Inside Asian Gaming

43 February 2013 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS rose to $467 million from $306.7 million a year ago. LVS also raised its quarterly dividend by 40% to 35 cents a share, from 25 cents previously. In November the company declared a $2.75 special dividend that netted the company’s largest shareholder, Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, about $1.2 billion. On a conference call, Mr Adelson reiterated plans to sell the company’s Asian shopping malls, which he said would be worth as much as $10 billion. The company may wait until additional retail projects are completed, he said. Mr Adelson also discussed Sands China’s expansion on the Cotai Strip in Macau .The company has started construction on a $2.6 billion Paris- themed resort on Cotai, scheduled to open in late 2015. LVS has also requested the Singapore government’s approval to add 1,500 hotel rooms to Marina Bay Sands, Mr Adelson said on the call. Mr Adelson added he isn’t pursuing projects in the US. The company is seeking a buyer for its casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, according to people with knowledge of the situation. “We are of the opinion that a lot of the US markets have been oversaturated or are about to be oversaturated,” Mr Adelson said. “We don’t want to compete with the good job that Caesars is doing in the riverboat and the small casino market. We’re the experts in integrated resorts.” Macau Drags Down Wynn Resorts’ Q4 Results Wynn Resorts Ltd, owner of Wynn Las Vegas, Encore and resorts inMacau, posted fourth- quarter earnings that fell short of analyst expectations. Profit excluding some items totaled US$1.17 a share in the quarter. Analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance were projecting $1.25 a share. Revenues were $1.28 billion compared to $1.34 billion in Q4 2011. A 9.7% year on year drop in revenue from Macau operations drove the decline, which was partially offset by a 12.1% increase in Las Vegas. The company gets more than 70% of its revenue from Macau, with the rest coming from Nevada. VIP gaming revenue at Wynn and Encore Macau was down 6.6% in the quarter, while mass revenue rose 1%. Net income at Wynn Resorts fell 41% to $111.4 million, or $1.10 a share, from $190.5 million, or $1.52 a share in 2011. Wynn Resorts said it will double the quarterly dividend to $1 a share, payable on 24th February to shareholders of record on 14th February. The company also paid a special dividend of $7.50 a share in November ahead of an increase in US tax rates from the beginning of this year. On a conference call with analysts, Chairman Steve Wynn said construction was likely to begin on the $4 billion Wynn Cotai resort this month. He said it was “expensive” to prepare the 52-acre site. “The resort will include (amenities) that have not been seen before,” Mr Wynn said. “We are 36 months out from opening in Cotai.” MrWynn did not mention company director Kazuo Okada during the conference call. Mr Okada last month filed a lawsuit in Las Vegas seeking to stop a 22nd February special shareholders’ meeting to oust him from the board of directors. Mr Okada in February 2012 was declared “unsuitable” after an investigation concluded he gave cash and gifts totaling $110,000 to gaming regulators in the Philippines. The company seizedMr Okada’s 20% stake in Wynn Resorts at a 30% discount. LVS States Its Case for Toronto Las Vegas Sands Corp is stepping up its lobbying for a Toronto casino. LVS President and COO Michael Leven said the city could greatly improve its competitiveness as a convention destination by expanding its Metro Convention Centre, which is where the company wants to site its resort. “We think the Convention Centre needs a boost,” he told The Economic Club of Canada at a recent luncheon meeting. “It needs the activity that will drive more business, more people and more excitement into the downtown community.” Mr Leven said the complex, which would include a 2,000- room hotel, will not add to the city’s already congested core. But if improvements to roads or transit are required, he said LVS would be open to helping to fund them. “We can do this without major infrastructure investment from the province,” he said. Oxford Properties Group, which owns the northern portion of the Front Street site, wants to demolish the Convention Centre and an adjoining hotel and two nearby office buildings and replace them with amixed-use development that includes a newhotel and a casino and two skyscrapers that would be among the tallest in Canada. Las Vegas-based casino operator Caesars Entertainment also favors the Convention Centre location. MGM Resorts International prefers city-owned Exhibition Place, which is also favored by pro- casino Mayor Rob Ford. The mayor’s Executive Committee is expected to get a report on casinos in March, with the City Council scheduled to vote on the question in April. Encore Tower at Wynn Macau Michael Leven