Deficits

The Kingfisher Group wiped £140m off its defined benefit schemes' combined deficit last year, due to asset returns and changes to discount rate and mortality assumptions.

The £337m Next Group Pension Plan moved from a £49.5m deficit to a £55.7m surplus after overhauling membership data and securing a buy-in deal, results show.

INDIA - India's government has presented proposals in parliament that seek to give statutory power to the country's pension regulator, while omitting any mention of allowing foreign investment in the provision of old-age income.

UK - The BBC has agreed an 11-year repayment plan with the scheme trustees to address its £1.1bn ($1.7bn) deficit.

The BBC has agreed an 11-year repayment plan with the scheme trustees to address its £1.1bn deficit.

US - Tyre company Goodyear plans to make $1.3bn in pension contributions through 2013, more than halving its pension liabilities, the firm said.

JAPAN - Japan should not tap funds said aside for pension payments to fund disaster relief efforts, economics minister Kaoru Yosano has said.

Benign markets and the shift from RPI to CPI reduced defined benefit deficits from £144bn to £64bn over the past year, Pension Capital Strategies research shows.

BAA Pension Scheme has cut its defined benefit scheme liabilities by more than £200m following the sale of Gatwick Airport.

UK - The combined deficit of the UK's biggest schemes remains unchanged from six years ago at £68bn (108bn), despite contributions of more than £50bn, figures reveal.