22. Long-term employee benefits

Net defined benefit assets and liabilities

Net defined benefit assets and liabilities relate to post-employment defined benefit arrangements.

Other long-term employee benefit commitments

Other long-term employee benefit commitments relate mainly to anniversary commitments, conditional incentive plans, and health insurance.

Main characteristics of the defined benefit plans

In 2025, both the UK and US defined benefit plans were settled.

For the UK scheme, the transition from a buy-in to a buy-out was completed. Based on this, the buy-out of the scheme benefits that have been secured under the individual policies issued by the insurance company were accounted for via a settlement item recognized as part of the P&L based on IAS 19 paragraph 111. The settlement item is equal to the difference between the extinguished IAS 19 liabilities and assets valued as at the date that the buy-out legal documentation was countersigned by the insurance company. This settlement item is zero as the insurance asset and liabilities are equal in value. For the US scheme, the liabilities were settled and the scheme was closed, resulting in a settlement result.

At year end, Corbion sponsors a legal severance payment plan in Thailand. All plans have been established in accordance with the legal requirements of the countries involved. The defined benefit plans are administered by a separate fund that is legally separated from the entity. The board of the pension fund is composed of an equal number of representatives from both employers and (former) employees.

The plans typically expose the group to actuarial risks such as investment risk, interest rate risk, and longevity risk.

• Investment risk - The present value of the defined benefit plan liability is calculated using a discount rate determined by reference to high-quality corporate bond yields; if the return on plan assets falls below this rate, it will create a plan deficit.

• Interest rate risk - A decrease in the bond interest rate will increase the plan liability; however, this will be partly offset by an increase in the return on the plan's debt investments.

• Longevity risk - The present value of the defined benefit liability is calculated by reference to the best estimate of the mortality of plan participants both during and after their employment. An increase in the life expectancy of the plan participants will increase the plan's liability.

Breakdown of the amounts recognized in respect of defined benefit pension plans in the income statement and statement of comprehensive income

Breakdown of the amounts recognized in the statement of financial position

Movements in defined benefit obligation

Movements in fair value of plan assets

The investment strategy is based on the composition of the obligations of the pension schemes. Based on Asset Liability Management models analyses have been performed on a regular basis to define the investment portfolio. At year end the asset allocation was as follows.

Plan asset classes

The main weighted average actuarial assumptions

Sensitivity of the defined benefit obligation to changes in the weighted principal assumptions

The above sensitivity analyses are based on a change in an assumption while holding all other assumptions constant. In practice, this is unlikely to occur, and changes in some of the assumptions may be correlated. To calculate the sensitivity of the defined benefit obligation to significant actuarial assumptions the same method is applied (calculation of the present value of the defined benefit obligation using the projected unit credit method at the end of the reporting period) which is also used to calculate the pension liability recognized within the consolidated statement of financial position.

The anticipated contributions to the defined benefit pension plans in the coming year will amount to € 0.3 million.