BELDEN INC.BDC
BELDEN INC. Leases Disclosure
Leases
We have operating and finance leases for properties, including manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and office space; as well as vehicles and certain equipment. We make certain judgments in determining whether a contract contains a lease in accordance with ASU 2016-02. Our leases have remaining lease terms of less than 1 year to 19 years, some of which include options to extend the lease for a period of up to 15 years and some include options to terminate the leases within 1 year. We do not assume renewals in our determination of the lease term unless the renewals are deemed to be reasonably certain as of the commencement date of the lease. Our lease agreements do not contain material residual value guarantees, and our variable lease payments were $3.8 million and $3.5 million during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
We have entered into various short-term operating leases with an initial term of twelve months or less. These leases are not recorded on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2025 or 2024, and the rent expense for short-term leases was not material.
We have certain property and equipment lease contracts that may contain lease and non-lease components, and we have elected to utilize the practical expedient to account for these components together as a single combined lease component.
As the rate implicit in most of our leases is not readily determinable, we use the incremental borrowing rate to determine the present value of the lease payments, which is unique to each leased asset and is based upon the term, commencement date, location, and local currency of the leased asset as well as the credit rating of the legal entity leasing the asset.
The components of lease expense were as follows:
| Years Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | |||||||||||||||||
| Operating lease cost | $ | 28,928 | $ | 27,751 | $ | 22,562 | |||||||||||
| Finance lease cost | |||||||||||||||||
| Amortization of right-of-use asset | $ | 1,737 | $ | 997 | $ | 780 | |||||||||||
| Interest on lease liabilities | 439 | 571 | 330 | ||||||||||||||
| Total finance lease cost | $ | 2,176 | $ | 1,568 | $ | 1,110 | |||||||||||
Supplemental cash flow information related to leases was as follows:
| Years Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | |||||||||||||||||
| Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities: | |||||||||||||||||
| Operating cash flows from operating leases | $ | 21,124 | $ | 22,175 | $ | 19,080 | |||||||||||
Operating and financing cash flows from finance leases were not material for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, or 2023.
Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows:
| December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||
| (In thousands, except lease term and discount rate) | |||||||||||
| Operating leases: | |||||||||||
| Total operating lease right-of-use assets | $ | 113,033 | $ | 118,551 | |||||||
| $ | 20,159 | $ | 19,437 | ||||||||
| Long-term operating lease liabilities | 94,372 | 100,049 | |||||||||
| Total operating lease liabilities | $ | 114,531 | $ | 119,486 | |||||||
| Finance leases: | |||||||||||
| $ | 13,565 | $ | 12,257 | ||||||||
| Accumulated depreciation | (4,014) | (2,322) | |||||||||
| Other long-lived assets, net | $ | 9,551 | $ | 9,935 | |||||||
| $ | 1,987 | $ | 1,648 | ||||||||
| 7,914 | 8,845 | ||||||||||
| Total finance lease liabilities | $ | 9,901 | $ | 10,493 | |||||||
| Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term | |||||||||||
| Operating leases | 10 years | 10 years | |||||||||
| Finance leases | 5 years | 6 years | |||||||||
| Weighted Average Discount Rate | |||||||||||
| Operating leases | 6.1% | 6.2 | % | ||||||||
| Finance leases | 4.9% | 4.8 | % | ||||||||
The following table summarizes maturities of lease liabilities as of December 31, 2025 (in thousands):
| 2026 | $ | 29,008 | ||||||
| 2027 | 19,958 | |||||||
| 2028 | 17,711 | |||||||
| 2029 | 14,667 | |||||||
| 2030 | 13,862 | |||||||
| Thereafter | 74,884 | |||||||
| Total | $ | 170,090 | ||||||
The following table summarizes maturities of lease liabilities as of December 31, 2024 (in thousands):
| 2025 | $ | 28,148 | ||||||
| 2026 | 25,596 | |||||||
| 2027 | 16,739 | |||||||
| 2028 | 14,947 | |||||||
| 2029 | 12,820 | |||||||
| Thereafter | 80,017 | |||||||
| Total | $ | 178,267 | ||||||
In addition, we guaranteed the lease payments for certain property leases of a former subsidiary with expiration dates extending out to 2035. These lease guarantees were retained by Belden and not transferred to the buyer of the former subsidiary. As of December 31, 2025, the fixed, remaining base rent payments were approximately $17 million. In 2025, 2024, and 2023, we recognized $0.2 million, $3.3 million, and $4.1 million, respectively, related to the guarantees in selling, general and administrative expenses. These costs were excluded from Segment EBITDA of our Smart Infrastructure Solutions segment. As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, we had a liability for expected, future payments of $10.7 million and $12.3 million, respectively. The liability is based on certain assumptions that we continually reassess on an ongoing basis. We will update the estimated liability balance for changes in assumptions as needed.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 17, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 13, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 13, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 24, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 15, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 16, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 11, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Feb 20, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Feb 13, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Feb 17, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 25, 2016 | |
About Leases Disclosures
Lease disclosures under ASC 842 provide a comprehensive view of a company's leased asset portfolio, including the split between operating and finance leases, discount rates used to present-value future payments, and the maturity schedule of lease obligations. This section reveals a significant source of off-balance-sheet commitments that were largely hidden before the current standard.
Key signals: the weighted-average discount rate affects the size of recorded lease liabilities — a higher rate reduces the reported obligation, so compare the chosen rate against the company's incremental borrowing rate. The operating versus finance lease mix affects both EBITDA and operating income presentation. Watch the maturity table for concentration risk: large payment cliffs in specific years may create cash flow pressure. Variable lease payments excluded from the liability measurement represent real obligations that do not appear on the balance sheet. Compare total lease costs against prior-year operating lease expense to assess the true economic burden.