South Shore Holdings, the company behind Macau’s troubled super-luxury The 13 Hotel, has declared HK$5.84 billion in losses (US$747.5 million) for the financial year ended March 31.
Privately held South Shore attributed the results to HK$3.3 billion in impairment losses related to development of The 13, plus HK$1 billion in losses on prepaid land lease payments, $587.1 million in administrative expenses and $504.5 million for the cost of sales and services on hotel, F&B and related services.
In all, the red ink was more than double last year’s HK$1.57 billion and considerably higher than the HK$4.70 billion the company had forecast in a profit warning earlier this month.
The company also reported HK$9.38 billion in revenue, a 38 percent increase over 2018, almost all of it from its construction arm, although costs there came in at a whopping HK$8.99 billion.
The 13, which held a partial opening last August without most of its suites or its planned casino, generated a modest HK$4.5 million in income for the year.
Billed as the world’s most luxurious hotel when it was first announced, The 13 remains available for only for private functions at some of its 200 planned villas and with no indication when it will apply for a license to operate a proposed 66 table games, reportedly under the auspices of Hong Kong-listed casino sub-concessionaire Melco Resorts and Entertainment.
In June, South Shore unloaded 24 of the hotel’s 30 custom-built Rolls-Royce Phantoms at a loss in order to repay bank loans. South Shore reportedly paid some HK$160 million for the fleet, intended as a signature offering for The 13’s VIP target market. The private sale garnered a reported $24 million.
