• Subscribe
  • Magazines
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Monday 7 July 2025
  • zh-hant 中文
  • ja 日本語
  • en English
IAG
Advertisement
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
No Result
View All Result

Sands’ Adelson, Rival Ho to Cooperate on Macau Slump

Newsdesk by Newsdesk
Wed 15 Apr 2009 at 16:00
1
SHARES
34
VIEWS
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

April 16 (Bloomberg) — Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson and gambling tycoon Stanley Ho agreed to put aside their rivalry as part of a drive by Macau casino operators to battle dwindling revenue.

Adelson, 75 and Ho, 87, chairman of SJM Holdings Ltd., Macau’s largest casino operator, held talks with other casino operators in the city today. The two men also met for two hours for a “warm and friendly” lunch on April 14, said Ron Reese, a spokesman for Sands.

The billionaires agreed to cooperate as Macau’s casino boom loses steam, undermining earnings and driving down share prices. Ho, who lost his 40-year-old monopoly in Macau in 2002, and Adelson have criticized each other publicly as they competed for customers in the only Chinese city where casinos are legal.

“Everyone agreed not to compete, to have enough rice to eat and to get more taxes for the government,” Ho said after today’s conference. Another meeting will be held on May 18, said Ho, who declined to be more specific about the talks.

Las Vegas Sands, SJM and other casino operators may be considering agreements including “a complete freeze on salaries, to stop poaching from each other and uniform rates for junket operators” who bring high rollers to Macau, said John Koh, investment director of MEAG Hong Kong Ltd., which manages $1.1 billion. He spoke in a phone interview before the meeting.

Shares Drop

SJM fell 1 percent to HK$1.93 in Hong Kong trading today, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index retreated 0.6 percent. Today’s decline trimmed SJM’s gains this year to 14 percent, compared with an 8 percent rise for the benchmark.

Adelson, Sands‘ founder, is in Macau most of this week “for a variety of business discussions,” including today’s conference, Reese said by phone. The April 14 meeting with Stanley Ho took place at the Venetian Macao, he added, declining to provide details of the discussions.

The Sands Macao was the first foreign-owned casino to open in the city. Las Vegas-based Sands also built the Venetian Macao, Asia’s biggest gambling resort with replicas of St. Mark’s Square and the Rialto bridge.

Macau’s government has also granted permission to operate casinos to Wynn Resorts Ltd., Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., MGM Mirage and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd.

Ho’s Children

Ho’s children Lawrence Ho, co-chairman of Melco Crown, and Pansy Ho, who has a joint venture with MGM Mirage, both attended today’s meeting, while Wynn was represented by a local official.

The casino operators formed the group to address issues including Chinese visa restrictions and their impact on tourism, Macau’s infrastructure and limits on commissions paid to junket operators who bring high-rolling players.

Adelson said last month he’s in talks with four groups of potential investors in the Sands‘ Macau developments, including two construction companies that have expressed interest in investing to finish building phases five and six of the company’s stalled $12 billion project. The development, which includes Shangri-La and St. Regis hotels, apartments, a casino and mall, was mothballed in November amid frozen credit markets.

The Macau project was suspended as Sands lost 94 percent of its market value last year. Casino revenue in Macau, where the company made 70 percent of its $4.4 billion in sales last year, has been hurt by the global recession and visa controls imposed by the Chinese government seeking to limit gambling by citizens. Citizens of mainland China need visas to visit Macau and neighboring Hong Kong, which are special administrative regions.

Sands‘ shares were unchanged yesterday at $5.15 and have dropped 13 percent this year.

Casino Revenue

While Macau’s casino gambling revenue grew 31 percent last year to 109 billion patacas ($14 billion), it fell quarter-on- quarter in the three months ended June, the first decline since at least 2005. Casino-gambling revenue continued to fall on the same basis in the third and fourth quarters last year.

Sands is talking with a group and an investor who have separately expressed interest in buying into its operating Macau casino resorts, Adelson said in March. The casino operator is also trying to sell two shopping malls within its Macau project.

William Weidner, Sands’ chief operating officer for 13 years, left the company last month after conflicts with Adelson. Weidner was also Sands’ president.

Las Vegas Sands raised $2.14 billion last year, partly from Adelson and his family, to raise cash and avoid bankruptcy.

The casino operator has at least $12.3 billion of bonds and loans maturing in the next six years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It had a loss of $164 million last year and had $3 billion in cash and near-cash assets.

