KUALA LUMPUR: Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) has announced a total income distribution payout amounting to RM650.73 million for its fixed price fund Amanah Saham Malaysia 3 (ASM3) and variable price funds ASN Equity 5 and ASN Sara 2 for the year ended September 30, 2021 (FY21).
ASNB is a wholly-owned unit trust management company of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB).
PNB said ASM3 declared a total income distribution payout of RM593.04 million benefitting 525,038 unitholders who currently own 14.83 billion units.
ASM 3 recorded a net realised income of RM653.27 million for this financial year, reflecting an increase of 17.87 per cent from last year.
PNB said the return of four sen per unit remained competitive and exceeded the benchmark Malayan Banking Bhd's 12-month fixed deposit return of 1.85 per cent by 215 basis points (bps) for FY21.
Meanwhile, ASN Equity 5 and ASN Sara 2 registered total returns of 11.46 per cent and 4.04 per cent respectively for FY21, which outperformed their benchmarks by 8.66 per cent and 1.73 per cent respectively.
These returns are benchmarked against the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Top 100 Index (FBM 100) and Maybank 12-month fixed deposit, at a ratio customised to each fund.
PNB said during the same period, the FBM KLCI increased by 2.79 per cent from 1,504.82 points to 1,546.82 points following a volatile performance on the back of Covid-19 resurgence which led to Malaysia's third Movement Control Order.
Global markets, however, demonstrated better performance as the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI) climbed 29.0 per cent during the same period, driven by the reopening of global economies as vaccine deployment shows progress.
With these returns, ASNB will be paying out a total income distribution of RM9.80 million for the unitholders of ASN Equity 5, which is equivalent to 2.85 sen per unit to 11,202 unit holders with 343.80 million units.
Unitholders of ASN Sara 2 will receive a total income distribution payout of RM47.88 million, equivalent to 2.80 sen per unit to 42,860 unit holders with 1.71 billion units.
These distributions translate into a dividend yield of 2.95 per cent for ASN Equity 5 and 2.75 per cent for ASN Sara 2 respectively, based on the net asset value of the funds as at September 23.
Transactions at all ASNB branches and offices have been temporarily suspended from September 23 to 30 for ASM3 and from September 29 to October 1, 2021 for ASN Equity 5 and ASN Sara 2, to facilitate the computation of the income distribution.