GGRAsia – Imperial Pacific VIP roll dips 70pct sequentially in Feb

Imperial Pacific VIP roll dips 70pct sequentially in Feb

Mar 03, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World

February’s VIP gambling rolling chip volume at Pacific island casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd fell 70.2 percent month-on-month and 14.5 percent judged year-on-year.

The firm said in a Thursday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that February’s unaudited VIP chip turnover at its temporary casino (pictured) on Saipan amounted to nearly US$1.67 billion.

In January – which saw the start of the Chinese New Year holiday, a popular time for Chinese and other Asian people to gamble in casinos – Imperial Pacific recorded an all-time record VIP gambling volume of nearly US$5.59 billion.

In February 2016 – which encompassed a Chinese New Year holiday – the temporary casino’s VIP play volume amounted to a more modest US$1.95 billion.

Imperial Pacific had said in January that it planned to launch the replacement to the temporary casino – to be called Imperial Pacific Resort – “in the first quarter of 2017”. A company executive had recently been quoted saying that the property could have a “soft opening” on March 31.

The Marianas Variety newspaper subsequently reported that the firm was seeking to amend its casino licence agreement with its host government – the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. jurisdiction – including an extension to the deadline for starting operations at Imperial Pacific’s permanent casino on Saipan.