Description of business and significant accounting policies and practices (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of presentation

Basis of presentation

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (U.S. GAAP) and on the same basis as the audited financial statements included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. The consolidated statements of income, statements of comprehensive income and statements of cash flows for the periods ended March 31, 2013 and 2012, and the balance sheet as of March 31, 2013, are not audited but reflect all adjustments that are of a normal recurring nature and are necessary for a fair statement of the results of the periods shown. Certain amounts in the prior periods’ financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in annual consolidated financial statements have been omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Because the consolidated interim financial statements do not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for a complete set of financial statements, they should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. The results for the three-month period are not necessarily indicative of a full year’s results.

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of all subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. All dollar amounts in the financial statements and tables in these notes, except per-share amounts, are stated in millions of U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Derivatives and hedging

Derivatives and hedging

In connection with the issuance of variable-rate long-term debt in May 2011, as more fully described in Note 8, we entered into an interest rate swap designated as a hedge of the variability of cash flows related to interest payments. Gains and losses from changes in the fair value of the interest rate swap are credited or charged to Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes (AOCI).

We also use derivative financial instruments to manage exposure to foreign exchange risk. These instruments are primarily forward foreign currency exchange contracts that are used as economic hedges to reduce the earnings impact exchange rate fluctuations may have on our non-U.S. dollar net balance sheet exposures. Gains and losses from changes in the fair value of these forward foreign currency exchange contracts are credited or charged to OI&E. We do not apply hedge accounting to our foreign currency derivative instruments.

We do not use derivatives for speculative or trading purposes.

Fair values of financial instruments

Fair values of financial instruments

The fair values of our derivative financial instruments were not significant at March 31, 2013. Our investments in cash equivalents, short-term investments and certain long-term investments, as well as our deferred compensation liabilities, are carried at fair value and are discussed in Note 5. The carrying values for other current financial assets and liabilities, such as accounts receivable and accounts payable, approximate fair value due to the short maturity of such instruments. The carrying value of our long-term debt approximates the fair value as measured using broker-dealer quotes, which are based on level 2 inputs. See Note 5 for the definition of level 2 inputs.

Fair-value considerations

We measure and report certain financial assets and liabilities at fair value on a recurring basis. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date.

The three-level hierarchy discussed below indicates the extent and level of judgment used to estimate fair-value measurements.

Level 1 — Uses unadjusted quoted prices that are available in active markets for identical assets or liabilities as of the reporting date.

Level 2 — Uses inputs other than Level 1 that are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reporting date through correlation with market data, including quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets and quoted prices in markets that are not active. Level 2 also includes assets and liabilities that are valued using models or other pricing methodologies that do not require significant judgment since the input assumptions used in the models, such as interest rates and volatility factors, are corroborated by readily observable data. Our Level 2 assets consist of corporate obligations and some U.S. government agency and Treasury securities. We utilize a third-party data service to provide Level 2 valuations, verifying these valuations for reasonableness relative to unadjusted quotes obtained from brokers or dealers based on observable prices for similar assets in active markets.

Level 3 — Uses inputs that are unobservable, supported by little or no market activity and reflect the use of significant management judgment.  These values are generally determined using pricing models that utilize management estimates of market participant assumptions.

Earnings per share

Earnings per share (EPS)

Unvested awards of share-based payments with rights to receive dividends or dividend equivalents, such as our restricted stock units (RSUs), are considered to be participating securities and the two-class method is used for purposes of calculating EPS. Under the two-class method, a portion of net income is allocated to these participating securities and, therefore, is excluded from the calculation of EPS allocated to common stock, as shown in the table below.