Accounting Standards (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared following the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for interim reporting. As permitted under those rules, certain footnotes or other financial information that are normally required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) can be condensed or omitted. Balance sheet amounts and operating results for subsidiaries operating outside the United States are as of and for the six-month periods ended May 31, 2018, and May 28, 2017.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards and Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In March 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an accounting standards update to align existing guidance on accounting for income taxes, pursuant to guidance provided by a Staff Accounting Bulletin published by the SEC on December 22, 2017. The update addresses the challenges in accounting for the effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Tax Act), enacted on December 22, 2017, in the period of enactment and required companies to report provisional amounts for those specific income tax effects of the Tax Act for which the accounting is incomplete but a reasonable estimate can be determined. Provisional amounts will be subject to adjustment during a measurement period of up to one year from the enactment date. For additional information, see Note 8. Income Taxes.

In August 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which amends the hedge accounting recognition and presentation requirements

and is intended to better align hedge accounting with companies' risk management strategies. The standard eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and generally requires that the entire change in fair value of a hedging instrument be presented in the same income statement line item as the respective hedged item. The standard also modifies certain disclosure requirements. The provisions of the update are effective beginning January 1, 2019 for interim and annual periods with early adoption permitted for any interim period after issuance of the update. We elected to early adopt this guidance as of April 1, 2018. There were no hedging contracts in effect as of the date of adoption.

In March 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify and improve the reporting of net periodic pension benefit cost by requiring only present service cost to be presented in the same line item as other current employee compensation costs while remaining components of net periodic benefit cost would be presented within Other (income)/deductions—net outside of operations. We adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2018, the required effective date. The new standard did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In October 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that requires the recognition of the income tax consequences of an intra-entity asset transfer, other than inventory, when the transfer occurs as opposed to when the asset is sold to an outside third party. We adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2018, the required effective date. The new standard did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that outlines a new, single comprehensive model for companies to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers. The core principle of the new guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. We adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2018, the required effective date, using the modified retrospective adoption method. Prior period amounts have not been adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting policies. Application of the standard using the modified retrospective method did not require an adjustment to opening retained earnings. For additional information, see Note 4. Revenue.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In February 2018, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which permits companies to reclassify from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings stranded tax effects resulting from the new federal corporate income tax rate. In the period of adoption, a company may choose to either apply the amendments retrospectively to each period in which the effect of the change in federal income tax rate is recognized or to apply the amendments in that reporting period. The provisions of the update are effective beginning January 1, 2019 for interim and annual periods, with early adoption permitted for any interim period after issuance of the update. We are currently assessing the timing of our adoption and do not expect that the new standard will have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which requires lessees to recognize most leases on the balance sheet with a corresponding right of use asset. Leases will be classified as financing or operating which will drive the expense recognition pattern. For lessees, the income statement presentation and expense recognition pattern for financing and operating leases is similar to the current model for capital and operating leases, respectively. Companies may elect to exclude short-term leases. The update also requires additional disclosures that will better enable users of financial statements to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. We plan to adopt this guidance as of January 1, 2019, the required effective date, for annual and interim reporting periods. The new standard requires a modified retrospective adoption approach, at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements. We have selected a lease accounting system which we are in the process of implementing, while continuing to evaluate our lease contracts, accounting policy elections, and the impact of adoption on our consolidated financial statements. While we do not expect adoption of the standard to have a significant impact on our consolidated statements of income, the impact on the assets and liabilities within our consolidated balance sheet may be material.

Revenue Recognition, Policy

B. Revenue Accounting Policy

Below are the significant accounting policies updated as of January 1, 2018 as a result of the adoption of the new revenue recognition guidance. For additional information, see Note 3. Accounting Standards.

We recognize revenue from product sales when control of the goods has transferred to the customer, which is typically once the goods have shipped and the customer has assumed title. Revenue reflects the total consideration to which we expect to be entitled (i.e. the transaction price), in exchange for products sold, after considering various types of variable consideration including rebates, sales allowances, product returns and discounts.

