Compensation Related Costs and Share Based Payments

9 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2021

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

The 2018 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”), was approved by the Board in June 2018 and approved by the Company's shareholders on September 5, 2018 ("the "2018 Plan Effective Date"). The 2018 Plan replaced the 2009 Stock Incentive Plan (the "2009 Plan"), under which no new awards are allowed to be granted as of the 2018 Plan Effective Date.

Awards under the 2018 Plan may take the form of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units and other equity-based and equity-related awards. Each share issued pursuant to a stock option and each share with respect to which a stock-settled stock appreciation right is exercised (regardless of the number of shares actually delivered) is counted as one share against the maximum limit under the 2018 Plan, and each share issued pursuant to an award of restricted stock or restricted stock units is counted as two shares against the maximum limit. Restricted stock is transferred immediately upon grant (and may be subject to a holding period), whereas restricted stock units have a vesting period that must expire, and in some cases performance or market conditions that must be satisfied before the stock is transferred. At January 31, 2021, there were 2,212,588 shares available for grant under the 2018 Plan.

We account for share-based compensation by estimating the fair value of stock options using the Black Scholes model, and the fair value of time-based and performance-based restricted stock unit awards using the closing price of a share of our common stock on the date of grant. For market-based awards we use a "Monte Carlo" approach to estimate the value of the awards, which simulates the prices of the Company’s and each member of the performance peer groups' common stock price at the end of the relevant performance period, taking into account volatility and the specifics surrounding each total shareholder return metric under the relevant plan. We recognize these amounts as an operating expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income ratably over the requisite service period using the straight-line method, as adjusted for certain retirement provisions, and updated estimates of performance based awards. All awards have been granted at no cost to the grantee and/or non-employee member of the Board.

At January 31, 2021, options for 5,698 shares (which expire in June 2021) were outstanding under the 2009 Plan (no stock option awards have been granted under the 2018 Plan). Information concerning the issuance of stock options under the 2009 Plan is presented in the following table:


	Number of option shares	Weighted average option exercise price
Outstanding at April 30, 2020	43,189	$	44.39

Exercised	37,491	44.39

Outstanding at January 31, 2021	5,698	$	44.39

At January 31, 2021, all 5,698 outstanding options were vested, and had an aggregate intrinsic value of $815 and a weighted average remaining contractual life of 0.42 years. The aggregate intrinsic value for the total of all options exercised during the nine months ended January 31, 2021, was $4,833.

Information concerning the unvested restricted stock units under the 2009 Plan and the 2018 Plan is presented in the following table:



Unvested at April 30, 2020			473,799
Granted			207,928
Vested			(154,842)
Forfeited			(10,306)
Performance Award Adjustments			56,071
Unvested at January 31, 2021			572,650

The above awards reflect (a) long-term incentive compensation program grants for 2018 through 2020, which include a mix of time-based restricted stock units and performance-based restricted stock units (subject to three-year cumulative net income before net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), three-year relative total shareholder return ("TSR") or three-year average return on invested capital ("ROIC")), (b) certain “make-whole” and sign-on grants, which include a mix of time-based restricted stock units and performance-based restricted stock units subject to TSR, EBITDA, or ROIC, (c) a special strategic grant which includes performance-based restricted stock units subject to the performance of the Company’s e-commerce and loyalty platforms, (d) special performance grants which

include time-based restricted stock units, and (e) non-employee director equity awards, which include time-based restricted stock units. Total compensation costs recorded for employees and non-employee directors for the nine months ended January 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, were $22,009 and $14,394, related entirely to restricted stock unit awards. As of January 31, 2021, there were no unrecognized compensation costs related to the 2009 Plan and 2018 Plan for stock options and $34,449 of unrecognized compensation costs related to restricted stock units which are expected to be recognized through fiscal 2024.