GGRAsia – Ponte 16 narrows 1H EBITDA loss, shareholder loans for ops

Ponte 16 narrows 1H EBITDA loss, shareholder loans for ops

Aug 31, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Success Universe Group Ltd, an investor in Macau casino hotel Ponte 16 (pictured), said the property recorded negative adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of HKD1.0 million (US$127,400) for the first six months of 2022. That compares with a negative figure of HKD41.4 million in the prior-year period, said the company in a Tuesday filing.

The Hong Kong-listed firm said the group’s shared loss of the associates relating to Ponte 16 decreased by 68.3 percent to approximately HKD9.6 million in the reporting period.

It stated: “Ponte 16 continues to implement stringent cost control measures and streamline operations.”

Success Universe is a joint venture partner, with a unit of casino concessionaire SJM Holdings Ltd, in Ponte 16, a property at Macau’s Inner Harbour district. The gaming venue is considered a “satellite” casino of SJM Holdings.

Success Universe stated in its latest filing that it had provided shareholder’s loans to Ponte 16 of HKD19.6 million and HKD9.8 million in July and August respectively, in proportion to its 49-percent shareholding in the project, “for the purpose of financing its operating cost”.

Casinos in Macau continued to operate in the first half of 2022 in a low-revenue environment amid Covid-19 alerts and outbreaks either in Macau or mainland China. Since the onset of the pandemic, mainland China has been the only place to have a largely-quarantine free travel arrangement with Macau.

A community outbreak of Covid-19 in Macau, which started on June 18 and took more than a month for the authorities to bring under control, saw a 12-day shutdown in July of the city’s casinos as a precaution.

As of June 30, the casino at Ponte 16 had 109 gaming tables, consisting of 101 mass tables and 8 high-limit tables, according to Success Universe.

The firm posted a net loss of just below HKD125.5 million in the first half of 2022, versus a net loss of nearly HKD52.8 million in the prior-year period. Success Universe said the jump in loss “was mainly attributable to a substantial increase in the unrealised fair value loss on the group’s overseas listed equity securities, notwithstanding the decrease in the group’s share of loss of the associates.”

Group-wide revenue for the period was just above HKD54.5 million, up 54.1 percent from the prior-year period, said the company.

The firm did not recommend the payment of an interim dividend, similar to its recommendation a year earlier. The firm did not pay any dividend for financial year 2021.