In March 2002, we acquired the reserve power and motive power business of the Energy Storage Group of Invensys plc. (“ESG”). Our successful integration of ESG provided global scale in both the reserve and motive power markets. The ESG acquisition also provided us with a further opportunity to reduce costs and improve operating efficiency that, among other initiatives, led to closing underutilized manufacturing plants, distribution facilities, sales offices and eliminating other redundant costs, including staff.

During fiscal years 2003 through 2014, we made twenty-five acquisitions around the globe. There were no acquisitions in fiscal 2015.

In fiscal 2013, we announced our plans to construct a new battery manufacturing facility in Gaoyou City,Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China (the "PRC") for the production of industrial batteries for Chinese and international markets. The new 440,000 square foot facility is scheduled to be completedbegan operations during the second half of fiscal 2015 and will provide capacity to meet growing customer demand in these markets.

We serve over 10,000 customers in over 100 countries, on a direct basis or through our distributors. We are not overly dependent on any particular end market. Our customer base is highly diverse and no single customer accounts for more than 5% of our revenues.

Our reserve power customers consist of both global and regional customers as well as global customers. These customers are in diverse markets including telecom, UPS, electric utilities, security systems, emergency lighting, premium starting, lighting and ignition applications and space satellites. In addition, we sell our aerospace and defense products in numerous countries, including the governments of the U.S., Germany and the U.K. and to major defense and aviation original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”).

Our motive power products are sold to a large, diversified customer base. These customers include material handling equipment dealers, OEMs and end users of such equipment. End users include manufacturers, distributors, warehouse operators, retailers, airports, mine operators and railroads.

We distribute, sell and service reserve and motive power products throughout the world, principally through company-owned sales and service facilities, as well as through independent manufacturers’ representatives. ThisOur company-owned network allows us to offer high-quality service, including preventative maintenance programs and customer support. Our warehouses and service locations enable us to respond quickly to customers in the markets we serve. We believe that the extensive industry experience of our sales organization results in strong long-term customer relationships.

We manufacture and assemble our products at manufacturing facilities located in the Americas, EMEA and Asia. With a view toward projected demand, we strive to optimize and balance capacity at our battery manufacturing facilities globally, while simultaneously minimizing our product cost. By taking a global view of our manufacturing requirements and capacity, we believe we are better able to anticipate potential capacity bottlenecks and equipment and capital funding needs.

The primary raw materials used to manufacture our products include lead, plastics, steel and copper. We purchase lead from a number of leading suppliers throughout the world. Because lead is traded on the world’s commodity markets and its price fluctuates daily, we periodically enter into hedging arrangements for a portion of our projected requirements to reduce the volatility of our costs.

The industrial battery market is highly competitive both among competitors who manufacture and sell industrial batteries and among customers who purchase industrial batteries. Our competitors range from development stage companies to large domestic and international corporations. Certain of our competitors produce energy storage products utilizing technologies that

we do not possess at this time. We compete primarily on the basis of reputation, product quality, reliability of service, delivery and price. We believe that our products and services are competitively priced.

We believe that we have the largest market share in the Americas industrial battery market. We compete principally with Exide Technologies, East Penn Manufacturing and New Power in both the reserve and motive products markets; and also C&D Technologies Inc., NorthStar Battery, SAFT and EaglePicher (OM Group) in the reserve products market.

We believe that we have the largest market share in the European industrial battery market. Our primary competitors are Exide Technologies, Hoppecke, FIAMM, SAFT as well as Chinese producers in the reserve products market; and Exide Technologies, Hoppecke and Midac in the motive products market.

We have a small share of the fragmented Asian industrial battery market. We compete principally with GS-Yuasa, Shin-Kobe and Zibo Torch in the motive products marketmarket; and Coslight, Amara Raja, Narada, Leoch, Exide Industries and China Shoto in the reserve products market.

Warranties for our products vary geographically and by product type and are competitive with other suppliers of these types of products. Generally, our reserve power product warranties range from one to twenty years and our motive power product warranties range from one to seven years. The length of our warranties is varied to reflect regional characteristics and competitive influences. In some cases, our warranty period may include a pro rata period, which is typically based around the design life of the product and the application served. Our warranties generally cover defects in workmanship and materials and are limited to specific usage parameters.

