Financing Arrangements |
9 Months Ended |
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Feb. 28, 2017 | |
Debt And Capital Lease Obligations [Abstract] | |
Financing Arrangements | (3) Financing Arrangements We have a shelf registration statement with the SEC that allows us to sell, in one or more future offerings, any combination of our unsecured debt securities and common stock. During the quarter, we issued $1.2 billion of senior unsecured debt under our current shelf registration statement, comprised of $450 million of 3.30% fixed-rate notes due in March 2027, and $750 million of 4.40% fixed-rate notes due in January 2047. Interest on these notes is paid semiannually. We used the net proceeds for a voluntary incremental contribution in January 2017 to our tax-qualified U.S. domestic pension plans (“U.S. Pension Plans”) and for working capital and general corporate purposes. We have a five-year $1.75 billion revolving credit facility that expires in November 2020. The facility, which includes a $500 million letter of credit sublimit, is available to finance our operations and other cash flow needs. The agreement contains a financial covenant, which requires us to maintain a ratio of debt to consolidated earnings (excluding non-cash pension mark-to-market adjustments and non-cash asset impairment charges) before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“adjusted EBITDA”) of not more than 3.5 to 1.0, calculated as of the end of the applicable quarter on a rolling four-quarters basis. The ratio of our debt to adjusted EBITDA was 1.9 to 1.0 at February 28, 2017. We believe this covenant is the only significant restrictive covenant in our revolving credit agreement. Our revolving credit agreement contains other customary covenants that do not, individually or in the aggregate, materially restrict the conduct of our business. We are in compliance with the financial covenant and all other covenants of our revolving credit agreement and do not expect the covenants to affect our operations, including our liquidity or expected funding needs. As of February 28, 2017, no commercial paper was outstanding. However, we had a total of $317 million in letters of credit outstanding at February 28, 2017, with $183 million of the letter of credit sublimit unused under our revolving credit facility. Long-term debt, exclusive of capital leases, had carrying values of $14.7 billion at February 28, 2017 and $13.7 billion at May 31, 2016, compared with estimated fair values of $15.2 billion at February 28, 2017 and $14.3 billion at May 31, 2016. The annualized weighted average interest rate on long-term debt was 3.6% for the nine months ended February 28, 2017. The estimated fair values were determined based on quoted market prices and the current rates offered for debt with similar terms and maturities. The fair value of our long-term debt is classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy. This classification is defined as a fair value determined using market-based inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the liability, either directly or indirectly. |