GGRAsia – Ponte 16 investor Success Universe profit up 36pct in 2019

Ponte 16 investor Success Universe profit up 36pct in 2019

Mar 31, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Success Universe Group Ltd, a Hong Kong-listed investor in the Ponte 16 casino resort (pictured) at Macau’s Inner Harbour district, said its 2019 profit rose 36.2 percent on revenue that went up 2.4 percent.

Such profit was nearly HKD74.2 million (US$9.6 million) compared to almost HKD54.5 million in 2018, on revenue that amounted to nearly HKD1.15 billion, versus HKD1.12 billion a year before.

Earnings per basic and per diluted share rose to HKD0.0151, from HKD0.0111 in 2018.

The firm did not recommend any final dividend for 2019, nor had it issued an interim one.

It said the increase in profit was “mainly attributable to the increase in [revenue related to] the group’s share of profit of the associates [relating to Ponte 16], notwithstanding the decrease in fair value gain on the group’s investment properties as well as the write-down of carrying amount of the group’s stock of properties”.

The group’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the reporting year increased by 5.8 percent to approximately HKD377.5 million, from HKD356.7 million a year earlier. The average occupancy rate of Ponte 16’s Sofitel Macau hotel was more than 90 percent, the same as in 2018.

The casino at Ponte 16 is run under the licence of SJM Holdings Ltd.

The group’s shared 2019 profit of the associates relating to Ponte 16 was approximately HKD116.8 million, an increase of 71.5 percent from the HKD68.1 million in 2018.

Success Universe said gross gaming revenue (GGR) at the casino in 2019 had outperformed the Macau market as a whole, which saw a 3.4 percent contraction in GGR that year.

As at 31 December 2019, the casino of Ponte 16 had 109 gaming tables, consisting of 98 mass gaming tables, seven high-limit tables and four VIP tables, “maintaining a competitive mix for the current market trend of Macau”.

But Success Universe said in commentary on events outside the reporting period, that global economic conditions were likely to be “clouded” by the trade disputes between the United States and China and geopolitical tension, “as well as the impacts of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis”.

The firm noted: “The pandemic has brought further pressure on worldwide business sectors, in particular of gaming, tourism and entertainment industries, and it is not possible to predict the full extent of the impact at this point of time.”