We have numerous patents and patent licenses in the United States and other jurisdictions but do not consider any one patent to be material to our business. From time to time, we apply for patents on new inventions and designs, but we believe that the growth of our business will depend primarily upon the quality of our products and our relationships with our customers, rather than the extent of our patent protection.

We believe we are leaders in thin plate pure lead technology ("TPPL"). Some aspects of this technology may be patented in the future. In any event, we believe that a significant capital investment would be required by any party desiring to produce products using TPPL technology for our markets.

Our business generally does not experience significant quarterly fluctuations in net sales as a result of weather or other trends that can be directly linked to seasonality patterns, but historically our fourth quarter is our best quarter with higher revenues and generally more working days and our second quarter is the weakest due to the summer holiday season in Western Europe and Americas.

Our product and process development efforts are focused on the creation and optimization of new battery products using existing technologies, which, in certain cases, differentiate our stored energy solutions from that of our competition. We allocate our resources to the following key areas:

At March 31, 2014,2015, we had approximately 9,500 employees. Of these employees, approximately 34%31% were covered by collective bargaining agreements. Employees covered by agreements that did not exceed twelve months were approximately 13%.7% of the total workforce. The average term of these agreements is two years, with the longest term being fourfive years.

We consider our employee relations to be good. We did not experience any significant labor unrest or disruption of production during fiscal 2014.2015 except for a temporary shut down at one of our plants in the PRC.

In the manufacture of our products throughout the world, we process, store, dispose of and otherwise use large amounts of hazardous materials, especially lead and acid. As a result, we are subject to extensive and evolving environmental, health and safety laws and regulations governing, among other things: the generation, handling, storage, use, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials; emissions or discharges of hazardous materials into the ground, air or water; and the health and safety of our employees. In addition, we are required to comply with the regulation issued from the European Economic Union called Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals or “REACH,” that came into force on June 1, 2007. Under the regulation, companies which manufacture or import more than one ton of a covered chemical substance per year are required to register it in a central database administered by the European Chemicals Agency. REACH requires a registration over a period of 11 years. Compliance with these laws and regulations results in ongoing costs. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations, or to obtain or comply with required environmental permits, could result in fines, criminal charges or other sanctions by regulators. From time to time, we have had instances of alleged or actual noncompliance that have resulted in the imposition of fines, penalties and required corrective actions. Our ongoing compliance with environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and permits could require us to incur significant expenses, limit our ability to modify or expand our facilities or continue production and require us to install additional pollution control equipment and make other capital improvements. In addition, private parties, including current or former employees, can bring personal injury or other claims against us due to the presence of, or their exposure to, hazardous substances used, stored, transported or disposed of by us or contained in our products.

We currently are responsible for certain environmental obligations at our former battery facility in Sumter, South Carolina, that predate our ownership of this facility. This battery facility was closed in 2001 and is separate from our current metal fabrication facility in Sumter. We have a reserve for this facility that totaled $2.9 million as of March 31, 2014.2015. Based on current information, we believe this reserve is adequate to satisfy our environmental liabilities at this facility.

Thirteen of our facilities in the Americas, EMEA and Asia are certified to ISO 14001 standards. ISO 14001 is a globally recognized, voluntary program that focuses on the implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of an

We utilize a global strategy for quality management systems, policies and procedures, the basis of which is the ISO 9001:2008 standard, which is a worldwide recognized quality standard. We believe in the principles of this standard and reinforce this by requiring mandatory compliance for all manufacturing, sales and service locations globally that are registered to the ISO 9001 standard. This strategy enables us to provide consistent quality products and services to meet our customers’ needs.

The following risks and uncertainties, as well as others described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, could materially and adversely affect our business, our results of operations and financial conditions and could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. Stockholders are cautioned that these and other factors, including those beyond our control, may affect future performance and cause actual results to differ from those which may, from time to time, be anticipated. There may be additional risks that are not presently material or known. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” All forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf are qualified by the risks described below.

