Kuala Lumpur, 3 June 2020 – The Cagamas Group of Companies (“Group”) through its wholly owned subsidiary Cagamas Berhad (“Cagamas” or “the Company”) continues to diversify its funding sources and investor base to include a wider range of foreign institutional investors. In a statement released after the Group’s Thirteenth Annual General Meeting, Chairman Dato’ Bakarudin bin Ishak said, “As one of the largest issuer of corporate bonds and sukuk in Malaysia, we are pleased to conclude the year with aggregate issuances of RM10.2 billion, marking the Company’s third consecutive year surpassing RM10 billion worth of issuances.”
Dato’ Bakarudin added, “A critical underpinning of investor confidence in our issuances is the Company’s consistent track record of strong capitalisation, resilient asset quality, stable profitability and robust risk management system as evidenced by the continued recognition of A3 international credit ratings by Moody’s Investors Service and AAA domestic ratings by both RAM Rating Services Berhad and Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad. Cagamas will continue to adopt proactive initiatives to facilitate intermediation by promoting secondary market liquidity in the Malaysian financial sector.”
In 2019, the global economy expanded at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis a decade ago. It was a year marked by rising trade tensions and related uncertainties that weighed on business confidence and investment globally. However, the company managed to sustain its financial performance despite this challenging economic environment. The Group’s profit and revenue for 2019, comprising of Cagamas, Cagamas MBS Berhad (“CMBS”) and Cagamas SRP Berhad (“CSRP”) remained steady at RM410.9 million and RM2,313.7 million respectively, as compared with RM416.5 million and RM2,351.9 million in 2018. Both Cagamas and CMBS remained key contributors to the results of the Group.
CSRP as one of the Group’s subsidiary, continues to support the Government’s agenda to promote affordable housing to the nation through the Skim Rumah Pertamaku (“My First Home Scheme”, “SRP”) and Skim Perumahan Belia (“Youth Housing Scheme”, “SPB”).
As at December 2019, CSRP saw an impressive increase in total loans approved at 15,493 compared to 7,881 in 2018. due to greater public awareness of the schemes. CSRP provided guarantees for housing loans/financing totaling RM6.9 billion, enabling about 33,236 individuals/households to own their first homes, of which 33% are from the B40 segment.
With the growth of Malaysia’s gross domestic product projected to be between -2.0% and +0.5% in 2020 in addition to great uncertainties post the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, Cagamas will seek to navigate this challenging year diligently and prudently. The Company will focus on its mandate as a cost-efficient secondary housing mortgage provider and play a proactive role in helping Malaysians gain access to affordable house financing through an expansion of Cagamas’ product offerings.
“The Company will seek to strengthen its culture of innovation, building on our solid foundation, and paving the way for new business initiatives as well as enhancements to our current product offerings through employment of available digital levers. Anchored by strong fundamentals with a view of long-term resilience and reinforced by our commitment to good governance, Cagamas endeavours to effectively position itself to give value to our stakeholders.”