Macau’s Studio City Will Default on Debt, Warns Analyst

Camilla Saresjö — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 10:21:40 +0000

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Studio City Macau: Despite its many non-gaming tourist attractions it’s failing woefully 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 may default on the $1.41 billion loan utilized to complete the construction associated with hotel.

That’s the word from score 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 television and movie-themed resort opened in October 2015, with Packer’s girlfriend Mariah Carey headlining the night that is opening as the likes of Robert De Nero and Leonardo DiCaprio mingled on the list of crowd. It even had its very own opening evening 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 cost, it could equally be called the most advertisement that is expensive made.

New Concept Does Not Drive Crowds

But for all the glitz, Studio City was conceived in a markedly different climate that is economic before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive halted the location’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 destination to be able to woo China’s burgeoning class that is middle.

It has sets from television and film production facilities to a Batman themed flight-simulator that is 4-D coaster ride and a figure-eight Ferris wheel, but thanks to 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 percent stake in the property, while US hedge funds Silver Point Capital and Oaktree Capital own a 40 percent stake. Bloomberg reported this that Melco Crown has sought to distance itself from any kind of rescue package for the casino week.

‘Studio City Casino Macau is at a completely separate credit group and its debt is non-recourse to Melco Crown Entertainment Limited. […] Investors should not assume that Melco Crown Entertainment Limited will provide any economic support to 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 wind up the hedge funds because it really wants to buy them out for a good price, and that the negative rating 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 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 federal government’s gambling operator-regulator, PAGCOR, announced that it was prepared to license online gambling firms that targeted ‘non-locals’ and that it was in the process of ‘readying application forms.’

‘We don’t know yet how saleable it is; there can be no takers,’ PAGCOR Andrea that is chief Domingo to Reuters.’Or there could possibly be numerous applicants,’ she included brightly.

PAGCOR hopes that the new licenses might offset a number of the income lost by Duterte’s systematic dismantling for the nation’s online gambling giant, Philweb. Until recently, Philweb operated 299 online gambling boutique cafés through the Philippines, which offered video that is online and slots via approximately 8,000 terminals.

Final 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 agenda that promised to eliminate crime and drugs. Literally. The president has leant his support to vigilante death squads that carry out the extra-judicial killings of criminals and drug that is habitual with impunity.

As soon as sworn in, he instantly set his sights on the Philippine online gambling industry, as well as in particular Philweb and its chairman, the billionaire Robert Ongpin.

Ongpin ended up being agent of the ‘oligarchs,’ which he believed were ‘embedded in government’ and practiced ‘influence peddling.’ Meanwhile, stated Duterte, online gambling ‘had to prevent’ because too many Filipinos had been deciding to gamble alternatively of working for a living. It appeared that PAGCOR was taken completely by surprise by the announcement.

Restoration

the month Philweb was forced to announce it could wind its operations down, due to the non-renewal of its license by PAGCOR. Ongpin stepped straight down as president associated with company and, as a bid that is last-ditch approval, agreed to transfer almost all of his majority stake into the company to PAGCOR, in an attempt to save the business and its 6,000 workers. PAGCOR ended up being forced to refuse.

But on Wednesday, Duterte was clearly in a more tolerant mood.

‘Pay the correct taxes… Gamble and soon you die. I don’t really care,’ he announced magnanimously.

Duterte is now prepared to restore online gambling provided ‘taxes are correctly collected plus they [online gambling cafes] are situated or placed in districts where gambling is allowed, which means to say, not inside the church distance or schools.’

‘ I was mad because perhaps the youth are gambling and there was clearly no chance of collecting the proper fees,’ he admitted.

Whether this implies he is 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: Hits New Contract 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 their management. Now a casino that is new 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 effectively bargained for a contract that is new the 2 Majestic Star riverboats in Gary, a stark comparison 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 already reached an agreement that is new the gambling operator. On August 19, the 2 edges officially signed off for a contract that increases wages over the next 2 yrs, while maintaining the health that is current programs being afforded to union members.

