The completion of Crown Resorts’ exit from Macau and its 12-year partnership with Melco Resorts is set to provide a financial windfall to investors with financial services group Credit Suisse predicting Crown will pay out AU$2.2 billion in special and ordinary dividends over the next three years.
Crown Resorts announced in February that dividends would remain fixed at AU$0.60 each year with a special dividend of AU$0.83 added at the time. But Credit Suisse gaming analyst Larry Gandler told the Australian Financial Review (AFR) that he expects Crown to pay around AU$1.43 a share in dividends in 2018 and AU$1.42 in 2019 as it continues to sell off foreign assets.
Crown Resorts Director and major shareholder James Packer, who owns 48.2% of the company’s shares, would be in line to benefit to the tune of almost AU$1.1 billion should Mr Gandler prove correct.
Earlier this month Crown completed the sale of its remaining 11.2% stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, while it was revealed this week that the company was also looking to sell the site of its abandoned Alon project on the Las Vegas Strip for around AU$400 million.
The AFR reports that Mr Gandler has cut his 12-month target stock price for Crown Resorts from AU$13 to AU$12.50, “as more company value is assumed to be returned to shareholders by way of a larger dividend rather than stored capital.”
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