The first casino to open in Russia’s far eastern Primorye gaming zone says it’s encouraged by its performance to date and expects even greater returns when it hits its operational stride this summer.

On Friday, Summit Ascent Holdings filed its 2015 results with the Hong Kong stock exchange, citing a net loss of HKD 85.4m (US $11m) for the year. The Lawrence Ho-controlled company, which holds a majority stake in the Tigre de Cristal casino outside Vladivostok, credited the loss to costs associated with the casino’s official launch in November.

Summit Ascent claimed the casino’s “consistent month-to-month improvements have been encouraging” and the company expects to be “running at close to optimal levels on a ramped-up basis” by some point this summer.

Tigre de Cristal’s VIP turnover improved from HKD 258m ($33.3m) in November to HKD 382m ($49.3m) in February (the latter figure unaudited). The casino featured between eight and 10 VIP tables during this period.