Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Apr. 02, 2017

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared following the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for interim reporting. As permitted under those rules, certain footnotes or other financial information that are normally required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) can be condensed or omitted. Balance sheet amounts and operating results for subsidiaries operating outside the United States are as of and for the three-month periods ended February 26, 2017, and February 28, 2016.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards and Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In January 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an accounting standards update which clarifies the definition of a business. Under the new guidance, a set of integrated activities and assets is a business only if it has, at a minimum, an input and substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create outputs. The update also introduces the concept of an initial screening or “Step 1” which requires companies to first determine if substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single (or group of similar) identifiable assets. Transactions that pass the Step 1 screening will be considered a business if they contain an input and substantive process and either; (1) an output or (2) an organized workforce with skills critical to the ability to create outputs and inputs that can be utilized to create the outputs. Companies will no longer be required to evaluate whether a market participant could replace any missing inputs or processes, instead focusing on the substance of what was acquired. The provisions of the new standard are effective, on a prospective basis, beginning January 1, 2018, for annual and interim reporting periods and may be adopted early for any transactions not yet reported in issued financial statements. We elected to early adopt the new standard for any new transactions occurring on or after January 1, 2017.

In July 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify the measurement of inventory by requiring that inventory be measured at the lower of cost or net realizable value, rather than at the lower of cost or market, with market being defined as either replacement cost, net realizable value or net realizable value less a normal profit margin. We adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2017. This guidance did not have a significant impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In March 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify and improve the reporting of net periodic pension benefit cost by requiring only present service cost to be presented in the same line item as other current employee compensation costs while remaining components of net periodic benefit cost would be presented within Other (income)/deductions—net outside of operations. We plan to adopt this guidance as of January 1, 2018, the required effective date, and do not expect the new standard will have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In October 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that will require the recognition of the income tax consequences of an intra-entity asset transfer, other than inventory, when the transfer occurs as opposed to when the asset is sold to an outside third party. The provisions of the new standard are effective beginning January 1, 2018, for annual and interim reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted beginning on January 1, 2017. We plan to adopt this guidance as of January 1, 2018, the required effective date, and do not expect the new standard will have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which requires lessees to recognize most leases on the balance sheet with a corresponding right of use asset. Leases will be classified as financing or operating which will drive the expense recognition pattern. For lessees, the income statement presentation and expense recognition pattern for financing and operating leases is similar to the current model for capital and operating leases, respectively. Companies may elect to exclude short-term leases. The update also requires additional disclosures that will better enable users of financial statements to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. We plan to adopt this guidance as of January 1, 2019, the required effective date, for annual and interim reporting periods. The new standard requires a modified retrospective adoption approach, at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements. We continue to assess the potential impact that adopting this new guidance will have on our consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that outlines a new, single comprehensive model for companies to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers. This update supersedes most current revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of the new guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The guidance includes a five-step model for determining how, when and how much revenue should be recognized. This update also requires additional disclosure about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. We plan to adopt this guidance as of January 1, 2018, the required effective date, using the modified retrospective transition method. Under the modified retrospective method, the cumulative effect of applying the new standard will be recognized as of the date of initial application with disclosure of results under both the new and prior standards. We continue to assess the impact of the new standard on our current policies and procedures related to revenue recognition. Based on the work performed to date, we do not believe that the adoption will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. While implementation procedures are still ongoing, we have evaluated the impact on our primary revenue stream, product sales, in both the United States and our key international markets and no matters have currently been identified individually or in the aggregate that would have a material impact on the timing or amount of revenue recognition based on the provisions of the new standard.

