SSS net revenue falls after pension increase in 2017

Net revenue of staterun Social Security System (SSS) dropped last year following the across-the-board increase in pensions.

Based on its latest unaudited financial report, the pension fund for the private employees reported that its net revenue declined by 36.5 percent last year to R20.3 billion from R32 billion in 2016.

The reduction in net revenue comes despite the above target income of SSS last year.

According to SSS, the company breached its 2017 revenue target by 5.6 percent to R200.5 billion. Likewise, its total income is higher by R26 billion compared with the previous year’s actual of R174.46 billion.

“We achieved good numbers in 2017 on the back of our intensified campaign to increase our collections. We are pleased that the efforts of the SSS management and employees paid off,” Emmanuel F. Dooc, SSS president and chief executive said.

Contribution collection, which comprised the bulk of the pension fund’s revenue for year was at R159.72 billion, up 10.6 percent from R144.36 billion in 2016.

The remaining R40.78 billion in total revenues came from investment and other income, which soared 35.5 percent from R30.10 billion in 2016.

Similarly, expenditures of the pension fund for the period, which included benefit payments and operating expenses, jumped 26.5 percent to R180.2 billion from R142.46 billion in 2016.

Of the total expenditures, R170.68 billion were released for benefit payments, which climbed 28.4 percent from R132.98 billion in 2016.

SSS grants benefits for maternity, sickness, disability, retirement and death to qualified active members under the regular Social Security Program.

“In 2017, SSS fulfilled President Duterte’s promise to give higher benefits to our pensioners. We have disbursed roughly R33.5 billion to cover the additional benefit to pensioners starting January 2017,” Dooc said.

“As a result, our expenditures, which were made up largely by benefit payments, saw a huge increase compared to 2016, wherein no additional benefit was enjoyed by the pensioners,” he added.

Operating expenses, which accounted for five percent of SSS’ total disbursements, meanwhile, showed a slight increase to R9.52 billion from R9.48 in 2016 but were still below the allowed amount mandated by the SS Charter.