KUALA LUMPUR – Khazanah Nasional Bhd recorded a higher operating profit of RM1.6 billion in the 2022 financial year (FY2022) compared with RM670 million in FY2021 despite volatile global markets.
Managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said the better profit performance was mainly contributed by monetisation activities and lower impairment in the portfolio.
“There are ongoing concerns that the inflationary environment and tightening monetary conditions will lead to a global recession, exacerbated by continuing geopolitical risks.
“However, Khazanah’s disciplined investment approach – as guided by our long-term strategic asset allocation and active portfolio management – helped navigate the volatility in the markets as we maintained discipline in our value creation and monetisation efforts,” he said at a media briefing on the fund’s 2022 financial performance here today.
The sovereign wealth fund declared a dividend of RM500 million for 2022 to the government, bringing the cumulative dividends declared since 2004 to RM17.1 billion.
Amirul Feisal said Khazanah’s debt increased marginally to RM49.1 billion compared with RM48.5 billion in the previous year, while its realisable asset value over debt ratio remained healthy at 2.7 times, on track to achieve the long-term target of between 3.0 and 4.0 times.
He said the net asset value saw a decline of 5.0% to RM81 billion in 2022 from RM86 billion in 2021, attributed to the global market downtrends.
Khazanah has deployed RM6.6 billion for new investments and raised RM2.5 billion from asset monetisation, he said.
On Dana Impak, he said RM500 million worth of projects have been identified across various impact areas, aimed at building national resilience and new growth opportunities.
“Key areas include agrifoods and workforce digital upskilling – as well as a commitment to support entrepreneurs and the venture capital ecosystem,” he said.
Commenting on Khazanah’s exposure to Silicon Valley Bank, Amirul Feisal said the fund has no direct exposure, with insignificant impact, on its investments following the collapse of the US lender, which was mostly tied to tech industry players.
“We have no direct exposure as in no shareholding, no bond holding, no deposits, and no borrowing.
“The indirect exposure is insignificant as far as we are concerned, but we look at the implication on the general market (such as the) SNP500 (companies) and global market… that is something we will continue to monitor,” he explained.
He said the situation is also applicable to another international lender, Credit Suisse.
In 2022, Khazanah’s investment in the Malaysian public market amounted to 55.9% of its total portfolio, Malaysian private market (9.2%), global public market (13.4%), global private market (13.5%), and real assets (8.0%).
For 2023, Amirul Feisal said Khazanah expects volatility across the global market would continue – including in Malaysia – and that green shoots might come from China’s reopening and moderating inflation levels.
“Despite the uncertainties, Khazanah remains optimistic in identifying investment opportunities within emerging global trends,” he added. – Bernama, March 21, 2023
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