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Shareholders' Equity
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]  
Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

6. SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

 

Employee Retirement and Share-Based Incentive Plans

 

Share-Based Incentive Plan. An incentive award plan has been established for the purpose of attracting and retaining officers, key employees and non-employee board members. The Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors adopted a Restricted Stock plan (“Restricted Stock”) in December 2006 and granted nonvested shares of restricted common stock effective January 1 since the year of adoption. The nonvested shares have voting rights and are eligible for any dividends paid to common shares. The share awards vest in equal annual instalments over a three or five year period from date of issuance. The Company recognized compensation cost for these fixed awards over the service vesting period, which represents the requisite service period, using the straight-line attribution expense method.

 

The value of the nonvested shares was calculated based on the offering price of the shares in the most recent private placement offering of $10 adjusted for stock dividends since granted and assumed selling costs. The value of granted nonvested restricted stock issued during three months ended March 31, 2012 totalled approximately $490,000 which is calculated using the current private placement offering of $10 adjusted for estimated selling costs. The value of granted nonvested restricted stock issued during the three months ended March 31, 2011 totalled approximately $444,000. During the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, $166,787 and $109,620 were recorded as compensation expense. The remaining 115,559 nonvested restricted shares will vest in equal instalments over the next two to four years.

 

A table of non-vested restricted shares granted and vested since December 31, 2010 is as follows:

 

Balance, December 31, 2010 61,642
Granted 52,139
Vested (49,805)
Cancelled (5,504)
Stock dividend5,305
Balance, December 31, 2011 63,777
Granted 57,012
Vested (5,130)
Cancelled (100)
Balance, March 31, 2012115,559

Cash Dividends. During the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, the Company paid cash dividends, net of reinvested stock dividends, of $1,008,699 and $816,782, respectively, or $0.543 and $0.572 for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively per share on an annualized basis.  As the Company reported net losses in both of these quarters, and on a cumulative basis, these cash dividends represent a return of capital to the stockholders rather than a distribution of earnings. The Company paid cash dividends on the Convertible Series 6.3% Preferred Stock issued in December 2011 of approximately $27,000 in the three month period ended March 31, 2012. The dividends were paid to a subsidiary that is consolidated into the condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company and, as a result, have been eliminated in consolidation.