Financing Activities
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Six Months Ended |
| | June 30 |
(millions) | | 2023 | | 2022 | | Change |
Cash used for financing activities | | | ($322.2) | | | | ($428.2) | | | | $106.0 | |
Our cash flows from financing activities primarily reflect the issuances and repayment of debt, common stock repurchases, proceeds from common stock issuances related to our equity incentive programs and dividend payments.
We had net issuances of commercial paper and notes payable of $2 million and $208 million in the first six months of 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Shares are repurchased for the purpose of partially offsetting the dilutive effect of our equity compensation plans, to manage our capital structure and to efficiently return capital to shareholders. We reacquired a total of $11 million and $403 million of shares in the first six months of 2023 and 2022, respectively. Cash proceeds and tax benefits from stock option exercises provide a portion of the funding for repurchase activity.
There was no long-term debt issuance or repayment activity through the first six months of 2023 or 2022.
We paid dividends of $309 million and $300 million in the first six months of 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We currently expect to fund the cash requirements which are reasonably foreseeable for the next twelve months, including scheduled debt repayments, new investments in the business, share repurchases, dividend payments, possible business acquisitions and pension and postretirement contributions with cash from operating activities, and as needed, additional short-term and/or long-term borrowings. We continue to expect our operating cash flow to remain strong.
As of June 30, 2023, we had $554 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand, of which $43 million was held outside of the U.S. We will continue to evaluate our cash position in light of future developments.
As of June 30, 2023, we have a $2.0 billion multi-year credit facility which expires in April 2026. The credit facility has been established with a diverse syndicate of banks and supports our U.S. and Euro commercial paper programs. The maximum aggregate amount of commercial paper that may be issued under our U.S. commercial paper program and our Euro commercial paper program may not exceed $2.0 billion. At the end of the second quarter of 2023, we had no outstanding commercial paper under our U.S. program nor our Euro program. At the end of the second quarter of 2022, we had $604 million outstanding commercial paper under our U.S. program and no outstanding commercial paper under our Euro program. There were no borrowings under our credit facility as of June 30, 2023 or 2022. As of June 30, 2023, both programs were rated A-2 by Standard & Poor’s, P-2 by Moody’s and F-1 by Fitch.
There was no long-term debt issuance or repayment activity through the first six months of 2023.
We are in compliance with our debt covenants and other requirements of our credit agreements and indentures. We believe we have sufficient borrowing capacity to meet our foreseeable operating activities, as needed.
The schedule of contractual obligations included in the Financial Position and Liquidity section of our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 disclosed total notes payable and long-term debt due within one year of $505 million. As of June 30, 2023, the total notes payable and long-term debt due within one year was $1.1 billion. We had no outstanding commercial paper under our U.S. program as of June 30, 2023 and as of December 31, 2022.
Our gross liability for uncertain tax positions was $21 million as of June 30, 2023 and $25 million as of December 31, 2022. We are not able to reasonably estimate the amount by which the liability will increase or decrease over time; however, at this time, we do not expect significant payments related to these obligations within the next year.
GLOBAL ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
Global Economies
Approximately half of our sales are outside of the U.S. Our international operations subject us to changes in economic conditions and foreign currency exchange rates as well as political uncertainty in some countries which could impact future operating results. We expect a more challenging macroeconomic environment, especially in Europe, as the war and weak economic growth are having a significant impact on costs and demand. We also assume easing but ongoing delivered product cost inflation and for interest rates to remain high through 2023.
Argentina and Turkey are classified as highly inflationary economies in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and the U.S. dollar is the functional currency for our subsidiaries in Argentina and Turkey. During the first six months of 2023, sales in Argentina represented less than 1% of our consolidated sales. Assets held in Argentina at the end of the first six months of 2023 represented less than 1% of our consolidated