New | Casino junket operator Neptune in the red as Macau VIP gaming slumps

One of Macau's biggest casino junket operators has suffered an annual loss of HK$1 billion, the result it says of an unprecedented slump that has "devastated" VIP gaming in the city.

Neptune Group's pretax loss of HK$998.6 million in the past financial year was a spectacular reversal of fortune after the HK$515.4 million profit it pocketed in the previous year.

Shares in a number of casino operators sank to multiyear lows on the news as fears grew over the future of VIP gaming in Macau.

Neptune said it was struggling to cope under the weight of unpaid loans to high-stakes gamblers, shrinking access to banking facilities amid regulatory tightening and the combined effects of Beijing's continued crackdown on illicit money flows and a slowing economy.

In a doom-laden filing to the stock exchange, the company said: "With limited cash on hand and long outstanding unsettled debts at risk of being totally written off, as well as the availability of banking facilities, the group's liquidity position is extremely vulnerable.

"We are unsure how to cope with this vicious circle which has devastated Macau's VIP gaming business. With a yuan devaluation, government clampdown on money flows and the possibility of tighter junket regulations, we think a further negative impact on VIP gaming volumes is inevitable, accelerating junket room closures.''

Neptune added that if the situation "doesn't correct itself in coming years", its continued presence in Macau could not be assured.