The increase is driven by a total gain of nearly $600m from the sale of NCLH shares and a one-off accounting gain of $1.57bn on the completion of a secondary offering of NCLH shares that took Genting HK's stake in NCLH to 17.7%, down from 22%.
In addition, Genting HK expects earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization for the first half of 2015 to increase thanks to the maiden contribution from Crystal Cruises and an improvement in the group’s underlying cruise business despite a softer overall gaming performance arising from weakness in the regional gaming industry.
Neither NCLH nor Travellers has announced second quarter results. In the first half of 2014, Genting HK's share of profit from NCLH had amounted to $46.9m.
In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Genting HK cautioned the projected results are preliminary. The company expects to announce unaudited first half results in August.
