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Commitments and Contingencies and Derivative Financial Instruments
 6 Months Ended
Mar. 29, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies and Derivative Financial Instruments Commitments and Contingencies and Derivative Financial Instruments
Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company is exposed to interest rate risk under its variable rate borrowings and additionally, due to the nature of the Company's international operations, we are at times exposed to foreign currency risk. As such, we sometimes enter into foreign exchange hedging contracts and interest rate hedging contracts in order to limit our exposure to fluctuating foreign currencies and interest rates.
During fiscal 2022, the Company entered into two treasury lock agreements with a total notional value of $500 million to manage its interest rate exposure to the anticipated issuance of fixed rate debt before December 2023. On February 13, 2023, the Company settled these treasury lock agreements and issued the 5.90% Bonds in the aggregate principal amount of $500 million, which resulted in the receipt of cash and a gain of $37.4 million, before tax, which is being amortized to interest expense and recognized over the term of the 5.90% Bonds. See Note 12- Borrowings for further discussion relating to the terms of the 5.90% Bonds. The unrealized net gain on these instruments was $25.1 million and $26.5 million, net of tax, and is included in accumulated other comprehensive income as of March 29, 2024 and September 29, 2023, respectively.
In fiscal 2020 we entered into interest rate swap agreements with a notional value of $745.9 million as of March 29, 2024 to manage the interest rate exposure on our variable rate loans. By entering into the swap agreements, the Company converted the LIBOR and SONIA rate based liabilities into fixed rate liabilities, for periods ranging from five to ten years. The fair value of the interest rate swaps at March 29, 2024 was $79.1 million of which $66.2 million is included within miscellaneous other assets and $12.9 million is included within current assets on the consolidated balance sheet as of March 29, 2024. The fair value of interest rate swaps at September 29, 2023 was $102.6 million, which are included in miscellaneous other assets on the consolidated balance sheet as of September 29, 2023. The unrealized net gain on these interest rate swaps as of March 29, 2024 and September 29, 2023 was $59.6 million and $77.2 million, respectively, net of tax, and was included in accumulated other comprehensive income.
Additionally, in fiscal 2020, we entered into a cross currency swap agreement with a notional value of $127.8 million to manage the interest rate and foreign currency exposure on our USD borrowings by a European subsidiary. By entering into the cross currency swap, the Company converted our LIBOR rate based borrowing in USD to a fixed rate Euro liability for three and a half years. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, the Company paid down the borrowings hedged by the cross currency swap and settled the cross currency swap agreement.
During fiscal 2023, the aggregate liability amounts denominated in U.S. dollars transitioned from underlying LIBOR benchmarked rates to the SOFR and the terms of the swaps were amended accordingly. The swaps were designated as cash-flow hedges in accordance with ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging.
Additionally, the Company held foreign exchange forward contracts in currencies that support our operations, including British Pound, Euro, Australian Dollar and other currencies, with notional values of $946.1 million at March 29, 2024 and $857.7 million at September 29, 2023. The length of these contracts currently ranges from one week to 10 months. The fair value of the foreign exchange contracts at March 29, 2024 was $(4.3) million, of which $(4.9) million is included within current liabilities and $0.6 million is included within current assets on the consolidated balance sheet as of March 29, 2024. The fair value of the contracts as of September 29, 2023 was $9.5 million, of which $16.1 million is included within current assets and $(6.6) million is included within current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet as of September 29, 2023. Associated income statement impacts are included in miscellaneous income (expense) in the consolidated statements of earnings for both periods.
The fair value measurements of these derivatives are being made using Level 2 inputs under ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement, as the measurements are based on observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets. We are exposed to risk from credit-related losses resulting from nonperformance by counterparties to our financial instruments. We perform credit evaluations of our counterparties under forward exchange and interest rate contracts and expect all counterparties to meet their obligations. We have not experienced credit losses from our counterparties.
Contractual Guarantees and Insurance
In the normal course of business, we make contractual commitments (some of which are supported by separate guarantees) and on occasion we are a party in a litigation or arbitration proceeding. The litigation or arbitration in which we are involved includes personal injury claims, professional liability claims and breach of contract claims. Where we provide a separate guarantee, it is strictly in support of the underlying contractual commitment. Guarantees take various forms including surety bonds required by law, or standby letters of credit ("LOC" and also referred to as “bank guarantees”) or corporate guarantees given to induce a party to enter into a contract with a subsidiary. Standby LOCs are also used as security for advance payments or in various other transactions. The guarantees have various expiration dates ranging from an arbitrary date to completion of our work (e.g., engineering only) to completion of the overall project. We record in the Consolidated Balance Sheets amounts representing our estimated liability relating to such guarantees, litigation and insurance claims. Guarantees are accounted for in accordance with ASC 460-10, Guarantees, at fair value at the inception of the guarantee.
