results, to Consolidated Bank EBITDA, as defined in our Credit Agreement, for the year ended December 31, 2024. We present Consolidated Bank EBITDA to show our performance under our financial covenants. Dollars are in thousands in the below tables.

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(1)    Non-cash charges related to indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment.

(2)    Non-cash compensation expenses resulting from the grant of equity awards.

(3)    Non-recurring costs and expenses relating to diligence and transaction costs, strike related costs, severance, relocation and realignment.

(4)    Includes $1.6 million of finance leases as of December 31, 2024.

The Credit Agreement allows issuance of letters of credit, not to exceed $40.0 million in aggregate, against revolving credit facility commitments. At December 31, 2024, we had $1.5 million outstanding under our revolving credit facility and had $292.2 million potentially available after giving effect to $6.3 million of letters of credit issued and outstanding. At December 31, 2023, we had no amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility and had $294.0 million potentially available after giving effect to $6.0 million of letters of credit issued and outstanding. Our letters of credit are used for a variety of purposes, including support of certain operating lease agreements, vendor payment terms and other subsidiary operating activities, and to meet various states' requirements to self-insure workers' compensation claims, including incurred but not reported claims. After consideration of leverage restrictions contained in the Credit Agreement, as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had $216.7 million and $256.9 million, respectively, of borrowing capacity available for general corporate purposes.

We rely upon our cash flow from operations and available liquidity under our revolving credit facility to fund our debt service obligations and other contractual commitments, working capital and capital expenditure requirements. At the end of each quarter, we have historically used cash on hand from our domestic and certain foreign subsidiaries to pay down amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility, as applicable.

Our weighted average borrowings were $433.9 million during 2024, compared to $417.4 million during 2023, primarily due to the aggregate principal balance on our senior notes as well as higher borrowings on revolving credit facilities during 2024.

In May 2021, we, through one of our non-U.S. subsidiaries, entered into a revolving loan facility with a borrowing capacity of $4 million. The facility is guaranteed by TriMas Corporation. There were no borrowings on this loan facility as of December 31, 2024, and 2023.

Cash management related to our revolving credit facility is centralized. We monitor our cash position and available liquidity on a daily basis and forecast our cash needs on a weekly basis within the current quarter and on a monthly basis outside the current quarter over the remainder of the year. Our business and related cash forecasts are updated monthly.

The majority of our cash on hand as of December 31, 2024, is located in jurisdictions outside the United States. We have available funding under our revolving credit facility of $216.7 million at December 31, 2024, (after consideration of the aforementioned leverage restrictions). Based on forecasted cash sources and requirements inherent in our business plans, we believe that our liquidity and capital resources, including anticipated cash flows from operations, will be sufficient to meet our debt service, capital expenditure and other short-term and long-term obligation needs for the next 12 months and for the foreseeable future, as well as dividends and share repurchases.

We are subject to variable interest rates on our revolving credit facility, which is subject to a benchmark interest rate determined based on the currency denomination of borrowings.

In addition to our long-term debt, we have other cash commitments related to leases. The majority of our lease transactions are accounted for as operating leases, and we incurred rent expense related thereto of $13.9 million in 2024. We expect leasing will continue to be an available financing option to fund future capital expenditure requirements.

In March 2020, we announced our Board of Directors had authorized us to increase the purchase of our common stock up to $250 million in the aggregate, an increase of $100 million from the previous authorization. During 2024, 2023 and 2022, we purchased 771,067, 680,594 and 1,264,088 shares of our outstanding common stock for $19.3 million, $18.8 million and $36.9 million, respectively. Since the initial authorization through December 31, 2024, we have purchased 6,566,564 shares of our outstanding common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $182.4 million. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to return capital to shareholders through the purchase of our common stock, depending on market conditions and other factors.

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Under various agreements, we are obligated to make future cash payments in fixed amounts. These include payments under our long-term debt agreements, rent payments required under operating and finance lease agreements, certain benefit obligations and interest obligations on our long-term debt. The following table summarizes our material contractual cash obligations as of December 31, 2024 (dollars in thousands).

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(a)    Our Senior Notes bear interest at 4.125%. The future interest obligations calculation excludes the impact of our cross-currency swap agreements. See Note 12, "Derivative Instruments," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K for additional information.

The liability related to unrecognized tax benefits has been excluded from the contractual obligations table because a reasonable estimate of the timing and amount of cash flows from future tax settlements cannot be determined. For additional information, refer to Note 21, "Income Taxes," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K.

Market Risk

We conduct business in various locations throughout the world and are subject to market risk due to changes in the value of foreign currencies. The functional currencies of our foreign subsidiaries are primarily the local currency in the country of domicile. We manage these operating activities at the local level and revenues and costs are generally denominated in local currencies; however, results of operations and assets and liabilities reported in U.S. dollars will fluctuate with changes in exchange rates between such local currencies and the U.S. dollar.

We use derivative financial instruments to manage currency risks associated with our procurement activities denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of our subsidiaries and the impact of currency rate volatility on our earnings. As of December 31, 2024, we were party to foreign exchange forward and swap contracts to hedge changes in foreign currency exchange rates with notional amounts of $105.9 million. We also use cross-currency swap agreements to mitigate currency risks associated with the net investment in certain of our foreign subsidiaries. See Note 12, "Derivative Instruments," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K for additional information.

We are also subject to interest risk as it relates to our long-term debt. We have historically used interest rate swap agreements to fix the variable portion of our debt to manage this risk.

Common Stock

TriMas is listed in the NASDAQ Global Select MarketSM. Our stock trades under the symbol "TRS."

Credit Rating

We and certain of our outstanding debt obligations are rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. On March 19, 2024, Moody's affirmed a Ba3 rating to our Senior Notes, as presented in Note 11, "Long-term Debt" included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" within this Form 10-K. Moody's also affirmed a Ba2 Corporate Family Rating and maintained its outlook as stable. On January 7, 2025, Moody's affirmed a Ba3 rating to our Senior Notes and a Ba2 Corporate Family Rating, and changed its outlook from stable to negative. On June 28, 2024, Standard & Poor's affirmed a BB- rating to our Senior Notes. Standard & Poor's also affirmed a BB corporate credit rating and maintained its outlook as stable. If our credit ratings were to decline, our ability to access certain financial markets may become limited, our cost of borrowings may increase, the perception of us in the view of our customers, suppliers and security holders may worsen and as a result, we may be adversely affected.

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Outlook

Through 2024, we proactively managed through a significant destocking period and resulting demand trough as compared to the prior year period within our cylinder business. We also managed through a labor union strike at one of our Aerospace production facilities, and we navigated increased input costs as a result of abruptly increased orders for certain dispensing applications within our Packaging segment. We recently completed the divestiture of our Arrow Engine business, exiting our direct presence in the oil and gas market sector. As we look to 2025, we anticipate continued strength and operating leverage from our Aerospace business. We expect modest organic sales growth within our Packaging segment, while having the opportunity to improve our production throughput and reduce certain input costs. Within the cylinder business in Specialty Products, we believe we will see marginal improvement in demand as inventory positions are further depleted, and therefore, we anticipate sequential improvement in operating profit as we move forward given these anticipated incremental sales and structural costs saving actions we have already implemented. We will continue to monitor trends in demand changes and adjust costs and investments accordingly.

We have seen a number of global market uncertainties stemming from the macro-economic environment in the past few years, including significant challenges in inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions and labor availability, as well as significant volatility in our customers' sentiment and order patterns. While we expect a continued modest demand recovery in certain of our consumer products and industrial markets and continued strength in our aerospace & defense market, we remain cautious of the impact of global market uncertainty, particularly the potential impact of tariffs on our customer demand and our input costs. However, no matter the outcome of these factors, we expect to continue to mitigate, as much as practical, the impact of these challenges, executing on streamlining actions and taking other steps as necessary, to maintain our strong balance sheet and generate cash in support of our capital allocation strategy.

We believe our capital structure remains strong and that we have sufficient headroom under our financial covenants, and ample cash and available liquidity under our revolving credit facility, to meet our debt service, capital expenditure and other short-term and long-term obligations for the next 12 months and for the foreseeable future, as well as fund dividends, share repurchases and bolt-on acquisitions consistent with our capital allocation strategy.

We are taking continued actions toward streamlining and optimizing our business portfolio. We have been actively exploring a range of potential options, particularly over the past year, to accelerate the focus of our business portfolio. As we focus our portfolio of businesses, we expect to continue to leverage the tenets of our TriMas Business Model to manage our businesses on a longer-term basis, achieve our growth plans, execute continuous improvement initiatives to offset inflationary pressures and seek lower-cost sources for input costs, all while continuously assessing the appropriateness of our manufacturing footprint and fixed-cost structure.

Impact of New Accounting Standards

See Note 2, "New Accounting Pronouncements," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Policies

The following discussion of accounting policies is intended to supplement the accounting policies presented in Note 3, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K. Certain of our accounting policies require the application of significant judgment by management in selecting the appropriate assumptions for calculating financial estimates. By their nature, these judgments are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. These judgments are based on our historical experience, our evaluation of business and macroeconomic trends, and information from other outside sources, as appropriate.

Receivables.  Receivables are presented net of allowances for doubtful accounts of $3.2 million and $4.2 million at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We monitor our exposure for credit losses and maintain adequate allowances for doubtful accounts. We determine these allowances based on our historical write-off experience and/or specific customer circumstances and provide such allowances when amounts are reasonably estimable and it is probable a loss has been incurred. Although we have been growing business with certain of our larger customers, and there has been some industry consolidation where certain of our customers are merging, we do not believe that significant credit risk exists or that we have a significant concentration of accounts receivable with a single customer or group of customers due to our diverse customer base. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors," for additional information regarding risks associated with a concentrated customer base.

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Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Definite-Lived Intangible Assets.   We review, on at least a quarterly basis, the financial performance of each business unit for indicators of impairment. In reviewing for impairment indicators, we also consider events or changes in circumstances such as business prospects, customer retention, market trends, potential product obsolescence, competitive activities and other economic factors. An impairment loss is recognized when the carrying value of an asset group exceeds the future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by that asset group. The impairment loss recognized is the amount by which the carrying value of the asset group exceeds its fair value.

Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangibles.   We assess goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at the reporting unit level on an annual basis as of October 1, by reviewing relevant qualitative and quantitative factors. More frequent evaluations may be required if we experience changes in our business climate or as a result of other triggering events that take place. An impairment loss is recognized when the carrying value of the asset exceeds its fair value.

We determine our reporting units at the individual operating segment level, or one level below, when there is discrete financial information available that is regularly reviewed by segment management for evaluating operating results. For purposes of our 2024 goodwill impairment test, we had six reporting units, four of which had goodwill, within our three reportable segments.

We first perform a qualitative assessment for our annual goodwill impairment test and for our indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment test, which involves significant use of management's judgment and assumptions to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit or indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying amount. In conducting the qualitative assessment, we consider macroeconomic conditions, industry and market considerations, overall financial performance, entity and reporting unit specific events, capital markets pricing, recent fair value estimates and carrying amounts, as well as legal, regulatory, and contractual factors. These factors are all considered in reaching a conclusion about whether it is more likely than not that the fair values of the intangible assets are less than the carrying values. If we conclude that further testing is required, we would perform a quantitative valuation to estimate the fair value of our intangible assets.

For purposes of the 2024 annual impairment tests, we performed qualitative assessments for all reporting units except the Life Sciences reporting unit within our Packaging segment, for which we elected to perform quantitative assessments. Based on results of the qualitative assessments, we determined there were no indications that the fair value of a reporting unit or indefinite-lived intangible asset was less than its carrying value; therefore, we determined that quantitative goodwill impairment tests were not required for all reporting units included in the qualitative assessment.

In conducting the quantitative analysis for the Life Sciences reporting unit, we determined the estimated fair value utilizing both income and market-based approaches. The income approach relies on the present value of estimated future cash flows of the business, discounted using a rate appropriately reflecting the risks inherent in the cash flows. The market approach relies on market data of other public companies that we deem comparable in operations to our reporting units. Based on results of the 2024 quantitative assessment, we determined there were no indications that the fair value of the Life Sciences reporting unit was less than its carrying value.

The techniques used in our quantitative impairment test incorporated a number of assumptions that we believe to be reasonable and to reflect the current market conditions. Assumptions in estimating future cash flows and earnings were based on Level 3 inputs under the fair value hierarchy and were primarily related to customer demand and revenue growth, and associated profitability and cash flows. To provide a level of sensitivity analysis, a 1% increase in the weighted average cost of capital would have resulted in a goodwill impairment charge of approximately $7 million, while a 0.5% decrease in the terminal growth rate would have resulted in a goodwill impairment charge of approximately $2 million.

Changes in future results, assumptions, and estimates from those used in the quantitative impairment test may lead to an outcome where impairment charges would be required in future periods. Specifically, actual results may vary from management's forecasts and such variations may be material and unfavorable, thereby triggering the need for future impairment tests where the conclusions may differ in reflection of prevailing market conditions. Further, continued adverse or worsening market conditions could result in the recognition of additional impairment if we determine that the fair value of our Life Sciences reporting unit has fallen below its carrying value. Certain circumstances that could reasonably be expected to negatively affect the underlying key assumptions and impact the estimated fair value of our Life Sciences reporting unit may include such items as: (i) a decrease in expected future cash flows, (ii) inability to achieve the sales targeted as part of our strategic growth initiatives, and (iii) inability to efficiently leverage the projected sales growth at expected margin rates.

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Additionally, we performed a quantitative assessment for the indefinite-lived intangible assets within the packaging-related Life Sciences reporting unit after electing the option to bypass the qualitative assessment. The relief-from-royalty method involves the estimation of appropriate market royalty rates for our indefinite-lived intangible assets and the application of these royalty rates to forecasted net sales attributable to the intangible assets. The resulting cash flows are then discounted to present value, using a rate appropriately reflecting the risks inherent in the cash flows, which is compared to the carrying value of the assets. Upon completion of the quantitative impairment test, we determined that one of the Life Sciences trade names had a carrying value that exceeded its fair value, and therefore recorded an impairment charge of $0.2 million.

Future declines in sales and/or operating profit, declines in our stock price, or other changes in our business or the markets for our products could result in further impairments of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets.

Pension Benefits.   We engage independent actuaries to compute the amounts of liabilities and expenses under defined benefit pension plans, subject to the assumptions that we determine are appropriate based on historical trends, current market rates and future projections as of the measurement date. Annually, we review the actual experience compared to the most significant assumptions used and makes adjustments to the assumptions, if warranted. Discount rates are based upon an expected benefit payments duration analysis and the equivalent average yield rate for high-quality fixed-income investments. Pension benefits are funded through deposits with trustees and the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is based upon actual historical returns modified for known changes in the market and any expected change in investment policy. Certain accounting guidance, including the guidance applicable to pensions, does not require immediate recognition of the effects of a deviation between actual and assumed experience or the revision of an estimate. This approach allows the favorable and unfavorable effects that fall within an acceptable range to be netted.

Income Taxes.   We compute income taxes using the asset and liability method, whereby deferred income taxes using current enacted tax rates are provided for the temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities and for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. We determine valuation allowances based on an assessment of positive and negative evidence on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis and record a valuation allowance to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount more likely than not to be realized. Recognized income tax positions are measured at the largest amount that is greater than 50% likely of being realized. Changes in recognition or measurement are reflected in the period in which the change in judgment occurs. We record interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense.

