DFS Annual Report

Market Volatility/Cyclicality The Company is subject to market volatility in the United States and world economy, as the success of the transactional offering is largely dependent on the global market for IPOs, secondary offerings, mergers and acquisitions, public and private debt offerings, leveraged buyouts, spinouts and other transactions. The International segment is particularly susceptible to capital market volatility as most of the International business is capital markets transaction focused. The Company mitigates some of that risk by offering services in higher demand during a down market, like document management tools for the bankruptcy/restructuring process, and also moving upstream from the filing process with products like Venue, the Company’s data room solution. The Company also attempts to balance this volatility through supporting the quarterly/annual public company reporting process through its EDGAR filing services and ActiveDisclosure product, its investment markets regulatory and shareholder communications offering and continues to expand into adjacent growth businesses like language solutions and data and analytics, which have recurring revenues and are not as susceptible to market volatility and cycles. This quarterly/ annual public company reporting process work also subjects the Company to filing seasonality shortly after the end of each fiscal quarter, with peak periods during the course of the year that have operational implications. Such operational implications include the need to increase staff during peak periods through a combined strategy of hiring additional full-time and temporary personnel, increasing the premium time of existing staff, and outsourcing production for a number of services. Additionally, clients and their financial advisors have begun to increasingly rely on web-based services which allow clients to autonomously file and distribute compliance documents with regulatory agencies, such as the SEC. While the Company believes that its ActiveDisclosure and FundSuiteArc solutions are competitive in this space, competitors are continuing to develop technologies that aim to improve clients’ ability to autonomously produce and file documents to meet their regulatory obligations. The Company continues to remain focused on driving recurring revenue in order to mitigate market volatility. Raw Materials The primary raw materials used in the Company’s printed products are paper and ink. The paper and ink supply is sourced from a small set of select suppliers in order to ensure consistent quality that meets the Company’s performance expectations and provides for continuity of supply. The Company believes that the risk of incurring material losses as a result of a shortage in raw materials is unlikely and that the losses, if any, would not have a materially negative impact on the Company’s business. Distribution The Company’s products are distributed to end-users through the U.S or foreign postal services, through retail channels, electronically or by direct shipment to customer facilities. Postal costs are a significant component of many customers’ cost structures and postal rate changes can influence the number of pieces that the Company’s customers are willing to print and mail. Customers For each of the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, no customer accounted for 10% or more of the Company’s consolidated and combined net sales. Technology The Company invests resources in developing software to improve its services. The Company invests in its core composition systems and client facing solutions and has also adopted market-leading third party systems which have improved the efficiency of its sales and operations processes. Environmental Compliance It is the Company’s policy to conduct its global operations in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations and other requirements. It is not possible to quantify with certainty the potential impact of actions regarding environmental matters, particularly remediation and other compliance efforts that the Company may undertake in the future. However, in the opinion of management, compliance with the present environmental protection laws, before taking into account estimated recoveries from third parties, will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated and combined annual results of operations, financial position or cash flows. Employees As of December 31, 2016, the Company had approximately 3,600 employees. 7