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PETALING JAYA (Feb 7): The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is expected to declare a lower dividend than its 6.9% announced for 2017, experts told Free Malaysia Today.
They reckon that the returns for 2018 would range from less than 5% to just 6%
Dr Yeah Kim Leng, professor of economics at Sunway University's School of Business, said he expects the dividend this year to range from 5% to 6% as the local and global economies did not fare so well last year.
He added that considering the lower inflation rate of around 1% last year, this level of returns is decent.
Meanwhile, Inter Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Pong Teng Siew said he estimated the dividend to be at less than 5% as the stock market performed badly last year and the EPF would not have significant earnings from their UK pound sterling investments.
The fund, which has RM800 billion, earns about 60% of its gross income from the local stock market which has taken a battering owing to a combination of internal and external factors – such as the broader trend of capital outflows in the local stock market and a change in government.
The change in government resulted in a number of major infrastructure projects such as the mass rapid transit 2 (MRT 2), light rail transit 3 (LRT 3) and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) being revised or deferred, affecting listed entities who were awarded contracts to undertake jobs related to these developments.
Moreover, the government's efforts to drive down the cost of providing broadband services have affected government-linked companies such as Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd, reported the portal.
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