Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING APR 2019 20 COVER STORY Tax rates are currently set at 125,000 Russian rubles (US$1,943) monthly per table and RUB7,500 monthly per gaming machine position. Summit Ascent recently reported gaming revenue of HK$419 million (US$53.4 million) in 2018 and total operating revenue of HK$463 million, down 1.6% from 2017. That was largely due to a 17% decrease in VIP rolling to HK$15.6 billion and 30% fall in VIP win after rebates to HK$109 million. Those drops came as Tigre de Cristal sought new junket arrangements and focused on beefing up its mass market operations. A weaker ruble also contributed to the overall fall. Mass table play became Tigre de Cristal’s largest revenue source, growing 26% to HK$167 million. Slot handle increased 30% to nearly HK$2.9 billion, with slot win up 19% to HK$143 million, also topping VIP revenue. Hotel occupancy nudged up to 63.4% from 62.2% in 2017 – Tsifetakis says guest rooms are regularly full Friday through Monday. Adjusted property EBITDA rose 4% to HK$181 million and EBITDA margin increased three percentage points to 39.2%. In addition to its more profitable business mix, Tigre de Cristal also achieved savings through cost control and localization, with 97% of its 1,050 employees Russian citizens. Focused on second half improvement in VIP roll from HK$6.5 billion to HK$9 billion plus strong mass growth, Union Gaming Managing Director in Macau, Grant Govertsen, upgraded Summit Ascent to a buy. Adding Suncity to the VIP mix suggests to Union that VIP volume could reach HK$30 billion by 2020. END OF THE WORLD Named “Russia’s Leading Resort” by the World Travel Awards last June, Tigre deCristal offers aworld class product in what is often seen as an “end of the world” location. The hotel has 121 rooms in seven categories and if you woke up in one, you’d swear it bore a top Western brand. The five-star property, built for US$172 million, boasts two restaurants, one casual Pan-Asian and Western, one fine dining steakhouse, and four bars, with a private club expected to open soon, plus a handful of shops including Tigre de Cristal COO Stylianos Tsifetakis Baccarat is the most populargameashighend customers in particular tend to come fromChina, with Koreans, Japanese and Russians rounding out the daily average of 1,000 casino visitors.