Macau Casinos and Gambling News

[SeeMacau]

Singapore’s plan to open two casinos has given rise to concern from two of China’s Special Administrative Regions (SAR), but Chinese tourism officials believe that the new casinos shouldn’t affect Chinese tourism to Hong Kong or Macau.

Since Singapore is not as close to Mainland China as the two SARs, many believe that it doesn’t pose a significant threat to their economies. In addition, both Hong Kong and Macau have special tourist attractions that set it apart from other tourist destinations. Hong Kong is known as the “Gateway to China” and has many festivals, including the Flower Festival, the Buddha Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival. Macau, on the other hand, has landmarks of Chinese heritage and history.

In addition, Macau is fast becoming the most popular casino destination. Revenues have grown 30% in the past three years, while there has only been a 4% revenue growth in Las Vegas, currently considered the number one gaming city in the world. Las Vegas made US$5.3 billion last year, but Macau wasn’t far behind with US 5 billion in revenues. With the Macau gambling industry fast rivaling that of Las Vegas, Chinese tourism officials are convinced that Singapore’s two casinos pose virtually no threat to its SARs, particularly Macau.

[SeeMacau]

MACAU - On Tuesday, one day after Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sanctioned the development of two casinos in the state-city, both of Macau's two leading gaming operators, despite claiming to be fearless to the challenge, unveiled their moves to further enlarge Macau's gaming development.

Casino mogul Stanley Ho and Hong Kong's wealthy Lui family coincidentally chose the same day to unveil, respectively, the leasing of a gaming sub-concession to the Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage and a billion-dollar deal paving the way for the Macau-based Galaxy Casino's Hong Kong listing.

"There is no such need to worry that Singapore would draw away Macau's Southeast Asian customers," said Stanley Ho, managing director of the Macau Gaming Co Ltd (SJM). Ho had virtually dominated Macau's gaming industry for 43 years, until May 2004, when the first American casino, Sands Macau, invested in by the Sands in Las Vegas, was erected in Macau.

Soon after the inking on Tuesday of his first gaming sub-concession contract, allowing MGM Mirage to invest in casino projects in Macau, Ho said SJM is very sure of its competitiveness.

Ho mentioned that Macau's gaming business has co-existed with Malaysia's Genting Casino for dozens of years without battling for customer sources.

Meanwhile, K Wah Construction Materials Ltd, a family business belonging to Hong Kong tycoon Lui Che Woo, announced on Tuesday it would purchase a 97.9% stake in Galaxy Casino, which is run by Lui's son Francis Lui, becoming the first Hong Kong-listed casino operator and capitalizing on investor interest in Macau's gaming market boom.

Lui said that after Macau's gaming market liberalization, which took effect in 2004, investors have been rushing to pour money into building high-quality gaming facilities. Macau is undergoing a transformation from a pure gambling city toward a recreational resort destination attractive to conference organizers, vacation goers and business travelers.

Galaxy Resort and Casino obtained a license for casino operation through government-run public bidding in 2002, with Wynn Resorts and SJM as its major rivals. After launching business last July, the casino has taken up 14% of Macau's gaming market.

Galaxy earned HK$72.7 million (US$9 million) on gaming revenues of HK$123.7 million (US$16 million) in the second half of 2004. Lui announced on Tuesday that the company would invest another HK$5.7 billion (US$730 million) on four new casino projects aimed at high rollers in Macau in the next few years.

There are now 17 casinos operating round-the-clock in Macau, which yielded US$5 billion in revenues last year, challenging the profitability of its American rival Las Vegas. The number of gaming tables and slot machines here has reached some 1,400 and 1,000, respectively.

It seems that Macau's role as the No 1 gaming city in Asia will remain unchallenged for the near future, say gaming tycoons. With a history in the gaming business dating back over 150 years, the industry has withstood good and bad years, has remained the backbone of the economy and is getting more prosperous than ever with this newest tourist boom. As the two casinos in Singapore are not scheduled to be operational until 2009, it will still be some time before the city-state will be able to nurture a sustainable gaming business.

[SeeMacau]

[Asia News] HONG KONG, The family that controls Malaysia's Genting Group has bought a stake in the first casino in booming Macau to be listed on a stock exchange, sources said on Friday, in a bid to spread its gaming interests across Asia.

Lim Goh Tong and his family, whose firm runs Asia's biggest casino and is a top contender to operate a casino in Singapore, paid $102.6 million for 6.9 percent of Hong Kong's K. Wah Construction <0027.HK>, which is buying the Galaxy Casino in Macau.

Shares in Genting Group, 41.4 percent owned by Lim Goh Tong and his family, jumped 3.85 percent to 18.9 ringgit by 0400 GMT.

The deal by the Lim family, which made its fortune in construction before the Malaysian government granted it its only casino license in 1969, was part of a $150 million share placement by K. Wah, to fund the $2.36 billion Galaxy purchase.

K Wah had planned to raise much more money but the placement had to be reduced by 40 percent to comply with stock exchange rules, according to sources. The company's shares had fallen 13.45 percent to HK$7.40 by 0400 GMT.

The Hong Kong firm, which started as a quarry operation in 1964, will rename itself Galaxy Entertainment Group and is touting its shares as the "only Macau pure play" stock.

Macau, the only place in gambling-mad China where casinos are legal, has seen an investment and tourism boom since tycoon Stanley Ho's 40-year gaming monopoly lapsed in 2002. China's relaxing of travel restrictions for residents helped as well.

Macau related stocks are hot, with recent investor favourites including A-Max Holdings <0959.HK>, which owns a stake in the new Greek Mythology Casino, Macau ferry operator Shun Tak Holdings <0242.HK>, and slot machine firm Melco International <0200.HK>.

K. Wah Construction's acquisition of 97.9 percent of Galaxy represents a reshuffling of assets by Hong Kong's Lui family. The family controls the casino, K. Wah Construction and its parent K. Wah International, and will have a 76 percent stake in Galaxy Entertainment.

But K. Wah Construction's failure to raise what it wanted in its share placement is a hitch for the deal -- it was supposed to help fund a HK$3.68 billion payment in unsecured fixed rate notes or cash that supplemented a HK$14.72 billion issue of new K. Wah shares.

The sources said the placement of 146 million new shares was at HK$8 each and twice covered by demand.

[SeeMacau]

By Joe Leahy

When tycoon Lui Che-woo announced the HK$18.4bn backdoor listing of his Macao Galaxy Casino this week, there was palpable excitement in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s punters would finally be getting their first pure casino play – a chance to bet directly on the high-rolling habits of their gambling brethren across the Pearl River, rather than through the market’s usual motley collection of Macao proxies, mostly hotel, travel and property companies.

[SeeMacau]

Pansy Ho buys 50 percent of casino.

Casino heiress Pansy Ho has invested US$80 million (HK$624 million) for a half-stake in MGM Grand Paradise, slated to become the city's fifth casino operator.

Ho shares ownership of the MGM Grand Paradise with American casino giant MGM Mirage, which published its agreement with Ho in a filing this week with United States securities regulators.

MGM Grand Paradise is investing about US$775 million to build the MGM Grand Macau casino resort behind the Wynn Macau resort.

The joint venture is paying about US$200 million to Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, the casino company run by Ho's father, Stanley, for the right to operate in Macau. It hopes to open its first project in late 2007.

MGM Mirage's filing revealed that Pansy Ho paid US$12.5 million for her shares in MGM Grand Paradise and extended an interest-free shareholder loan of US$67.5 million to the venture.

MGM Mirage paid US$112.5 million, or nine times more than Ho, for its half of the venture's shares. It also extended an interest-free loan of US$67.5 million and committed to lend an additional US$100 million with interest.

Ho gets to appoint four of the venture's seven directors, who will initially include herself and sister Daisy.

MGM Mirage's appointees, including its chairman and chief executive Terry Lanni, executive vice president Gary Jacobs and MGM Mirage Development president Kenneth Rosevear, get equal voting power on the board, despite being outnumbered. Lanni will serve as chairman and Pansy Ho as managing director. The filing said the venture will pay MGM Mirage a consulting fee equal to 1.75 percent of the cost of the MGM Grand Macau, excluding land cost, for providing development assistance.

A company designated by Ho will receive a development consulting fee of 0.875 percent of costs. MGM Grand Macau will include 2 million square feet of gross floor area, according to the shareholders' agreement.

MGM Grand Paradise is to repay US$30 million of the interest-free shareholder loans each year after the MGM Grand Macau opens, then US$50 million a year once it has paid off the interest-bearing loan from MGM Mirage.

Once the interest-free loans are repaid, MGM Grand Paradise will pay its owners US$30 million in advance dividends each year, or US$50 million if the interest-bearing loan has been paid off.

The agreement addresses a range of contingencies by potentially requiring any partner whose circumstances might change to withdraw from the venture. These include Ho succeeding her father, 83, as managing director of SJM, MGM Mirage's investing in other companies operating casinos in Macau, or MGM Mirage's gross gaming revenue dropping below US$1 billion a year.

MGM Mirage generated US$2.2 billion in casino revenue last year.

Despite the venture's momentum, Nevada regulators have said they are continuing to investigate Pansy Ho, and have yet to give their consent to MGM Mirage forming a partnership with her.

[SeeMacau]

Wynn Las Vegas is positioned as the pre-eminent luxury resort in a town where high-end properties such as the Bellagio, Venetian and Mandalay Bay have proved to be the most profitable in recent years.

Steve Wynn's $2.7 billion gamble on the luxury market couldn't have come at a better time, analysts say. Room rates reached historic levels last year, driven in part by conventioneers wielding corporate charge cards and willing to pay more for rooms during slower periods in the middle of the week.

So far this year, some companies already are reporting record rates.

But Wynn isn't just banking on the occasional high-end tourist or conventioneer willing to shell out $300 or more for a room.

His resort aims to attract the world's wealthiest travelers -- people who avoid big Las Vegas casinos for the likes of a Four Seasons or a Ritz Carlton. Another key customer segment will be Asian high rollers who prefer the comfort of private gambling halls.

The opening of resorts has historically helped boost tourism across the board by creating more attractions, operators say.

Case in point: The opening of the Bellagio, Venetian, Paris and Mandalay Bay resorts in 1998 and 1999 flooded the market with thousands of rooms, yet visitors to Las Vegas grew 10 percent in 1999 and 6 percent in 2000. Visitation grew less than 1 percent from 1997 to 1998. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority expects 38.2 million visitors this year, a 2 percent increase from 2004.

But some believe Wynn Las Vegas will do more than attract returning visitors.

"Steve's going to bring new people" to Las Vegas, MGM Mirage Chief Executive Terry Lanni said. "That benefits all of us. On average, people visit two to three other casinos when they're here."

"When people just add new capacity without adding excitement that becomes a problem," Lanni said. "That's not his (Wynn's) style and that's not his history."

With 2,700 rooms, the resort is the 15th largest Strip resort and smaller than high-end competitors such as Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and the Venetian. Customers will be paying in the high $200s and up for a standard room that is about 620 square feet.

A key resort feature will be at least three private gaming salons that allow high rollers who otherwise wouldn't play in public to gamble behind closed doors.

To lure big-money international players, Wynn has opened marketing offices in Vancouver, British Columbia; Tokyo; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore and Hong Kong and expects to open others in mainland China -- a huge and untapped tourism market.

Wynn has a history of raising the bar and drawing high rollers from other properties, Goldman Sachs analyst Steven Kent said in a research note to investors.

When the Mirage opened in 1989 it assumed the high-end market leader position from Caesars Palace. The same was true for Bellagio, which stole market share from the MGM Grand, Kent said.

In a separate research report, Legg Mason stock analyst Rod Petrik said Wynn Las Vegas could capture up to 30 percent of the Strip's high-end gambling market. On the downside, high-roller perks can get expensive and gamblers on a lucky streak can take a casino for millions, he said.

"With a large portion of gaming revenues coming from Macau, Wynn Resorts will need to attract certain players by offering casino credit and markers," which can be more difficult to collect outside of the United States, he said.

Las Vegas Sands President William Weidner said Wynn Las Vegas will help business at the Venetian and vice versa.

"We will both benefit" from partnerships with Macau resorts, Weidner said.

Helping Wynn draw Asian gamblers will be a team of executives including Linda Chen, who served as executive vice president of international marketing for MGM Mirage from 1997 to 2002. Wynn has boasted that Chen, head of international marketing and chief operating officer for Wynn's Macau subsidiary, knows just about every high roller in Asia.

Wall Street has been salivating over prospects in Macau, which is 40 miles from Hong Kong and within a few hours of 100 million citizens in mainland China. Many of them are experiencing improving standards of living and a desire to travel.

While its political and regulatory climate is far less certain than Nevada's, Macau is projected to handily eclipse Las Vegas Strip revenue in the future. Last year Macau's gambling revenue was $5 billion, up from $3.5 billion in 2003. By comparison, Strip casinos generated $4.9 billion last year.

With only 15 casinos in operation and about 700 table games combined, that amounts to a staggering per-table revenue of about $19,000 a day -- nine times the Strip's average win-per-table of about $2,100, according to Petrik. He said he projects Macau's gaming market could grow from $9 billion to $12 billion in the next five years as more Chinese visit the region and more resorts are built.

The door opened for Wynn and Las Vegas Sands in 2002 when Macau granted the companies concessions to run casinos, breaking billionaire Stanley Ho's decades-old monopoly on that lucrative gaming market.

Executives at MGM Mirage, which already controlled the majority of the high-end market in Las Vegas before its purchase of Mandalay Resort Group, say they are prepared for new competition.

At Bellagio, Wynn's crowning achievement in luxury taste, MGM Mirage invested $325 million in a new tower that opened in December and remodeled existing guest rooms. The company also has revamped many of its restaurants and other amenities at the Bellagio, MGM Grand and Mirage -- a trinity that now competes in the high end, Lanni said.

"We're going to be extremely competitive and at the top of our game," Lanni said. Having multiple upscale properties to Wynn's single resort will give the company a competitive advantage, he said.

MGM Grand President Gamal Aziz said "it's hard to be at all concerned" that Wynn will siphon business from his company.

"They add a very small percentage of rooms to the huge market we already have," Aziz said. "I think that a property of this magnitude can only grow and extend the market for all."

MGM Grand's high-roller villas, known as the Mansion, would be "nearly impossible to duplicate" and remains a "preferred destination for high-end customers," he said.

"This doesn't mean that we will just sit by the phone and wait for the customers," Aziz said. "We'll continue to market to those customers, continue to surround them with great service and a great product -- we love competition."

Wynn has another ace in the hole for high rollers, analysts say. The resort features the Strip's only golf course -- an attraction that can't easily be built elsewhere and can help lure international gamblers, they say.

"The popularity of golf has risen worldwide and scheduling tee times in some foreign countries can be extremely difficult," Petrik said in a research note.

The resort's largest suites, some with private massage rooms, face the golf course with a waterfall over the 18th hole.

[huaiwei]

Originally Posted by AsIaBoYz

MACAU - On Tuesday, one day after Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sanctioned the development of two casinos in the state-city, both of Macau's two leading gaming operators, despite claiming to be fearless to the challenge, unveiled their moves to further enlarge Macau's gaming development.

Casino mogul Stanley Ho and Hong Kong's wealthy Lui family coincidentally chose the same day to unveil, respectively, the leasing of a gaming sub-concession to the Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage and a billion-dollar deal paving the way for the Macau-based Galaxy Casino's Hong Kong listing.

"There is no such need to worry that Singapore would draw away Macau's Southeast Asian customers," said Stanley Ho, managing director of the Macau Gaming Co Ltd (SJM). Ho had virtually dominated Macau's gaming industry for 43 years, until May 2004, when the first American casino, Sands Macau, invested in by the Sands in Las Vegas, was erected in Macau.

Soon after the inking on Tuesday of his first gaming sub-concession contract, allowing MGM Mirage to invest in casino projects in Macau, Ho said SJM is very sure of its competitiveness.

Ho mentioned that Macau's gaming business has co-existed with Malaysia's Genting Casino for dozens of years without battling for customer sources.

Meanwhile, K Wah Construction Materials Ltd, a family business belonging to Hong Kong tycoon Lui Che Woo, announced on Tuesday it would purchase a 97.9% stake in Galaxy Casino, which is run by Lui's son Francis Lui, becoming the first Hong Kong-listed casino operator and capitalizing on investor interest in Macau's gaming market boom.

Lui said that after Macau's gaming market liberalization, which took effect in 2004, investors have been rushing to pour money into building high-quality gaming facilities. Macau is undergoing a transformation from a pure gambling city toward a recreational resort destination attractive to conference organizers, vacation goers and business travelers.

Galaxy Resort and Casino obtained a license for casino operation through government-run public bidding in 2002, with Wynn Resorts and SJM as its major rivals. After launching business last July, the casino has taken up 14% of Macau's gaming market.

Galaxy earned HK$72.7 million (US$9 million) on gaming revenues of HK$123.7 million (US$16 million) in the second half of 2004. Lui announced on Tuesday that the company would invest another HK$5.7 billion (US$730 million) on four new casino projects aimed at high rollers in Macau in the next few years.

There are now 17 casinos operating round-the-clock in Macau, which yielded US$5 billion in revenues last year, challenging the profitability of its American rival Las Vegas. The number of gaming tables and slot machines here has reached some 1,400 and 1,000, respectively.

It seems that Macau's role as the No 1 gaming city in Asia will remain unchallenged for the near future, say gaming tycoons. With a history in the gaming business dating back over 150 years, the industry has withstood good and bad years, has remained the backbone of the economy and is getting more prosperous than ever with this newest tourist boom. As the two casinos in Singapore are not scheduled to be operational until 2009, it will still be some time before the city-state will be able to nurture a sustainable gaming business.

I personally find the comparisons made between Singapore and Macau a tad over-blown. When Genting opened a casino in Malaysia, its not like Las Vegas was shaken. It has 3 casinos now the last I heard, compared to just two in Singapore, so whats the freakin deal??

[SeeMacau]

[SeeMacau]

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Strong demand in its home market and the opening of a casino in Macau drove Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s revenue sharply higher but charges dragged the gambling company's first-quarter bottom line down to a fraction of year-ago levels.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS: news, chart, profile) on Tuesday said it earned $7.1 million, or 2 cents a share, down from $49.9 million, or 15 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding exceptional items, which include losses on asset disposal and an "unusually large charitable contribution," the company would have earned 29 cents a share in the quarter, up from 12 cents and ahead of the 25-cent average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call.

The company credited the boost in adjusted profit to revenue from Sands Macao, strong gambling volumes in Las Vegas and lower interest costs.

Total revenue climbed to $403.8 million from $239.2 million, largely on the opening of the Sands Macao. Gambling volume at the Venetian in Las Vegas was up but the players were luckier as the company's table-games win percentage fell to 23.8% from 28%.

On the hotel side, average daily room rates and revenue per available room were both up but occupancy levels were down a bit, keeping overall revenue flat.

Analyst concerns that the Macau property was underperforming -- and that it will soon face tougher competition in that market from MGM Mirage (MGM: news, chart, profile) and other gambling operators -- helped drive down shares of Las Vegas Sands, which ended the regular New York Stock Exchange session Tuesday with a loss of 5.7% at $36.10.

By William Spain, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:28 PM ET May 3, 2005

[SeeMacau]

MACAU – As reported by Reuters: "Gross casino revenue in the gaming-friendly Chinese enclave of Macau is seen rising more than 40% in April from the same month last year, a Macau government source said on Thursday.

"The gross revenues of Macau's 17 casinos were estimated at 3.7 billion Macau patacas (US$462mil) for the month, said the source, who declined to be named.

"…In the first four months, the casino sector's gross receipts rose more than 20% to 13.9 billion patacas from 11.5 billion patacas in the same period last year, the source said…"

[SeeMacau]

MACAU: Gross casino revenue in the gaming-friendly Chinese enclave of Macau is seen rising more than 40% in April from the same month last year, a Macau government source said on Thursday.

The gross revenues of Macau's 17 casinos were estimated at 3.7 billion Macau patacas (US$462mil) for the month, said the source, who declined to be named.

Macau, a former Portuguese territory which returned to Chinese rule in 1999, is the only place in China where casinos are legal.

In the first four months, the casino sector's gross receipts rose more than 20% to 13.9 billion patacas from 11.5 billion patacas in the same period last year, the source said.

The casino industry generated a record gross revenue of 40 billion patacas last year, more than doubling over the previous three years, according to official figures.

Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung Sun's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) accounts for about 70% of the territory's gaming market, with the balance shared equally by Hong Kong-owned Galaxy Casino and the local unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp, which runs Macau's first American-type casino, the Sands.

[SeeMacau]

Australia's most famous gambler, Kerry Packer, is doubling up in the gaming haven of Macau, building a second casino that is twice the size of his first.

The nation's richest man also appears to be going for extra wow-factor - building it underwater, to showcase tropical marine life, and tacking on a huge resort.

Mr Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd (PBL) said it would build the resort and casino with Melco International Development Ltd, which is controlled by Lawrence Ho, the son of Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho.

"Construction is expected to commence in the latter part of 2005 and the complex is expected to commence operations in mid-2008," PBL said in a brief statement.

The news pumped its share price up 48 cents, or 3.3 per cent, to $14.88.

PBL teamed up with Melco last year to expand their gaming interests in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, a move that has positioned it to capture a slice of one of the fastest growing gaming regions.

Their first project was the Park Hyatt Hotel and Casino on the island of Taipa, about 10 minutes drive from Macau via a bridge.

They did not say how much this latest project will cost.

But they will pay about $US214 million ($A276.9 million) to buy the rights to a 25 year continuously renewable lease from the Macau government for 113,325 square metres of land on the Cotai Strip.

And they will build an underwater casino hall capable of housing 450 gaming tables and 3,000 slot machines - making it twice the size of the casino being built as part of the partner's first Macau project.

PBL said the Cotai strip resort and casino would have two blocks of deluxe service apartments, two 4-star hotels, one 5-star hotel, an upmarket shopping mall plus an "iconic performance hall/theatre".

CommSec analyst Olivia Cartwright said the Cotai project was a much bigger deal than the first.

"It is pretty large, eventually it will be significant but there won't be any earnings impact until 2008," Ms Cartwright said.

PBL said discussions are underway for the casino to be operated by Stanley Ho's company, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau S.A., which holds one of the three gaming licences in Macau.

The partners are also bidding for a licence to build and operate a casino in Singapore.

[SeeMacau]

Daniel Schultz places a call through to his account manager in Costa Rica and clears a huge bet that he then puts on red in one of the glitzy new casinos in the southern Chinese territory of Macau.

No money changes hands, neither do any chips. There isn't even a roulette table nearby.

In fact, the whole transaction is conducted over a mobile phone - in the cafe.

This is the future of gambling Macau-style, a far cry from the smoky, seedy dens that used to rule the roost in this former Portuguese enclave that has been Asia's gambling haven for more than a century.

Schultz is demonstrating the latest innovation from Realtime Gaming, an American company that claims to be able to put the thrill of the punt into a computer, a phone, even into a console.

It plans to put computer-linked flat-screens in the unused corners of the city's casinos, allowing operators of the fast-proliferating gaming rooms to "monetize" every spare bit of space with online gambling consoles.

Realtime Gaming is just one of hundreds of overseas companies looking to cash in on the mushrooming casino business here. Dozens of them gathered for the city's first ever casino-supply expo two weeks ago and a similar event to be held in June is expected to attract 300 firms.

Security equipment suppliers, LED screen builders, caterers and construction contractors are among the latest wave of businesses to join the clamor for Macau gold after the initial rush of casino operators, including MGM Mirage and Wynn Resorts, and hotel management firms, such as Starwoods.

When the city reverted to Chinese rule five years ago, such foreign interest in the tiny southern territory would have been unthinkable.

But Macau has changed, especially since May 18 last year when the first American casino opened in what had until then been a Chinese-only gambling sector.

Sands Macau, owned by the Las Vegas casino giant that owns the hugely popular Venetian, brought glitz and glamour to a casino industry that had been dominated for 40 years by the down-at-heel gaming halls of tycoon Stanley Ho.

Among the new proposals is a score of casino-hotel complexes on a huge reclamation, which, when complete, is expected to pull in more money than all the resorts on the Las Vegas strip.

With a sudden surge in mainland Chinese tourists fuelling this growth, Macau is now big business and everybody is trying to get a piece of the pie.

"I predict that within a few short years about 25 percent of all our casino business will be in Macau - that's from very little now," said Scott Madding, international casino sales manager for the United States Card Company.

With each casino in the city consuming some 20,000 cards each night, his company sees huge gains in the new Macau.

This is the kind of talk the city's financial bosses love. When they decided to reinvigorate the ailing sector by relaxing foreign ownership rules for casinos three years ago, vested interests that opposed the move were placated with promises that the entire city would benefit in the long-run.

Financially, it has gained in a very short space of time. Last year, increased gambling receipts earned the city's Beijing-backed administration 15.2 billion patacas (US$1.94 billion).

The industry is proving such a money-spinner that by the middle of last year, revenue from gambling taxes had already paid off the city's 13-billion pataca public-spending budget for last year.

Residents were rewarded with tax cuts and the colossal civil service with pay rises.

Foreign companies are being lured by the huge earning potential of Macau's handful of casinos. Last year they pulled in some 42 billion patacas, the equivalent of the earnings made in all the casinos on the Las Vegas strip.

"The dollar amount on the tables at any one time here is higher than on any casino table anywhere in the world," said Madding. "The average off-the-street gamblers here spend as much money in one night as those we would consider high-rollers in Las Vegas. "Nobody has seen anything like this."

[SeeMacau]

Casino operator holding off Las Vegas rivals

By Le-Min Lim
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Stanley Ho, the billionaire who lost his four-decade Macau gaming monopoly in 2002, hasn't let new competitors such as Las Vegas Sands Corp. shake his dominance of a gambling market forecast to match Las Vegas's by 2008.

The 25-year-old Casino Lisboa, Ho's flagship, has averaged HK$50 million ($6.4 million) in daily gross gaming revenue since Sands opened Macau's first Vegas-style casino in May 2004, said Manuel Joaquim das Neves, director of the Chinese city's Gaming Control Board. Daily spending has averaged HK$20 million at the $265 million Sands, which has 30 percent more gaming tables and four times more slot machines than the Lisboa.

Ho, 83, is staying ahead because of his lock on Macau's so-called VIP market, which consists of about 4,000 gamblers -- mostly from mainland China -- who bet an average $1 million per visit, Neves said. They accounted for 70 percent of Macau's $5.1 billion in gaming revenue last year, he estimated.

"Stanley Ho dominates the VIP market," Neves, 45, said in an interview. "He has the contacts, and he has a huge head start in the business."

At the Lisboa's 36 VIP rooms, which bear names such as Golden Palace and Gold Court, bets start at HK$1,000 and there's no upper limit, said Cheong Kong Fai, a manager at the casino. Gamblers wagering at least HK$100,000 per bet get perks such as free gaming chips and nights at Ho's adjoining Hotel Lisboa.

Ho faces a new wave of competition from casino and hotel operators targeting a broader clientele as Macau, a former Portuguese enclave and the only place in China where casinos are legal, opens its gaming market.

Tourist arrivals to the city, an hour from Hong Kong by ferry, rose 45 percent to a record 16.7 million last year, and gaming revenue rose 43 percent, according to government figures. The city's economy expanded a record 28 percent.

Macau casinos generate more cash than their Las Vegas counterparts. Sands's flagship Venetian Casino Resort in Las Vegas earned $321 million in gross gaming revenue in 2004, according to the company. That's an average $879,452 a day -- one-seventh the Lisboa's $6.4 million daily revenue and about one-third the Sands Macau's $2.6 million, according to the figures provided by Neves.

So far, Ho's 13 casinos have two competitors: Sands and Galaxy Casino SA, a privately held casino operator controlled by Hong Kong construction tycoon Lui Che-woo that opened a $62 million Macau casino in July.

Competitors are expanding. Sands said in February 2002 after it won a concession license from Galaxy that it would build a second Macau casino replicating its Venetian-themed Las Vegas resort. The $1.8 billion Macau Venetian Casino Resort, scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2007, will feature 3,000 suites, 850,000 square feet of retail space and artificial canals and gondoliers.

Sands is targeting Macau high rollers with the invitation-only Paiza Club, where customers who bet more than HK$10,000 a hand get free use of private jets, limousines and cigar bars, according to the casino's Web site. The Sands Macao led a 69 percent gain in Sands's first-quarter revenue, the company said on May 3.

Sands is joining with hotel operators including InterContinental Hotels Group Plc and Four Seasons Hotels Inc. to develop a $12 billion Las Vegas-themed gambling strip in Macau, Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson, 71, told a Macau press conference on March 18.

"It took 75 years for Las Vegas to emerge as an international destination," Sands President William Weidner, 60, said in a press release the same day. "Our intention is to replicate that feat in less than three years."

Las Vegas casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd., led by Steve Wynn, also plans to build a Macau resort. The company said in a May 4 statement it would add a $345 million wing to the $700 million Macau casino it plans to open in 2006, almost doubling casino space and adding two restaurants and a theater. Wynn has its own license and does not operate on a concession.

Rising competition may erode Ho's share of Macau's casino market in coming years.

Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, which controls the Ho family's gaming assets, will account for about 60 percent of the city's gambling revenue in 2009, down from 86 percent in 2004, Andes Cheng, an analyst at Hong Kong-based South China Finance & Management Ltd., estimates.

Las Vegas casino operators are better able to attract visitors seeking an overall tourist experience, said Karen Tang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Deutsche Securities Asia Ltd.

"Ho has to adapt or lose his lead," Tang said. "He's losing out on Macau's fast-growing mass-market gaming segment."

To meet the challenge of Vegas-style casinos, Ho is building one of his own.

Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, known as SJM -- controlled by Ho's 42-year-old daughter, Pansy Ho -- last year formed a 50-50 venture with Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage to build the $975 million MGM Grand Macau, due to open in 2007. MGM Mirage said in a statement that the waterfront casino will boast private villas, a spa and 1,000 slot machines.

Pansy Ho declined a request for an interview, according to Janet Tong, a spokeswoman for Shun Tak Holdings Ltd., the Ho family's Hong Kong-listed transportation and property company. Janet Wong, a spokeswoman for Stanley Ho, didn't reply to a request for comment from him.

To cement its lead in the high-roller market, the Ho family is investing in Macau's first six-star casino resort. Melco International Development Ltd., headed by Ho's son Lawrence, 28, is building the HK$1.45 billion Park Hyatt resort on Macau's Taipa island with Australian billionaire Kerry Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd.

"We are combining their international management skills with our local connections," Lawrence Ho said in an e-mailed response to questions. "We understand the Chinese people and the culture of the Chinese market."

The waterfront resort, which will be managed by Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp. and is set to open next year, will feature "hyper luxury decor" to attract VIP gamblers, Lawrence Ho said in an April 8 statement.

Even as the Ho family's stranglehold on the Macau gaming market comes under threat in coming years, its stakes in Macau businesses spanning from ferries to department stores ensure that he'll profit from the city's boom.

Stanley Ho's flagship company -- privately held Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau SARL -- owns assets including Macau's only television station, its No. 2 bank, a stake in its international airport and the Macau Tower, the city's tallest building.

Shun Tak Holdings, whose high-speed Hong Kong-Macau ferry controls 90 percent of the market, reported a 54 percent gain in 2004 profit as travel to Macau surged. Shun Tak's Hong Kong- listed shares have more than doubled in the past year.

SJM plans to spend HK$6.2 billion to build a shopping, residential and commercial complex near Macau's ferry pier, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported on May 4, citing Ho. The project, called Oceanus, will be shaped like a ship's foredeck and feature 800 serviced apartments, office space and a 1 million- square-foot entertainment area.

"Stanley Ho's non-casino gaming assets in Macau will continue to perform regardless of what happens to his gaming business," said Jonathan Galaviz, a partner at Galaviz Ong & Co. in Las Vegas, which tracks the gaming industry. He forecasts that Macau's gaming revenue will match that of Las Vegas, the world's No. 1 gambling destination, by 2008.

Some Macau casinos catering to VIPs are used by criminal gangs to launder money, the U.S. State Department said in a March 1 report to Congress.

[SeeMacau]

MACAU is the hottest piece of gambling real estate in Asia just now and Kerry Packers move to set up a second casino there is a sure bet almost, judging by reaction to his latest deal.

The proposal by Australias richest man, in conjunction with the son of Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho, to open a huge casino on the booming Cotai Strip in the former Portugese colony won plenty of support from investment analysts yesterday, although none were gauging earnings impact until further information becomes available.

Investment house UBS said the securing of a position on the Cotai Strip was a positive for PBL.

“We believe the prospects for the Macau gaming industry are strong, fuelled by a significant increase in capacity, a large part of which is being targeted at new market segments,” a UBS research note said.

Citigroup Smith Barneys analysts were “excited by the blue sky in Macau”, though sounded a cautionary note about the returns from the Cotai gambling business, where, according to press reports, up to 20 major casinos could be in operation by 2010.

Cotai, a strip of reclaimed land between the Macanese islands of Taipa and Coloane, is joined to the Chinese mainland by a bridge.

Major US casino operator Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands Corp, and his major rival Steve Wynn, are both undertaking multi-billion dollar developments in Cotai already.

Analysts have concerns about the expected quality of returns from the less wealthy, poker machine-focused gamblers expected in Cotai compared with the wealthier gamblers attracted to operations such as PBL-Melcos first Macau casino at the Park Hyatt hotel.

PBL-Melco are proposing an underwater casino hall for Cotai capable of housing 450 gaming tables and 3000 poker machines, plus two blocks of deluxe serviced apartments, two four-star hotels, a five-star hotel, a shopping mall and a performance hall.

[SeeMacau]

Mr Michael K.M. Chan, Vice President of Greek Mythology (Macau) Entertainment Group Corporation Limited was interviewed by The Standard recently to discuss the business performance and development plan of the newly opened Greek Mythology Casino. The following is the abstract of the interview:

Goddess of good luck

Greek Mythology has taken many people’s fancy throughout the centuries. Restaurants, theaters and even discos have used the Greco-Roman designs to give their establishments a classic touch.

But it was not until the Greek Mythology Casino, which Hong Kong public- listed A-Max Holdings Limited (HKSE: 959) holds 16% of, took up the theme that its spirit and charm were fully realized, which is very attractive to mainland travelers who have less chance to travel to Europe.

Greek Mythology (Macau) Entertainment Group Corporation Limited opened the new Greek Mythology Casino at New Century Hotel on December 23, 2004. The first phase of this integrated casino and entertainment project has a total gross floor area of 160,000 square feet and called for an investment of HK$600 million.

Design, construction and fitting out of Greek Mythology Casino took six months to complete. It opened with 228 gaming tables in the first phase, with a further expansion to 500 tables on an area of 300,000 square feet scheduled for 2005. In the third phase, a new 38-floor hotel wing will be built to house another 500 gaming tables in 2007. Greek Mythology has also spent a substantial amount to provide free entertainment performances, including Moulin Rouge, for visitors to enjoy.

It is Macau’s second largest casino, next to the Sands, in terms of size and headcounts. ’’It has attracted a flow of 20,000 to 30,000 people on a daily basis,’’ Chan said proudly. ’’And the headcount is still increasing.’’

’’We are fortunate to have Mr. Ng Man Sun as our controlling shareholder,’’ Chan pointed out. ’’He has more than 30 years of gaming experience in Macau and the Philippines, and is the owner of New Century Hotel.’’ Mr. Ng is also the single largest shareholder of A-Max Holdings Limited.

Instant Profits

Ng’s keen eye on the gaming industry has helped Greek Mythology succeed. However, speaking of the ’’Macau-concept stocks," Chan stressed that the Group has always been focused on practical business operations to avoid intentional speculations.

’’We were already making profits on the first day of operation,’’ Chan declared. ’’I guess there would not be many other types of business with such a promising prospect. We had set our research and marketing strategies precisely right at the beginning.’’

Overseas Expansion

Regarding the gaming business, the Group is destined to expand both in and out of Macau, including other Asian countries and the USA. Besides, the group will seek to develop another new casino in addition to existing expansion plan.

Cross-boundary Ferry Pier

’’It is set to become a new icon representing a closer link to Macau and mainland China through Tuen Mun,’’ Chan said. ’’The pier will be a new development to capture the increasing demand of cross-boundary services to Macau and mainland China from a location in the western New Territories.’’

The proposed development, according to Chan, would be a new Tuen Mun landmark, and is expected to be launched between 2005 and 2006. While having the attributes of a new landmark structure, the proposed pier harmonizes unobtrusively with the surrounding environment.

[SeeMacau]

Daniel Schultz places a call through to his account manager in Costa Rica and clears a huge bet that he then puts on red in one of the glitzy new casinos in the southern Chinese territory of Macau.

No money changes hands, neither do any chips. There isn't even a roulette table nearby.

In fact, the whole transaction is conducted over a mobile phone - in the cafe.

This is the future of gambling Macau-style, a far cry from the smoky, seedy dens that used to rule the roost in this former Portuguese enclave that has been Asia's gambling haven for more than a century.

Schultz is demonstrating the latest innovation from Realtime Gaming, an American company that claims to be able to put the thrill of the punt into a computer, a phone, even into a console.

It plans to put computer-linked flat-screens in the unused corners of the city's casinos, allowing operators of the fast-proliferating gaming rooms to "monetize" every spare bit of space with online gambling consoles.

Realtime Gaming is just one of hundreds of overseas companies looking to cash in on the mushrooming casino business here. Dozens of them gathered for the city's first ever casino-supply expo two weeks ago and a similar event to be held in June is expected to attract 300 firms.

Security equipment suppliers, LED screen builders, caterers and construction contractors are among the latest wave of businesses to join the clamor for Macau gold after the initial rush of casino operators, including MGM Mirage and Wynn Resorts, and hotel management firms, such as Starwoods.

When the city reverted to Chinese rule five years ago, such foreign interest in the tiny southern territory would have been unthinkable.

But Macau has changed, especially since May 18 last year when the first American casino opened in what had until then been a Chinese-only gambling sector.

Sands Macau, owned by the Las Vegas casino giant that owns the hugely popular Venetian, brought glitz and glamour to a casino industry that had been dominated for 40 years by the down-at-heel gaming halls of tycoon Stanley Ho.

Among the new proposals is a score of casino-hotel complexes on a huge reclamation, which, when complete, is expected to pull in more money than all the resorts on the Las Vegas strip.

With a sudden surge in mainland Chinese tourists fuelling this growth, Macau is now big business and everybody is trying to get a piece of the pie.

"I predict that within a few short years about 25 percent of all our casino business will be in Macau - that's from very little now," said Scott Madding, international casino sales manager for the United States Card Company.

With each casino in the city consuming some 20,000 cards each night, his company sees huge gains in the new Macau.

This is the kind of talk the city's financial bosses love. When they decided to reinvigorate the ailing sector by relaxing foreign ownership rules for casinos three years ago, vested interests that opposed the move were placated with promises that the entire city would benefit in the long-run.

Financially, it has gained in a very short space of time. Last year, increased gambling receipts earned the city's Beijing-backed administration 15.2 billion patacas (US$1.94 billion).

The industry is proving such a money-spinner that by the middle of last year, revenue from gambling taxes had already paid off the city's 13-billion pataca public-spending budget for last year.

Residents were rewarded with tax cuts and the colossal civil service with pay rises.

Foreign companies are being lured by the huge earning potential of Macau's handful of casinos. Last year they pulled in some 42 billion patacas, the equivalent of the earnings made in all the casinos on the Las Vegas strip.

"The dollar amount on the tables at any one time here is higher than on any casino table anywhere in the world," said Madding. "The average off-the-street gamblers here spend as much money in one night as those we would consider high-rollers in Las Vegas. "Nobody has seen anything like this."

[SeeMacau]

MACAO, Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS - News), and its subsidiary Venetian Macau Limited (VML), announced today that Wolfram Diener will join the organization in June 2005 as vice president of convention and exhibition for the convention and expo center being built at The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel Casino on the Cotai Strip(TM). Mr. Diener will also be responsible for trade show operations for the company in Macao.

Mr. Diener brings to the company twenty years of international convention center and marketing experience. During this time, Mr. Diener has held leadership positions with convention and trade show operators in Europe and Asia. Most recently, Mr. Diener was the general manager of Shanghai New International Expo Center Co., Ltd (SNIEC), one of the busiest venues of its kind in Asia-Pacific. Prior to his position at SNIEC, Mr. Diener was the managing director of the noted trade show organizer, Messe Frankfort.

Mr. Diener will oversee all operations of VML's Venetian Macao Convention and Expo Center as well as the overall planning and management of VML's trade show operations.

"Wolfram is an excellent addition to our world renowned management team and his knowledge and experience will be an important asset to our continued success. He brings a strong track record of success and in welcoming Wolfram to VML it is a clear signal of our belief in the potential of the Convention and Exhibition market in Macao," said Frank McFadden, chief operating officer of Venetian Macau Limited.

"It is extremely gratifying to be joining the world's premier resort and gaming company. The opportunities in Macao are extraordinary, particularly in the Convention and Exhibition arenas, and I very much look forward to helping VML capitalize on them," said Mr. Diener.

[SeeMacau]

China's Macao Special Administrative Region has seen a 23 percent increase of revenue from gaming taxes during the first four months over the same period last year, local media reported Thursday.

The Macau Post quoted sources from the Finance Services Bureau as saying that the government received 5.27 billion patacas (630 million US dollars) from the casino-gaming industry during the period.

Gaming taxes generated 78 percent of the government's revenue, which totaled 6.75 billion patacas (820 million US dollars) from January to April, the newspaper reported.

Macao's 17 casinos pay 35 percent of their gross revenue as direct tax to the government, it added.

[SeeMacau]

Macau Success, a cruise ship operator chaired by tycoon Albert Yeung's younger brother Sonny Yeung, expects to recoup the investment in its Ponte 16 project in less than two years after lifting its stake.

The project, an entertainment complex that includes a casino with at least 150 gaming tables, a hotel with 200 rooms and 20 VIP mansions and shopping malls, is estimated to cost HK$1 billion, said executive director Marco Lee.

The company said it will pay HK$99.25 million in cash for another 12.25 percent of the project, lifting its stake to 36.75 percent, and may further increase that.

Its investment in the project will be HK$367.5 million, based on the stake it holds.

``The investment will be settled through internal resources,'' said Lee. ``We have sufficient [resources] to pay the planned capital we need this year and fund raising will be our last resort.''

Macau Success has cash of HK$400 million, but Lee refused to give details on estimated capital expenditure.

Revenue generated from the casino, to be completed by the end of next year, will fund construction of the hotel, shopping arcades and car parks.

Lee expects the casino will contribute more than 60 percent of total turnover while the hotel and shopping mall will make up the remainder by the time the project is completed in 2007.

``The gaming tables are increasing, but the growth will slow down and the numbers will be steady by 2006-2007,'' said financial controller Simon Luk.

Macau Success shares rose by up to 6.2 percent Friday after the firm said it will increase its stake in the Ponte 16 project. The stock closed at HK$0.84, up by 3.7 percent.