Variable consideration is estimated and recorded at the time that related revenue is recognized. Our estimates reflect the amount by which we expect variable consideration to impact revenue recognized and are generally based on contractual terms or historical experience, adjusted as necessary to reflect our expectations about the future. Our customer payment terms generally range from 60 to 90 days.

Estimates of variable consideration utilize a complex series of judgments and assumptions to determine the amount by which we expect revenue to be reduced, for example;

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for sales returns, we perform calculations in each market that incorporate the following, as appropriate: local returns policies and practices; historic returns as a percentage of revenue; estimated shelf life by product; an estimate of the amount of time between shipment and return or lag time; and any other factors that could impact the estimate of future returns, product recalls, discontinuation of products or a changing competitive environment; and


•	for revenue incentives, we use our historical experience with similar incentives programs to estimate the impact of such programs on revenue for the current period.

Although the amounts recorded for these revenue deductions are dependent on estimates and assumptions, historically our adjustments to actual results have not been material. The sensitivity of our estimates can vary by program, type of customer and geographic location.

A deferral of revenue may be required in the event that we have not satisfied all customer obligations for which we have been compensated. The transaction price is allocated to the individual performance obligations on the basis of relative stand-alone selling price, which is typically based on actual sales prices. Revenue associated with unsatisfied performance obligations are contract liabilities, is recorded within Other current liabilities, and is recognized once control of the underlying products has transferred to the customer. Contract liabilities reflected within Other current liabilities as of the adoption date and subsequently recognized as revenue during the first six months of 2018 were approximately $2 million. Contract liabilities as of June 30, 2018 were approximately $3 million.

We do not disclose the transaction price allocated to unsatisfied performance obligations related to contracts with an original expected duration of one year or less, or for contracts for which we recognize revenue in line with our right to invoice the customer. Estimated future revenue expected to be generated from long-term contracts with unsatisfied performance obligations as of June 30, 2018 are not material.

Taxes collected from customers relating to product sales and remitted to governmental authorities are excluded from Revenue. Shipping and handling costs incurred after control of the purchased product has transferred to the customer are accounted for as a fulfillment cost, within Selling, general and administrative expenses.

Tax Contingencies

Our tax liabilities for uncertain tax positions relate primarily to issues common among multinational corporations. Any settlements or statute of limitations expirations could result in a significant decrease in our uncertain tax positions. Substantially all of these unrecognized tax benefits, if recognized, would impact our effective income tax rate. We do not expect that within the next twelve months any of our uncertain tax positions could significantly decrease as a result of settlements with taxing authorities or the expiration of the statutes of limitations. Our assessments are based on estimates and assumptions that have been deemed reasonable by management, but our estimates of uncertain tax positions and potential tax benefits may not be representative of actual outcomes, and any variation from such estimates could materially affect our financial statements in the period of settlement or when the statutes of limitations expire, as we treat these events as discrete items in the period of resolution. Finalizing audits with the relevant taxing authorities can include formal administrative and legal proceedings, and, as a result, it is difficult to estimate the timing and range of possible changes related to our uncertain tax positions, and such changes could be significant.

Foreign Exchange and Interest Rate Risk

Foreign Exchange Risk

A significant portion of our revenue, earnings and net investment in foreign affiliates is exposed to changes in foreign exchange rates. We seek to manage our foreign exchange risk, in part, through operational means, including managing same-currency revenue in relation to same-currency costs and same-currency assets in relation to same-currency liabilities. Depending on market conditions, foreign exchange risk is also managed through the use of various derivative financial instruments. These derivative financial instruments serve to manage the exposure of our net investment in certain foreign operations to changes in foreign exchange rates and protect net income against the impact of translation into U.S. dollars of certain foreign exchange-denominated transactions.

