* Profit from operations down 61% to 2.9 bln rgt from 2019 record * Dividend income up 36.8%, but divestment gains fall 73% * Higher impairments of 6 billion rgt, mostly in aviation assets * Says talking to govt to pursue new investment areas (Adds details, quote) KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Reuters) - Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional reported on Thursday its operating profit fell about 60% last year to 2.9 billion ringgit ($715.34 million) as divestment gains fell sharply amid the coronavirus pandemic. The fund said in a statement that 2021 will continue to be a challenging year, with key sectors such as aviation and tourism not expected to recover until 2023. Profits slumped from a record 7.4 billion ringgit in 2019, with divestment gains falling to 2.7 billion ringgit compared to 9.9 billion ringgit in 2019. It also logged impairment charges of 6 billion ringgit, largely in aviation and hospitality assets affected by the pandemic, compared to 4.9 billion ringgit a year ago. Dividend income, however, rose 36.8% to 5.2 billion ringgit and its financial position strengthened with debt dropping 6% to 43.1 billion ringgit, it said. The fund made 10 billion ringgit worth of investments last year and Managing Director Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said it was in talks with the government to pursue investments in new sectors, without specifying them. “I think the government is very keen to see about how a long-term investor such as Khazanah can do its part to help spur investments into the sectors,” he told a virtual press briefing, noting this could include building up new industries and new entrants as well as partnering with the private sector. Khazanah, which in 2019 restructured its portfolio into commercial and strategic holdings, said the commercial fund’s realisable asset value (RAV) was 95.3 billion ringgit at the end of 2020. Its strategic fund, which houses Malaysia Airlines, had a portfolio RAV of 27.9 billion ringgit. Khazanah is the main shareholder of the national airline and had last month committed new capital of 3.6 billion ringgit to fund the business throughout until 2025. The fund declared a dividend of 2 billion ringgit to the government, double what it distributed in 2019. ($1 = 4.0540 ringgit) (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Liz Lee Editing by Ed Davies)