Macau Casinos and Gambling News

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Executives for Venetian owner Las Vegas Sands Inc. said Tuesday the company is moving quickly to cash in on a small part of the world that is expected to surpass Nevada in a few years as the world's largest gambling destination.

Macau, a Chinese coastal territory that is less than an hour by boat from Hong Kong, has attracted major U.S. investors including Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM MIRAGE. They broke a decadeslong monopoly held by casino boss Stanley Ho whose casinos catered to high-rolling gamblers who were known to obtain credit from Asian gangs.

Executives at Las Vegas Sands, which opened its Sands Macau casino May 18, said they are flouting conventional wisdom by catering to an emerging mass market of Chinese who have newfound wealth and a desire to travel but who aren't dropping thousands at the baccarat tables.

And they say they will expand the Sands Macau -- as well as build a previously announced resort there similar to The Venetian -- as fast as they can.

"There's a billion people within a two-hour travel time already," Las Vegas Sands President Bill Weidner said during the company's second quarter earnings call Tuesday. "I don't know if Macau has enough room to handle capacity. I don't know if you can (have) enough (gaming) tables."

The company isn't waiting for Macau regulators to pass expected rules allowing casinos to extend credit to gamblers -- an event that some experts said was a near requirement for doing business in Macau.

"We are (glad) we got there early because the market in Macau is pretty phenomenal," Las Vegas Sands Executive Vice President Brad Stone said during the conference call.

Profit at the company more than doubled from a year ago, in part because of the opening of a new hotel tower at The Venetian as well as early results from the Sands Macau casino.

"There's well over a billion dollars' worth of opportunity on the mass market side with little or no cost of acquisition," Weidner said. "What we saw was a good, high margin business without extending one dollar of credit."

Casino boss Steve Wynn originally said he wouldn't move ahead in Macau without credit legislation in place but has since begun development, saying he is confident rules will pass allowing casino credit as well as the ability to offset taxes on casino winnings by deducting uncollectible debt.

Visitor volume in Macau is increasing about 50 percent a year, with each person bringing about $6,000 in cash, Weidner said.

By the end of this month, Sands Macau will open a series of amenities aimed at cash-paying tourists, including 49 high-end suites, four restaurants, karaoke bars, a cigar bar, tea tasting rooms and spas.

There's another billion dollars' worth of market potential in a high-end segment of customer who brings cash and doesn't need credit, Weidner said. Other tourists avoid Macau altogether because they're not big gamblers, he said.

Macau is largely a locals' market fed by nearby Chinese zones that have become well-to-do under recent free trade policies, analysts say.

"The mass market is what's growing," said Scott Fisher, a managing director with Innovation Group, a New Orleans-based consultant for gaming and hotel companies.

"There's relatively wealthy communities and cities in the southern Guangdong province where everything's brand new. These are people with newfound wealth and going to Macau is an opportunity they now have but they're not serious gamers," Fisher said.

"People enjoy the whole resort concept just like they enjoy the resort concept in Las Vegas," he said.

The company's Macau business can stand on its own without serving as a feeder market to Las Vegas, Key Banc Capital Markets analyst Dennis Forst said.

"They don't need to bring one customer over here (to Las Vegas) to have it make economic sense in Macau," Forst said. Any cross-marketing with The Venetian "is kind of whipped cream on top of the cake."

Both Las Vegas Sands and Wynn have a track record of catering to Asian gamblers in Las Vegas and have indicated a desire to market their Vegas casinos in Macau.

[SeeMacau]

MACAU – As reported by the Ponto Final: "Macau police announced on Tuesday the arrest of a Hong Kong mini-bus driver who allegedly used a fake credit card to pay back a HK $ 90,000 debt to loansharks in Hong Kong.

"According to a police spokesman, the 60-year old suspect, surnamed Leung, was arrested on Sunday, following a tip-off by a casino operator in Macau's Outer Harbour.

"…The spokesman said the suspect told police he had used the credit card for three consecutive days last week to buy junket-gaming chips worth HK $ 350,000.

"The spokesman also said the suspect told police he had been forced by several loansharks in Hong Kong to use the fake credit card at the casino in Macau in order to pay them back a HK $ 90,000 debt…"

[SeeMacau]

MACAU : A huge cheer breaks through the cacophony at Sands Macau Casino as the four million pataca (518,000 US dollar) blackjack jackpot is won.

Lights flash, music plays and hordes of tourists, mostly from mainland China, gather around to congratulate the beaming winner.

