Gaming and hotel services firm Macau Legend Development Ltd reported a net loss of nearly HKD4.9 million (US$628,497) for full-year 2023, on revenue that rose by 26.7 percent year-on-year, to HKD901.6 million. The loss for 2023 was an improvement on the HKD607.2-million loss recorded in the prior year, according to a Thursday filing.
The company’s costs stood at HKD741.4 million in 2023, down 29.2 percent from the prior year.
The Hong Kong-listed firm has business linked to one casino in Macau – Legend Palace (pictured) – under a so-called services agreement with Macau licensee SJM Holdings Ltd. In 2022, the company was also linked to two other casinos in Macau – Landmark and Babylon.
Babylon Casino ceased operations since January 1 last year, and the firm discontinued the provision of services in Landmark Casino at the end of June of 2022. The company also “ceased its VIP gaming promotion business” in Macau earlier in 2023.
Macau Legend owns a tourism complex called Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, a waterfront area close to the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal on Macau peninsula, and where Legend Palace is located. The company also runs the Savan Legend gaming resort in Laos.
In 2023, total reported revenue for gaming services declined by 5.0 percent year-on-year, to approximately HKD493.1 million.
Even though the VIP gaming promotion business, the operation of Babylon Casino and the provision of services in Landmark Casino “had all been terminated,” leading to a decrease in total gaming revenue by about HKD356.2 million, “the improvements observed in the mass market tables operation in the Legend Palace Casino … and … in Savan Legend Casino” managed to boost “the total gaming revenue by approximately HKD331.3 million,” said Macau Legend.
The company recorded non-gaming revenue of HKD408.5 million last year, up 112.2 percent from 2022. “The increase in non-gaming revenue was mainly due to the increase in revenue from hotel rooms as a result of the increased tourist visitation” since January 2023, stated the firm.
Macau Legend reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of just under HKD185.9 million for 2023, compared with a negative figure of HKD218.8 million in the previous year.
In December, Macau Legend confirmed it is to dispose of its Savan Legend venue for an “initial” consideration of US$39 million. The group said at the time that it expected the gain before tax on the disposal to be approximately HKD47 million. The deal is yet to close, according to Thursday’s filing.
In the filing, Macau Legend said it had net current liabilities of circa HKD799.6 million as of December 31 last year. The group’s total bank and other borrowings amounted to nearly HKD2.57 billion, “of which HKD633.6 million will be due for repayment within one year”.
The company’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to HKD63.2 million at the end of 2023.
The firm also said some of its “substantial shareholders” had agreed not to request the repayment of certain loans – in the aggregate amount of HKD480 million – prior to March 31, 2025.
The company’s management “will take the necessary steps” to complete the disposal of group’s operation in Laos, in order to “strengthen cash flow” for the business, it added.
