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Employee Retirement and Profit Sharing Plans
12 Months Ended
Mar. 29, 2014
Employee Retirement And Profit Sharing Plans [Abstract]  
Employee Retirement And Profit Sharing Plans

NOTE 12 - EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT AND PROFIT SHARING PLANS

 

We sponsor a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan for Monro employees and the former Kimmel Automotive, Inc. employees. In fiscal 2005, the previously separate Monro and Kimmel pension plans were merged. The merged plan provides benefits to certain full-time employees who were employed with Monro and with Kimmel prior to April 2, 1998 and May 15, 2001, respectively.

 

Effective as of those dates, each company's Board of Directors approved plan amendments whereby the benefits of each of the defined benefit plans would be frozen and the plans would be closed to new participants. Prior to these amendments, coverage under the plans began after employees completed one year of service and attainment of age 21. Benefits under both plans, and now the merged plan, are based primarily on years of service and employees' pay near retirement. The funding policy for Monro's merged plan is consistent with the funding requirements of Federal law and regulations. The measurement date used to determine the pension plan measurements disclosed herein is March 31 for both 2014 and 2013.

 

The overfunded/(underfunded) status of Monro's defined benefit plan is recognized as an other non-current asset/other long-term liability in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013, respectively.

 

 

 

 

The funded status of the plan is set forth below:

 

  Fiscal March
  2014  2013
   (Dollars in thousands)
Change in Plan Assets:     
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year$ 18,224 $ 17,344
Actual return on plan assets  1,726   1,496
Employee contribution 0  0
Benefits paid  (581)   (616)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year  19,369   18,224
      
Change in Projected Benefit Obligation:     
Benefit obligation at beginning of year  19,285   17,500
Interest cost  776   793
Actuarial (gain)/loss  (432)   1,608
Benefits paid   (581)   (616)
Benefit obligation at end of year  19,048   19,285
Funded status of plan$ 321 $ (1,061)

The projected and accumulated benefit obligations were equivalent at March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013.

 

Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss consist of:

 

  Year Ended
  Fiscal March
  2014  2013
  (Dollars in thousands)
      
Unamortized transition obligation$0 $0
Unamortized prior service cost 0  0
Unamortized net loss 5,056  6,520
Total$ 5,056 $ 6,520

Changes in plan assets and benefit obligations recognized in other comprehensive income consist of:

 

  Year Ended
 Fiscal March
  2014  2013
  (Dollars in thousands)
      
Net transition obligation$0 $0
Prior service cost 0  0
Net actuarial income/(loss)   1,464   (787)
Total$ 1,464 $ (787)

Pension expense (income) included the following components:

 

  Year Ended Fiscal March
  2014  2013  2012
  (Dollars in thousands)
         
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation$776 $793 $809
Expected return on plan assets (1,193)  (1,192)  (1,189)
Amortization of unrecognized actuarial loss 658  517  71
Net pension expense (income)$241 $118 $(309)

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine benefit obligations are as follows:

 

 Year Ended
Fiscal March
 20142013
   
Discount rate4.42%4.08%

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic pension costs are as follows:

 

 Year Ended Fiscal March
 201420132012
    
Discount rate4.08%4.49%5.75%
Expected long-term return on assets7.00%7.00%7.00%

The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is established based upon assumptions related to historical returns and the future expectations for returns for each asset class, as well as the target asset allocation of the pension portfolio.

 

The investment strategy of the plan is to conservatively manage the assets in order to meet the plan's long-term obligations while maintaining sufficient liquidity to pay current benefits. This is achieved by holding equity investments while investing a portion of assets in long duration bonds to match the long-term nature of the liabilities. Monro's general target allocation for the plan is 40% fixed income and 60% equity securities.

 

Monro's asset allocations, by asset category, are as follows at the end of each year:

 

 March 29, March 30,
 2014 2013
    
Cash and cash equivalents2.9% 1.6%
Fixed income34.1% 39.5%
Equity securities63.0% 58.9%
Total100.0% 100.0%

A financial instrument's level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The following table provides fair value measurement information for Monro's major categories of defined benefit plan assets at March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013, respectively:

 

     Fair Value Measurements at March 29, 2014 Using
  Total  Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets  Significant Other Observable Inputs Significant Unobservable Inputs
   (Level 1)  (Level 2) (Level 3)
  (Dollars in thousands)
Equity securities:          
U.S. companies$7,966 $7,966     
International companies 4,241  4,241     
Fixed income:          
U.S. corporate bonds 6,300    $6,300  
International bonds 302     302  
Cash equivalents 560     560  
Total$19,369 $12,207 $7,162  
           
    Fair Value Measurements at March 30, 2013 Using
     Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets  Significant Other Observable Inputs Significant Unobservable Inputs
 Total  (Level 1)  (Level 2) (Level 3)
 (Dollars in thousands)
Equity securities:          
U.S. companies$ 6,465 $ 6,465     
International companies  3,590   3,590     
Fixed income:          
U.S. corporate bonds  6,840    $ 6,840  
International bonds  364      364  
Cash equivalents  288      288  
Commodities  677   677     
Total$ 18,224 $ 10,732 $ 7,492  

There are no required or expected contributions in fiscal 2015 to the plan.

The following pension benefit payments are expected to be paid:

 

   Year Ended
  Fiscal March
   (Dollars in thousands)
    
2015 $705
2016  742
2017  772
2018  803
2019  851
2020 - 2024  5,101

We have a 401(k)/Profit Sharing Plan that covers full-time employees who meet the age and service requirements of the plan. The 401(k) salary deferral option was added to the plan during fiscal 2000. The first employee deferral occurred in March 2000. We make matching contributions consistent with the provisions of the plan. Charges to expense for our matching contributions for fiscal 2014, 2013 and 2012 amounted to approximately $612,000, $615,000 and $631,000, respectively. We may also make annual profit sharing contributions to the plan at the discretion of Monro's Compensation Committee.

 

We have a deferred compensation plan (the “Deferred Compensation Plan”) to provide an opportunity for additional tax-deferred savings to a select group of management or highly compensated employees. The Deferred Compensation Plan permits participants to defer all or any portion of the compensation that would otherwise be payable to them for the calendar year. In addition, Monro will credit to the participants' accounts such amounts as would have been contributed to Monro's 401(k)/Profit Sharing Plan but for the limitations that are imposed under the Internal Revenue Code based upon the participants' status as highly compensated employees. We may also make such additional discretionary allocations as are determined by the Compensation Committee. The Deferred Compensation Plan is an unfunded arrangement and the participants or their beneficiaries have an unsecured claim against the general assets of Monro to the extent of their Deferred Compensation Plan benefits. We maintain accounts to reflect the amounts owed to each participant. At least annually, the accounts are credited with earnings or losses calculated on the basis of an interest rate or other formula as determined by Monro's Compensation Committee. The total liability recorded in our financial statements at March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013 related to the Deferred Compensation Plan was $1,433,000 and $1,179,000, respectively.

 

Monro's management bonus plan provides for the payment of annual cash bonus awards to participating employees, as selected by our Board of Directors, based primarily on Monro's attaining pre-tax income targets established by our Board of Directors. During the years ended March 29, 2014 and March 31, 2012, we recorded charges to expense of $1,066,000 and $1,730,000, respectively. During the year ended March 30, 2013, we recorded a benefit of $66,000 related to the management bonus plan due to an over estimate of expense in fiscal 2012, as well as our failure to meet pre-tax earnings targets.