Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans

4. Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans

Pension Plans

The Company has defined benefit pension plans covering certain U.S. and non-U.S. employees. The U.S. qualified defined benefit pension plan has been closed to new participants since October 1998 and, as of February 2009, benefits accrued under this plan were frozen. As a result of the freeze, employees covered by the pension plan will receive, at retirement, benefits already accrued through February 2009 but no new benefits accrue after that date. Benefit accruals under the U.S. Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan ("SERP") were similarly frozen. The eligibility, benefit formulas, and contribution requirements for plans outside of the U.S. vary by location.

Other Postretirement Benefits

The Company also provides certain postretirement benefits to retired employees in the U.S. and Canada. The Company accrues the cost of providing postretirement benefits during the active service period of the employees. The Company currently funds the plans as claims are paid.

The composition of the net periodic benefit plan cost for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, was as follows:

	Pension plans				Other postretirement benefits
(in thousands)	2018		2017		2018		2017
Components of net periodic benefit cost:
Service cost	$699		$651		$58		$61
Interest cost	1,820		1,828		507		553
Expected return on assets	(2,247	)	(1,993	)	-		-
Amortization of prior service cost/(credit)	8		9		(1,122	)	(1,122	)
Amortization of net actuarial loss	558		645		739		702
Net periodic benefit cost	$838		$1,140		$182		$194

In 2018, the Company adopted the provisions of ASU 2017-07, “Compensation – Retirement Benefits: improving the presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost”. This accounting update requires that service cost for defined benefit pension and postretirement plans be reported in the same line item or items as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period. Additionally, the other components of net periodic benefit cost are required to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations. The Company elected to report the components of net periodic benefit cost other than the service component in the line item, Other expense, net in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

We restated 2017 expenses using the application of a practical expedient, which permits the usage of amounts disclosed in the prior year Pension and Other Postretirement benefit plans footnote as the estimation basis for applying the retrospective presentation requirements. The tables below show the 2017 amounts reclassified by segment and financial statement line item that resulted from adopting this update:

Effect by segment operating expenses:

(in thousands)	Increase/(decrease) in expense for the three months ended March 31, 2017
Machine Clothing	($2	)
Albany Engineered Composites	-
Corporate expenses	(620	)
Total operating expenses	($622	)
Other expense, net	$622

Effect by Statement of Income line item:

(in thousands)	Increase/(decrease) in expense for the three months ended March 31, 2017
Cost of goods sold	($123	)
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(499	)
Total operating expenses	($622	)
Other expense, net	$622