This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 4, 2024 - November 10, 2024
KHAZANAH Nasional Bhd has amassed an estimated RM5.48 billion from the dividend payouts of eight public listed companies (PLCs) and proceeds from stake disposals in three PLCs so far this year.
A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that the sovereign wealth fund received RM2.8 billion in total dividends from the eight PLCs.
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (KL:CIMB), Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA), Axiata Group Bhd (KL:AXIATA), IHH Healthcare Bhd (KL:IHH) and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (KL:TM) were the five biggest dividend contributors.
CIMB, in which Khazanah holds a 21.56% stake, was the largest contributor with a payout of RM1.25 billion — accounting for over 40% of dividends received for the January-October period.
Meanwhile, the equity interest in Tenaga enabled Khazanah to receive RM652.68 million. Khazanah owns a 20.43% stake in the national utility giant.
It is worth noting that Khazanah recently pared down its stake in CIMB and Tenaga. Cumulatively, the share divestments are estimated at RM2.37 billion based on Bloomberg’s available off-market data or the companies’ respective closing prices with a 1.5% discount assumption.
This year, the fund has disposed of 118 million shares in Tenaga — equivalent to a 2.03% stake — for about RM1.46 billion.
As for CIMB, it disposed of 143 million shares in the bank this year. The shares, representing a 1.33% stake, were valued at RM911.69 million.
Shares in Tenaga ended last week at RM13.90, valuing the utility giant at RM80.8 billion. The stock has climbed 38.45% year to date (YTD). CIMB shares finished at RM7.95 on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM85.22 billion. The bank’s shares have risen 38.59% YTD.
Bloomberg data shows that Khazanah has also offloaded 62 million shares in TIME dotCom Bhd (KL:TIMECOM) — representing 3.35% equity interest — valued at RM305.99 million so far this year. The fund owns a 7.24% direct stake in TIME.
Khazanah has a 25.1% indirect stake in TIME held via 19.8%-owned associate Pulau Kapas Ventures Sdn Bhd. A check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) shows that the remaining 80.18% stake in Pulau Kapas Ventures is owned by Global Transit International Sdn Bhd, which in turn is wholly owned by Megawisra Sdn Bhd.
Megawisra’s directors are TIME CEO Afzal Abdul Rahim, executive director Patrick Corso and Gan Te-Shen. Megawisra is wholly owned by Megawisra Investment Ltd.
TIME shares closed at RM4.93 last Friday, valuing the company at RM9.11 billion. The counter has fallen 3.82% YTD.
A look at Khazanah’s latest financial statement as at end-2023 shows that its cash and cash equivalents stood at RM13.86 billion, up 12.35% from RM12.33 billion a year earlier.
The fund paid RM1 billion in dividends to the federal government in 2024, which is earmarked to double to RM2 billion for 2025.
Other PLCs in Khazanah’s portfolio include UEM Sunrise Bhd (KL:UEMS), which it has a 69.56% stake; UEM Edgenta Bhd (KL:EDGENTA) with a 69.14% stake held via wholly-owned UEM Group Bhd; Axiata (36.71%); Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (KL:AIRPORT) (33.24%); IHH (25.93%); TM (20.1%); TT Vision Holdings Bhd (KL:TTVHB) (14.16%); Farm Fresh Bhd (KL:FFB) (11.7%); and Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd (KL:ASTRO) (20.65%).
The dividends received from its equity interest in UEM Sunrise and UEM Edgenta amounted to RM37.89 million.
Only Astro and TT Vision did not declare a dividend in the January-October period.
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