Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2017

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule Of Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense was comprised of the following:

	FISCAL YEARS ENDED APRIL 30
(in thousands)	2017		2016			2015
CURRENT EXPENSE
Federal	$	23,638	$	18,239		$	12,663
State	4,189		3,195			1,890
Total current expense	27,827		21,434			14,553
DEFERRED EXPENSE
Federal	8,607		10,179			3,024
State	1,292		1,450			1,311
Total deferred expense	9,899		11,629			4,335
Total expense	37,726		33,063			18,888
Other comprehensive income (loss)	4,391		(4,110		)	(9,510		)
Total comprehensive income tax expense	$	42,117	$	28,953		$	9,378

Schedule Of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

The Company's effective income tax rate varied from the federal statutory rate as follows: 

	FISCAL YEARS ENDED APRIL 30
	2017		2016		2015
Federal statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Effect of:
Research and experimentation tax credit	(0.2	)%	—	%	(2.3	)%
Stock Compensation	(1.3	)	—		—
Meals and entertainment	0.3		0.3		0.5
Domestic production deduction	(2.2	)	(2.5	)	(2.4	)
Other	(0.3	)	(0.1	)	0.1
Total	(3.7	)%	(2.3	)%	(4.1	)%
Effective federal income tax rate	31.3	%	32.7	%	30.9	%
State income taxes, net of federal tax effect	3.3		3.3		3.8
Effective income tax rate	34.6	%	36.0	%	34.7	%

Schedule Of Significant Components Of Deferred Tax Assets And Liabilities

The significant components of deferred tax assets and liabilities were as follows:

	APRIL 30
(in thousands)	2017			2016
Deferred tax assets:
Pension benefits	$	8,852		$	24,930
Accounts receivable	6,938			5,981
Product liability	1,272			1,141
Employee benefits	7,914			7,101
State tax credit carryforwards	4,083			4,867
Other	862			353
Gross deferred tax assets, before valuation allowance	29,921			44,373
Valuation allowance	(2,446		)	(3,061		)
Gross deferred tax assets, after valuation allowance	27,475			41,312
Deferred tax liabilities:
Inventory	297			440
Depreciation	9,131			8,298
	9,428			8,738
Net deferred tax asset	$	18,047		$	32,574