Hong Kong-listed International Entertainment Corp (IEC) has issued a profit warning on a widened loss for the six months to 31 December 2021.
The company said Thursday that it expects to record a loss for the period of HK$136.6 million (US$17.5 million), around 50% higher than the net loss of HK$91.1 million (US$11.7 million) for the back half of 2020.
This was mainly due, IEC said, to an increase in fair value loss of investment properties and a decrease in revenue from hotel operations at New Coast Hotel Manila in the Philippines. The latter was impacted by “a series of anti-pandemic measures such as entry restriction and different levels of community quarantine requirements imposed in the Philippines to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.”
IEC last year announced plans to co-run casino operations at New Coast Hotel Manila alongside local gaming regulator PAGCOR after signing a cooperation agreement. The company then plans to use the know-how it acquires from PAGCOR to develop and operate its own integrated resort in Manila, having already been granted a provisional gaming license.
The IR is set to feature “two-to-three sky high buildings” and cover 250,000 square meters of total area, with substantial gaming and non-gaming attractions.
IEC’s IR plans have coincided with its Chairman, Stanley Choi, selling down his stake in the company from a high of 55.82% in early 2021 to less than 5% as of late January 2022 – enough for him to no longer be deemed a substantial shareholder.
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