3. TAN SRI LEE SHIN CHENG Flagship: IOI Group Net worth: RM19.43bil

IOI Corp Bhd, the flagship company of Tan Sri Lee Shin

Cheng, is an integrated plantation group with downstream operations in refinery and oleo-chemicals. This has helped it weather 2018’s commodity downcycle relatively better than its peers.

While its upstream business suffered in financial year 2018 due to the lower average selling price of crude palm oil, its downstream benefited from lower raw material prices, which lifted downstream’s earnings before interest and tax contribution to the group by more than one-third.

In 2018, crude palm oil prices had dropped to a three-year low of RM2,121 per tonne from a high of RM2,700 due to the current oversupply of palm oil in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The stock, which is seen as a sector bellwether, ended the year at RM4.45 for a market cap of RM27.96bil.

Lee and family derived the bulk of their fortune from IOI Corp, in which they own 49.8%.

The company is one of the largest oil palm planters with about 174,000ha of oil palm area. Of this, 90% is located in Malaysia.

IOI Corp, in turn, owns 31.7% of Singapore-listed Bumitama Agri Ltd, a producer of palm oil and palm kernel. This produce are sold to refineries in Indonesia.

The tycoon also has interest in property and construction through 64.9%-owned IOI Properties Group Bhd, which has diversified into the Singapore and China markets.

The 80-year-old Lee runs the IOI group with his two sons. The older of the two, Datuk Lee Yeow Chor, helms the plantation business, while Lee Yeow Seng heads properties.

Last year, IOI Corp sold its 70% stake in IOI-Loders Croklaan for US$946mil (RM4bil), of which RM2bil has been utilised to pare down its debts.

With this disposal, it is now in a much stronger financial position with a lower net debt of RM5.3bil, which translated to a decent net gearing of 29% as at end-December 2018. Going forward, it plans to further expand its upstream operations.

As for property, IOI Properties has a strategy to grow its presence in Singapore and China.

In Singapore, IOI Properties plans to fast-track its development on the land it bought in Marina Bay for S$2.57bil in late 2016.

This follows the imposition of a seven-year deadline on companies to complete projects which have been successfully tendered for.

In China, meanwhile, it has embarked on two mixed property developments and still has projects with a gross development value of 4.6 billion yuan to be launched.

Lee saw a slight dip in his worth to RM19.43bil, but it is enough to propel the tycoon to the number three spot in the rankings list.