KUALA LUMPUR — The Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) sale of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) shares in 2023 had generated RM102 million for the fund’s dividend distribution that year, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
MAHB shares were sold at between RM6.80 to RM7.70 per unit, then, when the airport operator’s shares outperformed the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index by 11.47% in 2023.
This was a key factor in the share sale strategy, Amir told the Dewan Rakyat today in explaining EPF’s sale of MAHB shares at the time before the recent exercise to take the airport operator private.
“The claim that the EPF suffered losses from this sale is unfounded, as the EPF clearly denied in its press statement on Feb 12, 2025.
“Based on this statement, the EPF recorded a profit from the sale and purchase of MAHB shares, contributing to total investment income of RM63.48 billion for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023,” Bernama reported Amir Hamzah saying during the Ministerial Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.
He was responding to Chong Zhemin (Kampar-PH), who asked about the total profit or loss from the EPF’s MAHB share transactions and how it was reflected in the EPF’s financial statements.
Amir Hamzah said the EPF declared a dividend of 5.50% for conventional savings and 5.40% for shariah savings in 2023.
“Since 2014, total income from active trading and dividends from MAHB shares has reached RM650 million,” he said.
Different and separate investments
Amir Hamzah explained that MAHB share trading and the company’s recent privatisation were separate investments, differing in objectives and management responsibility.
Until the Voluntary General Offer (VGO) was announced on May 15, 2024, on Bursa Malaysia, fund managers continued trading MAHB shares under their mandate to generate returns for EPF members, he said.
“The EPF’s Public Equity Department began selling its MAHB holdings in January 2023 — back when it held a 15.5% in the airport operator — to capitalise on market gains as MAHB’s share price outperformed the FBM KLCI during that time.
“It is important to note that discussions and assessments for the VGO only began in July 2023. The fund managers in EPF’s Public Equity Department had no knowledge of or access to information regarding the offer,” he said.
To a supplementary question from Chong on why EPF needed to sell MAHB’s shares before announcing its dividends and how the fund plans to ensure MAHB’s privatisation is successful and benefits EPF members, Amir Hamzah said, the EPF’s move to buy MAHB shares at RM11 per unit under the privatisation exercise is aimed at positioning the company for a future relisting at a higher valuation.
EPF’s involvement is focused on strategic value creation, a new business strategy, and the execution of MAHB’s recovery and improvement plans, which can only be achieved through MAHB’s operational transformation, he added.
The minister also said that beyond impact on the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the transformation would improve airports in Penang, and Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Kota Bharu, and Ipoh.
The EPF enforces strict governance through an information barrier protocol, known as the “Chinese wall”, a standard practice among government-linked investment companies and financial institutions, he added.
“Under this protocol, the Strategic Investment Department, which handled MAHB’s VGO, is strictly prohibited from sharing sensitive, non-public information with the Equity Department.
“This ensures information is kept separate, preventing conflicts of interest that could lead to insider trading, which is a criminal offence under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA),” he said.
“If the EPF used inside information for share trading, it would compromise the integrity and fairness of Malaysia’s stock market, given the EPF accounts for 38% of the domestic listed equity market,” he added. – February 20, 2025