G3Newswire ASIA & OCEANIA GAMING NEWS
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JOCKEY CLUB CASHES IN ITS CHIPS
The Macau Jockey Club, which closed in 2004, has been reopened as a chipless e-table automated casino environment
Macau - New operations
THE PHILIPPINES – TURNAROUND FOR THE SOLAIRE Bloomberry resorts has posted total gross revenues of P7.381bn, over 11 times the P661m generated in the same period last year, generating a profit of P1.461bn from a loss of P1.056bn in the same period last year. Gaming continued to generate the bulk of the company’s total gross revenues, accounting for 95.7 per cent of the total, followed by hotel, food and beverage which accounted for 3.9 per cent.
Gross Gaming revenues and non-gaming revenues hit P7.060bn and P286m respectively. On a year-on-year basis, these grew 12 fold and five-fold, respectively. This sig- nificant improvement in revenues was due to the group’s ability to successfully manage and operate Solaire without a third-party management company.
Enrique Razon, Bloomberry Chairman and CEO (pictured top), said: “It is significant that we were able to turn a profit after only a year of operation. This is proof positive that the group, without a third-party management company, has the ability and the acumen to manage an integrated resort. During the year, we laboured on building our core business while working on the expansion that would make Solaire a truly integrated resort. By the fourth quarter of this year, we shall see the fruition with the opening of Phase 1-A.”
Total expenses for the quarter rose nearly 2.5 times to P4.530bn from P1.826bn in the first quarter of 2013. Operating expenses grew by 157 per cent, year-on-year to P4.515bn. EBIDTA reached P2.154bn, representing a signifi- cant turnaround from the negative P1.062bn for the same period last year. Moreover this year’s first quarter EBIDTA was nearly equal to its full year EBIDTA for 2013. As of March 31, 2014, the group had signed-up with about 47 junket operators to bring in foreign VIP players. The mass gaming player sign-ups amounted to 304,000 and total visitation had reached the 4m mark by the end of first quarter of 2014.
AUSTRALIA – STAR SNAPS UP CROWN EXECUTIVE Australian operator Echo Entertainment Group has appointed former Crown Resorts executive Greg Hawkins to oversee The Star in Sydney. He will start his role as Managing Director in September. Previously Mr. Hawkins was Chief Executive of Crown’s Melbourne casino. He also has experience of the Asian market as he spent five years as Chief Executive of Crown’s Altira casino in and then as President of City of Dreams.
New Echo Chief Executive Matt Bekier said: “Greg brings a wealth of local and regional gaming and entertainment expe- rience that will be invaluable in delivering on the very large growth opportunity in front of us in Sydney. Having managed both a premium VIP hotel and casino and a large-scale inte- grated resort in Macau, Greg also brings experience in the Asian VIP and premium mass market where we see further growth opportunities for Echo.”
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A new milestone in the evolution of Asian gam- bling has been reached with the reopening of the Macau Jockey Club Casino. Having been closed in 2004, The Macau Jockey Club Casino at the race- course in Taipa now covers 13,000 sq.ft. New owner Paradise Entertainment, which is operating the casino as a satellite of a licence held by Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, has opted to operate a fully automated electronic casino. As such the property’s gaming floor has reopened with 180 live multi-game machines, four chipless e-bac- carat tables and a quota of slot machines.
Paradise Chairman, Jay Chun, described the ‘chip- less casino’ as ‘the future, gambling without chips.’
“The brand new technology provided by our com- pany is able to reduce the number of casino work- ing staff and reduce its operating costs,” Mr. Chun explained. “The advantage of chipless e-baccarat tables is to allow customers to enjoy the fun of reading cards like the traditional tables. The digital
chips speed up the turnover of the game, relieve the need of mental calculation on dealers. It great- ly reduces the career entry barrier of dealers and enables those Macau people who have difficulties in mental calculation but wish to enter the dealer industry much easier to enter such a high income industry. It provides a new solution to solve the problem of dealers shortage in Macau for the com- ing years. We can hardly wait to provide our cus- tomers with our diverse quality services, and through our premier services and state-of-the-art technology, we offer them an unrivalled and exciting gaming experience to enjoy every moment at the casino. We are confident that MJC Casino will be the revenue driver of our casino business.”
The casino has no need for cashiers either and operates with just ten members of staff, offering a unique solution to the problem of dealer shortage in Macau.
Saipan Only one of the two Hong Kong-based companies that made last-minute bids in the Northern Marianas for an exclusive licence to develop a $2bn hotel-resort casino on Saipan, has progressed. The government confirmed it had received applications from Marianas Stars Entertainment and Best Sunshine International, each paying the US$1m, non-refundable application fee. However, the two groups had until May 5 to deposit a further $30m to be considered for the licence. However, the Marianas Stars’ application has since been rejected as, according to the Saipan Lottery Commission, the $30m had not been deposited in time. Best Sunshine has progressed having made its deposit on May 3. Marianas Stars is considering filing a protest or lawsuit, claiming that it had met the deposit deadline with $30m now in ESCROW.
South East Asia propels Las Vegas Sands to record results
MACAU Las Vegas Sands has reported record first-quarter results, smashing analysts’ estimates as its properties in Macau contin- ued to benefit from huge cus- tomer numbers.
The group revealed that rev- enues increase by 21.4 per cent to a record $4.01bn with proper- ty EBITDA up 49.1 per cent to a record $939.8m.
Sheldon Adelson, Chairman and CEO, said: “The focused and consistent execution of our global growth strategy, which leverages the power of our con- vention-based Integrated Resort business model, is clear- ly driving our financial results. Continued execution of that strategy will extend our position
as the global leader in Integrated Resort development and operation.
“We welcomed more than 17m
visits during the quarter to our Macau property portfolio, which delivered a record $939.8m of adjusted property EBITDA,” Mr. Adelson explained. “We remain confident that our market-lead- ing Cotai Strip properties, including our latest Integrated Resort on the Cotai Strip, the Parisian Macau, which is target- ed to open in late 2015, will meaningfully enhance the appeal of Macau to business and leisure travellers and provide an outstanding platform for growth in the years ahead.”
The Venetian Macao continued to enjoy Macao market-leading
visitation and financial per- formance. The property deliv- ered record adjusted property EBITDA of $470.1m, an increase of 34.9 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2013.
Non-Rolling Chip drop increased 80.7 per cent to reach a property record $2.41bn for the quarter with Non-Rolling Chip win percentage of 26.1 per cent. Rolling Chip volume dur- ing the quarter increased 31.2 per cent to reach $15.32bn. Slot handle was $1.45bn, increasing 21.9 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2013. Mall rev- enues increased 26.4 per cent during the quarter to reach $38.3m.
In Singapore, adjusted property EBITDA reached $435.2m reflecting strong growth in non- gaming revenue, steady mass gaming results and a higher hold rate on VIP play. Mass win-per- day increased slightly to $4.65 million per day.
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