Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming September 2014 38 Echo as CFO when Tabcorp spun it off in 2011. But then quite a lot changed. In June, Echo trumped rival Crown Resorts in Brisbane by teaming up with Hong Kong giants Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium on a joint A$1 billion resort casino bid in the Queensland capital. With a single shot Echo had pared the short list of bidders from four to three and presented Crown with a formidable alliance in the process. Chow Tai Fook’s extensive holdings in property, hospitality and consumer goods include the largest jewelry retailer in the world. Far East owns 25 hotels around the world and has been a significant presence in Australia for years and currently is building a A$1 billion residential and retail complex in Melbourne. The move forced Crown to partner up with China state-owned property developer Greenland, thus reducing the short list to two. Brisbane, where Echo’s standing as sole casino operator has been under a concerted Crown assault for a couple of years, is likely to prove key to Mr Bekier’s ability to survive in the job longer than either of his American predecessors. There was Larry Mullin—who came in with Mr Bekier in the Tabcorp demerger and had the thankless job of overseeing an $870 million remodeling of The Star, Echo’s Sydney flagship, while fending off a takeover bid by James Packer that resulted in the ouster of Echo’s chairman—and his successor, Mr Redmond, who joined when Echo was already being outmuscled by Mr Packer on its home turf and who failed to prevent Crown from winning a bid to develop a competing luxury resort on Darling Harbour. Mr Bekier reportedly clashed with Mr Mullin and was said to have been in line for the CEO’s job before the board decided on Mr Redmond. The association with Mr Redmond was productive nonetheless and his extensive experience served Mr Redmond well. He oversaw Tabcorp’s finances for five years and prior to that was a longtime principal at McKinsey & Co., the famed New York City-based management consultants. He holds a doctorate from Switzerland’s Universität St. Gallen, a hothouse for the development of leaders in business, investment banking and finance. Together with Mr Redmond he crafted some $30 million in cost cuts that have helped shore up Echo’s profitability in a domestic market plagued by a sagging consumer spend. In July he closed on Mr Redmond’s negotiated sale of the Jupiters Townsville in Queensland for $70 million and is focusing on remaking the company’s more lucrative Jupiters Gold Coast, which is slated for an expansion and improvements priced at $300 million. In the meantime, Echo has been more than holding its own. Net profit adjusted for fluctuations in VIP hold totaled $158.2 million, beating the company’s earlier guidance by $5 million-$8 million. Combined revenues from The Star and the three Queensland casinos beat a consensus of analysts polled by Bloomberg to total $1.97 billion on a normalized basis, an increase year on year of 3.8%. As Citi analyst Michael Goltsman told the Sydney Morning Herald , it was “hard to fault the result”. The beat, he said, “reflected very strong cost discipline and revealed very strong underlying momentum in gaming revenues”. An accountant by training, Clarence Chung has emerged as Lawrence Ho’s point man in Southeast Asia. Mr Chung serves as chairman and president of Melco Crown Philippines, responsible for the City of Dreams Manila integrated resort due to open within weeks. Mr Chung is also a non-executive director of parent company Melco Crown Entertainment and an executive director of Mr Ho’s half of that partnership, Melco International Development. He joined Melco in 2003 as chief financial officer after stints as Clarence Chung Chairman and President Melco Crown Philippines Chairman and CEO Entertainment Gaming Asia