Inside Asian Gaming

April 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 47 Briefs million for the fourth quarter of 2007. Gross profit for the quarter was US$5.5 million, or 35% of revenues, compared to US$6.8 million, or 34% of revenues, in the same period a year ago. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2008 was US$1.8 million, up 100% compared to a net income of US$0.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. For the year ended December 31, 2008, revenues were US$60.5 million, which were up three percent compared to revenues of US$58.8 million in the year ended December 31, 2007. Gross profit for the year was US$19.9 million, or 33% of revenues, compared to US$17.5 million, or 30% of revenues, in 2007. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2008 was US$4.5 million, compared to US$0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2007. GPIC added that as of December 31, 2008, its backlog of unfilled orders, which are expected to be filled in 2009, was US$13.0 million. Over US$8.0 million of the backlog is for orders from two casinos in Asia that are expected to be delivered in the middle of the year, which the company previously announced with its press release on January 16, 2009. Commenting on the results, Gerard Charlier, President and CEO, said, “We are pleased with our fourth quarter and year end results for 2008, especially given the difficult economic environment.” “Our continuing efforts to reduce costs contributed to these results. The move of our Bud Jones chip production from Las Vegas to Mexico is improving operating margins and we have made staff reductions as well as other cost reductions,” added M. Charlier. “This past year was the company’s second best year in terms of both revenues and net income. However, the challenges facing the gaming industry will make 2009 a difficult year, especially in the first quarter. Nonetheless, we are positioning the company to meet the challenges we face and believe we can find success in the marketplace, such as the large orders we announced in January for the City of Dreams casino in Macau and the Newport City casino in Manila.” MGM Mirage Turns Attention to Bank Negotiations MGM Mirage’s talks to obtain a $750 million secured loan from Los Angeles private equity company Colony Capital LLC have been put on hold as MGM Mirage focuses on negotiations with banks, Bloomberg News reported. The news service attributed the report to people with knowledge of the discussions. JPMorgan analyst Joseph Greff, in the meantime, said MGM Mirage continues to have the support of its lenders as it seeks to bolster its finances and find additional funding for its US$8.7 billion CityCenter development on the Las Vegas Strip. Reaffirming his neutral ranking on MGM Mirage stock, Greff said MGMMirage Chairman and Chief Executive JimMurren had affirmed that his company is exploring various options to deal with its financial pressure, which include US$13 billion in debt. Those options include asset sales, debt for asset swaps and bond-for-bond exchanges. In a note to clients, Greff said “the banks seem to be working closely with MGM to ensure the company makes it through this restructuring.” “MGM indicated that it and the banks want to see CityCenter completed and that there are third parties out there who could help complete as well,” Greff said in the note. Nevada Gaming Revenue Keep Falling Gaming revenues fell more than 18% statewide during February and more than 23% on the Strip, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Casinos won almost US$839.5 million from gamblers, down from almost US$1.145 billion won a year ago. The figure was the lowest statewide one-month total since July 2004, when casinos recorded US$813 million in gaming revenues. On the Strip, casinos won US$427.4 million, down from US$558.3 million a year ago. The figure was the lowest single month total since November 2004, when casinos won US$426 million. Despite the revenue drop, gaming tax collections based on the revenues were up 22.6% during the month. Nevada collected almost US$65.1 million, well above the US$53.1 million collected for the same period a year ago. Not all areas of Clark County suffered during February. Gaming revenues were up almost 22% in North Las Vegas and recorded slight increases of less than 1% each on the Boulder Strip and Mesquite. The Las Vegas Strip