Hidden Dividend Policy

It was reported that Genting Singapore is bound by a bank loan agreement not to dispense dividends until it has fully repaid its loans.

This is strange. Why should the dividend policy of a listed company to pay dividends to "third party" equity holders be bound by the terms and conditions of the loan agreement between the Banks and the listed company as Borrower (Genting Singapore).

Has Genting Singapore declare this as a hidden "dividend policy" to shareholders and the SES?

Reference :-

Straits Times Online

Aug 18, 2010

No dividends from Genting S'pore

By Tessa Wong

GENTING Singapore shareholders will not be receiving dividends this year, despite the company's stellar performance in the second quarter.

This is because Genting Singapore is bound by a bank loan agreement not to dispense dividends until it has fully repaid its loans.

In 2008, Genting International, the previous incarnation of Genting Singapore, raised $4 billion in loans from five banks to build the Sentosa integrated resort. The banks are DBS, OCBC, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.

The issue of dividends was raised at an extraordinary general meeting held on Wednesday at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), attended by 1,100 shareholders. Some were disgruntled at the news, given the latest company results.

A year ago, Genting Singapore was in the red with $51 million in losses. But the latest quarter saw it back in the black with $503.5 million in pre-tax profits, largely thanks to RWS' performance.

The shareholders were invited to RWS to vote on a proposed divestment of Genting Singapore's 46 casinos in the United Kingdom to another subsidiary under the Genting Malaysia Berhad group. The majority voted in favour of the divestment. It is expected to net Genting Singapore 340 million pounds (S$716.8 million).