GE to freeze pensions to save up to US$8B

20,000 salaried employees affected by move

said on Monday it would freeze pensions for about 20,000 salaried U.S. employees and take other related moves to help the ailing conglomerate cut debt and reduce its retirement fund deficit by up to US$8 billion.

Analysts said the move would largely offset the rise in GE’s pension obligations due to lower interest rates and was in line with other steps chief executive Larry Culp has taken over the past year to raise cash and pare down US$105.8 billion in debt.

Culp has slashed GE’s quarterly dividend to a penny and has sold — or announced plans to sell — non-core businesses, slimming the once-sprawling company to focus just on power plants, jet engines and windmills, plus related equipment and services.

GE’s pension plans are among its biggest liabilities and were underfunded by about US$27 billion at the end of 2018. U.S. employees facing the pension freeze will be moved to a defined-contribution retirement plan, such as a 401(k) plan, in 2021.

The company has struggled to boost profits amid a slump in demand for its gas-fired turbines for power generation. It also faces potential costs of more than US$1 billion in its jet engine unit from the grounding of Boeing Co’s 737 MAX airliner.

GE also is likely to set aside about US$11 billion to cover liabilities for its longterm care insurance business.

By freezing the U.S. pensions, pre-paying about US$4.5 billion in contributions due in 2021 and 2022 and offering lump sums to about 100,000 retirees, GE said it expects to cut pension underfunding by US$5 billion to US$8 billion.

William Blair & Co. analyst Nicholas Heymann said there was no immediate net reduction in GE’s pension liabilities given the 90 basis-point decline in longterm interest rates since the end of last year, which has caused its pension liabilities to creep up to about US$34 billion from US$27 billion toward the end of 2018.

“The impact is being offset now, rather being reduced. So it is possible that investors are not cheering,” Heymann told Reuters. He added, though, that Culp “is setting up (GE for) much better performance next year.”

GE’s shares closed down 0.1 per cent at US$8.56 in late-afternoon trading in New York, after rising 2.6 per cent to US$8.79 in premarket trading.

The pension freeze takes effect Jan. 1, 2021.

The moves also are expected to help lower GE’s net debt by US$4 billion to US$6 billion, the Boston-based company said, adding that there would be no change for retirees already collecting pension benefits.

GE’s industrial net debt stood at US$54.4 billion as of June 30.

“Returning GE to a position of strength has required us to make several difficult decisions, and today’s decision to freeze the pension is no exception,” GE Chief Human Resources Officer Kevin Cox said in a press release.

GE’s pension plan has been closed to new entrants since 2012. The company had about 283,000 employees at the end of 2018, about 97,000 of them in the United States.

GE expects to record a non-cash pension settlement charge in the fourth quarter, but did not specify the amount.

The company also said it would pre-fund about US$4 billion to US$5 billion of its requirements for 2021 and 2022 under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by using a portion of the US$38 billion in cash it is collecting from the sale of various businesses.

GE said it was on track to hit its target of less than 2.5 times net-debt-to-earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, by the end of 2020.

Reuters

THE IMPACT

IS BEING OFFSET NOW, RATHER BEING

REDUCED.

STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS FILES GE’s pension plans are among the company’s biggest liabilities and were underfunded by US$27 billion at the end of last year.