KHAZANAH Nasional Berhad is expected to record a RM5 billion profit for 2019, said Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali.

“This is in comparison with the RM6.3 billion deficit in 2018,” he told Dewan Rakyat today during the minister’s question time.

He said asset disposal is a normal course of business for Khazanah as an investment company.

“Khazanah disposes assets every year whether it’s under the new government or not.”

Unlike the Employees Provident Fund, Khazanah does not get fresh fund injections every year and has to dispose its investments from time to time to generate more funds for other investments, said Azmin, who is also Gombak MP.

Between May 2018 and June, Khazanah has disposed RM18.8 billion assets. Of that, RM3.2 billion assets were disposed between May and December last year.

The rest of the RM15.6 billion assets were disposed between January and June, he said.

He was responding to a question by Ahmad Hamzah (Jasin-BN) on Khazanah’s financial performance and the assets disposed since Pakatan Harapan took over the government last year.

Azmin said Khazanah will dispose of assets that are deemed “not strategic” or unable to add to profits.

“Some of these assets caused Khazanah to record a deficit last year.”

Using the IHH Healthcare Berhad divestment as an example, Azmin said Khazanah managed to sell 16% stake to Mitsui & Co Ltd at 20% higher than the market price.

“At that time, the price of the shares were around RM5 each while Khazanah sold them to Mitsui for RM6 per share.”

Azmin denied that IHH’s sale to Mitsui was not transparent as it was to an existing IHH shareholder.

“Mitsui is a partner of IHH and it made sense to sell to them,” said Azmin, when Tajudin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak-BN) questioned whether the sale was done via open tender. – October 10, 2019.