MGM Resorts International executives increase their shareholdings

Some of the most prominent executives for MGM Resorts International are reportedly thought to have collectively spent over $10.3 million since Monday so as to purchase in excess of 900,000 shares in the American casino operator.

According to a report from CDC Gaming Reports, the transactions are being seen as a way for the Las Vegas-headquartered firm to boost a share price that has plummeted by around 82% since the middle of February owing to the financial impacts of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Higher holdings:

The news source explained that the recently-installed Chief Executive Officer for MGM Resorts International, Bill Hornbuckle, is thought to have shelled out approximately $496,177 via two separate transactions so as to acquire some 41,000 shares. This was purportedly followed by the experienced investment banker who now serves as the firm’s Chairman, Paul Salem, parting with about $3.92 million in order to buy roughly 340,000 shares.

CDC Gaming Reports detailed that the Chief Financial Officer for MGM Resorts International, Corey Sanders, also subsequently got in on the act by buying almost 25,000 company shares for $300,000 before board member Keith Meister topped everyone by spending something in the region of $5.66 million to acquire 500,000 shares.

Plunging price:

The value of investments in MGM Resorts Limited has purportedly been falling ever since the firm was forced to begin shuttering its two dozen properties in six states owing to a coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed over 4,000 Americans. It was earlier reported that the New York-listed behemoth is subsequently burning through about $14.4 million every day and may now have as little as nine months before it completely runs out of cash.

Stock swaps:

It was also conveyed that Hornbuckle, who replaced long-time boss James Murren only last month, has moreover signed a new management agreement that is to see him exchange some $300,000 of his upcoming annual salary for company shares. The 62-year-old’s contract with MGM Resorts International is purportedly set to run through to the end of 2024 with the recent alteration bringing his base salary for this year down to $1.1 million.

MGM Resorts International is responsible for some of the most prominent gambling-friendly properties in the United States including the giant Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Las Vegas and Atlantic City’s equally impressive Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. The move from Hornbuckle was reportedly furthermore followed by Sanders and the firm’s Executive Vice-President, John McManus, agreeing to temporarily reduce their own base salaries for 2020 by 25% and 17% respectively with up to half of the remaining amounts to be satisfied through company stock.

Operator optimism:

The casino colossus reportedly hoped to comfort investors via a Friday filing in which it declared that it still maintains a ‘strong liquidity position’ alongside a balance sheet that is worth approximately $3.9 billion. It purportedly asserted that these will allow it to ‘weather this downturn and ultimately rebound’ once the coronavirus-related casino closures are lifted although it was additionally ‘making swift decisions’ to reduce current expenses and costs.