Asbestos-related Matters. We accrue loss reserves for asbestos-related matters based upon an estimate of the ultimate liability for claims incurred, whether reported or not, including an estimate of future settlement costs and costs to defend. We utilize known facts and historical trends for Company-specific and general market asbestos-related activity, as well as an actuarial valuation in determining estimated required reserves which we believe are probable and reasonably estimable. Asbestos-related accruals are assessed at each balance sheet date to determine if the liability remains reasonably stated. Accruals for asbestos-related matters are included in the consolidated balance sheet in "Accrued liabilities" and "Other long-term liabilities."

Other Loss Reserves.   We have other loss exposures related to insurance, litigation and environmental claims. Establishing loss reserves for these matters requires the use of estimates and judgment in regard to risk exposure and ultimate liability. We are generally party to high deductible insurance programs for losses and liabilities related principally to workers' compensation, health and welfare claims and comprehensive general, product and vehicle liability. Generally, we are responsible for up to $0.8 million per occurrence under our retention program for workers' compensation, up to $1.5 million per occurrence under our retention programs for comprehensive general, product and vehicle liability, and have a $0.4 million per occurrence stop-loss limit with respect to our self-insured group medical plan. We accrue loss reserves up to our retention amounts based upon our estimates of the ultimate liability for claims incurred, including an estimate of related litigation defense costs, and an estimate of claims incurred but not reported using actuarial assumptions about future events. We accrue for such items when such amounts are reasonably estimable and probable. We utilize known facts and historical trends, as well as actuarial valuations in determining estimated required reserves. Changes in assumptions for factors such as medical costs and actual experience could cause these estimates to change significantly.

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Item 7.    Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The statements in the discussion and analysis regarding industry outlook, our expectations regarding the performance of our business and the other non-historical statements in the discussion and analysis are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in Item 1A "Risk Factors." Our actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements. You should read the following discussion together with Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."

Introduction

TriMas designs, develops and manufactures a diverse set of products primarily for the consumer products, aerospace & defense and industrial markets through its TriMas Packaging, TriMas Aerospace and Specialty Products groups. Our wide range of innovative products are designed and engineered to solve application-specific challenges that our customers face. We believe our businesses share important and distinguishing characteristics, including: well-recognized and leading brand names in the markets we serve; innovative product technologies and features; a high-degree of customer approved processes and qualifications; established distribution networks; modest capital investment requirements; strong cash flow conversion and long-term growth opportunities. While the majority of our revenue is in the United States, we manufacture and supply products globally to a wide range of companies. We report our business activity in three segments: Packaging, Aerospace and Specialty Products.

Key Factors Affecting Our Reported Results

Demand for the products our businesses produce and results of operations depend upon general economic conditions. We serve customers in industries that are highly competitive and that may be significantly impacted by changes in economic or geopolitical conditions.

Our results of operations have been materially impacted over the past few years by macro-economic factors, first by the onset and proliferation of the coronavirus pandemic ("pandemic"), then further from increased energy costs and supply chain disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and more recently by cost inflation (raw materials, wage rates and freight) and a lack of material and in certain regions skilled labor availability. These factors significantly affected each of our businesses and how we operate, albeit in different ways and magnitudes. Sales in our Packaging segment for dispensing and closure products used in applications to help fight the spread of germs have experienced extreme volatility in demand, with demand spiking to record highs after the onset of the pandemic, demand abating as expected from those high levels beginning mid-2022 and continuing through most of 2023, with demand stabilizing toward the end of 2023, as a result of some of our larger customers' choices to rebalance on-hand inventory levels and caution in purchasing behaviors given the current inflationary macro-economic environment. Sales of certain of our aerospace-related products were significantly depressed from historical levels following the onset of the pandemic, but demand has significantly increased in recent quarters as air travel has picked-up and new aircraft build rates improve. Certain of our products for industrial applications, for example steel cylinders for packaged gas applications, and engines and compressors for oil & gas extraction, have experienced volatility in demand related to a number of channel and economic factors in more recent periods. Altogether, this significant level of volatility in demand levels, input and transportation costs, and material and labor availability, have pressured our ability to operate efficiently and at historical margin levels.

Overall, 2023 net sales increased $9.7 million, or 1.1%, compared to 2022. We experienced sales growth from acquisitions in our Packaging and Aerospace segments, as well as organic sales increases within our Aerospace and Specialty Product segments as a result of increased demand levels in North America, particularly in the first half of the year for Specialty Products. These increases were partially offset by reduced demand for dispensers and closures used in consumer products and industrial applications within our Packaging segment, which we believe declined due to lower customer order activity given high customer stocking levels, as well as continuing uncertainty around consumer sentiment as a result of the inflationary environment.

The most significant drivers affecting our financial results in 2023 compared with 2022, other than as directly impacted by sales changes, were the impact of our recent acquisitions, improved manufacturing throughput in our Aerospace segment, material cost abatement in our Packaging segment, realignment actions in our Packaging segment, the year-over-year impact of the sale of non-core real estate in 2022, the year-over-year impact of the termination of our existing cross-currency swap agreements in 2022, and a decrease in our effective tax rate.

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In April 2023, we acquired Weldmac Manufacturing Company ("Weldmac"), a designer and manufacturer of complex metal fabricated components and assemblies for the aerospace, defense and space launch end markets for a purchase price of $34.0 million, with additional contingent consideration ranging from zero to $10 million based on achievement of earnings targets. Weldmac, which is reported in our Aerospace segment, is located in El Cajon, California. Weldmac contributed $26.6 million of net sales during 2023. We recognized a $2.4 million purchase accounting non-cash charge related to the step-up of Weldmac's inventory to fair value in 2023. In July 2023, we made a cash payment of $5.5 million as additional consideration based on achievement of earnings targets. The remaining possible contingent consideration ranges from zero to $4.5 million, based on achievement of 2023 earnings targets, as defined in the purchase agreement. At December 31, 2023, we believe it is probable the maximum contingent consideration will be earned.

In February 2023, we acquired Aarts Packaging B.V. ("Aarts"), a luxury packaging solutions provider for beauty and lifestyle brands, as well as for customers in the food and life sciences end markets, for a purchase price of $37.8 million, net of cash acquired. Aarts, which is reported in our Packaging segment, is located in Waalwijk, the Netherlands, and contributed $23.6 million of net sales during 2023.

In February 2022, we acquired Intertech Plastics LLC and related companies (collectively, "Intertech"), a manufacturer of custom injection molded products used in medical applications, as well as products and assemblies for consumer and industrial applications, for an aggregate amount of $64.1 million, net of cash acquired. Intertech, which is reported in our Packaging segment, has two manufacturing facilities located in the Denver, Colorado area. Intertech contributed $5.3 million of acquisition-related sales growth during the period January through February 2023.

Over the past few years, we have been executing certain realignment actions in response to current and expected future end market demand and rising input costs. We recorded pre-tax realignment charges of $10.3 million in 2023, primarily related to our actions to close and consolidate two production facilities in China into one new, larger facility in Haining, China, and to close and consolidate our Rohnert Park, California, manufacturing facility operations into other existing U.S. production locations. These charges consisted of $2.1 million employee-related costs, $0.8 million for the write down of inventory to fair value, $5.2 million related to other facility move and consolidation costs, and $2.2 million were related to charges to accelerate the depreciation of certain fixed assets. We recorded pre-tax realignment charges of $5.0 million in 2022, of which $2.7 million related to facility move and consolidation costs and $2.3 million were for employee related costs.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, we sold a non-core facility in City of Industry, California, for net cash proceeds of $23.3 million. The Company recognized a $17.6 million gain on the sale, which is included in the Corporate operating loss for 2022.

In the third quarter of 2022, we completed the sale of vacant land adjacent to our Tolleson, Arizona, manufacturing facility for net cash proceeds of $5.0 million, and recognized a $4.8 million gain on the sale, which is included within our Aerospace segment.

In 2022, we terminated our existing cross-currency swap agreements, de-designating the swaps as net investment hedges and received $26.2 million of cash. The cross-currency swap agreements had notional amounts totaling $250.0 million, which declined to $25.0 million over various contract periods ending between October 15, 2023, and October 15, 2027.

Our effective tax rate for 2023 and 2022 was 20.2%, and 24.5%, respectively. The rate for 2023 is lower primarily as a result of recognizing a $2.0 million tax benefit related to a net operating loss carryforward in a foreign jurisdiction, and a $0.6 million benefit related to tax incentives in another foreign jurisdiction.

Additional Key Risks that May Affect Our Reported Results

We have executed meaningful realignment actions over the past few years, primarily in our Packaging segment, to address manufacturing capacity where demand has fallen. We will continue to assess further actions if required. However, as a result of the current period of macroeconomic inflation and uncertainty and the potential impact of such factors to our future results of operations, as well as if there is an impact to TriMas' market capitalization, we may record additional cash and non-cash charges related to incremental realignment actions, asset impairments, including impairments to our goodwill, intangible assets, fixed assets, inventory or customer receivable account balances.

Despite the potential for declines in future demand levels and results of operations, at present, we believe our capital structure is in a strong position. We have sufficient cash and available liquidity under our revolving credit facility to meet our debt service obligations, capital expenditure requirements and other short-term and long-term obligations for the foreseeable future.

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Critical factors affecting our ability to succeed include: our ability to create organic growth through product development, cross-selling and extending product-line offerings, and our ability to quickly and cost-effectively introduce and successfully launch new products; our ability to acquire and integrate companies or products that supplement existing product lines, add new distribution channels or customers, or expand our geographic coverage; our ability to manage our cost structure more efficiently via supply chain management, internal sourcing and/or purchasing of materials, selective outsourcing and/or purchasing of support functions, working capital management, and greater leverage of our administrative functions; and our ability to absorb, or recover via commercial actions, inflationary or other cost increases.

Our overall business does not experience significant seasonal fluctuation, other than our fourth quarter, which has tended to be the lowest net sales quarter of the year due to holiday shutdowns at certain customers or other customers deferring capital spending to the following year. A growing amount of our sales is derived from international sources, which exposes us to certain risks, including currency risks.

We are sensitive to price movements and availability of our raw materials supply. Our largest raw material purchases are for resins (such as polypropylene and polyethylene), steel, aluminum, superalloys (such as titanium, A286 stainless steel and Inconel) and other oil and metal-based purchased components, the costs for each of which have experienced recent volatility. There has also been some volatility over the past two years as a direct and indirect result of foreign trade policy, where tariffs on certain of our commodity-based products sourced from Asia have been instituted, the conflict in Eastern Europe, creating certain input material shortages, and labor shortages at certain of our raw material suppliers. We will continue to take actions to mitigate such increases, including implementing commercial pricing adjustments, holding extra inventories and resourcing to alternate suppliers and insourcing of previously sourced products. Although we believe we are generally able to mitigate the impact of higher commodity costs over time, we may experience additional material costs and disruptions in supply in the future and may not be able to pass along higher costs to our customers in the form of price increases or otherwise mitigate the impacts to our operating results.

Although we have escalator/de-escalator clauses in commercial contracts with certain of our customers to address fluctuations in input costs, or can modify prices based on market conditions to recover higher costs, our price increases generally lag the underlying input cost increase, and we cannot be assured of full cost recovery in the open market. If input costs increase at rapid rates, our ability to recover cost increases on a timely basis is made more difficult by the lag nature of these contracts.

Oil-based commodity costs are a significant driver of raw materials and purchased components used within our Packaging segment. As such, an increase in crude oil often is a precursor to rising input polymeric raw material costs, for which we may experience a contractual commercial recover lag. Separately, our Arrow Engine business in our Specialty Products segment is sensitive to the demand for natural gas and crude oil in North America. For example, demand for engine, pump jack and compressor products are impacted by active oil and gas rig counts and wellhead investment activities.

Each year, as a core tenet of the TriMas Business Model, our businesses target cost savings from Kaizen and continuous improvement initiatives in an effort to reduce, or otherwise offset, the impact of increased input and conversion costs through increased throughput and yield rates, with a goal of at least covering inflationary and market cost increases. In addition, we continuously review our operating cost structures to ensure alignment with current market demand.

We continue to evaluate alternatives to redeploy the cash generated by our businesses, one of which includes returning capital to our shareholders. In 2020, our Board of Directors increased the authorization of share repurchases to a cumulative amount of $250 million. During 2023, we purchased 680,594 shares of our outstanding common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $18.8 million. As of December 31, 2023, we had $86.9 million remaining under the repurchase authorization.

In addition, in 2023, we declared quarterly dividends of $0.04 per share of common stock, aggregating to dividends declared and paid on common shares during 2023 of $6.7 million. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to return capital to shareholders through the purchase of our common stock, as well as dividends, depending on market conditions and other factors.

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Segment Information and Supplemental Analysis

The following table summarizes financial information for our three reportable segments (dollars in thousands):

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The following "Results of Operations Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2022" section presents an analysis of our consolidated operating results displayed in the Consolidated Statement of Income. A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 can be found under Item 7 in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 23, 2023.

Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2022

The principal factors impacting us during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared with the year ended December 31, 2022 were:

•Significant demand reductions for products in certain end markets within our Packaging segment;

•Significant demand increases in our Aerospace and Specialty Products segments, particularly in the first half of 2023;

•Significant gains on the sale of non-core properties in City of Industry, California, and Tolleson, Arizona, in 2022, which did not repeat in 2023;

•The impact of recent acquisitions, primarily Intertech in February 2022, Aarts in February 2023 and Weldmac in April 2023;

•Improved manufacturing throughput in our Aerospace segment;

•Decreased material and other input costs in our Packaging segment;

•Realignment expenses in response to changes in end market demand;

•Higher business diligence and consulting fees in support of our growth initiatives;

•The third quarter 2022 termination of our existing cross-currency swaps; and

•A decrease in our effective tax rate in 2023 compared with 2022.

Overall, net sales increased $9.7 million, or 1.1%, to $893.6 million in 2023, as compared to $883.8 million in 2022. Acquisition-related sales growth was $55.5 million, comprised of $5.3 million resulting from the January through February 2023 sales of our February 2022 acquisition of Intertech, $23.6 million from our February 2023 acquisition of Aarts, and $26.6 million from our April 2023 acquisition of Weldmac. Organic sales, excluding the impact of currency exchange and acquisitions, decreased $47.3 million, as increases in sales of our industrial products in our Specialty Products segment, particularly in the first half of the year, and in our Aerospace segment driven by market demand improvements, were more than offset by a decrease in the Packaging segment due to lower market demand, primarily as a result of ongoing actions by many of our customers to rebalance their inventory levels and closely manage their order activity given continuing uncertainty around consumer sentiment as a result of the inflationary environment. In addition, net sales increased $1.5 million due to currency exchange, as our reported results in U.S. dollars were favorably impacted as a result of the weakening U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies.

Gross profit margin (gross profit as a percentage of sales) approximated 22.5% and 23.6% in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Gross profit margin decreased due to lower sales levels and absorption of fixed costs, as well as increased realignment costs associated with our actions to close and consolidate two production facilities in China into a new, larger facility in Haining, China, and to close and consolidate our Rohnert Park, California, manufacturing facility operations into other existing U.S. production locations within our Packaging segment. Gross profit also decreased due to a $2.4 million purchase accounting non-cash charge related to the step-up of Weldmac's inventory to fair value in our Aerospace segment and wage inflation. These decreases were partially offset by higher sales and improved throughput and fixed cost absorption within our Aerospace segment, higher sales levels, particularly in the first half of 2023, and favorable pricing in our Specialty Products segment, and lower material and other input costs, including $4.3 million of lower energy costs, in our Packaging segment.

