Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Feb. 01, 2020

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

As a result of its operating and financing activities, TJX is exposed to market risks from changes in interest and foreign currency exchange rates and fuel costs. These market risks may adversely affect TJX’s operating results and financial position. TJX seeks to minimize risk from changes in interest and foreign currency exchange rates and fuel costs through the use of derivative financial instruments when and to the extent deemed appropriate. TJX does not use derivative financial instruments for trading or other speculative purposes and does not use any leveraged derivative financial instruments. TJX recognizes all derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities in the statements of financial position and measures those instruments at fair value. The fair values of the derivatives are classified as assets or liabilities, current or non-current, based upon valuation results and settlement dates of the individual contracts. Changes to the fair value of derivative contracts that do not qualify for hedge accounting are reported in earnings in the period of the change. For derivatives that qualify for hedge accounting, changes in the fair value of the derivatives are either recorded in shareholders’ equity as a component of other comprehensive income or are recognized currently in earnings, along with an offsetting adjustment against the basis of the item being hedged.

Diesel Fuel Contracts

TJX hedges portions of its estimated notional diesel requirements based on the diesel fuel expected to be consumed by independent freight carriers transporting TJX’s inventory. Independent freight carriers transporting TJX’s inventory charge TJX a mileage surcharge based on the price of diesel fuel. The hedge agreements are designed to mitigate the volatility of diesel fuel pricing (and the resulting per mile surcharges payable by TJX) by setting a fixed price per gallon for the period being hedged. During fiscal 2020, TJX entered into agreements to hedge a portion of its estimated notional diesel requirements for fiscal 2021. The hedge agreements outstanding at February 1, 2020 relate to approximately 50% of TJX’s estimated notional diesel requirements for fiscal 2021. These diesel fuel hedge agreements will settle throughout fiscal 2021 and the first month of fiscal 2022. TJX elected not to apply hedge accounting rules to these contracts.

Foreign Currency Contracts

TJX enters into forward foreign currency exchange contracts to obtain economic hedges on portions of merchandise purchases made and anticipated to be made by the Company’s operations in currencies other than their respective functional currencies, primarily in TJX International and TJX Canada. These contracts typically have a term of twelve months or less. The contracts outstanding at February 1, 2020 cover a portion of such actual and anticipated merchandise purchases throughout fiscal 2021. Additionally, TJX’s operations in Europe are subject to foreign currency exposure as a result of their buying function being centralized in the United Kingdom. All merchandise is purchased centrally in the U.K. and then shipped and billed to the retail entities in other countries. This intercompany billing to TJX’s European businesses’ Euro denominated operations creates exposure to the buying entity for changes in the exchange rate between the Euro and British Pound. The inflow of Euros to the central buying entity provides a natural hedge for merchandise purchased from third-party vendors that is denominated in Euros. However, with the growth of TJX’s Euro denominated retail operations, the intercompany billings committed to the Euro denominated operations is generating Euros in excess of those needed to meet merchandise commitments to outside vendors. TJX calculates this excess Euro exposure each month and enters into forward contracts of approximately 30 days duration to mitigate the exposure. TJX elected not to apply hedge accounting rules to these contracts.

TJX also enters into derivative contracts, generally designated as fair value hedges, to hedge intercompany debt and intercompany interest payable. The changes in fair value of these contracts are recorded in selling, general and administrative expenses and are offset by marking the underlying item to fair value in the same period. Upon settlement, the realized gains and losses on these contracts are offset by the realized gains and losses of the underlying item in selling, general and administrative expenses.

TJX periodically reviews its net investments in foreign subsidiaries. During the fiscal quarter ended May 5, 2018, TJX entered into net investment hedge contracts related to a portion of its investment in TJX Canada. During the fiscal quarter ended August 4, 2018, TJX de-designated the net investment hedge contracts. The remaining life of the foreign currency contracts provided a natural hedge to the declared cash dividend from TJX Canada. The contracts settled during the second quarter of fiscal 2019 resulting in a pre-tax gain of $27 million while designated as a net investment hedge and subsequent to de-designation, a pre-tax gain of $19 million. The $27 million gain is reflected in shareholders equity as a component of other comprehensive income. The $19 million gain subsequent to de-designation is reflected in the income statement offsetting a foreign currency loss of $18 million on the declared dividends.