At March 29, 2024 and September 29, 2023, the Company had issued and outstanding approximately $289.7 million and $322.0 million, respectively, in LOCs and $2.2 billion and $2.0 billion, respectively, in surety bonds.
We maintain insurance coverage for most insurable aspects of our business and operations. Our insurance programs have varying coverage limits depending upon the type of insurance and include certain conditions and exclusions which insurance companies may raise in response to any claim that is asserted by or against the Company. We have also elected to retain a portion of losses and liabilities that occur through using various deductibles, limits, and retentions under our insurance programs. As a result, we may be subject to a future liability for which we are only partially insured or completely uninsured. We intend to mitigate any such future liability by continuing to exercise prudent business judgment in negotiating the terms and conditions of the contracts which the Company enters with its clients. Our insurers are also subject to business risk and, as a result, one or more of them may be unable to fulfill their insurance obligations due to insolvency or otherwise.
Additionally, as a contractor providing services to the U.S. federal government, we are subject to many types of audits, investigations, and claims by, or on behalf of, the government including with respect to contract performance, pricing, cost allocations, procurement practices, labor practices, and socioeconomic obligations. Furthermore, our income, franchise, and similar tax returns and filings are also subject to audit and investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, most states within the United States, as well as by various government agencies representing jurisdictions outside the United States.
Our Consolidated Balance Sheets include amounts representing our probable estimated liability relating to such claims, guarantees, litigation, audits, and investigations. We perform an analysis to determine the level of reserves to establish for insurance-related claims that are known and have been asserted against us, as well as for insurance-related claims that are believed to have been incurred based on actuarial analysis but have not yet been reported to our claims administrators as of the respective balance sheet dates. We include any adjustments to such insurance reserves in our consolidated results of operations. Insurance recoveries are recorded as assets if recovery is probable and estimated liabilities are not reduced by expected insurance recoveries.
The Company believes, after consultation with counsel, that such guarantees, litigation, U.S. government contract-related audits, investigations and claims, and income tax audits and investigations should not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial statements, beyond amounts currently accrued.
Litigation and Investigations
In 2012, CH2M HILL Australia PTY Limited, a subsidiary of CH2M, entered into a 50/50 integrated joint venture with Australian construction contractor UGL Infrastructure Pty Limited. The joint venture entered into a Consortium Agreement with General Electric and GE Electrical International Inc. The Consortium was awarded a subcontract by JKC Australia LNG Pty Limited ("JKC") for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a 360 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant for INPEX Operations Australia Pty Limited at Blaydin Point, Darwin, NT, Australia (the "Legacy CH2M Matter"). The subcontract was terminated in January 2017. In or around August 2017, the Consortium commenced an arbitration. On April 12, 2022, JKC and the Consortium entered into a confidential deed of settlement (“Settlement Agreement”). Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, CH2M, as guarantor of CH2M Australia PTY Limited’s obligations with respect to the subcontract with JKC, made a cash payment to JKC in April 2022 of AUD 640 million (or approximately $475 million using mid-April 2022 exchange rates). As a result of the settlement agreement, additional pre-tax charges of $91.3 million were recorded during the year ended September 30, 2022 for this matter (over amounts previously reserved and reported in long-term Other Deferred Liabilities in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet). The Settlement Agreement provided for a release of claims between JKC and each member of the Consortium, and in connection with this agreement the members of the Consortium also waived all claims against each other and their respective parent guarantors relating to the project.
On December 22, 2008, a coal fly ash pond at the Kingston Power Plant of the Tennessee Valley Authority ("TVA") was breached, releasing fly ash waste into the Emory River and surrounding community. In February 2009, TVA awarded a contract to the Company to provide project management services associated with the clean-up. All remediation and dredging were completed in August 2013 by other contractors under direct contracts with TVA. The Company did not perform the remediation, and its scope was limited to program management services. Certain employees of the contractors performing the cleanup work on the project filed lawsuits against the Company beginning in August 2013, alleging they were injured due to the Company's failure to protect the plaintiffs from exposure to fly ash, and asserting related personal injuries. The primary case, Greg Adkisson, et al. v. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., case No. 3:13-CV-505-TAV-HBG, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, consisted of 10 consolidated cases. This case and the related cases involved several hundred plaintiffs that were employees of the contractors that completed the remediation and dredging work. In the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the Company entered into a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs whose cases had not been previously dismissed. As of the third quarter of fiscal 2023, all conditions to the settlement had been satisfied, and the cases dismissed. The amount of the settlement was not material to the Company's business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, the Company recorded a receivable for certain expected third-party recoveries equal to approximately $27 million before tax, which was collected during first half of fiscal 2023.