Blue Bird Corp 10-K

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk The Company is exposed to market risk from changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates, and commodity prices. Interest Rate Risk In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, we entered into a four year interest rate collar contract with a notional value of $150.0 million to partially mitigate our exposure to interest rate fluctuations on our variable rate term loan debt. The collar establishes a range where we will pay the counterparty if the three month LIBOR rate falls below the established floor rate of 1.5%, and the counterparty will pay us if the three month LIBOR rate exceeds the ceiling rate of 3.3%. The collar settles quarterly through the termination date of September 30, 2022. No payments or receipts are exchanged on the interest rate collar contract unless interest rates rise above or fall below the contracted ceiling or floor rates. Throughout fiscal 2021, the three month LIBOR rate fell below the established floor, which required us to make $2.0 million in total cash payments to the counterparty. Commodity Risk The Company and its suppliers incorporate raw and finished commodities such as steel, copper, aluminum, and other automotive type commodities into its products. We often bid on contracts weeks or months before school buses are delivered and enter into school bus sales contracts with fixed prices per bus. The sales contracts generally do not have an indexed price escalation formula to account for economic fluctuations between the contract date and the delivery date. As a result, we are typically unable to pass along increased economic fluctuation costs to our customers. We generally purchase steel one quarter in advance, but because we generally do not otherwise hedge steel or the other primary commodities we purchase (rubber, aluminum and copper), changes in prices of raw materials can significantly impact future operating margins. Currency Risk The Company transacts substantially all of its sales in U.S. Dollars. Our foreign customers have exposure to risks related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates on our sales in that region, due in part to the time elapsed between a fixed price order date and delivery/payment for the order. Foreign currency exchange rates can have material adverse effects on our foreign customers' ability to purchase our products. Therefore, at times, we may allow them to pay in their local currency and we may utilize derivative instruments to hedge changes in foreign currency exchange rates for those transactions. 41