Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements

9 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2011

Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements [Abstract]

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

NOTE 10 — FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Financial Instruments

The Company uses derivatives from time to time to partially mitigate the effect of exposure to interest rate movements, exposure to currency fluctuations, and energy cost fluctuations. Under ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”, all derivatives are to be recognized as assets or liabilities on the balance sheet and measured at fair value. Changes in the fair value of derivatives are recognized in either net income or in other comprehensive income, depending on the designated purpose of the derivative.

While the Company may be exposed to credit losses in the event of nonperformance by the counterparties to its derivative financial instrument contracts, its counterparties are established banks and financial institutions with high credit ratings. The Company has no reason to believe that such counterparties will not be able to fully satisfy their obligations under these contracts.

During the next three months, the Company expects to reclassify into earnings a net loss from accumulated other comprehensive loss of approximately $0.4 million after tax at the time the underlying hedge transactions are realized.

ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in GAAP and expands disclosures about fair value measurements for financial and non-financial assets and liabilities. Additionally, this guidance established a three-level fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. This hierarchy requires entities to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs.

The three levels of inputs used to measure fair values are as follows:

• Level 1 — Observable inputs such as unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.

• Level 2 — Observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.

• Level 3 — Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets and liabilities.

Recurring Fair Value Measurements

The following table presents the fair value adjustments for those assets and (liabilities) measured on a recurring basis as of July 31, 2011 (Dollars in thousands):

	Fair Value Measurement										Balance sheet
	Level 1		Level 2			Level 3		Total			Location
Interest rate derivatives	$	—	$	(671	)	$	—	$	(671	)	Other long-term liabilities
Foreign exchange hedges		—		(2,853	)		—		(2,853	)	Other current liabilities
Energy hedges		—		(27	)		—		(27	)	Other current liabilities
Total*	$	—	$	(3,551	)	$	—	$	(3,551	)

* The carrying amounts of cash and cash equivalents, trade accounts receivable, accounts payable, current liabilities and short-term borrowings at July 31, 2011 approximate their fair values because of the short-term nature of these items and are not included in this table.

Interest Rate Derivatives

The Company has interest rate swap agreements with various maturities through 2012. These interest rate swap agreements are used to manage the Company’s fixed and floating rate debt mix. Under these agreements, the Company receives interest monthly from the counterparties based upon the LIBOR and pays interest based upon a designated fixed rate over the life of the swap agreements.

The Company has two interest rate derivatives (floating to fixed swap agreements recorded as cash flow hedges) with a total notional amount of $125 million. Under these swap agreements, the Company receives interest based upon a variable interest rate from the counterparties (weighted average of 0.19% at July 31, 2011 and 0.26% at October 31, 2010) and pays interest based upon a fixed interest rate (weighted average of 1.78% at July 31, 2011 and October 31, 2010).

In the first quarter of 2010, the Company entered into a $100.0 million fixed to floating swap agreement which was recorded as a fair value hedge. Under this swap agreement, the Company received interest from the counterparty based upon a fixed rate of 6.75% and paid interest based upon a variable rate on a semi-annual basis. In the third quarter of 2010, the Company terminated this swap agreement, including any future cash flows. The termination of this swap agreement resulted in a cash benefit of $3.6 million ($2.2 million, net of tax).

Foreign Exchange Hedges

At July 31, 2011, the Company had outstanding foreign currency forward contracts in the notional amount of $157.1 million ($252.9 million at October 31, 2010). The purpose of these contracts is to hedge the Company’s exposure to foreign currency transactions and short-term intercompany loan balances in its international businesses. The fair value of these contracts at July 31, 2011 resulted in a loss of $2.6 million recorded in the consolidated statements of operations and a loss of $0.2 million recorded in other comprehensive income. The fair value of similar contracts at October 31, 2010 resulted in a gain of $0.8 million in the consolidated statements of operations and a loss of $2.3 million recorded in other comprehensive income.

Energy Hedges

The Company has entered into certain cash flow agreements to mitigate its exposure to cost fluctuations in natural gas prices through October 31, 2011. Under these hedge agreements, the Company agrees to purchase natural gas at a fixed price. At July 31, 2011, the notional amount of these hedges was $0.4 million ($2.4 million at October 31, 2010). The other comprehensive gain on these agreements was immaterial at July 31, 2011 and $0.3 million at October 31, 2010.

Other financial instruments

The estimated fair value of the Company’s long-term debt was $1,318.1 million and $1,021.5 million at July 31, 2011 and October 31, 2010, respectively. The current portion of the long-term debt was $12.5 million at July 31, 2011 and October 31, 2010. The fair values of the Company’s long-term obligations are estimated based on either the quoted market prices for the same or similar issues or the current interest rates offered for debt of the same remaining maturities.

Non Recurring Fair Value Measurements

The Company has reviewed the fair value adjustments for those assets and (liabilities) measured on a non-recurring basis as of July 31, 2011 discussed herein.

Net Assets Held for Sale

Net assets held for sale are considered level two inputs which include recent purchase offers, market comparables and/or data obtained from commercial real estate brokers. As of July 31, 2011, the Company had not recognized any impairment related to net assets held for sale.

Long-Lived Assets

As part of the Company’s restructuring plans following recent acquisitions, the Company may close manufacturing facilities during the next few years. The long-lived assets are considered level two inputs which were valued based on bids received from third parties and using discounted cash flow analysis based on assumptions that the Company believes market participants would use. Key inputs included anticipated revenues, associated manufacturing costs, capital expenditures and discount, growth and tax rates. The Company recorded restructuring-related expenses for the nine-month period ended July 31, 2011 of $0.4 million on long lived assets with net book values of $1.3 million.

Goodwill and Long Lived Intangible Assets

The Company performs an impairment test for goodwill on an annual basis and when events and circumstances indicate impairment may have occurred. The Company concluded that no impairment existed at October 31, 2010. There have been no changes during the third quarter of 2011 that would warrant impairment considerations, other then previously disclosed. The 2011 impairment test will be performed during the fourth quarter of 2011.