Melco Resorts Boss Gets $7M Bonus amid Strong Revenue Projections

Melco Resorts & Entertainment's chairman and CEO, Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, along with three other senior representatives of the company, have been allocated restricted shares worth a combined $9.04 million in the US-listed global casino operator. This information was disclosed in a filing made last Friday by its Hong Kong-listed parent company, Melco International Development Ltd.

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Ho has been granted 952,380 ADSs (American depositary shares), equivalent to 2,857,140 Melco Resorts shares, with a total value of nearly $7.2 million. The grants were made in ADSs, where each ADS represents three ordinary Melco Resorts shares.

This allocation was part of a restricted share grant program for Melco Resorts' employees and service providers. It involves just under 3.74 million ADSs valued at $28.3 million, based on current prices.

Related: Three Macau Casino Operators Approve Employee Bonuses

As of the grant date, April 3, the closing price of the ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Select Market was $7.56. It was noted in the filing that these restricted shares do not come with performance targets or other conditions.

Aside from Ho, Evan Winkler, Melco's president and managing director, will receive 149,637 ADSs. Clarence Chung Yuk Man, an executive director, will get 74,406 and John Crawford, an independent non-executive director, will receive 19,842.

These shares will vest in three equal installments, according to Melco's filing. The first will be on April 3, 2025, and the remaining two batches will vest on April 3, 2026, and April 3, 2027.

More Business News

Melco Drops Market Share

Melco Resorts, which operates casinos in Macau, as well as the City of Dreams casinos in the Philippines and Cyprus, experienced a decline in market share within the Macau market in terms of earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in 2023. Ho confirmed the drop in remarks made while delivering the company's fourth-quarter earnings call in late February.

However, analysts at Moody's Ratings anticipate a recovery in the gaming market in Macau, which will contribute to an increase in Melco's adjusted EBITDA. It could boost it to approximately $1.3 billion in 2024 from around $900 million last year. Additionally, Moody's analysts noted a decrease in the company's adjusted debt to around $7.8 billion at the end of 2023 compared to the $8.7 billion it carried a year earlier.

With Melco holding $1.3 billion in cash as of the end of 2023, according to its financial statements, and generating operating cash flow, Moody's sees a positive trajectory ahead. It believes the company will maintain sufficient liquidity for its capital spending and debt repayments over the next 12 to 18 months.

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