Pension Plans

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Abstract]

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

9. Pension Plans

We maintain three defined benefit pension plans: one for United Kingdom employees, one for German employees, and one for Philippine employees. These plans cover most of the employees in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Philippines. Benefits are based on years of service and the employees' compensation. We deposit funds for these plans, consistent with the requirements of local law, with investment management companies, insurance companies, banks or trustees and/or accrue for the unfunded portion of the obligations. The measurement date for the projected benefit obligations and the plan assets is March 31. The United Kingdom and German plans have been curtailed. As such, the plans are closed to new entrants and no credit is provided for additional periods of service.

Net Period Pension Cost

The net periodic pension expense includes the following components (in thousands):

	Year Ended March 31,
	2012		2011		2010
Service cost	$	84	$	71	$	-
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation		2,049		2,065		1,924
Expected return on plan assets		(1,713)		(1,546)		(1,003)
Transition obligation		2		2		-
Recognized actuarial loss		68		178		120
Net periodic pension expense	$	490	$	770	$	1,041

	Net Amount Recognized (in thousands):
			Year Ended March 31,
			2012		2011
Change in projected benefit obligation
	Projected benefit obligation at the beginning of the year		$	37,530	$	36,254
		Service cost		84		71
		Interest cost		2,049		2,065
		Actuarial (gain) loss		833		(1,577)
		Benefits paid		(2,054)		(1,181)
		Foreign currency adjustment		(570)		1,898
	Projected benefit obligation at year end		$	37,872	$	37,530
Change in plan assets
	Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the year		$	23,315	$	20,432
		Actual return on plan assets		430		1,457
		Employer contribution		759		685
		Benefits paid from assets		(1,589)		(752)
		Foreign currency adjustment		(44)		1,493
	Plan assets at fair value at year end		$	22,871	$	23,315
	Unfunded status of the plan at year end		$	(15,001)	$	(14,215)
Pension liability recognized on the balance sheet due after one year			$	15,001	$	14,545
Plans with projected benefit obligation and accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets:
		Projected benefit obligation at year end	$	37,872	$	36,066
		Accumulated benefit obligation at year end	$	37,235	$	36,058
		Plan assets at fair value at year end	$	22,871	$	21,521
Plans with projected benefit obligation and accumulated benefit obligation less than plan assets:
		Projected benefit obligation at year end		-		1,464
		Accumulated benefit obligation at year end		-		812
		Plan assets at fair value at year end		-		1,794
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss):
		Unrecognized actuarial loss (gross of taxes, $1,523 for 2012 and $1,108 for 2011)	$	(5,837)	$	(4,053)
		Amount recognized as component of stockholders’ equity – pretax	$	(5,837)	$	(4,053)
Accumulated benefit obligation at year end			$	37,235	$	36,870
	The following table sets forth amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets for the plans:
		Other assets	$	-	$	330
		Pension liabilities	$	15,001	$	14,545

Weighted average actuarial assumptions used to determine benefit obligations for the plans were as follows:
	Year End March 31,
	2012	2011
Discount rate	5.2-5.7%	5.3-8.8%
Expected long term rate of return on assets	6.7-7.0%	6.0-7.3%
Salary scale	1.5-6.0%	1.5-6.0%

The expected long term rate of return on assets is a weighted average of the returns expected for the underlying broad asset classes. The expected returns for each asset class are estimated in light of the market conditions on the accounting date and the past performance of the asset classes generally.

The amount of accumulated other comprehensive income expected to be recognized in net periodic pension cost in fiscal 2013 includes amortization of actuarial loss of $169,000. Approximately 64% of the accrued pension liability relates to the German plan and 36% to the United Kingdom plan. The accrued pension liability related to the Philippine plan is immaterial.

The investment policies and strategies for the United Kingdom plan assets are determined by the respective plan's trustees in consultation with independent investment consultants and the employer. Our practice is to fund these plans in amounts at least sufficient to meet the minimum requirements of local laws and regulations. The trustees are aware that the nature of the liabilities of the plans will evolve as the age profile and life expectancy of the membership changes. These changing liability profiles lead to consultations about the appropriate balance of investment assets to be used by the plans (equity, debt, other), as well as timescales, within which required adjustments should be implemented. The plan assets in the United Kingdom are held in pooled investment funds operated by Fidelity Investments. The plan assets do not include our securities. The investment managers have discretion to vary the balance of investments of the scheme according to prevailing investment conditions and the trustees regularly monitor all investment decisions affecting the scheme and the overall investment performance. The target allocation of the United Kingdom plan assets that we control is 75% equity securities and 25% fixed income instruments. This objective has not been achieved due to the relative investment return of the two asset classes.

The German plan was held by a separate legal entity. As of March 31, 2012, the German defined benefit plan was completely unfunded.

For our Philippine plan, the local law requires us to appoint a trustee for the fund.  We have appointed Bank of the Philippine Islands, or BPI, as the trustee of the plan. The plan assets are fully invested with BPI. The main role of the trustee is to manage the fund according to the mandate given by the retirement committee of our Philippine entity and to pay the covered/eligible employees in accordance with the plan. BPI Asset Management and Trust Group, an independent unit of BPI, provides investment management services to the trustee. The target allocation for the Philippine fund was 70% to fixed income securities, 20% to equities and 10% to cash and cash equivalents.

We expect to make contributions to the plans of approximately $917,000 in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. This contribution is primarily contractual. The fair values and the allocation of the assets of the plans at the measurement dates were as follows:

	Year Ended March 31, 2012			Year Ended March 31, 2011
		(000)	%		(000)	%
Equity securities	$	17,027	74.5%	$	17,816	76.4%
Debt securities		5,445	23.8%		5,156	22.1%
Other		399	1.7%		343	1.5%
Total	$	22,871	100%	$	23,315	100.0%

Approximately 78% of the assets of the United Kingdom fund were invested in equity securities while 22% were in debt securities. The investments in debt securities are made in government instruments and investment grade corporate bonds. For our Philippine fund, approximately 53% of the assets of the fund are invested in fixed income securities, 30% in equity securities and 17% in cash.

All the plans' securities are publicly traded and highly liquid. Therefore, the securities are valued under Level 1. The plans do not hold any Level 2 or Level 3 securities.

We expect to pay benefits in each of the next five fiscal years and in the aggregate for the five fiscal years thereafter of approximately the following (in thousands):

Fiscal Year Ended:	Benefit Payment
March 31, 2013	$	1,296
March 31, 2014		1,404
March 31, 2015		1,494
March 31, 2016		1,590
March 31, 2017		1,865
Five fiscal years ended March 31, 2022		10,393
Total benefit payments for the ten fiscal years ended March 31, 2022	$	18,042