Delta Corp. On IPO, Covid Impact On Casinos And More

Delta Corp. hit its "highest-ever" revenue in the quarter ended December and the casino operator is confident of maintaining the momentum even as Goa has import curbs to contain rising Covid cases.

Work from home and Covid restrictions have made gamers to start early, increasing gaming time even during the day, Hardik Dhebar, chief financial officer at Delta Corp., said in an interview with BloombergQuint's Niraj Shah.

Earlier, the company saw footfalls only after 7:30 to 8 p.m., going into the night, he said. "Now people have started coming in early because there are (Covid) restrictions.”

The gaming and hospitality company's consolidated doubled over a year earlier to Rs 247.22 crore in third quarter, according to its filing. The company reported a profit of Rs 70.38 compared with a loss of Rs 22.57 crore a year earlier.

Like popular gaming and gambling destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore and Las Vegas where casinos operate through day and night, Dhebar expects a similar “culture (of daytime gaming) to develop over a period of time” in Goa. Right not, while the casino open 24 hours, it actually operates for half the day, he said.

According to Dhebar, there is a potential to grow. Of Of the 10-12 million people visiting Goa prior to the pandemic, only up to two million came to casinos.

The company will replace one of the existing smaller vessels with a bigger one, increasing the capacity by two-and-a-half times, he said.

Online Gaming IPO

Delta Corp is eyeing an initial public offering of its online gaming unit to build a "dedicated war chest" to grow this business, Dhebar said. It will be a combination of an offer sale by shareholders and a fresh issue, he said.

The company targets to file a draft prospectus in the first or second quarter of the next fiscal starting April, he said.

The proceeds from the public issue will be used to build a "gaming city" and a new vessel to increase capacity. That would required anywhere between Rs 1,700 crore and Rs 2,000 crore, he said. If everything goes to plan, the project will be completed and Delta will remain debt-free, he said.

Watch the full conversation here: