Donaco International Ltd has announced that it will continue its operations at Star Vegas as it awaits final approval from the government of Cambodia. Star Vegas is located in the vicinity of the border with Thailand, in a city called Poipet.
Star Vegas Closed Its Doors in April 2021
After reporting losses of AU$530,000 ($373,000) in the three months to June 30, 2021, Donaco International reported that Star Vegas will close on April 27. Back then, the non-executive chairman of Donaco, Paul Porntat, noted that the period hasn’t been easy. Porntat went on to say that the pandemic “has impacted the industry as a whole” and due to that fact, the health of both staff and visitors has been the “number one priority.”
Star Vegas was among the casinos that the Cambodian government ordered to cease all operations and since then, the company has been taking the necessary steps to ensure that the business is protected and the cash is preserved.
On Friday, the company also reported a 91.7% YoY decline in net revenue. The net revenue from the start of 2022 to March 31 reached AU$230,000 ($162,000). All of this money was generated by Aristo International Hotel in Vietnam.
However, things are looking to improve and that is something that Porntat acknowledged. He stated that even though the March quarter “has been another challenging period for Donaco,” the company is ready to resume all Star Vegas operations once the authorities in Cambodia give the green light.
Porntat Is Optimistic about Donaco’s Future
While commenting on the reopening of Star Vegas, Porntat also stated that Donaco is exploring additional options that will allow it to maintain the stability of the business until “broader conditions improve.”
Porntat touched on the long-term future of the company, stating that everyone at Donaco is optimistic about it. He cited high vaccination rates as the main reason behind the optimism. According to him, they will lead to travel restrictions being lifted, as well as border restrictions.
Even though it will take time before travel patterns are back in their normal state, Donaco will be ready for when international tourism flourishes again. According to Donaco, the company’s current cash position is $2.5 million. It recently paid off a debt worth around $100 million to Mega Bank.
The debt was collected in 2015, but a series of problems, one of which was the pandemic, hit the business and that led to Donaco falling behind on regular payments. Luckily, Donaco came up with a last-minute resolution in 2021 that will allow it to cover the debt. The last payment of $1.8 million was made on December 30, 2021.