
Studio City Macau: Despite its numerous non-gaming tourist attractions it’s neglecting to attract the mass market crowds.
Studio City Macau, Lawrence Ho and James Packer’s $4.5 billion integrated casino resort on the Cotai Strip is in trouble and could default on the $1.41 billion loan used to complete the construction of this hotel.
That’s the word from rating agency Standard and Poor’s Financial Services, which this week issued an outlook that is negative the resort’s bonds, off the back of a 42.5 percent slide in their value.
Macau’s first ever TV and movie-themed resort opened in October 2015, with Packer’s girlfriend Mariah Carey headlining the opening night, since the likes of Robert De Nero and Leonardo DiCaprio mingled among the list of crowd. It also had its own opening night movie, The Audition, a short movie directed by Martin Scorsese and starring De Nero, DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
Packer called it the ‘coolest 15 minutes ever made,’ but, with an $80 million price, it may equally be called the absolute most advertisement that is expensive made.
New Concept Does Not Drive Crowds
But for all your glitz, Studio City was conceived in a markedly different economic weather, before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive halted the location’s success tale and sent revenues tumbling for 26 straight months.
Studio City went big on non-gaming amenities, positioning itself as a non-VIP gaming destination so that you can woo China’s burgeoning middle income.
It’s everything from television and film production facilities to a Batman themed 4-D flight-simulator roller coaster ride and a figure-eight Ferris wheel, but because of a slowing Chinese economy, visitor numbers to Macau are falling and the hordes of middle classes have failed to materialize.
Melco Distances Itself
Melco Crown owns a 60 percent stake in the home, while US hedge funds Silver Point Capital and Oaktree Capital own a 40 percent stake. Bloomberg reported this week that Melco Crown has sought to distance itself from any kind of rescue package for the casino.
‘Studio City Casino Macau is within a credit that is entirely separate and its debt is non-recourse to Melco Crown Entertainment Limited. […] Investors should not assume that Melco Crown Entertainment Limited will give you any support that is financial Studio City Casino Macau or it would step up for Studio City Casino Macau,’ said a Melco Representative.
There is speculation that that Melco is seeking to put the find yourself the hedge funds because it really wants to buy them out for a good price, and that the negative score from Standard and Poor’s will strengthen its position.
Duterte Takes Shock U-turn on Online Gambling
‘Gamble until you die. I do not really care,’ said Philippine President Duterte Wednesday, clearly in a more mood that is forgiving. (Image: rapeller.com)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s hardline crackdown on online gambling took a twist that is unexpected this week.
On Tuesday the us government’s gambling operator-regulator, PAGCOR, announced it was in the process of ‘readying application forms. it ended up being ready to license online gambling firms that targeted ‘non-locals’ and’
‘We don’t know yet how saleable it is; there is no takers,’ PAGCOR Andrea that is chief Domingo to Reuters.’Or there could be numerous applicants,’ she included brightly.
PAGCOR hopes that the licenses that are new offset a number of the income lost by Duterte’s systematic dismantling of the country’s online gambling giant, Philweb. Until recently, Philweb operated 299 online gambling boutique cafés through the Philippines, which offered online video poker and slots via approximately 8,000 terminals.
Last the company’s operations contributed around $12.2 million in taxes to the government year.
Zero-tolerance
Duterte swept to power in June on an insurance policy that promised to get rid of criminal activity and drugs. Literally. The president has leant their support to vigilante death squads that carry out the extra-judicial killings of criminals and habitual drug users with impunity.
When sworn in, he immediately set his sights on the Philippine online gambling industry, plus in particular Philweb and its chairman, the billionaire Robert Ongpin.
Ongpin was agent of the ‘oligarchs,’ which he believed were ‘embedded in federal government’ and practiced ‘influence peddling.’ Meanwhile, said Duterte, online gambling ‘had to avoid’ because too many Filipinos had been deciding to gamble alternatively of working for the living. It appeared that PAGCOR was taken entirely by surprise by the announcement.
Restoration
the month Philweb was forced to announce it might wind its operations down, as a result of the non-renewal of its license by PAGCOR. Ongpin stepped straight down as president associated with the company and, as a last-ditch bid for approval, wanted to transfer very nearly all of his majority stake into the company to PAGCOR, in an attempt to save the business and its own 6,000 workers. PAGCOR ended up being forced to refuse.
But on Wednesday, Duterte was clearly in a far more tolerant mood.
‘Pay the correct taxes… Gamble and soon you die. I don’t really care,’ he announced magnanimously.
Duterte is now willing to restore online gambling provided ‘taxes are correctly collected and they [online gambling cafes] are situated or put in districts where gambling is allowed, which means to state, not within the church distance or schools.’
‘ I happened to be angry because perhaps the youth are gambling and there is not a way of collecting the proper taxes,’ he admitted.
Whether this implies he is willing to permit Philweb to keep its operations as before is currently unclear.
Indiana Casino Union Does What Trump Taj Mahal Workers Couldn’t: Hits New Deal with Majestic Star Riverboats
Indiana Governor Mike Pence, the current GOP contender that is vice-presidential has put their state on the map for monetary gains and development during his management. Now a new casino union contract in the Hoosier State is also showing up its sis chapter in Atlantic City, having successfully negotiated for benefits, where its brethren failed.
The Indiana Unite Here casino union has successfully bargained for a new contract with the two Majestic Star riverboats in Gary, a stark contrast through the union’s efforts in Atlantic City, which failed. (Image: Unite Here/youtube.com)
Indiana’s Unite Here casino union, representing chefs, wait staff, and housekeepers at the two Majestic Star riverboats in Gary, has already reached a new agreement with the gambling operator. On August 19, the two sides officially finalized down on a agreement that increases wages over the next 2 yrs, while keeping the current health insurance programs being afforded to union members.
