Inside Asian Gaming

February 2015 inside asian gaming 43 China Lottery Sales Top US$61 Billion in 2014 China’s Welfare and Sports lotteries generated 382.4 billion yuan in combined sales in 2014 (US$62 billion), an aggregate increase year on year of more than 49.4%. According to reports by China Daily and state news agency Xinhua , the Sports Lottery benefited from the summer’s World Cup betting and expanded online options to grow its take by more than 32% to 176.41 billion yuan. The Welfare Lottery saw slower growth, up 16.7%, but still accounted for the majority of total revenues at 206 billion yuan. “Large international sport events, including the World Cup, became major factors in boosting sales of lotteries, especially via the Internet,” Radio Guangdong sports commentator Xie Liang told China Daily . Lotteries targeted at specific sports events or competitions surged 81.7% year on year to 61.5 billion yuan. Online sales also increased sharply, with a growing number of Internet service providers posting significant revenue increases. served by a fleet of red Rolls Royces. But the casino and its planned 66 high-roller tables have yet to receive a gaming authorization. Thecompanyhasbeenreportedtobenegotiatingwithconcessionaire Melco Crown Entertainment for some form of sub-license. Sri Lanka: Religion, Culture Trump Casinos It’s increasingly likely that US$1 billion or more in resort casino plans will go by the boards in Sri Lanka unless they somehow can pass muster as investments that conform with the island nation’s religious and cultural values. The victory of Mithripala Sirisena in this month’s presidential election is widely expected to spell doom for the controversial gaming investments supported by his predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa, whom voters rejected for an unprecedented third term. Australian casino giant Crown Resorts has spent the last two years lobbying for approval for a US$400 million casino and supporting hotel targeting the country’s burgeoning market of visitors from India. Crown Colombo, as it’s called, would be built in the heart of the capital’s Beira Lake tourist district. An even larger resort proposed nearby by local resort conglomerate John Keells, the country’s largest listed company, is also in jeopardy. A similarly uncertain fate awaits a $350 million resort proposed by Dhammika Perera, Sri Lanka’s richest man and owner of three of the country’s four officially recognized foreigners-only casinos. Mr Sirisena, who quit as health minister to run for president in the 8th January election, won with a platform designed in large part to appeal to the island’s influential Buddhist community, whose religious leaders were always skeptical of Mr Rajapaksa’s vision of casinos as economic development tools capable of boosting tourism and attracting foreign investment in new hotel construction. In his election manifesto backed by the opposition United National Party, Mr Sirisena vowed to rescind the 10-year moratorium on corporate income tax that Mr Rajapaksa wrangled for the Crown and Keells projects. More recently, the new Investments minister, Kabir Hashim, has said all three projects will be reviewed in light of the country’s cultural and religious values. “People came here to look at our rich culture,” he said, not as an entertainment destination. “We don’t believe that Sri Lanka should be marketed in that way,” he added. “These investments would be looked at very carefully. If there are investments that are not in line with Sri Lanka’s religious beliefs and culture—even if it means they are huge in terms of money—we will not be able to consider them.” REGIONAL BRIEFS Rendering of the upcoming Louis XIII ultra-luxury casino hotel Louis XIII Expands Share Capital, Raises HK$2.1 Billion Louis XIII Holdings has raised HK$2.1 billion (US$269 million) from a private share placement and an issuance of convertible bonds at HK$3 apiece to help finance the luxury casino hotel the company plans to open at Macau’s Cotai resort district in 2016. The funds are in addition to a placement of 294 million shares and convertible notes totaling $1.6 billion completed in December, bringing to 471.3 million the number of new shares issued over the last month and representing 51.2% of the enlarged share capital of the Hong Kong-listed operator (0577). In a statement released on 20th December, Louis XIII Chairman and CEO Stephen Hung said, “The proceeds from this placing will enable us to upgrade the design and ensure smooth delivery of our ultra-luxury hotel project.” Located at the far south end of the Cotai Strip, Louis XIII is designed to resemble an enclosed “diamond” and is slated to include 238 VIP-only suites, an invitation-only atelier and the only Michelin three-star L’Ambroisie outside Paris. Players are to be Sri Lanka’s newly elected president, Mithripala Sirisena