Macau-based gaming equipment supplier and casino services firm Paradise Entertainment Ltd reported a profit attributable to its owners of just under HKD65.8 million (US$8.4 million) for full-year 2023. That was an improvement on the HKD154.6-million loss recorded in 2022, according to a Tuesday filing.
The 2023 result was on revenue that rose 113.0 percent year-on-year, to HKD634.3 million. Costs of sales and services increased by just 14.6 percent year-on-year, to HKD309.7 million.
The company reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of HKD133.6 million in 2023, compared with a negative figure of HKD109.0 million in the prior year.
Paradise Entertainment, which supplies casino equipment under the LT Game brand, also has a service agreement for a satellite gaming venue at Casino Kam Pek Paradise in downtown Macau, with SJM Holdings Ltd as its licence partner.
The increase in revenue “was mainly due to the increase in revenue from the provision of casino management services in Macau, the sale of electronic gaming equipment and systems in Macau, and the new innovative and renewable energy solutions business,” stated the firm in the filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Revenue from Paradise Entertainment’s casino operations stood at HKD564.8 million last year, up 111.6 percent from 2022. The property featured last year, on average, 24 live-dealer gaming tables, 96 slot machines, 10 ‘live multi-game’ (LMG) tables, and 860 LMG terminals, the latter up from 493 terminals in 2022.
Adjusted EBITDA from operations at Casino Kam Pek Paradise was HKD162.8 million for full-year 2023, compared with a negative figure of HKD38.0 million in the prior year.
Revenue in the electronic gaming equipment and systems segment grew by 84.8 percent year-on-year, to HKD57.2 million in 2023. Adjusted EBITDA from this segment was negative to the tune of HKD14.8 million, an improvement on the HKD53.6-million figure in 2022.
The firm said the segment’s performance was due to an increase in sales and leasing of electronic gaming equipment and systems, and a reduction in costs for research and development, including the relocation of “certain work activities, which were previously conducted in overseas offices, to offices in Macau and mainland China”.
But such performance “was partially offset” by the decrease in revenue from the sale and leasing of electronic gaming equipment and systems in overseas markets, added the company.
In November, the LT Game brand launched two new standalone slot machine games – “Hulunbuir Grassland” and “Street Steel” – aimed at gaming destinations beyond its Macau home market, as looks to Southeast Asian markets for placement of its products.
In 2023, the company diversified into “green” business areas beyond its core gaming interest, providing what it says are “innovative and renewable energy solutions” in mainland China. The new segment contributed with revenue of HKD12.4 million last year.
As of December 31 last year, Paradise Entertainment had total outstanding indebtedness of HKD180.8 million.
The group is involved in a legal fight in the United States about asset ownership, copyright, and other matters, with Nevada-based Empire Technological Group Ltd. The Paradise Entertainment group filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in March this year to the U.S. District Court in Nevada.
