Note 6 - Stock Compensation Expense

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Text Block]

6. STOCK COMPENSATION EXPENSE

The Company maintains long-term incentive plans that authorize the Board of Directors or its Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) to grant key employees, officers and directors of the Company incentive or nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, performance shares, restricted shares and performance units. The Committee determines the prices and terms at which awards may be granted along with the duration of the restriction periods and performance targets. All issuances are granted out of shares authorized, as the Company has no treasury stock.

Stock option awards

During fiscal 2012 the Company awarded performance-based stock options with separate performance conditions in fiscal year 2012, 2013 and 2014, to named executive officers and other key employees. The Company recognizes compensation expense related to each separate service period during the respective period. As of December 31, 2013 the maximum number of performance-based options available to vest subject to certain operating performance targets is 340,000. During fiscal 2013, the Company granted stock options to purchase a total of 30,000 shares of common stock with a vesting period of one to two years to certain key employees. Additionally during fiscal 2013, the Company granted stock options to purchase a total of 37,500 shares of common stock to our directors which vested immediately at time of grant. During fiscal 2014, the Company has not yet granted any stock options to purchase shares of common stock.

The following table summarizes information for options currently outstanding and exercisable at December 31, 2013:

			Options Outstanding
Range of Exercise Prices			Number		Wtd. Avg. Remaining Life (years)	Wtd. Avg. Exercise Price		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
$5.47	-	5.72		525,203	6	$	5.71	$	5,800,489
7.09	-	8.60		141,338	4		7.92		1,248,156
11.94	-	15.99		90,000	2		13.55		288,225
	31.07			45,000	3		31.07		-
$5.47	-	31.07		801,541				$	7,336,870

			Options Exercisable
Range of Exercise Prices			Number		Wtd. Avg. Remaining Life (years)	Wtd. Avg. Exercise Price		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
$5.47	-	5.72		200,203	5	$	5.68	$	2,174,377
7.09	-	8.60		110,088	3		7.92		904,468
11.94	-	15.99		90,000	2		13.55		288,225
	31.07			45,000	3		31.07		-
$5.47	-	31.07		445,291				$	3,367,070

The fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of the grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions:

Assumptions	Fiscal 2013			Fiscal 2012
Expected life of option (years)	3	-	5	3	-	5
Risk-free interest rate	0.4%	-	0.9%	0.4%	-	0.8%
Volatility of stock	59%	-	75%	72%	-	79%
Forfeiture rate	0%	-	16%	0%	-	16%

Volatility, expected term and dividend yield assumptions were based on the Company’s historical experience. The risk-free rate was based on a U.S. treasury note with a maturity similar to the option grant’s expected term.

The Company recorded into selling and general administrative expense for its corporate/other products segment the cost of employee services received in exchange for equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of those instruments in accordance with the provisions of ASC 718, which was less than $0.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2013, and $0.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2012. There were no recognized tax benefits during the three months ended December 31, 2013 or 2012, as any benefit is offset by the Company's full valuation allowance on its net deferred tax asset. The number of options included in the calculation of expense associated with performance-based shares is based on the Company’s assessment of the probability of achieving expected targets.