We compete with a number of major international manufacturers and distributors, as well as a large number of smaller, regional competitors. Due to excess capacity in some sectors of our industry and consolidation among industrial battery purchasers, we have been subjected to significant pricing pressures. We anticipate continued competitive pricing pressure as foreign producers are able to employ labor at significantly lower costs than producers in the U.S. and Western Europe, expand their export capacity and increase their marketing presence in our major Americas and European markets. Several of our competitors have strong technical, marketing, sales, manufacturing, distribution and other resources, as well as significant name recognition, established positions in the market and long-standing relationships with OEMs and other customers. In addition, certain of our competitors own lead smelting facilities which, during periods of lead cost increases or price volatility, may provide a competitive pricing advantage and reduce their exposure to volatile raw material costs. Our ability to maintain and improve our operating margins has depended, and continues to depend, on our ability to control and reduce our costs. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to control our operating expenses, to raise or maintain our prices or increase our unit volume, in order to maintain or improve our operating results.

Our operating results are directly affected by the general global economic conditions of the industries in which our major customer groups operate. Our business segments are highly dependent on the economic and market conditions in each of the geographic areas in which we operate. Our products are heavily dependent on the end markets that we serve and our operating results will vary by geographic segment, depending on the economic environment in these markets. Sales of our motive power products, for example, depend significantly on demand for new electric industrial forklift trucks, which in turn depends on end-user demand for additional motive capacity in their distribution and manufacturing facilities. The uncertainty in global economic conditions varies by geographic segment, and can result in substantial volatility in global credit markets, particularly in the United States, where we service the vast majority of our debt. These conditions affect our business by reducing prices that our customers may be able or willing to pay for our products or by reducing the demand for our products, which could in turn negatively impact our sales and earnings generation and result in a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, results of operations and financial position.

 As we operate in various locations around the world, our operations in certain countries are subject to significant governmental scrutiny and may be adversely impacted by the results of such scrutiny. The regulatory environment with regard to our business is evolving, and officials often exercise broad discretion in deciding how to interpret and apply applicable regulations. From time to time, we receive formal and informal inquiries from various government regulatory authorities, as well as self-regulatory organizations, about our business and compliance with local laws, regulations or standards. Any determination that our operations or activities, or the activities of our employees, are not in compliance with existing laws, regulations or standards could result in the imposition of substantial fines, interruptions of business, loss of supplier, vendor or other third-party relationships, termination of necessary licenses and permits, or similar results, all of which could potentially harm our business and/or reputation. Even if an inquiry does not result in these types of determinations, regulatory authorities could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner materially adverse to our business, and it potentially could create negative publicity which could harm our business and/or reputation.

On May 7, 2015, the termsCompany announced that it had called for redemption all of our senior unsecured 3.375% convertible notes ("Convertible(the "Convertible Notes"), on June 8, 2015, at a holderprice equal to $1,000.66 per $1,000 original principal amount of such Convertible Notes, may require the Company to repurchase some or all of the holder’s Convertible Notes for cash upon the occurrence of a fundamental change as defined in the indenture and on each of June 1, 2015, 2018, 2023, 2028 and 2033 at a pricewhich is equal to 100% of the accreted principal amount of the Convertible Notes being repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, in each case.interest. Additionally, the holders are now permitted to convert their Convertible Notes at their option at any time commencing March 1,on or before June 5, 2015. The conversion rate, as of May 7, 2015, or under any of the following conditions prior to that date: (1) duringConvertible Notes is 25.1086 shares of the five business-day period after any five consecutive trading day period (the “measurement period”)Company's common stock per one thousand dollars in which the price per $1,000 in original principal amount of the Convertible Notes for each trading day of the measurement period was less than 98% of the product of the “last reported sale price” (as defined in the indenture governing the Convertible Notes) of the Company’s common stock and the applicable conversion rate for the Convertible Notes for such day; (2) during any calendar quarter after the calendar quarter ending June 30, 2008 (and only during such quarter), if the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock for 20 or more trading days in a period of 30 consecutive trading days ending on the last trading day of the immediately preceding calendar quarter exceeds 130% of the applicable conversion price in effect on the last trading day of the immediately preceding calendar quarter; or (3) upon the occurrence of specified corporate events, the Company may settle conversions (a) entirely in shares of its common stock, (b) entirely in cash, or (c) in cash for the accreted principal amount of the Convertible Notes and shares of its common stock, or cash and shares of its common stock, for the excess, if any, of the conversion value above the accreted principal amount. As of April 1, 2014, the Company has $172.5 million of Convertible Notes outstanding, and the Convertible Notes have become convertible through June 30, 2014.

