Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) has announced an income distribution of 4.6 sen per unit for its Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) flagship fund, for the financial year ending 31 December 2022. On top of that, there is also a special bonus dividend (Bonus Tambahan) of 0.5 sen per unit, for the first 30,000 units held by each unitholder.

In a statement, ASNB explained that the 4.6 sen income distribution is made up of 3.35 sen dividend and 1.25 sen bonus dividend. For comparison, last year’s ASB distribution payout was recorded at a marginally higher 5 sen per unit, comprising 4.25 sen dividend and 0.75 sen bonus dividend.

ASNB – which is wholly owned by Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) – also said that the total income distribution for 2022 will come up to RM8.9 billion. The amount is set to benefit 10.6 million ASB unitholders, who hold a total of 186.4 billion units in ASB.

President and group chief executive officer of PNB, Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn highlighted that the fund’s return this year is primarily contributed by local companies, especially those in the 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 elaborated, adding that ASB has managed to outperform its benchmark of Maybank 12-month fixed deposit rate.

Aside from that, Ahmad Zulqarnain also revealed that there was an increase in the number of ASB accounts in 2022, surging by more than 200,000 to 10.6 million accounts. Meanwhile, units in circulation rose by 4.6 billion (2.53%) 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.

On a wider scale, Ahmad Zulqarnain shared that PNB’s total assets under management (AUM) for the first 11 months of 2022 saw a hike from RM336.7 billion in 2021 to RM343.1 billion this year. During this same period, units in circulation for ASNB’s series of 17 funds – including the latest to be launched, ASN Sukuk – rose from 276.2 billion units to 283.2 billion units. The number of accountholders also grew from 14.8 million in 2021 to 15.2 million.

(Source: ASNB)

• TAGS:
• Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn
• Amanah Saham Bumiputera
• Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB)
• ASB
• Income Distribution Payout
• Permodalan Nasional Berhad
• PNB