The last time Croatian casino play Cubus Lux featured on these pages it was as one of Growth Company Investor’s ‘five to sell’ in May 2005, priced at 16p. A lot has changed since then.

In July that year, erstwhile-MD Moshe Har Adir sold his 44.7% stake to Austrian Gerhard Huber and others at around 10p before the shares hit an 8.5p nadir in October. Since then executive chairman Huber changed brokers from Numerica to Corporate Synergy, oversaw the opening of a third casino and replaced the entire management of the casinos division. June has already proved the ‘best month ever’ and Huber hopes for a profitable year.

For the year to December Cubus made a half million pre-tax loss on £571,000 sales but since year end has totally repositioned itself via the reverse takeover of a company developing a marina in the Dalmatian island of Uglijan, in which Huber owned shares. The 187-berth marina has the capacity to add around 100 more berths and is already renting out space on long and short term leases, charging skippers up to €3,600 a year. This should provide welcome cashflow as Croatian waters are a sailors’ paradise, with its marinas reportedly 100%-occupied during the high season. Tourism only last year reached the levels it saw before the Balkan wars and is forecast to grow by 6.4% per annum between 2005 and 2014.

Cubus’ third ‘pillar’ of growth is golf resorts, where it is involved in the pre-tender process for three developments. All land in Croatia is government-owned and such deals are slow moving but Huber says the first may go to tender ‘possibly’ later this year. If the company wins one, it could prove lucrative, although it's still a big 'if' at present.

House broker Corporate Synergy forecasts a £794,000 profit and 0.88p of earnings for 2006.

While much has changed here, much remains to be done. A speculative punt for risk takers only.