GGRAsia – Success Universe posts US$4.6mln 1H loss, revenue halved

Success Universe posts US$4.6mln 1H loss, revenue halved

Aug 29, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Success Universe Group Ltd, an investor in Macau casino hotel Ponte 16 (pictured), posted a net loss of just under HKD35.5 million (US$4.6 million) for the first half of 2024. That compared with a HKD153.8-million profit a year earlier, according to a Thursday filing.

The Hong Kong-listed company reported revenue of HKD32.5 million for the period, down 52.5 percent from first-half 2023.

The firm said the Ponte 16 property recorded adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of HKD134.7 million for the first six months of 2024, compared with HKD167.8 million a year earlier.

Success Universe stated it went into the red due to fair-value losses on its overseas-listed equity securities and investment properties.

That was mainly attributable to the firm recognising a fair-value loss of approximately HKD38.4 million, compared with a gain of about HKD105.5 million in the first six months of 2023.

The firm also said it recorded during the period a fair-value loss on its investment properties, “as well as a write-down/impairment loss of carrying amounts of the group’s stock of properties and leasehold land and buildings” in the aggregate amount of circa HKD24.9 million. A year ago, it had recognised a gain of about HKD2.3 million.

Success Universe added that the group’s shared profit of the associates relating to Ponte 16 stood at HKD58.2 million in the six months to June 30, down from HKD71.6 million in the prior-year period.

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.

As of June 30, the casino at Ponte 16 had 109 gaming tables, consisting of 103 mass tables and 6 high-limit tables, according to Success Universe.

The firm posted a net profit of HKD169.3 million for full-year 2023, compared with a net loss of nearly HKD287.1 million in the prior year.

Success Universe is currently preparing for its long-anticipated extension to Ponte 16. The expansion plan is likely to involve an investment of “HKD500 million to HKD600 million,” according to the firm’s deputy chairman, Hoffman Ma Ho Man, in a statement made in February.