PETALING JAYA: It was a good year-end bonus for unit holders of Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB), which declared its highest dividend payout since 2020 while its parent company Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) has set an ambitious target of RM400bil in asset under management (AUM) by 2027.
In a statement yesterday, ASNB announced a total income distribution of 5.75 sen a unit for its flagship fund, Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB), for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2024.
The total distribution consists of an income distribution of 5.5 sen a unit and a bonus of 0.25 sen a unit.
ASB continues to deliver sustainable, above market returns, outperforming the benchmark of Maybank 12-month fixed deposit rate.
As of the end of November 2024, based on rolling one-year total returns, all ASNB variable price funds outperformed their respective benchmarks and were placed in the top two quartiles among their peers in their respective segments.
The six ASNB equity funds had recorded a rolling one-year total return of between 15% and 33% up to Nov 30 this year, with its oldest fund Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN) and ASN Equity Malaysia recording a rolling one-year return of 23.4% and 33.2%, respectively.
PNB group chairman, Raja Tan Sri Arshad Raja Tun Uda said: “We are pleased that ASB has been able to deliver its strongest dividend distribution over the last five years.
“This continues the strong track record of outperformance of ASNB’s fixed price funds over their reference portfolio in line with PNB’s purpose to uplift the financial lives of Malaysians across generations”.
A total of 11.1 million ASB unitholders will benefit from the total payout amounting to RM10.1bil.
ASB has distributed a total of RM196.5bil since its inception.
It paid RM9.3bil last year.
PNB president and group chief executive Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad told an editors’ briefing at Merdeka 118 on Monday that ASB’s improved performance was driven by the positive impact of PNB’s asset diversification strategy and the strong Malaysian equity market, which benefitted from robust Malaysian economic growth and the strengthening of the ringgit.
“I think in the last five years, except this year, our dividend has been challenged. That’s because they are a reflection of the Malaysia stock market. Hopefully, if the stock market continues to do well then I think we can sustain effectively this dividend distribution profile,” he said.
He added that PNB is targeting to increase its AUM to RM400bil from RM347bil in 2024 via the execution of transformation across six key pillars covering sales and distribution, investment, PNB Co transformation, knowledge, innovation and sustainability.
This year, PNB recorded a 3.2% rise in the total number of accounts to 16.2 million, with ASNB adding over 400,000 new unique holders.
Abdul Rahman said PNB is committed to growing the savings of Malaysians by encouraging the public to save more and growing these savings by delivering sustainable, market leading returns.
“In this context, we will elevate our efforts on financial literacy by providing educational programmes and resources to empower Malaysians with the knowledge to make informed financial decisions.
“We will also intensify our marketing initiatives to underscore the importance of cultivating a consistent savings habit for unitholders’ long-term financial security,” he added.
Moving forward, he remained optimistic about the outlook for Malaysia’s economy and the local bourse next year, underpinned by supportive economic policies and steady inflows of foreign direct investments (FDIs).
Abdul Rahman pointed out that government policies such as the National Energy Transition Roadmap and the National Semiconductor Strategy have been well received, boosting investor confidence.
He noted that the country is currently seeing a third wave of investment upcycle, driven mainly by huge FDIs.
“The combination of well-received economic policies, strong FDI inflows driven by electrical and electronics sector data centres, and robust domestic direct investments indicates real activity on the ground.
“This positive trend reflects the close relationship between the economy and the stock market. I believe that the momentum we have in 2024 will continue in 2025,” Abdul Rahman said.
Currently, 77% of PNB’s assets are invested domestically, with 60% of that allocation in the public equity market, mainly in the FBM KLCI, according to Abdul Rahman.
When asked about potential merger and acquisition activities following the Sime Darby Bhd
-UMW Holdings Bhd deal, he said PNB’s priority is ensuring that Sapura Energy Bhd completes its debt restructuring.
“Sapura Energy’s debt restructuring scheme has been extended to March 2025 and completing this process is vital for stabilising its operations,” he said.
On June 6 this year, it was reported that Sapura Energy was granted a nine-month extension by the High Court to the convening and restraining orders that the group obtained from the court in March 2024, allowing it to continue restructuring its debts.
The new orders are effective from June 11, 2024, to March 10, 2025.
He added that PNB remained focused on reviewing its portfolio performance, taking a bottom-up approach to identify companies with strong organic growth potential - but is not currently pursuing merger and acquisition activities in the oil and gas sector.
