Net cash used in investing activities increased by $80.5 million in 2023, due to an increase in capital expenditures for additional manufacturing capacity in 2023 to meet customer demand and improve manufacturing lead times.

We continue to pursue strategic initiatives in drug containment components, integrated drug containment systems, novel drug delivery devices, novel therapeutic experiences and administration systems.

We also continue to seek new innovative opportunities for acquisition, licensing, partnering or development of products, services and technologies.

The Company has implemented the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (“COSO”) Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”) Framework... We follow the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) Cybersecurity Framework (“CSF”) with layered security controls to help identify, protect against, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber-attacks.

West is committed to providing fair and competitive compensation and benefits programs to attract, retain and reward high-performing team members at all levels.

To the extent that we learn that any of our employees or third-party intermediaries, business partners or agents do not adhere to our policies, procedures, or internal controls, we are committed to taking appropriate remedial action.

General global economic downturns and macroeconomic trends, including heightened inflation, capital market volatility, interest rate and currency rate fluctuations, and economic slowdown or recession, may result in unfavorable conditions.

Our systems and networks, as well as those of our customers, suppliers, service providers, and banks, have and may in the future become the target of cyberattacks or information security breaches which, in turn, could result in the unauthorized release and misuse of confidential or proprietary information about our company, our employees or our customers.

A significant portion of our net sales and earnings are generated internationally. Sales outside of the U.S. accounted for 58.0% of our consolidated net sales in 2023 and we anticipate that sales from international operations will continue to represent a significant portion of our net sales in the future.

We compete with several companies across our major product lines. Because of the special nature of these products, competition is based primarily on product design and performance, although total cost is becoming increasingly important as pharmaceutical companies continue with aggressive cost-control programs across their operations.

We aim to differentiate ourselves from our competition by being a “full-service, value-added” global supplier that is able to provide pre-sale compatibility studies, engineering support, and other services and sophisticated post-sale technical support on a global basis.

The pharmaceutical and healthcare industries continue to experience a significant amount of consolidation. As a result of this consolidation, competition to provide goods and services to customers has increased.

We must adjust our production capacity as customer demand changes and are focused on increasing capacity at various facilities through our capital strategy.

Additionally, we are committed to supporting a full portfolio of our products for our customers. That commitment, along with shifts of product mix and complexity, may result in more frequent equipment change-overs and potentially increased costs because of the high fixed cost nature of our business, causing lower gross margins due to under-absorption of those fixed costs.

Even with our continued effort to mitigate counterparty risk by working with highly liquid, well capitalized counterparties, the failure of any bank in which we deposit our funds could reduce the amount of cash we have available for our operations or delay our ability to access such funds.

We maintain our own research-scale production facilities and laboratories for developing new products and offer contract engineering design and development services to assist customers with new product development.

Technological advances and scientific discoveries have accelerated the pace of change in primary packaging, drug delivery and administration technologies.

Products that incorporate our technologies and medical devices that we produce are subject to regulations and extensive approval or clearance processes, which make the timing and success of new-product commercialization difficult to predict.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we purchased 1,265,661 shares of our common stock under the program at a cost of $438.3 million, or an average price of $346.34 per share.

Net cash used in investing activities increased by $80.5 million in 2023, due to an increase in capital expenditures for additional manufacturing capacity in 2023 to meet customer demand and improve manufacturing lead times.

We paid a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share on our common stock in each of the first three quarters of 2022; $0.19 per share in the fourth quarter of 2022 and each of the first three quarters of 2023; and $0.20 per share in the fourth quarter of 2023.

West has been committed to ESG topics for many years. During 2023, we continued to increase internal and external awareness of our ESG commitment by expanding our education and communication regarding our ESG program and initiatives and more closely integrating ESG considerations into our business processes. Our ESG program includes a senior-level cross-functional ESG team.

Our long-term strategic priorities include focus on talent attraction, retention and engagement (including efforts to increase the diversity, equity and inclusivity of our workforce to reflect the communities in which we live and work).

Our long-term strategic priorities include... a climate and greenhouse gas ("GHG") reduction strategy that incorporates renewable energy and reduced absolute and intensity emissions; developing a more sustainable and responsible supply chain.

Through the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, the war between Russia and Ukraine has not had a material impact on the Company's business, financial condition or results of operations as we do not have manufacturing operations or significant commercial relationships in either country.

We continue to monitor the impact of the conflict in Israel and surrounding areas on our operations and those of our suppliers, the possible expansion of such conflict and potential geopolitical consequences, if any, on our business and operations.

The recent and potential future disruptions in access to bank deposits or lending commitments due to bank failure could materially and adversely affect our liquidity, our business and financial condition.