Inside Asian Gaming

September 2012 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 25 Asian Gaming 50 – 2012 20 Chen Lip Keong CEO and Executive Director NagaCorp expandingatthenear-exponentialratesithas experienced over the past decade through its forays into Macau and Singapore. A large part of that effort involves lobbying governments of emerging jurisdictions like South Korea and Japan to allow integrated resorts. “I think he has made a lot of moves, it’s just a lot of it isn’t public,” says one Singapore-based gaming analyst. “Even the simple process of educating government officials, because he does it across many different countries, and most people never hear about it.” Regional opportunities notwithstanding, Mr Tanasijevich’s famed ability to lobby regulators will be tested in his home market of Singapore as the Casino Regulatory Authority looks set to introduce tougher restrictions on local players. The mooted changes to the Casino Control Act include limits on the frequency of visits for financially vulnerable gamblers as well as increased fines on the casinos for violations and caps on the commissions paid to junket operators. And although Sheldon Adelson has said that the new rules don’t worry him, Mr Tanasijevich will no doubt have his hands full dealing with them. him. With no experience in gaming, he set out to get into the business when the Khmer Rouge was still active and it was not even clear whether the new government would survive. And he proposed making the investment well before regional mass tourism had taken off, a decade before Asia’s casino boom got rolling, and at a time when China was still very poor, its economy weak and its people unable to travel easily outside their country. The unlikely venture, launched on a barge on the Mekong River, got started slowly. But since then, NagaCorp’s success has closely tracked Cambodia’s progress as a nation and grown with it. The first Cambodian company to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, it has played an integral role in shaping the country’s increasing appeal among tourists, investors and the international business community. For one thing, Dr Chen has delegated well, hiring Timothy McNally, an FBI veteran, as NagaCorp’s chairman and compliance watchdog, a good move in a young country like Cambodia; and in Philip Lee he has a detail-oriented CPA in charge of the financial side. In 2011, NagaCorp’s profits more than doubled, and in the first half of 2012, they rose 14% year on year. From a historic low of HK$0.56 in 2009, when the shares were caught up in the global financial crisis, the stock has surged back and has been trading consistently above $4. Dr Chen has parlayed that success into a position of influence in his host country, where his connections in government are reputed to be among the best. And the gamble he took all those years ago has rewarded him handsomely. His 50.04% stake in NagaCorp is part of a fortune that includes holdings in manufacturing, travel and property and infrastructure development estimated by Forbes magazine at US$600 million, ranking him as the 17th richest person in Malaysia. Chen Lip Keong made a huge bet and won. In 1994, as efforts were still under way to bring peace to Cambodia after years of civil war, the former medical doctor from Malaysia put in a bid to open a casino in the country. The odds were certainly against 21 Tan Hee Teck President and COO Resorts World Sentosa Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa is the jewel in the crown of Genting’s global operations. It comprises half of a government-mandated duopoly in what is arguably the most profitable gaming market in the world. Tan Hee Teck stands at the helm of that operation and was instrumental in helping Genting score the license to operate the casino in 2006. Since then, he has helped Genting maintain its strong position in the market. It has not all been smooth sailing, however. Genting Singapore reported a net profit of S$165.5 million in the quarter ended 30th June, a year-on-year decline of 32%.The company blamed the global economic downturn and noted that a decline in casino business volumes, especially in the premium-player segment, weighed heavily on earnings. But non-gaming business performed well. Hotel occupancy and average room rates in the second quarter hit all-time highs of 92% and S$432, respectively, indicating that interest in the city-state as a tourist destination remains strong, and Sentosa’s slice of that pie will grow as an expansion project under way at the property reaches completion by the end of the year. Speaking of Mr Tan’s accomplishments, one Singapore gaming analyst says, “They’re fairly limited on what they can build because the government restricts them, but I think he’s done a good job.” The ongoing success of Sentosa will also depend on the dictates of Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority, which is mulling the imposition of stricter rules to prevent locals from succumbing to problem gambling. It appears, however, that under Mr Tan’s watch, RWS has developed a solid foundation to weather whatever economic and regulatory headwinds blow its way.