GGRAsia – MGM China confirms US$47-mln 2017 dividend

MGM China confirms US$47-mln 2017 dividend

May 25, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Macau casino operator MGM China Holdings Ltd on Thursday said its shareholders had approved a final dividend of HKD0.097 per share for the year ended December 31, 2016. The final dividend amounts to approximately HKD368.6 million (US$47 million) in aggregate, said the company.

Hong Kong-listed MGM China said the final dividend represented nearly 15.9 percent of the firm’s profit attributable to its owners for the year ended December 31, 2017. Together with an interim dividend of approximately HKD440.8 million in aggregate, MGM China said it distributed about 34.9 percent of the firm’s net profit for 2017.

The final dividend declared for full-year 2017 was 39.4-percent lower than the HKD0.160 per share approved for the year ended December 31, 2016, according to company documents.

Net income attributable to MGM China’s owners was down by 23.6 percent from the prior year to approximately HKD2.32 billion in 2017. U.S.-based casino operator MGM Resorts International controls a 56-percent stake in MGM China.

Japanese brokerage Nomura had said last year that it expected MGM China to contribute higher dividends to MGM Resorts in 2018 following the opening of MGM Cotai, which took place on February 13 this year.

At Thursday’s annual general meeting, shareholders also approved the election of Kenneth Xiaofeng Feng as a non-executive director of MGM China.