Singapore bond market faces S$22bn refinancing bill

Brokers' call: Sheng Siong Group

The Straits Times

Japan has singled out Singapore as a role model with its integrated resorts concept, and may pay special attention to both Genting Singapore and Las ...

Trading Watch: FCF and Piotroski Score Check for Genting Singapore PLC (SGX:G13) EBJ Investors may be taking a closer look at shares of Genting Singapore PLC (SGX:G13). Currently, GentingSingapore PLC (SGX:G13) has an FCF ...

Investor Circle: Watching the Numbers on Shares of Genting Hong Kong Limited (SEHK:678) EBJ Investors keeping an eye on shares of Genting Hong Kong Limited (SEHK:678) may be analyzing the company's FCF or Free Cash Flow. FCF is a ...

Singapore bond market faces S$22bn refinancing bill Reuters Bankers also expect Genting Singapore to consider a new financing well ahead of 2017 call dates on S$2.3 billion of perpetual notes, although ...

* Restructuring and refinancing remain dominant themes for 2017

By Kit Yin Boey

SINGAPORE, Dec 19 (IFR) - Singapore dollar bonds worth S$22 billion ($15.5 billion) are callable or due to mature next year, exposing issuers and investors to refinancing risks as borrowing costs rise in the US.

The US Federal Reserve last Wednesday raised policy rates by 25bp and surprised markets with guidance for three, instead of the expected two, rate increases next year. US Treasury yields immediately jumped 10bp-11bp across the curve, pulling Singapore dollar swap offer rates higher on Thursday morning. The five-year and 10-year SOR soared 10bp to 2.36 percent and 2.87 percent, respectively, from the previous day's close.

Issuers that sold bonds in early 2012, for example, could be looking at an increase in five-year base rates of around 100 basis points when they come to refinance, as the benchmark rate was only 1.34 percent at the start of that year.

Pricing issues aside, Singapore bankers are still fairly sanguine about refinancing risks, pointing out that most of the maturing bonds will come from high-grade borrowers, which will still find healthy demand for new issues, albeit at higher absolute yields.

Indeed, Triple A rated government agency Housing and Development Board accounts for S$3.4 billion of next year's maturing bonds. Placing its bonds is usually not a problem and it has sold S$4.5 billion of notes in 2016 alone.

Bankers also expect Genting Singapore to consider a new financing well ahead of 2017 call dates on S$2.3 billion of perpetual notes, although analysts stress the group is in no immediate need of cash. A S$1.8 billion 5.125 percent perp is callable on September 12 and a S$500 million 5.125 percent retail perp is callable on October 18.

"The perps still have some legs to stand on. Genting has spare cash to pay down if their projects in Japan and South Korea do not happen," said a Singapore banker. Analysts estimate Genting's cash pile to reach S$4.7 billion at the end of this year.

"However, they will need to manage their needs, given that business prospects in the industry can be challenging," he said.

The resort and casino operator, rated A3/A- (Moody's/Fitch), can expect healthy demand for a potential new issue, especially among institutional investors, because of a woeful lack of bond sales in the second half of this year. WEAK VOLUMES Bonds totalling S$17.5 billion were issued to date in 2016, down 18.5 percent from last year and the lowest since 2009, when S$11.6 billion was raised, according to Thomson Reuters data. The last quarter has been particularly weak, with a mere S$1.9 billion of notes sold after a slew of defaults earlier in the year.

"Primary issuance in the Singapore dollar bond market should be better in 2017, coming off this year's lows and, hopefully, no further big shocks will affect the SGD market," said Tan Kee Phong, head of capital markets at OCBC Bank.

"This year, the Singapore market was resilient against three major surprises - the UK vote to leave the EU, the US presidential vote for Donald Trump and the series of bond defaults and restructurings in the local market. The restructurings were confined mainly to oil and gas and shipping industries and did not spread to other sectors. This reflects the maturity of investors - a positive for further development of the Singapore dollar bond market."

Bank capital deals from both local and foreign banks are likely to remain a strong theme as Singapore investors have shown strong appetite for riskier, high-yielding assets from high-rated banks. Bankers are also hoping that foreign banks, particularly those from the US and Europe, will consider selling non-preferred senior notes in Singapore to count towards their total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) ratios. MORE STRESS? Restructuring of bonds of financially strapped issuers is expected to continue into next year, with bankers expecting those affected to be mainly small and medium-sized companies. The market is closely watching a number of credits, including International Healthway Corporation.

IHC lost its two prime Australian properties in September after bank-appointed receivers sold the assets. It now faces a shareholder revolt over its plans for a placement of new shares.

Market chatter has suggested a potential plan to extend for two years IHC's two outstanding bonds: a S$50 million 7 percent due on April 27 2017 and a S$50 million 6 percent due on February 6 2018.

The hospital-management company alarmed noteholders on August 8 when a coupon due on the 2018 notes was delayed. The payment was made two days later, after what IHC said was a delay in the processing and remittance of the funds. (Reporting by Kit Yin Boey; Editing by Daniel Stanton)

http://www.reuters.com/article/singapore-debt-bonds-idUSL4N1EE1GO?feedType=RSS

PETER AMSEL

SHELDON ADELSON’S MARINA BAY SANDS CASINO DODGES TERROR ATTACK

AUGUST 5, 2016

Sheldon Adelson’s casino in Singapore has narrowly dodged becoming the target of a terror attack.

On Friday, Indonesian authorities announced that they’d arrested six individuals suspected of plotting a terror attack on Singapore’s Marina Bay district, the home of Las Vegas Sands’ Marina Bay Sands integrated resort.

Police said the six individuals planned to fire rockets at Marina Bay from Batam, an Indonesian island located across the Strait of Singapore. The men were detained following a series of raids on multiple locations, including one at which weapons were found.

Police have so far declined to specify what type of weapons had been seized but the Straits Times quoted a neighbor of one of the arrested men saying that police had found a bomb that had “already been assembled.”

The detained individuals are allegedly part of the KGR@Katibah terrorist group. They are believed to have had help organizing the attack from Muhammad Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian currently fighting in Syria as part of the ISIS terror group. Bahrun is suspected of involvement in January’s terror attack in Jakarta that killed eight people.

The Jakarta Post reported that Indonesian authorities were acting on a tip from their Singapore counterparts. Singapore defense minister Ng Eng Hen posted a Facebook message saying that everyone “should assume that there may be more plots, other terror cells on the lookout for ways and new munitions to penetrate our defenses.”

Marina Bay is a popular hub for international tourists, as it offers a mix of residential, commercial and hotel and entertainment options, and Marina Bay Sands is one of its most visibly striking features. There is no evidence that the casino was a specific target of the plot.

Following January’s attacks in Jakarta, Hong Kong-based risk consultancy Steve Vickers and Associates released a threat assessmentthat suggested terrorists might be considering a “spectacular attack on a soft target such as a mall in Australia or a casino in Macau.”

The Vickers report suggested that Macau’s gaming sector offered a “nexus of Chinese, American and Jewish interests” that a terror group would find particularly appealing. Adelson and Wynn Resorts’ chairman Steve Wynn are both Jewish.

http://calvinayre.com/2016/08/05/casino/marina-bay-sands-dodges-terror-attack/

Higher bad debt provisions seen at Genting Singapore

Higher bad debt provisions seen at Genting Singapore

By Affin Hwang Capital / The Edge Financial Daily   | May 17, 2016 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 17, 2016

Genting Bhd
(May 16, RM8.56)
Maintain hold with an unchanged target price (TP) of RM8.40: Genting Singapore plc’s first quarter ended March 31, 2016 (1QFY16) results were below our and consensus expectations, with core net profit of S$65.7 million (RM193 million) [-1.3% year-on-year (y-o-y)] accounting for 16% and 17% of the full-year estimates respectively. The key variance was a negative surprise in higher bad debt provisions, which rose 21% y-o-y to S$92.4 million in 1QFY16.

