Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | March 2010 46 Briefs International Briefs Bally shows progressive growth One of Warren Buffett’s favourite indicators for a company worth buying into is when it’s keen to buy back its own stock. Bally Technologies Inc., a leading supplier of slots, video machines and systems for the global gaming industry appears to be moving in the right direction. For the second reportingperiod ina row, the company announced a share buy back. In addition, for the three months and six months ended 31st December 2009 respectively, Bally announced diluted earnings per share (EPS) of USD0.58 and US$1.11 on revenue of US$213 million and US$410 million. “We are very pleased to report another very profitable quarter despite challenging market conditions,” said Richard M. Haddrill, the company’s Chief Executive Officer. “We also continued to build our recurring revenues to 46% of total revenues in the second quarter versus 41% in the same period last year. We see positive long-term trends for our business as a result of planned gaming expansion, the extended deferral of customer game capital expenditures, and our upcoming product launches.” “We are pleased to again have set several new quarterly and all-time records including systems revenue and gaming equipment gross margins,” added Robert C. Caller, the company’s Chief Financial Officer. “We also continued to strengthen our balance sheet in the second quarter as we further reduced debt by US$12 million while repurchasing USS16 million of our stock.” Added Mr Caller. Vegas revenues down–the hatch Gambling revenues may have fallen 32% year on year in Las Vegas during 2009 but visitors are buying more drinks, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Alcohol sales were up 5% in The Strip’s 38 largest casinos said the NGCB. The casinos report however that the number of complimentary drinks was down 2%. That was possibly a function of lower betting volumes earning fewer comp privileges. This in turn may have forced some casino visitors to put their hand in their pocket for their drinks. Red Sea scheme resurrected Israeli entrepreneurs are already noted suppliers of software and website platforms in the global market for online gaming. Now the Israeli Ministry of Tourism is again considering allowing land-based gaming in Eilat, a resort on Israel’s Red Sea coast, with a focus on the Meetings Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) business. Israel issued three licenses for land based gaming in 2006 but so far no casinos have been constructed. That’s despite the fact that in 2008 two government departments—the Tourism Ministry and the Israel Land Administration—approved a deal allocating a 12-acre plot for Israel’s first legal gambling resort on Eilat’s northern shore. At that time Israel’s then TourismMinister estimated unregulated gambling in Israel turned over US$3.5 billion per year. GLI clearance for Gaming Support jackpot controller Gaming Support, a leading supplier of digital sign systems and other equipment to the casino industry, has followed its sales success in Asia with new regulatory approvals in the United States. ThecompanyhasbeengrantedGamingLaboratoriesInternational (GLI) certification covering its BaseSys Navigator jackpot controller for mystery and progressive jackpot configurations in the US states of California, Delaware and Rhode Island. Gaining GLI clearance in major US jurisdictions should help the company’s marketing effort in Asia and beyond. “GamingSupport is proud tohave cleared this first, very important hurdle,” stated Don Baugh, Chief Executive Officer, Gaming Support USA. “For the past several years, the American controller market has been far too restricted, with only one or two vendors supplying product. This absence of competition has been at the direct expense of casino operators, who have been forced to choose from an unacceptably narrow range of offerings.We look forward toproviding American operators with a worthy alternative and are excited by the ongoing proliferation of this new, very exciting technology.” The company says BaseSys Navigator is a feature-rich, scalable and cost-effective jackpot controller proven to work with every slot machine on the market. BaseSys Navigator Widely has previously been installed in casinos throughout Europe, Asia and South America. It enables gaming operators to manage jackpots remotely, update jackpot settings, publicise jackpot values and trigger special effect—all via a networked personal computer. Roundtable days and nights Gaming Laboratories International will hold its 9th annual Regulators’ Roundtable in Las Vegas from 16th to 17th March. The conference, titled ‘Linking Worlds Together,’ will be at the South Point Hotel Casino Spa. Topics at this year’s event include the benefits of so-called crossover technology from other industry sectors, implementation of gaming legislation and other political and regulatory issues. In addition to panel speakers, the event will feature a tour of GLI’s Las Vegas laboratory and in-depth training modules at the lab. GSA looks at case for online standards The Gaming Standards Association has set up a committee to look at whether online gaming could benefit from common technical and regulatory standards in the manner of the land-based industry. “It is clear that there is significant overlap between what happens in the online and offline gaming segments,” said GSA President Peter DeRaedt. GLI Las Vegas