Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming september 2016 20 There are few leaders of Macau gaming who know the market better than Ambrose So. There are fewer still who have wielded the influence he has in the market for as long as he has. His involvement with Stanley Ho’s casino empire spans four decades. He joined SJM Holdings’ monopoly predecessor, STDM, in 1976 and was a long-time director of the Hong Kong-based conglomerate. He’s been in senior management at SJM since its founding in 2002 and was named an executive director in 2006. He also chairs the company’s casino operating subsidiary, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau. Corporate-wide, the responsibility for overall management and strategic execution is his. And it’s been tested mightily the last couple of years. Ambrose So EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CEO SJM Holdings CHAIRMAN Sociedade de Jogos de Macau Power 2,332 last 6 Score year Claims to fame Apprenticed under Stanley Ho 14 years at the helm of SJM Connected and widely respected in Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland 8 None of the six gaming concessions has felt the ravages of the VIP decline more acutely than the house that Ho built. This is in part because SJM inherited from STDM a business model one might characterize as traditionally Chinese – the largesse gets spread among a host of loyal subcontractors, which these days finds SJM dependent for more than half its gaming revenue on casinos (14 currently) that are managed independently. The three casinos the company operates, which include Grand Lisboa – the corporate flagship and the largest and most lavish of the group – are confined to the Macau peninsula and burdened with space limitations that prevent them from competing to full effect against the new megaresorts opening in Cotai. Compared with a year ago, gaming revenue was down 20.7% company-wide in the six months through 30 June. At this pace the company will end 2016 with gaming down a dizzying 52% from its peak in 2013. Of course, everybody else is way down, too, and SJM has held its own, consistently finishing in the top three in total gaming revenue and second in VIP. This will be difficult to maintain as more competition comes on line on Cotai. But you can bet that between now and 2018, when SJM unveils its own Cotai extravaganza with Grand Lisboa Palace, Mr So and his team will continue to do what they’ve done so well: evaluating and re-evaluating the game mix (mass-market table revenue actually surpassed VIP in the first half), expanding player loyalty programs, reinvesting in the physical plant and exploiting efficiencies in costs. And as a protégé of the revered Dr Ho, Mr So can be counted on to ensure SJM remains a good corporate neighbor in the best traditions of the culture. In this respect, his personal and professional roots run deep. He is a founding honorary director of The University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development and Research. He founded the Association of Chinese Culture and Art of Macau. He is also a member of the Macau government’s Cultural Consultative Council. He sits on the boards of more than a dozen companies in Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China. He is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a member of the Economic Development Council of the government of Macau and he chairs the city’s ports administration. Asian Gaming POWER 50 2 0 1 6