KUALA LUMPUR: Analysts described the 5.75 sen per unit income distribution for Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) for the financial year 2025 (FY2025) as balanced and resilient, supported by Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s (PNB) conservative distribution framework and a low inflation environment.
They said the payout preserved capital stability while offering investors meaningful real returns amid an uneven global investment landscape.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd’s director of investment strategy and country economist, Mohd Sedek Jantan, said the 5.75 sen distribution reflected a risk-adjusted equilibrium shaped by tariff-related uncertainty, delayed corporate investment, uneven cross-asset returns, currency translation effects, and continued reliance on domestic earnings.
“The result is above average when assessed against ASB’s structure, which distributes only from realised income and maintains a stable RM1 unit price,” he told Bernama.
He said this meant market volatility was absorbed internally through reserves, preserving capital value for unitholders while delivering consistent income.
“While greater foreign diversification can enhance long-term portfolio efficiency, allocation and distribution trajectories will continue to be shaped by macro-financial conditions, exchange-rate dynamics, reserve adequacy and national development priorities,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the distribution should encourage higher savings among ASB investors, particularly as inflation in the first ten months of the year stood at 1.4 per cent.
“As such, the real dividend rate remains positive at around 4.35 per cent. In addition, a strategy that diversifies exposure to global markets could help cushion the impact of a slowdown in the domestic equity market,” he said.
He added that investors should remain invested to benefit from the compounding effect, which would lift overall savings over time.
Earlier, PNB’s wholly owned unit trust management company, Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd, declared a total income distribution of 5.75 sen per unit for ASB for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2025.
PNB said in a statement that the total payout amounted to RM10.4 billion, the highest annual distribution since ASB’s inception, benefiting 11.4 million unitholders. – BERNAMA
