by P PREM KUMAR / pic TMR File

KHAZANAH Nasional Bhd has indirect exposures linking the fund to the collapsing foreign financial institutions Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse, with no significant impact on its operations and balance sheet.

Khazanah Managing Director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said some of its investee companies have business dealings with financial institutions, thus translating into indirect exposures.

“We can confirm that we have zero direct dealings with the banks, including shareholding, bonds or business transactions,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

“I can also confirm that the indirect exposure has an insignificant impact to our operations,” he added.

Amirul Feisal also said Khazanah has no immediate plans to dispose of shareholdings in Malaysia Aviation Group, the operator of national carrier Malaysia Airlines.

He said the fund would wait for the airline’s customer experience to be strengthened, which could take until 2025 – per the airline’s turnaround plan – to explore opportunities to monetise its stake in the airline.

“We want to strengthen the airline in terms of service quality and customer experience,” he said. “Once the airline is strengthened, the options for us are then wider,” he added.

Amirul Feisal said the airline is cash-positive and has been financially self-reliant. However, the airline might need a capital injection from Khazanah for more significant expenses such as fleet renewal exercises.

“We committed RM3.6 billion for the business turnaround plan, and only RM1.3 billion has been drawn to date, so there is still room for growth,” he said. Khazanah currently owns 100% of Malaysia Aviation Group.

Announcing the fund’s performance for 2022, Amirul Feisal said Khazanah recorded a profit of RM1.6 billion, mainly from monetisation activities and lower impairments.

Debt increased marginally to RM49.1 billion compared to RM48.5 billion in 2021, while net asset value decreased 5% from RM86 billion in 2021 to RM81 billion in 2022, attributed to the global market downtrends.

Amirul Feisal said Khazanah is focused on building long-term financial returns and continued its portfolio rebalancing with deployments into public equities, private equities and real assets.

He said RM6.6 billion was deployed in new investments, and RM2.5 billion was raised from the monetisation of assets.

Khazanah also declared a dividend of RM500 million for 2022 to the government, with cumulative dividends reported since 2004 amounting to RM17.1 billion.