
Studio City Macau: Despite its many non-gaming attractions it’s failing continually 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 a negative outlook for 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, as the likes of Robert De Nero and Leonardo DiCaprio mingled among the crowd. It even had a unique opening night movie, The Audition, a brief film 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 cost, it may equally be called the most expensive advertisement ever made.
New Concept Fails to Drive Crowds
But for all the glitz, Studio City was conceived in a markedly different economic environment, before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive halted the region’s success story and sent profits tumbling for 26 straight months.
Studio City went big on non-gaming amenities, positioning itself as a non-VIP gaming location to be able to woo China’s burgeoning class that is middle.
This has anything from television and movie 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 actually failed to materialize.
Melco Distances Itself
Melco Crown owns a 60 per cent stake in the property, 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 totally separate credit group and its debt is non-recourse to Melco Crown Entertainment Limited. […] Investors must not assume that Melco Crown Entertainment Limited provides any economic support to Studio City Casino Macau or it would step in for Studio City Casino Macau,‘ said a Melco Representative.
There is speculation that that Melco is wanting to put the end up the hedge funds because it really wants to buy them out for the 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 far more forgiving mood. (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 prepared to license online gambling firms that targeted ’non-locals‘ and that it was at the entire process of ‚readying application forms.‘
‚We don’t know yet how saleable it is; there might be no takers,‘ PAGCOR Andrea that is chief Domingo to Reuters.’Or there could possibly be many applicants,‘ she added brightly.
PAGCOR hopes that the brand new licenses might offset some 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 entire Philippines, which offered video that is online and slots via roughly 8,000 terminals.
Last year the company’s operations contributed around $12.2 million in fees to the federal government.
Zero-tolerance
Duterte swept to power in on an agenda that promised to wipe out crime and drugs june. Literally. The president has leant their help to vigilante death squads that carry out the extra-judicial killings of criminals and habitual medication 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, stated Duterte, online gambling ‚had to avoid‘ because too many Filipinos had been choosing to gamble instead of working for the living. It appeared that PAGCOR was taken completely by surprise by the announcement.
Renovation
the month Philweb was forced to announce it would wind its operations down, because of the non-renewal of its license by PAGCOR. Ongpin stepped down as president for the business and, as a bid that is last-ditch approval, offered to transfer almost all of his majority stake into the company to PAGCOR, in an attempt to save lots of the company and its particular 6,000 workers. PAGCOR was forced to refuse.
But on Wednesday, Duterte was clearly in an even more tolerant mood.
‚Pay the correct taxes… Gamble before you die. I never really care,‘ he announced magnanimously.
Duterte is currently prepared to restore gambling that is online ‚taxes are correctly collected in addition they [online gambling cafes] are situated or put into districts where gambling is allowed, which means to say, not inside the church distance or schools.‘
‚ I became angry because even the youth are gambling and there was clearly no way of collecting the proper fees,‘ he admitted.
Whether play pelican pete slot machine free this implies he’s ready to allow Philweb to carry on its operations as before is currently unclear.
Indiana Casino Union Does What Trump Taj Mahal Workers Couldn’t: Reaches New Contract with Majestic Star Riverboats
Indiana Governor Mike Pence, the current GOP contender that is vice-presidential has put his state on the map for economic gains and growth during his management. Now a new casino union contract in the Hoosier State is also showing up its sis chapter in Atlantic City, having effectively negotiated for benefits, where its brethren failed.
The Indiana Unite Here casino union has successfully bargained for a contract that is new 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 during the two Majestic Star riverboats in Gary, has reached a brand new agreement with the gambling operator. On August 19, the two edges officially signed off for a contract that increases wages over the next couple of years, while maintaining the health that is current programs being afforded to union members.
The offer runs through 2018.
Unite Here Local 1 spokesperson Noah Carson-Nelson told the Chicago Tribune, ‚Our members are happy. The individuals were excited that it includes raises and the same medical health insurance. that it was settled fairly quickly and‘
The Majestic Star casinos sit next to one another in Lake Michigan, about 30 kilometers southeast of downtown Chicago.
Neighborhood 1’s parent union, Unite Here, is the same company that unsuccessfully went on strike during the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City previously in the summer time. Because of this, billionaire owner Carl Icahn announced that the casino will likely be completely shutting on 10 october.
