Overview
- Former executive chair Lim Kim Hai admitted in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday that he breached continuous disclosure rules by signing a February 2023 ASX update that painted an optimistic profit outlook.
- ASIC says Lim had detailed February and March 2023 figures showing heavy losses and that he asked financiers for a $10 million rescue in April while telling the market the group expected positive operating profits.
- Rex later revised guidance in June 2023 to forecast a roughly $35 million loss and reported a $31.7 million operating loss for FY23, a collapse that preceded the airline’s 2024 administration with about $500 million of debt.
- ASIC and Lim will ask the court to impose pecuniary penalties and disqualification orders on him, subject to the judge’s approval, and Lim’s admission may be used in the regulator’s wider case.
- The regulator’s case against the three other former directors — John Sharp, Siddharth Khotkar and Lincoln Pan — remains live and contested, and the outcome could affect accountability for governance failures at Rex.