Business of Hong Kong-listed gaming investor Genting Hong Kong sailed smoothly in the first half of 2018, resulting in the company expecting its net loss to go down by at least 17 percent.
In a regulatory filing, Genting Hong Kong estimated that its consolidated net loss for the first six months of 2018 to be around US$150 million to US$170 million. The estimate is lower than the US$205.4 million net loss it incurred for the six months that ended June 30, 2017.
Genting’s optimism boiled down to the improved business performance of its cruise segment for January to June 2018 period. If not for the lower cost capitalization in the shipyards, Genting said that its net loss might have been lower than its expectation.
However, the Hong Kong-based firm noted that it did not take into account the group’s share of results from Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc. “as Travellers is a listed company on an overseas stock exchange and its results have not been announced.”
“The improved performance of the cruise segment is partially offset by a lower cost capitalization in the shipyards for the six months ended 30 June 2018 as the keel laying of the 20,000 gross ton Crystal Endeavor and the first 204,000 gross ton Global Class ships will be in August 2018 and September 2018 respectively, which will subsequently increase the rate of production and cost capitalization,” Genting Hong Kong said in a statement.
Genting Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Berhad, is expected to announce its unaudited consolidated results for the six months ended June 30, 2018 next month.
The casino investor is one of the major operators that will be vying for a gaming license in Japan after the country’s Diet approved the Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill recently. In preparation for the casino bidding war, Genting Hong Kong decided to dispose all of its remaining 3.15 million shares in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) in June. The sale of NCLH shares, equivalent to a 1.4 percent stake, will take place in the next 12 months.
The proceeds from the disposal will also be used as general working capital and capital expenditure for the group and/or to fund new investments, “should suitable opportunities arise,” according to the company.
