KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s (PNB) wholly-owned unit trust management company, Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB), has announced an income distribution of 4.60 sen a unit for its flagship unit trust fund, Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2022 (FY2022).

The income distribution consisted of a dividend of 3.35 sen and a bonus of 1.25 sen.

Additionally, ASNB announced a Bonus Tambahan of 0.50 sen a unit for the first 30,000 units held by a unit holder, which brought the total income distribution amount to RM8.9 billion, benefitting 10.6 million ASB unit holders, PNB said in a statement today.

Group chairman Tun Arifin Zakaria said the fund has delivered a competitive income distribution for ASB unit holders, which this year included a Bonus Tambahan, despite difficult market conditions.

"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,” he said.

PNB president and group chief executive Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn said Malaysian companies emerged as the largest contributor to returns this year 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,” he said.

He said ASB also continued 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 per cent to 186.4 billion units.

"This indicates continued confidence in ASB as an essential savings and investment tool for Bumiputeras in their financial planning,” he said.

Ahmad Zulqarnain said ASB has continued to deliver a return over its benchmark, resulting from the asset allocation and diversification strategies deployed in recent years.

"We are pleased to see the steady rise of Malaysians investing with us as well as the increase in the size of their investments. ASB remains a fundamental component for our unit holders’ financial planning,” he added.

For the first 11 months of the year, PNB’s total assets under management (AUM) increased to RM343.1 billion from RM336.7 billion in 2021 while units in circulation for all its 17 funds increased to 283.2 billion units from 276.2 billion and the number of account holders rose to 15.2 million from 14.8 million in the previous year.

According to PNB, 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 Jan 1, 2023,” it said.

PNB said the dividend is paid out of ASB’s net income whilst the bonuses are paid out of PNB’s proprietary funds at its discretion.

It said transactions for ASB at ASNB branches and agents, including all online channels and internet banking, have been suspended temporarily from today to Dec 31, 2022.

"Unit holders may resume transactions at myASNB portal (www.myasnb.com.my) or via myASNB mobile application on Jan 1, 2023 or at any ASNB branches or its agents nationwide starting Jan 3, 2023,” it added. — Bernama