Genting Hong Kong books US$53.6m in H1

Payroll expenses surged as yards added 1,400 employees.

Genting Hong Kong (GENHK) sank into the red in 1H16, booking an attributable loss of US$53.6m. This is in stark contrast to its 1H15 attributable profit of US$2.17m.

According to a report by UOB Kay Hian, sky-high costs outweighed topline in H1. In particular, advertising and onboard expenses took a toll on revenue. Payroll costs also jumped during the period, as yards facilities added 1,400 employees to GENHK. On top of this, Star Cruises' redeployment activities to China ports also drove up expenses.

For the half-year, cruise-related revenue surged 45% YoY woth passenger tiket sales skyrocketing 103% YoY. This is thanks to the 21% spike in capacity days and 17% growth in net yield, due largely to the inclusion of Crystal fleet.

Meanwhile, GENHK's premium cruise brand Dream Cruises will have its first ship Genting Dream start sailing in November this year, with homeport in Guangzhou. World Dream, the second vessel, is under construction and should be delivered in October 2017.

Star Cruise will focus on the Chinese market, and add two ships with 5,000 berths each by 2020. Separately, Crystal will have a fleet of ships come on-stream in 2017-2018.