To the extent that thenour existing domestic cash balances and cash flow from operations, together with borrowing capacity under thenour existing credit facilities, are insufficient to satisfy any such settlement or optional put or conversion, the Company may require additional financing from other sources. The Company’sRedemption of the Convertible Notes and settling any Convertible Notes entirely or partly in cash upon conversion may have an adverse effect on our liquidity and reduce our borrowing capacity under our credit facility. This may impair our ability to obtain such additional financingreact to changes in the future will dependindustrial battery business, our ability to invest in part upon prevailing capital market conditions, as well as conditions in the Company’sour manufacturing and distribution facilities and research and development and our ability to take advantage of acquisition or other business and its operating results; and those factors may affect its efforts to arrange additional financing on terms that are acceptable to the Company. The Convertible Notes will mature on June 1, 2038, unless earlier converted, redeemed or repurchased by the Company.opportunities.

We depend on third parties, including suppliers, distributors, lead toll operators, freight forwarders, insurance brokers, commodity brokers, major financial institutions and other third party service providers, for key aspects of our business, including the provision of derivative contracts to manage risks of:of (a) lead cost volatility, (b) foreign currency exposures and (c) interest rate volatility. Failure of these third parties to meet their contractual, regulatory and other obligations to the Company or the development of factors that materially disrupt our relationships with these third parties could expose us to the risks of business disruption, higher lead costs, unfavorable foreign currency rates and higher expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Lead is our most significant raw material and is used along with significant amounts of plastics, steel, copper and other materials in our manufacturing processes. We estimate that raw material costs account for over half of our cost of goods sold. The costs of these raw materials, particularly lead, are volatile and beyond our control. Additionally, availability of the raw materials used to manufacture our products may be limited at times resulting in higher prices and/or the need to find alternative suppliers. Furthermore, the cost of raw materials may also be influenced by transportation costs. Volatile raw material costs can

We are subject to a variety of litigation, tax, environmental, health and safety and other legal compliance risks. These risks include, among other things, possible liability relating to product liability matters, personal injuries, intellectual property rights, contract-related claims, government contracts, taxes, health and safety liabilities, environmental matters and compliance with U.S. and foreign laws, competition laws and laws governing improper business practices. We or one of our business units could be charged with wrongdoing as a result of such matters. If convicted or found liable, we could be subject to significant fines, penalties, repayments or other damages (in certain cases, treble damages). As a global business, we are subject to complex laws and regulations in the U.S. and other countries in which we operate. Those laws and regulations may be interpreted in different ways. They may also change from time to time, as may related interpretations and other guidance. Changes in laws or regulations could result in higher expenses and payments, and uncertainty relating to laws or regulations may also affect how we conduct our operations and structure our investments and could limit our ability to enforce our rights.

In the area of taxes, changes in tax laws and regulations, as well as changes in related interpretations and other tax guidance could materially impact our tax receivables and liabilities and our deferred tax assets and tax liabilities. Additionally, in the ordinary course of business, we are subject to examinations by various authorities, including tax authorities. In addition to ongoing investigations, there could be additional investigations launched in the future by governmental authorities in various jurisdictions and existing investigations could be expanded. The global and diverse nature of our operations means that these risks will continue to exist and additional legal proceedings and contingencies will arise from time to time. Our results may be affected by the outcome of legal proceedings and other contingencies that cannot be predicted with certainty.

In the manufacture of our products throughout the world, we process, store, dispose of and otherwise use large amounts of hazardous materials, especially lead and acid. As a result, we are subject to extensive and changing environmental, health and safety laws and regulations governing, among other things: the generation, handling, storage, use, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials; remediation of polluted ground or water; emissions or discharges of hazardous materials into the ground, air or water; and the health and safety of our employees. Compliance with these laws and regulations results in ongoing costs. Failure to comply with these laws or regulations, or to obtain or comply with required environmental permits, could result in fines, criminal charges or other sanctions by regulators. From time to time we have had instances of alleged or actual noncompliance that have resulted in the imposition of fines, penalties and required corrective actions. Our ongoing compliance with environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and permits could require us to incur significant expenses, limit our ability to modify or expand our facilities or continue production and require us to install additional pollution control equipment and make other capital improvements. In addition, private parties, including current or former employees, could bring personal injury or other claims against us due to the presence of, or exposure to, hazardous substances used, stored or disposed of by us or contained in our products.

