Unconsolidated Subsidiaries

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]

NACoal's wholly owned unconsolidated subsidiaries each meet the definition of a variable interest entity. See Note 1 for a discussion of these entities. The income taxes resulting from the operations of the unconsolidated subsidiaries are solely the responsibility of the Company. The pre-tax income from the unconsolidated subsidiaries, excluding NoDak, is reported on the line “Earnings of unconsolidated mines” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations, with related income taxes included in the provision for income taxes. The Company has included the pre-tax earnings of the unconsolidated subsidiaries, excluding NoDak, 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 Statements of Operations, with the related income taxes included in the provision for income taxes.

The investment in the unconsolidated subsidiaries and related tax positions totaled $31.1 million and $24.6 million at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The Company's maximum risk of loss relating to these entities is limited to its invested capital, which was $4.6 million at December 31, 2016, and $4.0 million at both December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014.

NACoal is a party to certain guarantees related to Coyote Creek. Under certain circumstances of default or termination of Coyote Creek’s Lignite Sales Agreement (“LSA”), NACoal would be obligated for payment of a "make-whole" amount to Coyote Creek’s third party lenders. The “make-whole” amount is based on the excess, if any, of the discounted value of the remaining scheduled debt payments over the principal amount. In addition, in the event Coyote Creek’s LSA is terminated on or after January 1, 2024 by Coyote Creek’s customers, NACoal is obligated to purchase Coyote Creek’s dragline and rolling stock for the then net book value of those assets. To date, no payments have been required from NACoal since the inception of these guarantees. The Company believes that the likelihood of NACoal’s future performance under the guarantees is remote, and no amounts related to these guarantees have been recorded.

Summarized financial information for the unconsolidated subsidiaries is as follows:



	2016		2015		2014
Statement of Operations
Revenues	$	649,050	$	608,349	$	579,031
Gross profit	$	80,068	$	71,727	$	74,244
Income before income taxes	$	54,857	$	49,641	$	48,592
Net income	$	40,590	$	39,181	$	37,067
Balance Sheet
Current assets	$	160,554	$	160,498
Non-current assets	$	901,221	$	913,402
Current liabilities	$	127,361	$	129,126
Non-current liabilities	$	929,774	$	940,782

NACoal received dividends of $39.9 million and $39.1 million from the unconsolidated subsidiaries in 2016 and 2015, respectively.