KUALA LUMPUR (April 29): Total debt securities issued by Cagamas Bhd, the national mortgage corporation, in 2015 rose 5.97% to RM7.1 billion from RM6.7 billion in 2014.

Conventional bonds accounted for RM4.7 billion of the 2015 issuances while sukuk totalled RM2.4 billion, Cagamas said in a statement today.

A total of RM5.6 billion or 79% of the securities were issued locally while the balance RM1.5 billion or 21% were distributed internationally.

Cagamas said its fixed income securities accounted for 7% of total outstanding corporate fixed income securities and 23% of all outstanding AAA fixed income securities in Malaysia in 2015.

"This reaffirms Cagamas' position as the second largest issuer of debt instruments after the Government of Malaysia and the largest issuer of AAA debt securities in the market," it said.

Cagamas said its pre-tax profit for 2015 totalled RM558.3 million, up 2.11% compared with RM546.5 million in 2014.

The group, it said, remained strongly capitalised with overall core capital ratio and risk weighted capital ratio standing high at 35.3% and 37.2% respectively.

Total shareholders' funds increased 9.8% to RM5.6 billion in 2015 from RM5.1 billion in 2014, while tangible asset per share climbed 7.82% to RM37.1 from RM34.2.

Its group chairman Datuk Ooi Sang Kuang said Cagamas played an active role in facilitating intermediation in the Malaysian financial sector through the provision of liquidity, capital and risk management solutions to financial institutions.

"Cagamas has repositioned itself over the past few years and has added capacity to offer a broader range of financial solutions to sustain future growth," he said.