GGRAsia – APE narrows annual loss as revenue up 38pct

APE narrows annual loss as revenue up 38pct

Mar 28, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Hong Kong-listed Asia Pioneer Entertainment Holdings Ltd (APE) reported revenue of just above HKD10.5 million (US$1.3 million) for full-year 2022, up 37.7 percent from the prior year. The firm reported a HKD139,276 gross loss for the 12-month period, due to a “sharp fall” in gross profit from its electronic gaming equipment business, according to a Monday filing.

For 2022, the company reported a comprehensive loss of approximately HKD14.7 million, compared to a HKD23.1-million loss in 2021.

The group’s interests include Asia Pioneer Entertainment Ltd, a Macau-based distribution, sales and servicing business for casino slot machines and electronic table games. The segment covers sales and distribution of electronic gaming equipment and repair services.

Revenue in the electronic gaming equipment business reached HKD9.6 million last year, up 28.1 percent from 2021.

Asia Pioneer said revenue from technical sales and distribution of electronic gaming equipment rose by 21.2 percent year-on-year, to HKD6.1 million in the reporting period.

Income from consulting and technical services increased by 67.9 percent year-on-year, to HKD3.0 million in 2022; and revenue from repair services stood at approximately HKD500,000, down 28.8 percent from the prior year.

The firm said it had “implemented a plan to slowly get out of the electronic gaming repairs business,” which it noted was “highly staff intensive”.

It added: “The group believes that the current level of staffing will allow it to sustain its business even with an expected turnaround in sales.”

In Monday’s filing, Asia Pioneer stated that from a financial perspective, it “did not perform well” in the latest financial year. Nonetheless, it said its management had “taken proactive action” to make the company “leaner, more sustainable, and better prepared” for a turnaround post-Covid.

The group’s operating expenses decreased by 13.4 percent year-on-year to approximately HKD16.2 million in 2022.

The group said it acted to “preserve cash on hand and maintain working capital” by implementing an operation cost-reduction review programme. To further reduce operating expenses, the company said its three executive directors “decided to reduce their compensation by 50 percent” for a period of six months starting December 2022.

The company also said it had started receiving orders for gaming equipment.

“Several casinos in Macau have started to ask us for quotations for new electronic gaming equipment orders,” said Allen Huie, the firm’s chairman and executive director, in a message included in the earnings filing. “A couple of casinos have asked the company for quotations to upgrade their existing” machines, he added.

“Overall, once tourist and mass gamers return, we believe that casinos in Macau will need to buy new or upgrade existing” electronic gaming machines, stated Mr Huie. “We trust that the company will be in a good position for such demand by casinos in the coming year.”