8. Line of Credit Facility

The Company holds a $650.0 million five-year syndicated line of credit that is scheduled to expire on September 8, 2016 (the “Facility”). The Company has the option to increase the size of the Facility to $850.0 million at any time prior to the expiration (subject to receipt of commitments for the increased amount from existing and new lenders). The Facility is available for working capital, the issuance of standby letters of credit, the financing of capital expenditures, and other general corporate purposes, including acquisitions. The Facility is inclusive of two sub-facilities: (1) up to $50.0 million in swing line advances, and (2) up to $300.0 million for letters of credit, for borrowing by the Company.

The Facility includes covenants limiting liens, dispositions, fundamental changes, investments, indebtedness, and certain transactions and payments. In addition, the Facility also requires that the Company maintain the following three financial covenants which are described in Note 9, “Line of Credit Facility”, to the Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2011: (1) a fixed charge coverage ratio; (2) a leverage ratio; and (3) a combined net worth test. The Company was in compliance with all covenants as of July 31, 2012.

As of July 31, 2012, the total outstanding amount under the Facility in the form of cash borrowings was $252.0 million, which included $2.0 million in swing line borrowings. Available credit under the line of credit was up to $301.3 million at July 31, 2012. Available credit under the swing line credit facility was up to $48.0 million and $50.0 million at July 31, 2012 and October 31, 2011, respectively. The weighted average interest rate on the outstanding balance of the swing line credit facility was 1.66% at July 31, 2012. The Company’s ability to draw down available amounts under its line of credit is subject to compliance with the covenants described above.

Interest Rate Swap

On October 19, 2010, the Company entered into a three-year forward starting interest rate swap agreement with an underlying notional amount of $25.0 million, pursuant to which the Company receives variable interest payments based on LIBOR and pays fixed interest at a rate of 0.89%. The effective date of this hedge was February 24, 2011. This swap is intended to hedge the interest risk associated with the Company’s forecasted floating-rate, LIBOR-based debt.

The fair value of the interest rate swap is estimated based on the present value of the difference between expected cash flows calculated at the contracted interest rates and the expected cash flows at current market interest rates using observable benchmarks for LIBOR forward rates at the end of the period. The Company includes its own credit risk for financial instruments deemed liabilities and counterparty credit risks for financial instruments deemed assets when measuring the fair value of derivative financial instruments. For derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges, the effective portion of the derivative’s mark-to-market gain or loss is initially reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (“AOCI”) and subsequently reclassified into earnings when the hedged transactions occur and affect earnings. Interest payable and receivable under the swap agreement is accrued and recorded as an adjustment to interest expense.

As of July 31, 2012 and October 31, 2011, the fair value of the interest rate swap was a liability of $0.2 million and $0.3 million, respectively, which were included in “Retirement plans and other” on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The amount included in accumulated other comprehensive loss was $0.2 million ($0.1 million, net of taxes) and $0.3 million ($0.2 million, net of taxes) at July 31, 2012 and October 31, 2011, respectively.

Unrealized net losses related to the interest rate swap contract which are expected to be reclassified from AOCI to earnings during the next 12 months were $0.2 million at July 31, 2012.

The following tables set forth the effect of the Company’s interest rate swap contract on the consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2012 and 2011:


	Amount of loss recognized in AOCI on derivative (effective portion) (in thousands)
Derivatives designated as cash	Three months ended July 31						Nine months ended July 31
flow hedging relationships	2012			2011			2012			2011
Interest rate swap	$	(49	)	$	(354	)	$	(117	)	$	(108	)
	Amount of loss reclassified from AOCI into income (effective portion) (in thousands)
Location of loss reclassified	Three months ended July 31						Nine months ended July 31
from AOCI into income (effective portion)	2012			2011			2012			2011
Interest expense	$	(42	)	$	(45	)	$	(121	)	$	(395	)