Genting Hong Kong, the owner of Star Cruises and Crystal Cruises, says its first half 2015 interims will soar to about $2,100 million from $142 million in the same period last year, lifted by gains from its gradual exit as shareholder of Norwegian Cruise Line Holding (NCLH).
“The board of directors of the Company wishes to inform the shareholders, investors and potential investors of the Company that, based on the preliminary assessment of the latest unaudited financial information, excluding the share of results of NCLH and Travellers, the Group is expected to record a net profit of not less than US$2,100 million for the half year ended 30 June 2015, as compared with a net profit, excluding the share of results of NCLH and Travellers, of approximately US$142.2 million for the half year ended 30 June 2014,’ Genting said in a statement.
“Such expected increase in net profit is mainly attributable to a number of factors, including: (i) a total gain of US$599.6 million arising from disposals of certain stakes in NCLH, as disclosed in the Company’s announcements dated 9 March 2015 and 21 May 2015 (30 June 2014: US$152.6 million); (ii) a one-off accounting gain of US$1,567.4 million recognised upon completion of a secondary offering of NCLH’s ordinary shares following which the Group’s interest in NCLH deceased from approximately 22.0% to approximately 17.7% and the Group ceased to account for its share of results and net assets of NCLH as an “associate” but as an “available-for-sale investment” on 26 May 2015,” Genting stated.
The gain is calculated based on the difference between the market value of NCLH shares owned by the Group as at 26 May 2015 and the carrying value of such NCLH shares in the Group’s consolidated financial statements; (iii) the absence of a fair value gain of US$14.4 million arising from the mark-to-market revaluation of certain financial assets; and (iv) increase in foreign exchange loss of approximately US$19.4 million mainly attributable to depreciation of certain foreign currency-denominated bank balances against US dollar.
In addition, the Group also expects its EBITDA for the half year ended 30 June 2015 to increase compared with that of the corresponding period in 2014 mainly because of the maiden contribution from Crystal Cruises, LLC and an improvement in the Group’s underlying cruise business despite a softer overall gaming performance arising from weakness in the regional gaming industry.
