16 February 2009
British Telecom (BT) blamed falls in equity markets for a
pension scheme deficit of £1.7bn at the end of last year,
compared with a surplus of £2bn in 2008. The company is
likely to use cash reserves to top up the pension scheme - the
country's largest private sector scheme valued at £3.4bn at
its last review.
However, it has been predicted that a three-yearly review of the
scheme, due to be published in May, will show a funding deficit of
£5bn - a shortfall which analysts say would force BT to
inject £500m a year into the fund.
