Sands China is selling US$1.5 billion in senior notes in a move designed to bolster its balance sheet while it rides out the continuing impacts of Covid-19 on the Macau gaming market.
The Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of U.S.-based Las Vegas Sands said the two-tiered borrowings comprised of $800 million of 3.8 percent notes due 2027 and $700 million of 4.375 percent notes maturing in 2030đwill be used for general corporate purposes and to provide âincremental liquidity.â
All six of Macauâs casino concessions have been hit hard by the pandemic, which has largely closed off access to their core mainland China market going on four months.
Sands China, the dominant operator on the Cotai Strip, recorded just US$9 million in revenue in April, a decline of almost 99 percent from the $700 million generated the year before, and posted an EBITDA loss of $105 million. The net loss of $180 million for the month exceeded by $14 million the net loss for the entire first quarter.
At the same time, the company is spending around $200 million a month to run its largely empty casinos and keep up with maintenance and development costs and interest payments.
Partly to cover this, in April and May, the company drew down $404 million on a revolving line of credit.
Prior to the latest borrowings, the company had $2.41 billion in cash and cash equivalents, âample liquidity to survive 12 months of a no-revenue environment,â said analysts with JP Morgan Securities.
