Synectics reports annual loss of £4.7m

The electronic surveillance equipment supplier has seen major losses as land-based gambling activities decline across Asia.

UK.- The surveillance supplier Synectics Plc has reported an annual loss of £4.7m (US$6.5m) for the financial year ending November 30 2020.

The company, which operates in Asia-Pacific, particularly Macau and Singapore, reported a consolidated profit of over £1.6m a year earlier.

Synectics chairman David Coughlan, said in a filing to the London Stock Exchange: “The largest direct negative impact affecting Synectics currently is the closure of, or lack of business in, major casinos and gaming resorts in the United States and the Far East, in turn driven by travel and other restrictions on the public.”

In order to combat some of the losses, the company said it had made changes “resulting in the closure of a number of operating sites“. It has reduced its annual operating costs by £2.4m.

While the company said its operations in Asia were heavily affected by the pandemic, it said it was “pleased to be able to sign a new five-year support contract with a major integrated resort operator in Singapore.”

With gaming properties still suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic, operators in Vietnam have asked the government to ease the rules on locals entering casinos in order to boost revenues.