News about debt

PETALING JAYA (April 24): PRG Holdings Bhd's construction subsidiary has agreed to accept 12 condominium units at Picasso Residence along Jalan Jelatek, Kuala Lumpur, as partial settlement of a RM37.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 13): The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) said over two-thirds of prospective homebuyers in Malaysia fail to obtain financing for property purchases, mainly due to high debt obligations and inadequate income levels.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27): YTL Hospitality REIT's (KL:YTLREIT) manager Pintar Projek Sdn Bhd has proposed a placement of up to 90 million new units to raise an estimated RM99 million for repayment of borrowings.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 6): WCT Holdings Bhd (KL:WCT) has proposed a sukuk wakalah programme of up to RM5 billion to fund working capital and refinancing of borrowings.

Under the programme, the REIT can issue multiple series of notes, each with a minimum term of one year from its date of issue.

Genting Malaysia said the deal will see Empire Resorts sell key non-casino properties—including the 332-room Resorts World Catskills (RWC) and the 99-room Alder Hotel, a 18-hole Monster golf course, the 2,500-seat RWC Epicenter, and restaurants—to a local development body, Sullivan County Resort Facilities Local Development Corporation (SCRFLDC), which will run them as public assets.

The move is part of the company's effort to "restore itself to a solid financial position and effectively address its liabilities to ensure future sustainability" said Bina Puri, whose businesses include property development, highway concessions and power supply.

Bina Puri Properties Sdn Bhd was served a petition in relation to unpaid taxes amounting to RM849,499, while Bina Puri Sdn Bhd (BPSB) received a separate petition over a larger tax sum of RM4.

In a bourse filing, the property developer said it had entered into a conditional settlement agreement with Rampai Fokus Sdn Bhd (RFSB) — an indirect wholly-owned unit of its major shareholder, Iskandar Waterfront Holding Sdn Bhd — to convert the amount it owed to RFSB into IWCity shares.

AZRB said, however, that AZSB is not a major subsidiary of the company and that it does not anticipate any financial and operational impact due to the filing of the petition.