CIM GROUP, INC. 10-Q

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk Market Risk The market risk associated with financial instruments and derivative financial instruments is the risk of loss from adverse changes in market prices or interest rates. Our market risk arises primarily from interest rate risk relating to variable-rate borrowings. To meet our short and long-term liquidity requirements, we borrow funds at a combination of fixed and variable rates. Our interest rate risk management objectives are to limit the impact of interest rate changes on earnings and cash flows and to manage our overall borrowing costs. To achieve these objectives, from time to time, we may enter into interest rate hedge contracts such as swaps, collars and treasury lock agreements in order to mitigate our interest rate risk with respect to various debt instruments. We do not intend to hold or issue these derivative contracts for trading or speculative purposes. We do not have any foreign operations and thus we are not exposed to foreign currency fluctuations. Interest Rate Risk As of March 31, 2021, we had an aggregate of $1.7 billion of variable rate debt, excluding any debt subject to interest rate swap agreements, and therefore, we are exposed to interest rate changes in LIBOR. As of March 31, 2021, an increase or decrease of 50 basis points in interest rates would result in an increase or decrease in interest expense of $8.3 million per year. As of March 31, 2021, we had four interest rate swap agreements outstanding, which mature on various dates from April 2021 through March 2023, with an aggregate notional amount of $273.6 million and an aggregate fair value of the net derivative liability of $7.6 million. The fair value of these interest rate swap agreements is dependent upon existing market interest rates and swap spreads. As of March 31, 2021, an increase of 50 basis points in interest rates would result in a change of $1.6 million to the fair value of the net derivative liability, resulting in a net derivative liability of $6.0 million. A decrease of 50 basis points in interest rates would result in a $1.7 million change to the fair value of the net derivative liability, resulting in a net derivative liability of $9.3 million. As the information presented above includes only those exposures that existed as of March 31, 2021, it does not consider exposures or positions arising after that date. The information presented herein has limited predictive value. Future actual 52 Table of Contents realized gains or losses with respect to interest rate fluctuations will depend on cumulative exposures, hedging strategies employed and the magnitude of the fluctuations. These amounts were determined by considering the impact of hypothetical interest rate changes on our borrowing costs and assume no other changes in our capital structure. In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) that regulates LIBOR announced it intends to stop compelling banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. As a result, the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York organized the Alternative Reference Rates Committee which identified the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) as its preferred alternative to U.S. dollar LIBOR in derivatives and other financial contracts. In March 2021, the FCA confirmed its intention to cease publishing one week and two-month LIBOR after December 31, 2021 and all remaining LIBOR after June 30, 2023. This announcement has several implications, including setting the spread that may be used to automatically convert contracts from LIBOR to SOFR. Additionally, banking regulators are encouraging banks to discontinue new LIBOR debt issuances by December 31, 2021. The Company anticipates that LIBOR will continue to be available at least until June 30, 2023.Any changes adopted by FCA or other governing bodies in the method used for determining LIBOR may result in a sudden or prolonged increase or decrease in reported LIBOR. If that were to occur, our interest payments could change. In addition, uncertainty about the extent and manner of future changes may result in interest rates and/or payments that are higher or lower than if LIBOR were to remain available in its current form. We have interest rate swap agreements maturing on various dates from April 2021 through March 2023, as further discussed above, that are indexed to LIBOR. As such, we are monitoring and evaluating the related risks, which include interest on loans or amounts received and paid on derivative instruments. These risks arise in connection with transitioning contracts to a new alternative rate, including any resulting value transfer that may occur. The value of loans or derivative instruments tied to LIBOR could also be impacted if LIBOR is limited or discontinued. For some instruments, the method of transitioning to an alternative reference rate may be challenging, especially if we cannot agree with the respective counterparty about how to make the transition. If a contract is not transitioned to an alternative rate and LIBOR is discontinued, the impact on our contracts is likely to vary by contract. If LIBOR is discontinued or if the methods of calculating LIBOR change from their current form, interest rates on our current or future indebtedness may be adversely affected. While we expect LIBOR to be available in substantially its current form until at least the end of June 30, 2023, it is possible that LIBOR will become unavailable prior to that point. This could result, for example, if sufficient banks decline to make submissions to the LIBOR administrator. In that case, the risks associated with the transition to an alternative reference rate will be accelerated and magnified. Alternative rates and other market changes related to the replacement of LIBOR, including the introduction of financial products and changes in market practices, may lead to risk modeling and valuation challenges, such as adjusting interest rate accrual calculations and building a term structure for an alternative rate. The introduction of an alternative rate also may create additional basis risk and increased volatility as alternative rates are phased in and utilized in parallel with LIBOR. Adjustments to systems and mathematical models to properly process and account for alternative rates will be required, which may strain the model risk management and information technology functions and result in substantial incremental costs for the Company. Credit Risk Concentrations of credit risk arise when a number of tenants are engaged in similar business activities, or activities in the same geographic region, or have similar economic features that would cause their ability to meet contractual obligations, including those to us, to be similarly affected by changes in economic conditions. We are subject to tenant, geographic and industry concentrations. Any downturn of the economic conditions in one or more of these tenants, states or industries could result in a material reduction of our cash flows or material losses to us. The factors considered in determining the credit risk of our tenants include, but are not limited to: payment history; credit status and change in status, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (credit ratings for public companies are used as a primary metric); change in tenant space needs ( i.e. , expansion/downsize); tenant financial performance; economic conditions in a specific geographic region; and industry specific credit considerations. We believe that the credit risk of our portfolio is reduced by the high quality of our existing tenant base, reviews of prospective tenants’ risk profiles prior to lease execution and consistent monitoring of our portfolio to identify potential problem tenants and mitigation options. 53 Table of Contents