The management had expected bad debt provisions to taper off in 2016 (2015: S$270 million), but now it appears more likely to remain elevated following the tightening of its credit policy from 90 days to 30 days. The impact of the tighter credit policy would be felt in 3QFY16.

Genting Singapore’s gaming revenue grew 20.5% driven by quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) growth in VIP and mass volume. In addition, its rolling win percentage improved to 2.9% (4QFY15: 2.1%) in 1QFY16 (that is above the long-term average of 2.85%). Despite the sequential growth in VIP volume, the management expects the VIP segment to still remain challenging and thus would continue its focus on growing the mass market.

Genting Singapore improved its volume market share in the VIP market eight percentage points q-o-q to 46% in 1QFY16, while its volume market share in the mass market was relatively stable at 41%.

According to the management, it has begun selling residential properties from Resorts World Jeju (RWJ) since April 2016, and noted that the take-up has been encouraging although no figures were disclosed. Besides that, the management expects RWJ to cost US$2 billion (RM8.1 billion) [lower than initial estimate of US$2.2 billion] following some savings to be derived from building costs.

Pending Genting Bhd’s results later this month, we have kept our earnings forecasts and sum-of-parts-based TP of RM8.40 on Genting unchanged. While Genting’s domestic gaming operations will continue to underpin earnings, we believe the group’s earnings growth momentum would depend on the speed of recovery in consumer sentiment and commodity prices. Prolonged weakness in Genting Singapore’s VIP segment and elevated bad debts may continue to be a drag on Genting’s earnings. — Affin Hwang Capital, May 16

http://www.theedgemarkets.com/my/article/higher-bad-debt-provisions-seen-genting-singapore

Chinese Whales Evaporate!

The delusional in Massachusetts SOLD Predatory Gambling on the False Premise that WHALES were willing to travel to the HINTERLANDS of Massachusetts.....

....you been duped!

Posted on November 27, 2014 12:51:00 PM

Chinese VIPs flee Vegas tables amid anti-corruption drive

BACCARAT winnings on the Las Vegas Strip fell 36% to $97 million in October, echoing declines in Macau where an anti-corruption drive in China has crimped high-end play.

Total casino revenue on the Strip fell 5.6 percent to $520 million last month with baccarat accounting for the largest share of the decline, according to data released yesterday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The numbers suggest the drop in spending by high-end Chinese card players that began in June in Macau has spilled over to the U.S., said Brent Pirosch, an analyst with CBRE in Las Vegas. Other markets, such as Singapore, have also seen declines in baccarat play, as probes by the Chinese government and a weak mainland economy impact business. Baccarat, a card game where players compete against a designated banker, is the most-popular casino game in the Chinese enclave of Macau.

“It’s a global VIP problem,” Pirosch said in a telephone interview. “It’s such a small, finite group,” he said of the Las Vegas baccarat market. “It really only takes a few guys not playing, less than 100 folks, really driving that high-end play.”


Baccarat Slump

The results in the largest U.S. gambling market mark the third month of decline for a game that has become a big revenue generator for MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Caesars Entertainment Corp. Baccarat revenue on the Strip has tripled since 2004 to $1.6 billion last year, according to data from the University of Nevada’s Center for Gaming Research in Las Vegas.

Wynn Resorts Ltd., which gets about 70 percent of its revenue from Macau, fell 0.5 percent to $177.06 as of the close of trading in New York. Wynn Macau Ltd. slumped 0.2 percent at 10:09 a.m. in Hong Kong. Among other Macau casino operators, Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. fell 0.1 percent to HK$66.9, SJM Holdings Ltd. dropped 0.9 percent, Sands China Ltd. rose 0.8 percent and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. gained 0.7 percent.

More than half of Wynn Resorts’ table-games business in Las Vegas comes from Asian customers, the company’s president, Matt Maddox, said in testimony before Massachusetts gaming regulators last year.

