DXB Entertainments is reorganizing debt and resetting targets on the number of visitors to its Legoland and Sony Pictures theme parks in Dubai after numbers fell short in 2017.
“The projection of 6.7 million visitors for 2017 is not the base we are going forward with anymore,” Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Almulla told Bloomberg in a phone interview on Monday. “Such numbers are achievable, but not in the short term,” he said, without giving a timeframe.
DXBE, as the firm is known, agreed on a 1.2 billion-dirham ($327 million) convertible bond with its biggest shareholder and a delay to payments on bank debt after posting a wider-than-expected loss for the full year. Originally known as Dubai Parks & Resorts, DXBE’s attractions, including parks based on Bollywood and Hollywood films such as The Hunger Games, had 2.3 million visitors last year.
Dubai Parks & Resorts “was not fully operational for most of 2017,” Almulla said. “I think 2018 will be a true reflection of the performance of the organization.”
DXBE’s stock declined 1.7 percent to 0.515 dirham as of 1 p.m. in Dubai, heading for the lowest level on a closing basis on record, and extending losses over the past 12 months to 50 percent. More
By Archana Narayanan and Matthew Martin https://www.bloomberg.com