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Operating profit margin (operating profit as a percentage of sales) approximated 7.3% and 11.2% in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Operating profit decreased $33.6 million, to $65.4 million in 2023, as compared to $99.1 million in 2022, primarily due to the year-over-year impact of $22.4 million of gains on the sale of non-core properties in City of Industry, California, and Tolleson, Arizona, recorded in 2022, lower sales levels and lower absorption of fixed costs as well as higher realignment costs within our Packaging segment, and an increase in professional fees. Additionally, operating profit decreased due to wage inflation, the impact of a non-cash charge related to Weldmac purchase accounting, and a $1.1 million indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment charge in our Aerospace segment. These decreases were partially offset by the impact of higher sales levels and related improved fixed cost absorption within our Aerospace segment, higher sales levels and favorable pricing in our Specialty Products segment, and lower material and other input costs in our Packaging segment.

Interest expense increased $1.8 million, to $15.9 million in 2023, as compared to $14.1 million in 2022, due to a higher effective interest rate and an increase in our weighted average borrowings.

Other income decreased $1.6 million to $1.1 million in 2023, from $2.7 million in 2022, primarily due to the year-over-year impact of the reversal of the TFI contingent consideration liability in 2022 and a non-cash settlement charge for our Canadian defined benefit obligations, partially offset by a decrease in other expenses.

The effective income tax rate for 2023 was 20.2%, compared to 24.5% for 2022. We recorded income tax expense of $10.2 million in 2023, as compared to $21.5 million in 2022. During 2023, we reported domestic and foreign pre-tax income of $20.7 million and $29.9 million, respectively, as compared to domestic and foreign pre-tax income of $56.8 million and $30.9 million in 2022. The rate for 2023 is lower primarily as a result of recognizing a $2.0 million tax benefit related to a net operating loss carryforward in a foreign jurisdiction, and a $0.6 million benefit related to tax incentives in another foreign jurisdiction.

Net income decreased $25.8 million to $40.4 million in 2023, compared to $66.2 million in 2022. This decrease was primarily a result of a decrease in operating profit of $33.6 million, a $1.8 million increase in interest expense, and a $1.6 million decrease in other income, partially offset by a decrease in income tax expense of $11.3 million.

See below for a discussion of operating results by segment.

Packaging.  Net sales decreased $58.6 million, or 11.2%, to $463.6 million in 2023, as compared to $522.2 million in 2022, as customer demand fell at a significant rate given overstock positions predominantly in consumer goods and industrial markets, and did not rebound as anticipated given the onset of significant inflationary pressure which occurred during much of 2023. Acquisition-related sales growth was $28.9 million, comprised of $5.3 million resulting from the January through February 2023 sales of our February 2022 acquisition of Intertech and $23.6 million from our February 2023 acquisition of Aarts. Sales of products used in food and beverage markets decreased by $38.1 million, primarily due to lower demand for food and certain beverage closures. Sales of products used in industrial markets decreased by $22.2 million, primarily as a result of lower demand for drum and pail closure products. Sales of dispensing products used in personal care and home care applications decreased by $27.1 million. We believe that the decrease in sales in each of these categories was due to lower customer order activity given higher customer stocking levels, as well as continuing uncertainty around consumer sentiment as a result of the inflationary environment. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in net sales of $1.7 million due to currency exchange, as our reported results in U.S. dollars were favorably impacted as a result of the weakening of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies, as compared to 2022.

Packaging's gross profit decreased $28.0 million to $109.1 million, or 23.5% of sales, in 2023, as compared to $137.0 million, or 26.2% of sales, in 2022, primarily due to lower sales and resulting lower absorption of fixed costs. Gross profit further declined in 2023 due to $7.2 million of higher realignment costs, primarily associated with our actions to close and consolidate two production facilities in China into a new, larger facility in Haining, China, and to close and consolidate our Rohnert Park, California, manufacturing facility operations into other existing U.S. production locations. The decrease in gross profit was partially offset by lower material and other input costs, including $4.3 million of lower energy costs, as compared with the spike in costs in 2022, primarily in our Europe-based operations.

Packaging's selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $6.9 million to $48.8 million, or 10.5% of sales, in 2023, as compared to $55.7 million, or 10.7% of sales, in 2022, primarily due to the transfer of $5.5 million of information technology costs to Corporate in 2023, lower overall spending levels in 2023, consistent with current lower demand levels, as well as $1.0 million of lower costs associated with realignment actions. In addition, we incurred lower intangible asset amortization expense due to certain assets becoming fully amortized. These decreases more than offset higher ongoing selling, general and administrative costs associated with our acquisitions.

Packaging's operating profit decreased $20.9 million to $60.1 million, or 13.0% of sales, in 2023, as compared to $81.0 million, or 15.5% of sales, in 2022, as the impact of lower selling, general and administrative expenses and energy costs was more than offset by lower sales levels, lower absorption of fixed costs and higher realignment costs.

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Aerospace.    Net sales increased $53.3 million, or 28.3%, to $241.4 million in 2023, as compared to $188.1 million in 2022. Acquisition-related sales growth from our April 2023 acquisition of Weldmac was $26.6 million. Sales of our fasteners products increased by $19.1 million due to increases in demand for fasteners used in new aircraft builds. Sales of our engineered components products increased by $7.6 million due to higher end market demand.

Gross profit within Aerospace increased $15.8 million to $48.0 million, or 19.9% of sales, in 2023, from $32.2 million, or 17.1% of sales, in 2022. Gross profit increased primarily due to higher sales levels and improved manufacturing throughput and fixed cost absorption, partially offset by increased material costs, wage inflation and a $2.4 million purchase accounting non-cash charge related to the step-up of Weldmac's inventory to fair value.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $2.4 million to $31.4 million, or 13.0% of sales, in 2023, as compared to $29.0 million, or 15.4% of sales, in 2022, primarily due to higher ongoing selling, general and administrative costs associated with our acquisition of Weldmac and higher facility costs, partially offset by lower employee-related costs and lower intangible asset amortization expense due to certain assets becoming fully amortized.

Operating profit within Aerospace increased $7.5 million to $15.5 million, or 6.4% of sales, in 2023, as compared to $8.1 million, or 4.3% of sales, in 2022, primarily due to the impact of higher sales levels and improved manufacturing throughput and fixed cost absorption. These increases were partially offset by increased material costs, wage inflation, higher selling, general and administrative expenses, a $1.1 million indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment charge, the recognition of the purchase accounting adjustment related to Weldmac's inventory step-up to fair value, and the year-over-year impact of the $4.8 million pre-tax gain on the sale of vacant land adjacent to our Tolleson, Arizona, manufacturing facility recorded in 2022.

Specialty Products.    Net sales increased $15.0 million, or 8.6%, to $188.6 million in 2023, as compared to $173.6 million in 2022. Sales of our cylinder products increased $8.0 million due to higher demand for steel cylinders for packaged gas applications in North America, as industrial activity improved from 2022, mostly in the first half of 2023, as well as improved pricing. Sales of engines, compressors and related parts used in stationary power generation and assistance applications for natural gas and crude oil extraction increased by $7.0 million, most of which occurred in the first half of 2023, as customers increased capital spending earlier in the year as compared to 2022 purchasing rates. Additionally, in the second half of 2023 a customer did not renew its contract to purchase natural gas extraction compressors given a need for a much broader range of large compressors, which were not available from the Specialty Products' Arrow Engine business.

Gross profit within Specialty Products increased $5.2 million to $44.3 million, or 23.5% of sales, in 2023, as compared to $39.0 million, or 22.5% of sales, in 2022. Gross profit increased due to higher sales levels and favorable material pricing, partially offset by wage inflation.

Selling, general and administrative expenses within Specialty Products decreased $0.9 million to $7.8 million, or 4.2% of sales, in 2023, as compared to $8.7 million, or 5.0% of net sales, in 2022, primarily due to the transfer of information technology costs to Corporate in 2023, as well as lower overall spending levels.

Operating profit within Specialty Products increased $6.2 million to $36.4 million, or 19.3% of sales, in 2023, as compared to $30.3 million, or 17.4% of sales, in 2022, primarily due to increased sales levels, favorable material pricing and lower selling, general and administrative expenses, partially offset by wage inflation.

Corporate Expenses.    Corporate expenses included in operating profit consist of the following (dollars in millions):

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Corporate expenses increased $26.4 million to $46.6 million in 2023, from $20.3 million in 2022, primarily due to the year-over-year impact of a $17.6 million gain recognized in 2022 on the sale of a non-core facility in City of Industry, California, $4.5 million of higher professional fees primarily for business diligence and strategic consulting, and $8.3 million of higher information technology costs in 2023, of which $6.8 million related to costs now reported as corporate expenses due to centralizing certain of our information technology costs in 2023. We incurred higher information technology costs in 2023 as we prepare for upgrades in certain of our information technology applications, including an enterprise resource planning software implementation. These increases were partially offset by the year-over-year impact of a $5.6 million non-cash charge in 2022 related to updating our asbestos studies.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash Flows

Cash flows provided by operating activities in 2023 were $88.2 million, as compared to $72.6 million in 2022. Significant changes in cash flows provided by operating activities and the reasons for such changes are as follows:

•In 2023, the Company generated $110.5 million in cash flows, based on the reported net income of $40.4 million and after considering the effects of non-cash items related to impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets, depreciation, amortization of intangible assets and debt issuance costs, (gain) loss on dispositions of assets, changes in deferred income taxes, stock-based compensation, provision for losses on accounts receivable and other operating activities. In 2022, the Company generated $109.2 million in cash flows based on the reported net income of $66.2 million and after considering the effects of similar non-cash items and change in legacy liability estimate.

•Increases in accounts receivable resulted in a use of cash of $5.5 million and $6.7 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increased use of cash for 2023 and 2022 is due primarily to the timing of sales and related collection of cash during the periods. Days sales outstanding of receivables increased by six days in 2023 and five days in 2022.

•We increased our investment in inventory by $7.1 million and $7.0 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our days sales in inventory increased by eleven days in 2023, primarily as a result of investing in certain inventories in our Aerospace segment as a result of increased customer demand. Our days sales in inventory increased by seven days in 2022, primarily as a result of proactively investing in certain raw materials and purchased components to protect against supply chain disruptions and potential cost increases.

•Decreases in prepaid expenses and other assets resulted in a source of cash of $4.8 million and $6.1 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. The changes in 2023 and 2022 are primarily as a result of the timing of payments made for income taxes and certain operating expenses.

•Decreases in accounts payable and accrued liabilities resulted in a use of cash of $14.5 million and $29.1 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our days accounts payable on hand increased by one day through 2023 and remained consistent through 2022. Our days accounts payable on hand fluctuate primarily as a result of the timing of payments made to suppliers and the mix of vendors and related terms.

Net cash used for investing activities was $134.4 million and $55.0 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. During 2023, we paid $77.3 million, net of cash acquired, to acquire Aarts and Weldmac. We invested $54.2 million in capital expenditures as we have continued our investment in growth, capacity and productivity-related capital projects. We made a payment of $3.4 million related to the expiration of one of our cross-currency swap agreements. We also received proceeds of $0.5 million from the disposition of property and equipment. During 2022, we paid $64.1 million, net of cash acquired, to acquire Intertech, invested $46.0 million in capital expenditures and received cash from the disposition of business, property and equipment of $28.8 million, primarily related to the sale of vacant land adjacent to one of our manufacturing facilities and the sale of a non-core facility in California. We also received proceeds of $26.2 million from the termination of our cross-currency swap agreements.

Net cash used for financing activities was $30.9 million and $46.2 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. During 2023, we received net proceeds of $0.6 million from borrowings on our revolving credit facilities, purchased $18.8 million of outstanding common stock, used a net cash amount of $2.7 million related to our stock compensation arrangements, paid dividends of $6.7 million, and paid $3.3 million related to liabilities assumed in our acquisition of Aarts. Our reported net proceeds from borrowings on our revolving credit facilities considers the impact of foreign currency translation. During 2022, we purchased $36.9 million of outstanding common stock, used a net cash amount of $2.4 million related to our stock compensation arrangements and paid dividends of $6.9 million.

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Our Debt and Other Commitments

In March 2021, we issued the 2029 Senior Notes in a private placement under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. We used the proceeds from the 2029 Senior Notes offering to pay fees and expenses of $5.1 million related to the offering and pay fees and expenses of $1.1 million related to amending our Credit Agreement. In connection with the issuance, we completed the redemption of our 2025 Senior Notes, paying $300.0 million to retire the outstanding principal amount plus $7.3 million as a redemption premium. The remaining cash proceeds from the 2029 Senior Notes were used for general corporate purposes, including repaying all outstanding revolving credit facility borrowings. The $5.1 million of fees and expenses related to the 2029 Senior Notes were capitalized as debt issuance costs, while the $7.3 million redemption premium, as well as $3.0 million of unamortized debt issuance costs associated with the 2025 Senior Notes were recorded as expense within debt financing and related expenses in the accompanying consolidated statement of income.

The 2029 Senior Notes accrue interest at a rate of 4.125% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears on April 15 and October 15. The payment of principal and interest is jointly and severally guaranteed, on a senior unsecured basis by certain named subsidiaries of the Company. The 2029 Senior Notes are pari passu in right of payment with all existing and future senior indebtedness and subordinated to all existing and future secured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness. In 2023, our consolidated subsidiaries that do not guarantee the Senior Notes represented 28% of the total of guarantor and non-guarantor net sales, treating each as a consolidated group and excluding intercompany transactions between guarantor and non-guarantor subsidiaries. In addition, our non-guarantor subsidiaries represented 38% and 15% of the total guarantor and non-guarantor assets and liabilities, respectively, as of December 31, 2023, treating the guarantor and non-guarantor subsidiaries each as a consolidated group.

Prior to April 15, 2024, we may redeem up to 40% of the principal amount of the 2029 Senior Notes at a redemption price of 104.125% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date, with the net cash proceeds of one or more equity offerings provided that each such redemption occurs within 90 days of the date of closing of each such equity offering. In addition, prior to April 15, 2024, we may redeem all or part of the 2029 Senior Notes at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date, plus a "make whole" premium.

In March 2021, we amended our Credit Agreement in connection with the issuance of the 2029 Senior Notes to extend the maturity date. We incurred fees and expenses of $1.1 million related to the amendment, all of which were capitalized as debt issuance costs. We also recorded $0.2 million of non-cash expense related to the write-off of previously capitalized deferred financing fees. The Credit Agreement consists of a $300.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility, which permits borrowings denominated in specific foreign currencies, subject to a $125.0 million sub limit, maturing on March 29, 2026.

In November 2021 and April 2023, we amended the Credit Agreement to replace LIBOR. As of December 31, 2023, the Credit Agreement is subject to benchmark interest rates that are based on the currency denomination of borrowings, with British pound sterling borrowings subject to the Sterling Overnight Index Average and Euro borrowings subject to the Euro InterBank Offered Rate, both plus a spread of 1.625%, and U.S. dollar borrowings subject to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate plus a spread of 1.725%. The interest rate spread is based upon the leverage ratio, as defined, as of the most recent determination date.

The Credit Agreement provides for incremental revolving credit commitments in an amount not to exceed the greater of $200 million and an amount such that, after giving effect to such incremental commitments and the incurrence of any other indebtedness substantially simultaneously with the making of such commitments, the senior secured net leverage ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, is no greater than 3.00 to 1.00. The terms and conditions of any incremental revolving credit facility commitments must be no more favorable than the existing credit facility.

