ACCOUNTING POLICIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements include the accounts of Titan International, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Titan or the Company) and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (US GAAP) for interim financial information and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by US GAAP for complete financial statements. These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements reflect all normal and recurring adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the Company's financial position as of September 30, 2018, and the results of operations and cash flows for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included in the Company’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, filed with the SEC on February 23, 2018 (the 2017 Form 10-K). All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements include estimates and assumptions of management that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Fair value of financial instruments

The Company records all financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, notes receivable, accounts payable, other accruals, and notes payable at cost, which approximates fair value due to their short term or stated rates. Investments in marketable equity securities are recorded at fair value. The 6.50% senior secured notes due 2023 (senior secured notes) were carried at a cost of $394.9 million at September 30, 2018. The fair value of the senior secured notes at September 30, 2018, as obtained through an independent pricing source, was approximately $388.3 million.

Cash dividends

The Company declared cash dividends of $0.005 and $0.015 per share of common stock for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The third quarter 2018 cash dividend of $0.005 per share of common stock was paid on October 15, 2018, to shareholders of record on September 28, 2018.

New accounting standards:

Adoption of new accounting standards

The Company adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 606, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (the New Revenue Standard), effective January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective approach which requires the recognition of the cumulative effect of initially applying the standard as an adjustment to opening retained earnings for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2018. The adoption of the New Revenue Standard resulted in the recognition of an immaterial cumulative adjustment to opening retained earnings as of January 1, 2018, and had an immaterial effect on the Company’s financial position and results of operation. Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018 are presented under the New Revenue Standard which prescribes that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. Titan's contracts typically contain a single performance obligation that is fulfilled on the date of delivery based on shipping terms stipulated in the contract.

Disaggregated Revenues

The following table presents revenues disaggregated by the major markets Titan serves (amounts in thousands):



	Three months ended				Nine months ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2018		2017		2018		2017
Net sales
Agricultural	$	163,367	$	170,895	$	544,404	$	524,335
Earthmoving/construction	180,362		156,442		568,057		443,030
Consumer	40,990		43,651		126,544		125,523
	$	384,719	$	370,988	$	1,239,005	$	1,092,888

The Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2017-07, “Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost" on January 1, 2018, using the retrospective transition method. This standard changed the presentation of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit cost (net benefit cost) within the Statement of Operations. Under the previous guidance, net benefit cost was reported as an employee cost within operating income. The amendment requires the bifurcation of net benefit cost, with the service cost component to be presented with other employee compensation costs in operating income, while the other components will be reported separately outside of income from operations. The adoption of this accounting standard resulted in a change in certain previously reported amounts, whereby the Company reclassed $0.5 million and $1.4 million of non-service cost from cost of sales to other income on the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively. See Note 11 - Employee Benefit Plans in Part I, Item 1 of this Form 10-Q for further discussion.

The Company early-adopted ASU No. 2018-15, "Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract," effective September 30, 2018, using the retrospective approach. ASU 2018-15 requires a customer in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract to apply the guidance on internal-use software to determine which implementation costs to recognize as an asset and which costs to expense. Costs to develop or obtain internal-use software that cannot be capitalized under Subtopic 350-40, such as training costs and certain data conversion costs, also cannot be capitalized for a hosting arrangement that is a service contract. The amendments in this update require a customer in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract to determine whether an implementation activity relates to the preliminary project stage, the application development stage, or the post-implementation stage. Costs for implementation activities in the application development stage will be capitalized depending on the nature of the costs, while costs incurred during the preliminary project and post-implementation stages will be expensed. As a result of the adoption of this accounting standard, the Company capitalized an aggregate of $6.1 million of implementation costs at September 30, 2018, from selling, general and administration in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations to other assets in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Of the $6.1 million reclassification, $2.1 million was related to the three months ended September 30, 2018, and $4.0 million related to the previously reported selling, general and administration amounts in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the six months ended June 30, 2018.

In March 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-05, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118." This ASU updates the income tax accounting in US GAAP to reflect the SEC's interpretive guidance released on December 22, 2017, when the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017 TCJA) was enacted. See Note 15 for more information regarding the impact of the 2017 TCJA.

In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, "Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting." This update provides guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting. Disclosure requirements under Topic 718 remain unchanged. The Company adopted ASU 2017-09 effective January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Company's consolidated financial statements; no changes were made to the terms or conditions of share-based payments.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, "Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments." This update addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice. The Company adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2018, with no resulting changes to the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Accounting standards issued but not yet adopted

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842)." This update was issued to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. The primary effect of adopting the new standard will be to record assets and obligations for the Company's operating leases. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company has a significant number of leases for both property and equipment. As such, the Company expects that there will be a material impact on our financial position and disclosures upon the adoption of ASU 2016-02. The Company has hired outside consultants to assist with the implementation of this standard and are reporting our progress to management and to the audit committee of our board of directors on a periodic basis. The Company is in the process of abstracting data from known leases and validating and testing the completeness and accuracy of this data. The Company will provide additional disclosure as the implementation progresses.

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-02, "Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income." The amendments in this update allow a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the 2017 TCJA. Consequently, the amendments eliminate the stranded tax effects resulting from the 2017 TCJA and will improve the usefulness of information reported to financial statement users. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2018-02.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-13, "Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement." The amendments in this update modify the disclosure requirements on fair value measurements in Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material effect on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-14, "Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans." The amendments in this update modify the disclosure requirements for employers that sponsor defined benefit pension or other postretirement plans. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2020. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material effect on the Company's consolidated financial statements.