Later, by the huge cocktail bar, two scantily clad Western girls gyrate on podiums to the muzak of a house band fronted by two equally skimpily attired female singers.

Overhanging the slot machines and the baccarat, roulette and card tables, a gigantic video screen the size of a tennis court flashes pop videos and ads for other casino attractions, including the upstairs buffet in a restaurant as big as two football pitches.

Gambling Macau-style has changed dramatically since Sands, a subsidiary of the Venetian company that owns its namesake hotel-casino complex in Las Vegas, opened in May.

It has brought Vegas pizzazz to the largely autonomous Chinese territory in an industry that had been dominated by dingy, smoke-filled dens since gambling was legalised by the Portuguese colonial government a century ago.

With the emphasis on entertainment above gambling, it is the first in a 25-billion-pataca wave of new casino openings that are already revolutionising an industry which just five years ago had gone into reverse.

At least another 30 similar American-style casino-resorts are planned, which by 2009 are expected to pull in more than five billion US dollars annually -- outstripping takings even on Las Vegas Strip.

"The numbers are scary," said economist Albano Martins. "And by all projections, they are just going to get bigger and bigger."

When China resumed control of the territory in December 1999 gaming, long the pillar of the local economy, was on the wane as the economic slump in Hong Kong, a 45-minute ferry ride away, deterred its traditional source of punters. That year casinos took only 13 billion patacas.

Since then the picture has been transformed: according to government figures, gaming receipts had reached 22.5 billion by June this year, almost equal to the 28 billion taken in all of 2003. Martins expects the year-end figure to be 42 billion patacas.

The Macau that political leader Edmund Ho was re-elected to run on Sunday is much changed from the territory he inherited five years ago.

"Another way of looking at it is this: the gaming industry pays 39 percent of takings in tax. That means that by July, from gaming tax income alone, the government has already paid its budget for 2005," Martins says.

Driving this sudden boom is a huge surge in mainland Chinese visitors.

Since Beijing last year eased restrictions on travel outside the country, Chinese tourism here has mushroomed: from a trickle in 1999, Chinese arrivals soared to six million in 2003 and by June 2004 had already accounted for five million of the city's 7.7 million visitors.

"The mainland is Macau's golden goose," says Sanjay Nadkarni, a researcher at Macau's Institute for Tourism Studies.

Growth is expected to rocket further.

"To fund its expansion plans, the gaming industry has banked on a 50-percent annual growth rate in mainland visitors for the foreseeable future," said Martins. "The figures so far show they will reach that easily."

But for all its glitz and glamour, Sands is small-fry here: in June, its first full month, it took 320 million patacas, according to government figures, just two percent of the almost four billion patacas spent by gamblers that month.

Even Galaxy, the Hong Kong-owned company that entered the market at the same time, raked in 400 million with far fewer tables.

It has led some to doubt the American model in Macau.

"The Chinese operators understand the local market better because they have been here longer," said Martins.

"The Americans say they will bring in the holiday gamblers but the Chinese casinos are making money from VIP tables, which Sands so far doesn't have."

The high rollers of the VIP rooms provided an estimated 80 percent of the 3.3 billion patacas taken in June by the largest and oldest casino operator: Stanley Ho's SJM.

Ho held the monopoly on gambling here for four decades until this year when the government of Beijing-backed chief executive Edmund Ho (no relation) introduced new legislation allowing foreign competition.

Through his huge conglomerate STDM, Stanley Ho controls much of the economic activity of Macau. Apart from his 12 casinos he owns the ferry company and port, he has a large share in the airport and he controls some of the most prestigious hotels and tourist attractions.

Viewed here as a benevolent uncle, few know why the government decided to break Ho's grip on the city.

"Stanley controls so many rugs he could easily have pulled from under the economy, I think the government wanted to spread the risk," suggests Nadkarni.

"I think Stanley was seen as too powerful," says local legislator Antonio Ng Kuok Cheong, who opposes the casino expansion plans.

"But I think it also made sense because there was a genuine desire to inject new life into the local market."

Sands Macau is just a taste of things to come. On a 100,000 square metre reclamation between two islands called the Cotai strip it is leading a development that will by 2009 house at least 25 American-style resorts and casinos, including the billion US dollar Venetian Macau.

As well, Ho plans two theme parks and the 40-storey Grand Lisboa casino hotel.

