Operator News
Czech – Far East Consortium to turn American Chance into Asian opportunity
By Phil - 28 November 2018
Far East Consortium International, a Hong-Kong-floated property developer that recently became a player in the casino sector has announced revenue of HK$3bn for the first half of the year ending September 30, marking an increase of 6.8 per cent.
The half was the first period when the group started to see contributions from its gaming operations, following its acquisition of Czech-based operator Trans World Corporation (TWC) in April 2018, and its investment in The Star Entertainment Group in Australia which started to generate dividend income.
Total revenue from gaming operations was approximately HK$149m during the period.
TWC owns and operates a portfolio of three casinos in Czech Republic. All the casinos of TWC operate under the registered brand American Chance Casinos featuring gaming tables and slot machines and are situated on the Czech borders with Germany and Austria catering to cross-border guests from these countries. With the group’s implementation of the “Asian Wallet” strategy, the group will endeavour to introduce Asian customers to TWC’s properties.
The group stated: “Integration of TWC is progressing smoothly following acquisition on April 30 2018. Synergies are expected through integration with FEC hospitality operations. Revenue from TWC’s gaming operations during the period of HK$114m represented five months’ contribution since the acquisition. Looking into the second half of 2019, a number of projects will be launched and completed in the residential segment. Strong momentum remains in the hotel segment with the full period contribution of TWC’s hotels.”
In March 2018, the Group entered into a strategic alliance agreement with The Star and Chow Tai Fook Group and took a 4.99 per cent equity stake in The Star, one of the two major casino operators in Australia which has a dominant position in Sydney, Gold Coast and Brisbane. During the first half of 2019, revenue from the group’s investment in The Star was HK$35m which represented dividend receivable from The Star declared for the period.
“The Star, will be another major growth driver of the group’s business,” the group continued. “The group is now in a unique position to extract value out of its various investments in this business through hotel and residential development in various locations. Synergies through strategic alliance with the Star and from TWC business will be extracted and full period contribution of TWC’s casinos will be expected.”
David CHIU, Chairman of FEC said: “The recurring cashflow business is also supported by the Group’s recent acquisition of TWC and our investment in The Star. Despite the increasingly challenging environment in the future, we are confident about the outlook and prospects of the group. We will continue to adopt diversified regional strategy and the ‘Asian Wallet’ strategy, and to expand our development pipelines by allocating resources wisely. We believe the group has laid a solid foundation for growth and will continue to bring to its shareholders long-term growth and steady dividend income.”
