LONDON—Tate & Lyle P.L.C. officials are considering freezing the company's £732 million ($1.2 billion) U.K. pension plan to future accruals beginning in April 2011, according to an interim financial report.
Officials at the London-based food manufacturer have started a 60-day consultation period with employees, about 400, who are still enrolled in the defined benefit plan, according to the report.
The decision rests on “a view to containing our pension costs and reducing balance sheet volatility,” the report said.
The Tate & Lyle Group Pension Scheme, London, had a £45 million ($73.8 million) surplus, according to the company's annual report for the year ended March 31, 2009.
The U.K. defined benefit plan was closed to new entrants in 2002. If the defined benefit plan is frozen, existing members will be transferred to the Tate & Lyle defined contribution plan.
Thao Hua is London bureau chief for Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Business Insurance.
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