Increased Grand Emperor Hotel stake boosts Emperor Entertainment’s profit surge through 1H20
Macau gaming investor Emperor Entertainment Hotel Ltd has reported a 37.4% rise in profit attributable to owners of the company to HK$177.2 million in the six months ended 30 September 2019, the improvement attributed to the group having significantly increased its interest in Macau’s Grand Emperor Hotel during the year.
Emperor Entertainment revealed in October 2018 that it had purchased an additional 15% stake on top of its original 60% holding in Luck United Ltd – the subsidiary that operates Grand Emperor Hotel – for a consideration of HK$460 million (US$58.7 million). It later added another 5% stake, taking its total interest to 80%.
Announcing its half year results on Monday, Emperor Entertainment – which also operates the Inn Hotel Macau – revealed a 1.9% increase in group-wide revenue for the period to HK$677.9 million, with gaming revenue rising 2.4% to HK$559.5 million. Gaming comprised 82.5% of revenue.
Reflecting the current Macau-wide trend, it was mass market gaming that drove the company forward, with mass revenue rising 22.1% to HK$371.3 million and slot revenue up 7.7% to HK$21 million. Conversely, VIP volume fell 36.0% to HK$9.7 billion with revenue down 26.3% to HK$160.2 million.
Emperor said it operated 67 mass tables, 10 VIP tables and 180 slot machines during the period.
