PETALING JAYA: A total of 13 companies under the Minister of Finance (Incorporated) (MOF Inc) did not declare dividends for 2022 and 2023 despite recording profits, the Auditor-General’s Report (AG’s Report) 1/2026 revealed.
The AG’s Report said an audit analysis was carried out on these 13 companies that recorded profits in 2022 and 2023, and maintained current and solvency ratios of at least 1, yet failed to make payouts.
According to the AG’s report, there is no regulation that compels government companies to pay dividends if they are profitable and solvent.
But, the AG Report said that based on the MOF Inc 2024 Guidelines, MOF Inc companies that turn a profit but decide against paying dividends must submit an application for exemption to MOF Inc for consideration.
The AG’s Report also identified 17 non-MOF Inc companies that did not pay dividends despite being profitable in 2022 and 2023, with solvency ratios of at least 1 in 2023.
"The determination of dividend payments for these 17 companies was decided solely at the board of directors level, as provided under the Companies Act 2016, given that no specific directive or dividend policy has been set by the regulating ministries," it added.
Meanwhile, the AG’s Report said 134 federal companies paid dividends totalling RM82.22bil to shareholders in 2022.
It added that this figure increased to 145 companies in 2023, with total dividends amounting to RM77.74bil.
Of this total, 15 companies paid dividends directly to the Federal Government amounting to RM50.78bil in 2022, while 16 companies paid RM43.28bil in 2023.
The bulk of the dividends to the Federal Government was contributed by PETRONAS, totalling RM50bil in 2022 and RM40bil in 2023.
The full report is available at https://lkan.audit.gov.my from 10am today (Feb 23).
