More than a year since gaining development approval to proceed with a substantial integrated resort development on the South Korean holiday island of Jeju, gaming and entertainment investor New Silkroad Culturaltainment Ltd says it has not yet broken ground on the project due to financing issues.
The company first revealed in 2016 its plans for the development, known as the Glorious Hill Project, which it described as “one of the largest integrated resort complexes in South Korea.”
The project is set to include an integrated entertainment complex as well as numerous five-star hotels, commercial and residential properties, healthcare facilities, a theme park and golf courses.
However, providing an update as part of its FY19 results release, New Silkroad revealed that, “Although the relevant hotel development approval has been obtained, the land development of Glorious Hill in South Korea has not commenced due to a delay in project financing.”
New Silkroad, which saw revenue from continuing operations fall 7.3% year-on-year to HK$211.2 million, also noted that its MegaLuck casino at Jeju’s KAL Hotel continues to face challenging times via reduced tourism to the island in 2019 and, more recently, the global outbreak of COVID-19. Casino operations are currently suspended in line with the government’s epidemic prevention measures.
MegaLuck Casino saw its revenue fall 20.2% to HK$82.6 million in 2019, representing 39.1% of group-wide revenue compared with a 45.5% contribution in 2018.
Loss attributable to owners of the company widened from HK$37.9 million in 2018 to HK$80.4 million.