Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Long-Term Debt

v3.4.0.3
Long-Term Debt
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Long-Term Debt

6. Long-Term Debt

Long-term debt consists of the following:

 

 

 

March 31, 2016

 

 

December 31, 2015

 

 

 

(In thousands)

 

2014 Revolving Credit Facility (1)

 

$

3,690

 

 

$

4,203

 

7.0% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2022 (the “7.0% Notes”)

 

 

200,000

 

 

 

200,000

 

5.0% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2023 (the “5.0% Notes”)

 

 

300,000

 

 

 

300,000

 

Mortgage notes to finance companies-fixed rate, bearing interest from 3.51% to 7.03%

 

 

183,885

 

 

 

168,410

 

Mortgage notes to finance companies-variable rate, bearing interest at 1.25 to 2.80

   percentage points above one-month or three-month LIBOR

 

 

165,014

 

 

 

150,961

 

Net debt discount and premium (2)

 

 

(1,489

)

 

 

(1,562

)

Debt issuance costs

 

 

(12,414

)

 

 

(12,884

)

Other

 

 

5,058

 

 

 

5,454

 

Total debt

 

$

843,744

 

 

$

814,582

 

Less current maturities

 

 

(26,679

)

 

 

(33,437

)

Long-term debt

 

$

817,065

 

 

$

781,145

 

 

(1)

The interest on the 2014 Revolving Credit Facility was 2.25% above LIBOR at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

(2)

March 31, 2016 includes a $1.3 million discount associated with the 7.0% Notes and a $0.2 million discount associated with mortgage notes payable. December 31, 2015 includes a $1.3 million discount associated with the 7.0% Notes and a $0.3 million discount associated with mortgage notes payable.

 

2014 Credit Facilities

On July 23, 2014, Sonic entered into an amended and restated syndicated revolving credit facility (the “2014 Revolving Credit Facility”) and amended and restated syndicated new and used vehicle floor plan credit facilities (the “2014 Floor Plan Facilities” and, together with the 2014 Revolving Credit Facility, the “2014 Credit Facilities”), which are scheduled to mature on August 15, 2019.

Availability under the 2014 Revolving Credit Facility is calculated as the lesser of $225.0 million or a borrowing base calculated based on certain eligible assets, less the aggregate face amount of any outstanding letters of credit under the 2014 Revolving Credit Facility (the “Revolving Borrowing Base”). The 2014 Revolving Credit Facility may be increased at Sonic’s option up to $275.0 million upon satisfaction of certain conditions. Based on balances as of March 31, 2016, the Revolving Borrowing Base was approximately $185.0 million. As of March 31, 2016, Sonic had approximately $3.7 million of outstanding borrowings and approximately $21.7 million in outstanding letters of credit under the 2014 Revolving Credit Facility, resulting in total borrowing availability of approximately $159.6 million under the 2014 Revolving Credit Facility. See Note 6, “Long-Term Debt,” to the consolidated financial statements in Sonic’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 for further discussion.

7.0% Senior Subordinated Notes

On July 2, 2012, Sonic issued $200.0 million in aggregate principal amount of unsecured senior subordinated 7.0% Notes which mature on July 15, 2022. The 7.0% Notes were issued at a price of 99.11% of the principal amount thereof, resulting in a yield to maturity of 7.125%. Interest on the 7.0% Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears on January 15 and July 15 of each year. See Note 6, “Long-Term Debt,” to the consolidated financial statements in Sonic’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 for further discussion.

 

5.0% Senior Subordinated Notes

On May 9, 2013, Sonic issued $300.0 million in aggregate principal amount of unsecured senior subordinated 5.0% Notes which mature on May 15, 2023. The 5.0% Notes were issued at a price of 100.0% of the principal amount thereof. Interest on the 5.0% Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears on May 15 and November 15 of each year. See Note 6, “Long-Term Debt,” to the consolidated financial statements in Sonic’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 for further discussion.

Mortgage Notes

During the three months ended March 31, 2016, Sonic obtained approximately $33.7 million in mortgage financing related to four of its dealership properties. As of March 31, 2016, the weighted average interest rate was 3.74% and the total outstanding principal balance was approximately $348.9 million, related to approximately 40% of Sonic’s operating locations. These mortgage notes require monthly payments of principal and interest through their respective maturities and are secured by the underlying properties. Maturity dates for these mortgage notes range between 2016 and 2033.

