Note 11 - Retirement Benefits

3 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

11) Retirement Benefits

The Company has defined benefit pension plans covering certain current and former employees both inside and outside of the U.S. The Company’s pension plan for U.S. employees is frozen for substantially all participants and has been replaced with a defined contribution benefit plan.

Net Periodic Benefit Cost for the Company’s U.S. and Foreign pension benefit plans for the three months ended September 30

, 2016 and 2015 consisted of the following components (in thousands):

	U.S. Plans						Non-U.S. Plans
	Three Months Ended						Three Months Ended
	September 3 0 ,						September 3 0 ,
	201 6			2015			201 6			2015
Service cost	$	1		$	18		$	9		$	9
Interest cost		2,613			2,872			264			371
Expected return on plan assets		(3,440	)		(3,467	)		(297	)		(337	)
Recognized net actuarial loss		1,190			995			262			216
Amortization of prior service cost		-			4			(12	)		(12	)
Net periodic benefit cost	$	364		$	422		$	226		$	247

The Company expects to pay $1.4 million in contributions to its defined benefit plans during fiscal 2017. Contributions of $0.2 million were made during the three months ended September 30, 2016 compared to $0.3 million during the three months ended September 30, 2015. Required contributions of $0.8 million will be paid to the Company’s U.K. defined benefit plan during 2017. The Company also expects to make contributions during the current fiscal year of $0.3 million and $0.3 million to its unfunded defined benefit plans in the U.S. and Germany, respectively.