The warning is based on the preliminary review of unaudited data and encompasses the six months up until 30 June. The group expects the revenue to fall by 46% year-on-year, down to HKD11.8m ($1.5m), from HKD21.9m in 2019. 

The increase of loss could be a massive 429%, rising to HKD29m compared to HKD5.5m the previous year. The losses are mostly attributed to the outbreak of COVID-19, as “the operations of casinos in Macau and South East Asia have been adversely affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic leading to a weaker demand for technical sales and distribution of electronic gaming equipment.” 

The Macau-based supplier also terminated two gaming equipment lease agreements on May 21, 2020, which involve “a one-time write-off of finance lease receivables” that are worth close to HKD22.8m. 

Q1 for the group wasn’t good either. APE Holdings recorded a loss of HKD4.1m during the first three months of 2020, a 113% increase from HKD1.9m for the same period in 2019. 

The group said: “As the Company is still in the course of finalising its consolidated results for the Current Period, the information contained in this announcement is only based on the preliminary assessment.”

The group’s  full results should be published sometime next week, with August 13 as the tentative deadline.