HongKong-listed junket operator Amax International Holdings Ltd cashed in some HKD1.71 million (US$219,000) from its “interactive gaming” in Vanuatu from July to September 2016 period
Amax reported before the HongKong Stock Exchange that it generated profit from its online business in the Pacific island nation, which began operation in July.
“Between then and September 2016, the business recorded gross revenue of HK$1.71 million,” Amax International announced. “With the number of visitors to Vanuatu on the rise and in view of its supportive demographics, the board is confident in the long-term success of the gaming business… At the same time, while working hard to formulate a strategy to develop the Vanuatu gaming business, the group has also been exploring opportunities to expand its revenue sources by tapping the Asia-Pacific region.”
In October 2014, Amax acquired a 60-percent equity interest in Forenzia Enterprises – a company that operates a gaming business in Vanuatu under an interactive gaming (online gambling) license valid for a period of 15 years from February 2014.
The earnings of Amax’s “interactive gaming,” however, wasn’t enough to lift the company’s profits in the six months ended September 30. Amax reportedly incurred a net loss of HKD18.3 million (US$2.36 million) for the April to September 2016 period compared to a net loss of HKD17.7 million in the prior-year period.
The firm attributed the dismal revenue performance to the implementation of a market-wide 1.25 percent cap on junket commissions in 2009.
“With the gaming sector in Macau slowing down, which is in contrast with a booming global gaming market in recent years, the group has been exploring ways to diversify its core business geographically and establishing gaming operations outside Macau,” Amax International stated in its latest results announcement.
Aside from its business in Vanuatu, Amax still holds 24.8 percent stake in Greek Mythology (Macau) Entertainment Group Corp Ltd.
It reported that the operator of Greek Mythology casino, which is inside Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel, has been keeping them in the dark in terms of the resort’s “valid financial information, prompting the junket operator to engaged them in a lengthy legal dispute.
The casino was temporarily shutdown on December 31, 2015, upon the orders of the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, which acted on the request of casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd.
In July 2016, the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) ordered a temporary closureof Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel for a period of six months.
The sanction on the hotel was the result of “serious administrative irregularities” and “illegal reconstructions”, said at the time Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, MGTO’s director.
Amax, for its part, assured investors in the latest regulatory filing that the temporary closure of Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel “will not have any material impact on the financial position of the company.”
