KUALA LUMPUR: Amanah Saham Nasional (ASNB), a wholly-owned unit of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), yesterday announced a 6.6 sen dividend for a unit of Amanah Saham Didik (ASD) for financial year ended June 30, 2014.
PNB Chairman, Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, said although the dividend was 0.2 sen lower from 6.8 sen a unit last year, the total payout was higher at RM317.46 million compared with RM303.73 million previously.
“The payout was 4.5 per cent higher compared with last year’s,” he said here yesterday.
The dividend distribution benefited 328,672 unit holders which collectively held 4.81 billion units of ASD, he said.
Ahmad Sarji said with prudent investment strategy, the ASD units gave satisfactory returns despite the challenging investment environment.
“The rate of income distribution for ASD is reasonable if compared with other investment instruments after taking into account the current economic situation,” he said.
Meanwhile, PNB president/chief executive officer, Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman, said the decision to declare 6.6 income distribution took into account the need to ensure that ASD were offered competitive returns continuously.
“The level we could be able to pay, if we take into account our reserves, is 11.5 sen. We paid 6.6 sen and the balance we brought forward to ensure that next year we can continue to declare competitive rate,” he said.
On Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2 (ASB 2), Hamad Kama Piah said PNB has sold 703.4 million units since April 2, 2014. — Bernama
“This is a good reception considering its size of RM10 billion. In the past when we launched the product, after one and two months, usually about 200 million or 300 million units would be sold but with ASB2 we have reach RM700 million units,” he said.
He said the scheme has attracted 39,649 investors since its launch. — Bernama