THE two biggest shareholders in China Aircraft Leasing Group Holding Ltd. (CALC) said yesterday they had no plans to cut their stake in the firm after it revealed it was unable to contact its chief executive, who resigned without explanation.

    Shares in CALC, Asia’s only listed aircraft lessor, plunged by nearly a fifth Friday to a record low after it said CEO Poon Ho-Man had quit while on leave, spooking investors in a country where senior executives have in the past vanished or quit suddenly, leaving shareholders in the lurch.

    Poon’s disappearance also coincided with media reports that linked him to a government probe into possible corruption at one of the company’s clients, China Southern Airlines, which in January said its executives were under investigation for “job-related crimes.”

    Shares in CALC yesterday recouped some of their losses and were trading nearly 3 percent higher in a broadly flat market, lifted by what some traders said was bargain hunting.

    State-backed financial conglomerate China Everbright Group and Hong Kong-based Friedmann Pacific Investment Group, which between them hold just over 67 percent of CALC, told Reuters they were committed to their investment, but some other investors remained cautious.

    “To an outsider, we are not convinced. We will not take the risk,” said Alex Wong, director of Hong Kong-based investment firm Ample Finance Group. “The departed executive was very senior management of the company and we can not predict what will happen next.”

    CALC, one of China’s smaller aircraft lessors, debuted on the Hong Kong stock exchange last year and before Friday’s 20 percent share price plunge was worth more than HK$4 billion (US$516 million). In January, it placed a US$10.2 billion order for Airbus aircraft and has said it plans to more than triple its current fleet of 50 aircraft by 2022.

    Clients include Chinese carriers such as Air Macao and Shenzhen Airlines.

    The concerns around CALC coincide with the Hong Kong regulators intensifying their scrutiny of listed firms after the high-profile collapse of stocks in Chinese solar energy firm Hanergy Thin Film Power and affiliated firms.

    A CALC executive, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters it was business as usual at the company.

    In Friday’s exchange filing, CALC said it had not received notice that Poon is under any kind of investigation.

    It also said it had reviewed records of interactions with China Southern and had found no irregularities.

    On Saturday, The South China Morning Post quoted people it said were familiar with the company as saying Poon disappeared more than a month ago amid speculation he was embroiled in a corruption probe into a company client.

    In the filing, the company said Poon had resigned June 17 with immediate effect and without explanation. Chief financial officer Yu Tai-Tei also resigned May 22, in effect from June 18, “to pursue other personal goals,” it added.(SD-Agencies)