Note 5 - Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Notes to Financial Statements

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Text Block]

5. Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities:

The Company is exposed to certain risks relating to its ongoing business operations. The primary risks managed by using derivative instruments are foreign exchange rate risk and interest rate risk.

Since October 2012, the Company has employed a hedging program with a Canadian chartered bank to limit the potential foreign exchange fluctuations incurred on its future cash flows related to a portion of payroll, taxes, rent and payments to Canadian domain name registry suppliers that are denominated in Canadian dollars and are expected to be paid by its Canadian operating subsidiary. In May 2020, the Company entered into a pay-fixed, receive-variable interest rate swap with a Canadian chartered bank to limit the potential interest rate fluctuations incurred on its future cash flows related to variable interest payments on the Amended 2019 Credit Facility. The notional value of the interest rate swap was $70 million.

The Company does not use hedging forward contracts for trading or speculative purposes. The foreign exchange contracts typically mature between one and eighteen months, and the interest rate swap matures in June 2023.

The Company has designated certain of these foreign exchange transactions as cash flow hedges of forecasted transactions under ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) (“ASC Topic 815”). For certain contracts, as the critical terms of the hedging instrument, and of the entire hedged forecasted transaction, are the same, in accordance with ASC Topic 815, the Company has been able to conclude that changes in fair value and cash flows attributable to the risk of being hedged are expected to completely offset at inception and on an ongoing basis. The Company has also designated the interest rate swap as a cash flow hedge of expected future interest payments. Accordingly, for the foreign exchange and interest rate swap contracts, unrealized gains or losses on the effective portion of these contracts have been included within other comprehensive income and reclassified to earnings when the hedged transaction is recognized in earnings. Cash flows from hedging activities are classified under the same category as the cash flows from the hedged items in the consolidated statements of cash flows. The fair value of the contracts, as of  September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, is recorded as derivative instrument assets or liabilities. For certain contracts where the hedged transactions are no longer probable to occur, the loss on the associated forward contract is recognized in earnings.

As of September 30, 2021, the notional amount of forward contracts that the Company held to sell U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars was $20.9 million, of which $20.9 million met the requirements of ASC Topic 815 and were designated as hedges.

As of December 31, 2020, the notional amount of forward contracts that the Company held to sell U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars was $31.8 million, of which $26.8 million met the requirements of ASC Topic 815 and were designated as hedges.

As of September 30, 2021, we had the following outstanding forward contracts to trade U.S. dollars in exchange for Canadian dollars:

Maturity date (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars)	Notional amount of U.S. dollars		Weighted average exchange rate of U.S. dollars		Fair value Asset / (Liability)
October - December 2021		12,959		1.2455		(209	)
January - March 2022		7,930		1.2452		(129	)
	$	20,889		1.2454	$	(338	)

As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the notional amount of the Company's interest rate swap designated as a cash flow hedge was $70 million. 

Fair value of derivative instruments and effect of derivative instruments on financial performance

The effect of these derivative instruments on our consolidated financial statements were as follows (amounts presented do not include any income tax effects).

Fair value of derivative instruments in the consolidated balance sheets 

Derivatives (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars)	Balance Sheet Location	As of September 30, 2021 Fair Value Asset (Liability)			As of December 31, 2020 Fair Value Asset (Liability)
Foreign Currency forward contracts designated as cash flow hedges (net)	Derivative instruments	$	(338	)	$	3,254
Interest rate swap contract designated as a cash flow hedge (net)	Derivative instruments		(37	)	$	(213	)
Foreign Currency forward contracts not designated as cash flow hedges (net)	Derivative instruments		-			606
Total foreign currency and interest swap forward contracts (net)	Derivative instruments	$	(375	)	$	3,647

Movement in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) balance for the three months ended September 30, 2021 (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars)

	Gains and losses on cash flow hedges			Tax impact			Total AOCI
Opening AOCI balance - June 30, 2021	$	1,424		$	(327	)	$	1,097
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications		(654	)		153			(501	)
Amount reclassified from AOCI		(1,150	)		266			(884	)
Other comprehensive income (loss) for the three months ended September 30, 2021		(1,804	)		419			(1,385	)
Ending AOCI Balance - September 30, 2021	$	(380	)	$	92		$	(288	)

Movement in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) balance for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars)

	Gains and losses on cash flow hedges			Tax impact			Total AOCI
Opening AOCI balance - December 31, 2020	$	3,038		$	(702	)	$	2,336
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications		148			(33	)		115
Amount reclassified from AOCI		(3,566	)		827			(2,739	)
Other comprehensive income (loss) for the nine months ended September 30, 2021		(3,418	)		794			(2,624	)
Ending AOCI Balance - September 30, 2021	$	(380	)	$	92		$	(288	)

Effects of derivative instruments on income and other comprehensive income (OCI) for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 are as follows (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars) 

Derivatives in Cash Flow Hedging Relationship	Amount of Gain or (Loss) Recognized in OCI, net of tax, on Derivative			Location of Gain or (Loss) Reclassified from AOCI into Income	Amount of Gain or (Loss) Reclassified from AOCI into Income
				Operating expenses	$	967
Foreign currency forward contracts for the three months ended September 30, 2021	$	(466	)	Cost of revenues	$	219
Interest rate swap contract for the three months ended September 30, 2021	$	(35	)	Interest expense, net	$	(36	)
				Operating expenses	$	(43	)
Foreign currency forward contracts for the three months ended September 30, 2020	$	762		Cost of revenues	$	(12	)
Interest rate swap contract for the three months ended September 30, 2020	$	13		Interest expense, net	$	(4	)

Effects of derivative instruments on income and other comprehensive income (OCI) for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 are as follows (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars) 

Derivatives in Cash Flow Hedging Relationship	Amount of Gain or (Loss) Recognized in OCI, net of tax, on Derivative			Location of Gain or (Loss) Reclassified from AOCI into Income	Amount of Gain or (Loss) Reclassified from AOCI into Income
				Operating expenses	$	3,004
Foreign currency forward contracts for the nine months ended September 30, 2021	$	42		Cost of revenues	$	643
Interest rate swap contract for the nine months ended September 30, 2021	$	73		Interest expense, net	$	(81	)
				Operating expenses	$	(290	)
Foreign currency forward contracts for the nine months ended September 30, 2020	$	1,039		Cost of revenues	$	(82	)
Interest rate swap contract for the nine months ended September 30, 2020	$	(141	)	Interest expense, net	$	(4	)

In addition to the above, for those foreign currency forward contracts not designated as hedges, the Company recorded the following fair value adjustments on settled and outstanding contracts (Dollar amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars):

	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
Forward currency contracts not designated as hedges:	2021			2020			2021			2020
Gain (loss) on settlement	$	336		$	(18	)	$	883		$	(162	)
Gain (loss) on change in fair value	$	(249	)	$	177		$	(606	)	$	261