Estee Lauder 2012 Annual Report Download - page 124

122 THE EST{E LAUDER COMPANIES INC.
(7) social, political and economic risks to our foreign or
domestic manufacturing, distribution and retail opera-
tions, including changes in foreign investment and trade
policies and regulations of the host countries and of the
United States;
(8) changes in the laws, regulations and policies (includ-
ing the interpretations and enforcement thereof) that
affect, or will affect, our business, including those relating
to our products or distribution networks, changes in
accounting standards, tax laws and regulations, environ-
mental or climate change laws, regulations or accords,
trade rules and customs regulations, and the outcome
and expense of legal or regulatory proceedings, and any
action we may take as a result;
(9) foreign currency fluctuations affecting our results of
operations and the value of our foreign assets, the relative
prices at which we and our foreign competitors sell
products in the same markets and our operating and
manufacturing costs outside of the United States;
(10) changes in global or local conditions, including those
due to the volatility in the global credit and equity mar-
kets, natural or man-made disasters, real or perceived
epidemics, or energy costs, that could affect consumer
purchasing, the willingness or ability of consumers to
travel and/or purchase our products while traveling, the
financial strength of our customers, suppliers or other
contract counterparties, our operations, the cost and
availability of capital which we may need for new equip-
ment, facilities or acquisitions, the returns that we are able
to generate on our pension assets and the resulting
impact on funding obligations, the cost and availability of
raw materials and the assumptions underlying our critical
accounting estimates;
(11) shipment delays, commodity pricing, depletion of
inventory and increased production costs resulting from
disruptions of operations at any of the facilities that
manufacture nearly all of our supply of a particular type of
product (i.e. focus factories) or at our distribution or
inventory centers, including disruptions that may be
caused by the implementation of SAP as part of our
Strategic Modernization Initiative or by restructurings;
(12) real estate rates and availability, which may affect our
ability to increase or maintain the number of retail
locations at which we sell our products and the costs
associated with our other facilities;
(13) changes in product mix to products which are less
profitable;
(14) our ability to acquire, develop or implement new
information and distribution technologies and initiatives
on a timely basis and within our cost estimates and our
ability to maintain continuous operations of such systems
and the security of data and other information that may
be stored in such systems or other systems or media;
(15) our ability to capitalize on opportunities for improved
efficiency, such as publicly-announced strategies and
restructuring and cost-savings initiatives, and to integrate
acquired businesses and realize value therefrom;
(16) consequences attributable to local or international
conflicts around the world, as well as from any terrorist
action, retaliation and the threat of further action
or retaliation;
(17) the timing and impact of acquisitions and divesti-
tures, which depend on willing sellers and buyers,
respectively; and
(18) additional factors as described in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including this
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
June 30, 2012.
We assume no responsibility to update forward-looking
statements made herein or otherwise.