In addition to halting its Macau development, the company has also suspended construction of projects in Las Vegas and Pennsylvania to conserve cash so it could finish a casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a Singapore resort, the first of two being built in the Asian city-state.

RelatedPosts

Macau planning to ban all forms of advertising for gambling activities

Macau planning to ban all forms of advertising for gambling activities

Fri 4 Jul 2025 at 15:04
Hong Kong to launch “Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles” scheme, no immediate plans for Macau

Hong Kong to launch “Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles” scheme, no immediate plans for Macau

Wed 2 Jul 2025 at 18:10
Team Spirit

IAG announces Light & Wonder, Angel and Aristocrat Gaming as sponsors of Macau After Dark at Vasco – Bar & Lounge on Monday 7 July

Wed 2 Jul 2025 at 15:33
Macau Legend says no concerns over ability to continue after reaching agreement with lenders to defer HK$2.1 billion in looming repayments

Macau Legend says no concerns over ability to continue after reaching agreement with lenders to defer HK$2.1 billion in looming repayments

Wed 2 Jul 2025 at 06:19
Load More

To contact the reporter on this story: Chia-Peck Wong in Hong Kong atcpwong@bloomberg.net; Beth Jinks in New York at bjinks1@bloomberg.net

Tags: MacauSands ChinaSJM
ShareShare
Newsdesk

Newsdesk

The IAG Newsdesk team comprises some of the most experienced journalists in the Asian gaming industry. Offering a broad range of expertise, their decades of combined know-how spans multiple countries across a variety of topics.

Current Issue

Editorial – An inconvenient truth

Editorial – An inconvenient truth

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 15:21

It’s understandable that political observers, academics and members of the public in greenfield jurisdictions would express caution around the legalization...

Light & Wonder’s Siobhan Lane

Light & Wonder’s Siobhan Lane

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 15:19

Siobhan Lane, Light & Wonder’s highly experienced CEO of Gaming, speaks to Inside Asian Gaming about the company’s ongoing transformation...

Honesty is the best policy

Honesty is the best policy

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 14:13

The Thailand Entertainment Complex Roundtable brought industry stakeholders, politicians and supporters of the government’s Entertainment Complex Bill face to face...

Sri Lanka’s casino industry

Sri Lanka’s casino industry

by Shaun McCamley
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 13:36

Industry veteran Shaun McCamley delves into the complex history of Sri Lanka’s casino industry at a time when the country...

Evolution Asia
Your browser does not support HTML5 video.
Aristocrat
GLI
Nustar
SABA
Mindslot
Solaire
Hann
Tecnet
NWR
Jumbo
568Win

Related Posts

DigiPlus launches US$106 million share buyback scheme

DigiPlus launches US$106 million share buyback scheme

by Newsdesk
Mon 7 Jul 2025 at 10:17

Philippine gaming technology firm DigiPlus Interactive Corp has announced the launch of a Php6 billion (US$106 million) share buyback scheme that it says highlights the company’s confidence in its long-term growth prospects. Notably, the announcement comes just days after company...

Star to open AU$3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development on 29 August

Star’s Hong Kong partners offer one month reprieve to complete Queen’s Wharf Brisbane deal

by Ben Blaschke
Mon 7 Jul 2025 at 08:55

A deal to offload its 50% stake in the AU$3.6 billion (US$2.4 billion) The Star Brisbane integrated resort at Queen’s Wharf is still on the table for Star Entertainment Group after revealing Monday that its Hong Kong partners have granted...

Inside Thai IRs

Thai government may formally withdraw casino bill from House agenda citing need for new cabinet to review

by Newsdesk
Mon 7 Jul 2025 at 05:20

The Thai government will consider formally withdrawing its controversial Entertainment Complex Bill from the House agenda this week in order to allow a thorough review by the newly appointed cabinet, said Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat. The bill could be...

JP Morgan analysis says Bangkok IRs could generate combined US$5 billion annually

Thai authorities arrest 70 in bust of illegal Bangkok gambling den

by Newsdesk
Sun 6 Jul 2025 at 14:41

With the prospect of legal casinos in Thailand looking more remote by the day, authorities have arrested more than 70 people after busting an illegal gambling den in the Phahon Yothin area of Bangkok. According to The Bangkok Post, the...



IAG

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • NEWSFEED
  • MAG ARTICLES
  • VIDEO
  • OPINION
  • TAGS
  • REGIONAL
  • EVENTS
  • CONSULTING
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • MAGAZINES
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Magazines
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About
  • Home for G2E Asia

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • English