Wire ASIA & OCEANIA
Macau Licence Renewals
MACAU –GMM Ltd, a company controlled by Genting chairman Lim Kok Thay, has submitted a bid for a casino licence in Macau, a surprise challenge to the decades-long oligopoly of the six incumbent operators.
The former Portuguese colony is the only territory in China where casinos are allowed, and issues just six operating concessions for a multi billion-dollar industry that, until the pandemic, was bigger than Las Vegas.
Licences for the current operators — including MGM China, Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment Group — will expire at the end of the year, and they face plummeting revenues and heightened regulatory scrutiny from Beijing.
The six operators have all submitted bids (see opposite story) to renew their licences, but the spotlight was stolen by newcomer GMM. A GMM representative told reporters that the bid was submitted on behalf of Genting. Market analysts, Sanford C. Bernstein, believes that Genting Malaysia’s effort to gatecrash the six current casino licence holders in Macau could see it team up with the SAR’s originally casino group, SJM, due to its ‘financial difficulties.’
SJM Holdings recently reported a loss of HK$2.75bn in the first half of the year, 88 per cent more than the losses recorded in the first half of last year (HK$1.46bn).
Genting operates in Las Vegas and Singapore, and backed a ski resort in China that hosted this year’s Winter Olympics. Shares in Macau casino operators continue to fall as its gaming sector takes repeated beatings from pandemic restrictions that drive away mainland Chinese gamblers who make up the vast majority of customers. Gross gaming revenue in Macau was down 98 per cent from pre-pandemic levels and fell to a record low in July.
AUSTRALIA – Konami Australia has promoted David Punter to operations manager sales, marketing and service ANZ / APAC to expand his role in Konami to include the Asia region and service.
David brings more than two decades of experience in sales, marketing, and product strategy, along with business operations, to this role. Leading sales in ANZ, he has driven growth in these domestic markets and will continue that to the Asia Pacific region, combined with his extensive experience and demonstrated track record of success. As operations manager sales, marketing and service for ANZ / APAC he will focus on customer requirements, and drive sales and product strategies to meet the needs of these regions.
P24 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
Seven companies have bid for new casino licences in the world's biggest gaming hub, with new contracts set to start at the beginning of 2023.
Seven companies have bid for new casino licences in the world's biggest gaming hub, with new contracts set to start at the beginning of 2023, according to Macau's government.
Macau, a special administrative region of China, is the only place in the country where citizens can legally gamble in casinos.
Te government is expected to review the proposals and negotiate with the bidders on detailed terms and conditions, before announcing six winners by the end of November or early December.
Sands China (
1928.HK), Wynn Macau (
1128.HK), Galaxy Entertainment (
0027.HK), MGM China (
2282.HK), SJM Holdings (
0880.HK), Melco Resorts and GMM Limited - submitted bids for the tender, the government statement said.
GMM is linked to Malaysian tourism and gambling conglomerate Genting Group, which currently does not have a licence in Macau.
DS Kim, an analyst at JP Morgan in Hong Kong, said the current environment made it challenging for new entrants.
"Time will tell," he said, as it was hard for new
entrants to make proper returns during the concession period, which has been shortened to 10 years from 20.
Te bidding committee conducted the bid opening process on September 16, the government said.
Macau for the first time imposed a formal table cap and minimum income requirements for the new operators, set to begin their contracts at the start of 2023.
Te move is part of a broader overhaul of legislation for Macau's gambling industry and gives authorities much tighter oversight and control over the casino operators, which raked in $36bn in 2019, prior to COVID-19.
Te government kicked off the highly anticipated bidding process in July, when it said global gaming operators could submit bids for new licenses from July 29 until September 14.
Te bidding process took place amid Macau's worst outbreak of COVID-19, which led to a 12- day closure of casinos in July. While casinos in the Chinese special administrative region have re-opened, there is little business, as restrictions are only being lifted slowly.
Australia Star Ent. found unfit to operate Sydney casino
New South Wales gaming regulator has described the conclusion to the inquiry into Star Entertainment as ‘frankly shocking’ and is now considering how to punish the operator with fines, an enforced temporary closure and stripping the operator if its licence completely.
Senior lawyer, Adam Bell, who over saw the inquiry said Star was ‘not suitable’ to hold a gaming licence for its flagship casino in Sydney, having disguised gambling withdrawals as hotel expenses and allowed money laundering to take place inside private rooms.
New South Wales gambling
regulator Philip Crawford said: “Te report is, quite frankly, shocking. It provides evidence of an extensive compliance breakdown in key areas of Star’s business. Tey need to demonstrate, to understand what their problems are and show leadership in fixing those problems. At the moment we’re not getting that vibe. Tere is still an unwillingness to show the right level of transparency.”
Gaming expert, Charles Livingstone, said: “Tey may shut them down for a period of time, they may impose a large fine or they may suspend the license for six months and let them sort out themselves.”
Australia
Light & Wonder has revealed that slots supplier Lightning Box has enjoyed a major surge in global growth.
Since the acquisition in August 2021, the studio has experienced year-on-year growth of 57 per cent with August 2022 marking Lightning Box’s biggest ever month in terms of revenues.
Peter Causley, CEO and co- founder of Lightning Box, commented on the results: “We knew that by joining Light & Wonder we would be able to drive forward with our ambitious plans, but even given the huge global power of the company, the speed at which we have flourished has taken us aback.
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