EQUITY-BASED INCENTIVE AWARDS

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

EQUITY-BASED INCENTIVE AWARDS

EQUITY-BASED INCENTIVE AWARDS

12. EQUITY-BASED INCENTIVE AWARDS:

Omnibus Plans

The Company has three equity-based incentive plans, the 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan, the 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan, and the 2022 Omnibus Incentive Plan (collectively “the Omnibus Plans”), which provide for equity incentives to employees. Each Omnibus Plan was designed with the intent of encouraging employees to acquire a vested interest in the growth and performance of the Company. The Omnibus Plans together permit the issuance of up to 195,000 shares of the Company’s common stock in the form of stock options, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, performance share awards as well as awards such as stock appreciation rights, performance units, performance shares, bonus shares, and dividend share awards payable in the form of common stock or cash. The number of shares issuable under the Omnibus Plans is subject to customary adjustments in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, and certain other distributions on the Company’s common stock. At September 2024, awards with respect to a total of 140,837 shares, net of forfeitures, had been awarded pursuant to the Omnibus Plans and awards with respect to another 54,163 shares may be awarded under the Omnibus Plans.

Restricted Stock Units

No restricted stock unit awards were issued during fiscal 2024 or fiscal 2023. At September 2024, the Company had no restricted stock unit awards outstanding.

The following summarizes restricted stock unit activity under the Omnibus Plans during fiscal 2024:

	Number	Weighted
	of	Average
	Shares	Fair Value
Nonvested restricted stock units at September 2023	6,834	$	206.00
Granted	—		—
Vested	(6,834)		195.99
Expired	—		—
Nonvested restricted stock units at September 2024	—	$	—

Restricted Stock Awards

At September 2024, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors had authorized and approved the following restricted stock awards to members of the Company’s management team pursuant to the provisions of the Company’s Omnibus Plans:

	Restricted  Stock Awards (1)		Restricted  Stock Awards (2)		Restricted  Stock Awards (3)
Date of award:		October 2021		October 2022		October 2023
Original number of awards issued:		15,100		15,100		15,100
Service period:		36 months		36 months		36 months
Estimated fair value of award at grant date:	$	2,089,000	$	2,824,000		2,762,000
Non-vested awards outstanding at September 2024:		5,034		10,067		15,100
Fair value of non-vested awards at September 2024 of approximately:	$	730,000	$	1,459,000		2,189,000

(1) 10,066 of the restricted stock awards were vested as of September 2024. The remaining 5,034 restricted stock awards will vest in October 2024.

(2) 5,033 of the restricted stock awards were vested as of September 2024. 5,033 restricted stock awards will vest in October 2024 and 5,034 will vest in October 2025.

(3) The 15,100 restricted stock awards will vest in equal amounts in October 2024, October 2025 and October 2026.

There is no direct cost to the recipients of the restricted stock awards, except for any applicable taxes. The restricted stock awards provide that the recipients receive common stock in the Company, subject to certain restrictions until such time as the awards vest. The recipients of the restricted stock awards are entitled to the customary adjustments in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, and certain other distributions on the Company’s common stock. All cash dividends and/or distributions payable to restricted stock recipients will be held in escrow until all the conditions of vesting have been met. The compensation expense recorded in the Company’s Statement of Operations reflects the straight-line amortized fair value.

The following summarizes restricted stock award activity under the Omnibus Plans during fiscal 2024:

	Number	Weighted
	of	Average
	Shares	Fair Value
Nonvested restricted stock awards at September 2023	25,167	$	206.00
Granted	15,100		182.89
Vested	(10,066)		189.87
Expired	—		—
Nonvested restricted stock awards at September 2024	30,201	$	144.95

Income from operations before income taxes included compensation expense related to the amortization of the Company’s restricted stock awards of approximately $2.6 million during fiscal 2024 and $1.6 million during fiscal 2023. The tax benefit related to this compensation expense was approximately $0.7 million in fiscal 2024 and $0.4 million in fiscal 2023. At September 2024, total unamortized compensation expense related to restricted stock awards was approximately $2.8 million. This unamortized compensation expense is expected to be amortized over approximately the next 16 months.