Permodalan Nasional Berhad’s (PNB) wholly owned subsidiary, Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB), today announced the income distribution for its flagship fund, Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) for the financial year ending 31 December 2022 (FY2022).
ASNB announced a dividend of 3.35 sen and a bonus of 1.25 sen, totaling 4.60 sen a unit. In addition, ASNB announced a Bonus Tambahan of 0.50 sen a unit for the first 30,000 units held by a unit holder. The total income distribution amounts to RM8.9 billion, benefitting 10.6 million ASB unit holders.
PNB Group Chairman, Tun Arifin Zakaria said, “Despite difficult market conditions, we have delivered a competitive income distribution for ASB unit holders, which this year includes a Bonus Tambahan. The total distribution of RM8.9 billion will benefit 10.6 million unit holders who hold 186.4 billion units in ASB. The Bonus Tambahan is to assist our unitholders during a period of cost of living pressures.”
Geopolitical tensions, inflation, rising interest rates and China’s Zero-COVID policies have led to heightened market volatility. The Malaysian economy registered a stronger growth of 14.2% in the third quarter of 2022, compared to second quarter of 2022 at 8.9% and first quarter of 2022 at 5%. Nonetheless, the capital markets are not insulated from global macro trends, namely inflation, higher interest rates, supply chain disruptions and the strengthening of the US Dollar. Year to date, the FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index has declined by 6.7% as of 21 December 2022.
PNB President & Group Chief Executive, Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn said, “This year, Malaysian companies emerged as the largest contributor to returns, driven by ASB’s investments in financial services, plantation and healthcare sectors. ASB took advantage of the relatively strong domestic equity market performance in the first half of 2022 to capture gains, rebalance its portfolio and increase its cash holdings.
ASB continues to deliver sustainable and competitive returns, outperforming the benchmark of Maybank 12-month Fixed Deposit rate. ASB’s number of accounts increased by more than 200,000 to 10.6 million accounts, whilst units in circulation rose by 4.6 billion or 2.53% to 186.4 billion units. This indicates continued confidence in ASB as an essential savings and investment tool for Bumiputeras in their financial planning.”
“ASB has continued to deliver a return over its benchmark, resulting from the asset allocation and diversification strategies that we have employed in recent years. We are pleased to see the steady rise of Malaysians investing with us, as well as the increase in their size of their investments. ASB remains a fundamental component for our unit holders’ financial planning,” Ahmad Zulqarnain added.
PNB has again demonstrated its resilience in navigating the uncertainties of 2022. For the first 11 months of the year, PNB’s total Assets Under Management (AUM) increased from RM336.7 billion to RM343.1 billion. During the same period, units in circulation for all ASNB’s 17 funds increased from 276.2 billion units to 283.2 billion while the number of account holders stood at 15.2 million from 14.8 million in 2021.
The computation of the income distribution and bonus for ASB is based on the average minimum monthly balance held throughout the fund’s financial year. The computation of the Bonus Tambahan distribution is subject to the first 30,000 units for each account. The units re-invested from the income distribution and bonus will be credited into the unit holders’ accounts on 1 January 2023. The dividend is paid out of ASB’s net income whilst the bonuses are paid out of PNB’s proprietary funds at its discretion.
Transactions for ASB at ASNB branches and agents, including all online channels and internet banking, have been suspended temporarily from 22 to 31 December 2022. Unit holders may resume transactions at myASNB portal (www.myasnb.com.my) or via myASNB mobile application on 1 January 2023, or at any ASNB branches or its agents nationwide starting 3 January 2023.
