Leisure & Resorts World Corp (LRW) has the option of redeeming perpetual preferred shares, in whole or in part, as they turn five years old. The shares are worth $31.2 million, but the company told the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday that it still can’t decide whether or not to follow through with the redemption, or let them ride.
LRW issued the preferred shares to as many as 19 investors between May and September of 2013. They pay dividends indefinitely and can be used to exchange for common stock, but are non-voting and non-participating stocks.
If the company chooses not to redeem the shares at this time, it will most likely have to pay a higher dividend. LRW explained in its note, “Unless the preferred shares are redeemed by the company on the optional redemption date, the dividend rate shall be adjusted on the optional redemption date to the higher of (a) the dividend rate or (b) the prevailing Philippine Dealing System treasury-note-fixing 10-year treasury securities benchmark rate plus a spread of 300 basis points,”
It added, “The company will continue to pay dividends as soon as the proceeds of the private placement is [sic] received. Rest assured that the deferred declaration will not affect investor earnings.”
In 2017, LRW earned a net profit of $8.12 million on gross earnings of $282.24 million. In June of last year, the company declared a cash dividend per preferred share of just $0.0008.
LRW has a number of operations under its umbrella in the Philippines. A subsidiary of the company controls Manila’s Midas Hotel and Casino and another operates a number of slot machine arcades in the country. The Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp., another subsidiary also known as First Cagayan, holds an online gaming license to operate in the Cagayan Freeport and Special Economic Zone in Luzon. LRW previously maintained a revenue-sharing deal with Belle Corp., which has invested in City of Dreams Manila, but that deal was terminated in 2017.
The company also had planned on launching a casino on Boracay Island. It, along with Galaxy Entertainment Group out of Macau, were going to construct the new resort before the plan for new casinos on Boracay was nixed by President Duterte.
