Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

DEBT AND FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS

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DEBT AND FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS
12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
DEBT AND FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS DEBT AND FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS:
Long-term debt at September 30, 2022 and 2021 consisted of the following:
  2022 2021
Revolving credit facilities $ 480,107  $ 350,597 
Securitization facility —  95,990 
2025 Senior Notes (1)
297,961  297,796 
Other borrowings 13,434  10,150 
Finance lease obligations 7,066  9,177 
Total debt 798,568  763,710 
Less current maturities (3,277) (4,624)
Long-term debt $ 795,291  $ 759,086 
(1) During fiscal 2022, the Company extinguished a small portion of the 2025 Senior Notes.

The Company has a domestic credit facility with a syndicate of financial institutions that includes a $750,000 senior secured revolving credit facility, which matures in March 2025. A portion of the revolving credit facility (not to exceed $350,000) can be drawn in foreign currencies. Borrowings under the revolving credit facility bear interest at LIBOR (Euro LIBOR for balances drawn in Euros) plus a factor ranging from 0.75% to 2.00% (1.25% at September 30, 2022) based on the Company's secured leverage ratio.  The secured leverage ratio is defined as net secured indebtedness divided by EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) as defined within the domestic credit facility agreement.  The Company is required to pay an annual commitment fee ranging from 0.15% to 0.30% (based on the Company's leverage ratio) of the unused portion of the revolving credit facility. The Company incurred debt issuance costs in connection with the domestic credit facility. Unamortized costs were $1,522 and $2,182 at September 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively.

The domestic credit facility requires the Company to maintain certain leverage and interest coverage ratios. A portion of the facility (not to exceed $55,000) is available for the issuance of trade and standby letters of credit. Outstanding U.S. dollar denominated borrowings on the revolving credit facility at September 30, 2022 and 2021 were $472,057 and $349,780, respectively. The weighted-average interest rate on outstanding borrowings for the domestic credit facility (including the effects of interest rate swaps and Euro denominated borrowings) at September 30, 2022 and 2021 was 3.13% and 2.03%, respectively.

The Company has $299,625 of 5.25% senior unsecured notes due December 1, 2025 (the "2025 Senior Notes"). The 2025 Senior Notes bear interest at a rate of 5.25% per annum with interest payable semi-annually in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year. The Company's obligations under the 2025 Senior Notes are guaranteed by certain of the Company's direct and indirect wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries. The Company is subject to certain covenants and other restrictions in connection with the 2025 Senior Notes. The Company incurred direct financing fees and costs in connection with 2025 Senior Notes. Unamortized costs were $1,664 and $2,204 at September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

The Company and certain of its domestic subsidiaries sell, on a continuous basis without recourse, their trade receivables to Matthews Receivables Funding Corporation, LLC (“Matthews RFC”), a wholly-owned bankruptcy-remote subsidiary of the Company. In March 2022, Matthews RFC entered into a receivables purchase agreement (“RPA”) to sell up to $125,000 of receivables to certain purchasers (the “Purchasers”) on a recurring basis in exchange for cash (referred to as “capital” within the RPA) equal to the gross receivables transferred. The parties intend that the transfers of receivables to the Purchasers constitute purchases and sales of receivables. Matthews RFC has guaranteed to each Purchaser the prompt payment of sold receivables, and has granted a security interest in its assets for the benefit of the Purchasers. Under the RPA, which matures in March 2024, each Purchaser’s share of capital accrues yield at a floating rate plus an applicable margin. The Company is the master servicer under the RPA, and is responsible for administering and collecting receivables.

The proceeds of the RPA are classified as operating activities in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Cash received from collections of sold receivables may be used to fund additional purchases of receivables on a revolving basis, or to reduce all or any portion of the outstanding capital of the Purchasers. Gross receivables sold and cash collections reinvested under the RPA program were $424,789 and $328,199 for the year ended September 30, 2022, respectively. The fair value of the sold receivables approximated book value due to their credit quality and short-term nature, and as a result, no gain or loss on sale of receivables was recorded. As of September 30, 2022, the amount sold to the Purchasers was $96,590, which was derecognized from the Consolidated Balance Sheets. As collateral against sold receivables, Matthews RFC maintains a certain level of unsold receivables, which was $44,262 as of September 30, 2022.
Previously, the Company had a $115,000 accounts receivable securitization facility (the "Securitization Facility") with certain financial institutions which matured in March 2022. The Securitization Facility did not qualify for sale treatment. Accordingly, the trade receivables and related debt obligations remained on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet. Borrowings under the Securitization Facility were based on LIBOR plus 0.75% and the Company was required to pay an annual commitment fee ranging from 0.25% to 0.35% of the unused portion of the Securitization Facility. Outstanding borrowings under the Securitization Facility at September 30, 2021 totaled 95,990. At September 30, 2021, the interest rate on borrowings under this facility was 0.83%.

