Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | June 2009 Briefs Regional Briefs Sack News Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) says it plans to cut as many as 4,000 more jobs in Macau and Hong Kong in the wake of its cost control drive, following the halting of construction on its US$12 billion Cotai Strip development. Between 3,000 and 4,000 jobs will be eliminated by September, on top of the company’s workforce reduction to 17,500 from ‘close to 20,000’ at its peak in Macau, Michael Leven, the new LVS Chief Operating Officer said in an interview. “Macanese workers will be not affected that much, it will affect the expatriate population more so,”Mr Leven said. “Some of those people are transferred to Singapore, some are no longer required, and some are redundant”. Mr Leven, though, didn’t explain the difference between being surplus to requirement and being redundant. Additional staff for Marina Bay Sands in Singapore will be hired nearer to the time of its opening, added Mr Adelson, Las Vegas Sands chief executive officer and chairman. “At this stage of the game, when we need to tighten the belt, then we should have just-in-time employees, plus a little bit, plus a cushion,” he said. The company wants to reduceMacau staff to between 13,000 and 14,000 until more are needed after construction resumes, possibly this year, Mr Adelson said. Las Vegas Sands stopped building halfway through phases five and six, which includes the Shangri-La and St. Regis hotels. The operating Macau properties “have matured to the extent where you now know what you need to effectively operate,” Mr Leven said. “When you open new properties, generally speaking, you run on the high side of staffing and requirements because you don’t have really a knowledge of what the volumes will be in all the areas, so you have to make adjustments and it’s not unusual, after opening six or eight months to be able to right size,” he added. The casino operator “expects to do better” than the US$470 million cost cuts it has targeted. About 90% of the savings may be permanent, Mr Leven said. “We’re managing to the levels of business that we have, as opposed to the levels of business that we used to have,” he added. A perfect meld Mahjong Time says its recent deal with 343 Sports Group in China will give the company’s community-based mahjong game a firm foothold in that market. Mahjong Time says the deal means marrying its skills as an innovative provider of online mahjong gaming software and turnkey solutions with 343 Sports Group’s market knowledge and market coverage. 343 Sports Group offers Chinese-language sports, lottery, and entertainment content and services to a global audience. Its website has comprehensive soccer coverage and real-time updates for a variety of sports, as well as popular forums and chat topics. The community mahjong games on offer under the deal are tournament-style four-player mahjong using both the popular Chinese Official and Hong Kong rules sets. Mahjong Time says advanced features of 343’s customised game include an avatar shop, where players can choose and develop a character to represent them online; ‘friend’ lists, and inter-player chat. “We are very pleased with the entire process of developing and implementing our mahjong game with Mahjong Time,” said Leo Ma, Vice President of 343 Sports Group in a prepared statement. “The implementation was performed very quickly and Mahjong Time was able to satisfy all of our customisation requests. Our site visitors are very mahjong savvy, and we are certain that our mahjong game will provide these visitors with the real mahjong experience they demand,” added Mr Ma. “We are excited to have 343’s site live, and joining our ever growing network of sites,” added William Sutjiadi, CEO of Mahjong Time. “With our custom full-service solution, we provide our licensees with the front-end design and functionality and back-end reporting power they need to ensure player satisfaction and revenue growth,” added Mr Sutjiadi. Melco Crown posts Q1 loss Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd, the casino operating joint venture between Australia’s richest man James Packer and Lawrence Ho, the son of gambling billionaire Stanley Ho, posted a first-quarter loss, driving down its parents’ shares. According to Bloomberg, Melco Crown turned to a net loss of US$35.3 million in Q1 2009, from a profit of US$43.2 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Melco Crown’s US$2 billion City of Dreams casino resort is set to open this month on Macau’s Cotai Strip. With widespread construction suspensions across Macau, it is set to be the only major opening on Cotai this year. All at sea Goa’s state government is forcing companies with offshore floating casinos to move their vessels from a local river to an open bay “known for choppy seas and unstable navigation conditions”, claimed the operators last month. The “ill-conceived” cabinet decision to move the casino vessels into the Aguada bay was enforced on the maritime authorities, said Srinivas Nair of the Association of Offshore Casinos, in a Marina Bay Sands City of Dreams 60