Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

6K characters. Original on sec.gov · Markdown

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Market risk refers to the risk that a change in the level of one or more market prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates, indices, correlations or other market factors, such as liquidity, will result in losses for a certain financial instrument or group of financial instruments. We are exposed to certain market risks, primarily from fluctuations in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. Our senior management actively monitors these risks.

Interest Rate Risk

In addition to existing cash balances and cash provided by operating activities, we use a combination of fixed- and variable-rate debt instruments to finance our operations. We are exposed to interest rate risk on certain of these debt obligations. We had fixed- and variable-rate debt, excluding finance leases and other financing obligations, with varying maturities for an aggregate carrying amount of $18.3 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively, at December 31, 2020. Our fixed-rate debt at December 31, 2020 primarily consisted of fixed-rate senior notes with a fair value of $20.7 million, based on matrix pricing which considers readily observable inputs of comparable securities. The potential change in fair value of our fixed-rate senior notes from a hypothetical 1% change in market interest rates would not alone impact any decisions to repurchase our outstanding fixed-rate debt instruments before their maturity. Our variable-rate debt at December 31, 2020 primarily consisted of outstanding borrowings on our revolving credit facility, variable rate term loan, foreign lines of credit and debt associated with the receivables securitization agreement. Based on our outstanding debt balances and interest rates at December 31, 2020, a hypothetical 1% increase in market interest rates related to our variable-rate debt would increase annual interest expense by approximately $18 million. This sensitivity analysis assumes the outstanding debt balances at December 31, 2020 and the change in market interest rates is applicable for an entire year.

In connection with processing electronic payments transactions, the funds we receive from subscribers are invested into short-term, highly liquid investments from the time we collect the funds until payments are made to the applicable recipients. Fluctuations in market interest rates affect the interest-related income that we earn on these investments. A hypothetical 1% decrease in market interest rates would decrease annual interest-related income related to settlement assets by approximately

$30 million over the next twelve months. This sensitivity analysis assumes the subscriber fund balances at December 31, 2020 and the change in market interest rates is applicable for an entire year.

Foreign Currency Risk

We conduct business globally and are exposed to foreign currency risk from changes in the value of underlying assets and liabilities of our non-U.S. dollar-denominated foreign investments and foreign currency transactions. We manage the exposure to these risks through the use of foreign currency forward exchange contracts and non-derivative net investment hedges.

Our exposure to foreign currency exchange risks generally arise from our non-U.S. operations to the extent they are conducted in local currency. Approximately 13% and 12% of our total revenue was generated outside the U.S in 2020 and 2019, respectively. The major currencies to which our revenues are exposed are the Euro, the British Pound, the Indian Rupee and the Argentine Peso. A strengthening or weakening of the U.S. dollar relative to the currencies in which our revenue and profits are denominated by 10% would have resulted in a decrease or increase , respectively, in our reported pre-tax income as follows at December 31:

(In millions)20202019
Euro$7$7
British Pound34
Indian Rupee23
Argentine Peso32
Other59
Total increase or decrease$20$25

We have entered into foreign currency forward exchange contracts, which have been designated as cash flow hedges, to hedge foreign currency exposure to our operating costs in India. At December 31, 2020, the notional amount of these derivatives was approximately $259 million, with a positive fair value of $9 million. In addition, we designated our foreign currency-denominated senior notes as net investment hedges to reduce exposure to changes in the value of our net investments in certain foreign subsidiaries due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Refer to Item 1A in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for an additional discussion of risks and potential risks of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business.

Previous: Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations · Next: Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data