08 August 2006
German companies have the worst pension deficits in Europe but
are doing more to plug the gap than British firms, according to
research published by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
Mercer's found that the combined pension deficit of mainland
Europe's top 50 companies is £72bn, compared with the
£45bn gap among companies that make up Britain's FTSE
100.
The biggest deficits are among companies listed on Germany's Dax
30 index, where the combined liability is equal to 30% of the
markets £526bn capitalisation. In Britain, the figure is
close to 26% of the FTSE 100, while in France it is 10% of the
CAC-40.
German companies are not required to fund their pension schemes,
but in recent years have begun to plough in contributions to close
the gap, in part because the deficits have hurt their credit
ratings.
