Note 9 - Pension and Post-retirement Benefits

9 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Notes to Financial Statements

Retirement Benefits [Text Block]

Note

9

:  Pension and Post-retirement Benefits

The Company has

two

defined benefit pension plans,

one

for U.S. employees and another for U.K. employees.  The Company has a postretirement medical and life insurance benefit plan for U.S. employees. The Company also has defined contribution plans.

The U.K. defined benefit plan was closed to new entrants in fiscal

2009.

On

December 21, 2016,

the Company amended the U.S. defined benefit pension plan to freeze benefit accruals effective

December 31, 2016.

Consequently, the Plan is closed to new participants and current participants will

no

longer earn additional benefits after

December 31, 2016.

Net periodic benefit costs for all of the Company's defined benefit pension plans are located in Other Income for all (in the table below) but service cost. Service cost is in cost of sales and in general administration. Net periodic benefit costs consist of the following (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	03/31/2020			03/31/2019			03/31/2020			03/31/2019
Service cost	$	-		$	-		$	-		$	-
Interest cost		1,362			1,508			4,077			4,515
Expected return on plan assets		(1,305	)		(1,286	)		(3,908	)		(3,849	)
Amortization of net loss		9			5			28			19
	$	66		$	227		$	198		$	684

Net periodic benefit costs for the Company's Postretirement Medical Plan consists of the following (in thousands): 

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	03/31/2020			03/31/2019			03/31/2020			03/31/2019
Service cost	$	18		$	18		$	55		$	54
Interest cost		60			66			180			199
Amortization of prior service credit		(134	)		(134	)		(403	)		(403	)
Amortization of net loss		20			7			62			22
	$	(36	)	$	(43	)	$	(106	)	$	(128	)

For the

three

-month period ended

March 31, 2020,

the Company contributed

$3.1million

in the U.S. and

$0.2

million in the UK pension plans. For the

nine

-month period ended

March 31, 2020

the Company contributed

$5.4

million to the U.S. and

$0.7

million to the UK pension plans. The Company estimates that it will contribute an additional

$1.6

million for the remainder of fiscal

2020.

The Company’s pension plans use fair value as the market-related value of plan assets and recognize net actuarial gains or losses in excess of

ten

percent (

10%

) of the greater of the market-related value of plan assets or of the plans’ projected benefit obligation in net periodic (benefit) cost as of the plan measurement date. Net actuarial gains or losses that are less than

10%

of the thresholds noted above are accounted for as part of accumulated other comprehensive loss.