Kingston Financial gaming revenues plummet 37 pct in MSAR

By
Kam Leong

Investment holding company Kingston Financial Group Ltd.
saw gaming revenues generated by its businesses in Macau plunge nearly 37 per cent year-on-year to HK$239.5 million (US$29.8 million) for the six months ended September 30, it told Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday after trading hours.
The Hong Kong-based company owns Casa Real Hotel and Grandview Hotel in the city and runs casino operations in the two properties under the gaming licence of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, S.A. (SJM).
For the six months, the company’s adjusted EBITA of the gaming segment totalled HK$78.2 million, half its HK$161 million of one year ago. The company claimed that such decreases in the results were due to ‘sluggish market conditions’, indicating the performance of its gaming businesses are ‘in line with the development of the gaming industry in Macau.’
For the same period, the cityÂ’s total gaming revenues dropped some 35.85 per cent year-on-year in general, according to data released by the Macau Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau (DICJ).
As at the end of September, the hotel and casino operator had a total of 59 mass gaming tables, two VIP rooms, 239 slot machines and 134 live baccarat machines in its two casino properties.
‘Live baccarat machines brought additional crowds to the properties, achieving synergy with the slot machine business as well,’ it claimed, without revealing data related to the performance of the segment.
Meanwhile, Kingston Financial registered a decrease of 26 per cent in its hotel revenues to some HK$98.5 million compared to HK$133.5 million during the same period of last year. In addition, adjusted EBITA generated from the sector fell 32.7 per cent year-on-year to HK$62.5 million from HK$92.8 million.
The companyÂ’s two hotels also saw occupancy decrease for the six months.
The average occupancy rate of Casa Real dropped to 83 per cent from 90 per cent one year ago, while that of Grandview declined year-on-year to 72 per cent from 85 per cent.
However, the company perceives that ‘In spite of the slowdown of the tourism industry in Macau, the performance of the Group’s hotel business was satisfactory.’
Although the financial company’s businesses in Macau registered decreases, its total net profit surged 59 per cent year-on-year to HK$923.4 million from HK$579 million for the period, driven by its ‘outstanding performance’ in its financial services segment in Hong Kong.