The lower Las Vegas baccarat revenue is a combination of gamblers betting fewer dollars and the casinos winning less money from customers, Brian Miller, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said. The house kept 10 percent of the baccarat money bet in October, compared to 13 percent in the same period last year. -- Bloomberg



http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Beyond&title=chinese-vips-flee-vegas-tables-amid-anti-corruption-drive&id=98636

Former Singapore corruption bureau head jailed 10 years

Former Singapore corruption bureau head jailed 10 years
February 21, 2014



Assistant director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau Edwin Yeo, who was charged in July with 21 offences including misappropriation and forgery, arriving at the Subordinate court on Feb 20, 2014. —


SINGAPORE, Feb 21 — He made 372 trips to the casinos over two-and-a-half years, losing at least S$478,583 (RM1.2 million) at Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands between April 2010 and September 2012.

From 2008 to 2012, he lost S$263,699 through betting with Singapore Pools.

To fuel his gambling habit, former Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) Assistant Director Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong misappropriated funds issued to the branch he headed within the bureau.

Details of how he did so emerged yesterday as Yeo, 39, pleaded guilty to three charges of criminal breach of trust and one charge of forgery. He had faced 21 charges, but one charge of criminal breach of trust was dropped and 16 others taken into consideration as District Judge Ng Peng Hong sentenced Yeo to 10 years’ jail for his offences.

Yeo’s case had led to an independent review, which concluded that supervisory lapses had led to a lack of financial controls at the bureau. A new director was appointed in a move to rebuild public trust in the unit, while the two directors who were at the helm when the supervisory lapses occurred were issued warning letters.

The government also tightened rules governing public servants’ visits to casinos, including getting those who frequent the gaming tables to declare how often they make such trips or if they buy annual visit passes. Yeo, who is married with a five-year-old son, was head of the CPIB’s Field Research and Technical Support (FRTS). His illegal actions came to light in September 2012 when the CPIB received information that payment for certain operational expenses incurred by his branch were overdue.

On Oct 18 that year, the bureau lodged a report with the Commercial Affairs Department that Yeo had embezzled money.

The court heard yesterday that for each sum of money Yeo misappropriated, he would cover up the missing funds using the next sum of cash available. This was because the earlier funds had been spent on his personal debts and expenses. He also asked his staff to negotiate with vendors for delayed payment of sums owed to them.

For one of the charges, Yeo had gone against the management’s instruction to have two people authorising transactions for an FRTS bank account. He applied for Internet banking facilities, which allowed online transactions to be carried out using a single Internet banking token, and transferred S$470,265 from the account into his personal account between May and August 2012.

On the forgery charge, he edited a voucher documenting payment to trick CPIB Assistant Director of Administration and Support Sze Chinyu into thinking payment had been made to an equipment supplier. In total, Yeo misappropriated S$1.76 million, of which S$1.64 million has not been repaid.

District Judge Ng said retribution and deterrence must be considered in sentencing Yeo, whose actions impacted public confidence in the integrity of the public service.

Only a small fraction of the money has been recovered and his misdeeds took place over a substantial period of time — between April 2009 and August 2012.

The judge agreed with prosecutors that this was a case of “egregious abuse of position and trust”, and noted that “the offences were well-planned and hard to detect”.

“The Court has to signal the society’s moral opprobrium over his offences and deter any like-minded offenders,” District Judge Ng said. He felt the focus ought to be on the aggregate sentence imposed and not the length of individual sentences, as was highlighted in the case of two former Singapore Land Authority employees who had also defrauded their employer of significant sums of money.

In the SLA case, Koh Seah Wee and Lim Chai Meng received jail terms of 22 years and 15 years, respectively, for defrauding the agency of more than S$12 million. Defence lawyer Tan Hee Joek, who had said in mitigation that his client had received prestigious awards in his 15 years with the CPIB and never took a single day of medical leave, said Yeo was unlikely to appeal.

The CPIB said that based on yesterday’s conviction, it would be initiating civil service disciplinary proceedings against Yeo, who has been suspended from duties and interdicted since Sept 15 last year.

