Landing Int’l casino revenues slip 19 pct in 2015

Mainland real estate developer Landing International Development Ltd. saw its revenues generated from its Korean casino business register a year-on-year plunge of 18.5 per cent to HK$17.4 million (US$2.17 million) for the whole year of 2015, it informed Hong Kong Stock Exchange last Friday.
In its filing, the company – currently running a casino in Hyatt Regency Jeju Hotel in Jeju, South Korea in a partnership with Genting Hong Kong Ltd. – did not explain the factors causing such a drop in casino revenues. In fact, Landing posted a loss of HK$73.6 million in its casino business for the year, expanding more than 2.5 times compared with its loss of HK$20.3 million in 2014.
Despite its loss in the segment, Landing said in its filing that there are still a ‘series of advantageous factors’ of its developing casino business in South Korea, claiming it perceived ‘an upward trend in the number of Chinese tourists travelling to South Korea and the gaming industry in Korea is expected to gain advantage from the booming tourism in South Korea’.
‘The Group aims to develop the Jeju Casino as one of landmarks of Jeju Korea,’ it stated.
For 2015, the Chinese property developer registered a total net loss of HK$987.97 million, which grew by 236.4 per cent compared to that of HK$293.7 million for 2014, although its total turnover increased 10.4 per cent year-on-year to HK$246.5 million.
Landing explained that the total net loss is mainly due to the loss on disposal of property subsidiaries, loss on disposal of financial assets, as well as increase in administrative expenses and financial costs.
By contrast, the company’s casino business partner, Genting Hong Kong, told Hong Kong Stock Exchange last Thursday that its total net profit had soared by 448 per cent year-on-year to US$2.1 billion from US$384.1 million for 2015.