Temasek, whose stable includes Singapore Airlines, said net profit rose to S$7.4 billion (US$4.4 billion) on revenues of $56.5 billion for the year to March 2004 .

That compared with a modest profit of $241 million on revenues of $49.65 billion in the previous financial year, and $4.92 billion on revenues of $42.56 billion in the year to March 2002.

This was the first annual report made public by the traditionally low-key Temasek since it was founded 30 years ago. Nearly half of its portfolio is now invested overseas.

Temasek manages $90 billion in assets, invested in companies ranging from Asian icons like Singapore Telecommunications and the Raffles Hotel to the Singapore Zoo and a betting company, Singapore Pools.

Overseas, Temasek -- which means "sea town", Singapore's historical name -- has stakes in Telekom Malaysia and Indonesia's Bank Danamon, while Temasek-linked companies have extensive investments across the globe.

Since it was set up in 1974, Temasek's total shareholder's return (TSR) has averaged 18 percent annually, thanks to the early years when it was expanding from a low base, the report said.

In the past 10 years, which included the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, the impact of terrorism and other problems, TSR averaged only three percent a year.

In the year to March 2004, however, this zoomed back to 46 percent, reflecting Singapore's sharp economic rebound.

Right after the Temasek report was made public, ratings agencies Moody's Investors Service and Standard and Poor's both assigned their highest possible corporate credit ratings to Temasek and said its outlook was stable.

"The exceptionally strong rating (AAA) on Temasek reflects the leading or dominant market positions in the key business segments in which the Temasek group of companies operate and its high degree of investment diversity," SP credit analyst Greg Pau said.

"The rating also takes into account Temasek's extremely strong financial flexibility at the holding company level, as well as the group's solid financial profile on a consolidated basis," he added.

SP noted that Temasek's shareholder, the Singapore government, "is financially strong" and while it does not guarantee Temasek's obligations, "the strength of the shareholder and the constitutional arrangements that protect Temasek's reserves provide comfort."

Temasek Chairman Suppiah Dhanabalan said that despite being an exempt private company, it decided to make its group review public for the first time as part of efforts to "institutionalise Temasek's role as a long-term shareholder and an active investor."

The last five years have been difficult due to problems such as terrorism and the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 but "new opportunities have emerged in a bustling China and a confident India, alongside a recovering (Southeast Asia)," he said.

Other major companies in the Temasek stable include the DBS banking group, subway operator SMRT Corp., port operator PSA International, broadcaster-publisher MediaCorp, shipping giant Neptune Orient Lines and diversified industrial group Singapore Technologies.

The city-state's other main investment arm is the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC).

The GIC invests over US$100 billion in foreign reserves in such areas as equities, fixed income, money market instruments and prime real estate in key financial centres worldwide.

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