Note 7 Supplementary Income Statement Information

 

(Millions of dollars)
Year Ended December 31, 2000 1999 1998
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales $3,028 $2,732 $2,807
Repositioning and special charges(a) 47 - -
$3,075 $2,732 $2,807
.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling $329 $314 $328
General and administrative 333 327 316
Repositioning and special charges(a) 21 - -
$683 $641 $644
.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and other $438 $413 $430
Goodwill amortization 33 32 37
$471 $445 $467
.
Other Income (Expenses)-Net
Investment income $10 $9 $14
Currency(b) 10 38 1
Partnership income 9 7 12
Repositioning and special charges(a) (91) - (29)
Other 20 23(c) 15
($42) $77 $13
.
Interest Expense
Interest incurred on debt $248 $234 $296
Interest capitalized (24) (30) (36)
$224 $204 $260
.
Minority Interests
Minority interests(d) ($24) ($39) ($49)
Preferred stock dividends (3) (6) (6)
($27) ($45) ($55)


(a) During the fourth quarter 2000, Praxair recorded pre-tax repositioning and special charges totaling $159 million and in 1998, Praxair recorded pre-tax special charges of $29 million (see Note 2).

(b) Includes a $21 million gain related to net income hedges in Brazil in 1999 (see Note 5) and gains from net income hedges in both 2000 and 1999, primarily in Europe.

(c) Includes $50 million of income related to the redemption of preference shares from an earlier business sale and $12 million of income related to the collection of a note receivable from an earlier business sale, with offsetting costs related to postemployment benefits and an anticipated loss on the sale of an air separation plant under construction for a third party.

(d) As a result of a tender offer in 2000 and a rights offering in 1999, Praxair increased its ownership interest in its South American subsidiary, S.A. White Martins (White Martins), from 69.3% at December 31, 1998 to 76.6% at December 31, 1999, and to 98.6% at December 31, 2000. Praxair paid $242 million in connection with the tender offer in 2000, and as consideration for the additional shares it purchased during the rights offering in 1999, Praxair used approximately $138 million of intercompany loans it had previously made to White Martins. Approximately $15 million of the 1999 rights offering was purchased by minority shareholders.