Kuala Lumpur: Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) Monday declared an income distribution of 7.00 sen per unit for Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2008.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) also announced a bonus of 1.75 sen per unit.
PNB chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji said the income distribution portion would involve a total payout of RM4.22 billion, almost equal to the allocation made for the ASB income distribution last year.
The bonus portion would involve a total payout of RM678.03 million by PNB, he told reporters at the ASB income distribution announcement here.
According to Ahmad, the payment will benefit 6.56 million unitholders who currently hold 62 billion units of ASB.
Up to Dec 10, 2008, ASB has recorded a gross income of RM5.14 billion and dividend income from investee companies contributed RM3.12 billion or 60.71 percent of the gross income and profit from the sale of shares contributed RM1.58 billion or 30.75 percent.
The rest of the income at 8.54 percent or RM439 million was derived from investments in short-term instruments and other investments.
The income distribution and bonus will be automatically credited into the respective accounts of unitholders who will be able to update their accounts beginning Jan 2, 2009.
All transactions for ASB at its head office, ASNB branch offices and agents will be suspended from Dec 9 to Jan 1 to facilitate the calculation of income distribution and bonus.
ASB is a fixed price equity income fund, opened to Bumiputeras aged 12 years and above, which is aimed at generating long-term, consistent and competitive returns to the unitholders while ensuring the preservation of capital at minimal risk tolerance level.
PNB president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman said under the unstable market conditions, four percent reserves were carried to next year.
"PNB restructures its position regularly because we are a long-term fund manager. We want to maintain our performance and portfolio to consistently provide competitive returns," he said.- Bernama