Yeo would most likely be terminated from the service and thereby lose his superannuation benefits, estimated to be worth about S$100,000.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/world/article/former-singapore-corruption-bureau-head-jailed-10-years

How to stop casino violations.....

You'll never see fines this hefty in the U.S. bacause government gets in bed with the Casino Operators, yet this reveals the SOLUTION to Casino Violations.....HEFTY FINES!


Casinos fined over $500k for social safeguard breaches

Grace Chua

The Straits Times

Saturday, Nov 16, 2013

SINGAPORE - The two casinos have been fined more than $500,000 for failing to adhere to measures intended to protect the vulnerable from gambling, it was revealed on Wednesday.

The breaches, which took place last year between May and December, included failing to stop Singapore citizens and permanent residents from getting in without paying a $100 entry levy, letting in those who had been banned, and allowing minors under 21 to enter.

Marina Bay Sands (MBS) was made to pay $337,500 after it allowed in 12 people without valid entry levies, and 16 on exclusion orders.

It also allowed five others to remain in its casino after their entry levy lapsed after 24 hours.

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), meanwhile, was fined $190,000 for letting in 12 people without valid levies, five with exclusion orders and five foreign minors. It also allowed one person to stay on after his levy expired.

The Casino Regulatory Authority said in a statement that it takes a "serious view" of these lapses.
But it also acknowledged the operators' efforts to comply with rules.

These included conducting more thorough checks at entrances, detecting when levies were about to expire, and improving the hardware such as gated entry gantries.

Since they opened in 2010, MBS and RWS, which had their licences renewed for a further three years this year, have collectively been fined nearly $2 million under the Casino Control Act for breaches of such social safeguard measures.

http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/casinos-fined-over-500k-social-safeguard-breaches


 

$47 MILLION FINE for Sands Money Laundering

This is NOT the first time Sands has been involved in MONEY LAUNDERING.
New Jersey ignored it and renewed the SANDS' license with Steve Perskie as Chairman.
Hmmmm......

[Steve Wynn is also under investigation for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, yet welcomed into Massachusetts?]

Las Vegas Casino Settles in Money-Laundering Inquiry - NYTimes ...

www.nytimes.com/.../las-vegas-casino-settles-in-money-laundering-inquiry....

Las Vegas Casino Settles in Money-Laundering Inquiry. By MICHAEL LUO. Published: August 28, 2013. The Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the casino ...

Govt probes Las Vegas Sands Corp. on money laundering | Alternet

www.alternet.org/.../govt-probes-las-vegas-sands-corp-money-launderin...‎

File picture shows Chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation Sheldon Adelson at a press conference in Macau in April. The Justice Department has ...

Sands, U.S. Reach Money-Laundering Accord

Las Vegas Sands and U.S. prosecutors reached an agreement to resolve a money-laundering investigation.

http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-310436/

Sheldon Adelson’s Sands Casino to pay $47 million fine for failing to report deposits from alleged drug trafficker

The Sands failed to report that Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who is under investigation for drug trafficking, deposited more than $45 million into the Venetian casino in 2006 and 2007.

By David Knowles / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

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Julie Jacobson/AP

Las Vegas Sands Corp, which is owned by U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson, signed a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department on Monday, agreeing to pay $47.4 million in fines stemming from a money laundering investigation.

For business tycoon Sheldon Adelson it is the equivalent of salt in the wound.

After spending millions to try and thwart President Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012, Adelson’s
Las Vegas casino empire agreed this week to pay the U.S. government $47.4 million in fines to avoid criminal charges stemming from a money laundering investigation.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., which owns the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino, agreed to the settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday night.

RELATED: ISRAELI NEWSPAPERS 'RUINED' BY U.S. MOGUL’S FREE DAILY
For two years, the Justice Department gathered evidence showing that Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon had deposited $45 million in suspected drug money to the Venetian in 2006 and 2007 in a series of complex transactions designed to avoid detection.

Federal law requires that suspicious deposits be reported to U.S. authorities, but Ye Gon was the casino’s best customer, losing more than $90 million at the Venetian’s tables.

