GGRAsia – Imperial Pacific loss balloons on impairment charge

Imperial Pacific loss balloons on impairment charge

Mar 26, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World

Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd, an investor in a casino resort on the Pacific island of Saipan, posted a loss attributable to owners of the company of HKD1.56 billion (US$201 million) for 2014. That compares to a loss of HKD14.95 million in the previous year.

Imperial Pacific, which announced plans to invest as much as US$7.1 billion in the development of a casino scheme on Saipan, is also an investor in the profit stream of Macau junket firm Hengsheng Group.

The firm reported a turnover of HKD558.3 million for 2014, up by 2.5 percent year-on-year. But the company said it had recognised an impairment loss regarding the investment in Hengsheng.

In January, Imperial Pacific said the profit stream from the Macau junket firm – amounting to HKD10.7 million – had fallen short of guarantees made by the vendor’s side.

“As there was a drop in rolling turnover generated during second half of year 2014 due to a significant downturn of Macau gaming sector, the expected cash inflow from this business segment decreased and therefore an impairment loss of approximately HKD1,296,550,000 in respect of intangible asset was recognised,” the firm said on Tuesday.

The company also reported a loss of approximately HKD181 million in relation to the investment in Saipan.

On Tuesday, Imperial Pacific confirmed it intends to launch a “temporary casino” in Saipan this year, a plan announced earlier this month. “Cash flow is expected to be brought in by this segment in 2015,” the firm said.

The company – until recently known as First Natural Foods Holdings Ltd – also operates in the processing and trading of food products. The loss in this segment jumped to about HKD43 million, from HKD11.3 million in 2013.

“The company has decided not to focus on developing but downsize this business or identify potential investors to dispose of part or all of the frozen and functional food products business,” Imperial Pacific said.