NETHERLANDS - The Rotterdam-based tank terminal operator Vopak will grant its Dutch pension fund an additional contribution of €50m.

Of that, €40m is intended to improve the financial position of the €660m company scheme, which currently has a coverage ratio of 98%, Vopak said.

The additional contribution will increase the scheme's funding by 6 percentage points, bringing it  close to the regulator's minimum threshold of 104.3%, according to Cees Blokzijl, director of the pension fund.

The remaining €10m will be spent on a 1.5% indexation for the scheme's 6,000 participants, Vopak said.

According to the company, the €40m will be restituted - through a reduction of  Vopak's contribution - as soon as the pension fund's coverage ratio exceeds 140%.

Vopak explained that one of the reasons for its additional contribution was that its pension fund had been unable to grant indexation over the past three years.

The gesture was made possible following the €107m profit Vopak made from the sale of its 20% stake in oil terminal BORCO in the Bahamas, it said.

Vopak added that the additional contribution would not affect its operating results.

The Stichting  Pensioenfonds Vopak has 1,365 active participants and 2,800 pensioners.

Royal Vopak is the world's largest independent tank terminal operator. It specialises in the storage of chemicals and oil products.
 

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