KUALA LUMPUR (March 12): Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), the pension fund for Malaysia’s armed forces personnel, has declared a dividend of 5.35% for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2025, its highest payout in eight years.
The distribution amounts to RM524.74 million, the largest dividend payout by the fund since 2017, according to a statement issued on Thursday. The dividend — representing more than 96% of LTAT’s distributable profit — will be credited to contributors’ accounts on Friday.
“The strong performance reflects LTAT’s continued efforts to strengthen its financial position and build greater resilience in managing contributors’ savings,” the fund said.
LTAT will now be undergoing a long-term transformation under GEMPUR30, the fund’s strategic road map for 2026-2030, aimed at strengthening its role as a sustainable and forward-looking provident fund.
The strategy includes continued optimisation and rebalancing of LTAT’s investment portfolio, including “selective divestments and reinvestments” to redeploy capital into sectors with stronger long-term growth potential.
LTAT — through its investment arm Boustead Holdings Bhd — plans to place greater emphasis on two key sectors: defence-related industries and real estate development, aligned with Malaysia’s National Defence Industry Policy and the Ministry of Defence’s strategic priorities.
In 2025, LTAT recorded total investment income of RM749.49 million, while distributable profit stood at RM541.56 million.
The fund also reported that its combined reserves expanded by 29.1% year-on-year to RM1.31 billion, compared with RM1.01 billion in 2024.
Chief executive officer Mohammad Ashraf Md Radzi said the improved performance demonstrates the fund’s stronger financial position and ability to sustain dividend payouts for its contributors.
“We are encouraged by the sustained year-on-year performance and are confident of the fund’s sustainability. The results announced today showcase that the fund is stable and ready for its next phase of institutional growth,” he said.
The fund is also now planning to increase exposure to sectors considered strategically important to Malaysia’s economic and national security interests.
These include investments in the defence ecosystem, real estate and pharmaceutical industries, which LTAT said are expected to generate long-term value.
Ashraf noted that the pharmaceutical sector has emerged as a priority area, particularly in ensuring the sustainability and security of Malaysia’s medicine supply chain.
He added that Pharmaniaga Bhd (KL:PHARMA), in which LTAT has an indirect and direct stake of 43.9%, has shown encouraging signs of recovery and is on track to exit its Practice Note 17 financially distressed status in the near term.
LTAT has a direct 8.7% shareholding in Pharmaniaga, while its subsidiary Boustead Holdings remains the major shareholder of the pharmaceutical group with a 35.2% stake.
LTAT manages retirement savings for members of Malaysia’s armed forces and plays a strategic role in the country’s government-linked investment ecosystem.
Officials present at the dividend announcement included Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Chief of Defence Force General Datuk Malek Razak Sulaiman, Defence Ministry secretary general Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali, and LTAT chairman General (R) Tan Sri Azizan Ariffin.
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