EPF declares 6% Dividen

PETALING JAYA: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Board has declared a dividend of 6% for 2011 the highest in the last 10 years.

In a statement yesterday, EPF said the dividend, an increase of 20 basis points over the 5.8% paid out in 2010, translates to RM24.47bil being distributed to its members.

“2011 marks another commendable achievement for the EPF.

“Despite the challenging investment landscape, it was the strongest performance since 2001 that affirms our long term and prudent investment strategy combined with continuous efforts by our investment team,” said EPF chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman.

The dividend payout of the RM24.47bil was derived after deducting net impairment allowance on financial assets, investment expenses, operating expenditures, statutory charges and dividend on withdrawals, representing an increase of 13.23% compared to RM21.61bil recorded in 2010.

EPF also posted a gross investment income of RM27.24bil up 13.18% from 2010.

As of Dec 31 last year, EPF's total investment assets continued to register a healthy growth of 6.52% to RM469.22bil from RM440.52bil recorded in the previous year.

“This rise was primarily contributed by the positive net annual contributions from members and employers, and consistent and encouraging investment performance,” it added.

EPF said it continued to invest the bulk of its investment assets, which is 60.79%, including in equities, which represented 35.64% of total assets.

Equities were the largest income contributor at RM13.29bil representing 48.81% of total investment income.

“This is followed by loans and bonds, Malaysian government securities and money market instruments which contributed RM7.54bil, RM5.63bil and RM656.36mil respectively,” it said.

Samsudin said that while the EPF could not guarantee that it could maintain this performance amid the global economic and market uncertainties, it was committed to safeguarding and adding value to members' retirement savings, particularly against inflation.

Members may check their EPF Account Statements for the crediting of the 2011 dividend, either through EPF Kiosks, counters or i-Akaun from today.

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AMANAH SAHAM BUMIPUTERA (ASB) Dividen is 7.65 Sen Per Unit and Bonus of 1.15 Sen Per Unit for Year 2011

KUALA LUMPUR : Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) has announced an income distribution of 7.65 sen per unit and a bonus of 1.15 sen per unit for Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) for the financial year ended 31 December 2011.

This income distribution is an increase of 0.15 sen per unit compared to the dividend paid out last year (2010: 7.50 sen per unit).

The income distribution portion will involve a total payout of RM7.04 billion by ASNB an increase of 21 percent compared to the RM5.82 billion paid out last year.

The bonus portion will involve a total payout of RM628.29 million by PNB.

PNB Chairman, Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid said, the payment will benefit 7.3 million unit holders which currently hold more than 95.9 billion units of ASB.

Up to 15 December 2011, ASB has recorded a gross income of RM7.19 billion. Dividend income from investee companies contributed RM4.09 billion or 56.9 percent of the gross income. Meanwhile, profit from the sale of shares contributed RM2.25 billion or 31.3 percent and the rest of the income at 11.8 percent or RM0.85 billion is derived from investments in short term instruments and other investments.

The calculation of income distribution is based on the average monthly minimum balance held throughout the financial year of ASB ending 31 December 2011. The calculation of the bonus on the other hand is based on the average monthly minimum balance held by the unit holders in the past ten years, starting from 2002 up to 2011.

The income distribution and bonus will be automatically credited into the respective unit holders' accounts. Unit holders will be able to update their accounts beginning 3 January 2012.

All transactions for ASB at ASNB head office, ASNB branch offices and agents will be suspended beginning 21 December 2011 until 2 January 2012, to facilitate the calculation of income distribution and bonus.

ASB is a fixed price equity income fund, opened for Bumiputera aged 6 months and above. This fund is aimed at generating long term, consistent and competitive returns to the unit holders whilst ensuring the preservation of capital at minimal risk tolerance level.

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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.

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Malaysian Budget 2012

Budget 2012, themed Transformation Budget : Welfare For The People, Well Being For The Nation tabled in Parliament by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, YAB Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak.

Ministry of Finance took the initiative to develop the Official Budget 2012 Web for direct information to Malaysians in respect of the Budget 2012.

MOF web provides live telecast of the 2012 Budget Speech by YAB Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance from the Parliament of Malaysia through the audio and video.


Budget 2012 Speech

Budget 2012 Speech is available to public on October 7, 2011 at 5:30 pm at the Lobby, Ministry of Finance, Precinct 2, Putrajaya.

Budget 2012 Speech and appendix can be downloaded through the Official Website of the Budget 2012, www.treasury.gov.my at 6.00 pm.


Economic Report 20 /2012

Economic Report 2011/2012 can be downloaded from the Official Budget 2012 Web on 7th October 2011 following the Budget Speech by YAB Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

The Economic Report will be available for sale at RM45.00 per copy on 7th October 2011 from 5.00 pm at the lobby of the Ministry of Finance, Kedai PNMB Putrajaya, No 72, Jalan Diplomatik, Presint 15 (Presint Diplomatik), 62050 Putrajaya, Tel: 03-88811970 and Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Berhad (PNMB), Jalan Chan Sow Lin, 50554 Kuala Lumpur, Tel: 03-92366888 or visit www.printnasional.com.my for more information. 


Estimated Expenditure

2012 Estimated Federal Expenditure can be downloaded from the Official Budget 2012 Web on 7th October 2011 following the Budget Speech by YAB Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

Anggaran Perbelanjaan Persekutuan 2012 (m/s i - 196)

Anggaran Perbelanjaan Persekutuan 2012 (m/s 197 - 408)

Anggaran Perbelanjaan Persekutuan 2012 (m/s 409 - 679)


Official Budget 2012 Officer

Tn. Hj. Rahim Bin Abu Bakar
Director of Budget, Ministry of Finance
03-88823838 | rahim.bakar@treasury.gov.my

YBrs. Dr. Sundaram A/L Annamalai
Under Secretary Economic and International Division, Ministry of Finance
03-88823399 | dr.sundaram@treasury.gov.my

YBhg. Dato' Siti Halimah Binti Ismail
Under Secretary Tax Analysis Division, Ministry of Finance
03-88823330 | halimah.ismail@treasury.gov.my

En. K. Givananadam
Deputy Director Budget Division, Ministry of Finance
03-88823807 | giva@treasury.gov.my

Pn. Khodijah Binti Abdullah
Senior Deputy Under Secretary, Tax Analysis Division, Ministry of Finance
03-88823337 | khodijah.abdullah@treasury.gov.my

En. Gunaseelan Kunjan
Deputy Under Secretary (Direct Tax & Indirect Tax), Ministry of Finance
03-88823378 | guna.kunjan@treasury.gov.my

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