Malaysian Tycoon Behind Tumbling Cruise Firm Puts Fortune on the Line
- Genting’s Lim has increased amount of shares backing loans
- Pledging isn’t unusual, but it can backfire in falling market
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Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay has pledged nearly his entire stake in embattled cruise operator Genting Hong Kong Ltd. as collateral for loans, raising the risk of a margin call after the stock plunged 38% on Thursday.
The record selloff came after the company said it suspended all payments to creditors in a bid to maintain its critical services. The stock has now lost almost two-thirds of its value since December, and that’s only part of Lim’s sinking empire amid the Covid-19 crisis. His casino-to-hospitality conglomerate Genting Bhd. and its units had their first-ever group-wide salary reductions earlier this year, and his Genting Malaysia Bhd. said in June it was cutting thousands of jobs.