GGRAsia – Silver Heritage 2019 loss jumps on Tiger Palace impairment

Silver Heritage 2019 loss jumps on Tiger Palace impairment

Mar 31, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Boutique Asian casino operator Silver Heritage Group Ltd says its full-year net loss attributable to shareholders rose by 215.4 percent from the prior year, mainly because of an impairment charge related with the group’s operations in Nepal.

Such loss was US$35.1 million for the 12 months to December 31, 2019, compared with US$11.1 million in the previous year, the company said in a Tuesday filing to the Australian Securities Exchange.

Silver Heritage owns and operates the casino property Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa (pictured) on Nepal’s border with India. The group also manages gaming at the Millionaire’s Club and Casino, in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

The group said the yearly loss included an impairment charge of nearly US$22.5 million against the group’s Tiger Palace complex.

Group-wide revenue for the whole of 2019 stood at US$15.8 million, down 33.7 percent in year-on-year terms. Gaming revenue for the period was US$12.7 million, an increase of 15.3 percent from 2018.

Tiger Palace made a nearly-US$6.0 million contribution to group gaming revenue in 2019, up 5.6 percent from the previous year, according to the preliminary results summary filed on Tuesday.

The company said last week it had “closed until further notice” its two casinos in Nepal, as part of efforts in that country to contain the further spread of the Covid-19 virus.

The group’s earnings results did not include information from what had been a key gaming revenue generator for the group – management of a casino at the Phoenix International Club near Hanoi in Vietnam. The group stopped managing that venue at the start of March 2019, after that complex’s general manager said the local authorities were no longer permitting table games there.

Silver Heritage said previously that it was to receive US$5.25 million in compensation from its former partner in that Vietnam business, to be paid in two tranches. In a separate filing on Tuesday, Silver Heritage said it was still owed nearly US$1.5 million of such compensation fee. “The group has impaired this receivable for reporting purposes but continues to pursue the owner of Phoenix for this remaining sum,” added the Australia-listed firm.

The company said it continues to explore funding options, after a deal to sell its Nepal operations fell through “due to the buyer being unable to comply with all conditions of the offer”.

Silver Heritage said in January that it had secured a loan worth US$1 million from its majority bond holders. The money – provided under a number of conditions – would be used for working capital, the company said previously.