PNB group chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar said PNB's strong performance this year-to-date reflected the improved economic and capital market performance both globally and in Malaysia.
KUALA LUMPUR: Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) recorded strong financial performance for the five-month period ending May 13, 2017 in terms of assets under management (AUM) and pro forma consolidated net income.
It said on Thursday its AUM grew 4.1% to RM265.6bil while pro forma consolidated net income increased rose 18.2% on-year to RM6.7bil, underpinned by the broad-based improvement in Malaysia’s economic performance and the equity market.
PNB unit Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) unit trust funds now have more than 13 million accounts with almost 217 billion units in circulation.
PNB group chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar said PNB's strong performance this year-to-date reflected the improved economic and capital market performance both globally and in Malaysia.
“With the Malaysian economy expected to register higher growth, supported by stronger exports and firmer currency, we hope to continue to sustain this respectable performance growth for the rest of the year,” he said.
Sustaining the growth was the strong domestic economy, which expanded 5.6% on-year in 1Q17 setting the pace for a strong growth for this year.
Up to June 21, 2017, the FBM KLCI rose to 1,776, up 8.2% from end-2016 level whilst the ringgit gained 4.9% to US$4.29, making Bursa Malaysia and the ringgit respectively one of the strongest performing markets and currencies in the region year-to-date.
PNB's STRIVE-15 Strategic Plan 2017-2022 also recorded strong sustained growth and significant momentum in value creation.
It should be noted that the aggregate market value of PNB’s strategic companies had increased by RM31bil to date - a weighted growth of 18.1% – which was more than double the growth of KLCI.
PNB also said the de-merger of PNB's strategic companies such as Sime Darby Bhd
and UMW Holdings Bhd were progressing well. Also SP Setia Bhd’s proposed acquisition of I&P Bhd to create Malaysia’s largest property company has also been finalised.
It also highlighted that its largest strategic investment company, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) achieved the milestone of the first Malaysian listed company to reach market capitalisation of RM100bil driven by a 17% rise in its share price year-to-date.
“We are very pleased with the growth achieved to date in the market capitalisation of our Strategic Investment Companies. This reflects the strong positive reaction and support from the market of our strategic initiatives to enhance the value of these companies through pure plays.
“It will also motivate us to work harder to ensure that our strategic companies will have the right platform and focus to deliver enhanced operational and financial performance going forward,” Wahid said.
On PNB's asset allocations, its fixed income instruments constituted a larger 4.8% of total assets as against 3.4% a year ago, whilst PNB’s cash portion fell to 19.7% from 20.7%.
Also recording strong growth was PNB’s private investment after Prolintas bought SILK Highway. The company now operates the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH), Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE) and Lebuhraya Kemuning-Shah Alam (LKSA) and is currently constructing two new highways, Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE) and Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH).
As for the Amanah Saham Didik (ASD) and Amanah Saham Nasional 2 (ASN 2), PNB said ASD unit holders will receive an income distribution of six sen per unit and ASN 2 account holders 3.10 sen per unit.
ASD's income distribution of RM332.7mil would benefit nearly 300,000 account holders who now hold 5.54 billion units.
As at May 31, 2017, ASD's net income was RM275mil, derived mostly via capital gains (RM201.85 mi) and dividend payment (RM108.88mil).
ASN 2's income distribution involved a payout of RM45.8mil which will benefit more than 24,000 account holders who hold more than 1.48 billion units.
As at May 31, 2017, ASN 2 recorded net income of RM49 mil, more than doubleing the RM22.45mil a year ago as the funds benefitted from rising market and strong stock selection.
The dividend of 3.10 sen for ASN 2 translates to a dividend yield of 5.0% contributing to a total return for ASN 2 of 11.9% year-to-date.
ASN 2’s strong performanc was in line with PNB’s strategy of refocusing its ASNB variable funds towards delivering total return to unit holders rather than just dividend returns.
“This would allow for a more sustainable long term returns for investors and enable unit price of the variable funds to increase over time, whilst minimising the risk of it declining below par as portfolio quality is optimised with less pressure to divest good stocks merely to deliver dividends.
The calculation of the income distribution for AS$ is based on the average monthly minimum balance held throughout its financial year, whilst for ASN 2, the income distribution is calculated based on the units held on the last day of its financial year ended June 30, 2017.
The income distribution payment of ASD will be re-invested into additional units and will be automatically credited into the unit holders' accounts on July 1, 2017.
For ASN 2, units will be credited based on the net asset value (NAV) as at June 30, 2017.
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