UPDATE 2-Indonesia's Bumi hit by charges, outlook cloudy

* Q4 net loss $169.77 million - Reuters calculations

* FY net profit $190.45 million, down nearly 50 pct

* 2009 average coal price $62/tonne vs $73/tonne in 2008

* Tax bill, China investor talks weigh

* Shares flat in firmer Jakarta market (Adds analyst comments, detail)

By Janeman Latul

JAKARTA, April 5 (Reuters) - PT Bumi Resources (BUMI.JK), Indonesia's top coal producer, posted a fourth-quarter loss as it took a hefty charge for mine stripping, and the outlook for this year may hinge on how it handles tax and debt issues.

Analysts said Bumi's outlook could depend on resolving a dispute with authorities over alleged tax evasion, as well as progress in talks on an equity swap deal with sovereign fund, China Investment Corp.

CIC agreed in November to invest $1.9 billion in Bumi via debt instruments, but analysts have said talks on an equity swap, under which the Chinese fund could take about a 10 percent stake, have been delayed after the tax dispute.

Indonesian tax authorities allege Bumi and its two coal units, PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Arutmin Indonesia, owe about 2.1 trillion rupiah ($232 million) in tax.

Tjiptarjo, director general at the tax office, has said the penalty would be four times the value of the taxes owed.

Dileep Srivastava, Bumi's director for investor relations, said Bumi had followed regulations in paying a 45 percent of corporate tax rate at Kaltim Prima Coal and Arutmin Indonesia.

Srivastava said by phone text message that Bumi had proactively booked corporate tax from 2005-09, but he added that 2008 net tax expenses had been revised up to $489.18 million from $90.01 million previously.

Bumi posted 2009 net profit of $190.45 million, down nearly 50 percent from $371.69 million a year ago, once $275 million of one-off costs were set aside for mine stripping to expose underlying coal seams.

The fourth-quarter loss was $169.77 million, according to Reuters calculations, against a year-earlier profit of $155.2 million.

Bumi shares initially fell 1 percent, but later traded flat to a touch higher at 2,325 rupiah. The main index .JKSE was up 1.7 percent. Bumi has underperformed the broad market this year, trading down about 0.5 percent against the main index's 12 percent gain.

Bumi had previously reported a 2008 net profit of $645.37 million before the tax revisions.

Ari Pitoyo, head of research at PT Mandiri Securities, said the tax issue was affecting the market's view of Bumi stock. "If we're talking about Bumi, it's mainly about psychological issues not fundamentals."

Bumi said 2009 revenue fell to $3.22 billion from $3.38 billion in 2008 after its average coal selling price dropped to $62 a tonne from $73/tonne in 2008.

By volume, Bumi's coal sales rose to 58.4 million tonnes from 51.5 million tonnes in 2008.

Norico Gaman, head of research at PT BNI Securities, forecast Bumi's revenue could increase to about $4.5 billion in 2010 assuming an average coal price of $70 a tonne and based on the company's target for sales of around 64 million tonnes of coal.

But Gaman said Bumi's profit would also depend on how it manages debt which, at a debt to equity ratio of 2.3 times, is higher than the average 1.5 times at other Indonesian coal firms.

Srivastava forecast first-quarter coal sales would have increased almost 42 percent to 16 million tonnes from the same period last year -- on track to the annual 64 million tonne target, an increase year-on-year of nearly 10 percent. (Writing by Ed Davies, Editing by Ian Geoghegan) (Janeman.latul@thomsonreuters.com Reuters messaging: janeman.latul.reuters.com@reuters.net; +6221 384 6364))