KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 24): Pelaburan Nasional Bhd’s (PNB) wholly-owned subsidiary Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd has declared a dividend payment of RM1.01 billion or 6.60 sen per unit for Amanah Saham Malaysia unit holders, for the financial year ended March 31, 2015.

At a news conference announcing the dividend distribution for its funds today, PNB chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said the RM1.01 billion distribution for the year was 6.8% higher compared to last year’s total distribution of RM945.24 million.

ASM had recorded a gross income of RM1.24 billion up to March 22, 2015, with profit from the sale of shares accounting for RM599.5 million or 45.8% of the gross income.

Meanwhile, unit holders of the three funds under Amanah Saham Gemilang (ASG) namely ASG-Pendidikan, ASG-Persaraan and ASG-Kesihatan, will receive 7.10 sen per unit, 7.20 sen per unit and 7.05 sen per unit respectively.

Ahmad Sarji said ASM and the ASG funds' performance were reasonably good and competitive, especially given the current economic and investment climate.

“From April 1, 2014 until March 20, 2015, the FBM KLCI had decreased by 2.46% from 1,849.21 points to 1,803.65 points.

“This is mainly due to the uncertainties in the economic environment, caused by the fall of crude oil prices and the depreciation of the Malaysian ringgit against the US dollar, as well as the lingering debt crisis in Europe,” he said.

Going forward, PNB expects the local market to continue to be affected by the dampened global environment in the short and medium term, due to the unequal growth of the global economy.

The fund also said the interest rate differentials between the developed and emerging economies would affect the flow of international investment funds.