Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Interest Rate Risk
As of December 31, 2018, we have $5.3 billion of long-term debt, including the current portion of long-term debt, which is primarily priced at long-term, fixed interest rates. Interest on the $400 million Term Loan is variable and indexed to LIBOR. In addition, we have a subsidiary that has variable interest loans denominated in Chilean Peso.
Foreign Currency Risk
We are exposed to foreign currency risk as a result of buying and selling in various currencies, our net investments in foreign entities, and monetary assets and liabilities denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the legal entity holding the instrument. We use financial instruments to reduce our overall exposure to the effects of currency fluctuations on cash flows. Our policy prohibits speculation in financial instruments for profit on exchange rate price fluctuations, trading in currencies for which there are no underlying exposures, or entering into transactions for any currency to intentionally increase the underlying exposure.
Our strategy related to foreign exchange exposure management is to offset the gains or losses on the financial instruments against losses or gains on the underlying operational cash flows, net investments or monetary assets and liabilities based on our assessment of risk. We enter into derivative contracts for some of our non-functional currency cash, receivables, and payables, which are primarily denominated in major currencies that can be traded on open markets. We typically use forward contracts and options to hedge these currency exposures. In addition, we enter into derivative contracts for some forecasted transactions or net investments in some of our overseas entities, which are designated as part of a hedging relationship if it is determined that the transaction qualifies for hedge accounting under the provisions of the authoritative accounting guidance for derivative instruments and hedging activities. A portion of our exposure is from currencies that are not traded in liquid markets and these are addressed, to the extent reasonably possible, by managing net asset positions, product pricing and component sourcing.
At December 31, 2018, we had outstanding foreign exchange contracts totaling $819 million, compared to $507 million outstanding at December 31, 2017. Management does not believe these financial instruments should subject it to undue risk due to foreign exchange movements because gains and losses on these contracts should generally offset gains and losses on the underlying assets, liabilities and transactions.
The following table shows the five largest net notional amounts of the positions to buy or sell foreign currency as of December 31, 2018 and the corresponding positions as of December 31, 2017:
| Notional Amount | |||||||
| Net Buy (Sell) by Currency | 2018 | 2017 | |||||
| British Pound | $ | 139 | $ | 72 | |||
| Euro | 89 | 149 | |||||
| Australian Dollar | (105 | ) | (64 | ) | |||
| Chinese Renminbi | (55 | ) | (73 | ) | |||
| Brazilian Real | (41 | ) | (45 | ) |
Foreign exchange financial instruments that are subject to the effects of currency fluctuations, which may affect reported earnings, include derivative financial instruments and other monetary assets and liabilities denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the legal entity holding the instrument. Derivative financial instruments consist primarily of currency forward contracts. Other monetary assets and liabilities denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the legal entity consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, as well as accounts payable and receivable. Accounts payable and receivable are reflected at fair value in the financial statements. Assuming the amounts of the outstanding foreign exchange contracts represent our underlying foreign exchange risk related to monetary assets and liabilities, a hypothetical unfavorable 10% movement in the foreign exchange rates, from current levels, would reduce the value of those monetary assets and liabilities by approximately $57 million. Our market risk calculation represents an estimate of reasonably possible net losses that would be recognized assuming hypothetical 10% movements in future currency market pricing and is not necessarily indicative of actual results, which may or may not occur. It does not represent the maximum possible loss or any expected loss that may occur, since actual future gains and losses will differ from those estimated, based upon, among other things, actual fluctuation in market rates, operating exposures, and the timing thereof. We believe, however, that any such loss incurred would be offset by the effects of market rate movements on the respective underlying derivative financial instruments transactions. The foreign exchange financial instruments are held for purposes other than trading.
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