Note 5. Long-Term Debt and Lines of Credit

Debt

The Company's credit facilities consist of (i) fixed interest rate term loans originally in the amount of $125,000,000 (“Met Fixed-Rate Term Loans”), (ii) prior to the satisfaction of one such loan, variable interest rate term loans originally in the amount of $57,500,000 (“Met Variable-Rate Term Loans”), (iii) a $25,000,000 revolving line of credit (“RLOC”) with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and New England Life Insurance Company (collectively “Met”), and (iv) a $70,000,000 working capital line of credit (“WCLC”) with Rabo Agrifinance, Inc. (“Rabo”).

The term loans and RLOC are secured by real property. The security for the term loans and RLOC consists of approximately 38,200 gross acres of citrus groves and originally included 5,800 gross acres of ranch land. In April 2021, the 5,800 gross acres of ranch land were released as security against the term loans and RLOC and only the 38,200 gross acres of citrus groves remain as security for the term loans and RLOC. The WCLC is collateralized by the Company’s current assets and certain other personal property owned by the Company.

Initially, the Met Fixed-Rate Term Loans were subject to quarterly principal payments of $1,562,500 and bore interest at 4.15% per annum. Effective May 1, 2021, the Company modified its Met Fixed-Rate Term Loans, which, in the aggregate have a balance of $70,000,000 after the prepayment of $10,312,500 made in April 2021, to be interest only with a balloon payment to be paid at maturity on November 1, 2029. The interest rate on these Met Fixed-Rate Term Loans, which were bearing interest at 4.15%, was adjusted to 3.85%. As part of this modification, the Company no longer has the prepayment option previously allowed under the arrangement.

The original Met Variable-Rate Term Loans were subject to quarterly principal payments of $718,750 and bore interest at a rate equal to 90-day LIBOR plus 165 basis points (the “LIBOR spread”). On April 29, 2022, the Company made a prepayment on one of its Met Variable-Rate Term Loans in an amount of approximately $15,625,000 and the loan, after also considering a final scheduled principal payment made on May 2, 2022, was fully satisfied. The remaining Met Variable-Rate Term Loan is subject to a quarterly principal payment of approximately $406,250 and bears interest at a rate equal to 90-day LIBOR plus 165 basis points. The LIBOR spread was subject to adjustment by Met beginning May 1, 2017 and is subject to further adjustment every two years thereafter until maturity. No adjustment was made at May 1, 2019 or at May 1, 2021. Interest on the term loan is payable quarterly. The interest rate on the Met Variable-Rate Term Loan was 2.89% and 1.78% per annum as of June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively. The Met Variable-Rate Term Loan matures on November 1, 2029.

The RLOC bears interest at a floating rate equal to 90-day LIBOR plus 165 basis points, payable quarterly. The LIBOR spread was adjusted by Met on May 1, 2017 and is subject to further adjustment every two years thereafter. No adjustment was made at May 1, 2019 or at May 1, 2021. In October 2019, the RLOC agreement was modified to extend the maturity to November 1, 2029. The RLOC is subject to an annual commitment fee of 25 basis points on the unused portion of the line of credit. The RLOC is available for funding general corporate needs. The variable interest rate was 2.89% and 1.78% per annum as of June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively. Availability under the RLOC was $25,000,000 as of June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively.

The WCLC is a revolving credit facility and is available for funding working capital and general corporate requirements. The interest rate on the WCLC is based on the one-month LIBOR, plus a spread, which spread is adjusted quarterly, based on the Company's debt service coverage ratio for the preceding quarter and can vary from 175 to 250 basis points. The rate is currently at LIBOR plus 175 basis points. The variable interest rate was 2.81% and 1.83% per annum as of June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively. The WCLC agreement was amended on August 25, 2020, and the primary terms of the amendment were an extension of the maturity to November 1, 2023. There were no changes to the commitment amount or interest rate formula. The WCLC agreement provides for Rabo to issue up to $2,000,000 in letters of credit on the Company’s behalf. As of June 30, 2022, there was approximately $401,000 in outstanding letters of credit, which correspondingly reduced the Company's availability under the line of credit.

The WCLC is subject to a quarterly commitment fee on the daily unused availability under the line computed as the commitment amount less the aggregate of the outstanding loans and outstanding letters of credit. The commitment fee is adjusted quarterly based on Alico's debt service coverage ratio for the preceding quarter and can vary from a minimum of 20 basis points to a maximum of 30 basis points. Commitment fees to date have been charged at 20 basis points.

There was $0 outstanding on the WCLC at June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021. Availability under the WCLC was approximately $69,599,000 and $69,664,000 as of June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively.

In 2014, the Company capitalized approximately $2,834,000 of debt financing costs related to a refinancing and approximately $339,000 of costs related to the retired debt. Additionally, financing costs of approximately $23,000 were incurred in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2020 in connection with the letters of credit. During the three months ended June 30, 2022, the Company expensed approximately $94,000 in deferred financing costs related to the Met Variable-Rate Term Loan prepayment of approximately $15,625,000 on April 29, 2022. All costs are included in deferred financing costs and are being amortized to interest expense over the applicable terms of the obligations. The unamortized balance of deferred financing costs related to the financing above was approximately $690,000 and approximately $891,000 at June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively.