Certain environmental laws assess liability on owners or operators of real property for the cost of investigation, removal or remediation of hazardous substances at their current or former properties or at properties at which they have disposed of hazardous substances. These laws may also assess costs to repair damage to natural resources. We may be responsible for remediating damage to our properties that was caused by former owners. Soil and groundwater contamination has occurred at some of our current and former properties and may occur or be discovered at other properties in the future. We are currently investigating and monitoring soil and groundwater contamination at several of our properties, in most cases as required by regulatory permitting processes. We may be required to conduct these operations at other properties in the future. In addition, we have been and in the future may be liable to contribute to the cleanup of locations owned or operated by other persons to which we or our predecessor companies have sent wastes for disposal, pursuant to federal and other environmental laws. Under these laws, the owner or operator of contaminated properties and companies that generated, disposed of or arranged for the disposal of wastes sent to a contaminated disposal facility can be held jointly and severally liable for the investigation and cleanup of such properties, regardless of fault.

Changes in environmental and climate laws or regulations, including laws relating to greenhouse gas emissions, could lead to new or additional investment in production designs and could increase environmental compliance expenditures. Changes in climate change concerns, or in the regulation of such concerns, including greenhouse gas emissions, could subject us to additional costs and restrictions, including increased energy and raw materials costs. Additionally, we cannot assure you that we have been or at all times will be in compliance with environmental laws and regulations or that we will not be required to expend significant funds to comply with, or discharge liabilities arising under, environmental laws, regulations and permits, or that we will not be exposed to material environmental, health or safety litigation.

Also, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws in non-U.S. jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. The FCPA applies to companies, individual directors, officers, employees and agents. Under the FCPA, U.S. companies may be held liable for actions taken by strategic or local partners or representatives. The FCPA also imposes accounting standards and requirements on publicly traded U.S. corporations and their foreign affiliates, which are intended to prevent the diversion of corporate funds to the payment of bribes and other improper payments. Certain of our customer relationships outside of the U.S. are with governmental entities and are therefore subject to such anti-bribery laws. Our policies mandate compliance with these anti-bribery laws. Despite meaningful measures that we undertake to facilitate lawful conduct, which include training and internal control policies, these measures may not always prevent reckless or criminal acts by our employees or agents. As a result, we could be subject to criminal and civil penalties, disgorgement, further changes or enhancements to our procedures, policies and controls, personnel changes or other remedial actions. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction and result in a material adverse effect on our competitive position, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

There is also a regulation to improve the transparency and accountability concerning the supply of minerals coming from the conflict zones in and around the Democratic Republic of Congo. New U.S. legislation includes disclosure requirements regarding the use of conflict minerals mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries and procedures regarding a manufacturer’s efforts to prevent the sourcing of such conflict minerals. The implementation of these requirements could affect the sourcing and availability of minerals used in the manufacture of our products. As a result, there may only be a limited pool of suppliers who provide conflict-free metals, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain products in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. Future regulations may become more stringent or costly and our compliance costs and potential liabilities could increase, which may harm our business.

We invoice our foreign sales and service transactions in local and foreign currencies and translate net sales using actual exchange rates during the period. We translate our non-U.S. assets and liabilities into U.S. dollars using current exchange rates as of the balance sheet dates. Because a significant portion of our revenues and expenses are denominated in foreign currencies, changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies, primarily the euro, British pound, Polish zloty, Chinese renminbi, Mexican peso and Swiss franc may adversely affect our revenue, cost of goods sold and operating margins. For example, foreign currency depreciation against the U.S. dollar will reduce the value of our foreign revenues and operating earnings as well as reduce our net investment in foreign subsidiaries. Approximately 60% of net sales were generated outside of the United States for the last three fiscal years.

