Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Leases

v3.19.3.a.u2
Leases
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Leases  
Leases

(8) Leases

In February 2016 and subsequently, the FASB issued new guidance which revises the accounting for leases (“ASC 842”). Under the new guidance, entities that lease assets are required to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet related to the rights and obligations created by those leases regardless of whether they are classified as finance or operating leases. In addition, new disclosures are required to meet the objective of enabling users of the financial statements to better understand the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. We adopted ASC 842 on January 1, 2019 and elected the optional transition method that allowed for a cumulative-effect adjustment in the period of adoption.  Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2019 are presented under ASC 842, while prior period amounts were not adjusted and continue to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods.

We elected the following practical expedients available in transition upon adoption of ASC 842 and accounting policy updates: 1) the “practical expedients package of three”, which allows us to not reassess the following as of the adoption date: a) whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain a lease, b) the lease classification of any expired or existing leases; and c) the accounting treatment for initial direct costs for existing leases; 2) the “short-term lease recognition exemption”, which allows entities to forego recognition of right-of-use (“ROU”) assets and lease liabilities for leases with a lease term of twelve months or less and which also do not include an option to renew the lease term that the entity is reasonably certain to exercise; 3) elect by asset class as an accounting policy, to combine lease and non-lease components as a single component and subsequently account for the combined single component as the lease component; and 4) apply the portfolio approach to similar types of leases where the Company does not reasonably expect the outcome to differ materially from applying the new guidance to individual leases.

Tripadvisor’s lease contracts contain both lease and non-lease components. Tripadvisor accounts separately for the lease and non-lease components of office space leases and certain other leases, such as data center leases. However, for certain categories of equipment leases, such as network equipment and others, Tripadvisor accounts for the lease and non-lease components as a single lease component. Additionally, for certain equipment leases that have similar characteristics, Tripadvisor applies a portfolio approach to effectively account for operating lease ROU assets and lease liabilities, hence Tripadvisor does not expect the outcome to differ materially from applying the new guidance to individual leases.

The adoption of ASC 842 did not have a material impact to our consolidated statement of operations and statement of cash flows during the year ended December 31, 2019. The effect of the adoption on our consolidated balance sheet as of January 1, 2019 from the adoption of ASC 842 is as follows:

Balance at December 31, 2018

Adjustments due to ASC 842

Balance at January 1, 2019

in millions

Assets:

Other current assets

$

48

(3)

45

Property and equipment, net

$

154

8

162

Other assets, at cost, net of accumulated amortization

$

118

73

191

Liabilities:

Accrued liabilities and other current liabilities

$

151

21

172

Deferred income tax liabilities

$

325

1

326

Other liabilities

$

283

53

336

Retained earnings

$

133

1

134

Noncontrolling interests in equity of subsidiaries

$

3,400

2

3,402

Operating Leases

Tripadvisor leases office space in a number of countries around the world under non-cancelable lease agreements. Tripadvisor’s office space leases, exclusive of its Headquarters Lease, are operating leases. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date, or the date the lessor makes the leased asset available for use, based on the present value of the lease payments over the lease term using Tripadvisor’s estimated incremental borrowing rate.

Tripadvisor’s office space operating leases expire at various dates with the latest maturity in June 2027. Certain leases include options to extend the lease term for up to 6 years and/or terminate the leases within 1 year, which Tripadvisor includes in the lease terms if it is reasonably certain to exercise these options.

Finance Lease

In June 2013, Tripadvisor entered into its Headquarters Lease and pursuant to that lease, the landlord built an approximately 280,000 square foot rental building in Needham, Massachusetts (the “Premises”) and leased the Premises to Tripadvisor as its new corporate headquarters for an initial term of 15 years and 7 months or through December 2030. Tripadvisor also has an option to extend the term of the Headquarters Lease for two consecutive terms of five years each. As required under the transition guidance in ASC 842, Tripadvisor assessed the lease classification for its Headquarters Lease and concluded it should be classified and accounted for as a finance lease upon adoption on January 1, 2019. Accordingly, on January 1, 2019, Tripadvisor derecognized the previous asset and liability associated with the Headquarters Lease’s previous build-to-suit designation, with the exception of prepaid rent, as discussed below, and recognized an ROU asset and a finance lease liability of $114 million and $88 million, respectively, on its consolidated balance sheet. The difference between the finance lease ROU asset and finance lease liability consists of a net asset of $26

million, primarily related to structural improvements paid by Tripadvisor, net of tenant incentives and accumulated amortization, which is classified as prepaid rent under the new guidance.

Finance lease ROU assets and finance lease liabilities commencing after January 1, 2019 are recognized similar to an operating lease, at the lease commencement date or the date the lessor makes the leased asset available for use. Finance lease ROU assets are generally amortized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, and the carrying amount of the finance lease liabilities are (1) accreted to reflect interest using the incremental borrowing rate if the rate implicit in the lease is not readily determinable, and (2) reduced to reflect lease payments made during the period. Amortization expense for finance lease ROU assets and interest accretion on finance lease liabilities are recorded to depreciation and interest expense, respectively, in the consolidated statements of operations.

The components of lease expense during the year ended December 31, 2019 were as follows:

Year ended

December 31, 2019

in millions

Operating lease cost (1)

$

24

Finance lease cost:

Amortization of right-of-use assets (2)

$

9

Interest on lease liabilities (3)

4

Total finance lease cost

$

13

Sublease income (1)

(3)

Total lease cost, net

$

34

(1) Included in operating expense, including stock-based compensation in the consolidated statement of operations.
(2) Included in depreciation expense in the consolidated statement of operations.
(3) Included in interest expense in the consolidated statement of operations.

For the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, TripCo recorded rental expense of $17 million and $19 million, respectively.

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases is as follows:

December 31, 2019

in millions

Operating leases:

Operating lease right-of-use assets (1)

$

74

Current operating lease liabilities (2)

$

20

Operating lease liabilities (3)

64

Total operating lease liabilities

$

84

Finance Lease:

Finance lease right-of-use assets (4)

$

105

Current finance lease liabilities (2)

$

5

Finance lease liabilities (3)

78

Total finance lease liabilities

$

83

(1) Included in other assets, at cost, net of accumulated amortization in the consolidated balance sheet.
(2) Included in accrued liabilities and other current liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet.
(3) Included in other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet.
(4) Included in property and equipment, net in the consolidated balance sheet.

Additional information related to leases is as follows for the periods presented:

Year ended

December 31, 2019

in millions

Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:

Operating cash outflows from operating leases

$

26

Operating cash outflows from finance lease

$

4

Financing cash outflows from finance lease

$

5

Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease liabilities:

Operating leases

$

106

Finance lease

$

88

As of December 31, 2019

Weighted-average remaining lease term

Operating leases

4.4 years

Finance lease

11.0 years

Weighted-average discount rate

Operating leases

4.11%

Finance lease

4.49%

Future lease payments under non-cancellable leases as of December 31, 2019 were as follows:

Operating Leases

Finance Lease

in millions

2020

$

23

9

2021

23

10

2022

19

10

2023

13

10

2024

8

10

Thereafter

6

57

Total future lease payments

$

92

106

Less: imputed interest

(8)

(23)

Total

$

84

83

As of December 31, 2019, we did not have any additional operating or finance leases that have not yet commenced but that create significant rights and obligations.