19-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
PNB issues integrated report, gives out record RM14.5bil in income and bonus distribution
KUALA LUMPUR: Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) has delivered a record income and bonus distribution of RM14.5 billion to unitholders across its 18 fixed price (FP) and variable price (VP) funds in 2024.
The record performance, the company said, was driven by a positive macroeconomic and capital market environment, along with its continued asset diversification strategy.
As a result, its total group net income rose 30.2 per cent, from RM13.04 billion to RM16.97 billion, PNB said its Integrated Report for the year ended Dec 31, 2024 (IR2024) issued today.
The report is aimed at providing greater reporting standards and assurance, as well as broadened ESG disclosures.
This is in line with its commitment for transparency, sustainable value creation, and alignment with global best practices, the fund said.
PNB said it continues to be the preferred asset management company of choice trusted by all Malaysians, with the number of unique account holders and total number of accounts expanded to a record high of 13.1 million and 16.2 million respectively.
Consequently, total asset under management (AUM) recovered to RM348.3 billion, up from RM337.0 billion in 2023.
Group chairman Raja Tan Sri Arshad Raja Tun Uda said PNB is pleased with the strong performance it achieved in 2024.
"Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) distributed a record dividend, benefitting all Malaysians with our flagship fund, Amanah Saham Bumiputra (ASB), distributing a total income of 5.75 sen, the highest over the last five years.
"All our 18 FP and VP outperformed their benchmarks, with 11 out of 12 of our VP funds, ranked in the top or second quartile among their respective peer groups.
"This performance positively reflects the long-term resilience of PNB in delivering its purpose to uplift the financial lives of Malaysians across generation," he said in a statement today.
Moving into 2025, PNB president and group chief executive Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad said given the recent geo-political development and fundamental shift in US trade policies, the fund recognised it has to be realistic that the macroeconomic and capital markets will be highly uncertain and volatile for the year ahead.
He said to navigate these challenges, PNB will remain steadfast in executing the strategic initiatives across the six pillars that we have developed under the company's LEAP 6 Strategic Plan.
"Our focus remains in sustaining the performance of our funds through continued asset diversification strategy as we fulfil our commitment of delivering consistent, competitive returns to our unitholders.
"A more pressing challenge now is to get Malaysians to save more and invest with ASNB given shifting spending habits, coupled with pressure on net disposable income, have lowered the propensity of Malaysians to save voluntarily compared to five or 10 years ago.
"However, we are optimistic that we can address this by strengthening our sales and distribution capabilities, supported by product innovation, financial literacy programmes, and an expanded distribution platform," he noted.
According to PNB, the IR for 2024 provided a wider breath of information that reflects the progress of the company over the past year.
This includes PNB's latest initiatives, including the LEAP 6 Strategic Plan that established the target to grow AUM to RM400 billion by 2027, the rebranding of ASNB to re-energise efforts to attract the younger generation, together with the launch of Robo Investment Advisor and 'Celik Madani', as part of ASNB's aggressive strategy to expand the savings of Malaysians.
The report also highlighted the substantial progress PNB is making in advancing its sustainability agenda, especially in achieving net-zero emissions at both the enterprise and portfolio levels and advancing the minimum living wage agenda across corporate Malaysia.
