Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Cash, Cash Equivalents, Marketable Securities and Interest Income Risk
Our bank deposits and time deposits are generally held with large, diverse financial institutions worldwide with high investment-grade credit ratings or financial institutions that meet investment-grade ratings criteria, which we believe mitigates credit risk and certain other risks. In addition, as of May 31, 2017, substantially all of our marketable securities are high quality with approximately 32% having maturity dates within one year and 68% having maturity dates within one to five years (a description of our marketable securities held is included in Note 3 and Note 4 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” above). We hold a mix of both fixed and floating-rate debt securities. The fair values of our fixed-rate debt securities are impacted by interest rate movements and if interest rates would have been higher by 50 basis points as of May 31, 2017, we estimate the change would have decreased the fair values of our marketable securities holdings by $348 million. Our floating-rate debt securities serve to lower the overall risk to our investments portfolio associated with the risk of rising interest rates. Substantially all of our marketable securities are designated as available-for-sale. We generally do not use our investments for trading purposes.
Changes in the overall level of interest rates affect the interest income that is generated from our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. For fiscal 2017, total interest income was $802 million with our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities investments yielding an average 1.47% on a worldwide basis. The table below presents the approximate fair values of our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and the related weighted-average interest rates for our investment portfolio at May 31, 2017 and 2016.
| May 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | 2016 | |||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in millions) | Fair Value | Weighted- Average Interest Rate | Fair Value | Weighted- Average Interest Rate | ||||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 21,784 | 0.63% | $ | 20,152 | 0.35% | ||||||||||
| Marketable securities | 44,294 | 1.88% | 35,973 | 1.62% | ||||||||||||
| Total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities | $ | 66,078 | 1.47% | $ | 56,125 | 1.16% | ||||||||||
Interest Expense Risk
Interest Expense Risk—Fixed to Variable Interest Rate Swap Agreements
Our total borrowings were $57.9 billion as of May 31, 2017, consisting of $51.9 billion of fixed-rate borrowings, $2.3 billion of floating-rate borrowings (Floating-Rate Notes) and $3.8 billion of other borrowings, primarily under revolving credit agreements.
We have entered into certain interest rate swap agreements that have the economic effect of modifying the fixed-interest obligations associated with our $1.5 billion of 2.375% senior notes due January 2019 (January 2019 Notes), our $2.0 billion of 2.25% senior notes due October 2019 (October 2019 Notes), and our $1.5 billion of 2.80% senior notes due July 2021 (July 2021 Notes) so that the interest payable on these senior notes effectively became variable based on LIBOR. The critical terms of the interest rate swap agreements match the critical terms of the January 2019 Notes, October 2019 Notes, and July 2021 Notes that the interest rate swap agreements pertain to, including the notional amounts and maturity dates. We do not use these interest rate swap arrangements or our fixed-rate borrowings for trading purposes. We are accounting for these interest rate swap agreements as fair value hedges pursuant to ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (ASC 815). The total fair value gain of these fixed to variable interest rate swap agreements as of May 31, 2017 was $40 million. If LIBOR-based interest rates would have been higher by 100 basis points as of May 31, 2017, the change would have decreased the fair values of the fixed to variable swap agreements by $153 million. Additional details regarding our senior notes and related interest rate swap agreements are included in Notes 8 and 11 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
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By issuing the Floating-Rate Notes and by entering into the aforementioned interest rate swap arrangements, we have assumed risks associated with variable interest rates based upon LIBOR. As of May 31, 2017, the weighted-average interest rate associated with our Floating-Rate Notes and January 2019 Notes, October 2019 Notes and July 2021 Notes after considering the effects of the aforementioned interest rate swap arrangements, was 1.68%. Changes in the overall level of interest rates affect the interest expense that we recognize in our consolidated statements of operations. An interest rate risk sensitivity analysis is used to measure interest rate risk by computing estimated changes in cash flows as a result of assumed changes in market interest rates. As of May 31, 2017, if LIBOR-based interest rates would have been higher by 100 basis points, the change would have increased our interest expense annually by approximately $73 million as it relates to our fixed to variable interest rate swap agreements and floating-rate borrowings.
Currency Risk
Foreign Currency Transaction Risk—Foreign Currency Forward Contracts
We transact business in various foreign currencies and have established a program that primarily utilizes foreign currency forward contracts to offset the risks associated with the effects of certain foreign currency exposures. Under this program, our strategy is to enter into foreign currency forward contracts so that increases or decreases in our foreign currency exposures are offset by gains or losses on the foreign currency forward contracts in order to mitigate the risks and volatility associated with our foreign currency transactions. We may suspend this program from time to time. Our foreign currency exposures typically arise from intercompany sublicense fees, intercompany loans and other intercompany transactions. Our foreign currency forward contracts are generally short-term in duration.
