Jamsostek 2004 profit fell 21%

Jamsostek 2004 profit fell 21%

PT Jaminan Sosial Tenaga, Indonesia's state-owned and largest pension fund, said profit declined by 21 percent in 2004 as investment incomes fell.

Jamsostek, as the company is known, saw income after tax last year at Rp 421.1 billion (US$44 million), from $535.2 billion the previous year, the company said in a media statement. Revenue from payments by policy holders rose 9.7 percent to Rp 1.2 trillion, it said.

Gains from investing in bank deposits, bonds and stocks fell to Rp 3.27 trillion in 2004, from Rp 3.33 trillion the previous year, it said.

Jamsostek has said it plans to buy more Indonesian government bonds this year to help fund a state deficit because government spending on projects, employee salaries and debt payments may exceed its receipts from tax collections.

At the end of 2004, Jamsostek had investments of Rp 14.1 trillion in bonds, Rp 14.37 trillion in bank deposits and Rp 3.44 trillion in stocks, mutual funds and other securities, it said.

Indonesia's government forecast the economy will expand 5.5 percent this year, after growing 5.1 percent in 2004. -- Bloomberg