Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) Chairman Lui Che Woo yesterday “again applauded” the local government for its “proactive leadership during the challenging [COVID-19] pandemic crisis.”
Lui, who holds several honorary doctorates, made the praise in a letter coinciding with his company’s announcement of annual results for 2020 to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The nonagenarian tycoon underlined that the local government’s “focus is not only to ensure the health and safety of the community, but also to ensure that Macau is well positioned to attract visitors, support economic recovery and maintain Macau’s social stability.”
Lui also said that GEG “continues to make good progress” with its development projects including Cotai Phases 3 & 4. He also said that due to his company’s “conservative financial management,” its net cash at the end of 2020 “provides us with valuable flexibility in managing our ongoing operations and allows us to continue with our longer term development plans.”
According to the 2020 results announced yesterday, GEG’s full year net revenue of HK$12.9 billion was down 75 percent year-on-year. Fourth-quarter net revenue amounted to HK5.1 billion, down 61 percent year-on-year but up 229 percent quarter-on-quarter.
According to the announcement, GEG is “well capitalised to weather the storm.”
It underlined that in the fourth quarter it “played unlucky,” which decreased adjusted Ebitda by about HK$59 million, adding that “normalised” fourth-quarter adjusted Ebitda (“excluding luck factor”) amounted to HK$1.1 billion, down 73 percent year-on-year but up 214 percent quarter-on-quarter.
The company’s net loss amounted to HK$4 billion last year. As of December 21, 2020, cash and liquid investments amounted to HK$46 billion while net cash stood at HK$36.8 billion. Debt amounted to HK$9.2 billion.
