The CH2M accounts state their defined benefit obligations in USD for US and non US schemes.
The CH2M Annual Report issued Feb 2016 shows things to be improving in non US (primarily Halcrow) schemes.
Underfunded status decreased from $460m to $420m presumably using US accounting standards.
There is no particular mention of it being a problem and contributions are set for the future (above the £5m talked about).
So is this right or are there some strange tricks being played, UK accountants maybe overly covering themselves?
Hope these links work:
http://ir.ch2m.com/financial-information/sec-filings/2016/default.aspx (http://ir.ch2m.com/financial-information/sec-filings/2016/default.aspx)
http://d1lge852tjjqow.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000777491/fcab6219-eac1-450b-a170-d8e65c59fac7.pdf
The pension liabilities are expressed in $, but incurred in £, and therefore have to be adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations. Using use OANDH historical midpoint rates for 2014 and 2015, the fall in liabilities is 2%. Using end year values, the fall is 3%. It would be highly speculative to suggest this indicates a long term trend. However, it does suggest the pension liabilities have not deteriorated significantly.
On page F-32 of CH2M's accounts filed with SEC they say "In the UK, we assumed several defined benefit plans ...... Does assumed have some particular meaning?
Take on responsibility for....
Which year of their filings are you refering to?
Annual Report filed Feb 25 2015
CH2M Hill will be late to file their 2016 Q3 statement and the document explaining this is not good reading due to problems on contracts in Australia and US.
http://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000777491/d079bcb9-40f1-4c76-a736-64d4091b781b.pdf
However there is a little snippet that may be relevant:
'CH2M anticipates net income for the three months ended September 30, 2016 to be approximately $43 million as compared to $41 million for the same three months of the prior year as a result of a tax benefit of $46 million associated with a pension plan restructuring.'
Nice find!
I am wondering if CH2M use the same financial adviser as Donald Trump: Create (possibly fictitious) losses which can then be used to minimise tax on future year's profits.