GGRAsia – Macau Legend disinvests from bank bonds, gets US$26mln

Macau Legend disinvests from bank bonds, gets US$26mln

Aug 09, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

A unit of Macau Legend Development Ltd has on Tuesday disposed via “the open market” of bank bonds with an aggregate principal of HKD200 million (US$25.5 million), realising about the same amount.

The group promotes Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, a leisure facility with gaming near the city’s Outer Harbour.

Macau Legend said in a filing that day to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, that Macau Fisherman’s Wharf International Investment Ltd’s move was “in light of the market situation”. That was understood to be a reference to the depressed state of tourism to Macau amid repeated outbreaks of Covid-19 in the city itself and in its core source market, mainland China.

Macau Legend added: “The board considers that the disposal of the bonds provides the company with a good opportunity… to strengthen the cash flow of the group and to better structure its asset portfolio.”

The 8-percent annual-interest perpetual bonds were issued by Luso International Banking Ltd in December 2018, and had been held by the Macau Legend unit for “investment purposes”.

The Macau Legend group’s interest income from the bonds had been approximately HKD16 million for each of the financial years ending 31 December 2019, 2020 and 2021, it said.

Interest income had been circa HKD8 million for the six months to June 30 this year. The bonds had no fixed maturity or fixed redemption date, the filing added.

Macau Fisherman’s Wharf has two gaming properties using SJM Holdings Ltd’s casino licence: Legend Palace, a hotel with associated gaming operation; and the gaming-only venue Babylon.

There are also two non-gaming hotel facilities there: the Harbourview Hotel and the Rocks Hotel.

In late June, outside the normal reporting time frame, Macau Legend reported a full-year 2021 net loss of just above HKD1.19 billion (US$151.6 million). It was a 39.1-percent narrowing compared to such loss in the prior-year period.

Levo Chan Weng Lin, former boss of Macau junket brand Tak Chun and a former chief executive of Macau Legend, was detained in Macau in January, on suspicion of illegal running of gambling operations and money laundering. He resigned from his Macau Legend role soon after.

In May, Macau Legend announced that a review conducted by an independent consultant “did not note any irregularity” in the dealings between the company and Mr Chan.