Employee benefit plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Employee benefit plans

Employee benefit plans

Note 10 – Employee benefit plans:

The components of net periodic defined benefit pension cost are presented in the table below.

	Three months ended				Nine months ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2023		2024		2023		2024
	(In thousands)
Interest cost	$	393	$	365	$	1,255	$	1,095
Expected return on plan assets		(321)		(335)		(1,087)		(1,005)
Recognized actuarial losses		358		333		1,074		999
Total	$	430	$	363	$	1,242	$	1,089

In the second quarter of 2023, we completed a termination and buy-out of our U.K. pension plan resulting in a $4.9 million settlement loss. We currently expect our 2024 contributions to our defined benefit pension plans to be approximately $1.0 million.