KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd hopes to post a net profit of RM5 billion for the financial year ending December 31, 2019, said managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan (pix).

Speaking to the media at the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2019, Shahril said the group had posted a RM8.65 billion net loss last year, due to the provisions and writedowns from Malaysia Airlines.

“We are doing two things this year: divesting assets and improving our balance sheet. Hopefully we achieve our targets of reducing our debts and posting a profit of about RM5 billion this year,“ he said.

Shahril also said the debt target of RM35-40 billion was a medium term plan for the group which would take place over the next 3-5 years.

“RM40 billion is what we consider a sustainable level of debt, and we are targeting an asset-to-debt cover about 3 to 3.5 times, as opposed to our current level of just over 2 times so it’s about providing a more sustainable balance sheet for Khazanah for the long term,“ he said.