The deal 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 includes raises and the same health insurance. 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.

Local 1’s moms and dad union, Unite Here, is the organization that is same unsuccessfully went on strike at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City earlier into the summer. Because of this, billionaire owner Carl Icahn announced that the casino are going to be permanently shutting on October 10.

The Trump Factor

Formerly known as the Trump Casino, Majestic Star II had been renamed after Trump Entertainment Resorts sold the home to Majestic in 2005 for $253 million.

The purchase was part of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR) filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004. The company 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. On the 11 years since Majestic acquired the drifting casino, it is never won as much money as it did whenever Trump was the financial admiral associated with ship.

In 2004, total wins eclipsed $140 million. In 2015, the Majestic Star II taken in just half of that figure.

The stars that are majestic two of 10 riverboat casinos in Indiana. The Hoosier State is also home to your French Lick Resort Casino, the sole land-based gambling place there, plus two racinos that provide slots and electronic table gaming.

Marked Market Variations Between Two States

Back east in Atlantic City, Unite Here Local 54 had been also fighting for higher wages and health insurance at the Trump Taj Mahal. But the bankruptcy process already underway whenever 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 had been reportedly losing $100 million regarding the venture, said he needed more time before restoring benefits. Employees stepped off the working job in disgust, and Icahn called their bluff in a move that ultimately caused both edges to lose.

The market is quite different in northwest Indiana than in Atlantic City. When the Taj Mahal closes its doors in October, it will become the casino that is fifth shutter down since 2014 in nj-new jersey.

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 a lengthy and tedious process.

‘We’re pleased to move ahead, and happy in an equitable manner,’ Majestic Star General Manager Barry Cregan said of the new contract that we did it.

So why would the smaller Indiana video gaming union find more success with its manager than in the much larger Atlantic City market? Because the Taj had been losing millions each month, while the union’s needs would only drive those losses further into the muck. In Indiana, while maybe not thriving like they could have been more than a ten years ago, casinos are apparently still making enough of a profit to help make union benefits a worthwhile investment.

Paddy Power Betfair Reports £47.5 Million Loss Considering Costs of Merger

Breon Corcoran, Paddy Power 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 half that is first of when compared to profits of £106.5 million ($140.5) for the corresponding duration of 2015.

CEO Breon Corcoran this week attributed the losses to costs that are one-off to your 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 this past year but the offer was only finalized on February 2, 2016.

Thus, short-term losses incurred during through integration, which included some £29 million ($38.2) in advisory fees alone, are required to be handsomely offset by cost saving synergies of the newly combined company further down the road.

In reality, Paddy energy Betfair has upped its estimate of future expense 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 actually come from job losses, with 650 of the combined company’s 7,200-strong workforce having found themselves surplus to requirements after the merger.

Revenue Up 18 Per Cent

‘People have been really diligent, there’s been an awful lot of difficult work done, and promptly,’ said Corcoran of the integration work. ‘Paddy Power Betfair has suffered momentum that is good a period of considerable modification.’

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 the web revenue was up 20 percent at £440 million ($580 million), while Paddy Power’s land-based bookmaking shops recorded a 12 percent rise in revenues to £147 million ($193 million). The company’s US and operations that are australian reported growth.

More Consolidation Viable

‘The restructuring is now mainly complete and the merger synergies are being delivered in front of routine,’ said Corcoran. ‘Our company is creating a world class procedure by exploiting the assets that are unique capabilities of each legacy business, particularly in the key functions of technology, marketing and trading.

‘While myfreepokies.com our industry remains highly competitive and it is exposed to the prevailing economic and regulatory surroundings, our strong market jobs, increased scale and enhanced capabilities position us well for sustainable, profitable growth.’

Corcoran also refused to rule out of the possibility of more consolidation. If the right asset came up at the right price his company could be well positioned to get it, he said, nevertheless the moment he had been focusing regarding the integration process.

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