It seems the month of December did not treat casinos owned by Donaco International as fairly as they had expected, as hinted in a news article recently published by Calvin Ayre. This became apparent after the Asian casino operator released the figures for the last three months of 2019 on Friday.
During the press release, the gaming operator noted that the Australian Securities Exchange requires the company to release quarterly reports of its financial statements. This directive came after Donaco was accused of having deficient funds to run its businesses.
Since then, Donaco has been dutifully filing its quarterly reports, which always show positive cash flow. Donaco claims this has been the trend since it was first listed on the Australian Securities Exchange 7 years ago.
The gaming operator claims it was wrongfully accused and it suspects the allegations were due to a long-standing battle with its former Thai vendor overpayments Donaco claims are not payable.
From the figures released on Friday, December came out undisputed as the worst month of that quarter, and as such the management team has been holding meetings to try and evade a repeat of the same. In its flagship Start Vegas property, gambling turnover from VIP gambling declined by nearly half from quarter four in 2018.
VIP win also went down from a high of 4.54% in November to 3.06% in December. According to calvinayre.com, the total revenue in Q4 2019 went down by nearly one third to $9 million while the earnings declined by half. Figures from its online gambling operations were not released. Online gambling was legalized in August 2018, but barely 6 months later, all Cambodian casinos were forced to cease operations.
The reduced earnings are being attributed to the heat of increased competition from both legal and illegal operators. In May last year, a new casino was opened in the vicinity of Star Vegas. The new Galaxy Plaza has been accused of the 16.2% decline in visitation at the Star Vegas.
Aristo International Hotel also ran by Donaco International, posted the same dismal figures in the month of December. Though its VIP turnover went up by 47%, the win rate declined by 1.73%, thanks to the 0.12% win rate in December. The total revenue from the venue went down to $2.15 million as earnings declined to just $300,000.
In this New Year, things seem to be looking up to the two venues. According to Donaco, both gaming venues have posted increased numbers in the month of January. Slots activity in Star Vegas has increased tremendously after new slot machines were deployed to the casino. Aristo’s VIP is also doing great, with increased VIP flow and strong turnover numbers. Specific numbers on the H1 will be released by the end of February.
Last year, Donaco International had plans to rebrand its operations at Pan Asian Leisure. However, the plans did not follow through after the proposition managed to achieve only 65% support during the annual general meeting. The support was below the 75% required to pass changes.
