Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) has reported a £157m deficit in its UK pension scheme.

In an effort to address the problem, JLT said it would be making a one-off payment of £50m into the scheme in 2004.

"We consider this strikes an appropriate balance between the interests of scheme members, the group and its shareholders," a JLT statement said.

JLT made a pre-tax profit of £111m in the year ending 31 December 2003.

This figure represented a 10% increase on the previous year's pretax profit of £100.7m.

Turnover increased by 10% to £429m, compared to £388.6m the previous year.

But chief executive Steve McGill warned that the US dollar exchange rate could have a negative effect on JLT's results in 2004 and 2005.

"Looking ahead, if the US dollar remains at its present levels, this will inevitably have an impact on our reported results over the next two years," McGill said.