Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We are exposed to market risks arising from adverse changes in:
• foreign exchange rates;
• interest rates; and
• commodity prices.
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Foreign Exchange Rates
Foreign currency fluctuations may impact the financial results we report for the portions of our business that operate in functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Our operations outside of the U.S. represented 50.5% and 50.3% of our revenue during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. An increase or decrease in the strength of the U.S. dollar against these currencies by 10% would result in a 5.1% change in our consolidated revenue and a 2.6% change in our operating income for the year ended December 31, 2020. See our Results of Operations discussion in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding the impact of fluctuations in exchange rates on our year over year results.
Additionally, we are exposed to foreign currency fluctuations with respect to the purchase of aftermarket products from foreign countries, primarily in Europe and Asia. To the extent that our inventory purchases are not denominated in the functional currency of the purchasing location, we are exposed to exchange rate fluctuations. In several of our operations, we purchase inventory from manufacturers in Taiwan in U.S. dollars, which exposes us to fluctuations in the relationship between the local functional currency and the U.S. dollar, as well as fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and the Taiwan dollar. We hedge our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations related to a portion of inventory purchases in our Europe operations, but the notional amount and fair value of these foreign currency forward contracts at December 31, 2020 were immaterial. We do not currently attempt to hedge foreign currency exposure related to our foreign currency denominated inventory purchases in our North America operations, and we may not be able to pass on any resulting price increases to our customers.
To the extent that we are exposed to foreign currency fluctuations related to non-functional currency denominated financing transactions, we may hedge the exposure through the use of foreign currency forward contracts. As of December 31, 2020, we held short term foreign currency forward contracts with notional amounts of €142 million, £75 million and SEK 227 million. Only the SEK denominated foreign currency forward contract was designated as a cash flow hedge; the fair value was a liability of $1 million as of December 31, 2020. In February 2021, we entered into a short term foreign currency forward contract for $250 million to mitigate our exposure to non-functional currency borrowings in our European operations. We currently expect to enter into a similar instrument when this one matures in the first quarter of 2021. The values of these contracts are subject to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.
Other than with respect to a portion of our foreign currency denominated inventory purchases and certain financing transactions, we do not hold derivative contracts to hedge foreign currency risk. Our net investment in foreign operations is partially hedged by the foreign currency denominated borrowings we use to fund foreign acquisitions; however, our ability to use foreign currency denominated borrowings to finance our foreign operations may be limited based on local tax laws. We have elected not to hedge the foreign currency risk related to the interest payments on foreign third party borrowings as we generate cash flows in the local currencies that can be used to fund debt payments. As of December 31, 2020, we had outstanding borrowings of €500 million under our Euro Notes (2024) and €1.0 billion under our Euro Notes (2026/28); we had no foreign borrowings under our revolving credit facilities. As of December 31, 2019, we had outstanding borrowings of €500 million under our Euro Notes (2024), €1.0 billion under our Euro Notes (2026/28), and £208 million, €229 million, CAD $130 million, and SEK 270 million under our revolving credit facilities.
Interest Rates
Our results of operations are exposed to changes in interest rates primarily with respect to borrowings under our credit facilities, where interest rates are tied to the prime rate, LIBOR or CDOR. Therefore, we implemented a policy to manage our exposure to variable interest rates on a portion of our outstanding variable rate debt instruments through the use of interest rate swap contracts. These contracts convert a portion of our variable rate debt to fixed rate debt, matching the currency, effective dates and maturity dates to specific debt instruments. We designate our interest rate swap contracts as cash flow hedges, and net interest payments or receipts from interest rate swap contracts are included as adjustments to interest expense.
As of December 31, 2020, we held interest rate swap contracts with a total notional amount of $480 million, maturing in January 2021 and June 2021 ($150 million remains outstanding as of the filing date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K). All of our interest rate swap contracts have been executed with banks that we believe are creditworthy (Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; Bank of America, N.A.; Citizens, N.A.; HSBC Bank USA, N.A.; and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.). As of December 31, 2020, the fair value of the interest rate swap contracts was a liability of $1 million. The values of such contracts are subject to changes in interest rates.
In addition to these interest rate swaps, as of December 31, 2020, we held cross currency swap agreements for a total notional amount of €340 million with maturity dates in January 2021. These cross currency swaps contain an interest rate swap component and a foreign currency forward contract component that, combined with related intercompany financing arrangements, effectively convert variable rate U.S. dollar-denominated borrowings into fixed rate euro-denominated borrowings. The swaps are intended to reduce uncertainty in cash flows in U.S. dollars and euros in connection with intercompany financing arrangements. The cross currency swaps were also executed with banks we believe are creditworthy (Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; Bank of America, N.A.; and MUFG Bank, Ltd. ("MUFG")). As of December 31, 2020,
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the fair value of our cross currency swaps was a liability of $56 million. The values of these contracts are subject to changes in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates.
In total, we had 87% (16% excluding the cash flow hedges that matured in January 2021) of our variable rate debt under our credit facilities at fixed rates at December 31, 2020 compared to 59% at December 31, 2019. See Note 10, "Long-Term Obligations" and Note 11, "Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities" to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
At December 31, 2020, we had approximately $128 million of variable rate debt that was not hedged. Using sensitivity analysis, a 100 basis point movement in interest rates would change interest expense by $1 million over the next twelve months.
Commodity Prices
We are exposed to market risk related to price fluctuations in scrap metal and other metals (including precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium). Market prices of these metals affect the amount that we pay for our inventory and the revenue that we generate from sales of these metals. As both our revenue and costs are affected by the price fluctuations, we have a natural hedge against the changes. However, there is typically a lag between the effect on our revenue from metal price fluctuations and inventory cost changes, and there is no guarantee that the vehicle costs will decrease or increase at the same rate as the metals prices. Therefore, we can experience positive or negative gross margin effects in periods of rising or falling metals prices, particularly when such prices move rapidly. Additionally, if market prices were to change at a greater rate than our vehicle acquisition costs, we could experience a positive or negative effect on our operating margin. The average of scrap metal prices for 2020 was relatively flat compared to the average for 2019.
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