Inside Asian Gaming

May 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 47 Briefs 2007 recently had talks with MGM MIRAGE, but pulled out just before Easter. Bally earnings meet market expectations Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies said the weakened economy affected the company’s third-quarter results as the slot machine maker matched analysts’ estimates. Bally posted a net profit of US$29.3 million in the quarter ended March 31, down slightly from US$30.2 in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenues fell 10.7% to US$207.6 million from US$232.6 million. Inaddition to slotmachines, Bally sells technology and systems for casino management and slot machine management.“Our diversified business model drove another very profitable quarter despite the challenging economy,” Bally Chief Executive Officer Richard Haddrill said in a statement. Bally said it plans to introduce several new slot machine titles and products in an effort to increase sales. “The company continues to make great strides on the video side of the business on both the domestic and international fronts,” Morgan Joseph gaming analyst Justin Sebastiano said in a pre-earnings note to investors. Wynn Resorts posts first quarter loss Wynn Resorts Ltd reported a loss of US$33.8millionon revenue of US$740 million for the quarter ending March 31. That compared with earnings of US$46.7 million on revenue of US$778.7 million in the same quarter a year ago. The company attributedmost of the falloff to an 8.7% decline in revenue at Wynn Macau. The company still plans to open the 400-suite Encore at Wynn Macau in May 2010. In Las Vegas, net casino revenue in the first quarter was US$117.5 million, compared with US$125.1 million for the first quarter of 2008. Occupancy at the Wynn properties in Las Vegas was 89.5% for the quarter, compared with 95.8% in 2008, and revenue per available room fell from US$285 to US$199 in the same period. Food and beverage revenue increased 25.6% to US$96.9 million, primarily due to the opening of Encore, but retail sales were off 13.5% to US$19.6 million because of reduced consumer spending. Despite the weaker results, Wynn Chairman and CEO SteveWynn said he was “cautiously optimistic that we have seen the bottom” of the tanking economy. Wynn based his optimism on booking windows that have expanded since the middle of last year. He explained that the typical booking window is 70-90 days, but last year that dropped to around 30. But in April, he said it went back to 60-90. Wynn also said the company is starting to see some of the benefits of its cost-cutting measures on the bottom line, noting that the company took a “share-the-pain approach” by trimming salaries and bonuses instead of laying employees off. LVS focuses on cost cutting Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) officials said the company will plow ahead with the business plan it implemented in November despite suffering a first-quarter net loss of US$34.6 million, reports the Las Vegas Gaming Wire . A year ago, the company had a net loss of US$11.2 million. Companywide, LVS reported revenues of US$1.08 billion, the same as a year ago. Still, Las Vegas Sands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson saw positives in the quarter. He said cost-cutting would save the company US$470 million annually. “The steady execution of the business plan we presented in November 2008, including the implementation of our cost-savings program, continues to be our primary focus as we navigate through the current challenging economic conditions,” Adelson said in a statement. “We have made notable progress during the quarter on each of the three basic objectives of the plan.” During an hourlong conference call with analysts and investors to discuss earnings, Adelson referred several times to how the company’s management team was “disciplined” and “working together without disagreements.” This was the company’s first earnings report since the management upheaval earlier this year which saw the departures of President Bill Weidner, Executive Vice President Brad Stone and other officials. Much had been made in the last year how Adelson and his management team had been fighting over the company’s direction. Revenues were down almost 10% in the quarter at the company’s Strip casinos (Venetian and Palazzo), declined 6% at the Venetian Macao and were off 16% at Sands Macao. However, the Four Seasons Macau, which opened last August, brought in net revenues of US$47 million. LVS President Michael Leven said the opening of the US$743 million Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania is on schedule for May 22 and the US$5 billion Marina Bay Sands in Singapore is on track for an opening later this year. Adelson said the company is trying to sell its 1 million-square- foot retail mall in Macau while he hopes construction on two hotel- casino sites on the Cotai Strip of Macau, which were halted last year, could be restarted by the end of the year. Steve Wynn The Palazzo