FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Fair Value Of Financial Instruments [Abstract]

9. FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Forward Foreign Exchange and Currency Option Contracts

The Corporation has foreign currency exposure primarily in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada. The Corporation uses financial instruments, such as forward and option contracts, to hedge a portion of existing and anticipated foreign currency denominated transactions. The purpose of the Corporation’s foreign currency risk management program is to reduce volatility in earnings caused by exchange rate fluctuations. Guidance on accounting for derivative instruments and hedging activities requires companies to recognize all of the derivative financial instruments as either assets or liabilities at fair value in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Interest Rate Risks and Related Strategies

The Corporation’s primary interest rate exposure results from changes in U.S. dollar interest rates. The Corporation’s policy is to manage interest cost using a mix of fixed and variable rate debt. The Corporation periodically uses interest rate swaps to manage such exposures. Under these interest rate swaps, the Corporation exchanges, at specified intervals, the difference between fixed and floating interest amounts calculated by reference to an agreed-upon notional principal amount.

For interest rate swaps designated as fair value hedges (i.e., hedges against the exposure to changes in the fair value of an asset or a liability or an identified portion thereof that is attributable to a particular risk), changes in the fair value of the interest rate swaps offset changes in the fair value of the fixed rate debt due to changes in market interest rates.

In March 2013, the Corporation entered into fixed-to-floating interest rate swap agreements to convert the interest payments of (i) the $100 million, 3.85% notes, due February 26, 2025, from a fixed rate to a floating interest rate based on 1-Month LIBOR plus a 1.77% spread, and (ii) the $75 million, 4.05% notes, due February 26, 2028, from a fixed rate to a floating interest rate based on 1-Month LIBOR plus a 1.73% spread.

In January 2012, the Corporation entered into fixed-to-floating interest rate swap agreements to convert the interest payments of (i) the $200 million, 4.24% notes, due December 1, 2026, from a fixed rate to a floating interest rate based on 1-Month LIBOR plus a 2.02% spread, and (ii) $25 million of the $100 million, 3.84% notes, due December 1, 2021, from a fixed rate to a floating interest rate based on 1-Month LIBOR plus a 1.90% spread.

The notional amounts of the Corporation’s outstanding interest rate swaps designated as fair value hedges were $400 million at December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013.

The fair value accounting guidance requires that assets and liabilities carried at fair value be classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:

Level 1: Quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the company has the ability to access.

Level 2: Observable market based inputs or unobservable inputs that are corroborated by market data such as quoted prices, interest rates, and yield curves.

Level 3: Inputs are unobservable data points that are not corroborated by market data.

Based upon the fair value hierarchy, all of the forward foreign exchange contracts and interest rate swaps are valued at a Level 2.

Effects on Consolidated Balance Sheets

The location and amounts of derivative instrument fair values in the consolidated balance sheet are below.



	December 31,
(In thousands)	2014		2013
Assets
Undesignated for hedge accounting
Forward exchange contracts	$	605	$	605
Total asset derivatives⁽¹⁾	$	605	$	605
Liabilities
Designated for hedge accounting
Interest rate swaps	$	5,121	$	49,845
Undesignated for hedge accounting
Forward exchange contracts	$	676	$	277
Total liability derivatives ⁽²⁾	$	5,797	$	50,122

⁽¹⁾ Forward exchange derivatives are included in Other current assets and interest rate swap assets are included in Other assets.

⁽²⁾ Forward exchange derivatives are included in Other current liabilities and interest rate swap liabilities are included in Other liabilities.

Effects on Consolidated Statements of Earnings

Fair value hedge

The location and amount of gains or losses on the hedged fixed rate debt attributable to changes in the market interest rates and the offsetting gain (loss) on the related interest rate swaps for the years ended December 31, were as follows:



	Gain/(Loss) on Swap								Gain/(Loss) on Borrowings
(In thousands)	2014		2013			2012			2014			2013		2012
Income statement classification:
Other income (loss), net	$	44,724	$	(49,845	)	$	(742	)	$	(44,724	)	$	49,845	$	742

Undesignated hedges

The location and amount of gains and (losses) recognized in income on forward exchange derivative contracts not designated for hedge accounting for the years ended December 31, were as follows:



(In thousands)	2014			2013			2012
Forward exchange contracts:
General and administrative expenses	$	(6,880	)	$	(6,198	)	$	883

Debt

The estimated fair value amounts were determined by the Corporation using available market information, which is primarily based on quoted market prices for the same or similar issues as of December 31, 2014. The fair value of our debt instruments are characterized as a Level 2 measurement in accordance with the fair value hierarchy. The estimated fair values of the Corporation’s fixed rate debt instruments at December 31, 2014, aggregated $959 million compared to a carrying value of $945 million. The estimated fair values of the Corporation’s fixed rate debt instruments at December 31, 2013, aggregated $887 million compared to a carrying value of $900 million.

The carrying amount of the variable interest rate debt approximates fair value because the interest rates are reset periodically to reflect current market conditions.

The fair values described above may not be indicative of net realizable value or reflective of future fair values. Furthermore, the use of different methodologies to determine the fair value of certain financial instruments could result in a different estimate of fair value at the reporting date.

Nonrecurring measurements

As discussed in Note 2. Discontinued Operations and Assets Held For Sale, the Corporation classified certain businesses as held for sale during the third quarter. In accordance with the provisions of the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets guidance of FASB Codification Subtopic 360-10, the carrying amount of the disposal groups were written down to their estimated fair value, less costs to sell. For the year ended December 31, 2014, an impairment charge of $41.4 million was recorded in loss from discontinued operations. The fair value of the disposal groups were determined primarily by using non-binding quotes. In accordance with the fair value hierarchy, the impairment charges recorded were classified as a Level 3 measurement as it is based on significant other unobservable inputs.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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