SABAH ENERGY CORPORATION DELIVERS RM14 MILLION DIVIDEND TO SABAH STATE GOVERNMENT

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Energy Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (SEC) has paid the Sabah State Government a dividend of RM14 million for the financial year that ended 31 December 2023.

The Chief Executive Officer of SEC, Datuk Adzmir Abd Rahman, presented the dividend payment to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Datuk Sofian Alfian Nair. The ceremony was witnessed by the Chief Minister of Sabah, YAB Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji bin Haji Noor; the State Secretary, YB Datuk Seri Panglima Sr. Safar Untong, SEC Chairman, YB Datuk Annuar Ayub, SEC Deputy Chairman, YB Datuk Hassan A. Gani, SEC COO, Ir. Hj Ahmad Jafar, and Deputy Permanent Secretary of MOF, Puan Anthea James. The event took place at the Sabah State Assembly.

At the ceremony, Datuk Adzmir said that SEC and its group of companies achieved a pre-tax profit of RM46.35 million in 2023, an increase from RM39.8 million in 2022. SEC’s standalone profit before tax reached RM34.4 million, representing a significant 56% increase compared to last year’s profit. Additionally, its wholly owned subsidiary, Asian Supply Base Sdn. Bhd. (ASB), reported a pre-tax profit of RM19.5 million.

Datuk Adzmir additionally noted that from an initial State Government paid-up capital of RM299.9 million, the accumulated profits after continuous reinvestments have grown the Shareholders’ Fund to exceed RM1 billion by the end of 2023. As of now, the SEC has contributed a total of RM255.5 million in dividends to the Government

SEC is playing a major role in the state’s industrial and economic growth as it fuels 86% of the state’s electricity needs. According to Datuk Adzmir, SEC is committed to enhancing its business operations and profitability in the energy sector, and it has ventured into renewable energy productions, such as large-scale solar and hydropower. The company is also currently conducting a study on harnessing wind energy to further diversify its power generation mix.

SEC’s dividend payment has seen an increment over the years, and the company believes that with good corporate governance and sound business management, the dividend payment will continue to increase in the years to come.