GGRAsia – Frontier Capital posts US$1.4mln profit as casino starts ops

Frontier Capital posts US$1.4mln profit as casino starts ops

Mar 02, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World

Australia-listed casino investor Frontier Capital Group Ltd posted a net profit of nearly AUD2.14 million (US$1.40 million) for full-year 2019, compared to a net loss of AUD827,000 in the previous year.

The company recorded revenue of slightly above AUD28.81 million for the period, compared with AUD2.51 million in the whole of 2018. Gaming revenue for full-year 2019 was AUD27.75 million, accounting for 96.3 percent of group-wide revenue.

The firm’s costs for the period rose by 337.8 percent year-on-year, to AUD19.17 million, the firm said in a Friday filing to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

“The increase in profit … was mainly due to [the] reopening of [the] casino business late in 2019 in [the] Philippines,” said the company in the document.

Frontier Capital said in July it had resumed gaming operations following a soft opening of its casino resort in June. The FortuneGate Casino had an official opening ceremony on July 28, according to the company.

Frontier Capital has controlled since February 2016 the Hotel Stotsenberg (pictured) and the casino facility inside, located at the Clark Freeport Zone, in the Philippines. The operations of the gaming venue – previously known as Casablanca Casino – had been suspended for a number of years as the company had not met the regulator’s compliance requirements, according to previous filings. The hotel has remained in operation throughout the period.

Frontier Capital said in early February that it had “re-established” profitable operations at its property, following resumption of gaming operations. Trading in the shares of Frontier Capital is currently suspended as the ASX probes if the firm is complying with the existing listing rules in Australia.

The company said at the time that it considered that the firm’s financial standing was “sufficient to warrant continued listing on the ASX”. The firm added: “Since the recommencement of operations of the casino, Frontier Capital has seen strong revenues sufficient to meet its financial obligations and provide a strong platform for growth.”

The company said in Friday’s filing however that the Covid-19 virus might “have an impact” on the firm’s future revenues. “The extent of this is currently unknown and is being monitored closely,” it added.