The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is currently in discussions with Interserve regarding its defined benefit (DB) scheme, as the contractor is currently negotiating a recovery plan.
The company, which constructs and maintains government buildings, is the sponsor of the Interserve Pension Scheme, a final salary plan closed to future accrual in 2009.
A spokesman at The Pensions Regulator said: “We are working closely with both the trustee and sponsoring employers to ensure the best outcome for pension scheme members. We will not be commenting further.”
Interserve has been struggling with almost £650m in debt, and it has been on the government’s watch list amid concerns it could become another Carillion.
Carillion, which employed about 43,000 people, had been struggling for several months, issuing a profit warning last year that sank its share price – which has fallen from more than £2 a year ago to about 14.2p just before it went into administration.
After unsuccessful talks with its lenders and the UK government, the contractor went into liquidation in January.
Carillion had 13 final DB in the UK with more than 28,500 members, and an aggregate deficit for Pension Protection Fund (PPF) purposes of around £800m.
However, Interserve DB scheme seems to be in a better position.
According to the company’s half year results, the scheme has now a £32.1m surplus based on the IAS 19 accounting measure, compared with a £48m deficit at the end of 2017.
This improvement is due to the trustees of the scheme changing the indexation on future pension increases from the retail price index (RPI) to the consumer price index (CPI).
maria.espadinha@ft.com
