GGRAsia – Kingston Financial annual gaming takings dip to US$49mln

Kingston Financial annual gaming takings dip to US$49mln

Jul 01, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Kingston Financial Group Ltd, the operator of two so-called satellite casinos in Macau, says its annual gaming revenue fell by 16.5 percent year-on-year to almost HKD382.3 million (US$49.3 million) in the financial year ended March 31, 2020.

Hong Kong-listed Kingston Financial operates the Casa Real casino on Macau peninsula and the Grandview casino (pictured) on the island of Taipa. The company operates its casinos under the gaming licence of SJM Holdings Ltd.

The Kingston Financial annual report said the casinos “consistently provided solid contributions to the group” during the reporting period. The operation of such venues was however disrupted earlier this year “by the spread of the coronavirus” associated with the Covid-19 disease, stated the report filed on Tuesday.

Political instability in Hong Kong and the outbreak of Covid-19 “resulted in a significant decrease in the number of tourists visiting Macau. In light of Covid-19, casinos in Macau suspended operations for 15 days [in] February 2020 at the request of the Macau government,” said Kingston Financial.

The annual report said gaming revenue made up about 15 percent of all Kingston Financial revenue in the last financial year, the same percentage as the year before.

As of March 31, the Kingston Financial casinos contained 69 mass-market gaming tables; 15 VIP-market gaming tables; and 262 slot machines.

The group said it paid an aggregate of nearly HKD122.4 million in gaming commissions for the 12 months ended March 31, up 30.2 percent from the previous financial year. Such commissions were paid “as an incentive to attract customers,” it said.

“The group revised its gaming commission policy in one of its VIP rooms which resulted in a significant increase” in such payments, added the firm.

Kingston Financial is also in the businesses of securities brokerage, underwriting and placements, margin and initial public offering financing, advising on corporate finance, futures brokerage and asset management.

Group-wide annual profit attributable to its owners halved from the previous year, to HKD503.1 million, on revenue of almost HKD2.68 billion, 12.7 percent less.

The company blamed the fall in profit mainly on impairment losses on advances to customers in the margin financing segment.

The board of Kingston Financial recommended the payment of final dividend of HKD0.01 per share for the 12 months ended March 31, amounting in aggregate to just above HKD173.6 million.