Oct 24, 2018 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  
Japanese gaming company Universal Entertainment Corp says it is changing the arrangements that govern its relations with investors.
Universal Entertainment told the Jasdaq Securities Exchange on Tuesday that it was making the changes because it had seen a big increase in inquiries from investors at home and abroad, including in relation to possible expansion into the nascent Japanese casino industry.
The company stated the increase in inquiries followed several industry developments. They were: the enactment of legislation to make casino gaming legal in Japan; a series of company announcements about the opening of a Japanese branch of Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc – also known as TRLEI – the entity that runs the Okada Manila casino resort in the Philippines; and Universal’s acquisition of AsiabestGroup International Inc, which will become an indirect subsidiary for the purpose of floating shares in the Philippines.
“Under such circumstances, the company has reinforced its investor relations structure in order to provide necessary information on the company’s financial condition and its business outcomes in a more appropriate manner so as to help investors make judgments on their investments,” Universal Entertainment told the exchange. “Additionally, the company intends to further enhance the information that it will disclose to investors going forward.”
Universal Entertainment said it had put in place a new investor relations structure which will serve the entire group, including Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment.
The company stated it would try to give investors more information, starting with the information contained in its report for the third quarter of this financial year, which will include figures for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation; for casino gross gaming revenue; and for key indicators of the quarterly performance of each of its main businesses, such as casinos or hotels.
The company stated it would also arrange a business report session or conference call for institutional investors after making its third-quarter report.
Universal Entertainment founder Kazuo Okada is trying to regain control of the company, and he and the company are in dispute about several aspects of how it is run.
In another statement to the Jasdaq, made on Monday, Universal Entertainment said it had asked Tokyo’s bar association to discipline a lawyer who served as an auditor of the company for 12 months between 2014 and 2015, accusing him of various wrongdoing, including overcharging and working for the company under an invalid contract.
The claims have been made against Yuki Arai, a noted short-seller of Japanese stocks and a lawyer who represented Universal Entertainment while it was embroiled in an alleged bribery scandal in 2014.
It was alleged at the time that the then management of Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment had bribed officials in the Philippines to ensure it won a licence to establish what has since become the Okada Manila resort.
In December 2014 it was reported that the country’s then prosecutor general had dropped Kazuo Okada’s name from the bribery case due to lack of “sufficient evidence”.
May 23, 2023
May 09, 2023
Jun 08, 2023
Jun 07, 2023
Jun 08, 2023
Casino equipment and game technology provider Light & Wonder Inc says it has an agreement with Shift4 Payments Inc to integrate the latter’s firm payment processing technology into Light &...Jun 07, 2023
Casino gaming content and hardware provider Light &...Jun 06, 2023
Electronic table games (ETGs) supplier Interblock dd is...Jun 05, 2023
Random number generator (RNG) testing tools are among the...Jun 01, 2023
Alfastreet, a manufacturer of electronic gaming machines,...Jun 01, 2023
Casino equipment maker Sega Sammy Creation Inc is tweaking...Jun 01, 2023
The iGaming segment in Asia “has grown rapidly” since...May 31, 2023
Showing slot machine players – via animations on the...May 31, 2023
Macau stocks in likelihood “have been punished too much...May 31, 2023
There are foreign companies still interested in investing...May 31, 2023
Thailand could pass the necessary enabling legislation for...May 30, 2023
China will remain a key market for Asian gaming...May 30, 2023
Alejandro Tengco (pictured in a file photo), chairman and...May 30, 2023
There are “plenty of reasons” for the global gaming...May 30, 2023
Gaming equipment provider International Game Technology Plc...May 30, 2023
The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023 Special Edition:...May 29, 2023
Austria-based gaming equipment maker and operator Novomatic...May 25, 2023
Sports betting and online casino operating platform...May 24, 2023
The business performance in Asia of gaming content and...May 18, 2023
The organisers of Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023...May 17, 2023
Gaming content and equipment supplier Light & Wonder...May 16, 2023
Casino equipment maker Sega Sammy Creation Inc is to...May 09, 2023
Casino slot machine and digital gaming content provider...May 05, 2023
The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia event in Singapore is the...May 04, 2023
An adviser to a Thailand parliamentary committee mulling...(Click here for more)
”We’ve said we want to grow EBITDA ... to US$1.4 billion in 2025. And we have a really high level of conviction about getting there”
Matt Wilson
Chief executive of casino equipment provider Light & Wonder