Melco International to rearrange share option scheme
Melco International says the previously granted share options no longer serve the purpose of providing incentives or rewards to grantees.
Macau.- Melco International will cancel a number of stock options previously granted to employees and others associated with the group. The company will replacing them with revised terms, including lower strike prices.
The company said in a filing that the move was because the original plan was no longer attractive to recipients after the company’s share price fell sharply. Shares in Melco International closed at HK$7.10 ($0.91) in Hong Kong trading on Wednesday. The company’s shares have fallen more than 50 per cent over the past 12 months.
Melco stated: “Since the exercise prices of the previously granted share options ranging from HK$10.24 per share to HK$23.15 per share are substantially higher than the prevailing market price of the shares, the previously granted share options can no longer serve the purpose of providing incentives or rewards to the grantees.”
The company added: “The replacement of the previously granted share options by the replacement share options – which bring the exercise price to the current trading price level of the shares – and the replacement share awards will better serve the objectives of the share option scheme and the share purchase scheme.”
Melco also announced that it will launch a new stock option programme for employees and employees. It includes a total of 933,000 options to be granted with a term of 10 years to April 2032 with a strike price of HK$7.278.
Melco Resorts posts US$391m in gaming revenue for Q4
Melco Resorts & Entertainment reported total operating revenue of US$481m for the fourth quarter of 2021. The figure was up 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter from US$446.4m but down 9 per cent when compared to the previous year.
The company reduced its net loss by a third to US$159.9m, compared with a net loss of US$199.7m in the fourth quarter of 2020. Operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2021 was US$104.4m, compared with an operating loss of US$144.8m in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Adjusted property EBITDA grew by 190 per cent quarter-on-quarter to US$94.0m, compared with adjusted property EBITDA of US$53.4m recorded the previous year, mainly due to strong cost control measures and bonus/bad debt expense reversal.
