MACAU BUSINESS
continued increase in market share”. The predicted 800 new hotel rooms opening before the end of the year and three recently opened VIP rooms – pushing the property’s total to 10 – could prove to be new tipping points. Although it is presented as a property for the mass-
market player, the high-roller segment has been the main driver of success. Its average VIP rolling chip for the first 47 days of operation from May 15 to the end of June reached more than HK$1 billion a day. “Due to our relationship with StarWorld as our
sister property, a lot of the VIP operators from there also chose to come over here and open up sister rooms,” says Ms Tsai. That was the case of Nasdaq- listed Asia Entertainment & Resources Ltd. “We actually have a very long waiting list [of
junkets] asking to come in, which is good news for us.”
In the mass-market segment, things have not gone
too badly either. According to a research note from Union Gaming
Research Macau, Galaxy Macau was ranked fourth in the two first weeks of July among the properties attracting the most mass-market play, with a 12 percent share. “This compares to its share of tables of slightly less than 9 percent, suggesting that the recently opened property is garnering more than its fair share of customers,” the report said. Galaxy assistant vice-president for casino
marketing Shirley Tam says she is pleased with revenues from the main gaming floor. She pinpoints
24 JUNE 2011
the success to two factors: lighting, and food and beverage. “We are definitely a brighter casino than the rest of
the casinos in Macau,” she says, explaining mainland players like to have a clear view of what is happening on the table. She adds the resort has made a particular effort to boost the standard of food and beverage offerings on the gaming floor. The house loyalty programme allows customers to earn points from non-gaming spending. The programme’s database is closing in on 150,000 names.
Change, change again It has not been all plain sailing for Galaxy
Entertainment Group since May. Construction costs of Galaxy Macau have overrun by 7 percent, to HK$16.5 billion. The company blamed additional labour costs and an accelerated construction timeline. Close to 80 percent of the construction budget has already been spent. The resort’s pre-opening charges were also much higher than expected, reaching HK$767 million. Some analysts were expecting a figure less than half of that. Pre-opening expenses were a major reason why the company posted a first-half profit of HK$378.3 million, a 20.4 percent year-on-year decrease. Running a big property such as Galaxy Macau, with a swarm of 7,500 employees, required fine-tuning
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