Derivative Financial Instruments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative Financial Instruments

Risk Management Objective of Using Derivatives

In addition to operational risks which arise in the normal course of business, the Company is exposed to economic risks such as interest rate, liquidity, and credit risk. In certain situations, the Company may enter into derivative financial instruments such as interest rate swap and interest rate cap agreements to manage interest rate risk exposure arising from variable rate debt transactions that result in the receipt or payment of future known and uncertain cash amounts, the value of which are determined by interest rates. The Company's objective in using interest rate derivatives is to manage its exposure to interest rate movements on its variable rate debt.

Cash Flow Hedges of Interest Rate Risk

Interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges involve the receipt of variable-rate amounts from a counterparty in exchange for the Company making fixed-rate payments over the life of the agreements without changing the underlying notional amount.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2015, the Company entered into four forward starting interest rate swaps with a total notional value of $225.0 million to hedge the risk of changes in the interest-related cash flows associated with the potential issuance of long-term debt. That debt was issued in April 2015, as discussed in Note 3, and the forward starting interest rate swaps were terminated. As a result, the Company realized a loss at the termination date which was deferred and will be amortized over the term of the Senior Notes due 2025. As of September 30, 2015, the Company did not have any outstanding interest rate derivatives that were designated as cash flow hedges of interest rate risk.

The effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives designated as, and that qualify as, cash flow hedges is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income or loss (“OCI”) and is reclassified into earnings as interest expense in the period that the hedged forecasted transaction affects earnings. The effective portion of the Company’s interest rate swaps that was recorded in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 was as follows (in thousands):

(Dollars in thousands)	Location	Three Months Ended   September 30, 2015			Nine Months Ended   September 30, 2015
Loss on forward starting interest rate swap agreements recognized in OCI	OCI	$	—		$	(1,684	)
Amount of loss reclassified from accumulated OCI into Income (effective portion)	Interest Expense	$	(42	)	$	(73	)
Amount of gain (loss) recognized in income on derivative (ineffective portion and amount excluded from effectiveness testing)	—	$	—		$	—

The Company estimates that an additional $0.2 million will be reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss as an increase to interest expense over the next 12 months. No gain or loss was recognized related to hedge ineffectiveness or to amounts excluded from effectiveness testing on the Company's cash flow hedges during the nine months ended September 30, 2015.