Most of the risk of fluctuating foreign currencies is in our EMEA segment, which comprised approximately 40% of our net sales during the last three fiscal years. The euro is the dominant currency in our EMEA operations. In the event that one or more European countries were to replace the euro with another currency, our sales into such countries, or into Europe generally, would likely be adversely affected until stable exchange rates are established.

The translation impact from currency fluctuations on net sales and operating earnings in our Americas and Asia segments are not as significant as our EMEA segment, as a substantial majority of these net sales and operating earnings are in U.S. dollars or foreign currencies that have been closely correlated to the U.S. dollar.

If foreign currencies depreciate against the U.S. dollar, it would make it more expensive for our non-U.S. subsidiaries to purchase certain of our raw material commodities that are priced globally in U.S. dollars, while the related revenue will decrease when translated to U.S. dollars. Significant movements in foreign exchange rates can have a material impact on our results of operations and financial condition. We periodically engage in hedging of our foreign currency exposures, but cannot assure you that we can successfully hedge all of our foreign currency exposures or do so at a reasonable cost.

We quantify and monitor our global foreign currency exposures. Our largest foreign currency exposure is from the purchase and conversion of U.S. dollar based lead costs into local currencies in Europe. Additionally, we have currency exposures from intercompany financing and intercompany and third party trade transactions. On a selective basis, we enter into foreign currency forward contracts and purchase option contracts to reduce the impact from the volatility of currency movements; however, we cannot be certain that foreign currency fluctuations will not impact our operations in the future.

We currently have significant manufacturing and/or distribution facilities outside of the United States, in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, People’s Republic of China,PRC, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia and the United Kingdom. We may face political instability, economic

Many new energy storage technologies have been introduced over the past several years. For certain important and growing markets, such as aerospace and defense, lithium-based battery technologies have a large and growing market share. Our ability to achieve significant and sustained penetration of key developing markets, including aerospace and defense, will depend upon our success in developing or acquiring these and other technologies, either independently, through joint ventures or through acquisitions. If we fail to develop or acquire, and manufacture and sell, products that satisfy our customers’ demands, or we fail to respond effectively to new product announcements by our competitors by quickly introducing competitive products, then market acceptance of our products could be reduced and our business could be adversely affected. We cannot assure you that our lead-acid products will remain competitive with products based on new technologies.

We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws, non-disclosure agreements and other confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to establish, protect and maintain our proprietary intellectual property and technology and other confidential information. Certain of these technologies, especially TPPL technology, are important to our business and are not protected by patents. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary intellectual property and technology and other confidential information, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property and proprietary technologies. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property and technology, we may lose any technological advantage we currently enjoy and may be required to take an impairment charge with respect to the carrying value of such intellectual property or goodwill established in connection with the acquisition thereof. In either case, our operating results and net income may be adversely affected.

The trend by a number of our North American and Western European customers to move manufacturing operations and expand their businesses in faster growing and low labor-cost markets may have an adverse impact on our business. As our customers in traditional manufacturing-based industries seek to move their manufacturing operations to these locations, there is a risk that these customers will source their energy storage products from competitors located in those territories and will cease or reduce the purchase of products from our manufacturing plants. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete effectively with manufacturing operations of energy storage products in those territories, whether by establishing or expanding our manufacturing operations in those lower-cost territories or acquiring existing manufacturers.

We must continue to implement cost reduction initiatives to achieve additional cost savings in future periods. We cannot assure you that we will be able to achieve all of the cost savings that we expect to realize from current or future initiatives. In particular, we may be unable to implement one or more of our initiatives successfully or we may experience unexpected cost increases that offset the savings that we achieve. Given the continued competitive pricing pressures experienced in our industry, our failure to realize cost savings would adversely affect our results of operations.

The success of our business will depend upon the quality of our products and our relationships with customers. In the event that our products fail to meet our customers’ standards, our reputation could be harmed, which would adversely affect our marketing and sales efforts. We cannot assure you that our customers will not experience quality problems with our products.

