Annual Report FY15
Sydney, Oct 26, 2015 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Donaco International Ltd (
ASX:DNA) are pleased to provide the Company's Annual Report 2015 to shareholders.
From The Chairman:
Dear Fellow Shareholder,
The 2015 financial year has seen a dramatic increase in the size and scale of your Company.
The Board and management team focused on two key goals during the year: driving the growth of the Aristo International Hotel in Vietnam, and adding value to shareholders through corporate activity.
We took a strong step towards the first goal in November 2014, when the construction of the Aristo was completed, and the property received its five star certification. After enduring some headwinds in the soft opening phase, the subsequent marketing of the property has shown promising signs of growth. We consider the Aristo to be our flagship property, and it is extremely important to us, but it is no longer our major business, as noted below.
The second goal was also achieved during the year, with the signing in January 2015 of a deal to acquire the Star Vegas Resort & Club in Cambodia. The deal was successfully completed on 1 July 2015. The Star Vegas is now our largest property, and the deal has increased the pro forma revenues of your Company by a factor of more than five times. It has also provided substantial diversification benefits, with the Star Vegas serving primarily Thai customers, while the Aristo serves primarily Chinese customers.
In order to complete the deal, the Company successfully raised $132 million via a pro rata rights issue. We would like to thank shareholders for their support of the Company's strategy.
As a means of clearing the decks prior to completing the Star Vegas deal, we completed the spin-off of the mobile technology business, iSentric, into a separate ASX-listed company in September 2014. This was followed by the sale of our wagering marketing business, Way2Bet, in October 2014. Accordingly the Company no longer operates its former Gaming Technology businesses.
With the completion of the Star Vegas deal on 1 July 2015, the Board was expanded through the addition of Ham Techatut Sukjaroenkraisri as an Executive Director, and Paul Porntat Amatavivadhana as a Non-Executive Director. These gentlemen have substantial experience in Thai-facing businesses, and the gaming industry in particular, and have already added significant value to the Board's deliberations.
Your Board is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse boards in the ASX300, with 57% of its members having been born, educated and now residing in Asia. This provides deep and direct experience and knowledge of the regions in which we operate. According to the 2015 Watermark Board Diversity Index, only 17% of directors on the boards of ASX100 companies have similar overseas experience and heritage.
For companies in the ASX100-200, the figure is less than 10%.
Further, we have two directors originally from Malaysia, and two from Thailand. These two countries are amongst Australia's top 10 trading partners, but they have minimal representation among the ASX200 boards.
Following the substantial transformation of your Company, we are confident that the coming financial year will generate positive results for our shareholders.
Stuart McGregor
Chairman
To view the Annual Report, please visit:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-DNA-887198.pdf
About Donaco International Ltd
Donaco International Limited (ASX:DNA) operates leisure, entertainment and associated technology businesses across the Asia Pacific region.
Donaco's largest business is the Star Vegas Resort & Club, a successful casino and hotel complex in Poipet, Cambodia, on the border with Thailand. Star Vegas was established in 1999, and is the largest and highest quality of the Poipet casino hotels. The property has more than 100 gaming tables, more than 1400 slot machines, and 385 hotel rooms.
Donaco's flagship business is the Aristo International Hotel, a successful boutique casino in northern Vietnam, located on the border with Yunnan Province, China. Established in 2002, the property has recently been expanded to a brand new five star resort complex with 400 hotel rooms. Donaco is a pioneer casino operator in Vietnam, and owns a 95% interest in the business, in a joint venture with the Government of Vietnam.
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