G3Newswire ASIA & OCEANIA GAMING NEWS
WWW.G3NEWSWIRE.COM
NAGAWORLD GROWTH ROCKETING
NagaWorld, has continued to generate strong operational and financial results with revenue and profit increasing Cambodia - Operations
Cambodia’s leading casino; NagaWorld, has con- tinued to generate strong operational and financial results with revenue increasing by 24 per cent to US$344.9m and net profit increased by 24 per cent to US$140.3m for the year ended 2013.
AUSTRALIA – CROWN BEMOANS VIP MELBOURNE TAX Australian operator Crown Resorts has slammed the levels of taxation imposed on high-roller gambling claiming it is making its Melbourne casino uncompetitive with other casi- nos in Australia and Asia.
Crown Resorts Chief Executive Rowen Craigie said the Melbourne casino would suffer if the levels of taxation were not addressed.
“Melbourne will be trying to compete with one hand behind its back relative to the other casinos,” Mr Craigie said. “The Melbourne property is certainly of a quality standard that makes it competitive with the properties in Macau and Singapore, but we have a set of tax arrangements in Melbourne that are unique to Crown Melbourne and that’s namely the imposition of a super tax on the VIP business. The effect of that at the moment is that Crown Melbourne is paying an effective tax rate on VIP play of about 14 per cent, which compares to the 10 per cent in NSW. That higher tax rate inhibits Crown Melbourne’s ability to use marketing and other incentives to attract VIP players.
His comments came as Crown reported a 111.6 per cent rise in net profit for the six months to December 31 to $382.4m due to its operations in Macau via its partnership with Melco Entertainment.
AUSTRALIA – WMS EXPANDS IN AUSTRALIA WMS Gaming is expanding its commercial activities in Australia by building on the efforts of its former distributor, eBET Group, a Sydney-based gaming solutions company.
Continuing to leverage the eBET service team, WMS plans to increase its Australian presence in New South Wales and other states and territories by expanding its Sydney office through a new customer-facing sales team and by dedicat- ing a local product development studio to the Australian market.
WMS plans to offer an innovative product portfolio that is tai- lored to Australian players, which is expected to enhance the player experience and help drive long-term growth for cus- tomers. With this increased investment and focus, WMS is prepared to support existing and future customers and capi- talize on additional growth opportunities in this important market.
Sebastian Salat, President, WMS International, said: “WMS is excited about our expanded role in Australia. Growth in Australia is an important component of our long-term strat- egy. We are building our sales, marketing and game develop- ment capabilities with a sharp focus on local customer needs. We expect that our relationship with eBET will be a key link in our customer experience, as we seek to provide our customers with the highest level of service possible and bring to market our latest innovations.”
3 8
NagaCorp Chairman, Timothy McNally, said: “The Mass Market continued to generate a high margin of 95 per cent and contributes a significant 73 per cent to the group’s total gross profit. The gross profit margin of the VIP Market increased from 37 per cent to 40 per cent driven by higher win rates in the overall VIP Market and better margins achieved by the overseas junkets incentive pro- gram. The VIP Market’s contribution to total gross profit also increased from 17 per cent to 22 per cent as a result of higher VIP Market revenue composition of 39 per cent.”
The positive results were attributed to higher business volume from the Mass Market and VIP Market, as well as improved margins from the VIP Market. International tourism grew by five per cent in 2013 to a record of 1.1bn travellers globally. In Cambodia, international tourist arrivals contin- ued to outperform worldwide tourism growth by recording 4.2m visitors in 2013, an increase of 17 per cent in 2013 compared to 2012. The top three countries where visitors originated were Vietnam, China and Korea, which collectively accounted for 41 per cent of total tourist arrivals to Cambodia with a year-on-year increase of 16 per cent.
“The strong visitor growth from these gaming-cen- tric countries continued to be an important driver of the Group’s business growth.,” Mr. McNally explained.
The group achieved a growth of 15 per cent in Public Floor Gaming Tables buy-ins and 10 per cent in Electronic Gaming Machines bills-in respectively. Both win rates and margins remained stable. On the back of successful premi- um mass gaming areas, namely NagaRock and Saigon Palace, the Group continued its strategy to segment the Mass Market and attract higher end public floor players.
Aristocrat Private Club, a premium mass gaming area with 31 EGM and five tables offering higher table limits, successfully ramped up since its opening in July 2013. These premium mass gaming areas continue to be well-received, with increas- ing visitations. In addition, the Group also raised minimum table bets on its public floor areas towards the end of the year. In the EGM segment, revenue increased by 16 per cent to US$101.9m as a result of higher bills-in. The number of EGM in operation at the end of the year increased from 1,470 to 1,543, as a result of additions in the Aristocrat Private Club and Saigon Palace.
Bally systems for Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group
AUSTRALIA Bally Technologies has signed an exclusive enterprise-wide gaming systems agreement with the Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group to deploy Bally’s suite of applications, including voluntary pre-commitment and utilising a common player card, at more than 270 venues across the country.
The deal will cover venues in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and Northern Territory. Bally’s iVista Display Manager (DM) picture-in-picture technology enables content such as player messages and player account information to be dis- played right on the main game screen or top screen of games equipped with a touch-screen dis- play.
“We underwent a comprehensive analysis prior to choosing Bally’s innovative systems to provide sin- gle-card access for players across our entire enterprise,” said ALH Chief Executive Officer Bruce Mathieson. “After a thorough process, we determined Bally’s solutions best fit our needs by pro- viding a world-class player expe- rience with a focus on industry- leading responsible gambling measures.”
Bally President and CEO Ramesh Srinivasan added: “ALH is one of the finest and most respected gaming leaders in Australia. We look forward to building a solid partnership with ALH and helping them ensure that iVista provides a valuable and entertaining experi- ence for their patrons, while encouraging responsible gam- bling.”
Australia The Accor Group has sold its shareholding in the Reef Casino in Australia to Hong Kong-based Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort Group, the developers of a proposed $4.2bn mega- resort and casino in north Queensland. Accor’s shareholding included a 29 per cent stake in Reef Casino Trust (RCT), as well as its 50 per cent stake in the related businesses of RCT, i.e. Casinos Austria Cairns, and Reef Corporate Service. Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort Group is looking to complete a $269m takeover bid agreement with the Reef Casino Trust. Owned by Chinese billionaire Tony Fung, Aquis has also said it has separately agreed with Casinos Austria to buy Casino Canberra.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60