UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

 

OR

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (216) 676-2000

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

GrafTech International Ltd. (the "Company") is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and providers of high quality graphite electrodes and needle coke. References herein to “GTI,” “we,” “our,” or “us” refer collectively to GrafTech International Ltd. and its subsidiaries. On August 15, 2015, GrafTech became an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. through a tender offer to our former shareholders and subsequent merger transaction.

The Company's only reportable segment, Industrial Materials, is comprised of our two major product categories: graphite electrodes and needle coke products. Needle coke is the key raw material to producing graphite electrodes. The Industrial Materials business segment focuses on providing the highest quality graphite electrodes and providing the best customer service all while striving to be the lowest cost producer.

We previously operated an Engineered Solutions business segment which is currently held for sale. See Note 2 "Discontinued Operations and Assets Held for Sale" for further information. All results from the Engineered Solutions business have been excluded from continuing operations, unless otherwise indicated.

B. Basis of Presentation

The unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (all of which are of a normal, recurring nature) which management considers necessary for a fair statement of financial position, results of operations, comprehensive income and cash flows for the interim periods presented. The results for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results which may be expected for any other interim period or for the full year.

C. New Accounting Standards

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). Under this new guidance, a company will now recognize most leases on its balance sheet as lease liabilities with corresponding right-of-use assets. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04 Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350). This guidance was issued to simplify the accounting for goodwill impairment. The guidance removes the second step of the goodwill impairment test, which requires that a hypothetical purchase price allocation be performed to determine the amount of impairment, if any. Under this new guidance, a goodwill impairment charge will be based on the amount by which

a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. The guidance will become effective on a prospective basis for the Company on January 1, 2020 with early adoption permitted for interim or annual goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on its results of operations.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, Compensation-Retirement Benefits (Topic 715). This standard requires an entity to report the service cost component in the same line item as other compensation costs. The other components of net (benefit) cost will be required to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on its results of operations. The components of the net (benefit) cost are shown in Note 4, "Benefit Plans."

On February 26, 2016, the Company announced that it had initiated a strategic review of its Engineered Solutions business segment to better direct its resources and simplify its operations. Any potential sale of assets was prohibited by the Revolving Facility without approval of the requisite lenders thereunder. On April 27, 2016, GrafTech and certain of its subsidiaries entered into an amendment to the Revolving Facility (see Note 6 "Debt and Liquidity") which, among other things, permits the sale of assets with the restriction that the proceeds be utilized to pay down revolver borrowings. As of June 30, 2016, the Engineered Solutions segment qualified for reporting as discontinued operations as its divestiture represents a strategic shift for the Company.

During the second quarter of 2016, we evaluated the fair value of the Engineered Solutions business segment utilizing the market approach (Level 3 measure). As a result, we incurred an impairment charge to our Engineered Solutions business segment of $105.6 million to align the carrying value with estimated fair value. The analysis was updated as of December 31, 2016, resulting in an additional impairment charge of $14.3 million. DuringWe continue to update this estimate and during the first quarter ofsix months ended June 30, 2017, we further reduced the estimated fair value by $2.5$5.3 million based upon current information. The current estimate reflects Management’smanagement’s view of the manner in which the Engineered Solutions business will be divested, including  assumptions as to if and how it will be split, given the lines of business and asset groups that constitute the Engineered Solutions segment. Amongst other things, the split into groups influences the computation of the impairment charge. These assumptions and estimates are subject to change until divestiture is completed and may be adjusted in the quarter that the information becomes available.

On November 30, 2016, we completed the sale of our Fiber Materials Inc. business, which was a business line within our former Engineered Solutions business. The sale resulted in cash proceeds of $15.9 million and a loss of $0.2 million. We have the ability to realize up to $8.5 million of additional proceeds based on the earnings of the Fiber Materials business over the 24 months following the transaction. We have elected to record this contingent consideration as it is realized and as such it is not recognized thus far on the transaction.

The significant components of our Statements of Cash Flows for the Engineered Solutions business segment held for sale are as follows:

Our Industrial Materials segment manufactures and delivers high quality graphite electrodes and needle coke products. Electrodes are key components of the conductive power systems used to produce steel and other non-ferrous metals. Needle coke, a crystalline form of carbon derived from decant oil, is the key ingredient in, and is used primarily in, the production of graphite electrodes.

Information concerning our reportable segment is as follows:

The components of our consolidated net pension costs are set forth in the following table:

The components of our consolidated net postretirement costs are set forth in the following table: 

We are required to review goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets annually for impairment. Goodwill impairment is tested at the graphite electrodes reporting unit level (for example, graphite electrodes, needle coke, etc.) on an annual basis and between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying value.

The following tables represents the changes in the carrying value of goodwill and intangibles during three months ended March 31,June 30, 2017:

On April 23, 2014, the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into an Amended and Restated Credit Agreement with a borrowing capacity of $400 million and a maturity date of April 2019 (the "Revolving Facility"). On February 27, 2015, GrafTech and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a further Amended and Restated Credit Agreement that provides for, among other things, greater financial flexibility and a $40 million senior secured delayed draw term loan facility (the "Term Loan Facility").