The offer runs through 2018.
Unite Here Local 1 spokesperson Noah Carson-Nelson told the Chicago Tribune, ‘Our people are content. The people were excited that it was settled fairly quickly and so it includes raises and similar health insurance.’
The Majestic Star casinos sit next to 1 another in Lake Michigan, about 30 miles southeast of downtown Chicago.
Neighborhood 1’s moms and dad union, Unite Here, is the organization that is same unsuccessfully proceeded strike at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City earlier in the day into the summer. As a result, billionaire owner Carl Icahn announced that the casino will likely be completely shutting on October 10.
The Trump Factor
Formerly known as the Trump Casino, Majestic Star II was renamed after Trump Entertainment Resorts offered the property to Majestic in 2005 for $253 million.
The sale was element of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR) filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004. The company emerged from liquidation under the brand new Trump Entertainment Resorts name in 2005.
Trump’s record in Atlantic City is certainly questionable. But in Indiana, Trump’s riverboat was decidedly lucrative. Throughout the 11 years since Majestic acquired the casino that is floating it’s never won as much money because it did whenever Trump was the financial admiral of the ship.
In 2004, total wins eclipsed $140 million. In 2015, the Majestic Star II pulled in just half of that figure.
The Majestic Stars are two of 10 riverboat casinos in Indiana. The Hoosier State can also be home to your French Lick Resort Casino, the only real land-based gambling place there, plus two racinos that provide slots and table gaming that is electronic.
Marked Market Differences Between Two States
Back east in Atlantic City, Unite Here Local 54 was also fighting for higher wages and health insurance at the Trump Taj Mahal. But the bankruptcy process already underway when Carl Icahn purchased the casino allowed the billionaire to temporarily suspend pension and healthcare benefits as he worked to upright the casino’s dire situation that is financial.
But Icahn, who was simply reportedly losing $100 million on the venture, said he needed more time before restoring benefits. Workers strolled off the working work in disgust, and Icahn called their bluff in a move that ultimately caused both edges to lose.
The marketplace is quite different in northwest Indiana than in Atlantic City. When the Taj Mahal closes its doors in October, it can be the fifth casino to shutter down since 2014 in nj.
The Blue Chip Casino and Hotel in Michigan City, Indiana also recently negotiated effectively with Unite Here Local 1. Ameristar Casino resort did as well, albeit after having a lengthy and tedious process.
‘We’re happy to move ahead, and happy we did it in an equitable manner,’ Majestic Star General Manager Barry Cregan stated of the brand new agreement.
So why would the smaller Indiana gaming union find more success with its manager than in the much larger Atlantic City market? Because the Taj was already losing millions each month, therefore the union’s needs would only drive those losses further into the muck. A worthwhile investment in Indiana, while not thriving like they may have been over a myfreepokies.com decade ago, casinos are apparently still making enough of a profit to make union benefits.
Paddy Power Betfair Reports £47.5 Million Loss As A Result Of Costs of Merger
Breon Corcoran, Paddy Power Betfair CEO, said that the company would not rule out further consolidation if the proper opportunity arose. (Image: Business Post sunday)
Paddy Power Betfair has reported operating losses of £47.5 million ($62.6 million) for the first half of 2016 when comparing to profits of £106.5 million ($140.5) for the corresponding period of 2015.
CEO Breon Corcoran this week attributed the losses to one-off costs related towards the merger involving the two betting powerhouses, amounting to £195 million ($257 million) in total. Paddy Power and Betfair agreed terms of their £5 billion ($6.5 billion) merger in September a year ago but the deal was only finalized on February 2, 2016.
Thus, short-term losings incurred during through integration, including some £29 million ($38.2) in advisory fees alone, are anticipated to be handsomely offset by cost saving synergies associated with the newly combined company further down the road.
In reality, Paddy energy Betfair has upped its estimate of future cost saving from £50 million ($65 million) per year by 2018 to £65 million ($85.7 million) per year from next year.
Much of those savings have actually come from job losses, with 650 of the combined organization’s 7,200-strong workforce having found themselves surplus to demands following the merger.
Revenue Up 18 %
‘People have actually been actually diligent, there is been a lot that is awful of work done, and promptly,’ said Corcoran regarding the integration effort. ‘Paddy Power Betfair has sustained good energy through a period of considerable modification.’
Corcoran also pointed to an 18 % rise in revenue for the time scale, to £759 million ($1 billion), also double-digit growth across all four of its core divisions. Discounting merger costs, would have reported underlying earnings of £181 million ($238 million), Corcoran said.
Online revenue was up 20 percent at £440 million ($580 million), while Paddy Power’s land-based bookmaking shops recorded a 12 percent increase in revenues to £147 million ($193 million). The organization’s US and Australian operations also reported development.
More Consolidation Possible
‘The restructuring has become mainly complete therefore the merger synergies are being delivered ahead of routine,’ said Corcoran. ‘we have been producing a globe class operation by exploiting the assets that are unique capabilities of each legacy business, particularly in the key functions of technology, marketing and trading.
‘While our industry stays highly competitive and is exposed to the prevailing economic and regulatory surroundings, our strong market jobs, increased scale and enhanced capabilities position us well for sustainable, lucrative growth.’
Corcoran also refused to rule out of the possibility of more consolidation. If the asset that is right up at the right price his company will be well positioned to acquire it, he said, nevertheless the moment he was focusing in the integration process.