Nearby, Galaxy has begun building what will be a 13-storey gambling haven; across the road Las Vegas tycoon Steve Wynn will open a 600-room, 200-table complex; and there has even been talk of MGM, which pioneered the family casinos in Vegas, opening a property with Ho's daughter Pansy.

When it is complete by 2009, the Cotai strip will provide some 30,000 hotel rooms -- 4,500 at the Venetian alone -- about 1,000 gaming tables and at least 100,000 square feet of convention space.

The strip is expected employ some 150,000 staff.

Many distrust relying on one industry but with no nearby competition and China -- though morally and politically opposed to gambling -- committed to maintaining Macau as the nation's only casino haven, problems, for now, look far away.

"No one can see an end to the gambling jackpot," says Martins.

[SeeMacau]

MACAU – As reported by the Agence France-Presse: "…Gambling Macau-style has changed dramatically since Sands, a subsidiary of the Venetian company that owns its namesake hotel-casino complex in Las Vegas, opened in May.

"It has brought Vegas pizzazz to the largely autonomous Chinese territory in an industry that had been dominated by dingy, smoke-filled dens since gambling was legalised by the Portuguese colonial government a century ago.

"With the emphasis on entertainment above gambling, it is the first in a 25-billion-pataca wave of new casino openings that are already revolutionizing an industry which just five years ago had gone into reverse. At least another 30 similar American-style casino-resorts are planned, which by 2009 are expected to pull in more than five billion US dollars annually -- outstripping takings even on Las Vegas Strip.

"…Driving this sudden boom is a huge surge in mainland Chinese visitors.

"…But for all its glitz and glamour, Sands is small-fry here: in June, its first full month, it took 320 million patacas, according to government figures, just two percent of the almost four billion patacas spent by gamblers that month.

"Even Galaxy, the Hong Kong-owned company that entered the market at the same time, raked in 400 million with far fewer tables.

"It has led some to doubt the American model in Macau.

"…The high rollers of the VIP rooms provided an estimated 80 percent of the 3.3 billion patacas taken in June by the largest and oldest casino operator: Stanley Ho's SJM…"

[SeeMacau]

ECONOMIC CONCERNS: The gambling industry's growth boosted GDP by 25 percent in the first quarter, but some warn that Macau must diversify its economy

On the western edge of Macau, along the slither of polluted water that separates it from China, restaurateur Effic Chen serves the handful of customers who still visit her San Hip Seng Seafood Restaurant.

Business has dropped "enormously," said Chen, in the two years since the local casino, a dingy gambling den built into an old Chinese junk, moved to the other side of the peninsula to be closer to a glitzy new American casino.

The 24-hour floating casino brought a constant flow of customers to Chen's restaurant and the many other bars, eateries and stores in the neighborhood. Now they are either boarded up or eerily quiet.

"We used to be full all the time," Chen sighed. "Now look," she said,pointing to the empty tables.

The slump in Chen's tiny neighborhood of the largely autonomous enclave of China is symptomatic of a recent economic shift in Macau that saw casino growth boost GDP by 25 percent in the first quarter.

It is one of many clouds behind the city's economic miracle that political leader Edmund Ho, who was re-elected for a second term in office Sunday, can't afford to ignore.

"We are relying too much on one industry and that reliance is only going to increase," warned Sanjay Nadkarni, a researcher at Macau's Institute of Tourism Studies. "We are creating a monoculture built around a business that is, essentially, non-productive."

Macau is mutating into the entertainment center of China: Some 25 billion patacas (US$3.2 billion) has been pledged to build 30 new casinos and hotels in the next five years and business in the existing 13 is booming thanks to a doubling of mainland Chinese tourists this year following newly relaxed travel rules in China.

Leading the revolution are American casino operators from Las Vegas who are bringing glitz and a business model that places casinos within huge hotel and entertainment complexes, far different to the city's traditional gambling dens.

But away from the neon and green baize, analysts and politicians warn of dire economic and social consequences.

"What happened to the floating casino is happening all over the city," said lawmaker Au Kam Sam, a teacher and one of just two lawmakers on the city's 30-seat legislature who opposed expansion of the casino industry.

"The old casinos used to bring business to their neighborhoods because all they provided were gaming tables -- no food or drink.

"The new American casinos, however, will provide everything: there will be no need for other service providers nearby. So, small shops and business will now go bust."

Macau's casinos presently account for 80 percent of economic activity here; the rest is based in textiles. Gambling levies last year paid for 77 percent of the government's budget. Next year it will pay it all and provide a surplus to boot.

