Employee Benefit Plans

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

NOTE K - EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

Plan contributions

For the nine months ended June 30, 2022, Ashland contributed $4 million to its non-U.S. pension plans and less than $1 million to its U.S. pension plans. Ashland expects to make additional contributions of approximately $1 million to its non-U.S. and less than $1 million to its U.S. pension plans during the remainder of fiscal 2022.

Plan Remeasurements

Following the completion of the sale of its Performance Adhesives business segment on February 28, 2022, the post-retirement benefits for approximately 40 employees transferred to Arkema, all of whom participated in a non-contributory defined benefit plan in the U.S., were frozen. This resulted in a decrease in total expected future years of service within the plan and required Ashland to remeasure the plan as February 28, 2022. As a result, Ashland recorded a $1 million actuarial gain within the other net periodic benefits loss caption of the Statements of Consolidated Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the nine months ended June 30, 2022.

Components of net periodic benefit costs (income)

The following table details the components of pension and other postretirement benefit costs for continuing operations.

	Pension benefits						Other postretirement benefits
(In millions)	2022			2021			2022		2021
Three months ended June 30
Service cost	$	1		$	1		$	—	$	—
Interest cost		2			2			—		—
Expected return on plan assets		(1	)		(2	)		—		—
Actuarial (gain)		—			—			—		—
Total net periodic benefit costs	$	2		$	1		$	—	$	—
Nine months ended June 30
Service cost	$	3		$	4		$	—	$	—
Interest cost		5			4			1		1
Expected return on plan assets		(5	)		(5	)		—		—
Actuarial (gain)		(1	)		—			—		—
Total net periodic benefit costs	$	2		$	3		$	1	$	1

For segment reporting purposes, service cost is proportionately allocated to each segment, excluding the Unallocated and other segment, and is recorded within the selling, general and administrative expense and cost of sales captions on the Statements of Consolidated Comprehensive Income (Loss). All other components are recorded within the other net periodic benefit loss caption on the Statements of Consolidated Comprehensive Income (Loss), which netted to $1 million and zero for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2022, respectively, and zero for both the three and nine months ended June 30, 2021, respectively.