Derivative Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Derivative Financial Instruments

 Derivative Financial Instruments

Our ongoing business operations expose us to various risks such as fluctuating interest rates, foreign exchange rates and increasing commodity prices. To manage these market risks, we periodically enter into derivative financial instruments such as interest rate swaps, options and foreign exchange contracts for periods consistent with and for notional amounts equal to or less than the related underlying exposures. We do not purchase or hold any derivative financial instruments for speculation or trading purposes. All derivatives are recorded on the balance sheet at fair value.

Interest Rate Risk

We have a $25.0 million interest rate swap agreement outstanding as of December 31, 2014, that is designated as a cash flow hedge to protect against volatility in the interest rates on our Series B Notes. Under this swap, we receive variable interest rate payments based on three-month LIBOR in return for making quarterly fixed rate payments. Including the applicable margin, the interest rate swap agreement effectively fixes the interest rate payable on the Series B Notes at 5.51%.

In addition, at December 31, 2014, we have a $39.2 million forward-start interest rate swap outstanding that hedges the variability in cash flows due to changes in the applicable interest rate of our variable-rate five-year term loan related to the purchase of our corporate office and research building. Under this swap, we receive variable interest rate payments based on one-month LIBOR plus a margin in return for making monthly fixed interest payments at 5.41%. We designated this forward-start interest rate swap as a cash flow hedge.

During 2012, we entered into two forward treasury lock agreements for a total notional amount of $160.0 million, to protect against changes in the benchmark 10-year Treasury rate during the 30-60 day period leading up to the issuance date of our private placement debt.  We designated these treasury locks as cash flow hedges. In June 2012, the pricing for our private placement debt (refer to Note 8, Debt) was finalized and accordingly, we terminated both treasury lock agreements, resulting in a $4.6 million settlement payment made by us. This amount, which was reflected in accumulated other comprehensive loss, will be expensed over the life of the private placement debt.

Foreign Exchange Rate Risk

During 2014, we entered into several foreign currency hedge contracts that were designated as cash flow hedges of forecasted transactions denominated in foreign currencies, which are described in more detail below.

We entered into a series of foreign currency contracts intended to hedge the currency risk associated with a portion of our forecasted USD-denominated inventory purchases made by certain European subsidiaries, for a total notional amount of €9.8 million ($12.0 million).

We also entered into a series of foreign currency contracts to hedge the currency risk associated with a portion of our forecasted Euro-denominated sales of finished goods by one of our USD functional-currency subsidiaries for a total notional amount of $10.9 million.

In addition, we entered into several contracts which involve both a written and a purchased option to hedge the currency risk associated with a portion of our forecasted Yen-denominated inventory purchases made by West in the U.S. The notional amounts of these contracts include ¥1.6 billion of a derivative asset and ¥1.6 billion of a derivative liability, or $13.2 million each.

Lastly, we entered into several contracts which involve both a written and a purchased option to hedge the currency risk associated with a portion of our forecasted Yen-denominated inventory purchases made by certain European subsidiaries. The notional amounts of these contracts include ¥1.1 billion of a derivative asset and ¥1.1 billion of a derivative liability, or $9.5 million each.

At December 31, 2014, a portion of our debt consists of borrowings denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. We have designated our €61.1 million ($74.3 million) Euro note B and our €21.0 million ($25.5 million) Euro-denominated borrowings under our multi-currency revolving credit facility as a hedge of our net investment in certain European subsidiaries. A cumulative foreign currency translation gain of $7.5 million pre-tax ($4.6 million after tax) on this debt was recorded within accumulated other comprehensive loss as of December 31, 2014. We have also designated our ¥500.0 million ($4.2 million) Yen-denominated borrowings under our multi-currency revolving credit facility as a hedge of our net investment in Daikyo. At December 31, 2014, there was a cumulative foreign currency translation gain on this Yen-denominated debt of $1.2 million pre-tax ($0.8 million after tax) which was also included within accumulated other comprehensive loss.

Commodity Price Risk

Many of our Packaging Systems products are made from synthetic elastomers, which are derived from the petroleum refining process. We purchase the majority of our elastomers via long-term supply contracts, some of which contain clauses that provide for surcharges related to fluctuations in crude oil prices. The following economic hedges did not qualify for hedge accounting treatment since they did not meet the highly effective requirement at inception.

In November 2014, we purchased a series of call options for a total of 134,700 barrels of crude oil to mitigate our exposure to such oil-based surcharges and protect operating cash flows with regard to a portion of our forecasted elastomer purchases through December 2015. With these contracts we may benefit from a decline in crude oil prices, as there is no downward exposure other than the $0.1 million premium that we paid to purchase the contracts.

During the year ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, a loss of $0.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively, was recorded in cost of goods and services sold related to call options.

Effects of Derivative Instruments on Financial Position and Results of Operations

Refer to Note 10, Fair Value Measurements, for the balance sheet location and fair values of our derivative instruments as of December 31, 2014 and 2013.

The following table summarizes the effects, net of tax, of derivative instruments designated as hedges on other comprehensive income (“OCI”) and earnings for the year ended December 31:

	Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in OCI						Amount of (Gain) Loss Reclassified from Accumulated OCI into Income						Location of (Gain) Loss Reclassified from Accumulated OCI into Income
($ in millions)	2014			2013			2014			2013
Cash Flow Hedges:
Foreign currency hedge contracts	$	0.3		$	0.4		$	(0.2	)	$	(0.2	)	Net sales
Foreign currency hedge contracts	—			(2.5		)	0.2			3.3			Cost of goods and services sold
Interest rate swap contracts	(0.4		)	0.2			1.6			1.6			Interest expense
Forward treasury locks	—			—			0.2			0.2			Interest expense
Total	$	(0.1	)	$	(1.9	)	$	1.8		$	4.9
Net Investment Hedges:
Foreign currency-denominated debt	$	8.5		$	(2.1	)	$	—		$	—		Foreign exchange and other
Total	$	8.5		$	(2.1	)	$	—		$	—

During 2014 and 2013, there was no material ineffectiveness related to our cash flow and net investment hedges.