Pension troubles remain for UK firms

British businesses are failing to reap any benefits from plugging their pension black holes, reveals a new report by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers.

It found that while many businesses have taken steps to deal with their multi-billion-pound funding deficits, credit ratings agencies give these moves little credit. In the absence of detailed data, City analysts are drawing their own conclusions, based on IAS 19 accounting standard disclosures, and many assume the worst.