Nadkarni fears for such a lopsided economy.

"There is a lack of investment in intellectual capital," he said. "Tertiary colleges have closed regular courses to train croupiers and dealers for the casinos.

"It will produce a workforce geared only to serve the casino industry. What happens if the bottom falls out of gambling?"

Although Ho's Beijing-backed government is planning a free trade zone at the city's border with China, observers say little is being done to counterbalance a possible casino crash.

"It could happen very easily if Thailand or Singapore opens good quality casinos. The people here know they need to [broaden the economic base] but nothing serious is being done about it," warned one economist.

The casino expansion plans include the construction of the so-called Cotai strip on a huge reclamation, which when complete in 2009 will employ 150,000 staff at its 30,000 hotel rooms and 1,000 gaming tables.

[SeeMacau]

Wynn Resorts buys out local partners

Wynn Resorts has raised its investment profile in Macau by buying out its local partners with US$52.2 million (HK$407.1 million) worth of its own stock.

The company, run by mogul Steve Wynn, is building a US$705 million casino resort set to open next to the Casino Lisboa by the end of 2006.

The American company revealed the buyout of its local partners in a filing last week with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Rival Las Vegas Sands also released details of its relationship with its local partners and its development plans in Macau in a preliminary SEC filing last week for its planned initial public stock offering.

Wynn Resorts' filing said it issued a combined 283,333 shares to two companies owned by Wilson Kwan of Hong Kong, and 1,050,000 shares to two companies owned by Wong Chi-seng, a Macau businessman. In exchange, Kwan and Wong yielded their combined 17.5 per cent indirect economic interest in Wynn Resorts (Macau).

The company's stock has tripled in value since its IPO in October 2002 although it peaked in mid-June, ironically about the time the company announced it would finally move forward with construction in Macau after a two-year delay. Wong and Kwan will join Lan Kwai Fong Holdings chairman Allan Zeman, a Wynn Resorts director, as shareholders.

Previous company filings with the SEC listed other local investors, including the couple Li Tai-foon and Yany Kwan of Hong Kong's Air Cruise Travel, but they apparently sold their stakes to Wong some time ago. As a group, the local investors contributed US$5 million in capital.

Wong will remain executive director of Wynn Resorts (Macau) and retain a 10 per cent voting stake in the unit but will be eligible for no more than one Macau pataca (97 HK cents) a year in dividends and capital distributions, in accordance with the company's interpretation of Macau's gaming law.

Las Vegas Sands' prospectus states that two minority shareholders hold a combined 10.005 per cent stake in its Macau subsidiary, but it says both have assigned all ``economic, voting and other rights'' to a Las Vegas Sands' unit.

The Standard previously reported that Macau attorney Jorge Valente serves as executive director and 10 per cent shareholder of the Macau subsidiary.

The prospectus reports that the Sands Macau posted a net profit of US$36.9 million during June and July.

The filing says the Sands Macau is not issuing credit to gamblers despite Macau's new gaming credit law because the company cannot take a tax deduction for uncollected gaming debts.

Updating Las Vegas Sands' plans for its second local property, the Macau Venetian Casino Resort, it says the casino will feature about 546,000 square feet of gaming space. While the Sands Macau focuses on daytrippers, the filing says, the Macau Venetian will aim to attract overnight guests.

The filing says the government has given the company the right to control development of two nearby resort sites and to develop four additional sites in co-operation with third parties in the reclaimed area between Coloane and Taipa islands.

[SeeMacau]

After 15 months of structuring, Wynn Resorts (Macau) has finally closed its first round of senior funding. The facility is split into a US dollar tranche and a Hong Kong dollar tranche and both are further divided into a project facility and a hotel facility.

There is a term loan is for $382 million and a revolving credit facility for HK$117 million ($15 million). The term loan has a maturity of seven years and carries a price of 350bp over Libor. The facility has a two grace period from signing and then follows an amortization schedule. The average life is 5.35 years.

The Hong Kong dollar tranche has a maturity of three years and also carries a spread of 350bp over Hibor, 100bp more than was earlier reported.

Both facilities have recourse to Wynn Macau, which is 90% owned by Wynn Resorts of the US and 10% by local partner Wong Chi Seng. There is no guarantee on the facility by the parent company and no recourse to Wynn Resorts.

Global coordinating lead arrangers (GCLAs) on the deal are Deutsche Bank and SG. They pulled together an interesting syndicate of 14 other banks attracted to the relatively fat spreads on offer.

