XML 41 R30.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.23.3
Retirement plans
 9 Months Ended
Oct. 28, 2023
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Retirement plans Retirement plans
Signet previously provided a defined benefit pension plan in the UK (the “Pension Scheme”) to participating eligible employees, which was frozen effective in October 2019. All future benefit accruals under the plan ceased as of that date.
On July 29, 2021, Signet Group Limited (“SGL”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into an agreement (the “Agreement”) with Signet Pension Trustee Limited (the “Trustee”), as trustee of the Pension Scheme, to facilitate the Trustee entering into a bulk purchase annuity policy ("BPA") securing accrued liabilities under the Pension Scheme with Rothesay Life Plc ("Rothesay") and subsequently, to wind up the Pension Scheme. The BPA is held by the Trustee as an asset of the Pension Scheme (the "buy-in") in anticipation of Rothesay subsequently (and in accordance with the terms of the BPA) issuing individual annuity contracts to each of the 1,909 Pension Scheme members (or their eligible beneficiaries) ("Transferred Participants") covering their accrued benefits (a full “buy-out”), following which the BPA will terminate and the Trustee will wind up the Pension Scheme (collectively, the “Transactions”).
Under the terms of the Agreement, SGL has contributed £15.0 million to date (approximately $20.1 million) to the Pension Scheme to enable the Trustee to pay for any costs incurred by the Trustee as part of the Transactions. During the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2024, the Company contributed an additional £1.1 million (approximately $1.4 million) to the Pension Scheme primarily for costs to be incurred by the Trustee to wind-up the Pension Scheme.
On April 22, 2022, the Trustee entered into a Deed Poll agreement with Rothesay and a Deed of Assignment with SGL to facilitate the assignment of individual policies for a significant portion of the Transferred Participants (“Assigned Participants”). The Deed Poll and Deed of Assignment, collectively, irrevocably relieve SGL and the Trustee of its obligations under the policies to the Assigned Participants. As a result of the Deed Poll and Deed of Assignment, the Company determined that a transfer of all remaining risks has occurred with respect to these groups of participants. Thus, management concluded that the Company triggered settlement accounting and performed a remeasurement of the Pension Scheme, which resulted in a non-cash, pre-tax settlement charge of $131.9 million recorded within other non-operating expense, net within the condensed consolidated statement of operations during the first quarter of Fiscal 2023.
Additional settlement events occurred in the second quarter of Fiscal 2023 and the first quarter of Fiscal 2024, which resulted in non-cash, pre-tax settlement charges of $0.9 million and $0.2 million, respectively, which were recorded within other non-operating expense, net within the condensed consolidated statements of operations. The transfer in the first quarter of Fiscal 2024 represented the final group of participants to be transferred from the Pension Scheme.
The settlement charges recorded in Fiscal 2023 and Fiscal 2024 relate to the pro-rata recognition of previously unrecognized actuarial losses and prior service costs out of AOCI and into earnings associated with the buy-out of the benefit obligation. No further amounts remain unrecognized in AOCI as of October 28, 2023.
The components of net periodic benefit cost for the Pension Scheme are as follows:
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
(in millions)October 28, 2023October 29, 2022October 28, 2023October 29, 2022
Components of net periodic benefit cost:
Interest cost
$— $— $— $(0.9)
Expected return on plan assets
— (0.3)(0.9)— 
Amortization of unrecognized actuarial losses— (1.0)— (3.0)
Amortization of unrecognized net prior service costs— (0.1)— (0.3)
Pension settlement loss— — (0.2)(132.8)
Total net periodic benefit cost
$— $(1.4)$(1.1)$(137.0)
All components of net periodic benefit cost are charged to other non-operating expense, net in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.