GGRAsia – Imperial Pacific starts downsizing to focus on gaming

Imperial Pacific starts downsizing to focus on gaming

Sep 26, 2014 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck, World

Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd, an investor in the profit stream of Macau junket firm Hengsheng Group, said it wants to cut operating costs of other business segments in order to focus on the development of its gaming business.

The Hong Kong-listed firm on Wednesday said it would more than double its investment to build a casino resort in the western Pacific island of Saipan (pictured) to US$7.1 billion. The company said it planned to use equity and/or debt financing but did not have a concrete fundraising plan yet.

In a new filing on Thursday, Imperial Pacific – until recently known as First Natural Foods Holdings Ltd – said it has terminated a food processing agreement with a group of other companies. The five-year deal was due to expire in February 2016.

The firm said it expects to record a loss of about HKD6.8 million (US$876,766) because of the early termination of the agreement. The company should however receive the security deposit worth HKD17.5 million, it said.

Imperial Pacific said it decided to downsize the food processing and trading business “in view of the continual deteriorating performance” of the segment. It said it would seek potential investors “to dispose of part or all of this business”.

Last month, Imperial Pacific warned the Hong Kong bourse that it expected to record a significant loss for the six months to June 30, 2014.

The company said it would now prioritise the resources to develop the casino resort on Saipan, the largest island in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which is a five-hour flight from Shanghai.