On July 28, 2015, GrafTech and certain of its subsidiaries entered into an amendment to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement to change the terms regarding the occurrence of a default upon a change in control (which

is defined thereunder to include the acquisition by any person of more than 25 percent of GrafTech’s outstanding shares) to exclude the acquisition of shares by Brookfield.  In addition, effective upon such acquisition, the financial covenants were eased, resulting in increased availability under the Revolving Facility. The size of the Revolving Facility was also reduced from $400 million to $375 million. The size of the Term Loan Facility remained at $40 million.

On April 27, 2016, GrafTech and certain of its subsidiaries entered into an amendment to the Revolving Facility. The size of the Revolving Facility was permanently reduced from $375 million to $225 million. New covenants were also added to the Revolving Facility, including a requirement to make mandatory repayments of outstanding amounts under the Revolving Facility and the Term Loan Facility with the proceeds of any sale of all or any substantial part of the assets included in the Engineered Solutions segment and a requirement to maintain minimum liquidity (consisting of domestic cash, cash equivalents and availability under the Revolving Facility) in excess of $25 million. The covenants were also modified to provide for: the elimination of certain exceptions to the Company’s negative covenants limiting the Company’s ability to make certain investments, sell assets, make restricted payments, incur liens, incur debt and incur debt;prepay or redeem other indebtedness; a restriction on the amount of cash and cash equivalents permitted to be held on the balance sheet at any one time without paying down the Revolving Facility and the Term Loan Facility; and changes to the Company’s financial covenants so that until the earlier of March 31, 2019 or the Company has $75 million in trailing twelve month EBITDA (as defined in the Revolving Facility), the Company is required to maintain trailing twelve month EBITDA above certain minimums ranging from ($40 million) to $35 million after which the Company’s existing financial covenants under the Revolving Facility will apply.

With this amendment, the Company has full access to the $225 million Revolving Facility, subject to the $25 million minimum liquidity requirement. As of March 31,June 30, 2017, the Company had $73.8$68.5 million of borrowings on the Revolving Facility and $13.8$14.1 million of letters of credit drawn against the Revolving Facility.

The $40 million Term Loan Facility was fully drawn on August 11, 2015, in connection with the repayment of the Senior Subordinated Notes. The balance of the Term Loan Facility was $29.5 million as of March 31,June 30, 2017.

The interest rate applicable to the Revolving Facility and Term Loan Facility is LIBOR plus a margin ranging from 2.25% to 4.75% (depending on our total senior secured leverage ratio). The borrowers pay a per annum fee ranging from 0.35% to 0.70% (depending on our senior secured leverage ratio) on the undrawn portion of the commitments under the Revolving Facility.

Due to decreased pricing in our graphite electrode product line, we recorded a lower of cost or market inventory adjustment of $11.5$14.6 million and $1.3$1.5 million in the threesix months ended March 31,June 30, 2016 and March 31,June 30, 2017, respectively. The decrease is attributable to the reduction in product costs and associated improvement on product margins.

We compute and apply to ordinary income an estimated annual effective tax rate on a quarterly basis based on current and forecasted business levels and activities, including the mix of domestic and foreign results and enacted tax laws. The estimated annual effective tax rate is updated quarterly based on actual results and updated operating forecasts. Ordinary income refers to income (loss) before income tax expense excluding significant, unusual, or infrequently occurring items. The tax effect of an unusual or infrequently occurring item is recorded in the interim period in which it occurs as a discrete item of tax.

The following tables summarize the provision for income taxes for the three and six months ended March 31,June 30, 2016 and March 31,June 30, 2017:

For the three and six months ended March 31,June 30, 2016 and 2017 the effective tax rate differs from the U.S. statutory rate of 35% primarily due to recent losses in the U.S. and Switzerland where we receive no tax benefit due to a full valuation allowance and worldwide earnings from various countries tax at different rates. The recognition of the valuation allowance does not result in or limit the Company's ability to utilize these tax assets in the future.

As of March 31,June 30, 2017, we had unrecognized tax benefits of $3.3$3.4 million, $3.0 million of which, if recognized, would have a favorable impact on our effective tax rate.

We file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, and various state and foreign jurisdictions. All U.S. federal tax years prior to 2013 are generally closed by statute or have been audited and settled with the applicable domestic tax authorities. All other jurisdictions are still open to examination beginning after 2010.

We continue to assess the realization of our deferred tax assets based on determinations of whether it is more likely than not that deferred tax benefits will be realized through the generation of future taxable income. Appropriate consideration is given to all available evidence, both positive and negative, in assessing the need for a valuation allowance. Examples of positive evidence would include a strong earnings history, an event or events that would increase our taxable income through a continued reduction of expenses, and tax planning strategies that would indicate an ability to realize deferred tax assets. In circumstances where the significant positive evidence does not outweigh

We use derivative instruments as part of our overall foreign currency and commodity risk management strategies to manage the risk of exchange rate movements that would reduce the value of our foreign cash flows and to minimize commodity price volatility. Foreign currency exchange rate movements create a degree of risk by affecting the value of sales made and costs incurred in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

Certain of our derivative contracts contain provisions that require us to provide collateral. Since the counterparties to these financial instruments are large commercial banks and similar financial institutions, we do not believe that we are exposed to material counterparty credit risk. We do not anticipate nonperformance by any of the counter-parties to our instruments. Our derivative risk management strategy has not resulted in a material impact to our financial results in 2016 or 2017. Our derivative assets and liabilities are included within "Prepaid expenses and other current assets" and "Other current liabilities" on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and effects of these derivatives are recorded in revenue, cost of goods sold and other expense (income) on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Foreign currency derivatives