South Asian casino operator Delta Corp’s latest earnings report was downright gaudy, leading giddy investors to push the company’s share price to record heights.
On Monday, Delta Corp released its fiscal Q3 results covering the three months ending December 31, 2017. The company’s net revenue totaled Rs1.62b (US $25.3m), a gain of 57% over Q4 2016. Pre-tax profits more than quadrupled to Rs669m while after-tax profit shot up a similarly vulgar percentage to Rs447m.
The triple-digit gains were enough for investors to propel Delta’s shares to record heights. The stock closed out Tuesday’s trading up 3.6% to Rs 329.5. Delta’s shares have now risen by more than one-quarter in just the past month.
Breaking down the revenue by section, gaming operations reported gross revenue of Rs 1.56b, up 73% year-on-year. The gains are at least partially due to last year’s launch of the new Casino Deltin Denzong in the state of Sikkim. Hospitality and other revenue improved 28% to Rs232m.
Last summer, Delta acquired the online gaming operations of Gauss Networks Pvt Ltd, including India’s largest online poker site Adda52.com. Online gaming generated revenue of Rs284m in Q3, up from Rs240m in Delta’s Q2 report.
In addition to its Sikkim casino, Delta operates four casinos in the state of Goa (three floating, one land-based). Delta also runs an integrated resort in Daman, with a casino floor that has been patiently waiting on a gaming license for over four years now.
Delta has also been expanding into neighboring Nepal, announcing a deal last October to operate a casino in the Marriott Kathmandu hotel, which is scheduled to open this June.
Delta CEO Anil Malani claimed last month that his company expected a busy next few years as Goa transitions its shipboard casino licenses to land-based venues. Malani said he couldn’t wait for the state government to commence this move, claiming that Delta’s floating casinos were “completely strained for capacity.”
