09/11/2001

BT issue pension fund shortfall statement

Telecommunications giant BT has issued a warning that its pension fund will show a shortfall of £4 billion for 2002 due to “a different way” of presenting financial information.

According to new accounting rules known as FRS17, details of the financial position of an organisation’s pension arrangements will have to be included in the disclosures in its Annual Report according to a myriad of new methods for the calculation of such figures. These new rules are expected to introduce a greater amount of volatility in the way that balance sheets and profit and loss figures are interpreted.

However, while a spokesperson for BT assured that the shortfall in no way represented the possible inability of the company in meeting its obligations, the figure of £4 billion has been received as signifying a much larger deficit than expected.

Nick Curry, a partner at consulting actuaries Lane, Clark & Peacock described the figure as “a significant rise” on the £1.6 billion shortfall reported by BT last year. While he conceded that reports of larger deficits than in previous years were likely following the introduction of FRS17, he also warned that shareholders should be aware that the increased amount of money BT was now having to add to its pension fund did not signal good news. (CL)

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