Macau casino junket investor Amax Holdings posted a profit of HKD 65.4m (US $8.4m) in its fiscal year ending March 31. The result marks a significant turnaround from the previous year, in which Amax posted a loss of HKD 39.4m. However, while the company managed to trim its expenses, the black ink is primarily attributable to the sale of subsidiary Ace High Group Ltd. for HKD 102m. Ace High had been a thorn in Amax’s side for years, carrying a host of bad gambling debts that left it operating in the red since 2009.
As with previous Amax filings, the company stresses that the results don’t reflect the actual performance of its associate Greek Mythology (Macau) Entertainment Group (GMEG), in which Amax holds a 24.8% stake. The company operates tables at the SJM Holdings-licensed Greek Mythology Casino at the Imperial Palace Hotel (formerly the New Century Hotel). GMEG was hit for a loop a few years ago after SJM reallocated 40 gaming tables from the Greek Mythology casino to other SJM properties in Macau. Ever since, Amax has claimed it can’t get proper accounting from its associate.
In mid-June, Amax filed its latest suit against GMEG in a bid to force management to produce its accounts for the year ending Dec. 31, 2013. In May, Macau’s Court of First Instance ordered GMEG to produce its management accounts for 2012 within 60 days, but the Court denied Amax’s request to have court-appointed auditors do some forensic investigation of these accounts.
Finally, Amax has once again extended its deal to build a casino in the Turkish half of Cyprus. It was last summer when Amax first announced its deal to acquire 51% of Southern Ruby Limited, which holds the right to operate a casino in Gime’s Lara Park Hotel. Negotiations were supposed to conclude shortly thereafter, but talks were extended in November, again in December and yet again in February. Amax now says the deadline for conducting due diligence is Oct. 31, but we suspect their Haloween costume might look a lot like Pinocchio.