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Amounts drawn under our revolving credit facility fluctuate daily based upon our working capital and other ordinary course needs. Availability under our revolving credit facility depends upon, among other things, compliance with our Credit Agreement's financial covenants. Our Credit Agreement contains various negative and affirmative covenants and other requirements affecting us and our subsidiaries, including the ability to, subject to certain exceptions and limitations, incur debt, liens, mergers, investments, loans, advances, guarantee obligations, acquisitions, assets dispositions, sale-leaseback transactions, hedging agreements, dividends and other restricted payments, transactions with affiliates, restrictive agreements and amendments to charters, bylaws, and other material documents. The terms of our Credit Agreement require us and our subsidiaries to meet certain restrictive financial covenants and ratios computed quarterly, including a maximum total net leverage ratio (total consolidated indebtedness plus outstanding amounts under any accounts receivable securitization facility, less the aggregate amount of certain unrestricted cash and unrestricted permitted investments, as defined, over consolidated EBITDA, as defined) and a minimum interest expense coverage ratio (consolidated EBITDA, as defined, over the sum of consolidated cash interest expense, as defined, and preferred dividends, as defined). Our permitted total net leverage ratio under the Credit Agreement is 4.00 to 1.00 as of December 31, 2023. If we were to complete an acquisition which qualifies for a Covenant Holiday Period, as defined in our Credit Agreement, then our permitted total net leverage ratio cannot exceed 4.50 to 1.00 during that period. Our actual total net leverage ratio was 2.39 to 1.00 at December 31, 2023. Our permitted interest expense coverage ratio under the Credit Agreement is 3.00 to 1.00, and our actual interest expense coverage ratio was 11.13 to 1.00 as of December 31, 2023. At December 31, 2023, we were in compliance with our financial covenants.

The following is a reconciliation of net income, as reported, which is a GAAP measure of our operating results, to Consolidated Bank EBITDA, as defined in our Credit Agreement, for the year ended December 31, 2023. We present Consolidated Bank EBITDA to show our performance under our financial covenants. Dollars are in thousands in the below tables.

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________________________________________

(1)    Non-cash compensation expenses resulting from the grant of equity awards.

(2)    Non-recurring costs and expenses relating to trade name impairment charges, diligence and transaction costs, purchase accounting costs, severance, relocation, restructuring and settlement expenses.

(3)    Includes $4.5 million of acquisition-related contingent consideration, $1.3 million of derivative liabilities and $2.2 million of finance leases as of December 31, 2023.

The Credit Agreement allows issuance of letters of credit, not to exceed $40.0 million in aggregate, against revolving credit facility commitments. At December 31, 2023, we had no amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility and had $294.0 million potentially available after giving effect to $6.0 million of letters of credit issued and outstanding. At December 31, 2022, we had no amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility and had $293.9 million potentially available after giving effect to $6.1 million of letters of credit issued and outstanding. Our letters of credit are used for a variety of purposes, including support of certain operating lease agreements, vendor payment terms and other subsidiary operating activities, and to meet various states' requirements to self-insure workers' compensation claims, including incurred but not reported claims. After consideration of leverage restrictions contained in the Credit Agreement, as of December 31, 2023, we had $256.9 million of borrowing capacity available for general corporate purposes. Our borrowing capacity was not reduced by leverage restrictions contained in the Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2022.

We rely upon our cash flow from operations and available liquidity under our revolving credit facility to fund our debt service obligations and other contractual commitments, working capital and capital expenditure requirements. At the end of each quarter, we have historically used cash on hand from our domestic and certain foreign subsidiaries to pay down amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility, as applicable.

Our weighted average borrowings were $417.4 million during 2023, compared to $400.1 million during 2022, primarily due to the aggregate principal balance on our senior notes as well as higher borrowings on revolving credit facilities during 2023.

In May 2021, we, through one of our non-U.S. subsidiaries, entered into a revolving loan facility with a borrowing capacity of $4 million. The facility is guaranteed by TriMas Corporation. There were no borrowings on this loan facility as of December 31, 2023, and 2022.

Cash management related to our revolving credit facility is centralized. We monitor our cash position and available liquidity on a daily basis and forecast our cash needs on a weekly basis within the current quarter and on a monthly basis outside the current quarter over the remainder of the year. Our business and related cash forecasts are updated monthly.

The majority of our cash on hand as of December 31, 2023, is located in jurisdictions outside the United States. We have available funding under our revolving credit facility of $256.9 million at December 31, 2023, (after consideration of the aforementioned leverage restrictions). Based on forecasted cash sources and requirements inherent in our business plans, we believe that our liquidity and capital resources, including anticipated cash flows from operations, will be sufficient to meet our debt service, capital expenditure and other short-term and long-term obligation needs for the next 12 months and for the foreseeable future, as well as dividends and share repurchases.

We are subject to variable interest rates on our revolving credit facility, which is subject to a benchmark interest rate determined based on the currency denomination of borrowings. At December 31, 2023, we had no amounts outstanding on our revolving credit facility and, therefore, no variable rate-based borrowings outstanding.

In addition to our long-term debt, we have other cash commitments related to leases. The majority of our lease transactions are accounted for as operating leases, and we incurred rent expense for continuing operations related thereto of $14.9 million in 2023. We continue to be party to non-cancelable leases for certain facilities we have exited as part of restructuring activities, and have entered into sublease agreements to minimize our net lease payments. We expect leasing will continue to be an available financing option to fund future capital expenditure requirements.

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In March 2020, we announced our Board of Directors had authorized us to increase the purchase of our common stock up to $250 million in the aggregate, an increase of $100 million from the previous authorization. During 2023, 2022 and 2021, we purchased 680,594, 1,264,088 and 596,084 shares of our outstanding common stock for $18.8 million, $36.9 million and $19.1 million, respectively. Since the initial authorization through December 31, 2023, we have purchased 5,795,497 shares of our outstanding common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $163.1 million. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to return capital to shareholders through the purchase of our common stock, depending on market conditions and other factors.

Under various agreements, we are obligated to make future cash payments in fixed amounts. These include payments under our long-term debt agreements, rent payments required under operating and finance lease agreements, certain benefit obligations and interest obligations on our long-term debt. The following table summarizes our material contractual cash obligations as of December 31, 2023 (dollars in thousands).

__________________________

(a)    Our Senior Notes bear interest at 4.125%. The future interest obligations calculation excludes the impact of our cross-currency swap agreements. See Note 12, "Derivative Instruments," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K for additional information.

The liability related to unrecognized tax benefits has been excluded from the contractual obligations table because a reasonable estimate of the timing and amount of cash flows from future tax settlements cannot be determined. For additional information, refer to Note 21, "Income Taxes," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K.

Market Risk

We conduct business in various locations throughout the world and are subject to market risk due to changes in the value of foreign currencies. The functional currencies of our foreign subsidiaries are primarily the local currency in the country of domicile. We manage these operating activities at the local level and revenues and costs are generally denominated in local currencies; however, results of operations and assets and liabilities reported in U.S. dollars will fluctuate with changes in exchange rates between such local currencies and the U.S. dollar.

We use derivative financial instruments to manage currency risks associated with our procurement activities denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of our subsidiaries and the impact of currency rate volatility on our earnings. As of December 31, 2023, we were party to foreign exchange forward and swap contracts to hedge changes in foreign currency exchange rates with notional amounts of $138.6 million. We also use cross-currency swap agreements to mitigate currency risks associated with the net investment in certain of our foreign subsidiaries. See Note 12, "Derivative Instruments," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K for additional information.

We are also subject to interest risk as it relates to our long-term debt. We have historically used interest rate swap agreements to fix the variable portion of our debt to manage this risk.

Common Stock

TriMas is listed in the NASDAQ Global Select MarketSM. Our stock trades under the symbol "TRS."

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Credit Rating

We and certain of our outstanding debt obligations are rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. On March 31, 2023, Moody's affirmed a Ba3 rating to our 2029 Senior Notes, as presented in Note 11, "Long-term Debt" included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" within this Form 10-K. Moody's also affirmed a Ba2 Corporate Family Rating and maintained its outlook as stable. On May 22, 2023, Standard & Poor's affirmed a BB- rating to our 2029 Senior Notes. Standard & Poor's also affirmed a BB corporate credit rating and maintained its outlook as stable. If our credit ratings were to decline, our ability to access certain financial markets may become limited, our cost of borrowings may increase, the perception of us in the view of our customers, suppliers and security holders may worsen and as a result, we may be adversely affected.

Outlook

Following 2023, where we proactively managed through demand weakness in the consumer products and industrial markets, we anticipate the beginning of a gradual recovery within both of these markets in 2024, with consumer spending leading the way in the earlier part of the year. We also anticipate that demand in the aerospace & defense market will continue to remain strong in 2024. As our Aerospace segment continues to experience strong order intake, we will continue to increase capacity and address challenges to manufacturing throughput in order to support market demand.

We have seen a number of global market uncertainties stemming from the macro-economic environment in the past few years, including significant challenges in inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions and labor availability, as well as significant volatility in our customers' sentiment and order patterns. While we expect gradual demand recovery in the consumer products and industrial markets and continued strength in our aerospace & defense market, we believe this period of global market uncertainty will continue into 2024, at least in the near-term. However, no matter the outcome of these factors, we expect to continue to mitigate, as much as practical, the impact of these challenges, executing on streamlining actions and taking other steps as necessary, to maintain our strong balance sheet and generate cash in support of our capital allocation strategy.

We believe our capital structure remains strong and that we have sufficient headroom under our financial covenants, and ample cash and available liquidity under our revolving credit facility, to meet our debt service, capital expenditure and other short-term and long-term obligations for the next 12 months and for the foreseeable future, as well as fund dividends, share repurchases and bolt-on acquisitions consistent with our capital allocation strategy.

We expect to continue to leverage the tenets of our TriMas Business Model to manage our multi-industry businesses on a longer-term basis, achieve our growth plans, execute continuous improvement initiatives to offset inflationary pressures, and seek lower-cost sources for input costs, all while continuously assessing the appropriateness of our manufacturing footprint and fixed-cost structure.

Impact of New Accounting Standards

See Note 2, "New Accounting Pronouncements," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Policies

The following discussion of accounting policies is intended to supplement the accounting policies presented in Note 3, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K. Certain of our accounting policies require the application of significant judgment by management in selecting the appropriate assumptions for calculating financial estimates. By their nature, these judgments are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. These judgments are based on our historical experience, our evaluation of business and macroeconomic trends, and information from other outside sources, as appropriate.

Receivables.  Receivables are presented net of allowances for doubtful accounts of $4.2 million and $1.7 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. We monitor our exposure for credit losses and maintain adequate allowances for doubtful accounts. We determine these allowances based on our historical write-off experience and/or specific customer circumstances and provide such allowances when amounts are reasonably estimable and it is probable a loss has been incurred. Although we have been growing business with certain of our larger customers, and there has been some industry consolidation where certain of our customers are merging, we do not believe that significant credit risk exists or that we have a significant concentration of accounts receivable with a single customer or group of customers due to our diverse customer base. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors," for additional information regarding risks associated with a concentrated customer base.

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Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Definite-Lived Intangible Assets.   We review, on at least a quarterly basis, the financial performance of each business unit for indicators of impairment. In reviewing for impairment indicators, we also consider events or changes in circumstances such as business prospects, customer retention, market trends, potential product obsolescence, competitive activities and other economic factors. An impairment loss is recognized when the carrying value of an asset group exceeds the future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by that asset group. The impairment loss recognized is the amount by which the carrying value of the asset group exceeds its fair value.

Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangibles.   We assess goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at the reporting unit level on an annual basis as of October 1, by reviewing relevant qualitative and quantitative factors. More frequent evaluations may be required if we experience changes in our business climate or as a result of other triggering events that take place. An impairment loss is recognized when the carrying value of the asset exceeds its fair value.

We determine our reporting units at the individual operating segment level, or one level below, when there is discrete financial information available that is regularly reviewed by segment management for evaluating operating results. For purposes of our 2023 goodwill impairment test, we had six reporting units, four of which had goodwill, within our three reportable segments.

For purposes of the 2023 annual impairment tests, we elected the option to bypass the qualitative assessment and performed a quantitative assessment. In conducting the quantitative analysis, we determined the estimated fair value of each reporting unit utilizing both income and market-based approaches. The income approach relies on the present value of estimated future cash flows of the business, discounted using a rate appropriately reflecting the risks inherent in the cash flows. The market approach relies on market data of other public companies that we deem comparable in operations to our reporting units. Upon completion of the goodwill impairment test, we determined that the fair values of the TriMas Packaging, Life Sciences, Aerospace Fasteners, and Norris Cylinder reporting units exceeded their carrying values by approximately 43%, 15%, 7%, and 254%, respectively, and thus there was no goodwill impairment.

Additionally, we performed a quantitative assessment for all of our indefinite-lived intangible assets, except for the Aarts trade name, using the relief-from-royalty method. We performed a qualitative assessment for the Aarts trade name as it was acquired less than one year prior and has long-term sales projections consistent with those expected in the purchase price valuation. The relief-from-royalty method involves the estimation of appropriate market royalty rates for our indefinite-lived intangible assets and the application of these royalty rates to forecasted net sales attributable to the intangible assets. The resulting cash flows are then discounted to present value, using a rate appropriately reflecting the risks inherent in the cash flows, which is compared to the carrying value of the assets. Upon completion of the quantitative impairment test, we determined that one of our aerospace-related trade names had a carrying value that exceeded its fair value, and therefore recorded an impairment charge of $1.1 million during 2023.

Future declines in sales and/or operating profit, declines in our stock price, or other changes in our business or the markets for our products could result in further impairments of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets.

Pension Benefits.   We engage independent actuaries to compute the amounts of liabilities and expenses under defined benefit pension plans, subject to the assumptions that we determine are appropriate based on historical trends, current market rates and future projections as of the measurement date. Annually, we review the actual experience compared to the most significant assumptions used and makes adjustments to the assumptions, if warranted. Discount rates are based upon an expected benefit payments duration analysis and the equivalent average yield rate for high-quality fixed-income investments. Pension benefits are funded through deposits with trustees and the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is based upon actual historical returns modified for known changes in the market and any expected change in investment policy. Certain accounting guidance, including the guidance applicable to pensions, does not require immediate recognition of the effects of a deviation between actual and assumed experience or the revision of an estimate. This approach allows the favorable and unfavorable effects that fall within an acceptable range to be netted.

Income Taxes.   We compute income taxes using the asset and liability method, whereby deferred income taxes using current enacted tax rates are provided for the temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities and for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. We determine valuation allowances based on an assessment of positive and negative evidence on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis and record a valuation allowance to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount more likely than not to be realized. Recognized income tax positions are measured at the largest amount that is greater than 50% likely of being realized. Changes in recognition or measurement are reflected in the period in which the change in judgment occurs. We record interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense.

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Asbestos-related Matters. We accrue loss reserves for asbestos-related matters based upon an estimate of the ultimate liability for claims incurred, whether reported or not, including an estimate of future settlement costs and costs to defend. We utilize known facts and historical trends for Company-specific and general market asbestos-related activity, as well as an actuarial valuation in determining estimated required reserves which we believe are probable and reasonably estimable. Asbestos-related accruals are assessed at each balance sheet date to determine if the liability remains reasonably stated. Accruals for asbestos-related matters are included in the consolidated balance sheet in "Accrued liabilities" and "Other long-term liabilities."

Other Loss Reserves.   We have other loss exposures related to insurance, litigation and environmental claims. Establishing loss reserves for these matters requires the use of estimates and judgment in regard to risk exposure and ultimate liability. We are generally party to high deductible insurance programs for losses and liabilities related principally to workers' compensation, health and welfare claims and comprehensive general, product and vehicle liability. Generally, we are responsible for up to $0.8 million per occurrence under our retention program for workers' compensation, up to $1.5 million per occurrence under our retention programs for comprehensive general, product and vehicle liability, and have a $0.4 million per occurrence stop-loss limit with respect to our self-insured group medical plan. We accrue loss reserves up to our retention amounts based upon our estimates of the ultimate liability for claims incurred, including an estimate of related litigation defense costs, and an estimate of claims incurred but not reported using actuarial assumptions about future events. We accrue for such items when such amounts are reasonably estimable and probable. We utilize known facts and historical trends, as well as actuarial valuations in determining estimated required reserves. Changes in assumptions for factors such as medical costs and actual experience could cause these estimates to change significantly.

