Finance Assets, net

In 2003, PMCC ceased making new investments and began focusing exclusively on managing its portfolio of finance assets in order to maximize its operating results and cash flows from its existing lease portfolio activities and asset sales. Accordingly, PMCC’s operating companies income will fluctuate over time as investments mature or are sold.

At December 31, 2014, finance assets, net, of $1,614 million were comprised of investments in finance leases of $1,656 million, reduced by the allowance for losses of $42 million. At December 31, 2013, finance assets, net, of $1,997 million were comprised of investments in finance leases of $2,049 million, reduced by the allowance for losses of $52 million.

During the second quarter of 2012, Altria Group, Inc. entered into a closing agreement (the “Closing Agreement”) with the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) that conclusively resolved the federal income tax treatment for all prior and future tax years of certain leveraged lease transactions entered into by PMCC. As a result of the Closing Agreement, Altria Group, Inc. recorded a one-time net earnings benefit of $68 million during the second quarter of 2012, due primarily to lower than estimated interest on tax underpayments, which was recorded as follows:



	For the Year Ended December 31, 2012
(in millions)	Net Revenues		Benefit for Income Taxes			Total
Reduction to cumulative lease earnings	$	7	$	(2	)	$	5
Interest on tax underpayments	—		(73		)	(73		)
Total	$	7	$	(75	)	$	(68	)

See Note 14. Income Taxes for a further discussion of the Closing Agreement.

A summary of the net investments in finance leases, substantially all of which are leveraged leases, at December 31, 2014 and 2013, before allowance for losses is as follows:



(in millions)	2014			2013
Rents receivable, net	$	1,241		$	1,495
Unguaranteed residual values	827			1,127
Unearned income	(412		)	(573		)
Investments in finance leases	1,656			2,049
Deferred income taxes	(1,135		)	(1,440		)
Net investments in finance leases	$	521		$	609

Rents receivable, net, represent unpaid rents, net of principal and interest payments on third-party nonrecourse debt. PMCC’s rights to rents receivable are subordinate to the third-party nonrecourse debtholders and the leased equipment is pledged as collateral to the debtholders. The repayment of the nonrecourse debt is collateralized by lease payments receivable and the leased property, and is nonrecourse to the general assets of PMCC. As required by U.S. GAAP, the third-party nonrecourse debt of $2.1 billion and $2.8 billion at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, has been offset against the related rents receivable. There were no leases with contingent rentals in 2014 and 2013.

In 2014 and 2012, PMCC’s annual review of estimated residual values resulted in a decrease of $63 million and $19 million, respectively, to unguaranteed residual values. These decreases in unguaranteed residual values resulted in a reduction to PMCC’s net revenues of $26 million and $8 million in 2014 and 2012, respectively. There were no such adjustments in 2013.

At December 31, 2014, PMCC’s investments in finance leases were principally comprised of the following investment categories: aircraft (39%), rail and surface transport (25%), electric power (21%), real estate (10%) and manufacturing (5%). There were no investments located outside the United States at December 31, 2014 and 2013.

Rents receivable in excess of debt service requirements on third-party nonrecourse debt at December 31, 2014 were as follows:



(in millions)
2015	$	229
2016	48
2017	68
2018	154
2019	181
Thereafter	561
Total	$	1,241

Included in net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 were leveraged lease revenues of $80 million, $209 million and $149 million, respectively. Income tax expense (benefit), excluding interest on tax underpayments, on leveraged lease revenues for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 was $30 million, $80 million and $54 million, respectively.

Income from investment tax credits on leveraged leases was not significant during 2014, 2013 and 2012.

PMCC maintains an allowance for losses that provides for estimated credit losses on its investments in finance leases. PMCC’s portfolio consists substantially of leveraged leases to a diverse base of lessees participating in a wide variety of industries. Losses on such leases are recorded when probable and estimable. PMCC regularly performs a systematic assessment of each individual lease in its portfolio to determine potential credit or collection issues that might indicate impairment. Impairment takes into consideration both the probability of default and the likelihood of recovery if default were to occur. PMCC considers both quantitative and qualitative factors of each investment when performing its assessment of the allowance for losses.

Quantitative factors that indicate potential default are tied most directly to public debt ratings. PMCC monitors publicly available information on its obligors, including financial statements and credit rating agency reports. Qualitative factors that indicate the likelihood of recovery if default were to occur include, but are not limited to, underlying collateral value, other forms of credit support, and legal/structural considerations impacting each lease. Using available information, PMCC calculates potential losses for each lease in its portfolio based on its default and recovery rating assumptions for each lease. The aggregate of these potential losses forms a range of potential losses which is used as a guideline to determine the adequacy of PMCC’s allowance for losses.

PMCC assesses the adequacy of its allowance for losses relative to the credit risk of its leasing portfolio on an ongoing basis. During 2014, 2013 and 2012, PMCC determined that its allowance for losses exceeded the amount required based on management’s assessment of the credit quality and size of PMCC’s leasing portfolio. As a result, PMCC reduced its allowance for losses by $10 million, $47 million and $10 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. These decreases to the allowance for losses were recorded as a reduction to marketing, administration and research costs on Altria Group, Inc.’s consolidated statements of earnings. PMCC believes that, as of December 31, 2014, the allowance for losses of $42 million was adequate. PMCC continues to monitor economic and credit conditions, and the individual situations of its lessees and their respective industries, and may increase or decrease its allowance for losses if such conditions change in the future.

The activity in the allowance for losses on finance assets for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 was as follows:



(in millions)	2014			2013			2012
Balance at beginning of year	$	52		$	99		$	227
Decrease to allowance	(10		)	(47		)	(10		)
Amounts written-off	—			—			(118		)
Balance at end of year	$	42		$	52		$	99

As a result of developments related to the American Airlines, Inc. (“American”) bankruptcy filing in 2011, PMCC wrote off $118 million of the related investment in finance lease balance against its allowance for losses during 2012. Also during 2012, PMCC recorded $34 million of pre-tax income primarily related to recoveries from the sale of bankruptcy claims on, as well as the sale of aircraft under, its leases to American. During the first quarter of 2013, PMCC sold its remaining interest in the American aircraft leases.

All PMCC lessees were current on their lease payment obligations as of December 31, 2014.

The credit quality of PMCC’s investments in finance leases as assigned by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“Standard & Poor’s”) and Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) at December 31, 2014 and 2013 was as follows:



(in millions)	2014		2013
Credit Rating by Standard & Poor’s/Moody’s:
“AAA/Aaa” to “A-/A3”	$	417	$	464
“BBB+/Baa1” to “BBB-/Baa3”	833		927
“BB+/Ba1” and Lower	406		658
Total	$	1,656	$	2,049