AS 1MALAYSIA Dividen is 6.50 Sen Per Unit for Year 2011

KUALA LUMPUR - Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), today announced an income distribution of 6.50 sen per unit for Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS 1Malaysia) for the financial year ended 30 September 2011.

This second income distribution is an increase of 0.12 sen per unit compared with 6.38 sen per unit announced last year.

The income distribution will involve a total payment of RM311.27 million, an increase of 53.32% compared with the previous year's total payment of RM203.02 million.

It will benefit 270,598 unit holders which currently hold 5.49 billion units of AS 1Malaysia.

Up until 20 September 2011, AS 1Malaysia has recorded a gross income of RM405.67 million. Profit from the sale of shares contributed RM205.99 million or 50.78%; dividend income from investee companies contributed RM152.48 million or 37.59%, and RM47.20 million or 11.63 % is derived from investment in short term instruments and other income.

PNB Chairman, Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said the local bourse which had earlier been on an uptrend since the beginning of the AS 1Malaysia financial year, had experienced a marked downturn since early August 2011.

During the period between 1 October 2010 to 20 September 2011, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index (FBM KLCI) has recorded a decrease of 3.61% from 1,463.50 points on 30 September 2010 to 1,410.64 points on 20 September 2011, which was the lowest level recorded.

The downturn, according to Tun Ahmad Sarji, is due to the increased uncertainties over global growth prospects in the advanced economies, deteriorating international financial market environment especially in the United States and Eurozone and worries over the worsening sovereign debt crisis which had triggered downgrades for several economies and major financial institutions.

"All these factors has put a damper on investors' confidence of the stock market. The global economy and stock market environment are expected to be more challenging following these latest developments," he added.

The calculation of the AS 1Malaysia income distribution will be based on the average monthly minimum balance held throughout the financial year of the fund.

The income distribution will be automatically credited into the unit holders' accounts on 1 October 2011. All transactions for AS 1Malaysia has been suspended beginning 21 September 2011 to 2 October 2011 to facilitate the calculation of income distribution.

Unit holders will be able to update their accounts at ASNB head office; ASNB branch offices or ASNB agents beginning 3 October 2011.

Investors who participated in AS 1Malaysia through the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Members' Investment Scheme will have their income distribution credited directly into their respective EPF accounts. AS 1Malaysia was listed as one of the funds approved under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Members' Investment Scheme beginning 25 July 2011.

The income distribution statement together with the fund's annual report will be sent beginning mid November 2011.

AS 1Malaysia is a fixed price fund with a size of 10 billion units. Fifty percent of the approved size is open for Bumiputera investors, 30% is allocated to Chinese, 15% for Indians and the rest for other Malaysians.