Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) today announced an income distribution of 6.00 sen per unit for Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS1M) for the financial year ending Sept 30, 2017.

This involved a total payout of RN724.10 million which would benefit more than 390,000 account holders who currently own 12.0 billion units, said PNB Group Chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar.

"AS1M recorded a net income of RM600.47 million, a 16 per cent growth from RM517.28 million in 2016, which was attributed to a stronger domestic equity market performance, particularly in the finance and services counters," he said at a media briefing on PNB's third-quarter performance and AS1M income distribution here today.

Abdul Wahid said: "We are pleased to have sustained the dividend level for AS1M and the fund's stronger financial performance would allow us to build additional reserves to support future distribution".

Meanwhile, Abdul Wahid also announced that PNB recorded a net income of RM10.05 billion up to Aug 31, 2017, a growth of 8.8 per cent compared to the same period last year, while assets under management (AUM) rose 4.2 per cent to RM268.6 billion.

"Out of the total AUM, unit trust funds constituted RM228 billion while the remaining RM40.6 billion are the company's proprietary funds," he added.

--BERNAMA