SINGAPORE - Genting Hong Kong on Tuesday (Feb 2) informed shareholders that it expects to post a net profit of not less than US$2 billion (S$2.85 billion) for the year ended Dec 31, which is much higher than the net profit of US$331.7 million posted a year ago.
This was based on the group's preliminary assessment of its latest unaudited financial information, excluding the share of results of Travellers.
The higher profit arises from a total gain of some US$658.6 million from disposals of certain stakes in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), a one-off accounting gain of US$1.567 billion recognised upon completion of a secondary offering of NCLH's ordinary shares, a one off gain of US$124.0 million from the deemed disposal of certain stake in NCLH which issued certain new shares for its acquisition of Prestige Cruises International, and the increase in foreign exchange loss of about US$24.5.
Despite an overall improvement in the performance of Genting Hong Kong's cruise business and contribution from Crystal Cruises, the group also expects a deterioration of operating results for 2015.
This is due to the weakness in the regional gaming industry.
In line with industry, management has increased the provision of doubtful debts, the group also said.
