Derivative Instruments And Hedging Activities

9 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

General Discussion of Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities [Abstract]

Derivative Instruments And Hedging Activities

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

The Company manages its exposure to changes in market interest rates. The Company’s involvement with derivative instruments is limited to highly effective interest rate swap agreements used to manage well-defined interest rate risk exposures and treasury rate lock agreements used to fix the interest rate related to forecasted debt issuances. The Company monitors its positions and credit ratings of its counterparties and does not anticipate non-performance by the counterparties. Interest rate swap and treasury rate lock agreements are not entered into for trading purposes. The Company recognizes derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities at fair value on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. At December 31, 2011, the Company was party to a total of five interest rate swap agreements with an aggregate notional amount of $300 million.

Cash Flow Hedges

The Company previously designated fixed interest rate swap agreements as cash flow hedges of interest payments on certain of the Company’s variable-rate debt instruments. For derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative is reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) and is reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. Gains and losses on the derivative instruments representing hedge ineffectiveness are recognized in current earnings.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2010, the fair value of the liability for the fixed interest rate swap agreements decreased and the Company recorded a corresponding adjustment to AOCI of $4.0 million, or $2.7 million after tax. The amount of gain or loss recorded in current earnings as a result of hedge ineffectiveness related to the designated cash flow hedges was immaterial for the nine months ended December 31, 2010.

At December 31, 2011 and 2010, the Company was not party to any fixed interest rate swap agreements.

In anticipation of the issuance of the 2015 Notes, the Company entered into a treasury rate lock agreement in July 2010 with a notional amount of $100 million that matured in September 2010. The treasury rate lock agreement was designated as a cash flow hedge of the semi-annual interest payments associated with the forecasted issuance of the 2015 Notes. When the treasury rate lock agreement matured, the Company realized a loss of $2.6 million ($1.6 million after tax) which was reported as a component within AOCI and will be reclassified into earnings over the term of the 2015 Notes. For the nine months endedDecember 31, 2011, $388 thousand of the loss on the treasury rate lock was reclassified to interest expense. At December 31, 2011, the estimated loss recorded in AOCI on the treasury rate lock agreement that is expected to be reclassified into earnings within the next twelve months is $518 thousand ($326 thousand after tax).

Fair Value Hedges

The Company also has variable interest rate swap agreements, which are designated as fair value hedges. For derivative instruments designated as fair value hedges, the gain or loss on the derivative as well as the offsetting gain or loss on the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk are recognized in current earnings.

At December 31, 2011, the Company had five variable interest rate swaps outstanding with a notional amount of $300 million. These variable interest rates swaps effectively convert the Company’s $300 million of fixed rate 2013 Notes to variable rate debt. At December 31, 2011, these swap agreements required the Company to make variable interest payments based on a weighted average forward rate of 1.49% and receive fixed interest payments from the counterparties based on a fixed rate of 2.85%. The maturity of these fair value swaps coincides with the maturity date of the Company’s 2013 Notes in October 2013. During the nine months ended December 31, 2011, the fair value of the variable interest rate swaps increased by $2.0 million to an asset of $7.0 million and was recorded in other non-current assets. The corresponding increase in the carrying value of the 2013 Notes caused by the hedged risk was $1.5 million and was recorded in long-term debt. The Company records the gain or loss on the hedged item (i.e., the 2013 Notes) and the gain or loss on the variable interest rate swaps in interest expense. The net gain or loss recorded in earnings as a result of hedge ineffectiveness related to the designated fair value hedges was immaterial for the nine months ended December 31, 2011 and 2010.

Tabular Disclosure

The following tables reflect the fair values of derivative instruments on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets as well as the effect of derivative instruments on the Company’s earnings and stockholders’ equity.

Fair Value of Derivatives Designated as Hedging Instruments

	December 31, 2011			March 31, 2011
(In thousands)	Balance Sheet Location	Fair Value		Balance Sheet Location	Fair Value
Interest rate swaps:
Variable interest rate swaps	Other non-current assets	$	7,037	Other non-current assets	$	5,086

Effect of Derivative Instruments on Earnings and Stockholders’ Equity

	Amount of Gain Recognized in OCI on Derivatives
(In thousands)	Nine Months Ended December 31,
Derivatives in Cash Flow Hedging Relationships	2011			2010
Interest rate contracts	$	388		$	1,504
Tax effect	(144		)	(396		)
Net effect	$	244		$	1,108

	Amount of Loss Reclassified from AOCI into Pre-tax Income
(In thousands)	Nine Months Ended December 31,
Location of Loss Reclassified from AOCI into Pre-tax Income for Derivatives in Cash Flow Hedging Relationships	2011		2010
Interest expense, net	$	388	$	4,113

	Location of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Pre-tax Income	Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Pre-tax Income
(In thousands)		Nine Months Ended December 31,
Derivatives in Fair Value Hedging Relationships		2011			2010
Change in fair value of variable interest rate swaps	Interest expense, net	$	1,951		$	7,074
Change in carrying value of 2013 Notes	Interest expense, net	(1,485		)	(7,120		)
Net effect	Interest expense, net	$	466		$	(46	)