Summit Ascent main shareholders mull share disposal

Wednesday 3rd of April 2019

Summit Ascent Holdings, operators of Tigre De Cristal, has announced that its main shareholders, First Steamship Co Ltd, and Summit Ascent chairman Kuo Jen Hao, are considering selling their stakes in the company.

In a voluntary announcement on Tuesday, the Hong Kong-listed company said the two were approached by a third party to acquire their entire shareholdings in the company.

The pair have not come to a decision and said they will inform the Board once they come to a definitive decision in this respect.

Summit Ascent Holdings saw its second-half 2018 results top expectations. Analysts from Union Gaming released a note last month noting that the Russian operator had the potential to almost double its VIP business by 2020.

The brokerage upgraded its rating for the operator to a “buy” after the release of results, which were helped by improving VIP revenue and continued strong growth in mass and slots.

“We see significant upside potential with respect to the company’s VIP program on a go-forward basis,” it said, adding that it is also likely to benefit from the cluster effect of an expected opening of a project by NagaCorp later this year.

Group profit for 2018 was HK$4.1 million, compared to a loss of HK$10.0 million for the prior year. Total revenue for the year was HK$463.2 million, down 1.6 percent year-over-year, partly due to the weakening Russian rouble.