All derivative financial instruments used to manage foreign currency risk are measured at fair value and are reported as assets or liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. The derivative financial instruments primarily offset exposures in the Australian dollar, Brazilian real, British pound, Canadian dollar, Chinese renminbi, euro, and Norwegian krone. Changes in fair value are reported in earnings or in Accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss), depending on the nature and purpose of the financial instrument, as follows:

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For foreign exchange contracts not designated as hedging instruments, we recognize the gains and losses on forward-exchange contracts that are used to offset the same foreign currency assets or liabilities immediately into earnings along with the earnings impact of the items they generally offset. These contracts essentially take the opposite currency position of that reflected in the month-end balance sheet to counterbalance the effect of any currency movement.

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For cross-currency interest rate swaps, which are designated as a hedge against our net investment in foreign operations, changes in the fair value are deferred as a component of cumulative translation adjustment within Accumulated other comprehensive loss and reclassified into earnings when the foreign investment is sold or substantially liquidated. Gains and losses excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness are recognized in earnings (Interest expense—net of capitalized interest). The impact of the periodic exchange of interest payments is reflected within the operating section of our condensed consolidated statement of cash flows.

The aggregate notional amount of foreign exchange derivative financial instruments offsetting foreign currency exposures was $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion, as of June 30, 2018, and December 31, 2017, respectively. The vast majority of the foreign exchange derivative financial instruments mature within 60 days and all mature within 270 days. The aggregate notional amount of cross-currency interest rate swap contracts was 225 million euro as of June 30, 2018, with a term of up to seven years. We did not have any cross-currency interest rate swap contracts as of December 31, 2017.

Interest Rate Risk

The company may use interest rate swap contracts on certain investing and borrowing transactions to manage its net exposure to interest rates and to reduce its overall cost of borrowing. In anticipation of issuing fixed-rate debt, we may use forward-starting interest rate swaps that are designated as cash flow hedges to hedge against changes in interest rates that could impact expected future issuances of debt. Unrealized gains or losses on the forward-starting interest rate swaps are reported in Accumulated other comprehensive loss and are recognized in earnings over the life of the future fixed-rate notes. When the company discontinues hedge accounting because it is no longer probable that an anticipated transaction will occur within the originally expected period of execution, or within an additional two-month period thereafter, changes to fair value accumulated in other comprehensive income are recognized immediately in earnings.

Legal Proceedings

Our non-tax contingencies include, among others, the following:


•	Product liability and other product-related litigation, which can include injury, consumer, off-label promotion, antitrust and breach of contract claims.


•	Commercial and other matters, which can include product-pricing claims and environmental claims and proceedings.


•	Patent litigation, which typically involves challenges to the coverage and/or validity of our patents or those of third parties on various products or processes.


•	Government investigations, which can involve regulation by national, state and local government agencies in the United States and in other countries.

Certain of these contingencies could result in losses, including damages, fines and/or civil penalties, and/or criminal charges, which could be substantial.

We believe that we have strong defenses in these types of matters, but litigation is inherently unpredictable and excessive verdicts do occur. We do not believe that any of these matters will have a material adverse effect on our financial position. However, we could incur judgments, enter into settlements or revise our expectations regarding the outcome of certain matters, and such developments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows in the period in which the amounts are paid.

We have accrued for losses that are both probable and reasonably estimable. Substantially all of these contingencies are subject to significant uncertainties and, therefore, determining the likelihood of a loss and/or the measurement of any loss can be complex. Consequently, we are unable to estimate the range of reasonably possible loss in excess of amounts accrued. Our assessments are based on estimates and assumptions that have been deemed reasonable by management, but the assessment process relies on estimates and assumptions that may prove to be incomplete or inaccurate, and unanticipated events and circumstances may occur that might cause us to change those estimates and assumptions.

Amounts recorded for legal and environmental contingencies can result from a complex series of judgments about future events and uncertainties and can rely on estimates and assumptions.