Senior lead arrangers taking just over $40 million were Aozora Bank, Banco Nacional Ultramarino, Bank of China (Macau) and Shinsei Bank. Lead arrangers were Korea First Bank with a $35 million take and WestLB with $30 million. Banco Comercial de Macau is an arranger with $25 million. Also on $25 million but as a lead manager is Allied Irish Bank. Other lead managers were Canadian Eastern Finance, which took $15 million, ICBC (Macau), which took nearly $12 million and Banco Espirito Do Oriente which took $10 million.

There were three lenders to the Hong Kong dollar facility: Banco National Ultramarino with HK$47 million; Banco Comercial De Macau with HK$40 million and Banco Delta Asia with HK$30 million.

The deal took a long time to structure as lenders had to get comfortable with the new rules surrounding the gaming sector in Macau. Since the new regulations came out in 2001, three new concessions have been awarded. In the process, the government has had to change its own legislation to accommodate a non-monopoly environment. As a result, the structuring of this loan had to go hand in hand with discussions with the government to make sure that everything dovetailed.

For instance, the lenders and the government had to work out how the concession rights to the license would be assigned to the lenders in the case of a bankruptcy. As the banks are not casinos (well, not with their own money), they would not be entitled to run the casino, so a way had to be found to ensure that the banks could transfer those rights to a qualified operator.

"We needed to perfect the security of those gaming assets under the new legislation," says Paul Smith, Deutsche Bank's co-head of debt products for Asia. "It was quite an exercise. It wasn't just a pure financing but it required a lot of coordination with the government."

Adds SG's head of project finance and advisory, Ashley Wilkins: "We believe the financing is a result of the complementary strengths of the parties involved and the high level of cooperation between Wynn Macau, the GCLAs and the numerous other parties involved in structuring the financing, including the Macau SAR Government"

Pricing for the deal was also an exercise in discovery. According to Smith, there were very few reference benchmarks for this deal and the leads had to use a combination of pricing for Macau risk, as well as recent pricing for Vegas deals. "It was very difficult to gain an accurate benchmark for this deal from just Asia," he says.

Still, the bankers clearly would have enjoyed their due diligence, which in particular would have involved some close scrutiny of the recently opened Sands Resort Macau. Anyone going to Macau in recent months could not fail to notice how popular this casino is with people stacked five deep at the myriad tables in a gaming hall the size of a football field.

"There has been a lot of interest in the Sands and we have been monitoring this," says Smith. "The early signs are that it will be very successful and we are certain that Wynn Macau will be the same. It shows it has a very strong business model."

Wynn Macau will be a hotel, shopping and destination gaming resort on a 16-acre site. With 600 rooms and 100,000 square feet of gambling space, it will be one of the biggest such casino complexes in Asia. The total project cost is expected to be $700 million, with roughly 50% of the cost coming from the shareholders' equity and 50% through this debt facility.

[SeeMacau]

Asian casino earns $36.9 million in first two months open, filing shows

The first American-owned casino in Asia, the Sands Macau, exceeded all expectations with its first two months in operation and laid a foundation for the Las Vegas Sands Corp. to reach its goal of becoming the world's leading high-end casino resort operator, company documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

The 1 million-square-foot casino-and-entertainment complex is already rivaling any casino operation in the West, Wall Street analysts said Tuesday.

"The early numbers show a property poised to be among the top cash flow generators compared with anybody else in the West," Susquehanna Financial Group gaming analyst Eric Hausler said.

The casino posted net income for the two months ended July 31 of $36.9 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or cash flow, of $41.2 million, based on a table drop of $608.2 million, the $350 million stock registration statement the Las Vegas Sands holding company filed Sept. 3 shows. Total drop is the amount wagered and lost at table games and slot machines.

Joe Greff, gaming analyst at Fulcrum Global Partners, an independent Wall Street investment research firm, said the early financial results suggest the company, which also owns The Venetian, will generate enough profit in the first 12 months to pay off its entire initial investment in Macau.

"That's just unheard of in the U.S. or any other North American gaming market -- and that didn't include the high-end areas and reflected inexperienced dealers and typical startup difficulties," he said.

The $240 million Sands Macau is owned by Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands and has 319 table games, 600 slot machines, 18 restaurants, bars and entertainment venues near the ferry terminal in former Portuguese colony.

The company's registration statement said it plans to use its "first-mover" advantage in Asia and uniquely branded gaming and entertainment properties to drive record returns on investment and pave the way toward its goal of becoming the world's leading casino operator.

The Sands Macau opened in May and had more than 1 million visits in July alone.

"Macau will be a huge growth driver for the company, not only because they're there first, but because they have a plan to build on their success in Las Vegas," Deutsche Bank analyst Andrew Zarnett said.

Ultimately, he said Las Vegas Sands' $10 billion Cotai Strip development in Macau will include not just a Venetian-style resort, but also a variety of third-party hotels with smaller casinos that will pay a share of their income to the Sands in fee income.

The Cotai Strip, an area of reclaimed land between the islands of Taipa and Coloane in Macau, has been master-planned as a world-class resort area with up to 20 hotel-casinos, to be developed by eight operators, and up to 60,000 rooms and entertainment amenities.

On one of the sites, Las Vegas Sands plans to build, own and operate The Macau Venetian, a Venetian-style 3,000-suite hotel-casino and 550,0000-square-foot convention center complex, which is scheduled to open in 2006.

Las Vegas Sands has been granted control of two of these remaining sites and has received approval from the government of Macau to develop four other sites in cooperation with third parties.

"This is visionary. (Adelson) is involving a lot of other companies by bringing their brands to his market," Zarnett said. "He's going to create a minicity with the focal point being The Venetian. He not only benefits from his experience running a casino, but he gets to leverage huge international databases as the other companies market their properties and ultimately market his (at the same time)."

Hausler added: "Adelson is developing all this in the midst of what is arguably the best gaming market in the world right now. And it's expected to grow dramatically in the next decade because of the leadership role the Sands is taking. It's a critical piece in the growth strategy for them."

In addition, University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor Bill Thompson, who specializes in gaming studies, said Adelson's long-range plans for hotel developments will create destination options not now available in Macau, which will draw a larger number of visitors and accelerate revenue growth for Las Vegas Sands.

"Right now it's a cash cow for him, it's a grind joint. They need to find their best players and sort this out," he said. "When they do, Adelson will being them here and that'll really be great for Las Vegas."

In its stock registration statement, Las Vegas Sands says it plans to use its successes in Las Vegas and Macau as a platform for worldwide growth.

The company is exploring the possibility of operating casino resorts elsewhere in Asia, including Singapore, Japan and Thailand.

It also claims to be well-positioned to capitalize on the expansion of casino gaming in other international jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom and is pursuing the possibility of developing and operating an Internet gaming site.

Las Vegas Sands plans to raise $350 million with the stock offering and to use the proceeds to fund these international developments, as working capital and for general corporate purposes.

Las Vegas Sands is in a "quiet period" while its stock registration statement is pending before the SEC, and company officials declined to comment.

[SeeMacau]

Macao's casino tycoon Stanley Ho announced Thursday that his flagship casino company would offer a 7 million-pataca (875,000 US dollars) lucky draw at the opening of the Mona Lisa Gambling Hall.

In celebration of the second anniversary of the Macao Gaming Co.Ltd.(SJM), which was founded by Stanley Ho to enter the bidding ofthe government-issued casino operation concession, the Mona Lisa lucky draw will be held from Sept. 17 to Oct. 18, and the prizes will be over 7 million patacas.

Ho said that the Mona Lisa Hall housed in the Hotel Lisboa is the third theme gambling hall opened by SJM to cope with the new competition situation of Macao's gaming industry.

Stanley Ho's gaming empire had a monopoly on Macao's gaming market for four decades until 2002, when the Macao Special Administrative Region government broke the monopoly by issuing three casino licenses.

The first American casino Las Vegas Sands Macao was opened in May, which was soon followed by the unveiling of the Hong Kong-invested Galaxy Waldo in early July.

SJM, which now runs 12 casinos, still dominates the mainstay of the market. It has taken its new bet on the theme attractions of the Italian-styled Crystal Palace, the Egyptian-flavored Pharaoh Hotel and the Mona Lisa Gambling Hall to compete with its rival companies.

[SeeMacau]

From Taipei Times

'On a 100,000m2 reclamation between two islands called the Cotai strip, it is leading a development that will by 2009 house at least 25 American-style resorts and casinos, including the US$1 billion Venetian Macau. As well, Ho plans two theme parks and the 40-story Grand Lisboa casino hotel.'

[SeeMacau]

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-09-24 14:05

The Finance Services Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region government raked in a record 9.25 billion patacas (US$1.15 billion) in gaming taxes in the first eight months of this year.

The bureau's statistics released Friday showed the year-on-year tax increase amounted to 50.3 percent in the first eight months.

For the whole of last year, the government collected 10.17 billion patacas (US$1.27 billion) in gaming taxes.

The following tourist boom in October and December is expected to further boost the revenue of the gaming sector, which contributes to 76 percent of the government's tax revenue, according to the bureau's August statistics.

During the period, the government's budget surplus reached 5.56 billion patacas (US$695 million), an increase of 121.7 percent from the same period of last year.

[SeeMacau]

Macao's gaming tax hits record high in January-August

The Finance Services Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region government raked in a record 9.25 billion patacas (1.15 billion US dollars) in gaming taxes in the first eight months of this year.

The bureau's statistics released Friday showed the year-on-year tax increase amounted to 50.3 percent in the first eight months.

For the whole of last year, the government collected 10.17 billion patacas (1.27 billion US dollars) in gaming taxes.

The following tourist boom in October and December is expected to further boost the revenue of the gaming sector, which contributes to 76 percent of the government's tax revenue, according to the bureau's August statistics.

During the period, the government's budget surplus reached 5.56 billion patacas (695 million US dollars), an increase of 121.7 percent from the same period of last year.

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MACAU – As reported by the Scotman: "…Inside its golden chrome-panelled exterior, the Las Vegas-funded Macau Sands Casino is already changing the way the former Portuguese colony does business.

"Opened in May, Sands is the first in a long list of planned casinos and hotel resorts that supporters hope will make their city the gambling centre of Asia, if not the world.

"Reclaiming land from the South China Sea, Macau expects to have more than 30 major resort hotels by 2009, the majority built with United States backing.

"…Bringing in revenues of $373 million (£209 million) for the treasury in the first five months of this year alone - an increase of 32 per cent over the same time last year - gambling remains the primary source of income for the government. The feeling now is that the city needs to diversify its economic base.

"…In effect aiming to mirror the success of The Strip, which 20 years ago was only famous for its casinos, Macau hopes to use Las Vegas know-how to reposition itself as a destination for families, business conventions, sightseeing and shopping.

"With a Disneyland due to open in Hong Kong next year and regulations regarding individual travel from mainland China being relaxed, all indicators are pointing to an explosion in traveller numbers…"

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[SeeMacau]

Skynet (International Group) Holdings, a construction arm of builder Paul Y-ITC Construction, is in talks to build a hotel-casino complex in Macau for tycoon Stanley Ho that is reportedly worth HK$1.3 billion.

Paul Y-ITC's deputy managing director Billy Wong confirmed the company was in talks on a contract to build a hotel but declined to disclose the contract size and the hotel's owner. ``The negotiation has yet to be confirmed,'' he said. ``I suppose we are not the only contractor in the negotiation.''

Several other contracts were under negotiation in Macau and Hong Kong, Wong added.

According to a Hong Kong Economic Journal report on Monday, the contract covers construction of a six-star hotel and a casino. The hotel, comprising about 400 guestrooms, would be ready for operation by 2006.

They were part of the high-end hotel and entertainment complex being jointly invested by Stanley Ho's Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development and Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM).

Melco would be the co-ordinator of the hotel and entertainment complex while the Hyatt Hotels Group would manage the hotel facilities.

The casino would be run by STDM's unit, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM), and the electronic gaming lounge, by Melco's unit, Mocha Slot Group. The joint venture would receive rental income from Mocha and SJM.

A spokeswoman for Melco International Development said the development still needed the Macau government's approval. ``There is not any confirmed construction contract,'' she said.

Skynet is 94 per cent owned by Paul Y-ITC, the largest listed builder in the territory. Earlier this year, Paul Y-ITC injected the construction unit and shareholder loans of a subsidiary into Skynet.

[SeeMacau]

Macau gambling kingpin Stanley Ho Hung-sun yesterday opened his first major new casino since losing his monopoly - but admitted he was struggling to find staff.

In a move to cash in on the "golden week" holiday - with thousands of mainland gamblers expected to jam gaming tables - Mr Ho opened the Casa Real Casino as part of a newly renovated four-star hotel of the same name.

But the tycoon expressed serious fears about finding enough capable employees.

"Our hotels and casinos are all short of staff. We've already lowered prerequisites to the minimum possible, and still we haven't found enough people," Mr Ho said.

"Macau is developing so fast that supporting elements, especially labour, are fundamentally lagging behind."

Some fear the labour shortage problem has the potential to throw a spanner in the works of the casino boom. Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah has set up a special committee, which he heads, with representatives from the hospitality and casino industry, government officials and academics to study the issue and find a solution.

Within 15 minutes of opening, the three casino floors of the Casa Real were busy and filled with cigarette smoke.

It is located at the former Nam Yue Hotel, has 126 slot machines and 73 gaming tables, including 20 tables in six VIP suites.

But one tourist was not impressed by Mr Ho's latest casino venture.

"This is mediocre," said Hong Hui, from Dongguan, pointing to the gold -coloured pillars, marble floors and Mediterranean paintings in the main gaming floor.

"It looks ornate, but it also looks artificial. What does all this have to do with Macau?"

Mr Ho will open three more casinos by the first quarter of next year: at the Hotel Fortuna, Hotel Presidente and Plaza Hua Iung.

The battle among Macau's casino operators started in May when the Las Vegas Venetian company unveiled the Sands.

The American casino has proved to be a sensation, welcoming 1 million visitors a month.

The Sands has chipped away an estimated half of the punters that would have gone to Mr Ho's casinos, local observers say.

Mr Ho has responded to the competition by gradually renovating the Lisboa.

Work has also started on a large resort-casino next to the Lisboa.

Mr Ho also faces competition from the Hong Kong-owned Galaxy, which in July opened its first casino-hotel, the Waldo, catering mainly to high rollers.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas-headquartered Wynn Resorts, another holder of one of Macau's coveted gaming licences, has begun construction on its own large resort-casino directly across from the Lisboa.

It is projected for completion by the end of 2006.

[SeeMacau]

A threatened labor shortage in the booming gambling city of Macau became a reality last weekend when a new casino opened its doors for business even though it was short of skilled staff.

One of the latest gaming center, opened on Saturday without its full complement of croupiers. 'Macau is developing so fast that supporting elements, especially labor, are lagging behind.'

Ever since foreign companies were allowed to pitch for a share of the city's century-old casino market, economists have warned that the tiny southern Chinese enclave would not have enough skilled workers to staff the more than 20 casinos that were planned.

Monthly turnover in Macau's casino market has mushroomed to US$512 million (S$860 million) over the past year, largely as a result of a surge in the number of tourists from mainland China.

[SeeMacau]

MACAU – As reported by the China Standard: "Skynet (International Group) Holdings, a construction arm of builder Paul Y-ITC Construction, is in talks to build a hotel-casino complex in Macau for tycoon Stanley Ho that is reportedly worth HK$1.3 billion (US$166.7 million).

"Paul Y-ITC's deputy managing director Billy Wong confirmed the company was in talks on a contract to build a hotel but declined to disclose the contract size and the hotel's owner. `The negotiation has yet to be confirmed,' he said. `I suppose we are not the only contractor in the negotiation.'

"…According to a Hong Kong Economic Journal report on Monday, the contract covers construction of a six-star hotel and a casino. The hotel, comprising about 400 guestrooms, would be ready for operation by 2006.

"…The casino would be run by STDM's unit, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM), and the electronic gaming lounge, by Melco's unit, Mocha Slot Group. The joint venture would receive rental income from Mocha and SJM…"

[SeeMacau]

Macao's casino racked in 500 million patacas (62 million US dollars) in gross revenue in the first three days of the National Day holiday which began on Oct. 1.

Tuesday's Macao Daily News reported that the holiday market has boosted the gaming sector. The accumulated gross revenues and taxes yielded by the gaming sector in the first nine months this year have surpassed the total amounts of last year.

For the whole of last year, the government collected 10.17 billion patacas (1.27 billion US dollars) in gaming taxes.

The newspapers source said that the gaming revenue in September amounted to 3 billion patacas (375 million US dollars), which were some one billion patacas (125 million US dollars) lower than the monthly income in the previous two months.

The newspaper said that the Macao Gaming Co. Ltd. owned by tycoon Stanley Ho held 67 percent of the market share in September, during which Macao's first American casino the Las Vegas Sands Macao opened in May grasped 13.5 percent, and the Hong Kong-invested Galaxy Waldo inaugurated in July obtained 19.5 percent.

Industry insiders forecast that based on the current situation,the gaming sector would contribute 13 billion patacas (1.2 billionUS dollars) to the government's tax coffer this year.