Postretirement and Other Employee Benefits

3 Months Ended

Nov. 30, 2012

Postretirement and Other Employee Benefits

8. Postretirement and Other Employee Benefits

The Company sponsors defined benefit pension plans in several countries in which it operates. The pension obligations relate primarily to the following: (a) a funded retirement plan in the United Kingdom and (b) both funded and unfunded retirement plans mainly in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, and Taiwan and which provide benefits based upon years of service and compensation at retirement.

The following table provides information about net periodic benefit cost for the pension plans during the three months ended November 30, 2012 and 2011 (in thousands):

	Three months ended
	November 30, 2012			November 30, 2011
Service cost	$	516		$	317
Interest cost		1,925			1,655
Expected long-term return on plan assets		(1,742	)		(1,239	)
Amortization of prior service cost		(6	)		(7	)
Recognized actuarial loss		681			304
Net periodic benefit cost	$	1,374		$	1,030

During the three months ended November 30, 2012, the Company made contributions of approximately $1.1 million to its defined benefit pension plans. The Company expects to make total cash contributions of between $4.6 million and $5.0 million to its funded pension plans during fiscal year 2013.