Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING AUGUST 2018 14 Roles reversing as Macau mass market outpaces VIP in 2Q18 James Packer quits CPH board to continue mental health fight James Packer has quit the board of his private holdings company, Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH), to focus on recovery from mental illness. His decision to step down comes three months after he also quit the board of Crown Resorts, which itself came just eight months after rejoining the board following a two-year absence, citing “personal reasons”. A subsequent statement at the time from CPH said that Packer was “suffering from mental health issues”. CPH owns around 46% of Crown Resorts. MACAU’S VIP MARKET is showing signs of cooling with official data from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau revealing revenue from VIP baccarat grew 14% to MOP$41.04 billion in the three months to 30 June 2018. The figure, down 4% from the MOP$42.96 billion raked in by VIP baccarat in 1Q18, represented significantly slower growth than the segment has enjoyed over the past 12 months, which included a 34.8% increase in 2Q17 and 35.04% increase in 3Q17. VIP revenue for 4Q17 and 1Q18 had grown by 21.9% and 21.0% respectively. The news was much better on Macau’s mass gaming floors however, where GGR rose 21.0% year-on-year to MOP$32.67 billion – continuing an impressive trend of upwards momentum since the start of 2017. Over the past four quarters starting from 2Q17, Macau’s mass gaming revenue has grown by 8.1%, 7.4%, 17.1% and 19.9%. Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen described the role reversal between segments as “great news for operators as [mass] has been the backbone of the recovery and is generally less sensitive to political winds. According to a notice issued to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Packer stepped away from the CPH board on 27 June with a company spokesman telling media that the Australian casino mogul needed time to continue his recovery from illness. Packer, who currently resides in the United States, announced late last year his intention to return home to Australia in the next two years following a tumultuous 18 months both personally and professionally. “That mass outpaced VIP is also an upside surprise relative to most expectations and, trade war fears notwithstanding, is reason to remain bullish on the Macau names,” he added. Macau’s GGR for the first two quarters was up 18.9% year-on-year to MOP$150.79 billion.