By Rocky Issou
Good news for National Superannuation Fund Ltd, members nationwide with the superfund announcing K260 Million will be allocated into over 650, 000 member accounts in the coming days.
The announcement is part of NASFUND’s audited results for 2022 which include a Net Asset Value of K6.3 Billion and a net profit after tax of K256 million for the year ending 31st December 2022.
The announcements were made yestreday by NASFUND Board Chairlady Tamzin Wardley, NASFUND incoming CEO Rajeev Sharma along with outgoing CEO Ian Tarutia.
Chairwoman Tamzin Wardley said the Fund had demonstrated a strong resilience under difficult economic circumstances to attain positive results, with an above-budget performance in contributions, cash income as well as effective cost management over operating expenses. These positive outcomes were partly offset by the valuation losses due to continuing European conflict and FX losses at the year end.
“Our crediting rate for the past financial year of 4.3% is a testament to our commitment to providing strong and stable returns to our members above CPI over a rolling five-year period, which on average is 4.9% compared to 4.8% CPI average over the same time during 2018 to 2023.
Nasfund CEO Rajeev Sharma gave an outline of the main highlights for the year ending 2022 results.
Main highlights for FY2022 include:
- Cash income of K473 million compared to budget of K450 million (FY21: K423million)
- Valuation loss of K93 million (FY21: K72 million gain)
- Expenses of K73 million compared to budget of K74 million (FY21: K65 million)
- Net profit before valuation of Kina 349m against Budget of K 311m
- Net profit after tax of K256 million (FY21: K363 million)
- Total assets of K6.5 billion (FY21: K6.03 billion)
- Net assets of K6.3 billion (FY21: K5.94 billion)
- Employer receipts of K650 million, 9% higher than collected in 2021 (FY21: K589 million)
- Member withdrawals of K546 million (FY21: K586 million)
- 30,816 new members registered resulting in a 5% increase in total membership to 653,754 members (FY21: 622,938)
- Gross employer base increased by 7% to reach 3020 employers (FY21: 2700)
- Opening of flagship Nasfund Member Service Centre in Waigani, as well as new & improved Port Moresby Member Service Centre
PNG’s economic outlook remains positive, underpinned by a projected recovery in the extractive sector led by the recent announcement that the Papua LNG FEED process is now underway. Nasfund as an investor and landlord does extraordinarily better when the country’s resource projects are operational, as it improves the property portfolio in terms of value and rental income.
Outgoing CEO Ian Tarutia highlighted that Nasfund’s income from dividends was impacted by government’s levy on BSP in FY 22 and was adversely impacted by the increased corporate tax on the banking sector in FY23 onwards but Nasfund had planned for this. Results for the year FY 22 were impacted by approximately 3 % lower yields on Government securities and FY23 will see the full impact of reduced interest income if yields do not improve.
The Nasfund investment division will be actively pursuing and assessing opportunities in FY23 while remaining vigilant in monitoring market conditions and adjusting our investment strategy as needed to ensure we are maximizing returns for our members while also managing risk.
This year, in addition to improving on our financial performance and pursuance of new investment opportunities, we are also making progress on a number of key digital and strategic initiatives aimed at
improving the overall member experience. This means putting more of an emphasis on adding value for our membership while also helping them increase their retirement funds.
Chairwoman Wardley added, “we remind members that your long-term Nasfund savings will always benefit you by ensuring you have a level of financial comfort following your retirement from active employment. The influence of compounding interest and a commitment to investing in securities that yield safe long-term returns can be beneficial to growing member accounts significantly over time.”
I would like to sincerely thank our outgoing CEO Ian Tarutia and incoming CEO Rajeev Sharma, executive management and staff for their commitment and hard work in 2022 in delivering these commendable results in this challenging economic environment.”
