GGRAsia – Asia Pioneer halves loss in year to Sept, revenue soars

Asia Pioneer halves loss in year to Sept, revenue soars

Nov 09, 2023 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News

Net loss attributable to the owners of gaming tech specialist Asia Pioneer Entertainment Holdings Ltd for the first nine months of 2023 narrowed by 46.6 percent year-on-year, to HKD7.1 million (US$910,743), the firm said in a Wednesday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The result was on revenue that rose by 263.6 percent year-on-year, to just above HKD14.6 million. Cost of sales and services for the period increased by 115.4 percent from a year ago, to just under HKD11.0 million.

“The increase in revenue was mainly due to the increase of income derived from technical sales and distribution of electronic gaming equipment, consulting and technical services, repair services and smart vending machines business by approximately 590 percent, 147.5 percent, 214 percent and 150 percent respectively, from the corresponding period,” stated the firm.

Hong Kong-listed APE’s interests include Asia Pioneer Entertainment Ltd, a Macau-based distribution, sales and servicing business for casino slot machines and electronic table games. The group also provides such technology to land-based casinos in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, including technical support and consultancy on gaming equipment.

In the nine months to September 30, revenue from technical sales and distribution of gaming equipment was HKD6.9 million, up from HKD998,305 a year earlier.

Income from consultancy and technical support stood at HKD5.0 million in the reporting period, versus HKD2.0 million a year ago. Repair services produced HKD997,032 in revenue, an increase from HKD317,458 in the prior-year period.

Since the second half of 2021, the group has diversified into supplying ‘smart vending machines’. That segment generated HKD1.7 million in revenue, up from HKD678,462 in the comparable period a year earlier.

APE said that about 79 percent of the group’s revenue during the nine months to September 30 was derived from customers in Macau.

The company said in commentary accompanying its latest results that its goal for 2023 was “to get back to profitability post-Covid”.

With Macau’s gaming and travel sectors “slowly returning to pre-Covid levels, the group’s business has improved significantly,” said the group, adding that its latest results “reflected this turnaround” in terms of performance.

APE said it expected its business performance to “continue to improve” in the remainder of 2023. “We feel optimistic that we will get back to profitability fairly soon,” it added.