KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Malaysia staged a turnaround in the financial year of FY19 with profit from operations of RM7.36bil compared to a loss from operations of RM6.27bil in 2018 as it braces for a challenging year due to the Covid-19 coronavirus and global slowdown. The sovereign fund said Monday it posted record profits from operations which were contributed by higher divestment gains and lower impairments, and robust portfolio returns. “Gains on divestments increased to RM9.9bil compared to RM1.4 billion, while impairments were at RM4.9bil from RM7.3bil the previous year. Commenting on its debt, Khazanah said debt was reduced by 17% to RM45.8bil from RM55.2bil in 2018, while realisable asset value cover improved to three times from 2.4 times. “One year into its portfolio rebalancing exercise, Khazanah has progressed significantly towards diversifying the Commercial Fund under the refreshed mandate and is well positioned to increase its investment activities in 2020, ” it said.

Source: The Star March 02, 2020 03:04 UTC