Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

v3.5.0.2
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits
9 Months Ended
Oct. 01, 2016
Defined Benefit Pension Plans and Defined Benefit Postretirement Plans Disclosure [Abstract]  
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

The Company has defined contribution plans, qualified and nonqualified defined benefit pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans covering substantially all of its employees. The Company's contributions to its defined contribution plans include a match and an annual discretionary contribution and are based on various percentages of compensation, and in some instances are based on the amount of the employees' contributions to the plans. See Note 17 in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the 2015 Form 10-K for further details regarding these plans.
 
Pension and other postretirement benefit costs included the following components for the three months and nine months ended October 1, 2016 and October 3, 2015:
 
Pension Benefits
 
Other Postretirement Benefits
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
(in millions)
Oct. 1, 2016
 
Oct. 3, 2015
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
Oct. 3, 2015
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
Oct. 3, 2015
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
Oct. 3, 2015
Interest cost
$
8.9

 
$
11.9

 
$
26.8

 
$
35.9

 
$
0.4

 
$
0.4

 
$
1.1

 
$
1.3

Expected return on plan assets
(9.6
)
 
(13.9
)
 
(28.8
)
 
(41.7
)
 

 

 

 

Amortization of prior service credits

 

 

 

 
(0.1
)
 
(0.2
)
 
(0.4
)
 
(0.5
)
Amortization of net actuarial losses
4.3

 
4.9

 
13.0

 
14.6

 

 
0.4

 

 
1.0

Net pension and other benefit costs
$
3.6

 
$
2.9

 
$
11.0

 
$
8.8

 
$
0.3

 
$
0.6

 
$
0.7

 
$
1.8



Portions of Net pension and other benefit costs are recorded in Selling, general and administrative expenses as well as capitalized into inventory. Costs capitalized into inventory are eventually realized through Cost of sales in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

Pension expense in 2016 includes the impact of a change in methodology used to calculate the interest cost component of pension expense. In 2015 and prior years, the Company used a single-weighted average discount rate to calculate pension and postretirement interest costs. Beginning in 2016, the Company is utilizing a "spot rate approach" in the calculation of pension and postretirement interest costs to provide a more accurate measurement of interest costs. The spot rate approach applies separate discount rates for each projected benefit payment in the calculation of pension and postretirement interest costs. This calculation change is considered to be a change in accounting estimate and is being applied prospectively in 2016. The discount rates used to measure the 2016 interest costs are 3.58% and 3.30% for pensions and other postretirement benefits, respectively. The previous method would have used a discount rate for interest costs of 4.40% for pensions and 4.23% for other postretirement benefits, respectively. The decreased interest costs for the three months and nine months ended October 1, 2016, for pension is approximately $2.0 million and $6.0 million, respectively, compared with the previous method. The decreased interest costs for the three months and nine months ended October 1, 2016, for other postretirement benefits, is approximately $0.1 million and $0.3 million, respectively, compared with the previous method. Additionally, pension expense in 2016 includes the impact of a decline in the assumed rate of return on plan assets, to 5.25% in 2016 compared with 6.00% in 2015, primarily due to shifts in asset allocations toward fixed income investments. For the three months and nine months ended October 1, 2016, pension expense increased by $1.4 million and $4.2 million, respectively, compared with the previous period as a result of the lower assumed rate of return on plan assets.

Employer Contributions and Benefit Payments. During both the nine months ended October 1, 2016 and October 3, 2015, the Company contributed $2.7 million to fund benefit payments to its nonqualified pension plan. During both the nine months ended October 1, 2016 and October 3, 2015, the Company contributed $70.0 million to its qualified pension plans. Company contributions are subject to change based on funding regulations and Company discretion.