5. T. ANANDA KRISHNAN

Flagship: Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd Group net worth : RM20.4bil

AFTER A big decline in his net worth in 2016, Ananda saw an increase of 2.5% to RM20.4bil from RM19.9bil in 2016, a gain of RM500mil from a year earlier. The increase was the smallest of any tycoon on the top-10 list of the richest people in Malaysia, as a lot of that gain, at least in percentage terms, was given by Ananda’s stake in oil and gas (O&G) company Bumi Armada Bhd.

The rebound in crude oil prices lifted sentiment in a number of O&G stocks and it was no different with Bumi Armada. The near 30% increase in market capitalisation of that company lifted Ananda’s wealth, while the other two heavyweight companies that he owns, Maxis Bhd and Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, were either flat or up marginally.

Maxis is the source of much of Ananda’s wealth and the issues with the company in the past seem to have been ironed out last year, as the telco rebounded strongly in terms of profitability.

In the third quarter of its current financial year, Maxis posted a net profit of RM554mil from RM503mil in the previous corresponding period. For the nine-month period, its profit was up to RM1.63bil from RM1.51bil previously.

Astro, however, saw a dip in its profit in the third quarter although its profit for the nine-month period was higher than a year ago. While Astro stands to benefit from higher advertising expenditure and average revenue per user, there are risks to its business from rising content cost and a decline in pay-TV subscribers.

The year also saw the reported departure of his long-time lieutenant Ralph Marshall, who along with the 80-year-old Ananda is continuing to see protracted issues with a legal case in India.

Although his wealth is based on his stakes in Malaysian listed companies, sentiment from ongoing troubles in India will affect opinions on Ananda. But he recently received a bit of good news in India, as bankers have agreed to swap debt into equity in the debt restructuring of his mobile network Aircel.