Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)

v3.5.0.2
Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Aug. 31, 2016
Pension Plans, Defined Benefit  
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]  
Changes in Projected Benefit Obligations, Fair Value of Plan Assets
The following table provides detail of changes in the projected benefit obligations, the fair value of plan assets and the funded status of the Company’s U.S. defined benefit pension plans as of the respective August 31 measurement date (in thousands):
 
2016
 
2015
Reconciliation of benefit obligations:
 
 
 
Benefit obligation at beginning of year
$
45,612

 
$
47,545

Interest cost
1,970

 
1,920

Actuarial (gain) loss
5,604

 
(170
)
Benefits paid
(2,777
)
 
(3,683
)
Benefit obligation at end of year
$
50,409

 
$
45,612

Reconciliation of plan assets:
 
 
 
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year
$
39,181

 
$
44,642

Actual return on plan assets
2,687

 
(2,088
)
Company contributions
398

 
310

Benefits paid from plan assets
(2,777
)
 
(3,683
)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year
39,489

 
39,181

Funded status of the plans (underfunded)
$
(10,920
)
 
$
(6,431
)
Net Periodic Benefit Costs
The following table provides detail on the Company’s domestic net periodic benefit costs (in thousands):
 
Year ended August 31,
 
2016
 
2015
 
2014
Interest cost
$
1,970

 
$
1,920

 
$
2,146

Expected return on assets
(2,997
)
 
(3,143
)
 
(2,959
)
Amortization of actuarial loss
837

 
828

 
667

Net benefit cost (income)
$
(190
)
 
$
(395
)
 
$
(146
)
Weighted Average Assumption used to Determine Benefit Obligations and Net Periodic Benefit Cost
Weighted-average assumptions used to determine U.S. pension plan obligations as of August 31 and weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for the years ended August 31 are as follows:
 
2016
 
2015
 
2014
Assumptions for benefit obligations:
 
 
 
 
 
Discount rate
3.45
%
 
4.45
%
 
4.15
%
Assumptions for net periodic benefit cost:
 
 
 
 
 
Discount rate
4.45
%
 
4.15
%
 
4.90
%
Expected return on plan assets
7.40
%
 
7.50
%
 
7.65
%
U.S. Pension Plan Investment Allocations by Asset Category
The fair value of all U.S. pension plan assets is determined based on quoted market prices and therefore all plan assets are determined based on Level 1 inputs, except for fixed income securities which are valued based on Level 2 inputs, as defined in Note 6, “Fair Value Measurements.” The U.S. pension plan investment allocations by asset category were as follows (in thousands):
 
 
Year Ended August 31,
 
 
2016
 
%
 
2015
 
%
Cash and cash equivalents
 
$
347

 
0.9
%
 
$
314

 
0.8
%
Fixed income securities:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Corporate bonds
 
8,372

 
21.2

 
9,481

 
24.2

Mutual funds
 
3,351

 
8.5

 
3,100

 
7.9

 
 
11,723

 
29.7

 
12,581

 
32.1

Equity securities:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mutual funds
 
27,419

 
69.4

 
26,286

 
67.1

Total plan assets
 
$
39,489

 
100.0
%
 
$
39,181

 
100.0
%
Other Pension Plans, Defined Benefit  
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]  
Changes in Projected Benefit Obligations, Fair Value of Plan Assets
The funded status of these plans is summarized as follows (in thousands):
 
 
 
August 31,
 
 
2016
 
2015
Benefit obligation
 
$
16,808

 
$
14,255

Fair value of plan assets
 
8,502

 
8,675

Funded status of plans (underfunded)
 
$
(8,306
)
 
$
(5,580
)