The Trump Factor
Formerly referred to as Trump Casino, Majestic Star II was renamed after Trump Entertainment Resorts sold the home to Majestic in 2005 for $253 million.
The sale was part of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR) filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy security in 2004. The business emerged from liquidation under the new Trump Entertainment Resorts name in 2005.
Trump’s record in Atlantic City is questionable. But in Indiana, Trump’s riverboat was decidedly profitable. Over the 11 years since Majestic acquired the casino that is floating it’s never won as much cash because it did when Trump was the financial admiral regarding the ship.
In 2004, total wins eclipsed $140 million. In 2015, the Majestic Star II taken in simply half of that figure.
The Majestic Stars are two of 10 riverboat casinos in Indiana. The Hoosier State normally home to the French Lick Resort Casino, the only real land-based gambling place there, plus two racinos that offer slots and electronic table gaming.
Marked Market Variations Between Two States
Back east in Atlantic City, Unite Here Local 54 had been additionally fighting for higher wages and health insurance coverage at the Trump Taj Mahal. But the bankruptcy procedure 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 serious situation that is financial.
But Icahn, who was reportedly losing $100 million on the venture, said he needed more time before restoring benefits. Employees walked off the task in disgust, and Icahn called their bluff in a move that ultimately caused both sides to lose.
The marketplace is quite different in northwest Indiana than in Atlantic City. When the Taj Mahal closes its doorways in October, it becomes the casino that is fifth shutter straight down since 2014 in New Jersey.
The Blue Chip Casino and Hotel in Michigan City, Indiana also recently negotiated successfully with Unite Here Local 1. Ameristar Casino resort did as well, albeit after a lengthy and tedious process.
‚we are delighted to proceed, and happy in an equitable manner,‘ Majestic Star General Manager Barry Cregan said of the new contract that we did it.
So why would small Indiana video gaming union find more success having its boss compared to the much larger Atlantic City market? Each month, and the union’s demands would only drive those losses further into the muck because the Taj was already losing millions. A worthwhile investment in Indiana, while not thriving like they may have been over a 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 energy Betfair CEO, said that the company would not further rule out consolidation if the best opportunity arose. (Image: Business Post sunday)
Paddy Power Betfair has reported operating losings of £47.5 million ($62.6 million) for the very first half of 2016 in comparison 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 between your two wagering powerhouses, amounting to £195 million ($257 million) in total. Paddy energy and Betfair agreed terms of their £5 billion ($6.5 billion) merger in September year that is last the deal was only finalized on February 2, 2016.
Thus, short-term losings incurred during through integration, which included 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 fact, Paddy energy Betfair has upped its estimate of future price saving from £50 million ($65 million) per annum by 2018 to £65 million ($85.7 million) per from next year year.
A lot of those savings have come from job losings, with 650 of the combined business’s 7,200-strong workforce having found themselves surplus to requirements following the merger.
Revenue Up 18 %
‚People have been really diligent, there is been a lot that is awful of work done, and promptly,‘ said Corcoran of the integration work. ‚Paddy Power Betfair has suffered good momentum through an amount of considerable change.‘
Corcoran additionally pointed to an 18 % rise in revenue for the time scale, to £759 million ($1 billion), along with 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.
On line revenue was up 20 percent at £440 million ($580 million), while Paddy Power’s land-based bookmaking shops recorded a 12 per cent rise in revenues to £147 million ($193 million). The organization’s US and Australian operations also reported development.
More Consolidation Potential
‚The restructuring happens to be mainly complete therefore the merger synergies are being delivered ahead of routine,‘ said Corcoran. ‚Our company is producing a world class procedure by exploiting the assets that are unique capabilities of each legacy company, particularly in the key functions of technology, marketing and trading.
‚While our industry continues to be highly competitive and is exposed to the prevailing economic and regulatory environments, our strong market positions, increased scale and enhanced capabilities position us well for sustainable, profitable growth.‘
Corcoran also refused to rule out the possibility of more consolidation. If the right asset came up at the right price his company could be well placed to acquire it, he said, however the moment he had been focusing in the integration process.
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