Tough times continuing for South Shore Holdings Limited

In Macau and the company behind the luxury The 13 hotel has reportedly issued a profit warning after informally revealing that it expects to record an around $122.3 million deficit for the twelve months to the end of March.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the move from Hong Kong-listed South Shore Holdings Limited came only a few hours after it requested that trading in its shares be suspended pending the official release of its latest annual financial results. The source detailed that the firm’s expected shortfall would uncomfortably join the $131.3 million loss it racked up for the preceding twelve-month period.

Lofty expectations:

South Shore Holdings Limited was previously known as Louis XIII Holdings Limited until undergoing a 2016 name-change and reportedly premiered the luxury 200-room The 13 some 33 months ago as ‘the most luxurious hotel in the world’. However, the $1.6 billion facility located on the border between Macau’s Coloane and Cotai Strip districts has continuously struggled to turn a profit and after being denied permission to bring a VIP casino to its lower floors.

Unsuccessful efforts:

Facing up to its financial exposure and South Shore Holdings Limited reportedly last year attempted find a buyer for The 13 but was forced to terminate negotiations with a trio of potential suitors in September after earlier extending the deadline for talks three times. The company had purportedly hoped that these discussions would have allowed it to cut expenditures and recoup some $96.7 million by offloading at least a 50% stake in the failing hotel.

Anticipated examination:

The profit warning from South Shore Holdings Limited reportedly prompted the resignation of the firm’s company secretary as well as a trio of its directors with the litany of woes moreover now running to the missing of a self-imposed March 31 deadline for the finalization of an at least partial sale arrangement. This latter disappointment could now purportedly force the enterprise to undergo an ‘audit modification’ procedure owing to official auditor discrepancies in the value of its holdings, which is thought to be around $528.8 million.

Difficult assessment:

Inside Asian Gaming reported that South Shore Holdings Limited is furthermore hindered by being unable to demonstrably quantify the worth of its business due to the historical performance of The 13, which had only ever been run at partial capacity, the local absence of similar facilities and the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Creditor anxiety:

South Shore Holdings Limited reportedly disclosed in October that it was continuing discussions with its bank after being obliged to apply for a ‘standstill’ order some seven months earlier. This revelation came after the company’s lenders began threatening to foreclose on its operations in lieu of immediately collecting debts widely publicized to be worth about $320 million.