6.25 SEN PER UNIT OF INCOME DISTRIBUTION FOR ASN
27 December 2007

KUALA LUMPUR, December 27, 2007 :- Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) has announced an income distribution of 6.25 sen per unit for Sekim Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN) for the financial year end December 31, 2007.

This is an increase of 0.75 sen per unit compared with the income distribution of 5.50 sen per unit last year.

The income distribution will involve a total payment of RM86.81 million which will benefit 1.21 million unit holders holding 1.389 billion units of ASN. It will be re-invested into additional units of ASN, calculated based on the Net Asset Value of (NAV) of ASN as at December 31, 2007, and to be automatically credited into the unit holders’ accounts.

PNB Chairman, Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid in his speech said based on the daily average Net Asset Value (NAV) of ASN until December 24, 2007 of RM0.8793, the yield derived from the income distribution of 6.25 sen per unit is 7.11 percent.

Up until December 24, 2007, the Net Asset Value (NAV) of ASN has increased by 26.27 percent from RM0.7793 per unit recorded on December 31, 2006 to RM0.9840 last Monday.

During the period, ASN has recorded a gross income of RM129.02 million, an increase of 12.33 percent or RM14.16 million compared with RM114.86 million recorded in the financial year 2006.

Of the amount, the profit from the sale of shares contributed RM75.99 million or 58.90 percent followed by dividend income which contributed RM41.67 million or 32.30 percent while RM11.36 million or 8.80 percent is derived from short term investment instruments.

The better performance recorded by ASN this year is mainly contributed by the healthy performance of the local bourse as shown by the barometer Composite Index which touched an all time high of 1,440.39 points on December 6, 2007. The total market capitalization of Bursa Malaysia has also exceeded RM1 trillion.

Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji also attributed the commendable performance of ASN to the strong economic environment achieved under Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration. The transformation initiatives undertaken by the government has contributed positively to the development of the country’s economic growth.

ASN is a variable priced growth fund with the objective of generating reasonable level of distribution income and capital appreciation to the unit holders through a diversified portfolio of investments.

All transactions for ASN at the ASNB offices and agents has been suspended yesterday, December 26, 2007 to January 1, 2008 to facilitate the calculation of  income distribution. Transactions for ASN will resume beginning January 2, 2008.