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Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Business Description and Accounting Policies [Text Block]

Business — Lydall, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company” or “Lydall”) design and manufacture specialty engineered filtration media, industrial thermal insulating solutions, automotive thermal and acoustical barriers, medical filtration media and devices and biopharmaceutical processing components for thermal/acoustical, filtration/separation and bio/medical applications.

Consolidation, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Principles of consolidation — The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Lydall, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. .

Use of Estimates, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Estimates and assumptions — The preparation of the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the financial statement dates and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Risks and Uncertainities [Policy Text Block]

Risks and uncertainties — Worldwide economic cycles affect the markets that the Company’s businesses serve and affect demand for Lydall’s products and impact profitability. Among other factors, disruptions in the global credit and financial markets, including diminished liquidity and credit availability, swings in consumer confidence and spending, unstable economic growth and fluctuations in unemployment rates has caused economic instability that has, and could continue to have, a negative impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Cash and cash equivalents — Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand and highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less at the date of purchase.

Short Term Investments [Policy Text Block]

Short-term investments – Short-term investments include a certificate of deposit with a banking institution that has an original maturity of six months. The short-term investment is classified as held to maturity and carried on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at amortized cost as of December 31, 2011. At December 31, 2011, the estimated fair value of the investment approximated its amortized cost, and, therefore, there were no significant unrecognized holding gains or losses. This certificate of deposit matured on January 23, 2012, and $12.0 million of proceeds were recorded to cash and cash equivalents.

Concentration Risk, Credit Risk, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Concentrations of credit risk — Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and trade accounts receivable. The Company places its cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments in high-quality financial institutions and instruments with a minimum investment grade rating of BBB or better. Concentrations of credit risk with respect to trade accounts receivable are limited by the large number of customers comprising the Company’s customer base and their dispersion across many different industries and geographies. Foreign and export sales were 46.7% of the Company’s net sales in 2012, 49.9% in 2011, and 50.7% in 2010. Export sales primarily to Europe, Asia, Mexico and Canada were $49.7 million, $47.0 million, and $40.7 million in 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition and generally does not require collateral. Sales to the automotive market, included in the Thermal/Acoustical Metals and Thermal/Acoustical Fibers segments, were 65.5% of the Company’s net sales in 2012, 62.0% in 2011, and 57.0% in 2010. Sales to Ford Motor Company (“Ford”) were 18.8%, 16.2%, and 11.1% of Lydall’s 2012, 2011, and 2010 net sales, respectively. Sales to Chrysler Group LLC accounted for 10.0% of Lydall’s net sales in the year ended December 31, 2012. No other customers accounted for more than 10% of total net sales in 2012, 2011 or 2010. At December 31, 2012 and 2011, Ford represented 17.0% and 14.5%, respectively, of total accounts receivable. No other customers accounted for more than 10.0% of total accounts receivable at December 31, 2012 or 2011.

Inventory, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Inventories — Inventories are valued at lower of cost or market, cost being determined using the first-in, first-out (FIFO) cost method. Inventories in excess of requirements for current or anticipated orders have been written down to net realizable value.

Property, Plant and Equipment, Preproduction Design and Development Costs [Policy Text Block]

Pre-production design and development costs — The Company enters into contractual agreements with certain customers to design and develop molds, dies and tools (collectively, “tooling”). All such tooling contracts relate to parts that the Company will supply to customers under long-term supply agreements. Tooling costs are accumulated in work-in process inventory and are charged to operations as the related revenue from the tooling is recognized. Revenue is recognized as tooling is delivered and accepted by the customer. The Company also may progress bill on certain tooling being constructed. These billings are recorded as progress billings (a reduction of the associated work-in-process inventory) until the appropriate revenue recognition criteria have been met.

