Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
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Our exposure to market risk primarily consists of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations related to our international operations and changes in interest rates on debt obligations. We manage such risk primarily by managing the amount, sources, and duration of our debt funding and by using derivative financial instruments. We apply the “Derivatives and Hedging” Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) (Topic 815) when accounting for derivative financial instruments. In all cases, we view derivative financial instruments as a risk management tool and, accordingly, do not use derivatives for trading or speculative purposes.
Exchange Rates
Our foreign operations expose us to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. These fluctuations may impact the value of our cash receipts and payments in terms of our functional (reporting) currency, which is U.S. dollars. See the discussion of international operations, which is included in Item 7. “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” under the caption “International Operations” and is incorporated by reference herein.
Interest Rates
We manage our interest expense by using a combination of fixed and variable rate debt. We enter into interest rate swap agreements to attempt to hedge the variability of future interest payments due to changes in interest rates. See discussion of our interest rate swap agreements, which is included in Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” under the caption “Indebtedness-Interest Rate Swap Agreements” and is incorporated by reference herein.
The estimated fair value of our senior term loans was approximately $199.9 million at December 31, 2017. Based on dealers’ quotes, the estimated fair values of our 5.00% senior notes, 4.875% senior notes and 5.25% senior notes were $823.8 million, $645.7 million and $468.0 million, respectively, at December 31, 2017.
As of December 31, 2017, our outstanding gross variable rate debt was $200.0 million and we had interest rate swap agreements in place for a like amount in order to hedge the variability of future interest payments due. As such, we have not utilized sensitivity analyses to assess the potential effect of a rise in interest rates on our variable rate debt as the impact would be minimal.
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