Abang Johari (second left) points at the screen showing Assar interim dividend for 2024 financial year. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Jan 5): Amanah Saham Sarawak Bhd (Assar) has announced an interim dividend of 2.5 sen per unit for the financial year ending June 30, 2024, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said this will involve a total payout of RM11.71 million to be distributed to 57,613 investors, calculated based on the unit holdings as of Dec 31, 2023.
“It must be emphasised that the distribution is based on the earnings for the first six months of the current financial year.
“This is highly encouraging considering that the restructured Assar Fund was only fully invested in July 2023 to achieve optimal asset accumulation, in line with the new investment mandate and strategy of Assar,” he said at a press conference at Hikmah Exchange here this afternoon.
Abang Johari said the Assar Fund restructuring, which was carried out on Oct 21, 2022, had yielded positive results with its Net Asset Value (NAV) per unit steadily increased to RM1.0854 on Dec 31 last year – a growth of 8.54 per cent.
He said the gross income generated for the first six months of the current financial year ending June 30, 2024, amounted to RM15.59 million.
Of this, he said 49 per cent (RM7.59 million) constituted fixed-income security interest income, 33 per cent (RM5.14 million) resulted from equity/stock sales; while the remaining 18 per cent (RM2.86 million) derived from equity holdings’ dividends, interest income from money market instruments, and capital gains from fixed-income security sales.
“After deducting expenses, Assar Fund’s net income for those six months totaled RM13.29 million. The new investment strategy of Assar, allocating at least 70 per cent of investments in fixed-income securities, has successfully mitigated the volatility of the persistently challenging equity market.
“This demonstrates the significance of diversification strategies in managing portfolio risk to generate sustainable and competitive returns,” he added.
Also present at the event were Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, state secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki and state Attorney-General Datu Saferi Ali.
Looking ahead, The Premier foresaw Assar to continue generating consistent returns even beyond 2030.
This was in view of Sarawak’s potential in the green energy sector, he added.
Moreover, Abang Johari said such projection was in line with Sarawak’s target of becoming the prime player of green energy in Malaysia as this can bring in more investments into the state.