Asian casino operator Donaco International has released a trading update on its expected financial performance for the year to the end of June, predicting annual normalized earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $65 million to $69 million.
Sydney-listed Donaco International runs the Aristo International Hotel And Casino?in northern Vietnam and spent $360 million in July to purchase Cambodia’s Star Vegas International Resort And Casino.
The Australian firm established in 2002 by Joey Lim and his late grandfather Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, who was also a founder of Malaysia’s Genting Group, declared that actual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the previous ten months currently stood $7.3 million below previous normalized results due to a below normal win rate from high-rollers at its Aristo International Hotel And Casino of 1.62%.
“It’s definitely not a downgrade,” said Ben Reichel, Executive Director for Sydney-based Donaco International.
Despite these figures, Donaco International stated that its actual ten-month earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were 38% up on last year’s figures while its Star Vegas International Resort And Casino posted an 8.5% rise in revenues alongside a 6.4% boost in earnings.
“Overall, Donaco International is performing in line with analysts’ expectations at group level on [a] normalised basis, driven by strong performance from both the Star Vegas Resort and Aristo International hotel assets,” read the trading update.
Donaco International moreover confirmed that discussions are continuing into the possibility of expanding the Star Vegas International Resort And Casino in the border town of Poipet into the adjacent 240-room Star Paradise Hotel.
“There is significant demand from new Thai junkets [that] cannot be accommodated in the existing property due to [that venue’s] long-standing arrangements with existing junket operators,” read the update.