Companies need to improve drastically the disclosures they make relating to their pension schemes, according to senior financial analysts, ahead of a round of company reports expected to show big pensions deficits just as merger and acquisition activity picks up.

Peter Elwin, head of accounting and valuation research at JP Morgan Cazenove, and Sue Harding, European chief accountant at rating agency Standard & Poor's, told a gathering of finance directors at last week's National Association of Pension Funds' conference that current disclosure on pensions was insufficient, inconsistent and unhelpful.