18. Pensions and other employee obligations

The conversion of pension obligations from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans for a number of Dutch companies was completed in the 2015/16 business year. The process of converting all future pension entitlements began in January 2013; from this time on they were built up in the industry-wide pension fund (PME). In the business years 2013/14 and 2014/15, existing pension obligations for current and previous employees were outsourced to the pension fund. In one last step during the 2015/16 business year, a collective agreement was made with all participants in the benefit plan that were already retired concerning future indexing obligations. This resulted in a final settlement of the defined benefit plan, and means that additional payment liabilities on the part of the Group companies are now excluded.

The major categories of plan assets for the periods presented in the consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2016, are as follows:

The plan assets include own shares with a fair value of EUR 0.9 million (March 31, 2015: EUR 1.4 million).

The average expected return is determined by the portfolio structure of the plan assets, empirical data, and estimates of future investment returns. The calculation of the provisions for pensions was based on an expected interest rate of 1.5% on plan assets. The actual interest rate was –2.5%.

The amount recognized as an expense in the income statement for defined contribution plans is EUR 26.9 million (2014/15: EUR 30.4 million).

The sensitivity analysis of the key actuarial assumptions used to determine defined benefit obligations is depicted below:

Group-wide figures were determined for the effects associated with the interest rate, wage and salary increases, and pension increases. The sensitivities are not determined by way of estimates or approximations, but by way of comprehensive analyses, which vary the parameters.

For the business year 2016/17, the expected contributions to the defined benefit plans amount to EUR 15.6 million.

The interest-weighted, average duration for pension plans is 15.2 years and 11.3 years for severance payments.

Expenses/revenue relative to provisions for severance payments, pensions, and long-service bonuses recognized in the income statement are categorized as follows:

Net interest for the period is recognized in the finance costs.