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ublicly listed investment company PT Saratoga Investama Sedaya (SRTG) has said it will strengthen its focus on consumer products this year as the company sees great opportunities in the sector despite the economic slowdown.

To support its business expansion, the company has decided not to pay dividends to its shareholders for the 2014 financial year as it needs funds to strengthen its capital.

The company gained approval from shareholders during its annual general shareholders meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Previously, Nielsen Indonesia reported that despite the economic slowdown, Indonesian consumers are among the most optimistic in the world, with a bright outlook on their spending this year.

'€œWe have heavily invested in the infrastructure and mining sectors,'€ Saratoga Investama director Andi Esfandiari said after the annual general meeting.

As a part of the company'€™s strategy to expand in the consumer sector, this year Saratoga Investama is in the process of acquiring taxi operator Express Group from conglomerate PT Rajawali Corpora.

Saratoga, however, has not disclosed the acquisition value as the process is still ongoing.

The company said that the taxi operator already had a good reputation and Saratoga Investama saw many opportunities to improve the brand to attract more customers.

'€œAmid the intense competition, the operator already has a good name,'€ he added.

Saratoga began its expansion in the consumer sector by investing in luxury fashion and lifestyle company PT Gilang Agung Persada in 2014.

This year the company has also decided to allocate between Rp 1.3 trillion (US$100 million) and Rp 1.9 trillion of its internal funds for investment purposes, focusing more on the consumer sector.

Even though it will focus on the consumer sector, the company is still open to investment in other sectors.

'€œWe are still looking at other opportunities,'€ Saratoga Investama general manager for investor relations and risk management Leona A. Karnali said.

In the first quarter of this year, the company spurred around Rp 133 billion of its investment funds and, according to the company'€™s report made available on Wednesday, around 74 percent of the investment or Rp 99.8 billion was channeled to oil and gas exploration company PT Agra Energi Indonesia.

Apart from the company'€™s investment, last year Saratoga Investama saw its net profits grow by 226 percent to Rp 803 billion from Rp 246 billion in 2013.

However, the company saw a 32 percent decline in its revenue to Rp 1.07 trillion in the first quarter of this year compared to Rp 1.57 trillion in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the company'€™s net profit dropped steeply by 98 percent to only Rp 9 billion in the first quarter of this year compared to Rp 444 billion in the same period in 2014.

The company report said that the decline in financial performance was mostly caused by the declining global oil price. Moreover, the weakening of the rupiah has also affected the company'€™s financial performance.

Saratoga Investama'€™s shares, under the code SRTG, traded at Rp 4,880 apiece on Wednesday. (ind)