Report: The FTSE 100 and their Pensions Disclosures

The latest quarterly report from JLT Employee Benefits revealed that the total deficit in FTSE 100 pension schemes at 30 June 2017 is estimated to be £46 billion. This is an improvement of £15 billion over the previous 12 months.

Key findings:

• Only 52 FTSE 100 companies are still providing more than a handful of current employees with defined benefit (DB) benefits. Of these, only 19 companies are still providing DB benefits to a significant number of employees.
• There continues to be significant funding of pension deficits. Last year saw total deficit funding of £10.8 billion, up from £6.4 billion the previous year.
• Only 26 companies disclosed a pension surplus in their most recent annual report and accounts; 65 companies disclosed pension deficits.
• In the last 12 months, the total disclosed pension liabilities of the FTSE 100 companies have risen from £586 billion to £710 billion. A total of 17 companies have disclosed pension liabilities of more than £10 billion.
• 42 FTSE 100 companies could have settled their pension deficits in full with a payment of up to one year’s dividend, seven companies would need a payment of up to two years’ dividends and 16 companies would need a payment of more than two years’ dividends.