10. Non-trading items

2020

2019

€m

€m

Non-trading (expense) / gain

(11.2)

14.9

On 9 December 2020, the Trustee of the Group’s principal defined benefit pension scheme entered into a transaction whereby the liabilities relating to pensions in payment at the transaction date were transferred to a third party insurer on payment of an initial premium of €160.6 million. The final premium is subject to verification of member data. This gave rise to a non-cash settlement loss of €9.3 million being the difference between the present value of the transferred liabilities discounted at the AA corporate bond rate used for IAS 19 valuation purposes at the transaction date and the premium paid.

The Trustee, in agreement with the Company, also augmented the pension benefits of certain members resulting in an augmentation cost of €1.1 million being the present value of the future benefit changes.

The Group’s subsidiary Irish Ferries Limited, the sponsoring employer of the scheme, underwrites the scheme’s administration expenses and incurred expenses totalling €0.8 million relating to the above transaction.

In the prior year the Group entered into a hire purchase agreement for the sale of the vessel Oscar Wilde, which had become surplus to operational requirements. The gross consideration of €28.9 million less commissions, receivable in instalments over six years from April 2019, was discounted to estimated present value which has been treated as a finance lease receivable (note 16). The Group recorded a net gain on disposal of €14.9 million after taking account of the net book value at the delivery date and related disposal costs.