GGRAsia – CEO says Macau Fisherman’s Wharf not sold: report

CEO says Macau Fisherman’s Wharf not sold: report

Aug 10, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Casino services and hotel operating firm Macau Legend Development Ltd has “not sold” its gaming and tourism complex Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, nor does it intend to “give up the Macau market”. So said the firm’s chief executive Melinda Chan Mei Yi (pictured in file photo).

Ms Chan made the remarks in an interview published on Monday by Hong Kong-based Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao.

GGRAsia understood from industry insiders that some of the city’s junket firms had been among parties that had shown interest in acquiring the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, a waterfront property located close to the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal in Macau peninsula.

In remarks to the Hong Kong media outlet, Ms Chan said that her firm was not “actively” seeking to dispose of Macau Fisherman’s Wharf. But the Macau Legend CEO confirmed that it has seen interest from third parties on the waterfront property. Macau Legend had received some “enquiries” on the matter, she added.

Ms Chan denied however that there was a “signed agreement” for the the disposal of the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf complex. She said additionally that the company was still committed to the Macau market, reiterating plans to add “new features” to the waterfront property.

Macau Fisherman’s Wharf currently has two gaming venues: Babylon Casino, which has no hotel; and Legend Palace Casino, inside the Legend Palace Hotel. Both gaming venues are managed by Macau Legend, via the licence of SJM Holdings Ltd, under so-called service agreements. There are currently three hotels within the complex.

Ms Chan said in June that Macau Legend was to redesign a planned project called Legendale Hotel, which would add a fourth accommodation tower to the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf.

The Hong Kong-listed company reported a net loss of HKD172.4-million (US$22.2-million) in 2019, on revenue that actually rose 26.5 percent. Such revenue was just under HKD2.36 billion, from about HKD1.87 billion a year earlier.

Outside Macau, Macau Legend controls and runs gaming at Savan Legend Casino in Laos, in Southeast Asia. The firm is also constructing a hotel and casino complex in Cape Verde, Africa, and it looks to host a soft opening of the new business in “late 2021”, according to its 2019 annual report filed to the Hong Kong bourse in late April.