Silver Heritage suspends trading, on Nepal delays

Feb 27, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Unanticipated delays to a Nepal casino project could mean a later opening date and higher costs, said the scheme’s promoter Silver Heritage Group Ltd in a Monday filing to the Australian Securities Exchange.

The company has voluntarily requested, and been granted, a suspension “with immediate effect” in the trading of its stock, due to “unexpected delays in the final completion of Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa,” a casino resort being developed on Nepal’s border with India.

The firm had said in a February 1 filing that the conclusion of construction for the property (pictured in an artist’s rendering) had been affected by “a shortage of liquidity in the Nepal banking system and unanticipated delays” in approval for Silver Heritage to gain access in Nepal to available remittance capital.

The company noted in its Monday filing: “The board has been conducting a review of the impact of these delays and the initial results of these investigations have suggested that the delays may have a material effect on the completion date and final project cost of Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa”.

The company had previously mentioned a price tag of US$40 million for the first phase of the scheme and the possibility of a soft opening in February.

Silver Heritage said on Monday that a trading suspension would allow it to complete its inquiries “to determine the extent of the anticipated delay and increase in project costs in order to properly inform the market”.

The company’s latest statement said it would likely take “two to three weeks” to be able to prepare an announcement on the “updated completion date and final project cost,” and requested that a voluntary suspension of its stock stay in place until that time.

The firm began trading on the Australian Securities Exchange on August 29, following an AUD25-million (US$19.2-million) initial public offering.

According to previous filings, the under-construction Nepal property is to have a casino with a gross floor area of 2,471 square metres (26,600 sq feet), containing 52 tables and 200 electronic gaming machines.

The first phase of the property will have 100 rooms of five-star standard, plus two villas; a pool, spa, tennis facilities, gym, conference hall, meeting rooms, facilities for weddings, restaurants and shops.

Silver Heritage has had operations in Nepal since 2012 and currently operates The Millionaire’s Club and Casino in Kathmandu. It also manages the Phoenix International Club near Hanoi, in Vietnam.

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