SCC ups Sukuk scheme to RM3.5 billion
Published on: Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Credit Corporation (SCC) increased the size of its Sukuk Musharakah programme from RM1.5 billion to RM3.5 billion on Tuesday. The move will allow SCC to consolidate outstanding Sukuk issuance and generate an additional RM1 billion for the corporation to plan its future loans growth, said its Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Vincent Pung. The exercise was launched by Chief Minister cum Finance Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and will be used by the corporation to fund its Islamic Financial Business.
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Pung also announced i-Cash, a personal loan facility, offering borrowers simplified and online loan processing and the flexibility of drawing the loan. He revealed this during the Sukuk Musharakah exercise and I- Cash loan introduction here. The corporation's Sukuk Musharakah was launched in 2014 to allow the issuance of short-term and long-term sukuk from the tenure of one month up to 20 years. AmInvestment Bank Bhd remains as the sole principal adviser and lead arranger for the Sukuk Musharakah programmes, as well as RAM Rating Services Bhd being retained as the rating agency.
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SCC introduced its first Shariah-compliant financing products to its customers in 2010 and is the first state government agency in Sabah to venture into Islamic financing.Also present at the upsize Sukuk launching were State Secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman, Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary Datuk Pengiran Hassanel Mohd Tahir, AmBank Group chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim and SCC Chairman Datuk Linda Tsen.
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Musa who lauded the exercise said it can help SCC save at least RM300,000 in fees and other costs. "SCC has shown steady financial growth over the years… since 2002, SCC has declared over RM232 million in dividends to the State Government," he said. He said this is despite SCC posting a lower profit in 2016 of over RM60 million from RM70 million in 2015 as announced by Pung earlier. This is due to the adoption of Malaysian Private Entities Reporting Standards (MPERS) and the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards by SCC last year, which among others, involved the recalibration of all the corporation's around 50,000 accounts to meet the standards. It was noted that SCC had anticipated a significant drop in profits of RM16 million initially to RM54 million for the year 2016, but instead reported a beyond expectation pre-audited profit of over RM60 million as of December 2016. Musa said the corporation has also donated over RM23 million through more than 150 Corporate Social Responsibility projects such as rural hostels, orphanages, half-way homes and centres for single mothers. The ceremony also witnessed the dividend payment of RM8 million by SCC to the State government through the State Ministry of Finance.Meanwhile, AmBank Group chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim said the upsize will provide an efficient platform for SCC to consolidate its capital and funding of its financial vehicles and thus, attract more investors. "The move will also further strengthen the country's Islamic Capital Market, which accounts for RM61.3 billion or representing 46 per cent of the total global Sukuk market and 35 per cent higher than the market was in 2015," he said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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