Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Long-term Debt and Lease Obligation [Abstract]

Long-term debt, principally to banks and noteholders, consists of:


(in thousands, except interest rates)	2021		2020
Revolving credit agreement with borrowings outstanding at an end of period interest rate of 3.74% in 2021 and 3.50% in 2020 (including the effect of interest rate hedging transactions, as described below), due in 2024	$	350,000	$	398,000
Other debt, at an average end of period rate of 5.50% in both 2021 and 2020, final payment was made on April 20, 2021	—		9
Long-term debt	350,000		398,009
Less: current portion	—		(9)
Long-term debt, net of current portion	$	350,000	$	398,000

Principal payments of $350 million are due on long-term debt in 2024. Cash payments of interest amounted to $14.9 million in 2021, $15.1 million in 2020 and $17.4 million in 2019.

On October 27, 2020, we entered into a $700 million unsecured Four-Year Revolving Credit Facility Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) which amended and restated the prior amended and restated $685 million Five-Year Revolving Credit Facility Agreement, which we had entered into on November 7, 2017 (the “Prior Agreement”). Under the Credit Agreement, $350 million of borrowings were outstanding as of December 31, 2021. The applicable interest rate for borrowings was LIBOR plus a spread, based on our leverage ratio at the time of borrowing. At the time of the last borrowing on December 16, 2021, the spread was 1.625%. The spread was based on a pricing grid, which ranged from 1.500% to 2.000%, based on our leverage ratio. Based on our maximum leverage ratio and our Consolidated EBITDA, and without modification to any other credit agreements, as of December 31, 2021, we would have been able to borrow an additional $350 million under the Agreement.

The Credit Agreement contains customary terms, as well as affirmative covenants, negative covenants and events of default that are comparable to those in the Prior Agreement. The Borrowings are guaranteed by certain of the Company’s subsidiaries.

Our ability to borrow additional amounts under the Credit Agreement is conditional upon the absence of any defaults, as well as the absence of any material adverse change (as defined in the Credit Agreement).

On June 14, 2021, we entered into interest rate swap agreements for the period October 17, 2022 through October 27, 2024. These transactions have the effect of fixing the LIBOR portion of the effective interest rate (before addition of the spread) on $350 million of indebtedness drawn under the Credit Agreement at the rate of 0.838% during the period. Under the terms of these transactions, we pay the fixed rate of 0.838% and the counterparties pay a floating rate based on the one-month LIBOR rate at each monthly calculation date, which on December 16, 2021 was 0.11%.

On November 27, 2017, we terminated our interest rate swap agreements, originally entered into on May 9, 2016, that had effectively fixed the interest rate on $300 million of revolving credit borrowings, in order to enter into a new interest rate swap with a greater notional amount, and the same maturity as the Credit Agreement. We received $6.3 million when the swap agreements were terminated and that payment was amortized into interest expense through March 2021.

On November 28, 2017, we entered into interest rate swap agreements for the period December 18, 2017 through October 17, 2022. These transactions have the effect of fixing the LIBOR portion of the effective interest rate (before addition of the spread) on $350 million of indebtedness drawn under the Credit Agreement at the rate of 2.11% during the period. Under the terms of these transactions, we pay the fixed rate of 2.11% and the counterparties pay a floating rate based on the one-month LIBOR rate at each monthly calculation date, which on December 16, 2021 was 0.11%, during the swap period. On December 16, 2021, the all-in-rate on the $350 million of debt was 3.735%.

These interest rate swaps are accounted for as a hedge of future cash flows, as further described in Note 18. No cash collateral was received or pledged in relation to the swap agreements.

Under the Credit Agreement, we are currently required to maintain a leverage ratio (as defined in the agreement) of not greater than 3.50 and minimum interest coverage (as defined) of 3.00.

As of December 31, 2021, our leverage ratio was 1.04 and our interest coverage ratio was 14.69. We may purchase our Common Stock or pay dividends to the extent our leverage ratio remains at or below 3.50, and may make acquisitions with cash provided our leverage ratio does not exceed the limits noted above.

Indebtedness under the Credit Agreement is ranked equally in right of payment to all unsecured senior debt. We were in compliance with all debt covenants as of December 31, 2021.

Currently, our Credit Agreement and certain of our derivative instruments reference one-month USD LIBOR-based rates, which are set to discontinue after June 30, 2023. Regulators in the U.S. and other jurisdictions have been working to replace these rates with alternative reference interest rates that are supported by transactions in liquid and observable markets, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) for USD LIBOR. Our Credit Agreement contains provisions specifying alternative interest rate calculations to be employed when LIBOR ceases to be available as a benchmark and we have adhered to the ISDA IBOR Fallbacks Protocol, which will govern our derivatives upon the final cessation of USD LIBOR. ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform, helps limit the accounting impact from contract modifications, including hedging relationships, due to the transition from LIBOR to alternative reference rates that are completed by December 31, 2022. We adopted certain provisions of ASU 2020-04 during 2021. While we currently do not expect a significant impact to our operating results, financial position or cash flows from the transition from LIBOR to alternative reference interest rates, we will continue to monitor the impact of this transition until it is completed.