Neither do we use these foreign currency forward contracts for trading purposes nor do we designate these forward contracts as hedging instruments pursuant to ASC 815. Accordingly, we record the fair values of these contracts as of the end of our reporting period to our consolidated balance sheet with changes in fair values recorded to our consolidated statement of operations. Given the short duration of the forward contracts, amounts recorded generally are not significant. The balance sheet classification for the fair values of these forward contracts is prepaid expenses and other current assets for forward contracts in an unrealized gain position and other current liabilities for forward contracts in an unrealized loss position. The statement of operations classification for changes in fair values of these forward contracts is non-operating income, net for both realized and unrealized gains and losses.
We expect that we will continue to realize gains or losses with respect to our foreign currency exposures, net of gains or losses from our foreign currency forward contracts. Our ultimate realized gain or loss with respect to foreign currency exposures will generally depend on the size and type of cross-currency transactions that we enter into, the currency exchange rates associated with these exposures and changes in those rates, the net realized gain or loss on our foreign currency forward contracts and other factors. As of May 31, 2017 and 2016, the notional amounts of the forward contracts we held to purchase U.S. Dollars in exchange for other major international currencies were $3.4 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively. As of May 31, 2017 and 2016, the notional amounts of forward contracts we held to sell U.S. Dollars in exchange for other major international currencies were $1.4 billion and $2.0 billion, respectively. The fair values of our outstanding foreign currency forward contracts were nominal at May 31, 2017 and 2016. Net foreign exchange transaction losses included in non-operating income, net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations were $152 million, $110 million and $157 million in fiscal 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. As a large portion of our consolidated operations are international, we could experience additional foreign currency volatility in the future, the amounts and timing of which are unknown.
Foreign Currency Translation Risk—Impact on Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities
Fluctuations in foreign currencies impact the amount of total assets and liabilities that we report for our foreign subsidiaries upon the translation of these amounts into U.S. Dollars. In particular, the amount of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities that we report in U.S. Dollars for a significant portion of the cash held by these subsidiaries is subject to translation variance caused by changes in foreign currency exchange rates as of
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the end of each respective reporting period (the offset to which is substantially recorded to accumulated other comprehensive loss on our consolidated balance sheets and is also presented as a line item in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income included elsewhere in this Annual Report).
As the U.S. Dollar fluctuated against certain international currencies as of the end of fiscal 2017, the amount of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities that we reported in U.S. Dollars for foreign subsidiaries that hold international currencies as of May 31, 2017 decreased relative to what we would have reported using a constant currency rate from May 31, 2016. As reported in our consolidated statements of cash flows, the estimated effects of exchange rate changes on our reported cash and cash equivalents balances in U.S. Dollars for fiscal 2017, 2016 and 2015 were decreases of $86 million, $115 million and $1.2 billion, respectively. The following table includes estimates of the U.S. Dollar equivalent of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities denominated in certain major foreign currencies that we held as of May 31, 2017:
| (in millions) | U.S Dollar Equivalent at May 31, 2017 | |||
| Euro | $ | 1,331 | ||
| Canadian Dollar | 450 | |||
| Japanese Yen | 409 | |||
| British Pound | 277 | |||
| Indian Rupee | 266 | |||
| Russian Ruble | 253 | |||
| Australian Dollar | 237 | |||
| Chinese Renminbi | 174 | |||
| Other foreign currencies | 1,780 | |||
| Total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities denominated in foreign currencies | $ | 5,177 | ||
If overall foreign currency exchange rates in comparison to the U.S. Dollar uniformly would have been weaker by 10%, the amount of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities we would report in U.S. Dollars would have decreased by approximately $518 million, assuming constant foreign currency cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balances.
Foreign Currency Translation Risk—Net Investment Hedge
In July 2013, we issued €750 million of 3.125% senior notes due July 2025 (July 2025 Notes). We designated the July 2025 Notes as a net investment hedge of our investments in certain of our international subsidiaries that use the Euro as their functional currency in order to reduce the volatility in stockholders’ equity caused by the changes in foreign currency exchange rates of the Euro with respect to the U.S. Dollar. As a result, provided there is no ineffectiveness related to the hedge, the change in the carrying value of the Euro-denominated July 2025 Notes due to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on the effective portion is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss on our consolidated balance sheets and is also presented as a line item in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income included elsewhere in this Annual Report and totaled $1 million of net other comprehensive losses for fiscal 2017. Any remaining change in the carrying value of the July 2025 Notes representing any ineffective portion of the net investment hedge is recognized in non-operating income, net. We did not record any ineffectiveness during fiscal 2017.
Fluctuations in the exchange rates between the Euro and the U.S. Dollar will impact the amount of U.S. Dollars that we will require to settle the July 2025 Notes at maturity. If the U.S. Dollar would have been weaker by 10% in comparison to the Euro as of May 31, 2017, we estimate our obligation to cash settle the principal portion of the July 2025 Notes in U.S. Dollars would have increased by approximately $83 million.
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