The principal matters to which we are a party are discussed below. In determining whether a pending matter is significant for financial reporting and disclosure purposes, we consider both quantitative and qualitative factors in order to assess materiality, such as, among other things, the amount of damages and the nature of any other relief sought in the proceeding, if such damages and other relief are specified; our view of the merits of the claims and of the strength of our defenses; whether the action purports to be a class action and our view of the likelihood that a class will be certified by the court; the jurisdiction in which the proceeding is pending; any experience that we or, to our knowledge, other companies have had in similar proceedings; whether disclosure of the action would be important to a reader of our financial statements, including whether disclosure might change a reader’s judgment about our financial statements in light of all of the information about the company that is available to the reader; the potential impact of the proceeding on our reputation; and the extent of public interest in the matter. In addition, with respect to patent matters, we consider, among other things, the financial significance of the product protected by the patent.

Guarantees and Indemnifications

In the ordinary course of business and in connection with the sale of assets and businesses, we indemnify our counterparties against certain liabilities that may arise in connection with the transaction or related to activities prior to the transaction. These indemnifications typically pertain to environmental, tax, employee and/or product-related matters and patent-infringement claims. If the indemnified party were to make a successful claim pursuant to the terms of the indemnification, we would be required to reimburse the loss. These indemnifications are generally subject to threshold amounts, specified claim periods and other restrictions and limitations. Historically, we have not paid significant amounts under these provisions and, as of June 30, 2018, recorded amounts for the estimated fair value of these indemnifications were not significant.

Segment Information

Operating Segments

We manage our operations through two geographic operating segments: the United States and International. Each operating segment has responsibility for its commercial activities. Within each of these operating segments, we offer a diversified product portfolio, including vaccines, parasiticides, anti-infectives, medicated feed additives and other pharmaceuticals, for both livestock and companion animal customers. Our chief operating decision maker uses the revenue and earnings of the two operating segments, among other factors, for performance evaluation and resource allocation.

In the first quarter of 2018, the company realigned certain management responsibilities. These changes did not impact the determination of our operating segments, however they resulted in the reallocation of certain costs between segments. These changes primarily include the following: (i) R&D costs related to our aquaculture business which were previously reported in Other business activities are now reported in the international commercial segment results, and (ii) certain other miscellaneous costs which were previously reported in Corporate are now reported in the international commercial segment results.

Other Costs and Business Activities

Certain costs are not allocated to our operating segment results, such as costs associated with the following:

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Other business activities includes our Client Supply Services (CSS) contract manufacturing results, as well as expenses associated with our dedicated veterinary medicine research and development organization, research alliances, U.S. regulatory affairs, and other operations focused on the development of our products. Other R&D-related costs associated with our aquaculture business and non-U.S. market and regulatory activities are generally included in the international commercial segment.


•	Corporate, which is responsible for platform functions such as business technology, facilities, legal, finance, human resources, business development, and communications, among others. These costs also include compensation costs, certain procurement costs, and other miscellaneous operating expenses not charged to our operating segments, as well as interest income and expense.

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Certain transactions and events such as (i) Purchase accounting adjustments, where we incur expenses associated with the amortization of fair value adjustments to inventory, intangible assets and property, plant and equipment; (ii) Acquisition-related activities, where we incur costs associated with acquiring and integrating newly acquired businesses, such as transaction costs and integration costs; and (iii) Certain significant items, which comprise substantive, unusual items that, either as a result of their nature or size, would not be expected to occur as part of our normal business on a regular basis, such as certain costs related to becoming an independent public company, restructuring charges and implementation costs associated with our cost-reduction/productivity initiatives that are not associated with an acquisition, certain asset impairment charges, certain legal and commercial settlements and the impact of divestiture-related gains and losses.


•	Other unallocated includes (i) certain overhead expenses associated with our global manufacturing operations not charged to our operating segments; (ii) certain costs associated with business technology and finance that specifically support our global manufacturing operations; (iii) certain supply chain and global logistics costs; and (iv) certain procurement costs.

Segment Assets

We manage our assets on a total company basis, not by operating segment. Therefore, our chief operating decision maker does not regularly review any asset information by operating segment and, accordingly, we do not report asset information by operating segment.