SJM to take over gaming ops at Casino Diamond: firm

Jul 19, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau casino developer and operator SJM Holdings Ltd is to take over the gaming operations at Casino Diamond, the firm told GGRAsia. The company will operate the facility as a self-promoted casino from August 1, 2021.

Casino Diamond – located at the Holiday Inn Macau building in the downtown area of Macau peninsula – currently operates as a so-called ‘satellite casino’ of Macau gaming licensee SJM Holdings. It means the property is promoted by a third party under a services agreement with SJM Holdings.

“The third-party promoter will discontinue their service for the satellite casino starting from August 1,” SJM Resorts Ltd told GGRAsia. “Casino Diamond will continue its operation as a self-promoted casino of SJM commencing August 1,” the company added.

SJM Resorts is the SJM Holdings subsidiary that holds the group’s Macau gaming licence. Until last month, the casino permit-holding entity was called Sociedade de Jogos de Macau SA.

Casino Diamond is currently run by a group headed by Christine Szeto Yuk-lin. In an internal memo sent to staff earlier this month – and quoted by several media outlets – the group announced it was ceasing operations at Casino Diamond due to a sharp decline in business linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As of the first quarter of 2021, SJM Holdings had a total of 14 satellite casinos, according to company information on selected key performance indicators for the period. Satellite casinos accounted for 63.8 percent – equivalent to HKD1.69 billion (US$217.8 million) – of the aggregate gross gaming revenue reported by SJM Holdings for the first three months of the year.

SJM Holdings had a total of five self-promoted casinos as of the first quarter of 2021: Casino Grand Lisboa, Casino Lisboa, Casino Oceanus at Jai Alai (including the gaming area in the neighbouring Jai Alai building), Casino Eastern and Casino Taipa. The latter is located at Regency Art Hotel, a property currently being used for quarantine purposes of inbound travellers to Macau amid the city’s response to the Covid-19 emergency, which has impacted gaming operations at the casino.

SJM Holdings is also to manage a new casino at its “soon-to-be launched” Cotai casino resort Grand Lisboa Palace.

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