KUALA LUMPUR: Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB), the wholly-owned unit trust management company of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) has announced a total income distribution payout of RM650.73 million for the financial year ending Sept 30, 2021 (FY2021), for three of its funds.

In a statement today, PNB said the funds were the Amanah Saham Malaysia 3 (ASM 3), ASN Equity 5 and ASN Sara (Mixed Asset Conservative) 2 (ASN Sara 2).

For ASM 3, PNB declared a total income distribution payout of RM593.04 million, benefitting 525,038 unit holders who currently own 14.83 billion units.

"ASM 3 recorded a net realised income of RM653.27 million for FY2021, reflecting an increase of 17.87 per cent from last year.

"The return of 4.00 sen per unit remains competitive and exceeds the benchmark Maybank 12-Month Fixed Deposit return of 1.85 per cent by 215 basis points (bps) for FY2021," it said.

Meanwhile, PNB said ASN Equity 5 and ASN Sara 2 registered total returns of 11.46 per cent and 4.04 per cent, respectively, for FY2021, outperforming their benchmarks by 8.66 per cent and 1.73 per cent, respectively.

"These returns are benchmarked against the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Top 100 Index (FBM 100) and Maybank 12-Month Fixed Deposit, at a ratio customised to each fund," it added.

With these returns, the company said ASNB will be paying out a total income distribution of RM9.80 million to ASN Equity 5 unitholders -- equivalent to 2.85 sen per unit for 11,202 unitholders who own a combined total of 343.80 million units.

"Meanwhile, ASN Sara 2 unitholders will receive a total income distribution payout of RM47.88 million, equivalent to 2.80 sen per unit to 42,860 unit holders with 1.71 billion units.

"These distributions translate into a dividend yield of 2.95 per cent for ASN Equity 5 and 2.75 per cent for ASN Sara 2 respectively, based on the Net Asset Value of the funds as at Sept 23, 2021," it said.

The income distributions of these funds were derived from the funds' realised gains, dividends and other income from local and international investments, generally driven by the gradual recovery of global and domestic financial markets.

"Income from international investments grew significantly with contributions between 32 per cent and 73 per cent to each respective fund for the financial year-to-date," said PNB.

-- BERNAMA