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The Company Reports Highest Ever Quarterly Results
After more than a year and a half of hard struggles for the brick-and-mortar casino and hospitality industries, Delta Corp Ltd announced its highest ever revenue results for its first fully operational quarter after the second wave of Covid-19 released its grip over the nation. The company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Hardik Dhebar discussed the group’s outstanding performance and future plans in an interview with Niraj Shah for BloombergQuint.
Delta Corp consolidated net revenue for the third quarter of the current fiscal year (Q3 FY 2022) reached ₹247.22 crore, marking a 104.62 percent growth YoY (Year on Year) over Q3 FY 2021 figure of ₹120.82 crore.
The group’s EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) for the quarter ending in December 31, 2021 was ₹112.17 crore and net profit was ₹70.38 crore, registering rises of 465.09 and 5,398.44 percent respectively over previous December figures of ₹19.85 crore and ₹1.28 crore. The YoY rise in Delta’s EPS (Earnings Per Share) is 5,180 percent from ₹0.05 for Q3 FY 2021 to ₹2.64 now.
Delta is Considering an IPO of Online Division
During the interview, Mr Dhebar announced Delta Corp’s plans to expand its business by building a “dedicated war chest” through an initial public offering (IPO) of the group’s online casino division. The IPO will be a combo of freshly issued stock and offer sale by existing shareholders, with the draft prospectus expected to be submitted in the first or second quarter of the next Fiscal Year of 2023.
The proceeds from the public listing will be used for the implementation of an investment programme that requires between ₹1,700 and ₹2,000 crore ($220 to $260 million). The investment strategy includes the building of a new “gaming city” and a new large vessel to replace one of the smaller ships in Delta’s floating casino fleet to increase capacity two and a half times.
According to Mr Dhebar, a proper execution of the plan and completion of the project will leave Delta Corp debt free at the end.
Casinos in Goa Reopened on September 20, 2021 with High Footfalls
After more than six months of only Pure Win and other online casino platforms being able to operate, the land- and water-based offline casinos in Goa received the green light from the state’s government to resume operations on September 20, 2021.
Delta Corp’s gambling establishments immediately registered high footfalls despite the 50 percent capacity restrictions and the mandatory strict adherence to health safety protocols. The company operates one casino in Sikkim and one in Kathmandu, but the lion’s share of its profits come from Goa’s gambling communities where Delta Corp runs three vessel-based and one land-based casino.
In the beginning of October and on the back of optimism fueled by the soaring attendance rates just a few days after reopening, Delta Corp CFO Dhebar announced the company’s intentions to raise anywhere between $30 and to $50 million to be used to strengthen the company’s positions in the online casino sector.
Ever since Delta Corp’s acquisition of Gauss Network Pvt Ltd and the ownership of its poker platform Adda52.com in a cash-and-equity combo transaction in 2016, Delta has been a poker-focused player, as per Hardik Dhebar’s words.
Online poker had turned out to be a profitable enterprise, but the developed later rummy platform Adda52Rummy.com has been attracting revenues exceeding ₹1 crore every month. Now, Delta Corp was eyeing an expansion of its online division with other skill-based real money games and fantasy sports.
The Habits of Casino-Goers are Changing
Commenting on the trends observed after casinos in the state of Goa were allowed to reopen, Mr. Dhebar shared the observation that “Now people have started coming in early because there are (Covid) restrictions,” while before the pandemic footfalls used to kick off after 7:30 to 8 p.m. and go through the night.
Just like the casinos in world-famous gambling capitals Las Vegas, Singapore and Hong Kong, the gaming houses in Goa are open 24 hours a day, but unlike their counterparts their actual operation is confined to the evening and night hours. Hardik Dhebar expects this to change and an analogous “culture (of daytime gaming) to develop over a period of time” in Goa.