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Item 7.    Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The statements in the discussion and analysis regarding industry outlook, our expectations regarding the performance of our business and the other non-historical statements in the discussion and analysis are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in Item 1A "Risk Factors." Our actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements. You should read the following discussion together with Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."

Introduction

TriMas designs, develops and manufactures a diverse set of products primarily for the consumer products, aerospace & defense and industrial markets through its TriMas Packaging, TriMas Aerospace and Specialty Products groups. Our wide range of innovative products are designed and engineered to solve application-specific challenges that our customers face. We believe our businesses share important and distinguishing characteristics, including: well-recognized and leading brand names in the focused markets we serve; innovative product technologies and features; a high-degree of customer approved processes and qualifications; established distribution networks; relatively low ongoing capital investment requirements; strong cash flow conversion and long-term growth opportunities. While the majority of our revenue is in the United States, we manufacture and supply products globally to a wide range of companies. We report our business activity in three segments: Packaging, Aerospace and Specialty Products.

Key Factors Affecting Our Reported Results

Our businesses and results of operations depend upon general economic conditions. We serve customers in industries that are highly competitive, cyclical and that may be significantly impacted by changes in economic or geopolitical conditions.

Our results of operations have been materially impacted over the past few years by macro-economic factors, first by the onset and proliferation of the coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic, then further from increased energy costs and supply chain disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and more recently by cost inflation (raw materials, wage rates and freight). These factors significantly affected each of our businesses and how we operate, albeit in different ways and magnitudes. Sales in our Packaging segment for dispensing and closure products used in applications to help fight the spread of germs have experienced extreme volatility in demand, with demand spiking to record highs after the onset of the pandemic, demand abating as expected from those high levels over the past year, and in the second half of 2022 demand abruptly falling as a result of some of our large consumer goods customers' choices to rebalance on-hand inventory levels given the current macro-economic environment. Sales of certain of our industrial and aerospace-related products were significantly depressed from historical levels during 2020 and 2021, but demand has significantly increased in 2022, to where the industrial demand in our Specialty Products segment has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, while demand in our Aerospace segment continues to increase (and more quickly than expected) as air travel has picked-up and new aircraft build rates improve. Altogether, this significant level of volatility in demand levels, input costs and supply chain availability, as well as internal labor availability, all have pressured our ability to operate efficiently and at historical margin levels.

Overall, 2022 net sales increased $26.7 million, or 3.1%, compared to 2021. Sales increased within our Specialty Products segment as a result of increased industrial demand and higher oil-field activity in North America. Sales also increased as a result of recent acquisitions in our Packaging and Aerospace segments, as well as from sales of products used in food and beverage markets within our Packaging segment. These factors were partially offset by an abrupt reduction in demand, which we believe is temporary, for personal care, home care and certain industrial products in the second half of 2022 in our Packaging segment, as well as unfavorable currency exchange.

The most significant drivers affecting our financial results in 2022 compared with 2021, other than as directly impacted by sales changes or as a result of the labor-related availability and inefficiencies, were gains on the sale of non-core real estate, the settlement of our cross currency swaps, the impact of higher energy and other input costs, non-cash charges to update our asbestos liability to actuarial valuations, the year-over-year impact of our realignment actions, the impact of our 2021 debt refinancing activities, and the impact of a change in effective tax rates from 2021 to 2022.

In February 2022, we acquired Intertech Plastics LLC and related companies (collectively, "Intertech"), a manufacturer of custom injection molded products used in medical applications, as well as products and assemblies for consumer and industrial applications, for an aggregate amount of $64.1 million, net of cash acquired. Intertech, which is reported in the Company's Packaging segment, has two manufacturing facilities located in the Denver, Colorado area. Intertech contributed $28.7 million of net sales during 2022.

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In December 2021, we completed the acquisition of Omega Plastics ("Omega"), which specializes in manufacturing custom components and devices for drug delivery, diagnostic and orthopedic medical applications, as well as components for industrial applications, for an aggregate amount of $22.5 million, net of cash acquired. Omega, which is reported in the Company's Packaging segment, is located in Clinton Township, Michigan. Omega contributed $15.0 million of acquisition-related sales growth during the period January through November 2022.

In December 2021, we acquired TFI Aerospace ("TFI"), a manufacturer and supplier of specialty fasteners used in a variety of applications, predominately for the aerospace end market, for an aggregate amount of $11.8 million, with additional contingent consideration ranging from zero to $12.0 million to be paid based on 2023 and 2024 earnings per the purchase agreement. On the acquisition date, we recorded $3.7 million as our best estimate of fair value of the additional contingent consideration; however, based on a detailed fourth quarter 2022 review of TFI's updated forecasted operating results, the we determined the likelihood of the contingent consideration being paid was remote, and therefore reversed the liability, with such adjustment being included in other income (expense), net. TFI, which is reported in the Company's Aerospace segment, is located near Toronto, Canada. TFI contributed $4.9 million of acquisition-related sales growth during the period January through November 2022.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, we sold a non-core facility in City of Industry, California for net cash proceeds of $23.3 million. The Company recognized a $17.6 million gain on the sale, which is included in the Corporate operating loss for 2022.

In the third quarter of 2022, we completed the sale of vacant land adjacent to our Tolleson, Arizona manufacturing facility for net cash proceeds of $5.0 million, and recognized a $4.8 million gain on the sale, which is included within our Aerospace segment.

In 2022, we terminated our existing cross-currency swap agreements, de-designating the swaps as net investment hedges and received $26.2 million of cash. The cross-currency swap agreements had notional amounts totaling $250.0 million, which declined to $25.0 million over various contract periods ending between October 15, 2023 and October 15, 2027.

We also experienced a significant increase in the cost of energy, primarily in our Europe-based operations, as well as for other input costs in 2022 compared with 2021. Energy costs began to rise during late 2021, and further increased into 2022, which we believe is primarily due to geopolitical tensions associated with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as realized and expected energy supply constraints. Energy costs were more than $5 million higher in 2022 than in 2021. While these costs have begun to stabilize and even recede at the end of 2022, we expect there could be additional cost and supply chain pressures going forward as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the conflict in Eastern Europe.

In 2022 and 2021, we commissioned our actuary to update our asbestos study, and upon completion we recorded non-cash, pre-tax charges of $5.6 million and $1.5 million, respectively, which are included in selling, general and administrative expenses.

We have been executing certain realignment actions in response to current and expected future end market demand, as well as for the move to our new Packaging facility in New Albany, Ohio. We recorded pre-tax facility move/consolidation and employee-related costs of $2.7 million and $2.3 million, respectively, in 2022. In 2021, we recorded pre-tax facility consolidation and employee separation costs of $3.5 million and $6.2 million, respectively.

In March 2021, we refinanced our long-term debt, issuing $400 million principal amount of 4.125% senior unsecured notes due April 15, 2029 ("2029 Senior Notes") at par value in a private placement offering and amending our existing credit agreement ("Credit Agreement"), extending the maturity to March 2026. We used the proceeds from the 2029 Senior Notes offering to pay fees and expenses of $5.1 million related to the offering and $1.1 million related to amending the Credit Agreement. The remaining cash proceeds from the 2029 Senior Notes were used for general corporate purposes, including repaying all outstanding revolving credit facility borrowings. In April 2021, we completed the refinancing, redeeming all of our outstanding senior notes due October 2025 ("2025 Senior Notes"), paying cash for the entire $300.0 million outstanding principal amount plus $7.3 million as a redemption premium. The $5.1 million of fees and expenses related to the 2029 Senior Notes were capitalized as debt issuance costs, while the $7.3 million redemption premium as well as $3.0 million of unamortized debt issuance costs associated with the 2025 Senior Notes were expensed in the second quarter of 2021.

Our effective tax rate for 2022 and 2021 was 24.5%, and 17.1%, respectively. The rate for 2022 is higher primarily as a result of the recognition of $3.0 million of deferred tax benefits in Italy during the 2021, the majority of which related to a reduction in deferred tax liabilities in connection with certain tax incentives.

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Additional Key Risks that May Affect Our Reported Results

We have executed significant realignment actions since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily in our Aerospace and Specialty Products segments, and also in certain Packaging product areas where demand has fallen. We will continue to assess further actions if required. However, as a result of the current period of macroeconomic inflation and uncertainty, the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential impact of such factors to our future results of operations, as well if there is an impact to TriMas' market capitalization, we may record additional cash and non-cash charges related to incremental realignment actions, asset impairments as well as for uncollectible customer account balances, excess inventory and idle production equipment.

Other critical factors affecting our ability to succeed include: our ability to create organic growth through product development, cross-selling and extending product-line offerings, and our ability to quickly and cost-effectively introduce and successfully launch new products; our ability to acquire and integrate companies or products that supplement existing product lines, add new distribution channels or customers, expand our geographic coverage or enable better absorption of overhead costs; our ability to manage our cost structure more efficiently via supply chain management, internal sourcing and/or purchasing of materials, selective outsourcing and/or purchasing of support functions, working capital management, and greater leverage of our administrative functions; and our ability to absorb, or recover via commercial actions, inflationary or other cost increases.

Our overall business does not experience significant seasonal fluctuation, other than our fourth quarter, which has tended to be the lowest net sales quarter of the year due to holiday shutdowns at certain customers or other customers deferring capital spending to the following year. Given the short-cycle nature of most of our businesses, we do not consider sales order backlog to be a material factor. A growing amount of our sales is derived from international sources, which exposes us to certain risks, including currency risks.

We are sensitive to price movements and availability of our raw materials supply. Our largest raw material purchases are for resins (such as polypropylene and polyethylene), steel, aluminum and other metal and non-metal-based purchased components. In addition to the pandemic and inflation-related factors affecting our 2021 and 2022 results, there has also been some volatility over the past two years as a direct and indirect result of foreign trade policy, where tariffs on certain of our commodity-based products sourced from Asia have been instituted, and certain North American suppliers have opportunistically increased their prices. We will continue to take actions to mitigate such increases, including implementing commercial pricing adjustments, resourcing to alternate suppliers and insourcing of previously sourced products to better leverage our global manufacturing footprint. Although we believe we are generally able to mitigate the impact of higher commodity costs over time, we may experience additional material costs and disruptions in supply in the future and may not be able to pass along higher costs to our customers in the form of price increases or otherwise mitigate the impacts to our operating results.

Although we have escalator/de-escalator clauses in commercial contracts with certain of our customers, or can modify prices based on market conditions to recover higher costs, our price increases generally lag the underlying material cost increase, and we cannot be assured of full cost recovery in the open market. If input costs increase at rapid rates, as they did during 2021, our ability to recover cost increases on a timely basis is made more difficult by the lag nature of these contracts.

Our Arrow Engine business in our Specialty Products segment is sensitive to the demand for natural gas and crude oil in North America. For example, demand for engine, pump jack and compressor products are impacted by active oil and gas rig counts and wellhead investment activities. Separately, oil-based commodity costs are a significant driver of raw materials and purchased components used within our Packaging segment.

Each year, as a core tenet of the TriMas Business Model, our businesses target cost savings from Kaizen and continuous improvement initiatives in an effort to reduce, or otherwise offset, the impact of increased input and conversion costs through increased throughput and yield rates, with a goal of at least covering inflationary and market cost increases. In addition, we continuously review our operating cost structures to ensure alignment with current market demand.

We continue to evaluate alternatives to redeploy the cash generated by our businesses, one of which includes returning capital to our shareholders. In 2020, our Board of Directors increased the authorization of share repurchases to a cumulative amount of $250 million. During 2022, we purchased 1,264,088 shares of our outstanding common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $36.9 million. As of December 31, 2022, we had $105.7 million remaining under the repurchase authorization.

In addition, in 2022, we declared quarterly dividends of $0.04 per share of common stock, aggregating to dividends declared and paid on common shares during 2022 of $6.9 million. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to return capital to shareholders through the purchase of our common stock, as well as dividends, depending on market conditions and other factors.

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Segment Information and Supplemental Analysis

The following table summarizes financial information for our three reportable segments (dollars in thousands):

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The following “Results of Operations Year Ended December 31, 2022 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2021” section presents an analysis of our consolidated operating results displayed in the Consolidated Statement of Operations. A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 can be found under Item 7 in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2022.

Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2022 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2021

The principal factors impacting us during the year ended December 31, 2022, compared with the year ended December 31, 2021 were:

•the significant level of uncertainty and volatility in the markets we serve, whether impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict or other general inflationary pressures;

•reduced sales of our Packaging segment's products used in beauty and personal care and home care applications as a result of the abatement from peak demand levels following the pandemic, as well from an abrupt second-half 2022 demand reduction from large consumer packaged goods customers due to their choice to rebalance inventory levels;

•increases in sales in our Specialty Products segment as a result of a significant increase in industrial demand in 2022;

•the impact of recent acquisitions, primarily Omega and TFI in December 2021, and Intertech in February 2022;

•gains on the sale of non-core properties in City of Industry, California and Tolleson, Arizona;

•the impact of higher energy costs;

•expenses associated with our asbestos exposure to update the liability to recent actuarial studies;

•realignment expenses in response to reduced end-market demand following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic;

•the impact of our debt refinancing activities; and

•the impact of a increase in our effective tax rate from 2021 to 2022.

Overall, net sales increased $26.7 million, or 3.1%, to $883.8 million in 2022, as compared to $857.1 million in 2021, primarily as a result of Intertech, Omega and TFI, which collectively added $48.6 million of acquisition-related sales. Organic sales, excluding the impact of currency exchange and acquisitions, decreased $4.0 million, as increases in sales of our industrial products in our Specialty Products segment as well as for food and beverage products in our Packaging segment were more than offset by declines in dispensing products for personal and home care applications, as demand for these products abated from peak levels following the pandemic, as well as the expected decline in sales of customers' stocking orders for highly-engineered fasteners in our Aerospace segment fulfilled in 2021. In addition, net sales decreased $17.9 million due to currency exchange, as our reported results in U.S. dollars were unfavorably impacted as a result of the strengthening U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies.

Gross profit margin (gross profit as a percentage of sales) approximated 23.6% and 25.3% in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Gross profit margin decreased due to a less favorable sales mix, primarily as a result of lower sales of Aerospace segment customers' stocking orders for highly-engineered fasteners, and lower fixed cost absorption from the reduction in the Packaging segment's personal care, home care and certain industrial product sales. In addition, improved recovery of resin costs in our Packaging segment was offset by higher energy costs, primarily in our European Packaging segment facilities, higher steel costs in our Specialty Products segment, labor and production inefficiencies in our Aerospace segment, and unfavorable currency exchange.

Operating profit margin (operating profit as a percentage of sales) approximated 11.2% and 11.1% in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Operating profit increased $4.0 million, to $99.1 million in 2022, as compared to $95.1 million in 2021, primarily due to $22.4 million of gains on the sale of non-core properties in City of Industry, California and Tolleson, Arizona, improved recovery of resin costs, higher sales in our Specialty Products segment, and $4.7 million of lower realignment charges, partially offset by less favorable product sales mix, lower fixed cost absorption in our Packaging segment, $4.1 million of additional pre-tax charges related to updating our asbestos studies in 2022 compared with 2021, production inefficiencies resulting from supply chain constraints and labor volatility, and unfavorable currency exchange.

