Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Hubbell Incorporated (“Hubbell”, the “Company”, “registrant”, “we”, “our” or “us”, which references include its divisions and subsidiaries) have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by United States of America (“U.S.”) GAAP for audited financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments consisting only of normal recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair statement of the results of the periods presented have been included. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2019.

The balance sheet at December 31, 2018 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. for complete financial statements.

For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Hubbell Incorporated Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Leases

Leases

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU 2016-02) related to the accounting and financial statement presentation for leases. This new guidance requires a lessee to recognize right-of-use ("ROU") assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet, with an election to exempt leases with a term of twelve months or less. For those leases classified as operating leases, the lessee will recognize a straight-line lease expense, and for those leases classified as financing leases, the lessee will recognize interest expense and amortize the ROU asset.

The Company adopted the requirements of the new standard as of January 1, 2019 and applied the modified retrospective approach, whereby the cumulative effect of adoption is recognized as of the date of adoption and comparative prior periods are not retrospectively adjusted. As a result, upon adoption, we have recognized ROU assets of $109.3 million and lease liabilities of $109.3 million associated with our operating leases. The standard had no material impact to retained earnings or on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income or Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

We determine if an arrangement is a lease at inception. Operating leases are included as ROU assets within other long-term assets, other accrued liabilities, and other non-current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets. Finance leases are included in property and equipment, other accrued liabilities, and other non-current liabilities. The Company's finance leases are immaterial.

ROU assets represent our right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent our obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. As most of our leases do not provide an implicit rate, we use our incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. We use the implicit rate when readily determinable. For leases existing as of January 1, 2019 we have elected to use the remaining lease term as of the adoption date in determining the incremental borrowing rate. Our determination of the lease term may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option.

We have lease agreements with lease and non-lease components, which are generally accounted for separately. Additionally, for our vehicle leases, we apply a portfolio approach regarding the assumed lease term.

We have elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance within the new standard, which among other things, allows us to carryforward the historical lease classification. We also elected a practical expedient to determine the reasonably certain lease term.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2018, the FASB issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU 2018-02) providing guidance on reclassifying certain tax effects in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (“AOCI”) following the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017 ("TCJA") and a reduction of the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. Specifically, the guidance permits a reclassification to retained earnings of the stranded tax effects in AOCI resulting from a revaluation of deferred taxes to the lower tax rate. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 including interim periods within those annual periods. The stranded tax effects relate primarily to pension and other employee benefit plans and absent the ASU, the Company’s policy is to release stranded tax effects upon plan termination. The Company elected to reclassify these stranded tax effects in the first quarter of 2019, with the effect of decreasing AOCI and increasing retained earnings by approximately $30.0 million.

In January 2017, the FASB issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU 2017-04) “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment.” ASU 2017-04 eliminates step two of the goodwill impairment test and specifies that goodwill impairment should be measured by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. Additionally, the amount of goodwill allocated to each reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount of net assets should be disclosed. ASU 2017-04 is effective for annual or interim goodwill impairment tests performed in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, although early adoption is permitted. The Company elected to early adopt this standard in the first quarter of 2019. The adoption of this standard had no material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In August 2017, The FASB issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU 2017-12), "Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities". The standard requires certain changes in the presentation of hedge accounting in the financial statements and some new or modified disclosures. ASU 2017-12 is effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company adopted the standard during the first quarter of 2019, with no material impact to the consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU 2018-15) "Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract", which clarifies the accounting for implementation costs in cloud computing arrangements. ASU 2018-15 is effective in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact of adopting this standard on its consolidated financial statements.