Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | May 2010 46 Briefs International Briefs Wynn pulls Philadelphia project Casino developer Steve Wynn has scrapped his plans for what he described as the “cutest place we ever built” on a waterfront site along the Delaware River. On 8 thApril, in a two- paragraph statement after the stock markets closed for trading, Wynn said he was canceling plans for the project. “We are fascinated by the legalization of full gaming in Pennsylvania and stimulated by the opportunity that it presents for Wynn Resorts, but this particular project did not, in the end, present an opportunity that was appropriate for our company,”Wynn said in the statement. Wynn declined comment beyond the statement. The state and city were to have taken more than half of the new casino’s slot revenues and 16% of its table game revenues as tax. The news surprisedWynn’s partners in the project. Wynn became the managing general partner in the casino site that was originally called Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia because the partnership included the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal National, which operates the Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut. The project had been delayed for more than a year because Foxwoods was unable to complete the financing. Most analysts saidWynn would be able to finance the casino easily. However, at a public hearing in March month in front of Philadelphia state regulators, Wynn was met with skepticism by anti-gaming advocates, despite having gained support from local building and trade unions. During a quarterly earnings conference call in February, Wynn said the Philadelphia casino wouldn’t be “slots in a box. It will be a Wynn signature presentation with all the bells and whistles.” Wynn had told analysts he had been spending “8 or 9 hours a day”working on the project. Bally earnings decline Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies reported net income of US$23 million, or 39 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31, down from net income of $30.6 million, or 52 cents per share, a year earlier. The company took an impairment charge of $11.4 million, or 13 cents per share, on its Alabama charitable bingo assets due to uncertainty in the market. Revenue fell 3.2% to $190.6 million from $196.8 million. Despite the lower numbers, Bally Chief Executive Officer Richard Haddrill said the company made progress on its strategic initiatives. Bally also announced a deal to provide 3,600 machines to Italy for the country’s new video lottery program. The company expects to begin shipping those games this year. Bally entered into long- term agreements with two of Italy’s VLT concessionaires to provide machines for the program being implemented throughout Italy in public venues. No price or sales figures were provided. Bally Chief Operating Officer Gavin Isaacs said the deal with Italy also includes gaming systems management products and server- based gaming tools. Analysts said investors had already taken into account Bally’s reduced third-quarter figures. According to Morgan Joseph gaming analyst Justin Sebastiano, the earnings decline reflected slower deployment of capital from casinos in the quarter, forced closings of slot machines and weak daily yields. He added game sales were down in the quarter as most of those numbers are being pushed back until the following quarter, which marks the final quarter in the US financial year. Harrah’s reports Q1 loss Harrah’s Entertainment posted a loss of US$195.6 million in the first quarter of 2010, mostly due to the lingering impact of the recession on discretionary spending and continued payments on debt. The loss was 47.4% greater than the $132.7 million loss posted in the same quarter last year. Revenues slipped to $2.19 billion for the quarter ended March 31, a 13% decrease from the $2.54 billion posted in the year-ago quarter. Along with the impact of the recession on discretionary spending, the company also blamed downward pressure on room rates and severe winter weather in the Midwest and in the East for the revenue decline. Property cash flow fell 12% to $493.7 million, down from the $561.3 million realized the same time last year. In Las Vegas, the incremental revenues from the Planet Hollywood Resort acquisition in the quarter helped the company flatten out its revenues for the quarter. Revenues declined less than 1% to $682.8 million from $686.4 million last year. Property cash flow slipped 3.9% to $190.9 million in the quarter from $198.6 million. The company owns nine hotel-casinos in Las Vegas, including Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood Resort, Rio, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Paris Las Vegas, Bally’s, Flamingo, Imperial Palace and Bill’s. Harrah’s Entertainment paid $491.5 million in interest expense on its debt load and $47.4 million on the early retirement of debt in the quarter. IGT’s profit jumps International Game Technology (IGT) would have reported net profits for the second quarter that would have shockedWall Street, if it did not have to subtract restructuring charges and the costs to close its Japanese operations. Instead, the Reno-based slot machine giant had to settle for a 7% The picturesque Delaware River