SJM Board of Directors Chairman Daisy Ho Chiu Fung said on Monday there might be a year-on-year drop in gaming revenue this month due the fact that there aren’t any public holidays and the fact that the external situation is unclear.
Ho made the comments while speaking to reporters after presiding over a press conference introducing this year’s SJM Prema Theodore Racing Team that will see its F3 drivers Robert Shwartzman, Marcus Armstrong and Frederik Vesti competing in the Macau Grand Prix which takes place from Thursday to Sunday.
Ho said that the motor-racing event is the company’s major project to attract customers in November, adding the booking rate for hotels associated with SJM has already reached 80 to 90 per cent. According to the Macau Post Daily, Ho also said there would probably still be a drop in gaming revenue this month compared with the same period last year.
“There are no holidays in November and the external situation is certainly not clear, so we do estimate there might be a little drop,” Ho said, when asked for her comment after analysts forecast that November would see a 5-per cent year-on-year drop in gaming revenue.
“As to whether [gaming revenue] would go down to what analysts estimate, it depends on individual venues and the [overall] situation,” she said.
Bidding for new concessions
Concerning the new round of bidding for Macau’s gaming concessions, Ho said that it would all depend on the new government’s policy.
“We’re very much looking forward to the new term of government taking office and seeing what new policies and guidelines the new chief executive and his team have for us,” she said, adding, “So we’re waiting, once [the new government] takes office and makes any announcements, we’ll be able to immediately work on it, and the new round of bidding for the concessions is something we pay great attention to.”
The new government headed by Ho Iat Seng will be sworn in on December 20, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland, the setting-up of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and the swearing-in of the first MSAR government headed by Edmund Ho Hau Wah whose administration opened up Macau’s gaming industry to six rival operators.
While construction of the Grand Lisboa Palace casino-resort in Cotai has been completed and is awaiting government inspections and approvals to be able to start commercial operation, Ho said that SJM planned to apply for gaming tables for the new venue next year.
“We have an estimate how many gaming tables we want to apply for but we want to wait until the new government takes office and first see what the policy before we file an application, and then we’ll announce it publicly,” Ho said.
