Inside Asian Gaming

May 2008 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING Konami Corporation , which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2002, is a Tokyo-based producer of slot machines,arcade cabinets andvideogames aswell as toys and trading cards.The company has seen a very small downward correction in the 30 days to 21st April of 0.26%, but a gain of 25.19% in the previous 12 months. It too could benefit from the development of a home grown casino market because of consumer familiarity with its brand. Launched on June 6th 2005 with a base value of 1000, The ESL 33 ESL Gaming Indices Log onto www.asgam.com for the latest industry intelligence and a subscription to our digital edition — all absolutely free. A Sure Bet may have missed the boat, the fundamentals of Tencent look strong. The Hong Kong-listed company, founded in 1998, claims to be China’s largest and most used Internet service portal. The number of regular Internet users in China has grown fourfold since 2002 and currently stands at 210 million, says the Ministry of Information Industry. Tencent claims, however, that as of 31st December 2007, it had 300.2 million active users of its QQ Instant Messenger service and more than 714.7 million registered users— around half the country’s population. QQ Games counted more than 3.8 million users simultaneously on-line. Despite the potential for some regulatory and political risk to Internet service providers in China,investors are likely to look for new value via research and development. Tencent claims more than 60% of its staff are working on R&D. Sega Sammy Holdings , the Japanese amusement centre operator,has hadabit of abumpy ride recently.InMarch,it announced it was dissolving a Korean subsidiary and scrapping plans for a new amusement complex in Yokohama, near Tokyo. Sega Sammy, which also makes pachinko machines and other game equipment, posted a ¥15.8 billion net loss in the nine months to 31st December, compared with a ¥49.4 billion profit a year earlier. In March, the company reversed its forecast for a full-year profit to a ¥26 billion net loss and announced it would cut 400 jobs. The company saw its valuation fall 56.2% in the year to 21st April, though it put on 15.9% in the last month.Its earnings potential could improve dramatically if Japan decides to legalise domestic casino gaming. Top Ten Constituents of ESL AGI by Market Cap TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD 700 12172.40 +84.73% +23.80% GENTING BHD GENT 7526.98 -24.71% +2.41% CROWN LTD* CWN 6942.69 -22.63% -1.21% RESORTS WORLD BHD RNB 6375.59 +1.80% +7.59% MELCO PBL -ADR MPEL 5423.03 -29.28% +2.67% KONAMI CORP 9766 5388.45 +25.19% -0.26% KANGWON LAND INC 035250 4607.48 +11.51% 4.12% GENTING INTERNATIONAL PLC GIL 4269.04 -29.90% +4.31% SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS INC 6460 3256.21 -56.23% +15.87% ARUZE CORP 6425 2562.34 -15.91% +10.65% Name Ticker Price Change Last 12 Months Price Change Last 30 Days Market Cap (USD) *only since de-merger