Porntat Amatavivadhana: “I am incredibly optimistic about the path forward for Donaco”

Donaco’s non-executive chairman said the company has a healthy balance sheet and a strong operational base.

Australia.- During the 2022 Annual General Meeting, Donaco’s non-executive chairman, Porntat Amatavivadhana, was upbeat at the group’s annual general meeting, expressing confidence for the future. He hailed the state of the company’s finances and noted that Star Vegas operations had ramped up operations for the upcoming quarters.

He said: “I am incredibly optimistic about the path forward for Donaco. We have a healthy balance sheet, a strong operational base, and travel flows between the Thailand/Cambodia and Vietnam/China borders are set to continuously improve.” 

Amatavivadhana said the long-term potential of Aristo Casino in Vietnam, looks positive, with the construction of Sapa airport now well underway in Lao Cai, the region where Aristo is located. 

He added: “With the Lao Cai Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently recognising Aristo as the only 5-star hotel in the region, it presents a major opportunity for our casino to attract a significant number of new customers.”

He added: “The Donaco board and management team proactively implemented initiatives for the company to be in the best possible position as the impacts of Covid-19 inevitably started to ameliorate in line with the vaccination rollout.

“These initiatives were underpinned by rigorous measures to preserve cash and protect our balance sheet, including paying off our debt with Mega Bank late last year and the approval of a more manageable USD$5 million loan facility from our CEO in the June 2022 quarter. In addition, we maintained a strong focus on cash burn throughout the year.”

For the three months to September 30, Donaco International posted group net revenue of AU$4.5m (US$3.03m) mainly due to the reopening of Star Vegas. Aristo brought in net revenue of AU$430,000 (US$289,000), down from the AU$760,000 (US$511,000) in the same quarter of 2021.

The company plans to repeat its Star Vegas strategy at the Vietnam property to encourage its rebound in the coming quarters.