These credit facilities noted above are subject to various covenants including the following financial covenants: (i) minimum debt service coverage ratio of 1.10 to 1.00; (ii) tangible net worth of at least $160,000,000 increased annually by 10% of consolidated net income for the preceding years, or approximately $173,216,000 for the year ended September 30, 2021; (iii) minimum current ratio of 1.50 to 1.00; (iv) debt to total assets ratio not greater than .625 to 1.00, and; (v) solely in the case of the WCLC, a limit on capital expenditures of $30,000,000 per fiscal year. As of June 30, 2022, the Company was in compliance with all of the financial covenants.

Credit facilities also include a Met Life term loan collateralized by 1,200 gross acres of citrus grove owned by Citree ("Met Citree Loan"). This is a $5,000,000 credit facility that bears interest at a fixed rate of 5.28% per annum. Principal and interest payments are made on a quarterly basis. At June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, there was an outstanding balance of $4,075,000 and $4,263,000, respectively. The loan matures in February 2029. The unamortized balance of deferred financing costs related to this loan was approximately $28,000 and $31,000 at June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively.

Transition from LIBOR

On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to phase out LIBOR. On November 30, 2020, ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”), the administrator of LIBOR, with the support of the United States Federal Reserve and the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom, announced plans to consult on ceasing publication of LIBOR on December 31, 2021 for only the one week and two-month LIBOR tenors, and on June 30, 2023 for all other LIBOR tenors. On March 5, 2021, the FCA confirmed that all LIBOR settings will either cease to be provided by any administrator or no longer be representative: (a) immediately after December 31, 2021, in the case of the one week and two-month U.S. dollar settings; and (b) immediately after June 30, 2023, in the case of the remaining U.S. dollar settings. The Alternative Reference Rate Committee, a committee convened by the Federal Reserve that includes major market participants, has proposed an alternative rate to replace U.S. Dollar LIBOR: the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, which contains as part of its many provisions the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act. The LIBOR Act is intended to provide a transition from LIBOR to a SOFR based rate for certain legacy contracts which lack adequate fallback provisions and would be difficult to amend. The LIBOR Act does not affect contracts which, at the time the respective LIBOR tenor ceases to be published, already contain benchmark replacement or alternate interest rate provisions. The LIBOR Act also amends the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 to resolve potential conflicts between the provisions of that legislation and changes authorized under the LIBOR Act. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”) is charged with adopting regulations to implement the LIBOR Act and establish a replacement rate based on SOFR (including establishing spread adjustments for the one-, three- and six-month interest period tenors). The outcome of these reforms is uncertain and any changes in the methods by which LIBOR is determined or regulatory activity related to LIBOR’s phaseout could cause LIBOR to perform differently than in the past.

The Company is continuing to evaluate the impact of the transition from LIBOR as an interest rate benchmark to other potential alternative reference rates. Currently, the Company has debt instruments in place that reference one-month and three-month LIBOR-based rates. The transition from LIBOR, as mentioned above is estimated to take place in fiscal 2023 and the Company is currently working with its lenders to transition to an alternative reference rate.

Silver Nip Citrus Debt

Silver Nip Citrus entered into two initial fixed-rate term loans with Prudential Mortgage Capital Company (“Prudential”), with an original combined balance of $27,550,000, bearing interest at 5.35% per annum (“Pru Loans A & B”). Principal of $290,000 is payable quarterly, together with accrued interest. The loans are collateralized by approximately 5,700 acres of citrus groves in Collier, Hardee, Highlands and Polk Counties, Florida and mature on June 1, 2029 and June 1, 2033, respectively.

Silver Nip Citrus entered into two additional fixed-rate term loans with Prudential to finance the acquisition of a 1,500 acre citrus grove on September 4, 2014. Each loan (“Pru Loan E” and “Pru Loan F”) was in the original amount of $5,500,000 with principal of $55,000 per loan being payable quarterly, together with accrued interest. The loans were collateralized by approximately 1,500 gross acres of citrus groves in Charlotte County, Florida. In November 2019, the Company prepaid Pru Loan F in full in the amount of $4,455,000. As a result of this prepayment, the Company’s required annual principal payments on its Pru Loans was reduced by $220,000 per annum. Pru Loan E, which matured September 1, 2021, was satisfied in full at that time. After this payment, the two additional loans have been paid in full and the Company has no further obligation under either of these loans.

The Pru Loans A & B are subject to a financial covenant whereby the consolidated current ratio requirement is 1.00 to 1.00. Silver Nip Citrus was in compliance with the current ratio covenant as of June 30, 2022.

The unamortized balance of deferred financing costs related to the Silver Nip Citrus debt was approximately $177,000 and $190,000 at June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2021, respectively.