We rely upon a combination of trademark, licensing and contractual covenants to establish and protect the brand names of our products. We have registered many of our trademarks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. In many market segments, our reputation is closely related to our brand names. Monitoring unauthorized use of our brand names is difficult, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent their unauthorized use, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the U.S. We cannot assure you that our brand

As part of our business strategy, we have grown, and plan to continue growing, by acquiring other product lines, technologies or facilities that complement or expand our existing business. There is significant competition for acquisition targets in the industrial battery industry. We may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates or negotiate attractive terms. In addition, we may have difficulty obtaining the financing necessary to complete transactions we pursue. In that regard, our credit facilities restrict the amount of additional indebtedness that we may incur to finance acquisitions and place other restrictions on our ability to make acquisitions. Exceeding any of these restrictions would require the consent of our lenders. We may be unable to successfully integrate any assets, liabilities, customers, systems and management personnel we acquire into our operations and we may not be able to realize related revenue synergies and cost savings within expected time frames. Our failure to execute our acquisition strategy could have a material adverse effect on our business. We cannot assure you that our acquisition strategy will be successful or that we will be able to successfully integrate acquisitions we do make.

Future acquisitions may involve the issuance of our equity securities as payment, in part or in full, for the businesses or assets acquired. Any future issuances of equity securities would dilute stockholder ownership interests. In addition, future acquisitions might not increase, and may even decrease our earnings or earnings per share and the benefits derived by us from an acquisition might not outweigh or might not exceed the dilutive effect of the acquisition. We also may incur additional debt or suffer adverse tax and accounting consequences in connection with any future acquisitions.

We operate a number of critical computer systems throughout our business that can fail for a variety of reasons. If such a failure were to occur, we may not be able to sufficiently recover from the failure in time to avoid the loss of data or any adverse impact on certain of our operations that are dependent on such systems. This could result in lost sales and the inefficient operation of our facilities for the duration of such a failure.

In addition, our computer systems throughout our businessare essential for the exchange of information both within the company and in communicating with third parties. Despite our efforts to protect the integrity of our systems and network as well as sensitive, confidential or personal data or information, our facilities and systems and those of our third-party service providers may be vulnerable to security breaches, theft, misplaced or lost data, programming and/or human errors that could potentially lead to the compromising of sensitive, confidential or personal data or information, improper use of our systems, software solutions or networks, unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or destruction of information, defective products, production downtimes and operational disruptions, which in turn could adversely affect our reputation, competitiveness, and results of operations.

Our ability to continue our ongoing business operations and fund future growth depends on our ability to maintain adequate credit facilities and to comply with the financial and other covenants in such credit facilities or to secure alternative sources of

financing. However, such credit facilities or alternate financing may not be available or, if available, may not be on terms favorable to us. If we do not have adequate access to credit, we may be unable to refinance our existing borrowings and credit facilities when they mature and to fund future acquisitions, and this may reduce our flexibility in responding to changing industry conditions.

As of March 31, 2014,2015, we had $322.3$515.9 million of total consolidated debt (including capital lease obligations and net of the discount on the Convertible Notes). On April 23, 2015, the Company also issued $300 million of Notes. This level of debt could:

During fiscal 2014,2015, we announced the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.125$0.175 per share of common stock for quarters ended June 30, 2013,29, 2014, September 29, 2013,28, 2014, December 29, 201328, 2014 and March 31, 2014.2015. On May 7, 2014,2015, we announced a fiscal 20152016 first quarter cash dividend of $0.175 per share of common stock. Future payment of a regular quarterly cash dividend on our common shares will be subject to, among other things, our results of operations, cash balances and future cash requirements, financial condition, statutory requirements of Delaware law, compliance with the terms of existing and future indebtedness and credit facilities, and other factors that the Board of Directors may deem relevant. Our dividend payments may change from time to time, and we cannot provide assurance that we will continue to declare dividends at all or in any particular amounts. A reduction in or elimination of our dividend payments could have a negative effect on our share price.

Our success depends in part on our ability to attract, retain and motivate senior management and other key employees. Achieving this objective may be difficult due to many factors, including fluctuations in global economic and industry conditions, competitors’ hiring practices, cost reduction activities, and the effectiveness of our compensation programs. Competition for qualified personnel can be very intense. We must continue to recruit, retain and motivate senior management and other key employees sufficient to maintain our current business and support our future projects. We are vulnerable to attrition among our current senior management team and other key employees. A loss of any such personnel, or the inability to recruit and retain qualified personnel in the future, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, certain key members of our senior management team are at or nearing retirement age. If we are unsuccessful in our succession planning efforts, the continuity of our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

 

None.