Periodically, the Company enters into contractually guaranteed reimbursement arrangements as a mechanism to collect amounts due from customers from tooling sales. Under these arrangements, amounts due from tooling sales are collected as parts are delivered over the part supply arrangement, in accordance with the specific terms of the arrangement. The amounts due from the customer in such transactions are recorded in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets, net” or “Other assets, net” based upon the expected term of the reimbursement arrangement.

The following tooling related assets were included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2012 and 2011:


	December 31,
In thousands	2012		2011
Inventories, net of progress billings and reserves	$	3,482	$	3,654
Prepaid expenses and other current assets, net		399		463
Other assets, net		—		334
Total tooling related assets	$	3,881	$	4,451

Amounts included in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets, net” include the short-term portion of receivables due under contractually guaranteed reimbursement arrangements and amounts included in “Other assets, net” represent the long-term portion of those receivables. Included in the inventory balance was an offset for progress billings of $4.6 million and $2.7 million at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Company owned tooling is recorded in “Property, plant and equipment, net” and was not material at December 31, 2012 or December 31, 2011.

Property, Plant and Equipment, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Property, plant and equipment — Property, plant, and equipment are stated at cost. Assets held under capital leases are recorded at the lower of the net present value of the minimum lease payments or the fair value of the leased asset at the inception of the lease. Property, plant and equipment, including property, plant and equipment under capital leases, are depreciated over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method. Leasehold improvements are depreciated on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease or the life of the asset, whichever is shorter. The cost and accumulated depreciation amounts applicable to assets sold or otherwise disposed of are removed from the asset and accumulated depreciation accounts and any net gain or loss is included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Expenses for maintenance and repairs are charged to expense as incurred.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Goodwill and other intangible assets — Goodwill represents costs in excess of fair values assigned to the underlying net assets of acquired companies. Goodwill and other intangible assets with indefinite lives are not amortized but are subject to annual impairment tests. All other intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives, which range from 4 to 20 years. In performing impairment tests, the Company considers discounted cash flows and other market factors as best evidence of fair value. There are inherent uncertainties and management judgment required in these analyses.

Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Valuation of long-lived assets — The Company evaluates the recoverability of long-lived assets, or asset groups, whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that carrying amounts may not be recoverable. Should such evaluations indicate that the related future undiscounted cash flows are not sufficient to recover the carrying values of the assets, such carrying values would be reduced to fair value and this adjusted carrying value would become the assets’ new cost basis. Fair value is determined primarily using future anticipated cash flows that are directly associated with, and that are expected to arise as a direct result of the use and eventual disposition of the asset, or asset group, as well as market conditions and other factors. There are inherent uncertainties and management judgment required in these analyses.

Pension and Other Postretirement Plans, Pensions, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Employer sponsored benefit plans — The Company recognizes the funded status of its domestic defined benefit pension plan. Net benefit obligations are calculated based on actuarial valuations using key assumptions related to discount rates and expected return on plan assets.

Derivatives, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Derivative instruments — Derivative instruments are measured at fair value and recognized as either assets or liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet in either current or non-current other assets or other accrued liabilities or other long-term liabilities depending upon maturity and commitment. For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a fair value hedge, the gain or loss on the derivative as well as the offsetting loss or gain on the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk are recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Operations. For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a cash flow hedge, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative is reported as a component of other comprehensive income and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods in which the hedge transaction affects earnings. In general, the types of risks being hedged by the Company are related to the variability of future cash flows caused by changes in foreign currency exchange rates and hedging the impact of variability of foreign exchange rates on recorded intercompany assets or liabilities. Lydall’s objective for entering into derivative instruments has always been for risk management purposes. The Company does not engage in derivative instruments for speculative purposes. Lydall has historically not been a party to a significant number of derivative instruments.

