UK – British Telecom is the latest large European company to announce that its pension scheme may be in deficit.

The main UK telecoms provider says its pension scheme may be in deficit by up to 1.5 million pounds (2.26 billion euros).

The company said that its three-yearly actuarial valuation of the scheme is currently under way, though it would not be available until May 2003.

“However, based on a preliminary view, the company's actuary believes that the SSAP 24 Valuation deficit based on the position at December 31 2002 would have been in the range one billion pounds to 1.5 billion pounds, compared to 200,000 pounds at March 31, 2000 following the previous valuation,” it said in a statement.

BT said the SSAP 24 valuation determines the profit and loss account charge whilst the Funding Valuation determines the cash contribution requirements.

BT has a market capitalisation of around 15 billion pounds. It reported pre-tax profit rose 37% to 521 million pounds while turnover was up one percent at 4.7 billion pounds.