The following is a summary of TJX’s derivative financial instruments, related fair value and balance sheet classification at February 1, 2020:


In thousands			Pay	Receive			Blended Contract Rate		Balance Sheet Location		Current Asset U.S.$		Current (Liability) U.S.$	Net Fair Value in U.S.$ at February 1, 2020
Fair value hedges:
Intercompany balances, primarily debt and related interest:
	zł	45,000	£	8,930	0.1984	Prepaid Exp	$	270	$	—	$	270
	A$	50,000	U.S.$	33,911	0.6782	Prepaid Exp	275		—		275
	U.S.$	72,475	£	55,000	0.7589	Prepaid Exp	743		—		743
Economic hedges for which hedge accounting was not elected:
Diesel contracts	Diesel fuel contracts	Fixed on 2.9M - 3.5M gal per month		Float on 2.9M - 3.5M gal per month	N/A	(Accrued Exp)	—		(9,927)		(9,927)
Intercompany billings in TJX International, primarily merchandise related:
	€	58,700	£	49,848	0.8492	Prepaid Exp	655		—		655
Merchandise purchase commitments:
	C$	609,340	U.S.$	463,200	0.7602	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	2,877		(207)		2,670
	C$	37,051	€	25,200	0.6801	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	61		(44)		17
	£	265,653	U.S.$	341,880	1.2869	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	11		(9,792)		(9,781)
	zł	362,700	£	72,217	0.1991	Prepaid Exp	1,903		—		1,903
	A$	29,400	U.S.$	20,151	0.6854	Prepaid Exp	435		—		435
	U.S.$	49,849	€	44,635	0.8954	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	10		(235)		(225)
Total fair value of financial instruments														$	7,240	$	(20,205)	$	(12,965)

The following is a summary of TJX’s derivative financial instruments, related fair value and balance sheet classification at February 2, 2019:


In thousands			Pay	Receive			Blended Contract Rate		Balance Sheet Location		Current Asset U.S.$		Current (Liability) U.S.$	Net Fair Value in U.S.$ at February 2, 2019
Fair value hedges:
Intercompany balances, primarily debt and related interest:
	zł	59,000	£	12,021	0.2037	Prepaid Exp	$	56	$	—	$	56
	€	55,950	£	49,560	0.8858	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	126		(140)		(14)
	A$	30,000	U.S.$	21,483	0.7161	(Accrued Exp)	—		(314)		(314)
	U.S.$	72,020	£	55,000	0.7637	Prepaid Exp	1,037		—		1,037
Economic hedges for which hedge accounting was not elected:
	Diesel fuel contracts	Fixed on 2.7M - 3.3M gal per month		Float on 2.7M - 3.3M gal per month	N/A	(Accrued Exp)	—		(3,786)		(3,786)
Intercompany billings in TJX International, primarily merchandise related:
	€	46,600	£	41,835	0.8977	Prepaid Exp	1,300		—		1,300
Merchandise purchase commitments:
	C$	546,083	U.S.$	414,100	0.7583	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	1,239		(4,741)		(3,502)
	C$	31,455	€	20,700	0.6581	(Accrued Exp)	—		(248)		(248)
	£	173,624	U.S.$	230,000	1.3247	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	3,459		(1,466)		1,993
	zł	280,167	£	57,586	0.2055	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	707		(86)		621
	A$	51,043	U.S.$	36,961	0.7241	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	97		(213)		(116)
	U.S.$	56,847	€	49,355	0.8682	Prepaid Exp / (Accrued Exp)	115		(207)		(92)
Total fair value of financial instruments														$	8,136	$	(11,201)	$	(3,065)

The impact of derivative financial instruments on the Consolidated Statements of Income during fiscal 2020, fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2018 are as follows:


		Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income by Derivative
In thousands	Location of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income by Derivative	February 1, 2020		February 2, 2019		February 3, 2018
						(53 weeks)
Fair value hedges:
Intercompany balances, primarily debt and related interest	Selling, general and administrative expenses	$	4,788	$	(2,674)	$	1,207
Economic hedges for which hedge accounting was not elected:
Intercompany receivable	Selling, general and administrative expenses	3,257		18,823		—
Diesel fuel contracts	Cost of sales, including buying and occupancy costs	(9,780)		1,373		7,946
Intercompany billings in TJX International, primarily merchandise related	Cost of sales, including buying and occupancy costs	2,652		1,137		(3,042)
International lease liabilities	Cost of sales, including buying and occupancy costs	(1,113)		—		—
Merchandise purchase commitments	Cost of sales, including buying and occupancy costs	10,484		60,407		(45,886)
Gain (loss) recognized in income				$	10,288	$	79,066	$	(39,775)

Included in the table above are realized gains of $20.2 million in fiscal 2020 and $73.8 million in fiscal 2019 and losses of $30.5 million in fiscal 2018, all of which were largely offset by gains and losses on the underlying hedged item.