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Note 7 - Employee Benefit Plans
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
Notes to Financial Statements  
Retirement Benefits [Text Block]

(7)

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

 

U.S. Defined Benefit Pension Plan

 

We sponsor a defined benefit pension plan (pension plan) that was frozen in 2010 covering certain U.S. employees. We have not made contributions to the pension plan since 2019. Actuarial valuations are performed annually, and we expect to contribute $0.2 million to the pension plan in the fourth quarter of 2024.

 

During the second quarter of 2023, we, as sponsor of the pension plan, entered into an agreement committing the pension plan to use a portion of its assets to purchase an annuity from an insurance company (Insurer) to transfer approximately $11.8 million of the pension plan’s pension liabilities. Under the terms of this agreement, we irrevocably transferred to the Insurer all future pension plan benefit obligations for approximately 500 Tidewater participants (Transferred Participants) effective in April 2023. This annuity transaction was funded entirely with existing pension plan assets. The Insurer assumed responsibility for administrative and customer service support, including distribution of payments to the Transferred Participants. We recognized a $1.8 million settlement gain in the second quarter of 2023 in connection with this transaction.

 

Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan

 

We support a non-contributory and non-qualified defined benefit supplemental executive retirement plan (supplemental plan) that was closed to new participants during 2010. We contributed $1.1 million and $1.2 million to the supplemental plan for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and expect to contribute $0.3 million during the remainder of 2024. Our obligations under the supplemental plan were $17.0 million and $17.3 million at September 30, 2024 and  December 31, 2023, respectively, and are included in “accrued expenses” and “other liabilities” in the consolidated condensed balance sheet.

 

Net Periodic Benefit Costs

 

The net periodic benefit cost for our defined benefit pension plans and supplemental plan (collectively Pension Benefits) is comprised of the following components:

 

(In Thousands)

 

Three Months Ended

  

Nine Months Ended

 
  

September 30, 2024

  

September 30, 2023

  

September 30, 2024

  

September 30, 2023

 

Pension Benefits:

                

Interest cost

 $629  $750  $1,889  $2,249 

Expected return on plan assets

  (444)  (526)  (1,334)  (1,579)

Amortization of net actuarial gains

  (30)  (36)  (91)  (106)

Net periodic pension cost

 $155  $188  $464  $564 

 

The components of the net periodic pension cost are included in the caption “Interest income and other, net.”