Revenue Recognition, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Revenue recognition — The Company recognizes revenue (1) once evidence of an arrangement exists; (2) product delivery has occurred; (3) pricing is fixed or determinable; and (4) collection is reasonably assured. The four criteria required to recognize revenue are considered to be met, and the passage of title to the customer occurs, at the respective FOB point and, therefore, revenue is recognized at that time. The Company’s standard sales and shipping terms are FOB shipping point, therefore, substantially all revenue is recognized upon shipment. However, in limited circumstances, the Company conducts business with certain customers on FOB destination terms and in these instances revenue is recognized upon receipt by the customer. The Company generally does not provide specific customer inspection or acceptance provisions in its sales terms, with the exception of tooling sales discussed in “Pre-production design and development costs” above.

Sales returns and allowances are recorded as identified or communicated by the customer and internally approved. The Company does not provide customers with general rights of return for products sold; however, in limited circumstances, the Company will allow sales returns and allowances from customers if the products sold do not conform to specifications.

Shipping and handling costs consist primarily of costs incurred to deliver products to customers and internal costs related to preparing products for shipment and are recorded in cost of sales. Amounts billed to customers as shipping and handling are classified as revenue.

Research and Development Expense, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Research and development — Research and development costs are charged to expense as incurred and amounted to $7.7 million in 2012, $8.1 million in 2011 and $8.5 million in 2010. Research and development costs were primarily comprised of development personnel salaries, prototype material costs and testing and trials of new products.

Earnings Per Share, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Earnings per share — Basic earnings per common share are equal to net income divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per common share are equal to net income divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period, including the effect of stock options and stock awards, if such effect is dilutive.

Income Tax, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Income taxes — The provision for income taxes is based upon income reported in the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements. Deferred income taxes reflect the impact of temporary differences between the amounts of income and expense recognized for financial reporting purposes and such amounts recognized for tax purposes. In the event the Company was to determine that it would not be able to realize all or a portion of its deferred tax assets in the future, the Company would record a valuation allowance through a charge to income in the period that such determination was made. Conversely, if the Company was to determine that it would be able to realize its deferred tax assets in the future in excess of the net carrying amounts, the Company would decrease the recorded valuation allowance and record an increase to income in the period that such determination was made.

Foreign Currency Transactions and Translations Policy [Policy Text Block]

Translation of foreign currencies — Assets and liabilities of foreign subsidiaries are translated at exchange rates prevailing on the balance sheet date. Revenues and expenses are translated at average exchange rates prevailing during the period. Any resulting translation gains or losses are reported in other comprehensive income (loss).

Share-based Compensation, Option and Incentive Plans Policy [Policy Text Block]

Stock options and share grants — The Company accounts for awards of equity instruments under the fair value method of accounting and recognizes such amounts in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company recognizes expense on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the entire award. Stock-based compensation expense includes the estimated effects of forfeitures, and such estimates of forfeitures are adjusted over the requisite service period to the extent actual forfeitures differ, or are expected to differ, from such estimates. The effect of changes in estimated forfeitures is recognized in the period of change and also impacts the amount of expense to be recognized in future periods. The Company estimates the fair value of option grants based on the Black Scholes option-pricing model. Expected volatility and expected term are based on historical information. The Company believes that its future volatility and expected term are not likely to materially differ from the Company’s historical stock price volatility and historical exercise data, respectively. Compensation expense for all restricted stock awards is recorded based on the market value of the stock on the grant date and recognized as expense over the vesting period of the award. Compensation expense for performance-based restricted stock is also impacted by the probability of achieving the performance targets.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Effective January 1, 2012, the Company adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) ASU No. 2011-05, Presentation of Comprehensive Income (Topic 220). The adoption of this accounting guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. As required by the new standard, the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income is included in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

Effective January 1, 2012, the Company adopted FASBs ASU No. 2011-04, Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs, which amends ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement. This ASU requires the categorization by level for items that are required to be disclosed at fair value, information about transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 and additional disclosure for Level 3 measurements. In addition, the ASU provides guidance on measuring the fair value of financial instruments managed within a portfolio and the application of premiums and discounts on fair value measurements. The adoption of this accounting guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.