Chinese real estate developer and casino operator New Silkroad Culturaltainment Limited has reportedly released its financial results for the twelve months to the end of December showing that its interest in the MegaLuck Casino property in South Korea had racked up an annual deficit of approximately $3.43 million.

According to a report from GG\]RAsia, New Silkroad Culturaltainment Limited blamed the shortfall on ‘geopolitical tensions in North Asia’ as it had earned a profit of just over $458,800 from its stake in the foreigner-only gambling venue in 2016. The Hong Kong-listed firm purportedly also revealed that the Jeju Island property had ‘relied heavily on Chinese tourists’ last year and that it will now attempt to further spread its financial risks by opening up in ‘other markets’.

MegaLuck Casino, in which New Silkroad Culturaltainment Limited holds a 72% interest via its MegaLuck Company Limited subsidiary, is located inside the Jeju KAL Hotel and reportedly offered a selection of 24 slots alongside 29 gaming tables last year. The venue purportedly saw annual gambling revenues rise by 68.3% year-on-year to around $15.67 million but a 224.5% increase in ‘direct gaming expenses’ to $14.04 million led to its gross profits from gaming dropping by 67.2% to about $1.63 million.

New Silkroad Culturaltainment Limited reportedly detailed that gaming revenues had accounted for some 37.7% of its overall takings in 2017 with the majority of the remainder coming from its business selling and distributing wine and baiju.

Despite the performance of its interest in MegaLuck Casino, the firm moreover purportedly stated that its group-wide annual loss had narrowed to $9.04 million from $11.78 million for the previous year due in large part to ‘a significant decrease in share-based payment expenses’.

GGRAsia reported that New Silkroad Culturaltainment Limited, which is controlled by Chinese firm Macro-Link Holding Company Limited via its own Macrolink Culturaltainment Development Company Limited subsidiary, additionally used its financial filing to announce that it had received local approval for the integrated casino resort it is hoping to build on Jeju Island. Being marketed under the Glorious Hill brand name, this development with a ‘large scale’ casino is purportedly set to be built in collaboration with ‘with leading global gaming entertainment companies’ on a site near Hallasan Mountain.