GGRAsia – First half loss shrinks at GEN HK as cruise biz improves

First half loss shrinks at GEN HK as cruise biz improves

Jul 31, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Operator of casino cruise ships and investor in Asian casinos Genting Hong Kong Ltd has announced that it expects to have reduced this year’s first-half net loss to between US$150 million and US$170 million, down from US$205.4 million in the corresponding period last year.

Genting Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Bhd, told the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday the company’s performance was due mainly to an improvement in its cruise business. That improvement was partly offset by a reduction in the cost of capitalising its assets.

Genting Hong Kong is preparing to lay the keel of the 20,000-ton Crystal Endeavor next month and the keel of the first of the company’s 204,000-ton Global Class ships will be laid in September. Both events will increase cost capitalisation and the rate of production.

The latest forecast is mandated by the rules of the stock exchange but the forecast omits the first-half performance of a key business: Travellers International Hotel Group Inc, which runs the Resorts World Manila casino resort in the Philippines. The board told the stock exchange it would consider making another announcement once the first-half results for Travellers International are reported.

Genting Hong Kong made a net loss of about US$242.3 million last year, having made a net loss US$502.3 million in 2016. The reduced loss was partly due to a one-off gain of US$205 million on the sale of shares in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd and shares in The Star Entertainment Group Ltd, an Australian casino operator.

Genting Hong Kong stock is now traded only at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, its shares having been delisted from the Singapore Exchange in April. Ahead of the move, the organisation said the delisting would allow the firm “to focus its efforts and resources on its core business activities relating to the operation of cruise ships in Asia (in particular, North Asia)”.

Genting Hong Kong is due to announce its unaudited consolidated results for the first half next month.