Principles of Consolidation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure

Principles of Consolidation and Nature of Operations

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of NACCO Industries, Inc. (the parent company or “NACCO”) and its wholly owned subsidiaries (“NACCO Industries, Inc. and Subsidiaries” or the “Company”). Intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation. Also included is Shanghai Hyster Forklift Ltd., a 75% owned joint venture of NMHG Holding Co. (“NMHG”) in China. The Company's subsidiaries operate in the following principal industries: lift trucks, small appliances, specialty retail and mining. The Company manages its subsidiaries primarily by industry.

NMHG designs, engineers, manufactures, sells and services a comprehensive line of lift trucks and aftermarket parts marketed globally primarily under the Hyster^® and Yale^® brand names, mainly to independent Hyster^® and Yale^® retail dealerships. Lift trucks and component parts are manufactured in the United States, Northern Ireland, Mexico, The Netherlands, the Philippines, Italy, Japan, Vietnam, Brazil and China. The sale of service parts represents approximately 13%, 17% and 18% of total NMHG revenues as reported for 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. (“HBB”) is a leading designer, marketer and distributor of small electric household appliances, as well as commercial products for restaurants, bars and hotels. The Kitchen Collection, LLC (“KC”) is a national specialty retailer of kitchenware and gourmet foods operating under the Kitchen Collection^® and Le Gourmet Chef^® store names in outlet and traditional malls throughout the United States. The North American Coal Corporation and its affiliated coal companies (collectively, “NACoal”) mine and market coal primarily as fuel for power generation and provide selected value-added mining services for other natural resources companies.

Nine of NACoal's wholly owned subsidiaries each meet the definition of a variable interest entity: The Coteau Properties Company ("Coteau"); The Falkirk Mining Company ("Falkirk"); The Sabine Mining Company ("Sabine" and collectively with Coteau and Falkirk, the "project mining subsidiaries"); Demery Resources Company, LLC (“Demery”); Caddo Creek Resources Company, LLC (“Caddo Creek”); Camino Real Fuels, LLC (“Camino Real”); Liberty Fuels Company, LLC (“Liberty”); NoDak Energy Services, LLC ("NoDak"); and North American Coal Corporation India Private Limited ("NACC India"). The project mining subsidiaries were developed between 1974 and 1981 and operate lignite coal mines under long-term contracts with various utility customers. These project mining subsidiaries are capitalized primarily with debt financing, which the utility customers have arranged and guaranteed. The obligations of the project mining subsidiaries are without recourse to NACCO and NACoal. Demery, Caddo Creek, Camino Real, Liberty and NoDak were formed during 2008 and 2009. NACC India was formed during 2011. Demery, Caddo Creek, Camino Real and Liberty (collectively with the project mining subsidiaries, the "unconsolidated mines") were formed to develop, construct and operate surface mines under long-term contracts. NoDak was formed to operate and maintain a coal processing facility. NACC India was formed to provide technical advisory services to the third-party owners of a coal mine in India. The contracts with the unconsolidated operations' customers provide for reimbursement at a price based on actual costs plus an agreed pre-tax profit per ton of coal sold or actual costs plus a management fee. Although NACoal owns 100% of the equity and manages the daily operations of these entities, the Company has determined that the equity capital provided by NACoal is not sufficient to adequately finance the ongoing activities or absorb any expected losses without additional support from the customers. The customers have a controlling financial interest and have the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect the economic performance of the entities. As a result, NACoal is not the primary beneficiary and therefore does not consolidate these entities' financial position or results of operations. The taxes resulting from the earnings of the unconsolidated mines and NoDak are solely the responsibility of the Company. The pre-tax income from the seven unconsolidated mines is reported on the line “Earnings of unconsolidated mines” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations, with related taxes included in the provision for income taxes. The Company has included the pre-tax earnings of the unconsolidated mines above operating profit as they are an integral component of the Company's business and operating results. The pre-tax income from NoDak is reported on the line "Other" in the "Other (income) expense" section of the Consolidated Statement of Operations, with the related income taxes included in the provision for income taxes. The net income from NACC India is reported on the line "Other" in the "Other (income) expense" section of the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The unconsolidated mines are accounted for under the equity method. See Note 22 for further discussion.

Investments in Sumitomo-NACCO Materials Handling Company, Ltd. (“SN”), a 50% owned joint venture, and NMHG Financial Services, Inc. (“NFS”), a 20% owned joint venture, are also accounted for by the equity method. SN operates manufacturing facilities in Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam from which NMHG purchases certain components and internal combustion lift trucks. Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. owns the remaining 50% interest in SN. Each shareholder of SN is entitled to appoint directors representing 50% of the vote of SN's board of directors. All matters related to policies and programs of operation, manufacturing and sales activities require mutual agreement between NMHG and Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. prior to a vote of SN's board of directors. NFS is a joint venture with General Electric Capital Corporation (“GECC”), formed primarily for the purpose of providing financial services to independent Hyster^® and Yale^® lift truck dealers and National Account customers in the United States. National Account customers are large customers with centralized purchasing and geographically dispersed operations in multiple dealer territories. See Note 22 for further discussion.