(16) DEFINED BENEFIT RETIREMENT PLAN

Delta Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, is the sponsor of the Delta Pension Plan ("Plan"). The Plan provides defined benefit retirement income to eligible employees in the United Kingdom. Pension retirement benefits to qualified employees are 1.67% of final salary per year of service upon reaching the age of 65 years. This Plan has no active employees as members at December 27, 2014.

Funded Status

The Company recognizes the overfunded or underfunded status of the pension plan as an asset or liability. The funded status represents the difference between the projected benefit obligation (PBO) and the fair value of the plan assets. The PBO is the present value of benefits earned to date by plan participants, including the effect of assumed future salary increases (if applicable) and inflation. Plan assets are measured at fair value. Because the pension plan is denominated in British pounds sterling, the Company used exchange rates of $1.6469/£ and $1.5557/£ to translate the net pension liability into U.S. dollars at December 28, 2013 and December 27, 2014, respectively.

Projected Benefit Obligation and Fair Value of Plan Assets—The accumulated benefit obligation (ABO) is the present value of benefits earned to date, assuming no future compensation growth. As there are no active employees in the plan, the ABO is equal to the PBO. The underfunded ABO represents the difference between the PBO and the fair value of plan assets. Changes in the PBO and fair value of plan assets for the pension plan for the period from December 29, 2012 to December 28, 2013 were as follows:

	Projected Benefit Obligation			Plan Assets			Funded status
Fair Value at December 29, 2012	$	597,767		$	485,724		$	(112,043	)
Employer contributions		—			17,619
Interest cost		26,431			—
Actual return on plan assets		—			7,676
Settlements		(12,981	)		(12,981	)
Benefits paid		(11,573	)		(11,573	)
Actuarial loss		37,235			—
Currency translation		14,978			10,995

Fair Value at December 28, 2013	$	651,857		$	497,460		$	(154,397	)

Changes in the PBO and fair value of plan assets for the pension plan for the period from December 28, 2013 to December 27, 2014 were as follows:

	Projected Benefit Obligation			Plan Assets			Funded status
Fair Value at December 28, 2013	$	651,857		$	497,460		$	(154,397	)
Employer contributions		—			18,173
Interest cost		28,667			—
Actual return on plan assets		—			72,820
Benefits paid		(14,498	)		(14,498	)
Actuarial loss		66,889			—
Currency translation		(40,632	)		(31,796	)

Fair Value at December 27, 2014	$	692,283		$	542,159		$	(150,124	)

Pre-tax amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as of December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013 consisted of actuarial gains (losses):

Balance December 29, 2012	$	12,617
Actuarial loss		(49,421	)
Currency translation loss		(2,004	)

Balance December 28, 2013		(38,808	)
Actuarial loss		(18,980	)
Currency translation gain		1,835

Balance December 27, 2014	$	(55,953	)

The estimated amount to be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive income into net periodic benefit cost in 2015 is $0.

Assumptions—The weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine the benefit obligation at December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013 were as follows:

Percentages	2014			2013
Discount rate		3.65	%		4.45	%
Salary increase		N/A			N/A
CPI inflation		2.10	%		2.70	%
RPI inflation		3.20	%		3.60	%

Expense

Pension expense is determined based upon the annual service cost of benefits (the actuarial cost of benefits earned during a period) and the interest cost on those liabilities, less the expected return on plan assets. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is applied to the fair value of plan assets. Differences in actual experience in relation to assumptions are not recognized in net earnings immediately, but are deferred and, if necessary, amortized as pension expense.

The components of the net periodic pension expense for the fiscal years ended December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013 were as follows:

	2014			2013
Net Periodic Benefit Cost:
Interest cost		28,667			26,431
Expected return on plan assets		(26,029	)		(19,862	)

Net periodic benefit expense	$	2,638		$	6,569

Assumptions—The weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine expense are as follows for fiscal 2014 and 2013:

Percentages	2014			2013
Discount rate		4.45	%		4.60	%
Expected return on plan assets		5.50	%		4.20	%
RPI Inflation		3.60	%		3.20	%
CPI Inflation		2.70	%		2.70	%

The discount rate is based on the yields of AA-rated corporate bonds with durational periods similar to that of the pension liabilities. The expected return on plan assets is based on our asset allocation mix and our historical return, taking into account current and expected market conditions. Inflation is based on expected changes in the consumer price index or the retail price index in the U.K. depending on the relevant plan provisions.

Cash Contributions

The Company completed negotiations with Plan trustees in 2013 regarding annual funding for the Plan. The annual contributions into the Plan are $15,557 (/£10,000) per annum as part of the Plan's recovery plan, along with a contribution to cover the administrative costs of the Plan of approximately $1,711 (/£1,100) per annum.

Benefit Payments

The following table details expected pension benefit payments for the years 2015 through 2024:

2015	$	14,000
2016		14,500
2017		14,935
2018		15,400
2019		15,870
Years 2020 - 2024		86,341

Asset Allocation Strategy

The investment strategy for pension plan assets is to maintain a diversified portfolio consisting of

•	Long-term fixed-income securities that are investment grade or government-backed in nature;
•	Common stock mutual funds in U.K. and non-U.K. companies, and;
•	Diversified growth funds, which are invested in a number of investments, including common stock, fixed income funds, properties and commodities.

The plan, as required by U.K. law, has an independent trustee that sets investment policy. The general strategy is to invest approximately 50% of the assets of the plan in common stock mutual funds and diversified growth funds, with the remainder of the investments in long-term fixed income securities, including corporate bonds and index-linked U.K. gilts. The trustees regularly consult with representatives of the plan sponsor and independent advisors on such matters.

The pension plan investments are held in a trust. The weighted-average maturity of the corporate bond portfolio was 13 years at December 27, 2014.

Fair Value Measurements

The pension plan assets are valued at fair value. The following is a description of the valuation methodologies used for the investments measured at fair value, including the general classification of such instruments pursuant to the valuation hierarchy.

Index-linked gilts—Index-linked gilts are U.K. government-backed securities consisting of bills, notes, bonds, and other fixed income securities issued directly by the U.K. Treasury or by government-sponsored enterprises.

Corporate Bonds—Corporate bonds and debentures consist of fixed income securities issued by U.K. corporations.

Corporate Stock—This investment category consists of common and preferred stock, including mutual funds, issued by U.K. and non-U.K. corporations.

Diversified growth funds—This investment category consists of diversified investment funds, whose holdings include common stock, fixed income funds, properties and commodities of U.K. and non-U.K. securities.

These assets are pooled investment funds whereby the underlying investments can be valued using quoted market prices. As the fair values of the pooled investment funds themselves are not publicly quoted, they are classified as Level 2 investments.

At December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013, the pension plan assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows:

December 27, 2014	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Inputs (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Total
Plan net assets:
Temporary cash investments	$	—	$	12,320	$	—	$	12,320
Index-linked gilts		—		135,229		—		135,229
Corporate bonds		—		107,880		—		107,880
Corporate stock		—		176,010		—		176,010
Diversified growth funds		—		110,720		—		110,720

Total plan net assets at fair value	$	—	$	542,159	$	—	$	542,159

December 28, 2013	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Inputs (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Total
Plan net assets:
Temporary cash investments	$	—	$	10,791	$	—	$	10,791
Index-linked gilts		—		112,208		—		112,208
Corporate bonds		—		166,604		—		166,604
Corporate stock		—		141,029		—		141,029
Diversified growth funds		—		66,828		—		66,828

Total plan net assets at fair value	$	—	$	497,460	$	—	$	497,460