Business

Thursday June 25, 2009

Amanah Saham Didik income distribution at 6.3 sen

By EDY SARIF


Prudent strategy enables it to provide competitive returns

KUALA LUMPUR: Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) has announced an income distribution of 6.3 sen per unit for Amanah Saham Didik (ASD) for the financial year ending June 30.

Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said the income distribution would involve a total payment of RM156.82mil, benefiting 224,729 units holders who collectively owned 2.83 billion units of ASD.

“ASD’s financial year has been a challenging one due to the global investment environment which was severely affected by the world’s financial crisis and worsening economy,” he told a press conference announcing the income distribution of ASD.

Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid (left) and Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman announcing the income distribution for Amanah Saham Didik

He said, however, that its prudent strategy had enabled the ASD to provide competitive returns to unit holders.

“Up to June 19, ASD recorded a gross income of RM185.94mil, of which profit from the sale of investment contributed RM80.26mil (43.16%), dividend income from investee companies contributed RM88.68mil (47.69%) while the remaining income of RM17mil (9.15%) is derived from investments in short-term instruments,” he said.

PNB president and group chief executive Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman said ASNB had the capacity to pay up to 9.7 sen but decided to pay 6.3 sen due to the current market condition.

“We have to save a bit to face the uncertainty in the current market. However, the amount is still reasonable compared with other comparable investment instruments, given the current slowdown,” he said.

On the progress of the additional Amanah Saham Malaysia units offered recently, Hamad Kama said the Indian quota of 500 million units was almost fully taken up, with about 15 million left for them, while 145 million units were still available for other races.

The income distribution for ASD will be re-invested into additional units of ASD, which will be automatically credited into the unit holders’ accounts.

For unit holders who subscribed for ASD through the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members’ scheme, the income distribution will be credited directly into their EPF accounts.

The income distribution statement and fund’s annual report will be sent to unit holders beginning mid-August.

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