Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING DECEMBER 2018 54 Lee Choong Yan PRESIDENT AND COO Genting Malaysia POWER SCORE: 917 POSITION LAST YEAR: 32 CLAIMS TO FAME Entrusted with Genting Group’s foundation property, Resorts World Genting Oversees global gaming assets from Crockfords to Cairo to Queens, New York 31 Genting Malaysia, under Lee Choong Yan, manages corporate heirloom Resorts World Genting, the former Genting Highlands, along with two Malaysian non-gaming resorts and a grab bag of overseas assets: RW New York City near JFK Airport, RW Bimini in the Bahamas, Genting UK including London’s Crockfords – the world’s oldest gaming club – and Crockfords Cairo, Genting’s first dip into the Middle East market. Those assets produce some US$1 billion in gaming revenue. RW Genting, 40 minutes outside Kuala Lumpur, is completing its multiyear MYR10 billion (US$2.4 billion) Genting Integrated Tourism Program, aiming to boost annual visitation from 22 million now to 30 million by 2020. Additions include a second cable car up the hill, fashion and outlet malls, plus improvements to its 10,500 guest rooms in seven hotels to support entertainment and convention space upgrades. Twentieth Century Fox World and an indoor theme park are due to open next year. In the first half of 2018, Malaysia operations grew double digits, accounting for two-thirds of company revenue and 82% of EBITDA (on a 33.6% margin). Those numbers will shift with Malaysia’s 10% gaming tax increase and MR30 million fee hike announced in November, news that sent Genting Malaysia shares tumbling. Other segments have growth potential, but RWGenting is the here and now. Paradise Group’s flagship integrated resort at Incheon airport is beginning to pay off. Paradise City opened in April last year amid China’s group tour boycott over the THAAD missile defense system deployment and company casino revenue fell 9%. Through the first 10 months of 2018, though, Paradise group gaming revenue is up 19% to KRW532 billion (US$476 million), exceeding the full year totals for 2016 and 2017. Chairman Phil-lip Chun, successor to his father, Paradise Founding Chairman Rak-won Chun, is banking on KRW1.5 trillion Paradise City to become a regional player. Paradise has three other casinos in Seoul, Busan and Jeju – it sold another Jeju casino to Lotte Tour in July for US$38 million – but none approach the scale of Paradise City, a 55- 45% partnership with Japan’s Sega Sammy. Paradise City features Korea’s largest foreigner-only casino with 154 tables, 281 slot machines and 62 electronic gaming terminals, plus its biggest hotel convention space, attached to a 771 room luxury hotel. In September, the IR addedThe Plaza, a glass enclosed dining and retail space, 58 suite Art Paradiso Boutique Hotel and a star-studded art gallery, plus Ibiza style nightclub Chroma and Korea-meets-West spa Cimer. The indoor theme park Wonder Box opens early next year. ASIAN GAMING POWER 50 2 0 1 8