Covenants

Sonic was in compliance with the covenants under the 2014 Credit Facilities as of March 31, 2016. Financial covenants include required specified ratios (as each is defined in the 2014 Credit Facilities) of:

 

 

 

Covenant

 

 

 

Minimum

Consolidated

Liquidity

Ratio

 

 

Minimum

Consolidated

Fixed Charge

Coverage

Ratio

 

 

Maximum

Consolidated

Total Lease

Adjusted Leverage

Ratio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Required ratio

 

 

1.05

 

 

 

1.20

 

 

 

5.50

 

March 31, 2016 actual

 

 

1.16

 

 

 

1.75

 

 

 

4.21

 

 

The 2014 Credit Facilities contain events of default, including cross defaults to other material indebtedness, change of control events and other events of default customary for syndicated commercial credit facilities. Upon the future occurrence of an event of default, Sonic could be required to immediately repay all outstanding amounts under the 2014 Credit Facilities.

In addition, many of Sonic’s facility leases are governed by a guarantee agreement between the landlord and Sonic that contains financial and operating covenants. The financial covenants under the guarantee agreement are identical to those under the 2014 Credit Facilities with the exception of one financial covenant related to the ratio of EBTDAR to Rent (as defined in the guarantee agreement) with a required ratio of no less than 1.50 to 1.00. As of March 31, 2016, the ratio was 3.76 to 1.00.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

Sonic has interest rate cash flow swap agreements to effectively convert a portion of its LIBOR-based variable rate debt to a fixed rate. The fair value of these swap positions at March 31, 2016 was a liability of approximately $14.8 million, with $5.9 million included in other accrued liabilities and $8.9 million included in other long-term liabilities in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. The fair value of these swap positions at December 31, 2015 was a liability of approximately $10.0 million, with $5.1 million included in other accrued liabilities and $4.9 million included in other long-term liabilities in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Under the terms of these cash flow swaps, Sonic will receive and pay interest based on the following:

 

Notional

Amount

 

 

Pay

Rate

 

 

Receive Rate (1)

 

Maturing Date

(In millions)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

2.5

 

 

 

7.100%

 

 

one-month LIBOR + 1.50%

 

July 10, 2017

$

7.8

 

 

 

4.655%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

December 10, 2017

$

6.9

 

(2)

 

6.860%

 

 

one-month LIBOR + 1.25%

 

August 1, 2017

$

6.1

 

(2)

 

6.410%

 

 

one-month LIBOR + 1.25%

 

September 12, 2017

$

100.0

 

 

 

2.065%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

June 30, 2017

$

100.0

 

 

 

2.015%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

June 30, 2017

$

200.0

 

 

 

0.788%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

July 1, 2016

$

50.0

 

(3)

 

1.320%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

July 1, 2017

$

250.0

 

(4)

 

1.887%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

June 30, 2018

$

25.0

 

(3)

 

2.080%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

July 1, 2017

$

100.0

 

 

 

1.560%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

July 1, 2017

$

125.0

 

(3)

 

1.303%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

July 1, 2017

$

125.0

 

(5)

 

1.900%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

July 1, 2018

$

50.0

 

(6)

 

2.320%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

July 1, 2019

$

200.0

 

(6)

 

2.313%

 

 

one-month LIBOR

 

July 1, 2019

 

(1)

The one-month LIBOR rate was approximately 0.437% at March 31, 2016.

(2)

Changes in fair value are recorded through earnings.    

(3)

The effective date of these forward-starting swaps is July 1, 2016.

(4)

The effective date of this forward-starting swap is July 3, 2017.

(5)

The effective date of this forward-starting swap is July 1, 2017.

(6)

The effective date of these forward-starting swaps is July 2, 2018.

For the cash flow swaps that qualify as cash flow hedges, the changes in the fair value of these swaps have been recorded in other comprehensive income (loss), net of related income taxes, in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income and are disclosed in the supplemental schedule of non-cash financing activities in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. The incremental interest expense (the difference between interest paid and interest received) related to these cash flow swaps was approximately $1.3 million and $2.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, and is included in interest expense, other, net in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income and the interest paid amount disclosed in the supplemental disclosures of cash flow information in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. The estimated net expense expected to be reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) into results of operations during the next twelve months is approximately $3.6 million.