The Company, through certain of its European subsidiaries, has a credit facility with a European bank, which is guaranteed by Matthews.  The maximum amount of borrowings available under this facility is €25.0 million ($24,499), which includes €8.0 million ($7,840) for bank guarantees. The credit facility matures in December 2022 and the Company intends to continue to extend this facility. Outstanding borrowings under the credit facility totaled €8.2 million ($8,050) and €0.7 million ($817) at September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The weighted-average interest rate on outstanding borrowings under this facility was 2.25% at September 30, 2022 and 2021.

Other borrowings totaled $13,434 and $10,150 at September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The weighted-average interest rate on these borrowings was 1.85% and 2.19% at September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

In September 2014, a claim was filed by a customer seeking to draw upon a letter of credit issued by the Company of £8,570,000 ($9,544 at September 30, 2022) with respect to a performance guarantee on an incineration equipment project in Saudi Arabia. Management assessed the customer's demand to be without merit and initiated an action with the court in the United Kingdom (the "U.K. Court"). Pursuant to this action, an order was issued by the U.K. Court in January 2015 requiring that, upon receipt by the customer, the funds were to be remitted by the customer to the U.K. Court pending resolution of the dispute between the parties. As a result, the Company made payment on the draw to the financial institution for the letter of credit and the funds were ultimately received by the customer. The customer did not remit the funds to the U.K. Court as ordered. On June 14, 2016, the U.K. Court ruled completely in favor of Matthews following a trial on the merits. However, the dispute involved litigation in multiple foreign jurisdictions because the contract between the parties included a venue clause requiring the venue for any litigation to be in the United Kingdom, while the enforcement of any final judgment was required to be executed in Saudi Arabia. Thus, the Company pursued a trial on the merits in Saudi Arabia. On November 9, 2020, the judge in the Commercial Court of Saudi Arabia issued a final judgment against the customer in the amount of £10,450,000 (representing the full claim amount plus interest) in favor of Matthews and the customer did not appeal the ruling by the Commercial Court. As result, the judgment is now final and enforceable in Saudi Arabia. The Company is assessing options to enforce and collect upon the judgment and its level of success in recovering funds from the customer will depend upon several factors, including the availability of recoverable funds, and the level of support of the Saudi Arabian government to enforce the judgment against the customer.

During fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021, the Saudi Arabian government enforced restrictions on travel to Mecca due to the coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19") pandemic. As a result, the Company was not able to support the operation of the incineration equipment for the local agency responsible for its operation during the prior two (2) Hajj Pilgrimages. Consequently, the Company continues to have concerns regarding the level of anticipated support from the government in its collection efforts. As a result of these concerns and other collectability risks, the Company established a reserve for the full value of the funded letter of credit as of June 30, 2020, and has made no adjustments to the reserve since that time. The Company will continue to assess the accounting and collectability related to this matter as facts and circumstances evolve.

As of September 30, 2022 and 2021, the fair value of the Company's long-term debt, including current maturities, which is classified as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy, approximated the carrying value included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company was in compliance with all of its debt covenants as of September 30, 2022
Aggregate maturities by fiscal year of long-term debt, including other borrowings, is as follows:

2023 $ 9,043 
(a)
2024 1,037 
2025 473,091 
2026 299,015 
2027 1,101 
Thereafter 8,215 
  791,502 
Finance lease obligations 7,066 
(b)
$ 798,568 
(a) The Company maintains certain debt facilities with current maturity dates of twelve months or less that it intends and has the ability to extend beyond twelve months totaling $8,050. These balances have been classified as non-current on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet.
(b) Aggregate maturities of finance lease obligations can be found in Note 10, "Leases."