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Interest expense decreased $0.4 million, to $14.1 million in 2022, as compared to $14.5 million in 2021, due to a lower effective interest rate and a decrease in our weighted average borrowings.

We incurred $10.5 million of debt financing and related expense in 2021, of which $10.3 million was related to expenses incurred associated with the redemption of our 2025 Senior Notes and $0.2 million related to the write-off of previously capitalized deferred financing fees associated with our Credit Agreement.

Other income (expense) increased $3.7 million to other income of $2.7 million in 2022, from other expense of $1.0 million in 2021, primarily due to the reversal of the TFI contingent consideration liability in 2022.

The effective income tax rate for 2022 was 24.5%, compared to 17.1% for 2021. We recorded income tax expense of $21.5 million in 2022, as compared to income tax expense of $11.8 million in 2021. During 2022, we reported domestic and foreign pre-tax income of $56.8 million and $30.9 million, respectively, as compared to a domestic and foreign pre-tax income of $28.4 million and $40.7 million in 2021. The rate for 2022 is higher primarily as a result of the recognition of $3.0 million of deferred tax benefits in Italy during the 2021, the majority of which related to a reduction in deferred tax liabilities in connection with certain tax incentives.

Net income increased $8.9 million to $66.2 million in 2022, compared to a net income of $57.3 million in 2021. This increase was primarily a result of an increase in operating profit of $4.0 million, the year-over-year impact of the $10.5 million debt financing and related expenses in 2021, a $3.7 million increase in other income, as well as a decrease in interest expense of $0.4 million, partially offset by an increase in income tax expense in 2022.

See below for a discussion of operating results by segment.

Packaging.  Net sales decreased $11.1 million, or 2.1%, to $522.2 million in 2022, as compared to $533.3 million in 2021. Acquisition-related sales growth was $43.7 million, comprised of $28.7 million of sales from our February 2022 acquisition of Intertech and $15.0 million resulting from the January through November 2022 sales of our December 2021 acquisition of Omega. Sales of products used in food and beverage markets increased by $13.9 million, primarily due to strong demand for closures, dispensers and bag-in-box packaging as the hospitality sector continues to rebound from prior COVID-19 pandemic-related shutdowns. Sales of products used in industrial markets decreased by $3.6 million, primarily as a result of lower demand for drum and pail closure products in North America. Sales of dispensing products used in personal care and home care applications decreased by $46.5 million, as COVID-19-related demand levels have abated for these products from the peak levels, as well as more recently due to further temporary lower demand from large consumer goods customers who we believe are rebalancing on-hand inventory levels given first half 2022 over-ordering to protect supply and as a result of the current macro-economic environment. Net sales decreased by $17.9 million due to currency exchange, as our reported results in U.S. dollars were unfavorably impacted as a result of the strengthening U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies, as compared to 2021.

Packaging's gross profit decreased $8.7 million to $137.0 million, or 26.2% of sales, in 2022, as compared to $145.8 million, or 27.3% of sales, in 2021. During 2021, we were impacted by $11 million of higher resin costs than we were able to recover via commercial actions. We have generally recovered such costs during 2022, as market prices have generally stabilized. Gross profit from improved material cost recovery was more than offset by $4.1 million of higher energy costs, primarily in our European manufacturing facilities, lower sales levels, as well as $5.0 million of currency exchange, as our reported results in U.S. dollars were unfavorably impacted as a result of the strengthening U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies. In addition, gross profit margin declined as a result of a less favorable product sales mix and lower fixed cost absorption primarily associated with the decline in personal care, home care and industrial products.

Packaging's selling, general and administrative expenses increased $6.6 million to $55.7 million, or 10.7% of sales, in 2022, as compared to $49.1 million, or 9.2% of sales, in 2021, primarily due to higher ongoing selling, general and administrative costs associated with our acquisitions as we integrate them into our portfolio, as well as higher realignment costs of $1.8 million primarily related to employee-related actions. The increase was partially offset by lower intangible asset amortization expense due to certain assets becoming fully amortized as well as lower employee-related costs.

Packaging's operating profit decreased $15.5 million to $81.0 million, or 15.5% of sales, in 2022, as compared to $96.5 million, or 18.1% of sales, in 2021, as the impact of improved year-over-year recovery of material costs was more than offset by a less favorable product sales mix, lower fixed cost absorption, higher energy costs, higher selling, general and administrative expenses and the impact of $2.6 million of unfavorable currency exchange.

Aerospace.    Net sales increased $4.8 million, or 2.6%, to $188.1 million in 2022, as compared to $183.3 million in 2021. TFI, acquired in December 2021, added $4.9 million of sales from January through November 2022. Sales of our fasteners products decreased by $0.4 million, as increases in demand for fasteners used in new aircraft builds, and market share gains, were more than offset by the expected loss of $29.4 million of sales of customers' stocking orders for highly-engineered fasteners fulfilled in 2021. Sales of our engineered components products increased by $0.3 million.

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Gross profit within Aerospace decreased $7.7 million to $32.2 million, or 17.1% of sales, in 2022, from $40.0 million, or 21.8% of sales, in 2021, primarily due to a less favorable product sales mix in 2022, with lower sales of the customers' stocking orders for highly-engineered fasteners, as well as production inefficiencies resulting from supply chain and labor constraints.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $2.3 million to $29.0 million, or 15.4% of sales, in 2022, as compared to $26.7 million, or 14.6% of sales, in 2021, primarily due to higher ongoing selling, general and administrative costs associated with our acquisition of TFI and higher employee-related costs.

Operating profit within Aerospace decreased $5.2 million to $8.1 million, or 4.3% of sales, in 2022, as compared to $13.3 million, or 7.2% of sales, in 2021, as the impact of a $4.8 million pre-tax gain on the sale of vacant land adjacent to the Tolleson, Arizona, manufacturing facility in 2022, as well as higher sales levels, was more than offset by a less favorable product sales mix, production inefficiencies resulting from supply chain constraints and volatility in labor availability and higher selling, general and administrative expenses.

Specialty Products.    Net sales increased $33.1 million, or 23.5%, to $173.6 million in 2022, as compared to $140.5 million in 2021. Sales of our cylinder products increased by $19.4 million due to a higher demand for steel cylinders in North America as industrial activity continues to increase from depressed levels as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales of engines, compressors and related parts used in stationary power generation and assistance applications for natural gas and crude oil extraction increased by $13.7 million primarily as a result of higher oil-field activity in North America.

Gross profit within Specialty Products increased $7.6 million to $39.0 million, or 22.5% of sales, in 2022, as compared to $31.5 million, or 22.4% of sales, in 2021. Gross profit increased due to higher sales levels and leverage of our fixed cost footprint, partially offset by higher steel and labor costs.

Selling, general and administrative expenses within Specialty Products decreased $0.3 million to $8.7 million, or 5.0% of sales, in 2022, as compared to $9.0 million, or 6.4% of net sales, in 2021, primarily due to lower employee-related costs.

Operating profit within Specialty Products increased $7.7 million to $30.3 million, or 17.4% of sales, in 2022, as compared to $22.6 million, or 16.0% of sales, in 2021, primarily due to increased sales levels.

Corporate Expenses.    Corporate expenses included in operating profit consist of the following (dollars in millions):

Corporate operating loss decreased $17.0 million to $20.3 million in 2022, from $37.2 million in 2021, primarily as a result of a $17.6 million gain on the sale of a non-core facility in City of Industry, California, and a $3.7 million decrease in corporate operating expenses as a result of the realignment charges related to the corporate office legal and finance groups in 2021. These amounts were partially offset by $4.1 million of additional pre-tax non-cash charges related to updating our asbestos studies in 2022 compared with 2021.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash Flows

Cash flows provided by operating activities in 2022 were $72.6 million, as compared to $134.2 million in 2021. Significant changes in cash flows provided by operating activities and the reasons for such changes are as follows:

•In 2022, the Company generated $109.2 million in cash flows, based on the reported net income of $66.2 million and after considering the effects of non-cash items related to depreciation, amortization, (gain) loss on dispositions of assets, changes in deferred income taxes, stock-based compensation, change in legacy liability estimate, and other operating activities. In 2021, the Company generated $139.2 million in cash flows based on the reported net income of $57.3 million and after considering the effects of similar non-cash items and debt financing and related expenses.

•Increases in accounts receivable resulted in a use of cash of $6.7 million and $11.2 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively. The increased use of cash for 2022 and 2021 is due primarily to the timing of sales and collection of cash related thereto with the periods. Days sales outstanding of receivables increased by five days through 2022, and remained relatively consistent through 2021.

•We increased our investment in inventory by $7.0 million and $1.0 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Our days sales in inventory increased by seven days in 2022, primarily as a result of proactively investing in certain raw materials and purchased components to protect against supply chain disruptions and potential cost increases. Our days sales in inventory decreased by nine days in 2021, through active inventory management and selling through certain inventory items that were at elevated levels at the end of 2020 due to lower demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

•Decreases in prepaid expenses and other assets resulted in a source of cash of $6.1 million and $5.0 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively. The changes in 2022 and 2021 are primarily as a result of the timing of payments made for income taxes and certain operating expenses.

•Decreases in accounts payable and accrued liabilities resulted in a use of cash of $29.1 million in 2022, while increases in accounts payable and accrued liabilities resulted in a source of cash of $2.1 million in 2021. Our days accounts payable on hand remained consistent through 2022 and increased by five days through 2021. Our days accounts payable on hand fluctuate primarily as a result of the timing of payments made to suppliers and the mix of vendors and related terms.

Net cash used for investing activities was $55.0 million and $79.2 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively. During 2022, we paid $64.1 million, net of cash acquired, to acquire Intertech. We invested $46.0 million in capital expenditures as we have continued our investment in growth, capacity and productivity-related capital projects. We received proceeds of $26.2 million from the termination of our cross-currency swap agreements. We also received proceeds of $28.8 million from the disposition of property and equipment, primarily related to the sale of vacant land adjacent to one of our manufacturing facilities and the sale of a non-core facility in California. During 2021, we paid $34.3 million, net of cash acquired, to acquire Omega and TFI. In 2021, we invested $45.1 million in capital expenditures and received cash from the disposition of business, property and equipment of $0.2 million.

Net cash used for financing activities was $46.2 million in 2022, while net cash provided by financing activities was $11.8 million in 2021. During 2022, we purchased $36.9 million of outstanding common stock, used a net cash amount of $2.4 million related to our stock compensation arrangements and paid dividends of $6.9 million. During 2021, we issued $400.0 million principal amount of the 2029 Senior Notes, made net repayments of $48.6 million on our revolving credit facilities, and redeemed $300.0 million principal amount of the 2025 Senior Notes. In connection with refinancing our long-term debt, we paid $13.6 million of debt financing fees and redemption premium. We also purchased $19.1 million of outstanding common stock, used a net cash amount of $5.2 million related to our stock compensation arrangements and paid dividends of $1.7 million.

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Our Debt and Other Commitments

In March 2021, we issued the 2029 Senior Notes in a private placement under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. We used the proceeds from the 2029 Senior Notes offering to pay fees and expenses of $5.1 million related to the offering and pay fees and expenses of $1.1 million related to amending our Credit Agreement. In connection with the issuance, we completed the redemption of our 2025 Senior Notes, paying $300.0 million to retire the outstanding principal amount plus $7.3 million as a redemption premium. The remaining cash proceeds from the 2029 Senior Notes were used for general corporate purposes, including repaying all outstanding revolving credit facility borrowings. The $5.1 million of fees and expenses related to the 2029 Senior Notes were capitalized as debt issuance costs, while the $7.3 million redemption premium, as well as $3.0 million of unamortized debt issuance costs associated with the 2025 Senior Notes were recorded as expense within debt financing and related expenses in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations.

The 2029 Senior Notes accrue interest at a rate of 4.125% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears on April 15 and October 15. The payment of principal and interest is jointly and severally guaranteed, on a senior unsecured basis by certain named subsidiaries of the Company. The 2029 Senior Notes are pari passu in right of payment with all existing and future senior indebtedness and subordinated to all existing and future secured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness. In 2022, our consolidated subsidiaries that do not guarantee the Senior Notes represented 24% of the total of guarantor and non-guarantor net sales, treating each as a consolidated group and excluding intercompany transactions between guarantor and non-guarantor subsidiaries. In addition, our non-guarantor subsidiaries represented 37% and 14% of the total guarantor and non-guarantor assets and liabilities, respectively, as of December 31, 2022, treating the guarantor and non-guarantor subsidiaries each as a consolidated group.

Prior to April 15, 2024, we may redeem up to 40% of the principal amount of the 2029 Senior Notes at a redemption price of 104.125% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date, with the net cash proceeds of one or more equity offerings provided that each such redemption occurs within 90 days of the date of closing of each such equity offering. In addition, prior to April 15, 2024, we may redeem all or part of the 2029 Senior Notes at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date, plus a "make whole" premium.

In March 2021, we amended our Credit Agreement in connection with the issuance of the 2029 Senior Notes to extend the maturity date. We incurred fees and expenses of $1.1 million related to the amendment, all of which were capitalized as debt issuance costs. We also recorded $0.2 million of non-cash expense related to the write-off of previously capitalized deferred financing fees. The Credit Agreement consists of a $300.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility, which permits borrowings denominated in specific foreign currencies, subject to a $125.0 million sub limit, maturing on March 29, 2026.

In November 2021, we amended the Credit Agreement to replace LIBOR with a benchmark interest rate determined based on the currency denomination of borrowings. Effective January 1, 2022, the amendment replaced the reference rate terms for U.S. dollar LIBOR borrowings to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"), British pound sterling LIBOR borrowings to the Sterling Overnight Index Average ("SONIA") and Euro LIBOR borrowings to the Euro Short Term Rate ("ESTR"), all plus a spread of 1.50%. The interest rate spread is based upon the leverage ratio, as defined, as of the most recent determination date.

The Credit Agreement provides for incremental revolving credit commitments in an amount not to exceed the greater of $200 million and an amount such that, after giving effect to such incremental commitments and the incurrence of any other indebtedness substantially simultaneously with the making of such commitments, the senior secured net leverage ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, is no greater than 3.00 to 1.00. The terms and conditions of any incremental revolving credit facility commitments must be no more favorable than the existing credit facility.

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Amounts drawn under our revolving credit facility fluctuate daily based upon our working capital and other ordinary course needs. Availability under our revolving credit facility depends upon, among other things, compliance with our Credit Agreement's financial covenants. Our Credit Agreement contains various negative and affirmative covenants and other requirements affecting us and our subsidiaries, including the ability to, subject to certain exceptions and limitations, incur debt, liens, mergers, investments, loans, advances, guarantee obligations, acquisitions, assets dispositions, sale-leaseback transactions, hedging agreements, dividends and other restricted payments, transactions with affiliates, restrictive agreements and amendments to charters, bylaws, and other material documents. The terms of our Credit Agreement require us and our subsidiaries to meet certain restrictive financial covenants and ratios computed quarterly, including a maximum total net leverage ratio (total consolidated indebtedness plus outstanding amounts under any accounts receivable securitization facility, less the aggregate amount of certain unrestricted cash and unrestricted permitted investments, as defined, over consolidated EBITDA, as defined) and a minimum interest expense coverage ratio (consolidated EBITDA, as defined, over the sum of consolidated cash interest expense, as defined, and preferred dividends, as defined). Our permitted total net leverage ratio under the Credit Agreement is 4.00 to 1.00 as of December 31, 2022. If we were to complete an acquisition which qualifies for a Covenant Holiday Period, as defined in our Credit Agreement, then our permitted total net leverage ratio cannot exceed 4.50 to 1.00 during that period. Our actual total net leverage ratio was 1.86 to 1.00 at December 31, 2022. Our permitted interest expense coverage ratio under the Credit Agreement is 3.00 to 1.00, and our actual interest expense coverage ratio was 12.72 to 1.00 as of December 31, 2022. At December 31, 2022, we were in compliance with our financial covenants.

