Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | December 2009 Sources in the travel industry in China say that Beijing may once again be applying the brakes to the number and frequency of visits to Macau. October – Beijing may prefer to keep revenue growth in the Macau gaming market in line with GDP growth in China, Bill Lerner of Las Vegas-based Union Gaming Research tells IAG . WynnResorts raisesmore thanUS$1.8 billion with aggressive pricing of its local unit floated on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Final plans for phase one of Macau’s long-awaited light rail system are published. The MOP7.5 billion (US$940 million) estimated cost is 80% up on the figures quoted for an earlier version of the scheme published in 2007. The mass transport system is due to be operational by 2014. Macau’s Statistics and Census Service says 17.8 million people visited the territory between January and October. It puts Macau on course for an annual visitor total a third down on 2008. Recession is not the only factor. During the year the Macau government changes the way it measures visitor arrivals, distinguishing between de facto tourists and daily migrant worker arrivals. November – Galaxy announces it will open Galaxy Macau, its suspended flagship resort project on Cotai, in the first quarter of 2011. TheMacaugovernment’saccumulated budget surpluses and reserves are expected to amount to MOP100 billion (US$12.5 billion) by the end of the year, the Chief Executive Edmund Ho tells the Legislative Assembly. Las Vegas Sands Corp raises US$2.5 billion by floating a local unit on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Sands China prices its initial public offering conservatively in an effort to guarantee its success. December – One Central, a new luxury apartment and shopping complex developed by the property and shipping conglomerate Shun Tak and Hongkong Land, opens on the Macau peninsula. It was conceived with the idea of driving VIP business to the MGM Grand Macau casino next door, and high-rollers from the casino to the One Central mall. Pansy Ho, managing director of Shun Tak, is also a joint venture partner in MGM Grand Macau. SJM is scheduled to launch its latest casino project, the Paul Steelman- designed Oceanus; on the site of a former shopping centre just a few minutes walk from the Macau Maritime Ferry Terminal at the Outer Harbour. 20th December – Macau marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region, and the inauguration of Chui Sai On as the second Chief Executive of Macau SAR. 16 Cover Story TheChamber ofMacauCasinoGaming Concessionaires and Sub-concessionaires is officially launched in a ceremony at SJM’sGrandLisboa. Theoperators hadbeen meeting regularly since earlier in the year to discuss issues of mutual interest, including pricing and intensity of competition during an economic downturn. August – Dr Stanley Ho is admitted to hospital in Hong Kong, reportedly after a fall at home. Only days earlier, Dr Ho had been named as first chairman of a new trade association for Macau casino concessionaires. His extended absence from the Macau gaming scene after nearly 50 years sparks speculation about a possible succession process for his casino operating company, SJM Holdings. The government drafts a regulation to allow for the imposition of a cap on VIP rolling chip commissions of 1.25%. By then, the operators have effectively preempted the rule by agreeing voluntary controls among themselves. September – L’Arc, a new casino hotel licensed by SJM, and with slots managed by Malaysia’s RGB, opens in the ‘Royal District’ on the Macau peninsula. ‘The Asian Gaming 50 – 2009’, the second annual ranking of the industry’s most influential people, is published by Inside Asian Gaming . Lim Kok Thay, Chairman and CEO of Malaysia’s Genting Berhad, displaces Dr Stanley Ho in the number one spot.Mr Lim’s rise in the rankings marks his company’s sound financial gearing and major expansion in Asia. Genting runs Genting Highlands Resort in Malaysia, is a developer of new gaming resorts in Singapore and the Philippines, and is also the parent company of casino ship operator Star Cruises (now Genting Hong Kong). Galaxy Macau This original grand vision of Oceanus was scrapped in favour of a more modest project Lim Kok Thay The slots at L’Arc