KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd (Khazanah) reported a steady overall performance for 2020 despite the volatility in global financial markets and an unfavourable economic environment impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement yesterday, the sovereign wealth fund said its profit from operations fell to RM2.9 billion last year from RM7.4 billion in 2019.
Dividend income from investee companies rose to RM5.2 billion from RM3.8 billion but was offset by lower divestment gains of RM2.7 billion compared to RM9.9 billion in 2019.
It said the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic led to higher impairments of RM6.0 billion, particularly in aviation and hospitality assets, compared to RM4.9 billion in the previous year.
Khazanah declared a dividend of RM2.0 billion for 2020 to the Malaysian government.
“Our performance in 2020 was accomplished against the backdrop of a challenging economy and unprecedented impact to the operating environment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Despite these challenges, we were able to build on our efforts in recent years, allowing us to navigate the economic uncertainty,” managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said.
He said Khazanah identified good investment opportunities during the pandemic and ensuing market volatility.
“Khazanah continues to diversify our global portfolio as we build sustainable value for Malaysia as part of our long-term mandate,” he added.
Khazanah said its financial position remained strong with debt reduced by six per cent to RM43.1 billion from RM45.8 billion in 2019, while realisable asset value (RAV) cover fell slightly to 2.9 times from 3.0 times.
As at the end of 2020, the Commercial Fund’s RAV stood at RM95.3 billion, while the Strategic Fund’s portfolio RAV stood at RM27.9 billion.
Khazanah said various measures taken to curb the spread of Covid-19 resulted in the tourism, hospitality and aviation sectors taking a considerable hit.
It had to impair several assets, namely RM3.1 billion for Malaysia Airlines’ parent Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd (MAGB) and RM1.8 billion for Themed Attractions Resorts & Hotels, to account for these effects.
Looking ahead, Shahril Ridza said 2021 would continue to be a challenging year. — Bernama