香港女首富如何在兩個月內損失一半身家

朱李月華名下的公司淪為了今年亞洲表現最糟的公司，而這也讓她失去了香港女首富的頭銜。

就在今年1月，她的身家還接近120億美元，卻在股票跳水之后蒸發了一半多。當月，香港證券監管方在警告投資者，稱金利豐金融（Kingston Financial Group）的股票過度集中在少數股東手中。自此以后，這家旗下擁有澳門賭場和保證金貸款等業務的公司股價已經暴跌了50%。

3月19日，全球最受關注的指數供應商之一富時羅素（FTSE Russell）將金利豐從基準股價指數中剔除，此舉導致該公司股價猛跌8.7%。激進投資者大衛·韋伯在1月發表的分析顯示，金利豐的資金很大程度上依賴朱李月華及其家族的無擔保貸款。在2017年最后一個季度猛漲88%之后，該股淪為了明晟（MSCI）亞洲榜單上表現最糟糕的股票。

金利豐的不幸可能也讓一些投機者賺了便宜——根據IHS Markit的數據，3月16日的賣空比例占到了公眾持股量的6.3%。

公司謝絕對股價跳水一事立刻發表評論。

在1月29日的聲明中，香港證券及期貨事務監察委員會（The Securities and Futures Commission）指出，截至1月8日，金利豐超過91%的股份都控制在20名股東手中。聲明發布的第二天，該股就暴跌17%。

朱李月華的財富來自她父親在亞洲博彩業中心澳門管理賭場VIP房間的背景。根據金利豐的年度報告，該領域仍然是這一家族控制的公司的主要業務；2017財年中，這個前葡萄牙殖民地的博彩和賓館營收為公司貢獻了6.7億港元，大約占總銷售額的23%。

知情者2月透露，朱李月華正計劃以52億美元的高價從李嘉誠的公司收購香港一座摩天大樓的大部分區域。他們稱，朱李月華會獲得17%的股份。

彭博社的億萬富翁指數（Billionaires Index）顯示，目前的香港女首富是何鴻燊的女兒何超瓊，而寡頭控股的房地產開發商南豐集團（Nan Fung Group）的董事長陳慧慧緊隨其后。（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

Pollyanna Chu has lost her title as Hong Kong’s richest woman after her listed company turned into Asia’s worst performer this year.

Worth almost $12 billion as recently as January, she’s seen more than half of her wealth wiped out as the stock crashed. Kingston Financial Group, which operates businesses including Macau casinos and margin lending, has tumbled 50% since Hong Kong’s securities regulator in January warned investors that the company’s shares were overly concentrated among a small number of stockholders.

Kingston Financial plunged 8.7% on Monday after FTSE Russell, one of the world’s most-followed index providers, removed the stock from its benchmarks. For its financing, the firm relies largely on unsecured loans provided cheaply by Chu and her family, according to January analysis from activist investor David Webb. The stock is the worst performer on MSCI’s Asian gauge this year, after surging 88% in the last quarter of 2017.

Some speculators may have made a killing from Kingston’s misfortunes — short interest was about 6.3% of free float as of Friday, according to IHS Markit data.

The company declined to immediately comment on the slump in shares.

The Securities and Futures Commission said in a Jan. 29 statement that 20 holders controlled more than 91% of the shares as of Jan 8. The stock plunged 17% the following day.

Part of Chu’s wealth stems from her father’s background managing casino VIP rooms in the Asian gambling center of Macau. The sector still features prominently in the family controlled business; gaming and hotel revenues from the former Portuguese colony amounted to more than HK$670 million for the 2017 fiscal year, some 23% of total sales, according to Kingston’s annual report.

Chu is joining a record $5.2 billion deal to buy most of a Hong Kong skyscraper from Li Ka-Shing’s company, people familiar with the matter said last month. Chu will take a 17% stake, they said.

Pansy Ho, the daughter of Stanley Ho, is now No. 1 in Hong Kong’s ultra-rich women list, followed by Vivien Chen, chairwoman of closely held real estate developer Nan Fung Group, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.