The following is a reconciliation of net income, as reported, which is a GAAP measure of our operating results, to Consolidated Bank EBITDA, as defined in our Credit Agreement, for the year ended December 31, 2022. We present Consolidated Bank EBITDA to show our performance under our financial covenants. Dollars are in thousands in the below tables.

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________________________________________

(1)    Non-cash compensation expenses resulting from the grant of equity awards.

(2)    Non-recurring costs and expenses relating to diligence and transaction costs, purchase accounting costs, severance, relocation, restructuring and curtailment expenses.

The Credit Agreement allows issuance of letters of credit, not to exceed $40.0 million in aggregate, against revolving credit facility commitments. As of December 31, 2021, we placed cash on deposit with a financial institution to be held as cash collateral for our outstanding letters of credit; effectively, as of December 31, 2021, we had no letters of credit issued against our revolving credit facility. At December 31, 2022, we had no amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility and had $293.9 million potentially available after giving effect to $6.1 million of letters of credit issued and outstanding. At December 31, 2021, we had no amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility and had $300.0 million potentially available. Our letters of credit, or corresponding restricted cash deposits, are used for a variety of purposes, including support of certain operating lease agreements, vendor payment terms and other subsidiary operating activities, and to meet various states' requirements to self-insure workers' compensation claims, including incurred but not reported claims. Our borrowing capacity was not reduced by leverage restrictions contained in the Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021.

We rely upon our cash flow from operations and available liquidity under our revolving credit facility to fund our debt service obligations and other contractual commitments, working capital and capital expenditure requirements. At the end of each quarter, we have historically used cash on hand from our domestic and certain foreign subsidiaries to pay down amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility, as applicable.

Our weighted average borrowings were $400.1 million during 2022, compared to $401.9 million during 2021, primarily due to a higher aggregate principal balance on our senior notes due to the issuance of the 2029 Senior Notes and the redemption of the 2025 Senior Notes during 2021.

In May 2021, we, through one of our non-U.S. subsidiaries, entered into a revolving loan facility with a borrowing capacity of $4 million. The facility is guaranteed by TriMas Corporation. There were no borrowings on this loan facility as of December 31, 2022 and 2021.

Cash management related to our revolving credit facility is centralized. We monitor our cash position and available liquidity on a daily basis and forecast our cash needs on a weekly basis within the current quarter and on a monthly basis outside the current quarter over the remainder of the year. Our business and related cash forecasts are updated monthly.

In considering the economic uncertainty surrounding the potential business impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to our operations, supply chains, distribution channels, and end-market customers, we took certain defensive actions during 2020 as we monitored our cash position and available liquidity. These actions included suspending our repurchase of our common stock, borrowing on our revolving credit facility, tightening our capital expenditures, advanced monitoring of our accounts receivable balances and flexing cost structures of operations expected to be most impacted by COVID-19. Given strong cash generation and our current liquidity position, we subsequently relaxed certain of these actions, choosing to further invest in capital expenditures, resume purchasing shares of our common stock and initiating a cash dividend.

The majority of our cash on hand as of December 31, 2022 is located within the United States, and given available funding under our revolving credit facility of $300.0 million at December 31, 2022 (after consideration of the aforementioned leverage restrictions) and based on forecasted cash sources and requirements inherent in our business plans, we believe that our liquidity and capital resources, including anticipated cash flows from operations, will be sufficient to meet our debt service, capital expenditure and other short-term and long-term obligation needs for the next 12 months and for the foreseeable future, as well as dividends and share repurchases.

We are subject to variable interest rates on our revolving credit facility, which is subject to a benchmark interest rate determined based on the currency denomination of borrowings. At December 31, 2022, we had no amounts outstanding on our revolving credit facility and, therefore, no variable rate-based borrowings outstanding.

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In addition to our long-term debt, we have other cash commitments related to leases. We account for these lease transactions as operating leases, and incurred rent expense for continuing operations related thereto of $13.9 million in 2022. We continue to be party to non-cancelable leases for certain facilities we have exited as part of restructuring activities, and have entered into sublease agreements to minimize our net lease payments. We expect leasing will continue to be an available financing option to fund future capital expenditure requirements.

In March 2020, we announced our Board of Directors had authorized us to increase the purchase of our common stock up to $250 million in the aggregate, an increase of $100 million from the previous authorization. During 2022, 2021 and 2020, we purchased 1,264,088, 596,084 and 1,582,049 shares of our outstanding common stock for $36.9 million, $19.1 million and $39.4 million, respectively. Since the initial authorization through December 31, 2022, we have purchased 5,114,903 shares of our outstanding common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $144.3 million. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to return capital to shareholders through the purchase of our common stock, depending on market conditions, including the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other factors.

Under various agreements, we are obligated to make future cash payments in fixed amounts. These include payments under our long-term debt agreements, rent payments required under operating lease agreements, certain benefit obligations and interest obligations on our long-term debt. The following table summarizes our material contractual cash obligations as of December 31, 2022 (dollars in thousands).

__________________________

(a)    Our Senior Notes bear interest at 4.125%. The future interest obligations calculation excludes the impact of our cross-currency swap agreements. See Note 13, "Derivative Instruments," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K for additional information.

The liability related to unrecognized tax benefits has been excluded from the contractual obligations table because a reasonable estimate of the timing and amount of cash flows from future tax settlements cannot be determined. For additional information, refer to Note 22, "Income Taxes," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K.

Market Risk

We conduct business in various locations throughout the world and are subject to market risk due to changes in the value of foreign currencies. The functional currencies of our foreign subsidiaries are primarily the local currency in the country of domicile. We manage these operating activities at the local level and revenues and costs are generally denominated in local currencies; however, results of operations and assets and liabilities reported in U.S. dollars will fluctuate with changes in exchange rates between such local currencies and the U.S. dollar.

We use derivative financial instruments to manage currency risks associated with our procurement activities denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of our subsidiaries and the impact of currency rate volatility on our earnings. As of December 31, 2022, we were party to foreign exchange forward and swap contracts to hedge changes in foreign currency exchange rates with notional amounts of $127.2 million. We also use cross-currency swap agreements to mitigate currency risks associated with the net investment in certain of our foreign subsidiaries. See Note 13, "Derivative Instruments," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K for additional information.

We are also subject to interest risk as it relates to our long-term debt. We have historically used interest rate swap agreements to fix the variable portion of our debt to manage this risk. See Note 13, "Derivative Instruments," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K for additional information.

Common Stock

TriMas is listed in the NASDAQ Global Select MarketSM. Our stock trades under the symbol "TRS."

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Credit Rating

We and certain of our outstanding debt obligations are rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. On March 29, 2022, Moody's affirmed a Ba3 rating to our 2029 Senior Notes, as presented in Note 12, "Long-term Debt" included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" within this Form 10-K. Moody's also affirmed a Ba2 Corporate Family Rating and maintained its outlook as stable. On May 12, 2022, Standard & Poor's affirmed a BB- rating to our 2029 Senior Notes. Standard & Poor's also affirmed a BB corporate credit rating and maintained its outlook as stable. If our credit ratings were to decline, our ability to access certain financial markets may become limited, our cost of borrowings may increase, the perception of us in the view of our customers, suppliers and security holders may worsen and as a result, we may be adversely affected.

Outlook

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, each of our businesses has been impacted by significant macro-economic factors. Sales in our Packaging segment for dispensing and closure products we supply that are used in applications to fight the spread of germs spiked in 2020 and early 2021, and have now abated from those peak levels in 2022. Sales in our Specialty Products segment had been depressed by low levels of industrial activity in the U.S. during 2020, but have since strongly rebounded in 2022. Sales in our Aerospace segment were significantly depressed at the onset of the pandemic and for many quarters thereafter, but demand began to significantly increase during 2022.

Following the pandemic and now the Russia-Ukraine conflict, there have been significant challenges in inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions, labor availability, as well as significant volatility in our customers' order patterns. We believe this period of uncertainty will continue to persist in the near-term. However, no matter the outcome of these factors, we expect to continue to mitigate, as much as practical, the impact of these challenges, executing on realignment actions and taking other proactive actions as necessary, to maintain our strong balance sheet and generate cash in support of our capital allocation strategy.

We believe our capital structure remains strong and that we have sufficient headroom under our financial covenants, and ample cash and available liquidity under our revolving credit facility, to meet our debt service, capital expenditure and other short-term and long-term obligations for the next 12 months and for the foreseeable future, as well as fund dividends, share repurchases and bolt-on acquisitions consistent with our capital allocation strategy.

We expect to continue to leverage the tenets of our TriMas Business Model to manage our multi-industry businesses on a longer-term basis, to achieve our growth plans, execute continuous improvement initiatives to offset inflationary pressures, and seek lower-cost sources for input costs, all while continuously assessing the appropriateness of our manufacturing footprint and fixed-cost structure.

Impact of New Accounting Standards

See Note 2, "New Accounting Pronouncements," included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Policies

The following discussion of accounting policies is intended to supplement the accounting policies presented in Note 3, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" included in Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," within this Form 10-K. Certain of our accounting policies require the application of significant judgment by management in selecting the appropriate assumptions for calculating financial estimates. By their nature, these judgments are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. These judgments are based on our historical experience, our evaluation of business and macroeconomic trends, and information from other outside sources, as appropriate.

Receivables.    Receivables are presented net of allowances for doubtful accounts of $1.7 million and $1.6 million at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We monitor our exposure for credit losses and maintain adequate allowances for doubtful accounts. We determine these allowances based on our historical write-off experience and/or specific customer circumstances and provide such allowances when amounts are reasonably estimable and it is probable a loss has been incurred. Although we have been growing business with certain of our larger customers, and there has been some industry consolidation where certain of our customers are merging, we do not believe that significant credit risk exists or that we have a significant concentration of accounts receivable with a single customer or group of customers due to our diverse customer base. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors," for additional information regarding risks associated with a concentrated customer base.

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Depreciation and Amortization.    Depreciation is computed principally using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Annual depreciation rates are as follows: building and land/building improvements three to 40 years, and machinery and equipment, three to 15 years. Capitalized debt issuance costs are amortized over the underlying terms of the related debt securities. Customer relationship intangibles are amortized over periods ranging from five to 25 years, while technology and other intangibles are amortized over periods ranging from one to 30 years.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Definite-Lived Intangible Assets.    We review, on at least a quarterly basis, the financial performance of each business unit for indicators of impairment. In reviewing for impairment indicators, we also consider events or changes in circumstances such as business prospects, customer retention, market trends, potential product obsolescence, competitive activities and other economic factors. An impairment loss is recognized when the carrying value of an asset group exceeds the future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by that asset group. The impairment loss recognized is the amount by which the carrying value of the asset group exceeds its fair value.

Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangibles.    We assess goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at the reporting unit level on an annual basis as of October 1, by reviewing relevant qualitative and quantitative factors. More frequent evaluations may be required if we experience changes in our business climate or as a result of other triggering events that take place. An impairment loss is recognized when the carrying value of the asset exceeds its fair value.

We determine our reporting units at the individual operating segment level, or one level below, when there is discrete financial information available that is regularly reviewed by segment management for evaluating operating results. For purposes of our 2022 goodwill impairment test, we had six reporting units, four of which had goodwill, within our three reportable segments.

We first perform a qualitative assessment for our annual goodwill impairment test and for our indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment test, which involves significant use of management's judgment and assumptions to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit or indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying amount. In conducting the qualitative assessment, we consider macroeconomic conditions, industry and market considerations, overall financial performance, entity and reporting unit specific events, capital markets pricing, recent fair value estimates and carrying amounts, as well as legal, regulatory, and contractual factors. These factors are all considered in reaching a conclusion about whether it is more likely than not that the fair values of the intangible assets are less than the carrying values. If we conclude that further testing is required, we would perform a quantitative valuation to estimate the fair value of our intangible assets.

For purposes of the 2022 annual impairment tests, based on the qualitative assessments, we determined there were no indications that the fair value of a reporting unit or indefinite-lived intangible asset was less than its carrying amount; therefore, we determined that quantitative assessments were not required.

Future declines in sales and/or operating profit, declines in our stock price, or other changes in our business or the markets for our products could result in further impairments of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets.

Pension Benefits.    We engage independent actuaries to compute the amounts of liabilities and expenses under defined benefit pension plans, subject to the assumptions that we determine are appropriate based on historical trends, current market rates and future projections as of the measurement date. Annually, we review the actual experience compared to the most significant assumptions used and makes adjustments to the assumptions, if warranted. Discount rates are based upon an expected benefit payments duration analysis and the equivalent average yield rate for high-quality fixed-income investments. Pension benefits are funded through deposits with trustees and the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is based upon actual historical returns modified for known changes in the market and any expected change in investment policy. Certain accounting guidance, including the guidance applicable to pensions, does not require immediate recognition of the effects of a deviation between actual and assumed experience or the revision of an estimate. This approach allows the favorable and unfavorable effects that fall within an acceptable range to be netted.

Income Taxes.    We compute income taxes using the asset and liability method, whereby deferred income taxes using current enacted tax rates are provided for the temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities and for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. We determine valuation allowances based on an assessment of positive and negative evidence on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis and record a valuation allowance to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount more likely than not to be realized. Recognized income tax positions are measured at the largest amount that is greater than 50% likely of being realized. Changes in recognition or measurement are reflected in the period in which the change in judgment occurs. We record interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense.

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Asbestos-related Matters. We accrue loss reserves for asbestos-related matters based upon an estimate of the ultimate liability for claims incurred, whether reported or not, including an estimate of future settlement costs and costs to defend. We utilize known facts and historical trends for Company-specific and general market asbestos-related activity, as well as an actuarial valuation in determining estimated required reserves which we believe are probable and reasonably estimable. Asbestos-related accruals are assessed at each balance sheet date to determine if the liability remains reasonably stated. Accruals for asbestos-related matters are included in the consolidated balance sheet in “Accrued liabilities” and “Other long-term liabilities.”

Other Loss Reserves.    We have other loss exposures related to insurance, litigation and environmental claims. Establishing loss reserves for these matters requires the use of estimates and judgment in regard to risk exposure and ultimate liability. We are generally party to high deductible insurance programs for losses and liabilities related principally to workers' compensation, health and welfare claims and comprehensive general, product and vehicle liability. Generally, we are responsible for up to $0.8 million per occurrence under our retention program for workers' compensation, up to $1.5 million per occurrence under our retention programs for comprehensive general, product and vehicle liability, and have a $0.4 million per occurrence stop-loss limit with respect to our self-insured group medical plan. We accrue loss reserves up to our retention amounts based upon our estimates of the ultimate liability for claims incurred, including an estimate of related litigation defense costs, and an estimate of claims incurred but not reported using actuarial assumptions about future events. We accrue for such items when such amounts are reasonably estimable and probable. We utilize known facts and historical trends, as well as actuarial valuations in determining estimated required reserves. Changes in assumptions for factors such as medical costs and actual experience could cause these estimates to change significantly.

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Item 7.    Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The statements in the discussion and analysis regarding industry outlook, our expectations regarding the performance of our business and the other non-historical statements in the discussion and analysis are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in Item 1A "Risk Factors." Our actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements. You should read the following discussion together with Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."

