Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | March 2014 24 COVER STORY civic responsibility, “to extend [China’s] global influence through cross-cultural communication by demonstrating to the world the excellence of China’s cultural achievements in the past”. This “historical art movement,” as Mr Brown terms it, is “the unique overlay” to Lisboa Palace, and it was developed, he says, “at the urging of the SJM executive group”. “That,” he emphasizes, “is what the guest will experience.” Same-Store Blues How all this translates into revenue is subject to calculations of an altogether different nature. “Obviously what drives all these properties at the end of the day isn’t the look, it is the demand to play baccarat,” says analyst Philip Tulk of Standard Chartered in Hong Kong. In line with the government’s desire to promote Macau as an all-around destination, gaming will occupy only about 10% of the public space at Lisboa Palace, as SJM reckons it. Plans call for a casino of 27,000 square meters the company wants to stock with as many as 700 table games. It’s not going to get them all. The government’s cap on new tables of 3% a year through the expiration of the current concessions precludes it. The other five resorts opening on Cotai between now and 2016 will deal with the same constraint. Morgan Stanley’s Praveen Choudhary, for one, is “concerned about SJMgettingaproportionatenumber of tables tohelpmaintain the return profile,” especially if the company follows through with plans to expand the resort by another 180,000 square meters with adjoining land controlled by the youngest and last of Stanley Ho’s Karl Lagerfeld is lending his cachet to the other ultra-luxe room tower. The Karl Lagerfeld Hotel, containing around the same number of rooms as Versace’s, is the famed Chanel designer’s first foray into hospitality. (From left) Frank McFadden , president, Joint Ventures & Business Developments of SJM; Veronica Chou , director of KARL LAGERFELD GREATER CHINA; Karl Lagerfeld ; Angela Leong , managing director of SJM;. Louis Ng , director and chief operating officer of SJM; and Pier Paolo Righi , CEO and president of KARL LAGERFELD Group BV.