Junket investor Iao Kun chip roll falls 61 pct in 2015

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

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VIP gambling room investor Iao Kun Group Holding Co Ltd announced that its unaudited rolling chip turnover in Macau for 2015 decreased by 61 percent year-on-year to US$6.42 billion.

The figure represented a monthly average of US$0.54 billion, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Monthly citywide casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Macau has been decreasing since June 2014 as measured in year-on-year terms. GGR for full-year 2015 stood at MOP230.84 billion (US$28.9 billion), down by 34.3 percent compared to 2014, according to the Macau casino regulator. The official breakdown for VIP versus mass-market gaming revenue in 2015 will be released later this month.

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.

Iao Kun said in the Tuesday release that its unaudited rolling chip turnover in Macau for December fell 40 percent compared to the year-earlier period to US$0.42 billion.

Several investment analysts covering the gaming sector expect junket operators to continue facing a tough business environment in 2016. Analysts have in particular warned of a potential tightening in junket regulations reducing access to capital, following recent alleged fraud cases involving VIP rooms.

“If Macau tightens junket regulations, we feel that more small junkets will go out of business after Chinese New Year [February 8], and even [the] bigger junkets may face redemption pressures,” Deutsche Bank AG analyst Karen Tang wrote in a note issued on Tuesday.

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