Published: 2009/03/17
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has declared a dividend of 4.5 per cent for 2008, its lowest since 2003, and warned members not to expect more than that for this year. The EPF's dividend was 5.8 per cent for 2007, 5.15 per cent in 2006, five per cent in 2005, 4.75 per cent in 2004 and 4.50 per cent in 2003.
"Up until September last year, the EPF was doing well in equities. However, with the global financial meltdown, our performance in equity investments recorded a drop of less than 20 per cent, which impacted our dividend payout.
"This, however, compares better with that of the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index, which was down approximately 40 per cent from the end of December 2007 to December 2008," EPF chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman said in a statement.