ASIA & OCEANIA
Analysts Benchmark Macau Recovery
International operators look to Macau to gauge how their own recoveries will pan out once business is up and running again
Macau’s 41 casinos began reopening on February 20 having been closed for two weeks. It is of course a unique market being the only place to gamble in China, but as one of the few gaming destinations to have reopened, its recovery offers some perspective.
A senior Macau casino executive said at the time of the reopening: “It is wise to open a little bit, even if business is slow. Te government wants us to open because it signals a sign of stability for Macau.”
Te recovery has been slow with only 250,000 tourists entering Macau in the month after casinos reopened, representing a fall of 92 per cent compared to 2019. DS Kim, an analyst at JP Morgan in Hong Kong, said: “Business will likely remain extremely slow anyway amidst the restrictions on visas and transportation. Most Chinese players are probably unable or unwilling to travel at this point.”
Macau’s government has slashed its 2020 GGR
forecast to 130bn patacas (US$16bn), half the initial projection of 260bn patacas and a 56 per cent decline from 2019. Macau’s operators have lost between $1.5m and $4m a day to keep their casinos operational.
"Forecasts for 2020 remain largely guesses at this time, with constantly changing conditions altering expectations on an almost daily basis," said Vitaly Umansky, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein.
Mr. Umansky outlined two major factors for Macau’s recovery as being visa issuance and transport activity and gave several scenarios of how the recovery may shape up. Te optimistic outcome would see a rebound in the second half of the year resulting in an 11 per cent fall in revenues in 2020. His more conservative prediction sees a later recovery in the third quarter with GGR for the year as a whole dropping by 21 per cent. If the downturn carries on throughout the year, revenues could slump by 43 per cent.
Yggdrasil Gaming has signed a strategic franchise IP licensing agreement with Flow Gaming, allowing the content supplier to take greater control of its B2B iGaming operation. As part of the franchise licensing agreement, Flow Gaming will have access to Yggdrasil’s end-to-end game development process, the YG platform including its new GATI product (Game Adaption Tools & Interface), game promotional tools via BOOST, and access to content created by YG Masters partners.
Asia Yggdrasil strikes Flow Gaming franchise deal iGaming suppliers in the industry.
"In the Franchise package everything that has been created by Yggdrasil over the past seven years is delivered. All the innovation, all the development, knowledge, experience and on- going support as a complete out-of-the-box games platform solution. As such, the franchise solution is the enabler for partners around the world to take full control of their iGaming business and facilitate next level business collaborations.”
Björn Krantz, Head of Publishing at Yggdrasil, added: “We are delighted to sign this very strategic Franchise partnership with Flow Gaming. With the Yggdrasil Franchise offering, Flow Gaming will be able to provide its partners with a blueprint of what's made Yggdrasil one of the most innovative and successful
As a Franchisee to Yggdrasil, Flow Gaming will be able to effectively source and offer its own game content for distribution to its targeted market and cross- collaborate with other Franchisees globally, enabling it to accelerate the territorial reach and drive incremental revenue opportunities.
China
G2E Asia, the Macau-based gaming show organised by the American Gaming Association and Reed Exhibitions, has moved its show dates for a second time. In an overdue announcement to the industry, the show has been postponed until December 1-3, 2020 at the Venetian Macau. Te statement from the show organiser reads: “Based on our continued monitoring of the global health crisis, and in consultation with our customers and the Macau government, we have made the difficult decision to postpone G2E Asia to December. G2E Asia is rescheduled for December 1-3, 2020 at the Venetian Macao. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and continued travel and commercial restrictions, it is not possible to hold G2E Asia in July as originally planned. G2E Asia, and its organisers the American Gaming Association and Reed Exhibitions, are grateful for your continued support.”
SOUTH KOREA –Mohegan Sun has confirmed that they are working towards the goal to launch the first phase of its South Korean casino in 2022. The company still expects to meet its 2022 goal and currently does not foresee any schedule changes. “Regarding Inspire, work continues and we are working toward our 2022 goal,” Mario Kontomerkos, CEO of Mohegan Sun, said.
The first phase of the project is expected to include a foreigners-only casino, a five-star hotel, an arena with seats for 15,000 attendees, conference centers and more. Mohegan Sun estimates it will cost around $1.29 billion, give or take a couple hundred thousand as construction progresses.
That first phase will give gamblers around 700 slot machines and 160 table games to choose from, but more could come later. The entire project, which is expected to cost around $5bn by the time it’s complete, will include a total of four phases and the last is currently scheduled to open sometime in 2031.
SINGAPORE – Singapore is planning to unite its betting and gaming regulatory bodies under a single agency to create a new Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) under the mandate of the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA). It will reconstitute the Statutory Board to establish the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) by 2021, with the mandate of regulating the entire gambling landscape in Singapore.
The single agency will allow 'GRA to stay even more effectively abreast of technological and global trends, respond faster to emerging products in particular those that cut across different domains, and take a more holistic approach to gambling policies and issues.'
The Ministry said: "To ensure that our laws and regulatory approach towards gambling keep pace with the evolving gambling landscape and remain effective, MHA will be reviewing and amending gambling-related legislation by 2021. Gambling regulation in Singapore is currently overseen by various Government agencies. CRA regulates the casinos, while the Gambling Regulatory Unit in MHA regulates remote gambling services and fruit machines. The Singapore Totalisator Board governs terrestrial gambling services operated by the Singapore Pools. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) takes enforcement action against illegal gambling activities. In addition, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) is responsible for social safeguards to address the harms of gambling, and also regulates the advertising and promotion of gambling, as well as the Responsible Gambling Programmes of regulated entities."
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P27
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