Local casinos more reliant on high-rollers

VIP gaming become even more dominant in the Macau gaming industry last year, despite a shift in focus of industry operators towards the mass market.
In 2011 local casinos drew MOP 196.1 billion from high-roller baccarat, up by 44.6 percent from the previous year. This figure accounts for 73.2 percent of their revenues, up by 1.2 points from 2010.
Several analysts have expressed concern over possible volatility created by the dependence on VIP gaming. In some casinos, high-rollers routinely account for over 90 percent of chip turnover.
The scenario was expected to change with the opening of Cotai resort Galaxy Macau, last May, which focused mostly on middle-class Chinese.
But the last quarter showed just a slight decrease in the importance of VIP baccarat, which represented 72.5 percent of the total revenues, MOP 53.3 billion.
Mass-market baccarat was the second most profitable business for the gaming sector in 2011, with gross revenues of MOP 48.7 billion, up 39.5 percent year-on-year.
Altogether, baccarat accounted for almost 91.4 percent of casino revenues during last year, up 0.6 points.
Slot machines also continue to increase their presence in the local gaming industry, as its number reached 16,056 at end of 2011. This sector has failed to keep with the overall gaming boom but reached revenues of MOP 11.4 billion, up 32.6 percent from the previous year.
The number of gaming tables surprisingly dropped by 77 in the last quarter of 2011 to 5,302. It’s the first time since the opening of the first non-SJM casino, in 2004, that the number of live tables decreased.
Last March, secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen said it would only allow around 700 additional gaming tables within the next three years, setting a 5,500 table cap.
Meanwhile Sands China has announced its board of directors will meet on January 21 to vote on the payment of an interim dividend. It would be the first time the local gaming operator has paid a dividend.
Last September chairman Sheldon Adelson said the company was “seriously considering” paying a dividend as growing cash from Macau and Singapore exceeded its needs for potential expansion in Asia and Europe.
Rival gaming operator Wynn Macau paid a special dividend HKD 1.2 a share last month and SJM also regularly announces dividends to its shareholders.

V.Q.