GGRAsia – Naga 2021 share awards deferred again as ‘prudent’ step

Naga 2021 share awards deferred again as ‘prudent’ step

Jan 02, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Awards announced in 2021 totalling just over 10.2 million shares for directors at Hong Kong-listed casino operator NagaCorp Ltd, and 9 million shares for what bourse rules classify as non-connected participants, have been put back again.

This time the deferral is to within 2024, said a Friday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The company has a monopoly casino business in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, via its NagaWorld complex (pictured).

NagaCorp stated: “Tourism continues to recover at a gradual pace given the phased restoration of international flights and the external macroeconomic environment.”

It added that as the group was “still going through the post-Covid-19 business recovery, the board is of the view that it would be prudent to further defer the initial grants to the financial year ending 2024, with the exact timing of such grants to be determined by the board after taking into consideration the performance of the group at the relevant time”.

NagaCorp reported earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$215.4 million for the first nine months of 2023. The figure was up 17.4 percent from the prior-year period.

Friday’s filing noted that the 2021 share grant had included nearly 1.17 million shares to NagaCorp’s founder, Chen Lip Keong. The founder died on December 8 last year, following an illness.

The share deferral statement added: “Following a grantee’s death, his [sic] award may be transferred by will or by the laws of testacy and distribution.”

It further noted: “As the initial connected grant to Dr Chen is not subject to any vesting period and had been approved by the independent shareholders at the extraordinary general meeting held on 26 February 2021 but had not been formally made… the board will determine at its discretion,” whether the share grant in the founder’s name “will be made in accordance with the terms of the share award scheme”.

On December 12, NagaCorp had made a voluntary statement to the Hong Kong bourse seeking to reassure investors that the death of the founder would “not have any material impact” on key aspects of the company’s business arrangements.