Casino investor New Silkroad Culturaltainment Ltd says it has been unable to start development of an integrated resort project on the South Korean holiday island of Jeju due to ongoing delays in obtaining financing.
Known as Glorious Hill, the project was first touted in 2016 as “one of the largest integrated resort complexes in South Korea” with numerous five-star hotels, commercial and residential properties, healthcare facilities, a theme park and golf courses.
However, more than 12 months after gaining regulatory approval to start development, New Silkroad has yet to break ground on the project, citing “project financing delays” in its results announcement for the six months to 30 June 2020, published Wednesday. The company had stated the same problem in April.
New Silkroad certainly hasn’t been helped by COVID-19, which saw it fall to a loss of HK$43.5 million (US$5.6 million) in 1H20 – mainly due to travel restrictions and the temporary suspension of operations at its current casino, MegaLuck, at Jeju’s KAL Hotel. Revenue at MegaLuck plummeted 99.4% to HK$400,000 (US$51,600), with a gross loss of HK$5 million (US$645,000).
New Silkroad also operates a wine business, which saw revenue fall by only 4.4% to HK$49.2 million (US$6.3 million).
