GGRAsia – Kingston Financial casino revenue slips 38 pct in 1H

Kingston Financial casino revenue slips 38 pct in 1H

Nov 24, 2015 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News, Macau

Kingston Financial Group Ltd reported that gaming revenue from two Macau casinos it controls fell by 38 percent year-on-year in the six months to September 30.

Gaming revenue – including food and beverage sales in the casinos – declined to HKD235.29 million (US$30.4 million), from HKD379.38 million in the year-prior period, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday.

It said the gaming operation was “affected by the sluggish market conditions” in Macau.

The firm controls two casino hotels – Casa Real (pictured) on Macau peninsula and Grandview on Taipa. They offer gaming under the casino licence of SJM Holdings Ltd via a so-called service agreement.

As at September 30, Kingston Financial controlled 59 mass-market tables in two mass market gaming halls, and 14 tables in two VIP rooms. Its casinos also had an aggregate of 239 slot machines and 134 “live baccarat machines” in electronic gaming halls at the two venues, the firm said.

Kingston Financial’s principal business is financial services, including securities brokerage, underwriting and share placements, as well as financing for margin trades and organisation of initial public offerings.

Revenue from the gaming segment accounted for 14.2 percent of the HKD1.65-billion revenue recorded by the group in the fiscal first half, said Kingston Financial. The firm said group wide net profit for the six months to September 30 increased by about 59 percent year-on-year to HKD923.38 million, “mainly due to the increase in income from securities brokerage, underwriting and placements, margin and IPO financing businesses”.

Earlier this year, Kingston Financial underwrote a rights issue in Hong Kong by mainland China real estate developer Landing International Development Ltd. It was toward the latter’s share of costs for a South Korea casino project being pursued in partnership with Singapore casino operator Genting Singapore Plc. Landing International said on July 17 that the exercise had raised HKD4.16 billion.