Tax Contingencies

Our tax liabilities for uncertain tax positions relate primarily to issues common among multinational corporations. Any settlements or statute of limitations expirations could result in a significant decrease in our uncertain tax positions. Substantially all of these unrecognized tax benefits, if recognized, would impact our effective income tax rate. We do not expect that within the next twelve months any of our uncertain tax positions could significantly decrease as a result of settlements with taxing authorities or the expiration of the statutes of limitations. Our assessments are based on estimates and assumptions that have been deemed reasonable by management, but our estimates of uncertain tax positions and potential tax benefits may not be representative of actual outcomes, and any variation from such estimates could materially affect our financial statements in the period of settlement or when the statutes of limitations expire, as we treat these events as discrete items in the period of resolution. Finalizing audits with the relevant taxing authorities can include formal administrative and legal proceedings, and, as a result, it is difficult to estimate the timing and range of possible changes related to our uncertain tax positions, and such changes could be significant.

Foreign Exchange and Interest Rate Risk

The company may use interest rate swap contracts on certain investing and borrowing transactions to manage its net exposure to interest rates and to reduce its overall cost of borrowing. In anticipation of issuing fixed-rate debt, we may use forward-starting interest rate swaps that are designated as cash flow hedges to hedge against changes in interest rates that could impact expected future issuances of debt. To the extent these hedges of cash flows related to anticipated debt are effective, any unrealized gains or losses on the forward-starting interest rate swaps are reported in Accumulated other comprehensive loss and are recognized in income over the life of the future fixed-rate notes. When the company discontinues hedge accounting because it is no longer probable that an anticipated transaction will occur within the originally expected period of execution, or within an additional two-month period thereafter, changes to fair value accumulated in other comprehensive income are recognized immediately in earnings.

All derivative contracts used to manage foreign currency risk are measured at fair value and are reported as assets or liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. The company has not designated the foreign currency forward-exchange contracts as hedging instruments. We recognize the gains and losses on forward-exchange contracts that are used to offset the same foreign currency assets or liabilities immediately into earnings along with the earnings impact of the items they generally offset. These contracts essentially take the opposite currency position of that reflected in the month-end balance sheet to counterbalance the effect of any currency movement.

A significant portion of our revenue, earnings and net investment in foreign affiliates is exposed to changes in foreign exchange rates. We seek to manage our foreign exchange risk, in part, through operational means, including managing same-currency revenue in relation to same-currency costs and same-currency assets in relation to same-currency liabilities. Depending on market conditions, foreign exchange risk is also managed through the use of derivative financial instruments. These financial instruments serve to protect net income against the impact of the translation into U.S. dollars of certain foreign exchange-denominated transactions.

Legal Proceedings

Our non-tax contingencies include, among others, the following:


•	Product liability and other product-related litigation, which can include injury, consumer, off-label promotion, antitrust and breach of contract claims.


•	Commercial and other matters, which can include product-pricing claims and environmental claims and proceedings.


•	Patent litigation, which typically involves challenges to the coverage and/or validity of our patents or those of third parties on various products or processes.


•	Government investigations, which can involve regulation by national, state and local government agencies in the United States and in other countries.

Certain of these contingencies could result in losses, including damages, fines and/or civil penalties, and/or criminal charges, which could be substantial.

We believe that we have strong defenses in these types of matters, but litigation is inherently unpredictable and excessive verdicts do occur. We do not believe that any of these matters will have a material adverse effect on our financial position. However, we could incur judgments, enter into settlements or revise our expectations regarding the outcome of certain matters, and such developments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows in the period in which the amounts are paid.

We have accrued for losses that are both probable and reasonably estimable. Substantially all of these contingencies are subject to significant uncertainties and, therefore, determining the likelihood of a loss and/or the measurement of any loss can be complex. Consequently, we are unable to estimate the range of reasonably possible loss in excess of amounts accrued. Our assessments are based on estimates and assumptions that have been deemed reasonable by management, but the assessment process relies on estimates and assumptions that may prove to be incomplete or inaccurate, and unanticipated events and circumstances may occur that might cause us to change those estimates and assumptions.

Amounts recorded for legal and environmental contingencies can result from a complex series of judgments about future events and uncertainties and can rely on estimates and assumptions.

