Lim Kok Thay, CEO of the Malaysian gaming giant Genting Group, has reportedly offered to take a 20 percent pay cut to offset the impact of a recent hike in the country’s gaming taxes.
A report in Malaysian newspaper Sin Chew Daily says Lim’s offer, made in a June 19 shareholder meeting, brought applause from attendees. According to CDC Gaming Reports, it’s not yet clear if the cut in compensation refers only to his pay from Genting Malaysia or from parent company Genting Berhad. In 2018, Inside Asian Gaming recently named Lim Malaysia’s highest-paid CEO with combined pay of MYR248.6 million (US$59.9 million). The figure included MYR168 million (US$40.5 million) in his role as executive chairman and CEO of Genting Berhad and another MYR80.6 million as chairman of Genting Malaysia.
Last year the Malaysian government announced that annual casino license fees would rise from MYR120 million (US$28.8 million) to MYR150 million (US$36 million) and the tax on gross gaming revenue increased by 25 percent to 35 percent.
GGRAsia cited Maybank analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang who said a 20 percent pay cut on Lim’s 2018 cash compensation excluding employee stock options would save Genting Malaysia MYR12.4 million (US$3 million).
“Either way, the cost savings to Genting Malaysia will be less than 1 percent of our financial-year 2019 core net profit estimate,” he said.
“As much as Tan Sri’s move sits well with the investment community, it is unlikely to move the hypothetical ‘needle’,” added the Maybank analyst.
Genting Malaysia runs Resorts World Genting, Malaysia’s only licensed casino resort, as well as casinos in the United States, the Bahamas, the United Kingdom and Egypt.
