SSS net revenue down 2.6% to P21.6B in first half

The net revenue of state-run Social Security System (SSS) slid by 2.6 percent year-on-year to P21.6 billion in the first half as the double-digit rise in expenditures outpaced revenue growth, the latest data obtained by the Inquirer showed.

In 2014, the pension fund’s first half net revenue amounted a higher P22.2 billion.

As of end-June, the SSS’s revenues increased by 7.6 percent to P81.1 billion from P75.4 billion a year ago, preliminary SSS data showed.

Contribution collections went up by 10.8 percent year-on-year to P65.1 billion during the first six months.

However, investment and other income went down by 3.7 percent to almost P16 billion in the first half.

SSS president and chief executive Emilio S. de Quiros Jr. noted in an interview last June that “rates are down and the stock market is a bit on the downside so our investment income was not as much as last year.”

End-June expenditures, on the other hand, jumped by a faster 11.8 percent to P59.5 billion from P53.2 billion last year.

Benefit payments increased by 12 percent to P55.4 billion in the first six months.

Operating expenses, meanwhile, grew by a tenth to P4.1 billion during the first half.

This year, the SSS is aiming to exceed or at least match last year’s net revenues of P44.5 billion, de Quiros had said.

In a presentation, the SSS said its financial performance “remains solid,” citing that its average annual net revenue jumped to P33 billion during the 2010 to 2014 period compared with only P8 billion from 2000 to 2009.

The SSS also noted of a “continuous growth” in assets, which hit P444 billion as of the first half of this year from just P298 billion in 2010.

The SSS had also reversed the contribution deficits being posted yearly until 2011 into surpluses starting 2012.

Last year, the contribution surplus—members’ contributions minus benefit payments and operating expenses—reached a high of P9.9 billion, more than double 2013’s P4 billion.

The contribution surplus as of the first half of this year stood at P5.6 billion.