Inside Asian Gaming

IAG NOV 2020年11月 亞博匯 89 2020 亞博匯50強 YOJI SATO DIRECTOR AND SENIOR ADVISOR Dynam Japan 佐藤洋治 董事及高級公司顧問 Dynam Japan 27 POWER SCORE 權能指數 : 965 POSITION LAST YEAR 去年排名 : Nil 無 DYNAM’S former Managing Director, Makoto Sakamoto was handed the reins of Japan’s second largest pachinko operator after long-time CEO Kohei Sato stepped down in April. Yet the balance of power still rests firmly within the Sato family’s hands – particularly those of Kohei’s older brother Yoji. With a near 34% stake in the family company – founded by his father in 1967 – Yoji Sato is said to remain the key decision maker at Dynam despite having stepped down as Chairman in 2015. Certainly he is the most powerful among peers, with an estimated personal fortune of US$810 million as of April 2020 according to Forbes , and to this day still shapes the business strategy driving Dynam forward. That’s not an easy task in an industry that continues to contract – even before COVID-19 intervened with yet another unwanted hurdle. In April, Dynam shut down 428 of the 448 pachinko halls (down from 450 a year earlier) under its operations, reopening 101 of them in May and the remainder in June. However, the company flagged the need to cut machine costs by 20%, variable costs by 15%, personnel costs by 10% and fixed costs by 5% in order to navigate the pandemic. “We will control decrease of revenue due to the influence from coronavirus infection and secure the stable earnings continuously by lowering the break-even point through productivity reform and restructuring,” it said at the time. Meanwhile, Dynam continues to refocus its energies on converting its high playing-cost halls to low playing-cost halls and targeting entertainment over volatility, a response to recent regulatory changes impacting pachinko payout levels. It is estimated that the number of pachinko players Japan- wide has fallen by two-thirds over the past 25 years, with the number of halls falling from 10,060 last year to 9,638 in 2020. 日本第二大彈珠機運營商Dynam 在任行政總裁多年的佐藤公平於今年4月 離任，其職位由公司董事總經理坂本誠接任。但佐藤家族仍然牢牢掌握公司的 權力，尤其是佐藤公平的兄長佐藤洋治。 佐藤洋治持有Dynam近34%股權，該家族企業由其父親於1967年創立， 雖然佐藤洋治早於2015年已辭任了董事長一職，但他仍是公司的主要決策 者。 佐藤洋治亦肯定是同輩中最有權勢的人物。根據雜誌《福布斯》，截至 2020年4月，其身家估計總值8.1億美元，而時至今日，他仍影響著Dynam的未 來業務發展戰略。 在一個持續萎縮的行業中，這並不是一件易事 —— 新冠肺炎疫情爆發 前，行業已步入衰退，疫情只是另一重阻礙。 今年4月，Dynam暫時關閉了旗下448間彈珠機遊戲廳（數字較去年少了 兩間）中的428間，於5月重開了101間，餘下的彈珠機遊戲廳亦於6月重開。然 而，該企表示為應對疫情，需要將彈珠機成本削減20％、可變成本下調15％、 人員成本削減10％及固定成本下降5％。 該企當時稱：「鑑於新冠肺炎導致收入下降，我們將著力控制相關影響， 通過生產力變更和重組，降低盈虧平衡點，持續確保穩定的收入。」 此外，為應對法規變更近期對彈珠機支付水平的影響，Dynam 的持續 策略焦點是將高玩樂成本的彈珠機遊戲廳改變至低成本，針對娛樂元素而不 是波動性。 有預測指在過去25年，日本全國彈珠機玩樂人數下降了超過三分之二， 彈珠機遊戲廳數目亦從去年的10060間下跌至今年的9638間。 CLAIMS TO FAME 名成事跡 Largest individual shareholder of Japan’s second largest pachinko operator • • 日本第二大彈珠機運營商的最大個人股東