RICHARD DREW/AP

Chinese-born businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who lost more than $90 million at Adelson's Venetian casino, deposited $45 million directly to the casino in 2006 and 2007 in transactions designed to avoid detection.

“For the first time, a casino has faced the very real possibility of a federal criminal case for failing to properly report suspicious funds received from a gambler,” U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr., who represents the Central District of California, said in a statement.

“This is also the first time a casino has agreed to return those funds to the government,” Birotte said.

“All companies, especially casinos, are now on notice that America’s anti-money laundering laws apply to all people and every corporation, even if that company risks losing its most profitable customer.”

In his statement, Birotte said that the Sands admitted “in hindsight that it failed to fully appreciate the suspicious nature of the information or lack thereof pertaining to Ye Gon.”

While the fine is significant, many investors had anticipated that the Sands would have to settle for an even larger amount. Adelson, who is the CEO and chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp., has a net worth of more than $20 billion.

The Sands is not out of the woods yet, however. The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are still conducting a separate investigation into whether the casino empire—which owns resorts in resorts in Macau, Singapore and Pennsylvania—may have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/sheldon-adelson-sands-casino-pay-47-million-fine-article-1.1439489#ixzz2dVLbqC7J

Sands agrees to settlement in Vegas money laundering deal

As the Florida Senate completes plans to embark on a statewide road show to discuss the future of gambling in Florida, one of the most active players in the quest to bring resort casinos to Florida -- Las Vegas Sands -- has withstood some rocky publicity this week.

According to the Wall Street Journal, and other news sources, the casino giant has agreed to pay more than $47 million and will accept U.S. Department of Justice's assertion that the company failed to report suspcicious financial activity by a customer who dealt only in cash, and who was later identified as a drug kingpin.

A Sands spokesman told the Wall Street Journal in its Wednesday papers that, "The company cooperated fully in the investigation, and that effort was recognized clearly by the government."

Under the agreement reviewed by the WSJ, Sands has agreed to refrain from using generic names on its customer accounts and must also conduct two years of reviews of its anti-money laundering policies and file periodic reports with the government.

The federal settlement is part of a two-year probe into possible money-laundering at the Sands, the newspaper reported. Investigators at the U.S. Treasury and Justice Department have been concerned that the practices may have enabled some of the casino's most lucrative customers to gamble using proceeds from illegal activities, federal officials said.

Sands officials also disclosed in its annual report in March that after an internal probe into its casino operations in Macau, the company probably violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Posted by Mary Ellen Klas at 11:38 AM on Friday, Aug. 30, 2013

 

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2013/08/sands-agrees-to-settlement-in-vegas-money-laundering-deal.html

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2013/08/sands-agrees-to-settlement-in-vegas-money-laundering-deal.html#storylink=cpy

Sheldon Adelson's Sands Targeted in Money Laundering ... - Forbes

www.forbes.com/.../sheldon-adelsons-sands-targeted-in-money-l...‎

 

by Steven Bertoni

Aug 4, 2012 - Las Vegas Sands targeted in federal money laundering investigation spells more bad news for Adelson and Romney.

Singapore tightens rules for LVS and Genting casinos

Singapore tightens rules for LVS and Genting casinos August 19, 2013 6:03 PM
by Ray Poirier

Fearing a major scandal, Singapore officials have announced plans to tighten rules for public servants visiting the city’s two casinos operated by Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Malaysia’s Genting.

So far there have been only a few so-called “corruption charges” against public officials but the new rules will require civil servants to publicly declare the number of casino visits. Singapore’s residents must pay an entry fee to the casinos, thus making it easier to check visitations. Entering the casino on a daily basis costs $79 while an annual pass is $1,800.

The action comes on the heels of the firing of the city’s head of the anti-corruption agency. He was replaced after an assistant director was charges with misappropriation of funds.

Ray Poirier is the longtime executive editor at GamingToday.


http://gamingtoday.com/articles/article/42814-Singapore_tightens_rules_for_LVS_and_Genting_casinos