EPF declares 6% dividend payout

Quote from TheStar (link) :

PETALING JAYA: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Board has declared a dividend of 6% for 2011 the highest in the last 10 years.

In a statement yesterday, EPF said the dividend, an increase of 20 basis points over the 5.8% paid out in 2010, translates to RM24.47bil being distributed to its members.

“2011 marks another commendable achievement for the EPF.

“Despite the challenging investment landscape, it was the strongest performance since 2001 that affirms our long term and prudent investment strategy combined with continuous efforts by our investment team,” said EPF chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman.

The dividend payout of the RM24.47bil was derived after deducting net impairment allowance on financial assets, investment expenses, operating expenditures, statutory charges and dividend on withdrawals, representing an increase of 13.23% compared to RM21.61bil recorded in 2010.

EPF also posted a gross investment income of RM27.24bil up 13.18% from 2010.

As of Dec 31 last year, EPF's total investment assets continued to register a healthy growth of 6.52% to RM469.22bil from RM440.52bil recorded in the previous year.

“This rise was primarily contributed by the positive net annual contributions from members and employers, and consistent and encouraging investment performance,” it added.

EPF said it continued to invest the bulk of its investment assets, which is 60.79%, including in equities, which represented 35.64% of total assets.

Equities were the largest income contributor at RM13.29bil representing 48.81% of total investment income.

“This is followed by loans and bonds, Malaysian government securities and money market instruments which contributed RM7.54bil, RM5.63bil and RM656.36mil respectively,” it said.

Samsudin said that while the EPF could not guarantee that it could maintain this performance amid the global economic and market uncertainties, it was committed to safeguarding and adding value to members' retirement savings, particularly against inflation.

Members may check their EPF Account Statements for the crediting of the 2011 dividend, either through EPF Kiosks, counters or i-Akaun from today.

Sold MBSB-WA this morning, 3rd February 2012

I have just sold my mbsb-wa @ 1.30 for a handsome 84% profit.  It has gone beyond my target price, as such, I'm pretty happy with how it ends.  My average entry price was at 0.705.  The market has been bullish since end of last year up until now.  I intend to take the opportunity to realize my profit and wait for the next opportunity to enter the market.  The objective now is to raise capital and be ready for the day to come.

MBSB just released its 4th quarter report

MBSB, a shining star in my portfolio, has been rising steadily for the last 2 months, has just announced its 4th quarter earnings.  I must say, however, it came below my expectation.  Nevertheless, it is still a profitable quarter, 347 millions in revenue with a net profit of 83.8millions, translating to an eps of 8.35cents.  The annualized eps came in at 32.42 cents.  It is a great year for MBSB for its net profit tripled.   The stock traded 2.23 at closing today, which is equivalent to PE of 6.88.

The company also proposed a final dividend of 7cents less 25% tax.

Overall, despite it came under my expectation, it is still a good quarter for MBSB.   Tomorrow's opening hour will be closely watch by me.