The following tables provide information about the Company's derivative financial instruments and other financial instruments that are sensitive to changes in interest rates. The Company's policy is to manage interest rate risk through the strategic use of fixed-rate debt, variable-rate debt, and interest rate derivatives. The counterparties to the derivative agreements are major financial institutions with credit ratings primarily of AA, thereby minimizing the risk of credit loss. For interest rate derivatives, the table presents notional amounts and weighted-average interest rates by contractual maturity dates. Weighted-average variable rates are based on rates in effect at the most recent reset date. The fair value of the Company's long-term, fixed-rate debt was estimated by discounting estimated cash flows based on the Company's current borrowing rates for debt with similar maturities. The interest rate derivative financial instruments were valued based on the instruments' termination value at year end. The carrying amounts of short-term debt and long-term, variable-rate debt approximate fair value. All items described in the table below are non-trading.

Annual Report Contents | Previous | Next