NOTE 13 — DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS
In the ordinary course of business, the Company is exposed to movements in foreign currency exchange rates. The Company’s foreign currency risk management objective is to protect earnings and cash flows from the impact of exchange rate changes primarily through the use of foreign currency forward contracts to hedge both intercompany and third party loans, accounts receivable and accounts payable. These derivatives are not designated as hedging instruments.
The Company employs established policies and procedures to manage the exposure to fluctuations in the value of foreign currencies. It is the Company’s policy to utilize financial instruments to reduce risks where internal netting cannot be effectively employed. Additionally, the Company does not enter into derivative instruments for speculative or trading purposes.
The Company’s foreign currency exposure relates primarily to international transactions in Europe, Canada and Latin America, where the currency collected from customers can be different from the currency used to purchase the product. The Company’s transactions in its foreign operations are denominated primarily in the following currencies: U.S. dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, Chilean peso, Czech koruna, Danish krone, euro, Mexican peso, Norwegian krone, Peruvian new sol, Polish zloty, Romanian leu, Swedish krona and Swiss franc.
The Company considers inventory as an economic hedge against foreign currency exposure in accounts payable in certain circumstances. This practice offsets such inventory against corresponding accounts payable denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of the subsidiary buying the inventory, when determining the net exposure to be hedged using traditional forward contracts. Under this strategy, the Company would expect to increase or decrease selling prices for product purchased in foreign currencies based on fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates affecting the underlying accounts payable. To the extent the Company incurs a foreign currency exchange loss (gain) on the underlying accounts payable denominated in the foreign currency, a corresponding increase (decrease) in cost of products sold would be expected as the related inventory is sold. This strategy can result in a certain degree of quarterly earnings volatility as the underlying accounts payable is remeasured using the foreign currency exchange rate prevailing at the end of each period, or settlement date if earlier, whereas the corresponding increase (decrease) in cost of products sold is not realized until the related inventory is sold.
The Company classifies foreign currency exchange gains and losses on its derivative instruments used to manage its exposures to foreign currency denominated accounts receivable and accounts payable as a component of “cost of products sold” which is consistent with the classification of the change in fair value upon remeasurement of the underlying hedged accounts receivable or accounts payable. The Company classifies foreign currency exchange gains and losses on its derivative instruments used to manage its exposures to foreign currency denominated financing transactions as a component of “other expense (income), net” which is consistent with the classification of the change in fair value upon remeasurement of the underlying hedged loans. The total amount recognized in earnings on the Company’s foreign currency forward contracts, which is included as a component of either “cost of products sold” or “other expense (income), net”, was a net foreign currency exchange loss of $13.1 million, $8.7 million and $4.7 million, respectively, for the fiscal years ended January 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011. The gains and losses on the Company’s foreign currency forward contracts are largely offset by the change in the fair value of the underlying hedged assets or liabilities. The Company’s foreign currency forward contracts are also discussed in Note 12 – Fair Value Measurements.
The notional amount of forward exchange contracts is the amount of foreign currency to be bought or sold at maturity. Notional amounts are indicative of the extent of the Company’s involvement in the various types and uses of derivative financial instruments and are not a measure of the Company’s exposure to credit or market risks through its use of derivatives. The estimated fair value of derivative financial instruments represents the amount required to enter into similar offsetting contracts with similar remaining maturities based on quoted market prices.
The Company’s monthly average notional amounts of derivative financial instruments outstanding during the fiscal years ended January 31, 2013 and 2012 are $1.8 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, with average maturities of 27 days and 37 days, respectively. As discussed above, under the Company’s hedging policies, gains and losses on the derivative financial instruments would be expected to be largely offset by the gains and losses on the underlying assets or liabilities being hedged.
The Company’s foreign currency forward contracts are also discussed in Note 12 – Fair Value Measurements.
