Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR: Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd, a unit of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), has announced an income distribution of 7.05 sen per unit for its Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2 (ASB 2) for the financial year ended March 31, 2016.
PNB chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said the income distribution for ASB 2 will involve a total payout of RM213.07 million, an increase of 131.6% compared with the RM92 million paid last year.
"This distribution will benefit 159,480 unitholders who currently hold a total of 4.4 billion units of ASB 2," he told a press conference after announcing the dividend distribution in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
He said until March 18 this year, the mixed asset income fund recorded a gross income of RM228.72 million, an increase from its first gross profit of RM130.6 million posted last year.
"Income from sales of shares contributed RM101.81 million (44.5%), while dividend income from investment in companies contributed RM87.97 million (38.5%) and other income including sukuk and fixed deposits contributed RM38.94 million (17%)," he added.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 6.3% to 1,716.34 points on March 18, 2016 from 1,830.78 points on March 31 last year.
"The performance of the ASB 2 fund remains satisfactory since it was launched on April 2, 2014, despite the rather tough financial year for two consecutive years.
"The income distribution rate of the equity fund is reasonably competitive as compared to other similar investment instruments, as well as taking into account the current investment environment," said Ahmad Sarji.
Meanwhile, PNB president and group chief executive Tan Sri Hamad Kama Pia Che Othman said unitholders' investments in ASB 2 this year have doubled from RM2.175 billion in 2015 to over RM4.4 billion this year.
He said the number of unitholders has increased from 103,546 last year to 159,480, with 25.4% of subscribers aged 19 to 34 years and 44% aged 34 to 54 years.
"The 7.05% payout was quite good considering the economic challenges although we are capable of distributing eight sen per unit for the fund.
"The 6% decrease in the dividend payout was lower than the 7.75% per unit (including 0.25 sen per unit bonus) income distribution declared last year.
"The drop was in line with the 60% to 70% drop in the stock market," said Hamad Kama Pia.
He also said transactions of ASB 2 will be suspended on March 23-31 for income calculation purposes, and will resume as usual on April 1.
The income distribution payment for ASB 2 will be credited automatically into unitholders' accounts and they will be able to update their accounts from April 1.
The calculation of the income distribution is based on the average monthly minimum balance held throughout the financial year of ASB 2. - Bernama
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