GGRAsia – Kingston Financial casino revenue up 2pct in fiscal 2017

Kingston Financial casino revenue up 2pct in fiscal 2017

Jun 30, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Hong Kong-listed Kingston Financial Group Ltd reported that gaming revenue from its two Macau casinos increased by 2.3 percent year-on-year in the fiscal year to March 31, 2017.

Casino revenue rose to HKD492.1 million (US$63.1 million), from HKD480.8 million in the previous year, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The firm controls two casino hotels – Casa Real on Macau peninsula and Grandview (pictured) on Taipa – that offer gaming under the licence of SJM Holdings Ltd.

As of March 31, Kingston Financial controlled 64 mass-market tables and 12 tables in VIP rooms. Its casinos also had 280 slot machines and 140 “live baccarat machines” in the electronic gaming halls, according to the filing.

“Live baccarat machines brought additional crowd to the casino, achieving synergy with the slot machine business,” said Kingston Financial.

The company reported lower commissions paid as an incentive to attract customers during the 12 months to March 31, 2017. Gaming commissions paid by the firm fell approximately 20.0 percent year-on-year to about HKD91.5 million in the latest fiscal year, according to Thursday’s filing.

“The decrease was due to the decrease in chips turnover in the group’s two casinos as there was stiff competition in the gaming industry in Macau during the [financial] year,” the firm said.

Aside from gaming and hospitality services in Macau, Kingston Financial is principally engaged in the provision of financial services, including securities brokerage, underwriting and share placements, and financing for margin trades and for initial public offerings.

Revenue from the gaming business segment accounted for 17.1 percent of the HKD2.88-billion revenue recorded by the group in the fiscal year, said Kingston Financial.

Group wide net profit for the fiscal year declined by 12.7 percent year-on-year to HKD1.48 billion, mainly because of the decrease in income from securities brokerage, underwriting and placements business, the firm said.