Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan told the Dewan Rakyat on Feb 20 that the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) did not suffer losses from "sell low, buy high" transactions of Malaysia Airports Bhd (MAHB) shares two years ago.
He said the sale of 15.5% MAHB shares between RM6.80 and RM7.70 per unit beginning in January 2023 yielded RM102mil for the EPF.
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He said the sale of 15.5% MAHB shares between RM6.80 and RM7.70 per unit beginning in January 2023 yielded RM102mil for the EPF.
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NewsTranscript
00:00The sale of MHB shares by the KWSP listed fund manager by his department in 2023 in the Malaysian Stock Exchange
00:11is part of the KWSP's active trading strategy to benefit the movement of stock prices and investment earnings in the short term.
00:22The MHB shares have been sold for RM6.80 to RM7.70 per unit,
00:29resulting in an income of RM102 million for the division of the KWSP dividend in 2023.
00:39The performance of the MHB shares that exceed the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index of 11.47% is also the main factor of this strategy.
00:53The accusation that the KWSP is suffering a loss from this sale is baseless.
01:03This was clearly rejected by the KWSP through its final statement on 12 February 2025.
01:09Based on this statement, it is clear that the KWSP has noted the benefits of selling and buying MHB shares
01:18and managed to record an income of RM63.48 billion for the financial statement on 31 December 2023.
01:31With that, it has managed to set aside a dividend of 5.5% for conventional storage and 5.40% for legal storage.
01:43Overall, since 2014, the total income from active trading and the collection of MHB dividend shares has reached RM650 million.
01:54The activity of selling and buying MHB shares and the completion of MHB privatisation this year are two different investments,
02:05namely from the investment consultants and from the department that is responsible for managing the investment.
02:12As of the announcement of the Sukurela or VGO offer on 15 May 2024 in Busan, Malaysia,
02:20the activity of MHB shares by the listed shareholder is proceeding according to its mandate to generate returns for the KWSP members.
02:35Based on the statement of the Minister of Finance, I suggest that the Minister of Finance should consider to submit an item as an advice to the KWSP.
02:45Because it is great, it has a crystal ball. It can know when a share goes up and when a share goes down.
02:50So when the KWSP wants to sell a share, ask the KWSP.
02:53If the share price goes up, don't sell it first. If the share price goes down, sell it quickly.
02:58My question is, why does the KWSP need to sell MHB shares before announcing the dividends?
03:14Considering that the dividends are announced only on paper and there is no cash flow coming out of the KWSP to pay dividends.
03:24That's enough. I understand. Please sit down.
03:26Honourable Chairman, what does the Honourable Chairman want to say?
03:31I would like to ask him to step back.
03:33Because the view of dividends is common among the people.
03:36We celebrate it.
03:37Maybe some people don't agree.
03:40But we discuss it professionally.
03:44And you are right. Your view is respectable.
03:47When we have a different view, we use our words.
03:50This is why we need the people.
03:52What can we do if we only listen to one side?
03:58Alright. This is my decision.
04:02I maintain my status quo.
04:04This is just a discussion.
04:09Next, please.
04:13Honourable Chairman, you have no further questions, right?
04:16Yes, I will finish my question.
04:18Considering that the KWSP has been announced,
04:21what is the KWSP's plan to ensure that the KWSP is able to pay dividends to the KWSP members?
04:31Honourable Finance Minister, please answer.
04:34Based on Section 27 of the KWSP Act 1991,
04:39the distribution of KWSP dividends is according to the actual performance of KWSP investments.
04:46In other words,
04:48the amount of dividends is only based on the income from the sales of an investment for that year.
04:59What needs to be emphasized here is the assessment and discussion that started with the VGO
05:09only started in July.
05:17Nothing else was agreed upon.
05:20During the sales period,
05:24the KWSP's Public Equity Department did not have any information
05:28or access to information related to the offer on the MHB.
05:32The offer from the KWSP's consortium was to take away all the MHB shares that were not owned.
05:41At a price of RM11,
05:43each share was a new investment for KWSP for a long period of time.
05:48So why is the KWSP willing to buy MHB at this price?
05:54The involvement of KWSP this time takes into account
05:58the aspect of creating a more strategic added value,
06:02i.e. value acceleration,
06:03and a new strategy,
06:05as well as the implementation of the MHB recovery and improvement plan
06:10that will ensure that the MHB is in the right place to be re-listed at a higher price.
06:18This can only be achieved through the transformation of the MHB operation.
06:23As soon as this process is completed,
06:27the consortium will pay full attention to improve the infrastructure,
06:33as well as the construction and passenger experience.
06:39Perhaps roughly speaking,
06:42this does not seem to play an important role in the recovery of the MHB.
06:50But in fact,
06:54this change will be the basis for the strategic transformation of the MHB
07:00in increasing investment and improving the experience of passengers, people and tourists.
07:07Efforts will not only be focused on the main airport,
07:12such as KLIA, Pulau Pinang and Kota Kinabalu,
07:15but will also be carried out to improve other airports,
07:20such as Tawau, Kota Baru and Ipoh.