The Company’s worldwide headquarters is located in Reading, Pennsylvania. Geographic headquarters for our Americas, EMEA and Asia segments are located in Reading, Pennsylvania, Zurich, Switzerland and Singapore, respectively. The Company owns approximately 80% of its manufacturing facilities and distribution centers worldwide. The following sets forth the Company’s principal owned or leased facilities by business segment:

We consider our plants and facilities, whether owned or leased, to be in satisfactory condition and adequate to meet the needs of our current businesses and projected growth. Information as to material lease commitments is included in Note 9 “Leases,”- Leases to the Consolidated Financial Statements appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.Statements.

From time to time, we are involved in litigation incidental to the conduct of our business. See Litigation and Other Legal Matters in Note 18 - Commitments, Contingencies and Litigation to the Consolidated Financial Statements, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Not applicable.

The Company’s common stock has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ENS” since it began trading on July 30, 2004. Prior to that time, there had been no public market for our common stock. The following table sets forth, on a per share basis for the periods presented, the range of high, low and closing prices of the Company’s common stock.

In determining legal reserves, management considers, among other issues:

Accruals for environmental loss contingencies (i.e., environmental reserves) are recorded when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can reasonably be estimated. Management views the measurement of environmental reserves as a critical accounting estimate because of the considerable uncertainty surrounding estimation, including the need to forecast well into the future. From time to time, we may be involved in legal proceedings under federal, state and local, as well as international environmental laws in connection with our operations and companies that we have acquired. The estimation of environmental reserves is based on the evaluation of currently available information, prior experience in the remediation of contaminated sites and assumptions with respect to government regulations and enforcement activity, changes in remediation technology and practices, and financial obligations and creditworthiness of other responsible parties and insurers.

We record a warranty reserve for possible claims against our product warranties, which generally run for a period ranging from one to twenty years for our reserve power batteries and for a period ranging from one to seven years for our motive power batteries. The assessment of the adequacy of the reserve includes a review of open claims and historical experience.

Management believes that the accounting estimate related to the warranty reserve is a critical accounting estimate because the underlying assumptions used for the reserve can change from time to time and warranty claims could potentially have a material impact on our results of operations.

We encounter risks associated with sales and the collection of the associated accounts receivable. We record a provision for accounts receivable that are considered to be uncollectible. In order to calculate the appropriate provision, management analyzes the creditworthiness of specific customers and the aging of customer balances. Management also considers general and specific industry economic conditions, industry concentration and contractual rights and obligations.

Management believes that the accounting estimate related to the allowance for doubtful accounts is a critical accounting estimate because the underlying assumptions used for the allowance can change from time to time and uncollectible accounts could potentially have a material impact on our results of operations.

We use certain economic and demographic assumptions in the calculation of the actuarial valuation of our defined benefit plans. These assumptions include the discount rate, expected long-term rates of return on assets and rates of increase in compensation levels. Changes in these assumptions can result in changes to the pension expense and recorded liabilities. Management reviews these assumptions at least annually. We use independent actuaries to assist us in formulating assumptions and making estimates. These assumptions are updated periodically to reflect the actual experience and expectations on a plan-specific basis, as appropriate. During fiscal 2015, we revised our mortality assumptions to incorporate the new set of tables issued by the Society of Actuaries for purposes of measuring U.S. pension and other post-retirement obligations at year-end.

For benefit plans which are funded, we establish strategic asset allocation percentage targets and appropriate benchmarks for significant asset classes with the aim of achieving a prudent balance between return and risk. We set the expected long-term rate of return based on the expected long-term average rates of return to be achieved by the underlying investment portfolios. In establishing this rate, we consider historical and expected returns for the asset classes in which the plans are invested, advice from pension consultants and investment advisors, and current economic and capital market conditions. The expected return on plan assets is incorporated into the computation of pension expense. The difference between this expected return and the actual return on plan assets is deferred and will affect future net periodic pension costs through subsequent amortization.

We believe that the current assumptions used to estimate plan obligations and annual expense are appropriate in the current economic environment. However, if economic conditions change materially, we may change our assumptions, and the resulting change could have a material impact on the consolidated statements of income and on the consolidated balance sheets.