EPF lost RM6 bil in investment value in 10 PLCs after GE14 – report

0

Women walk past the EPF building in Kuala Lumpur.  — Bernama file photo

 

KUCHING:  Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has seen its investment value in 10 public-listed companies (PLCs) drop 12 per cent or a whopping RM6.09 billion, a month after the 14th general election (GE14) that saw a change in government for the first time in Malaysian history, reported The Edge.

A compilation by The Edge shows that following a post-election stock market meltdown, the value of EPF’s investment in the 10 companies has declined dramatically from RM51.21 billion to RM45.12 billion within a month.

It said the worst hit  sector is construction, due to the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government’s reviews on mega infrastructure projects, namely the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL), the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project and the third mass rapid transit line (MRT3).

According to The Edge, the top 10 worst performing stocks in EPF’s portfolio in the past one month are Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS), Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB), IJM Corp Bhd, Gamuda Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), Axiata Group Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Genting Plantations Bhd.

While construction stocks are the top losers in the selling wave post-election, the two banking stocks and two telcos, namely Maybank, CIMB, TM and Axiata, have actually caused EPF’s investment value in PLCs to shrink even more.

In total, EPF has lost RM3.86 billion in investment value in the four government-linked companies (GLCs) within a month.

The report also said that EPF’s website showed that its equity investment value contracted from RM344.35 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 to RM338.72 billion in the first quarter this year, which represents a drop of 1.6 per cent or RM5.63 billion.