Casino firm Landing says chairman unreachable, shares plunge (updated)

XinKong International Capital Holdings

24/08/2018 03:58

* Landing says unable to reach chairman since Aug 23
    * Shares drop as much as 33 pct
    * Landing casino project in Philippines halted this month
    * 

 (Adds details)
    HONG KONG, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-listed casino
operator Landing International Development  0582.HK  said it had
lost contact with its chairman since Thursday, sending the
company's shares down as much as 33 percent.
    Landing's $1.5 billion integrated casino in the Philippines
was thrown into uncertainty this month after President Rodrigo
Duterte abruptly halted the project, saying it was unfavourable
to the government.
    In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on
Thursday, Landing said it had been "unable to contact or reach"
Chairman Yang Zhihui.
    Landing said the business operations and financial positions
of the group were normal. The company did not immediately
respond to a Reuters' request for comment.   
    Yang, who has been with Landing since 2013 and is the
company's controlling shareholder, has his roots in property
development in Anhui province in eastern China.
    Yang has close connections with Macau junket operators,
middle men who facilitate the VIP high-roller gambling business,
according to casino executives who declined to be named.
    He also has business ties to Huarong International Financial
Holdings  0993.HK , the Chinese publication Caixin reported.
    Huarong has been facing a liquidity crunch triggered by an
anti-corruption probe into its former chairman Lai Xiaomin in
April.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1UC2FG
    Huarong did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for
comment.
    Yang owns 50.48 percent of Landing's issued share capital,
according to Thomson Reuters Eikon data.
    The company, which opened a casino in South Korea's Jeju
island in February 2018, had been vying to set up a casino in
Manila's Entertainment City.    
    The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, a government-owned
and controlled firm under the president's office, granted in
July a license for Landing to build the casino.
    However, shortly after the company broke ground on the
project on Aug. 7, a Duterte spokesman said the casino would be
cancelled because Landing's lease was unfavourable to the
government.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1V125D 

 (Reporting by Farah Master
Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Darren Schuettler)
 ((farah.master@thomsonreuters.com; +852 28431631 ; Reuters
Messaging: farah.master.thomsonreuters@thomsonreuters.net))