Malaysia’s Richest Now Poorer By RM16.1 Billion

Malaysia’s top 30 richest business magnates are now poorer by an estimated RM16.1 billion in paper wealth in just over a month, following a dive in the stock market.

However, based on a survey of the country’s top 40 tycoons on their shareholdings between July 15 and August 26, their combined paper wealth still remains at over RM200 billion, and many do not appear to be directly affected by volatility in the stock market.

Goh Peng Ooi, founder of Silverlake Axis Ltd, took the hardest hit when his shares dived after they became a target of short sellers a fortnight ago.

His wealth reduced by 43% or RM2.75 billion on the said period after his Singapore-listed Silverlake shares tanked, following a release of a 42-page adverse report on the company’s related-party transactions.

As of August 26, Goh’s net worth stood at roughly RM2.44 billion based on his 66.4% stake in Silverlake.

In second place on the list of tycoons whose paper wealth were most affected is Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, the founder of AirAsia Bhd. AirAsia is also a target of short sellers for its treatment of accounts related to its associates in Indonesia and Thailand.

Fernandes joined the billionaires club in 2013 with a fortune of RM1.01 billion and was listed among the top 40 richest in Malaysia. But he slipped from the club a year later with a fortune slightly below the RM1 billion mark as of end-2014.

Then, AirAsia’s share price was at RM2.72, while Tune Ins Holdings Bhd was at RM1.70 and AirAsia X, 65 sen. However, the share prices of both AirAsia and AirAsia X took a dive and stand respectively at 89.5 sen and 15.5 sen as of this week.

Fernandes’ net worth as of August 26 was estimated at RM271 million based on his stakes in AirAsia, AirAsia X and Tune Ins. It is a decline of 35.7% since July 15.

His long-haul budget airline AirAsia X was hit the hardest, losing RM165.92 million of its market capitalisation in the five-week period from July 15.

Meanwhile, the slump in the oil price has contributed to an RM2.84 billion cumulative loss for Malaysia’s richest energy tycoons, including Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir and Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin of SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd (SapKen); T Ananda Krishnan, the founder of Bumi Armada Bhd; and Lim Han Weng, the founder of Yinson Holdings Bhd.

Since mid-July, Malaysia has seen billions of ringgit being wiped out from the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index amid a plunge in many stock markets around the world.

Overall, investors in Bursa Malaysia were poorer by more than RM159 billion between July 15 and Aug 25 based on the drop in the market capitalisation of 909 counters traded on Bursa.

If even billionaires are hit by the economic slowdown, what more the average Malaysian? There’s nothing you can do about the weakening Ringgit, but you can save a few bucks and get more value for your money with the right credit card.

Written by Fiona Ho