Introduction

TriMas designs, develops and manufactures a diverse set of products primarily for the consumer products, aerospace & defense and industrial markets through its TriMas Packaging, TriMas Aerospace and Specialty Products groups. Our wide range of innovative products are designed and engineered to solve application-specific challenges that our customers face. We believe our businesses share important and distinguishing characteristics, including: well-recognized and leading brand names in the focused markets we serve; innovative product technologies and features; a high-degree of customer approved processes and qualifications; established distribution networks; relatively low ongoing capital investment requirements; strong cash flow conversion and long-term growth opportunities. While the majority of our revenue is in the United States, we manufacture and supply products globally to a wide range of companies. We report our business activity in three segments: Packaging, Aerospace and Specialty Products.

Key Factors Affecting Our Reported Results

Our businesses and results of operations depend upon general economic conditions. We serve customers in industries that are highly competitive, cyclical and that may be significantly impacted by changes in economic or geopolitical conditions.

In March 2020, the President of the United States declared the coronavirus ("COVID-19") outbreak a national emergency, as the World Health Organization determined it was a pandemic. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal, provincial, state, county and local governments and public health organizations or authorities around the world implemented a variety of measures intended to control the spread of the virus, including quarantines, "shelter-in-place" or "stay-at-home" and similar orders, travel restrictions, business curtailments and closures, social distancing, personal hygiene requirements, and other measures.

We have been, and continue to be, focused on making sure the working environments for our employees are safe so our operations have the ability to deliver the products needed to support efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly all of our manufacturing sites have been deemed essential operations and remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic, at varying levels of capacity and efficiency, experiencing only temporary shutdowns due to country-specific government mandates or for thorough cleaning as a result of suspected COVID-19 cases. The health of our employees, and the ability of our facilities to remain operational in the current regulated environment, will be critical to our future results of operations.

Our divisions were impacted in 2020 at differing levels and times, beginning with our Asian facilities and strategic supply network, both primarily in China, in late January, followed by our European (primarily Italy) and North American facilities in February and March. We implemented new work rules and processes, which promote social distancing and increased hygiene to ensure the safety of our employees, particularly at our production facilities. These measures, while not easily quantifiable, have increased the level of manufacturing inefficiencies due to elevated levels of absenteeism, resulting in less efficient production scheduling and, in certain cases, short-term idling of production. We expect that we will continue to operate with these protocols in place for the foreseeable future.

Overall, 2021 net sales increased approximately $87.1 million, or 11.3%, compared to 2020, primarily as a result of increased industrial demand in our Specialty Products segment, acquisitions in our Packaging segment and the impact of customers' stocking orders within our Aerospace segment. These increases were partially offset by a decline in sales of our Packaging segment's dispensing and closure products that are used in applications to fight the spread of germs, which sales reached record-high levels in 2020 when there was a significant spike in demand following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but now have abated to what we believe is a new, and higher, normalized level.

The most significant drivers affecting our results of operations in 2021 compared with 2020, other than as directly impacted by demand level changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, were goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges in 2020 in our Aerospace segment, our election to change our accounting policy for asbestos-related defense costs in 2020, realignment actions we undertook in response to reduced end-market demand following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of our recent acquisitions, increases in the cost of certain raw materials, the refinancing of our long term debt in 2021 and the recognition of the benefit of certain tax planning strategies.

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During 2020, we determined there was a triggering event requiring an interim quantitative impairment assessment for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets within our Aerospace segment. While third quarter 2020 operating results were below pre-pandemic projected levels, the larger driver of the triggering event was a significant reduction in the July 2020 financial projection update for the remainder of 2020 compared with prior projections, and uncertainty around the duration and magnitude of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on future financial results given the dependence of our Aerospace segment reporting units on future levels of air travel and new aircraft builds. We determined the carrying value of both of our Aerospace reporting units, as well as of certain trade names, exceeded the fair value, resulting in non-cash, pre-tax impairment charges of approximately $126.8 million to goodwill and $7.8 million to indefinite lived intangible assets.

During 2020, we elected to change our accounting policy for asbestos-related defense costs from accruing for probable and reasonably estimable defense costs associated with known claims expected to settle to accruing for all future defense costs for both known and unknown claims, which we now believe can be reasonably estimated. This accounting change has been reflected as a change in accounting estimate effected by a change in accounting principle. We recorded a non-cash, pre-tax charge in second quarter 2020 for asbestos-related costs of approximately $23.4 million, which is included in selling, general and administrative expenses. In 2021, we commissioned our actuary to update the asbestos study based on data as of September 30, 2021, and recorded a non-cash, pre-tax charge of $1.5 million, which is included in selling, general and administrative expenses, to increase the liability estimate.

Beginning in second quarter 2020, we have been executing certain realignment actions in response to reductions in current and expected future end market demand following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We recorded pre-tax facility consolidation and employee separation costs of approximately $3.5 million and $6.2 million, respectively, in 2021. In 2020, we recorded a pre-tax charge of approximately $13.8 million related to inventory reductions, primarily as a result of a strategic decision in our Arrow Engine division to streamline its product line offering. We also recorded charges of approximately $2.3 million related to certain production equipment removed from service given reduced demand levels, and employee separation costs of approximately $3.8 million.

In December 2021, we completed the acquisition of Omega Plastics ("Omega"), which specializes in manufacturing custom components and devices for drug delivery, diagnostic and orthopedic medical applications, as well as components for industrial applications, for an aggregate amount of approximately $22.5 million, net of cash acquired. Omega, which is reported in the Company's Packaging segment, is located in Clinton Township, Michigan. Omega contributed approximately $0.7 million of net sales during 2021.

In December 2021, we acquired TFI Aerospace ("TFI"), a manufacturer and supplier of specialty fasteners used in a variety of applications, predominately for the aerospace end market, for an aggregate amount of approximately $11.8 million, with additional contingent consideration ranging from zero to approximately $12.0 million to be paid based on 2023 and 2024 earnings per the purchase agreement. TFI, which is reported in the Company's Aerospace segment, is located near Toronto, Canada. TFI contributed approximately $0.3 million of net sales during 2021.

In December 2020, we completed the acquisition of Affaba & Ferrari Srl ("Affaba & Ferrari"), which specializes in the design, development and manufacture of precision caps and closures for food & beverage and industrial product applications, for an aggregate amount of approximately $98.4 million, net of cash acquired. Affaba & Ferrari, which is reported in our Packaging segment, operates out of a highly automated manufacturing facility and support office located in Borgo San Giovanni, Italy. Affaba & Ferrari contributed approximately $36.3 million of incremental net sales during 2021.

In April 2020, we acquired the Rapak brand, including certain bag-in-box product lines and assets ("Rapak") for an aggregate amount of approximately $11.4 million. Rapak, which is reported in our Packaging segment, has two manufacturing locations in the United States. Rapak contributed approximately $5.3 million of incremental net sales resulting from the January through March 2021 sales. Rapak has been performing below break-even operating profit as demand for its products, particularly those used in quick service restaurant applications, has significantly declined from pre-acquisition levels in 2019 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In February 2020, we completed the acquisition of RSA Engineered Products ("RSA"), a provider of highly-engineered and proprietary components for air management systems used in critical flight applications, for an aggregate amount of approximately $83.7 million, net of cash acquired. RSA, located in Simi Valley, California, designs, engineers and manufactures highly-engineered components, including air ducting products, connectors and flexible joints, predominantly used in aerospace and defense engine bleed air, anti-icing and environmental control system applications. RSA contributed approximately $4.3 million of incremental net sales resulting from January and February 2021 sales.

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In first quarter 2021, we began experiencing an increase in material costs compared with 2020 levels, primarily for resin-based raw materials and components, as well as for certain types of steel. These material costs further increased throughout 2021. We have escalator/de-escalator clauses in our commercial contracts with certain of our customers, or can modify prices based on market conditions, and we have been taking actions to recover the increased cost of raw materials. However, given the lag nature of the commercial pricing mechanisms, we have and will continue to experience net earnings pressure until resin costs begin to stabilize and/or decline for several consecutive months. We estimate that due to the lag in timing between incurring the cost increases and recovering via commercial actions, our operating profit was negatively impacted by approximately $11 million in 2021, compared with 2020, primarily in our Packaging segment.

In 2021, we refinanced our long-term debt, issuing $400 million aggregate principal amount of 4.125% senior unsecured notes due April 15, 2029 ("2029 Senior Notes") at par value in a private placement under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and amending our existing credit agreement ("Credit Agreement"), extending the maturity to March 2026. We used the proceeds from the 2029 Senior Notes offering to pay fees and expenses of approximately $5.1 million related to the offering and approximately $1.1 million related to amending the Credit Agreement. The remaining cash proceeds from the 2029 Senior Notes were used for general corporate purposes, including repaying all outstanding revolving credit facility borrowings and redeeming all of our outstanding senior notes due October 2025 ("2025 Senior Notes"), paying cash for the entire $300.0 million outstanding principal amount plus $7.3 million as a redemption premium. The $5.1 million of fees and expenses related to the 2029 Senior Notes were capitalized as debt issuance costs, while the $7.3 million redemption premium as well as approximately $3.0 million of unamortized debt issuance costs associated with the 2025 Senior Notes were expensed in 2021.

In addition, our effective tax rate for 2021 was 17.1%, compared to 22.3% for 2020. We recorded income tax expense of approximately $11.9 million in 2021, as compared to an income tax benefit of $23.0 million in 2020. During 2021, we reported domestic and foreign pre-tax income of approximately $28.4 and $40.7 million, respectively, as compared to a 2020 domestic pre-tax loss of approximately $134.6 million and foreign pre-tax income of approximately $31.9 million. The rate for 2021 includes the impact of income tax incentives in a foreign jurisdiction, the impact of certain non-deductible expenses and an increase in the statutory tax rate in another foreign jurisdiction which increased the value of certain deferred tax assets. The effective tax rate for 2020 was impacted by a decrease in profitability in the U.S. resulting from various one-time charges, including impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets and a change in our accounting policy for asbestos-related defense costs. During 2020, we also undertook certain tax-planning actions with respect to restructuring our intercompany debt, resulting in the recognition of a $6.4 million deferred tax benefit.

Additional Key Risks that May Affect Our Reported Results

We expect the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to impact us in the future at varying degrees. We expect the robust customer demand, compared with pre-pandemic demand levels, for our Packaging segment's dispensing pumps and closure products used in personal care and home care applications will continue, albeit with some reduction from the surge experienced in 2020 and early 2021, as we believe there is a positive secular trend focused on consumers' desire to stop the spread of germs and improve personal hygiene. Industrial demand in North America was lower in 2020 compared to previous levels, and while demand levels significantly increased in 2021, we are uncertain how and at what level demand will be impacted as governmental, travel or other restrictions are lifted, particularly in North America, where orders for our industrial cylinders, for example, are heavily influenced by the levels of construction and HVAC activity. We expect the aerospace market to continue to experience severe dislocation going forward, as except for the significant stocking orders for certain of our products received during 2021, our sales levels would be significantly lower than historical levels. With the current travel restrictions and sentiment, particularly low for international travel, aircraft manufacturers have slowed production, and since second quarter 2020 we have experienced a significant drop in aerospace-related sales related to new commercial airplane builds compared to prior levels. We expect, except as favorably impacted by the customers' stocking orders in 2021, lower levels of sales and related production to continue for the foreseeable future.

We have executed significant realignment actions since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily in our Aerospace and Specialty Products segments, and also in certain Packaging product areas where demand has fallen, such as in the quick service and restaurant applications, to protect against the uncertain end market demand. We will continue to assess further actions if required. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on global economic activity, and the continued potential impact to our future results of operations, as well if there is an impact to TriMas' market capitalization, we may record additional cash and non-cash charges related to incremental realignment actions, as well as for uncollectible customer account balances, excess inventory and idle production equipment.

Despite the potential decline in future demand levels and results of operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, at present, we believe our capital structure is in a solid position. We have ample cash and available liquidity under our revolving credit facility to meet our debt service obligations, capital expenditure requirements and other short-term and long-term obligations for the foreseeable future.

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The extent of the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on our operational and financial performance will depend in large part on future

developments, which cannot be predicted with confidence at this time. Future developments include the duration, scope and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the actions taken to contain or mitigate its impact, timing of widespread vaccine availability, and the resumption of normalized global economic activity. Due to the inherent uncertainty of the unprecedented and rapidly evolving situation, we are unable to predict with any confidence the likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our future operations.

Beyond the unique risks presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, other critical factors affecting our ability to succeed include: our ability to create organic growth through product development, cross-selling and extending product-line offerings, and our ability to quickly and cost-effectively introduce and successfully launch new products; our ability to acquire and integrate companies or products that supplement existing product lines, add new distribution channels or customers, expand our geographic coverage or enable better absorption of overhead costs; our ability to manage our cost structure more efficiently via supply chain management, internal sourcing and/or purchasing of materials, selective outsourcing and/or purchasing of support functions, working capital management, and greater leverage of our administrative functions.

Our overall business does not experience significant seasonal fluctuation, other than our fourth quarter, which has tended to be the lowest net sales quarter of the year due to holiday shutdowns at certain customers or other customers deferring capital spending to the following year. Given the short-cycle nature of most of our businesses, we do not consider sales order backlog to be a material factor. A growing amount of our sales is derived from international sources, which exposes us to certain risks, including currency risks.

We are sensitive to price movements and availability of our raw materials supply. Our largest raw material purchases are for resins (such as polypropylene and polyethylene), steel, aluminum and other oil and metal-based purchased components. In addition to the factors affecting our 2021 results, there has been some volatility over the past two years as a direct and indirect result of foreign trade policy, where tariffs on certain of our commodity-based products sourced from Asia have been instituted, and certain North American suppliers have opportunistically increased their prices. We will continue to take actions to mitigate such increases, including implementing commercial pricing adjustments, resourcing to alternate suppliers and insourcing of previously sourced products to better leverage our global manufacturing footprint. Although we believe we are generally able to mitigate the impact of higher commodity costs over time, we may experience additional material costs and disruptions in supply in the future and may not be able to pass along higher costs to our customers in the form of price increases or otherwise mitigate the impacts to our operating results.

Although we have escalator/de-escalator clauses in commercial contracts with certain of our customers, or can modify prices based on market conditions to recover higher costs, our price increases generally lag the underlying material cost increase, and we cannot be assured of full cost recovery in the open market. If input costs increase at rapid rates, as they did during 2021, our ability to recover cost increases on a timely basis, much less at all, is made more difficult by the lag nature of these contracts.

Our Arrow Engine business in our Specialty Products segment is sensitive to the demand for natural gas and crude oil in North America. For example, demand for engine, pump jack and compressor products are impacted by active oil and gas rig counts and wellhead investment activities. Separately, oil-based commodity costs are a significant driver of raw materials and purchased components used within our Packaging segment.

Each year, as a core tenet of the TriMas Business Model, our businesses target cost savings from Kaizen and continuous improvement initiatives in an effort to reduce, or otherwise offset, the impact of increased input and conversion costs through increased throughput and yield rates, with a goal of at least covering inflationary and market cost increases. In addition, we continuously review our operating cost structures to ensure alignment with current market demand.

We continue to evaluate alternatives to redeploy the cash generated by our businesses, one of which includes returning capital to our shareholders. In 2020, our Board of Directors increased the authorization of share repurchases to a cumulative amount of $250 million. During 2021, we purchased 596,084 shares of our outstanding common stock for approximately $19.1 million. As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $142.6 million remaining under the repurchase authorization.

In addition, in 2021 our Board of Directors declared the first dividend since our initial public offering in 2007. We declared dividends of $0.04 per share of common stock and we paid dividends of $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to return capital to shareholders through the purchase of our common stock as well as dividends, depending on market conditions and other factors.

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Segment Information and Supplemental Analysis

The following table summarizes financial information for our three reportable segments (dollars in thousands):