Equity Compensation Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Equity Compensation Plans [Abstract]

Equity Compensation Plans

Note 8. Equity Compensation Plans:

We have various plans under which our officers, senior management, other key employees and directors may be granted equity-based awards, including PRS, restricted stock units ("RSU's"), SSAR's or stock options to purchase our common stock.

We offer a Long-Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP") for senior management. LTIP plan award payouts are based on meeting certain targeted financial and/or strategic goals established by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors early in each three-year LTIP cycle. The targeted payout of each active LTIP cycle is 50% cash and 50% IFF stock. The number of shares for the 50% stock portion is determined by the closing share price on the first trading day at the beginning of the cycle. Generally, an executive may receive a pro-rated payout for each LTIP cycle based on active service during such cycle.

We use the Binomial lattice pricing model for estimating the fair value of SSAR's granted. Principal assumptions used in applying the Binomial model for SSAR's granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 were as follows:

	2011			2010
Weighted average fair value of SSAR's granted during the period	$	11.47		$	10.41
Assumptions:
Risk-free interest rate		1.7	%		2.2	%
Expected volatility		23.2	%		29.8	%
Expected dividend yield		2.1	%		2.2	%
Expected life, in years		5			5
Termination rate		0.99	%		1.09	%
Exercise multiple		1.43			1.38

Stock option and SSAR activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 was as follows:

(SHARE AMOUNTS IN THOUSANDS)	Options/SSARs			Weighted Average Exercise Price
Balance at December 31, 2010		1,440		$	37.46
Granted		78		$	62.13
Exercised		(421	)	$	37.63
Balance at September 30, 2011		1,097		$	39.09

RSU and PRS activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 was as follows:

(SHARE AMOUNTS IN THOUSANDS)	RSU			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share
Balance at December 31, 2010		1,029		$	40.29
Granted		257		$	59.18
Vested		(269	)	$	43.34
Cancelled		(30	)	$	41.78
Balance at September 30, 2011		987		$	44.83

(SHARE AMOUNTS IN THOUSANDS)	PRS			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share
Balance at December 31, 2010		525		$	19.32
Granted		174		$	31.05
Vested		(194	)	$	20.45
Balance at September 30, 2011		505		$	22.93

Pre-tax expense related to all forms of equity compensation was as follows:

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
(DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS)	2011		2010		2011		2010
Restricted stock and RSU's	$	3,231	$	5,530	$	18,386	$	15,639
Stock options and SSAR's		313		398		1,070		1,069
Total equity compensation expense	$	3,544	$	5,928	$	19,456	$	16,708

Tax benefits associated with stock-based compensation of $1.1 million and $2.1 million were recognized for the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively, and $6.3 million and $6.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively.