Latest Casino News

Sands Corporation’s Marina Bay Sands (MBS) was heard seeking for another round of huge investment loans from syndicated banks and investment funds.  The figure is estimated to be at SGD4.5b for MBS’ refinancing.

By 2015, MBS will come to the milestone of repayment of corporate debt (at SGD5.4b). 

With current market environment, growth rates for MBS and Resorts World Sentosa would be moderate.  Especially the Singapore government is still not too keen about opening up junkets licensing.

The next few years for Singapore IRs' casinos would be stable income but not overwhelming

News Extracts (The Business Times)

Writing’s On The Wall…

NY and Atlantic region already saturated...

Florida might not be that promising... an illusion in the Gulf Coast region

News Extracts

Why Genting Has To Keep Trying? Building Casinos Overseas 

The news below explains it all.
Genting people just have to keep trying… until they hit the solid wall, like the failure in the UK and previously, Star Cruises fiasco.  The company is not used to channeling cash flow into more strategic investments.

Because Genting is not a company with strategic view of their businesses.  And they just couldn’t be bother with synergies among their investments.

Eventually, they will use Sentosa Resorts World and Genting Bhd. to pay for what they try in other places.

Now they are trying their American Dreams.  They should be worried about long-term return-on-equity and costs of capital, though the current bank interest rates remain low…

BRIEF COMMENTARY

The year 2011 ends with good fortune for the region’s casinos.

Looking ahead, 2012 though may not be the end day of the world, the economic situation remains dire.  For the region’s casinos, our experts panel has the following Predictions:

(1)   Singapore casinos will progress with <20% growth most likely, unless the govt. opens up for junket operators licensing. With junkets joining the fray, Singapore casinos can potentially rack up >35% growth.

(2)  For Macau casinos landscape, hot (and illegal) money will continue its flow into this enclave regardless of whatever happened.  With tighter govt. hand over credit lending in mainland, more “capital” would be channeled into Macau safe haven. hence, Macau casinos can continue to look forward to >35% growth in gross gaming revenue.

The Business Times has the following projection –

If Malaysians continue to dwindle, Singapore casinos will be badly hit!

News & Commentary

By:  Professional Ground casino experts panel

SO, WHY SINGAPORE SHOULD NOT GO FOR ONLINE CASINO GAMING

Yesterday’s Lion City local news mentioned the argument by PWC that the city state should also open up for online gaming instead, and allow govt. to make more taxable revenue.

As we assess, this move is a suicidal one if the city state really were to believe in this investment banker’s most stupid argument.  We think that they might be used by online gaming big-boys out there to sell this dumb idea to Lion City govt.

Anyway, read the following news extracts.  At least, they are still some intelligent casino/gaming experts who rebuked this stupid idea.
—–

Most foolish suggestion for Lion City govt. by investment banker - Online casino gambling/betting...

Singapore news extracts:

Online gaming industry: To regulate or not?

Report urges governments to tap these channels for revenue, but analysts warn of social consequences by Teo Xuanwei 04:45 AM Dec 08, 2011   News TODAY.

SINGAPORE - It would be better for governments to license and regulate the online gambling industry than to turn a blind eye to the growing number of online punters worldwide, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report released yesterday argued. This, especially as the global financial crisis strains public sector finances, it said. “With governments now facing severe fiscal constraints and eager to replenish their coffers, their attention has been caught by the potential of legalised and licensed online gaming services as a valuable source of tax revenues,” it said. “There is also a strong argument that, since consumers will engage in illegal online gaming anyway, it is better to license and tax it than to allow the revenues to go to unlicensed operators.”

There are no studies on how big the online gaming community here is, but Singapore is one of the fastest growing casino gaming markets in the Asia-Pacific region, which is tipped to overtake the United States in 2013 to become the world’s largest region for casino gaming. Gaming revenue in Asia-Pacific, the PwC report projected, will grow from US$34.3 billion (S$43.96 billion) last year to US$79.3 billion in 2015.

It also estimated that revenues from the two integrated resorts here will jump from US$4.4 billion this year to US$7.2 billion in 2015. Online gambling is outlawed in Singapore but Singapore Pools allows punters to place lotteryor sports bets through the phone using pre-paid accounts.

Noting that there is “tremendous growth in online gaming, especially in poker”, gaming analyst Jonathan Galaviz felt that governments in the region should certainlyseizethe growthopportunities. “It’s probably an appropriate time for governments to, at the minimum, seriously research the issue and get up to speed on the topic for thoughtful policy discussions,” said the chief economist of Galaviz & Co, a consulting firm for casinos. But other gaming analysts Today spoke to were against such a policy decision, saying legalising online gambling will likely cause a significant social impact.

Said Mr Felix Ling, a senior partner at casino consultant Platform Asia Management Services: “Once you allow online gambling, you are indirectly encouraging more people toflockthere. “Yes, there are some people who are already gambling on the Internet anyway, but how many are there? If you legitimise online gambling, the number of problem gamblers will shoot up and you can’t even track the problem or control it.”

Agreeing, Dr Derek da Cunha, author of Singapore Places its Bets, a book on the social and economic impact of the entry of casinos into Singapore, said: “If the Government were to legalise online gaming, it would simply give respectability to this activity. A consequence of that would be to draw new or novice players who would not otherwise engage in online gaming.” He added that the social consequences would be “incalculable, especially when people who are supposed to be at work, use their computers or handheld mobile devices to start punting”. Dr da Cunha also noted that Singapore is not in a situation where it has to find new sources of tax revenues to plug significant budget deficits. He said: “Government finances are healthy, and the Government alreadyhas a raftofrevenue streamsthatdraw in vast amounts of monies for the Government’s coffers.”

Latest Breaking News On Singapore Casinos – Writing On The Wall

This is the news -

Singapore authorities have tightened advertising and promotions guidelines for the country’s two casinos to ensure that they do not target the domestic market.

With immediate effect, the scope of the Casino Control (Advertising) Regulations will be expanded to cover promotions.

These refer to membership drives, rewards and loyalty programmes, as well as lucky draws and contests.   (Professional Ground’s comment: this will effectively drive down local patrons interest & frequency to casinos).

Previously, these were not covered under the law.

Three specific incidents prompted authorities to act.

These were: when Resorts World Sentosa provided free shuttle bus services from the heartlands to its casino; when the same operator promoted its Genting Rewards programme at heartland shopping malls and at the Seventh Month Hungry Ghost Festival events; and when Marina Bay Sands started publicising casino winnings on its website.

All such activities have since stopped, but they were sufficient grounds for the authorities to act.

Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Chan Chun Sing, said: “It was very clear that when the casinos were given the licence to operate down here, it was a balance between economic needs and at the same time the social needs.

“The casinos can do whatever they want to promote their growth, but one of the things that we say is that you must never, never target the local population when it comes to promoting the growth. If you want to attract more tourists, we are okay with that. That is part of your job to do that.

“So we will not preclude your growth if you continue to attract foreign tourists but we will not allow them to target the local market in order to expand their growth.”

Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands will now have to seek prior approval from the Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry for all casino advertising and promotions.

These include interviews and media releases, as well as community sponsorship.

Casino advertising will also now cover merchandising, such as a T-shirt with a picture of a dice, or a mug with a picture of a roulette table.

The authorities have also made clear what is termed as “domestic market”. This includes not just Singapore citizens but also Permanent Residents and foreigners working and living in Singapore.

Operators who break the law will now be slapped with a fine of up to S$100,000.

Industry watchers welcomed the move, saying that any form of casino advertising does have an influence on a gambler and even a non-gambler.

Even the recent publicity surrounding a casino’s dispute with a food stall owner over jackpot winnings is cause for concern.  (Professional Ground’s comment:  See below news report that turned into an “advertisement” for casino win indeed.)

A Reverend Tan said: “A lot of the gamblers said that made a lot of people who never gamble or who are already gambling heavily think that maybe one day, their chance will come also to win that kind of money….”

A survey on the gambling habits of Singaporeans will be released early next year. This will give the government a better sense of the problem of pathological gambling in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Acting MCYS Minister Chan Chun Sing said the government’s next target group will be the frequent gamblers.

The local market (casino goers) will stagnate and even trends downward.

Professional Ground Decoder expert comments:

With this further restriction of casino promotional activities, the domestic market will stagnate.  Casinos will have to seek out overseas markets in order to grow their pie. 

The potential problem is that, Malaysian authority may also follow suit and impose certain restrictive measures on Malaysians especially for Johore State that’s neighbouring Singapore.

News Report – RWS casino lagging behind Marina Bay Sands (MBS)

Appended below is the earlier expert assessment by Professional Ground Decoder panel, about the probability of Genting RWS casino could only perform MODERATELY well as compared to its 2nd quarter poor result.  On Nov 8, expert panel (of professional Ground Decoder) assessed that, “Genting’s 3rd quarter may not be that juicy.”   Readers may read the post dated Nov 8, 2011 – Scenarios for Genting Singapore 3rd Quarter Hands.

Today’s press report of RWS’ 3rd quarter result proves the point. 

"Scenarios for Genting Singapore 3rd Quarter Hands", Nov 8th 2011

More extracts from the local Singapore news report are as follows:

Professional Ground editor: Going forward, genting RWS casino will remain rather weak in comparison with MBS. Genting's mass market margins couldn't hold up strong enough due to stagnation of Malaysian volume.

Genting's casino floor EFFICIENCY is far behind that of MBS, for sure. Considering that there's only two casinos on the island.

Extracts of Singapore News (Casino Topic) with commentary

By Professional Ground Decoder expert panel

With current good earnings, the govt. has no hurry to allow Junkets into the relatively clean water...

The “noises” for No-junket appeal for Singapore casinos is getting louder and heard by many, including the Singapore authority.  With good earning results coming from the two casinos, there’s no reason for the government of Singapore to allow this monster called Junket to be involved in the relatively clean water.

It is quite clear that Singapore is very aware of what happens to Macau enclave.  Therefore, the government is extremely cautious about management of casino integrity and money lending issues. It is better to be strict than to regret later.

So, looks like the writing is clearer this time, almost on the wall…

Analysts, invest in Macau casino stocks!

The latest development of Macau junkets is reported below, apparently the junket operators are trying to expand their money lending operations directly into mainland China, via money lending licenses, instead of hiring 3rd party “black hands” to do the dirty job of collection.

Nice shot! But will the Chinese govt. remains quiet about such manipulation when the snow ball rolls bigger?

Extracted from news announcement, Singapore

Final Scores:  Marina Bay Sands Casino - 0 ,  Slot Player – 1

Readers may refer to earlier post on Professional Ground Decoder of the detailed case analysis, on October 23rd 2011.

Marina Bay Sands – Slot Winner Denied The Cash Prize

************

As at today 9th Nov, the news (from CNA) has announced that the disputed Jackpot winning case between patron (Ms Choo) and Marina Bay Sands has been finalized.  And the Scores are: 

Ms Choo (Slot patron)   -  1                Marina Bay Sands Casino   -  0

This time around, looks like justice is served.  Read the following news report (CNA) hot on the heel:

Hawker in dispute with MBS gets full jackpot winnings
By Ng Puay Leng | Posted: 09 November
2011 1743 hrs  (CNA News, Singapore)

SINGAPORE: Hawker Choo Hong Eng said she has been informed by Marina Bay Sands (MBS) that she will receive her jackpot winnings in full.

She said she had won S$416,000 on a jackpot machine at MBS last month, but the casino said the machine had malfunctioned.

It offered her a sports car worth S$258,962 and S$50,000 in cash instead. But Madam Choo refused the offer.

On Wednesday, she told Channel NewsAsia that she was notified of MBS’ change of mind in a confidential letter dated November 4, when she was in Taiwan.
Her lawyer informed her of MBS’ decision.

She signed the letter of acceptance at her lawyer’s firm, after she returned on Wednesday morning.  Mdm Choo understands that she will receive her money three days after MBS has received her letter.  She said she will donate about half of the amount to charity.

The 58-year-old hawker had given her statement to the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) in her dispute with MBS over her jackpot winnings.  She had said that she felt confident about her chances of winning the case, especially with the support of CCTV footage and at least four witnesses not related to her.

In an earlier interview with Channel NewsAsia, she said: “The CRA officer asked me: ‘Did you see the words CASH and CAR appear on the screen?’ I said the only words were CASH BONUS. The word CAR didn’t come up at all. Car is spelt C-A-R, and cash is C-A-S-H. The difference between four and three letters is obvious.”

Commentary on news report

By:   Professional Ground Decoder expert panel

WILL GENTING’S 3RD QUARTER A BIG GAINER?

iF YOU BELIEVE IN CANNIBALIZATION, THEN GENTING'S 3RD QUARTER MAY NOT BE THAT JUICY

COMMENTARY:

As covered by the newspaper, some analysts are hopping to jack-up Genting Singapore’s stock prices because they have lots of them under their account.

Based on our assessment which is consolidated from various sources, Genting’s 3rd quarter could be another disaster followed their 2nd quarter’s poor show. However, there’s 50-50% chance that Genting RWS might have done moderately well if Marina Bay Sands did not manage to cannibalize much of their market share.

So, here we throw out the appended scenarios for Genting’s 3rd quarter:

(1)  It is possible that Genting could have performed well and managed to hold on their ground even under siege by Marina Bay Sands. That would give an improved 20 – 25% EBITDA as compared to the 2nd quarter.

(2)  It is likely that for the 3rd quarter MBS has continuously cannibalized Genting’s market share.  That would mean that Genting’s 3rd quarter remains another disaster, but only sligghtly better than its 2nd quarter.

(3)  We learned that there’s at least one Hong Kong junket operator disguises as Pseudo Junket, providing junket players for Genting RWS. But their “fees” is pretty high. Whether such churning for the 3rd quarter is effective is yet to be seen.  But we “heard” that Genting familiar Malaysian market has stagnated.  If RWS was not able to churn more than adequate VIP gaming revenue to cover the lost in mass market share from Malaysia, the results will not be promising.  Opening of additional non-gaming facilities (in RWS) as reported will not save the casino performance if VIP side could not churn out consistent high numbers or mass market stagnates.