Hong Kong-listed The 13 Holdings Limited has once again delayed the opening of THE 13 Hotel in Coloane, this time until March 31 next year.
The company incorporated in Bermuda announced the further postponement of the hotel’s opening date in a statement on its interim results for the six months ended September 30.
According to a statement released on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late Tuesday, the company “will have sufficient working capital to finance its operations and to meet its financial obligations for at least the next 12 months from the date of the approval of these condensed consolidated financial statements”.
“Accordingly, the directors are satisfied that it is appropriate to prepare the condensed consolidated statements on a going concern basis,” the statement dated November 21 said.
The company headed by Hong Kong businessman Stephen Hung also said that it had “applied for a further extension of the opening date [of THE 13 Hotel] to March 31, 2018, and such application is currently under review by the relevant lender.”
Previously, the company and the “relevant lender” had agreed on March 31 and later on July 31 this year as the hotel’s opening date. The statement did not name the “relevant lender,” merely referring to it as a “mainland Chinese bank”.
The company’s total borrowings increased from HK$3.9 billion as of March 31, 2017 to HK$4.08 billion as of September 30 this year, of which HK$4.05 billion was classified as current liabilities, the statement said.
According to the statement, “THE 13 Hotel is currently expected to open by the end of March 2018 following suspension of work since July 2017 pending securing additional financing.
“The estimated opening date is subject to keeping to the rights issue timetable and confirmation of the key contractors, suppliers and vendors on the hotel work delivery and completion programme,” the statement said.
It also added that as of September 30, the “under development asset” of THE 13 Hotel stood at HK$8.09 billion.
The statement also said that the hotel’s opening date “may be further adjusted according to the actual circumstances in respect of the development.”
According to the Macau Post Daily, the company expects to complete the “remaining works and installation of furniture, fixtures and equipment and operating supplies and equipment for inspection by the Macau Government Tourism Office” (MGTO) by mid-February next year.
The company also said that it had “not received any negative feedback” from one of the local gaming operators concerning the projected management and operation of a casino on the premises of THE 13 Hotel. The statement did not reveal the name of the gaming operator. However, the statement cited a 2013 company circular according to which its legal advisor in Macau “did not foresee any difficulties for obtaining approval from the Macau government” concerning the opening of a casino on the hotel premises by one of the city’s six gaming operators.
The statement acknowledged that “the authorisation to install and operate a casino in THE 13 Hotel is subject to the approval of Macau government, and therefore its success remains an uncertainty.”
The company has said in previous statement that the hotel will be one of the most luxurious in the world.
