Principles of Consolidation and Nature of Operations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure

Principles of Consolidation and Nature of Operations

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of NACCO Industries, Inc. (the parent company or “NACCO”) and its wholly owned subsidiaries (“NACCO Industries, Inc. and Subsidiaries” or the “Company”). Intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation. The Company's subsidiaries operate in the following principal industries: mining, small appliances and specialty retail. The Company manages its subsidiaries primarily by industry.

The North American Coal Corporation and its affiliated companies (collectively, “NACoal”) mine and market steam and metallurgical coal for use in power generation and steel production and provide selected value-added mining services for other natural resources companies. Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. (“HBB”) is a leading designer, marketer and distributor of small electric household appliances, as well as commercial products for restaurants, bars and hotels. The Kitchen Collection, LLC (“KC”) is a national specialty retailer of kitchenware and gourmet foods operating under the Kitchen Collection^® and Le Gourmet Chef^® store names in outlet and traditional malls throughout the United States. On September 28, 2012, the Company spun-off Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. ("Hyster-Yale"), a former subsidiary. The financial position, results of operations and cash flows of Hyster-Yale are reflected as discontinued operations for all periods presented through the date of the spin-off. See Note 3 for further details regarding the spin-off.

NACoal has two consolidated mining operations: Mississippi Lignite Mining Company (“MLMC”) and Reed Minerals, Inc. ("Reed Minerals"). NACoal has ten wholly owned unconsolidated subsidiaries that each meet the definition of a variable interest entity: The Coteau Properties Company ("Coteau"); The Falkirk Mining Company ("Falkirk"); The Sabine Mining Company ("Sabine" and collectively with Coteau and Falkirk, the "project mining subsidiaries"); Demery Resources Company, LLC (“Demery”); Caddo Creek Resources Company, LLC (“Caddo Creek”); Coyote Creek Mining, LLC (“Coyote Creek”), Camino Real Fuels, LLC (“Camino Real”); Liberty Fuels Company, LLC (“Liberty”); NoDak Energy Services, LLC ("NoDak"); and North American Coal Corporation India Private Limited ("NACC India"). The project mining subsidiaries were developed between 1974 and 1981 and operate lignite coal mines under long-term contracts with various utility customers. These project mining subsidiaries are capitalized primarily with debt financing, which the utility customers have arranged and guaranteed. The obligations of the project mining subsidiaries are without recourse to NACCO and NACoal. Demery, Caddo Creek, Camino Real, Liberty and NoDak were formed during 2008 and 2009. NACC India was formed during 2011. Coyote Creek was formed during 2012. Demery, Caddo Creek, Coyote Creek, Camino Real and Liberty (collectively with the project mining subsidiaries, the "unconsolidated mines") were formed to develop, construct and operate surface mines under long-term contracts. NoDak was formed to operate and maintain a coal processing facility. NACC India was formed to provide technical advisory services to the third-party owners of a coal mine in India. The contracts with the unconsolidated operations' customers provide for reimbursement at a price based on actual costs plus an agreed pre-tax profit per ton of coal sold or actual costs plus a management fee. Although NACoal owns 100% of the equity and manages the daily operations of these entities, the Company has determined that the equity capital provided by NACoal is not sufficient to adequately finance the ongoing activities or absorb any expected losses without additional support from the customers. The customers have a controlling financial interest and have the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect the economic performance of the entities. As a result, NACoal is not the primary beneficiary and therefore does not consolidate these entities' financial position or results of operations. The taxes resulting from the unconsolidated entities are solely the responsibility of the Company. The pre-tax income from the unconsolidated mines is reported on the line “Earnings of unconsolidated mines” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations, with related taxes included in the provision for income taxes. The Company has included the pre-tax earnings of the unconsolidated mines above operating profit as they are an integral component of the Company's business and operating results. The pre-tax income from NoDak is reported on the line "Income from other unconsolidated affiliates" in the "Other (income) expense" section of the Consolidated Statement of Operations, with the related income taxes included in the provision for income taxes. The net income from NACC India is reported on the line "Income from other unconsolidated affiliates" in the "Other (income) expense" section of the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The unconsolidated mines are accounted for under the equity method. See Note 19 for further discussion.