Croatian casino operator turned marina and resort developer Cubus Lux is contemplating a new £20 million hotels and flats deal.

AIM-quoted Cubus already has a £34 million option on a development at Olive Island off the Dalmation coast including a 500-bed hotel, 126 villas and 325 flats, which the company’s Austrian chairman and 14.5 per cent shareholder Gerhard Huber claims could generate profits of almost £30 million from next year. He says the company has four other projects in the pipeline to consider, in which its stake would be 100 per cent.

Huber argues the economics of its projects are particularly favourable because it was one of the first in the field for the post-Balkan war revival of the area, so able to secure good terms. Many clients for villas, flats and marina berths pay months in advance.

At some point, Cubus, which lost £497,000 in 2005 and £413,000 in the six months to last June, will need to raise £7 million or so, probably through a share issue or a convertible. At 17p, the shares, which fell from 45p in 2004 to 8.5p in 2005, are a punt on these impressive-sounding projects paying off in time.