Given these concerns, we thought it may be useful to provide readers with a table of those FTSE All-Share companies that have large pension deficits relative to their size.
The table below shows all companies with a pension deficit equivalent to 10 per cent or more of their market capitalisation. However, arguably a more holistic view of pension risk can be found in the penultimate column of our table that shows deficits-plus-net-debt/cash as a percentage of market capitalisation. That's because a lot of companies with large deficits have net cash or minimal debts to balance things out; a sensible precaution as a pension deficit is very similar to debt.
Many companies also have significant 'off-balance sheet' long-term lease commitments, which can also be regarded as similar to debt. Indeed, companies will be required to report the liability associated with such lease commitments on their balance sheets from 2019. The final column in our table goes the whole hog and shows pension-plus-debt-plus-estimated-lease-liability as a percentage of market capitalisation.
Companies with large pension deficits
| Name | TIDM | Price | Mkt Cap | Pension deficit | Net debt(-) / cash | Pen def. / Mkt cap | Pen def. + net debt / Mkt cap | Pen def. + net debt + lease liab. / Mkt cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hogg Robinson | HRG | 74p | £241m | -£258m | -£33m | 107% | 121% | 155% |
| Trinity Mirror | TNI | 106p | £299m | -£305m | -£92m | 102% | 133% | 152% |
| Renold | RNO | 40p | £91m | -£83m | -£23m | 91% | 117% | 125% |
| Norcros | NXR | 166p | £101m | -£56m | -£33m | 55% | 87% | 119% |
| Communisis | CMS | 40p | £83m | -£41m | -£30m | 50% | 86% | 180% |
| Wincanton | WIN | 190p | £235m | -£106m | -£39m | 45% | 61% | 234% |
| De La Rue | DLAR | 608p | £617m | -£220m | -£106m | 36% | 53% | 55% |
| Mothercare | MTC | 127p | £216m | -£74m | £14m | 34% | 28% | 176% |
| Carillion | CLLN | 266p | £1.1bn | -£394m | -£170m | 34% | 49% | 79% |
| GKN | GKN | 323p | £5.5bn | -£1.6bn | -£705m | 29% | 42% | 48% |
| Mitchells & Butlers | MAB | 267p | £1.1bn | -£304m | -£1.9bn | 28% | 199% | 248% |
| Carclo | CAR | 128p | £85m | -£23m | -£25m | 27% | 56% | 70% |
| BAE Systems | BA. | 550p | £17.5bn | -£4.5bn | -£1.7bn | 26% | 35% | 46% |
| Morgan Adv. Materials | MGAM | 293p | £836m | -£205m | -£216m | 24% | 50% | 59% |
| Thomas Cook | TCG | 75p | £1.1bn | -£272m | -£139m | 24% | 36% | 97% |
| Tesco | TSCO | 170p | £13.9bn | -£3.2bn | -£10.5bn | 23% | 98% | 175% |
| First | FGP | 111p | £1.3bn | -£271m | -£1.5bn | 20% | 134% | 274% |
| Charles Taylor | CTR | 300p | £202m | -£40m | £59m | 20% | -9% | 9% |
| Atkins (W S) | ATK | 1,567p | £1.6bn | -£286m | £139m | 17% | 9% | 35% |
| AA | AA. | 283p | £1.7bn | -£296m | -£2.8bn | 17% | 179% | 181% |
| Brammer | BRAM | 123p | £159m | -£27m | -£104m | 17% | 83% | 149% |
| BT | BT.A | 395p | £39.3bn | -£6.4bn | -£13.8bn | 16% | 51% | 59% |
| St Ives | SIV | 126p | £179m | -£28m | -£63m | 15% | 51% | 66% |
| Devro | DVO | 237p | £395m | -£56m | -£126m | 14% | 46% | 49% |
| TUI AG | TUI | 1,046p | £6.1bn | -£827m | -£159m | 13% | 16% | 23% |
| Flybe | FLYB | 53p | £114m | -£15m | £54m | 13% | -34% | 467% |
| Smurfit Kappa | SKG | 1,959p | £4.6bn | -£604m | -£2.3bn | 13% | 62% | 72% |
| Kier | KIE | 126p | £1.2bn | -£154m | -£181m | 13% | 28% | 125% |
| Menzies (John) | MNZS | 582p | £357m | -£43m | -£122m | 12% | 46% | 163% |
| Synthomer | SYNT | 369p | £1.3bn | -£139m | -£80m | 11% | 17% | 21% |
| Evraz | EVR | 133p | £1.9bn | -£205m | -£3.4bn | 11% | 189% | 189% |
| Dixons Carphone | DC. | 380p | £4.4bn | -£474m | -£267m | 11% | 17% | 74% |
| Costain | COST | 341p | £351m | -£37m | £108m | 10% | -20% | 117% |
| Lookers | LOOK | 134p | £531m | -£55m | -£162m | 10% | 41% | 55% |
| McBride | MCB | 167p | £303m | -£31m | -£92m | 10% | 41% | 51% |
Source: Ionic Information/Sharepad
