Mondelez International, Inc. 10-Q

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk. As we operate globally, we are primarily exposed to currency exchange rate, commodity price and interest rate market risks. We monitor and manage these exposures as part of our overall risk management program. Our risk management program focuses on the unpredictability of financial markets and seeks to reduce the potentially adverse effects that the volatility of these markets may have on our operating results. The COVID-19 pandemic and related global response significantly impacted economic activity and markets around the world. National and local governments imposed preventative or protective restrictions on travel and business operations and advised or required citizens to remain at home. Temporary closures of businesses were ordered and numerous other businesses temporarily closed voluntarily. The impact of the global pandemic and response has had a material unfavorable impact on global and local markets, including commodity, currency and capital markets. While some of these markets such as the U.S. and other major stock markets and certain currencies have rebounded significantly in recent quarters, these markets are likely to continue to remain volatile while the situation continues. An economic or credit crisis could occur and impair credit availability and our ability to raise capital when needed. A disruption in the financial markets may have a negative effect on our derivative counterparties and could impair our banking or other business partners, on whom we rely for access to capital and as counterparties for a number of our derivative contracts. We work to mitigate these risks and we largely employ existing strategies that are described below to mitigate currency, commodity and interest rate market risks. We principally utilize derivative instruments to reduce significant, unanticipated earnings fluctuations that may arise from volatility in currency exchange rates, commodity prices and interest rates. For additional information on our derivative activity and the types of derivative instruments we use to hedge our currency exchange, commodity price and interest rate exposures, see Note 9, Financial Instruments . Many of our non-U.S. subsidiaries operate in functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates create volatility in our reported results as we translate the balance sheets, operating results and cash flows of these subsidiaries into the U.S. dollar for consolidated reporting purposes. The translation of non-U.S. dollar denominated balance sheets and statements of earnings of our subsidiaries into the U.S. dollar for consolidated reporting generally results in a cumulative translation adjustment to other comprehensive income within equity. A stronger U.S. dollar relative to other functional currencies adversely affects our consolidated earnings and net assets while a weaker U.S. dollar benefits our consolidated earnings and net assets. While we hedge significant forecasted currency exchange transactions as well as certain net assets of non-U.S. operations and other currency impacts, we cannot fully predict or eliminate volatility arising from changes in currency exchange rates on our consolidated financial results. See Consolidated Results of Operations and Results of Operations by Reportable Segment under Discussion and Analysis of Historical Results for currency exchange effects on our financial results during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Throughout our discussion and analysis of results, we isolate currency impacts and supplementally provide net revenues, operating income and diluted earnings per share on a constant currency basis. For additional information on the impact of currency policies, recent currency devaluations and highly inflationary accounting on our financial condition and results of operations, also see Note 1, Basis of Presentation – Currency Translation and Highly Inflationary Accounting . We also continually monitor the market for commodities that we use in our products. Input costs may fluctuate widely due to international demand, weather conditions, government policy and regulation and unforeseen conditions such as the current COVID-19 global pandemic. Refer to Recent Developments and Significant Items Affecting Comparability and Financial Outlook above for updates on recent supply chain, transportation, labor and other disruptions that are increasing operating costs and impacting our results. To manage input cost volatility and inflation, we enter into forward purchase agreements and other derivative financial instruments. We also pursue productivity and cost saving measures and take pricing actions when necessary to mitigate the impact of higher input costs on earnings. We regularly evaluate our variable and fixed-rate debt as well as current and expected interest rates in the markets in which we raise capital. Our primary exposures include movements in U.S. Treasury rates, corporate credit spreads, commercial paper rates as well as limited debt tied to London Interbank Offered Rates (“LIBOR”). The Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom plans to initiate the phase-out of many term LIBOR rates by the end of 2021 and to phase out the remaining LIBOR rates by June 30, 2023. We do not anticipate a significant impact to our financial position from the planned phase out of LIBOR given our current mix of variable and fixed-rate debt. We periodically use interest rate swaps and forward interest rate contracts to achieve a desired proportion of 62 Table of Contents variable versus fixed rate debt based on current and projected market conditions. For more information on our 2021 debt activity, see Note 8, Debt and Borrowing Arrangements . See Note 9, Financial Instruments , for more information on our 2021 derivative activity. For additional information on our hedging strategies, policies and practices on an ongoing basis, also refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.