Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Stockholders Equity Note [Abstract]

Stockholders' equity

Note 13 - Stockholders’ equity:

Long-term incentive compensation plan - Prior to 2012, we had a long-term incentive compensation plan that provided for the discretionary grant of restricted common stock, stock options, stock appreciation rights (SARs) and other incentive compensation to our officers and other key employees and non-employee directors, including individuals who are employed by Kronos.  During 2012 we awarded an aggregate of 6,000 shares of our common stock pursuant to this plan to members of our board of directors.  In February 2012, our board of directors voted to replace the existing long-term incentive plan with a new plan that would provide for the award of stock to our board of directors, and up to a maximum of 200,000 shares could be awarded.  The new plan was approved at our May 2012 shareholder meeting and shortly thereafter the prior long-term incentive compensation plan terminated.    We awarded 5,000 and 9,000 shares respectively, under this plan in 2013 and 2014 and 186,000 shares were available for future grants at December 31, 2014

Long-term incentive compensation plan of subsidiaries and affiliates - CompX and Kronos each have a share based incentive compensation plan pursuant to which an aggregate of up to 200,000 shares of their common stock can be awarded to members of their board of directors.  At December 31, 2014, Kronos had 185,000 shares available for award and CompX had 188,000 shares available for award.

Dividends - In February 2014, our Board of Directors deferred consideration of a first quarter 2014 cash dividend, and no dividend was paid in the first quarter.  In May 2014, after considering our results of operations, financial conditions and cash requirements for our businesses, our Board of Directors suspended our regular quarterly dividend.  The declaration and payment of future dividends, and the amount thereof, is discretionary and is dependent upon these and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) -Changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) attributable to NL stockholders for 2012, 2013 and 2014 are presented in the table below.  

	Years ended December 31,
	2012			2013			2014
	(In thousands)
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax:
Marketable securities:
Balance at beginning of year	$	186,451		$	105,419		$	154,169
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Unrealized gain (loss) arising during the year		(71,184	)		48,514			(107,057	)
Less reclassification adjustment for amounts included
in realized gain		(9,848	)		236			-
Balance at end of year	$	105,419		$	154,169		$	47,112
Currency translation:
Balance at beginning of year	$	(133,041	)	$	(135,165	)	$	(133,816	)
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Arising during the year		6,605			1,349			(20,357	)
Less reclassification adjustment for amounts included
in gain on disposal		(8,729	)		-			-
Balance at end of year	$	(135,165	)	$	(133,816	)	$	(154,173	)
Defined benefit pension plans:
Balance at beginning of year	$	(59,478	)	$	(66,402	)	$	(56,644	)
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Amortization of prior service cost and net losses
included in net periodic pension cost		2,254			2,776			2,107
Net actuarial gain (loss) arising during the year		(9,178	)		5,952			(20,723	)
Plan curtailment		-			1,030			-
Balance at end of year	$	(66,402	)	$	(56,644	)	$	(75,260	)
OPEB plans:
Balance at beginning of year	$	1,344		$	895		$	1,275
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Amortization of prior service credit and net losses
included in net periodic OPEB cost		(552	)		(663	)		(626	)
Net actuarial gain arising during year		103			395			(367	)
Plan amendment		-			648			-
Balance at end of year	$	895		$	1,275		$	282
Total accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax:
Balance at beginning of year	$	(4,724	)	$	(95,253	)	$	(35,016	)
Other comprehensive income (loss)		(90,529	)		60,237			(147,023	)
Balance at end of year	$	(95,253	)	$	(35,016	)	$	(182,039	)

The marketable securities reclassification adjustment in 2012 consists principally of the securities transaction gain related to the sale of TIMET common stock discussed in Note 6.  The currency translation reclassification adjustment in 2012 relates to CompX’s disposition of its furniture components operations discussed in Note 2.  See Note 15 for amounts related to our defined benefit pension plans and OPEB plans.