The principal matters to which we are a party are discussed below. In determining whether a pending matter is significant for financial reporting and disclosure purposes, we consider both quantitative and qualitative factors in order to assess materiality, such as, among other things, the amount of damages and the nature of any other relief sought in the proceeding, if such damages and other relief are specified; our view of the merits of the claims and of the strength of our defenses; whether the action purports to be a class action and our view of the likelihood that a class will be certified by the court; the jurisdiction in which the proceeding is pending; any experience that we or, to our knowledge, other companies have had in similar proceedings; whether disclosure of the action would be important to a reader of our financial statements, including whether disclosure might change a reader’s judgment about our financial statements in light of all of the information about the company that is available to the reader; the potential impact of the proceeding on our reputation; and the extent of public interest in the matter. In addition, with respect to patent matters, we consider, among other things, the financial significance of the product protected by the patent.

Guarantees and Indemnifications

In the ordinary course of business and in connection with the sale of assets and businesses, we indemnify our counterparties against certain liabilities that may arise in connection with the transaction or related to activities prior to the transaction. These indemnifications typically pertain to environmental, tax, employee and/or product-related matters and patent-infringement claims. If the indemnified party were to make a successful claim pursuant to the terms of the indemnification, we would be required to reimburse the loss. These indemnifications are generally subject to threshold amounts, specified claim periods and other restrictions and limitations. Historically, we have not paid significant amounts under these provisions and, as of April 2, 2017, recorded amounts for the estimated fair value of these indemnifications were not significant.

Segment Reporting


A.	Segment Information

Operating Segments

We manage our operations through two geographic operating segments: the United States and International. Each operating segment has responsibility for its commercial activities. Within each of these operating segments, we offer a diversified product portfolio, including vaccines, parasiticides, anti-infectives, medicated feed additives and other pharmaceuticals, for both livestock and companion animal customers. Our chief operating decision maker uses the revenue and earnings of the two operating segments, among other factors, for performance evaluation and resource allocation.

Other Costs and Business Activities

Certain costs are not allocated to our operating segment results, such as costs associated with the following:

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Other business activities includes our Client Supply Services (CSS) contract manufacturing results, as well as expenses associated with our dedicated veterinary medicine research and development organization, research alliances, U.S. regulatory affairs and other operations focused on the development of our products. Other R&D-related costs associated with non-U.S. market and regulatory activities are generally included in the international commercial segment.


•	Corporate, which is responsible for platform functions such as business technology, facilities, legal, finance, human resources, business development, and communications, among others. These costs also include compensation costs, certain procurement costs, and other miscellaneous operating expenses not charged to our operating segments, as well as interest income and expense.

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Certain transactions and events such as (i) Purchase accounting adjustments, where we incur expenses associated with the amortization of fair value adjustments to inventory, intangible assets and property, plant and equipment; (ii) Acquisition-related activities, where we incur costs associated with acquiring and integrating newly acquired businesses, such as transaction costs and integration costs; and (iii) Certain significant items, which comprise substantive, unusual items that, either as a result of their nature or size, would not be expected to occur as part of our normal business on a regular basis, such as certain costs related to becoming an independent public company, restructuring charges and implementation costs associated with our cost-reduction/productivity initiatives that are not associated with an acquisition, certain asset impairment charges, certain legal and commercial settlements and the impact of divestiture-related gains and losses.


•	Other unallocated includes (i) certain overhead expenses associated with our global manufacturing operations not charged to our operating segments; (ii) certain costs associated with business technology and finance that specifically support our global manufacturing operations; (iii) certain supply chain and global logistics costs; and (iv) certain procurement costs.

Segment Assets

We manage our assets on a total company basis, not by operating segment. Therefore, our chief operating decision maker does not regularly review any asset information by operating segment and, accordingly, we do not report asset information by operating segment. Total assets were approximately $7.6 billion at both April 2, 2017, and December 31, 2016.