Inside Asian Gaming

september 2016 inside asian gaming 33 Asian Gaming POWER 50 2 0 1 6 It has been a tough few years for Macau’s junkets. The biggest victim of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft campaign, VIP revenues have fallen from a record US$30 billion in 2013 to US$15.6 billion in 2015 with another 15% contraction in the first half of this year. Once comprising 74% of all gaming revenue in Macau, that figure now stands at 51.5%. But all is not lost. While many of the smaller and, in certain cases, less reputable junket operators have been forced to close their doors, the squeeze has at least allowed Macau’s three biggest junket room operators to solidify. One of those is Neptune Group, which controls more than its fair share of VIP gaming tables across the city. While it hasn’t been an easy time for Neptune – who announced a US$33 million loss for the second half of 2015 and are predicting further losses through 2016 – they do have the right man on hand to help guide them back into the black. Now in his ninth year in charge, Nicholas Niglio is an industry Nicholas Niglio EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CEO Neptune Group Power 1,027 last 22 Score year Claims to fame Has overseen Neptune’s growth to become one of Macau’s “big three” junkets Asia’s ranking non-Chinese junket executive 25 WhenMacauwas still amonopoly and the ideaof casinos inSingapore was as ridiculous as a US$4 cup of coffee, Resorts World Genting, then Genting Highlands – atop a mountain 58 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur – was Asia’s premier gaming destination. Lee Choong Yan guards that legacy as head of Genting Malaysia and is restoring the resort’s pizzazz through its Genting Integrated Tourism Plan, which doubled to MR10 billion (US$2.5 billion) in February to underscore the importance of RW Genting and Chairman Lim Kok Thay’s confidence in Mr Lee. Although Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore is Genting’s highest revenue and profit generator, RW Genting continues to post 34% EBITDA margins and may have more room to grow. The 10- year investment plan running through 2023 aims to turn the 6.000 hectare mountain resort into an international destination, targeting the expanding Southeast Asian middle class. Last year, the plan began bearing fruit with a 1,700 room extension of the First World Hotel again making it the world’s largest with 7,351 rooms. More rooms, outlet retail, a Twenty-first Century Fox theme park and arena are coming. RWG’s revenue and EBITDA grew 4% in local terms last year, and even with the impact of weakened ringgit, EBITDA was US$443 million. Genting Malaysia also includes Resorts World New York, the region’s top slots-only operation, and Resorts World Birmingham, a small scale IR that opened last October, among 43 UK gaming properties. This year it added internet gaming operator Genting Alderney, aiming to integrate online play with bricks and mortar operations – an initiative with global implications. veteran, having worked in various senior roles in Atlantic City during its heyday and boasting an encyclopedic knowledge of the global gaming industry. He is also adept at dancing that fine line between the Western and Chinese gaming worlds. It’s notable that Niglio is the only non- Chinese board member of Neptune Group – a fair reflection of just how highly he is rated by his peers.