Times may be tough for Macau’s casinos right now – if you can call an annual combined profit of US$44 billion last year tough – but their loss is the world’s gain with properties in Australia and Cambodia reporting impressive growth in 2014 and rumors out of Las Vegas suggesting a similar boost.
Crown Melbourne
While James Packer’s Crown Resorts saw its net profits slump by around 47 percent – largely attributable to subsidiary Melco-Crown’s two Macau properties – normalized earnings at Crown Melbourne were up by 27.1 percent and at Crown Perth by 7.7 percent in a sure sign Chinese VIPs are starting to move away from Macau.
Sydney’s The Star also saw revenues soar with their net profit more than doubling year-on-year in the six months to 31 December.
Cambodia’s NagaWorld
In Cambodia, NagaWorld reported its gross gaming revenue grew by almost 25 percent in 2014 with VIP revenue rising by an incredible 41 percent. And Vietnam’s The Grand Ho Tram Strip has seen its gaming operations enjoy a number of record months in a row.
Time will tell whether the eight new casinos scheduled to open in Cotai by 2017, starting with Galaxy Phase 2 and Broadway in late May, can spark Macau back into action but in the meantime it’s fair to say her Asia-Pacific neighbors are enjoying this unexpected bonus.
