The Company recorded stock option expense totaling $313,000 and $377,000 for the three-month periods ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company recorded stock option expense totaling $625,000 and $754,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The additional disclosure requirements under authoritative accounting guidance have been omitted due to the amounts being insignificant.
On April 25, 2017, upon
re-election
of existing directors, 29,300 restricted shares with a total value of $600,000 were granted to the ten
non-employee
directors and were expensed over the period from the grant date to April 24, 2018, the date of the next annual shareholders’ meeting at which these directors’ term expired. On April 24, 2018, upon
re-election
of nine of the existing directors, 21,420 restricted shares with a total value of $540,000 were granted to these
non-employee
directors and were expensed over the period from grant date to April 23, 2019, the date of the next annual shareholders’ meeting at which the directors’ term expired. On April 23, 2019, upon
re-election
of nine of the existing directors and two new directors, 21,714 restricted shares with a total value of $660,000 were granted to these
non-employee
directors and will be expensed over the period from the grant date to April 28, 2020, the Company’s next annual shareholders’ meeting at which the directors’ term expires. The Company recorded director expense related to these restricted share grants of $135,000 and $140,000 for the three-month periods ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company recorded director expense related to these restricted stock grants of $270,000 and $290,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
On October 27, 2015, the Company granted 62,546 restricted shares with a total value of $1,060,000 to certain officers that was expensed over the vesting period of
On October 25, 2016, the Company granted 30,810 restricted stock shares with a total value of $560,000 to certain officers that is being expensed over the vesting period of
three years
. On October 24, 2017, the Company granted 28,382 restricted shares with a total value of $655,000 to certain officers that is being expensed over the vesting period of one to three years. On October 23, 2018, the Company granted 52,042 restricted shares with a total value of $1,440,000 to certain officers that will be expensed over a
three-year
vesting period. On June 26, 2019, the Company granted 25,818 restricted shares with a total value of $766,000 to certain officers that is being expensed over the vesting period of three years. The Company recorded restricted stock expense for officers of $210,000 and $158,000 for the three-month periods ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company recorded restricted stock expense for officers of $415,000 and $326,000 for the
six-month
periods ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
The Company’s defined benefit pension plan was frozen effective January 1, 2004, whereby no new participants were added to the plan and no additional years of service were accrued to participants. The pension plan covered substantially all of the Company’s employees at the time. The benefits for each employee were based on years of service and a percentage of the employee’s qualifying compensation during the final years of employment. The Company’s funding policy was and is to contribute annually the amount necessary to satisfy the Internal Revenue Service’s funding standards. As a result of its evaluation of its funding status, the Company made no contribution in 2018, and has not made a contribution through June 30, 2019.
In December 2018, due to the rising interest rate environment, the Company determined it was in the best of interest of its shareholders to settle its pension obligation to its retiree group in payout, approximately 53% of the pension benefit obligation on that date, and recorded a loss on settlement totaling $1,546,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018. In 2019, the Company made a decision to terminate and settle the remaining obligation in its pension plan with an effective termination date of June 30, 2019, following which date the Company is obligated to settle the Company’s remaining obligations of the plan upon receipt of regulatory approval. Final settlement of the Company’s remaining obligation under the plan is expected to be made in the fourth quarter of 2019 or first or second quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approval.