For FY17, ASB made a distribution payout of 7.25 sen per unit comprising a dividend of seven sen a unit and bonus of 0.25 sen a unit.

Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) chairperson Zeti Akhtar Aziz said this represented a total payout of seven sen a unit involving a total payout about RM10.7 billion that would benefit 9.6 million unitholders who owned 155 billion units in ASB.

Zeti had also announced the income distribution for ASNB’s variable-price fund, Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN) of 3.25 sen a unit for FY18, representing a dividend yield of 5.1 percent based on the net value of the fund as of Nov 20 this year.

The total estimated payout for ASN was about RM59.7 million which would benefit over 1.2 million unitholders with more than 1.8 billion units in the fund.

“(The year) 2018 has undoubtedly been a challenging year for both the global and domestic financial markets, weighed down by the further normalisation of the US monetary policy and the consequent fund outflows from the emerging markets, as well as the growing concern arising from the international trade tension,” she said in her speech during the announcement of the income distribution for the funds in Kuala Lumpur today.

She said as at Dec 20 this year, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI had declined 8.1 percent year-to-date, making it four out of five years the index recorded a negative price return, in an environment where all global equity markets had similarly declined.

Despite the challenging market environment and building on its strong foundation, PNB remained resilient and had sustained its financial performance this year, with assets under management increasing by 6.8 percent to RM295.2 billion, while the proforma net income of PNB and its unit trust funds was RM15.3 billion for the period up to Nov 30, 2018, she said.

Zeti said PNB also continued to uphold investors confidence by delivering competitive returns for unit holders, with a total payout of RM15.1 billion across all the funds in 2018.

On the public equity front, she said PNB continued to execute operational value creation plans with its strategic companies and further engaged its core companies to boost performance, supporting the recapitalisation exercise of MNRB Holdings Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd.

She said ASNB had also successfully executed new initiatives to enhance customer experience, including the streamlining and widening of product offerings.

These included the expansion of unit holders’ reach via an enhanced myASNB portal which now already has one million registered users, as well as the rebranding and repositioning of existing funds.

Moving forward, Zeti said PNB planned to undertake a Mid-Term Review of its Strategic Plan concentrating on the areas of strategic asset allocation, enterprise risk management and organisational transformation, as well as to accelerate the diversification of its investment portfolio into higher-yielding assets.

“PNB has remained resolute and resilient in navigating the challenging macro environment and pursuing its transformation effort, so as to continue delivering sustainable returns to our unit holders.

“We greatly value the trust and confidence that our unit holders have placed in us in this recent four decades and we will continue to uphold this trust as we continue to deliver our mandate,” she added.

All transactions for ASB and ASN at all ASNB branches and agents have been temporarily suspended from today until Jan 1, 2019 to facilitate the computation of income distribution.

Unit holders will be able to check and update their accounts through ASNB’s portal myasnb.com.my or at any branches or agents when transactions resume on Jan 2, 2019.

- Bernama