BMW 2005 Annual Report Download - page 106

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The defined benefit plans of the BMW Group
gave rise to an expense from pension obligations
in the financial year 2005 of euro 397 million (2004:
euro 404 million), comprising the following compo-
nents:
The expense from reversing the discounting
of pension obligations and the income from the ex-
pected return on plan assets are reported as part
of the financial result. All other components of pen-
sion expense are included in the relevant costs by
function in the income statement.
The actual return from external pension funds
was euro 707 million (2004: euro 536 million). The
variance compared to the expected return and the
actual return in the previous year was attributable
mainly to the fact that, particularly in the United King-
dom, pension fund assets generated a higher return
than planned as a result of the recovery of the inter-
national capital markets.
The level of the pension obligations differ de-
pending on the pension system applicable in each
country. Since the state pension system in the
United Kingdom only provides a basic fixed amount
benefit, retirement benefits are largely organised in
the form of company pensions and arrangements
financed by the individual. The pension benefits in
Great Britain therefore contain contributions made
by the employee.
*adjusted in accordance with Note [8] (b)
in euro million Germany UK Other Total
2005 2004*2005 2004*2005 2004*2005 2004*
Current service cost 120 91 53 54 25 31 198 176
Expense from reversing the
discounting of pension obligations 151 132 308 303 23 15 482 450
Past service cost – 49 –––––49
Expected return on plan
assets (–) – –– 271 – 261 –12 –10 – 283 – 271
Expense from pension
obligations 271 272 90 96 36 36 397 404