GGRAsia – Iao Kun’s first quarter VIP chip roll dips 45 pct

Iao Kun’s first quarter VIP chip roll dips 45 pct

Apr 06, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

VIP gambling room investor Iao Kun Group Holding Co Ltd announced that its unaudited rolling chip turnover in Macau for the three months to March 31 decreased 45 percent year-on-year to US$1.2 billion, compared to US$2.2 billion in the prior-year period.

The firm on Tuesday reported rolling chip turnover of US$390 million for the month of March, down 49 percent year-on-year, compared to US$760 million for the prior-year month.

The win rate for the month of March was 4.83 percent, the company said in a statement.

Iao Kun’s business partners promote five high-roller facilities in Macau casinos. The firm has also operations at Crown Perth Casino and at Crown Melbourne Casino, in Australia, two venues operated by Crown Resorts Ltd.

The Macau government on April 1 announced that market wide in Macau, accumulated casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first quarter of 2016 was nearly MOP56.18 billion (US$7.03 billion), a 13.3 percent decline year-on-year. March was the 22nd straight month of citywide GGR retreat measured year-on-year.

Iao Kun’s chairman Lam Man Pou said in a statement in March that the firm does not expect high-roller turnover in Macau to rebound during 2016.

Several analysts and industry insiders expect junkets to continue facing a tough business environment in 2016. Many VIP gaming operators in the city have been looking for “lower-end” high rollers that can commit to betting up to HKD2 million (US$258,000) per visit, Tony Tong, director and co-founder of Pacific Financial Services Ltd, said in an interview with GGRAsia last month.