5 Other notes

5.1 Employee benefit plans

There is no waiver of use of the employer contribution reserve. In the reporting year, CHF 5.3 million of pension fund contributions were offset against the employer contribution reserve (previous year: none). The use of the employer contribution reserve of Bystronic Laser AG led to lower personnel expenses in its statutory financial statements. This led to a reduction in the other financial assets and additional personnel expenses in the consolidated financial statements in the same amount. The net effect on the consolidated financial statements is zero. The change of CHF 0.9 million resulted from the positive performance on the assets of the employer contribution reserve, which was allocated to the financial result. In the previous year, a negative performance of CHF 1.2 million was achieved.

In the previous year, the net surplus amounted to CHF 2.4 million and the contributions accrued for the reporting period amounted to CHF 7.7 million.

The reported surplus from free reserves of the employer’s pension plan is not intended for economic use by the group.

Accounting principles

The pension obligations of the group companies for retirement, death or disability are based on the regulations and practices applicable in the respective countries. Contributions are made on an ongoing basis. The income statement includes the pension and benefit payments and outstanding benefits during the accounting period and the regular contributions to the various pension funds. The private pension plans in Switzerland are designed to build up retirement assets with conversion into fixed retirement pensions and supplementary risk benefits. The actual economic effects of pension plans on the company are calculated as of the balance sheet date. An economic benefit is capitalized if it will be used for the company’s future pension expenses. An economic obligation is recognized as a liability if the conditions for recognizing a provision are met. Separately existing, freely available employer contribution reserves are recognized as assets. The difference between the economic benefits and obligations determined each year and the change in the employer contribution reserve is recognized in the income statement.

Employees of the Swiss subsidiaries are insured in the “GEMINI Collective Foundation”. This pension fund is legally independent and financed by contributions from employers and employees. Any surplus or deficit is determined on the basis of the pension fund's provisional annual financial statements prepared in accordance with Swiss GAAP FER 26.

Some subsidiaries abroad have local pension plans. These are treated in the same way as the Swiss plan in terms of accounting, i.e. the amounts paid are generally recognized as an expense. The surplus or deficit is determined using actuarial methods.

5.2 Related-party transactions

As in the previous year, there were no transactions with related parties and companies at Bystronic in 2023.