27. Retirement benefit plans

Defined contribution plans

We operate defined contribution systems for our qualifying employees (except for Belgium and France). The assets of the schemes are held separately from ours in designated pension plans. For defined contribution systems, we pay contributions to publicly or privately administered pension or insurance funds. Once the contribution is paid, we do not have any remaining obligation.

Defined benefit plans in Belgium

In view of the minimum returns guarantees, the Belgian plans are classified as defined benefit plans. As at 31 December 2017 a net defined benefit obligation of €169.4 thousand was recorded, which increased to a net defined benefit obligation of €332.4 thousand on 31 December 2018.

Actuarial gains and losses are recognized immediately in equity, with a charge or credit to other comprehensive income (OCI), in accordance with IAS 19R Employee Benefits. They are not recycled subsequently. Actuarial losses of €151.9 thousand were recognized through other comprehensive income (OCI) at the end of 2018 (2017: €53.9 thousand of actuarial gains). The contributions to those plans that were due by the employer for the year ended 31 December 2018 and the year ended 31 December 2017, amounted respectively to €993.0 thousand and €964.0 thousand, of which €49.5 thousand was paid after 31 December 2018 (2017: €64.0 thousand). No contributions were made by the employees.

The plan assets as on 31 December 2018 consisted of €3,357.5 thousand (2017: €2,554.7 thousand) individual insurance reserves, which benefit from a weighted average guaranteed interest rate of 2.65% (2017: 2.41%).

Defined benefit plans in France

We use two defined benefit plans for the employees of our French entity. The defined benefit plans are not supported by funds.

The chemical and pharmaceutical industry’s collective bargaining agreements require that our French entity pays a retirement allowance depending on the seniority of the employees at the moment they retire. The benefit obligations for these retirement allowances amounted to €2,110.1 thousand for 2018 (2017: €2,046.8 thousand). This increase was mainly due to an increased number of participants.

Additionally, there are also seniority premiums obligations in France. The provisions for these premiums amounted to €1,321.7 thousand on 31 December 2018 (on 31 December 2017: €1,365.7 thousand).

Total obligation included in the balance sheet related to the defined benefit plans amounted to €3,431.8 thousand on 31 December 2018 (2017: €3,412.5 thousand).

Actuarial gains and losses are recognized in equity, with a charge or credit to other comprehensive income (OCI), in accordance with IAS 19R Employee Benefits. They are not recycled subsequently. Actuarial gains of €58.5 thousand were recognized through other comprehensive income (OCI) at the end of 2018 (2017: €93.9 thousand of actuarial losses).

Total amounts due by the group to the pension plans in 2018 were €3.0 million (2017: €2.2 million).

The fair value of the plan assets is the fair market value of the plan assets. The fair value of the plan assets was calculated as the reduced lump sums (received from the plan administrators) actualized with the assumptions set (discount rate and mortality tables). The total plan assets are equal to the fair value of the plan assets increased with the financing fund.

The discount rate was based on the Merrill Lynch yields for AA rated Eurozone corporate bonds (bonds with maturity dates which correspond with the commitments). In addition to the above table, we used mortality tables issued by Belgian and French national institutions for statistics applicable respectively for the Belgian and the French population.

Breakdown of defined benefit obligation by type of plan participants:

Breakdown of defined benefit obligation by type of benefits:

Major categories of plan assets: fair value plan of assets: