UPDATE: Macau November Gambling Revenue Up 42% On Year
December 01 2010 - 5:55AM
Dow Jones News
Macau's November gambling revenue surged 42% from a year
earlier, but fell short of the record monthly high set in October
when patronage climbed during the week-long Chinese National Day
holiday at the beginning of that month.
November revenue totaled MOP17.35 billion (US$2.2 billion), up
sharply from MOP12.22 billion a year earlier but 8.1% below
October's MOP18.87 billion, according to data from Macau's Gaming
Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
The figure was in line with Wells Fargo analyst Carlo
Santarelli's MOP17.2 billion forecast Monday based on the first 28
days of the month, but much higher than the house's original 29%
year-on-year growth estimate for November. November's slowdown
compared with the previous month was in line with the average
sequential dips in November 2008 and 2009, he said.
In addition to the Golden Week holidays, an extra weekend in
October also boosted gambling revenue. There were five weekends in
October.
Macau gambling revenue in the January-November period rose 57%
from a year earlier to MOP169.46 billion.
Separately, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday
that MGM China Holdings Ltd., MGM Resorts International's (MGM)
joint venture with a daughter of Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho,
is targeting an initial public offering ahead of a listing in Hong
Kong in the first quarter of 2011 at the earliest.
The person added that a final date for the offering hasn't been
determined yet.
During MGM Resorts' second-quarter earnings conference call on
Aug. 3, Chief Financial Officer Dan D'Arrigo said the company hoped
to list by the end of this year.
In September, MGM China said it had filed an application to list
its shares in Hong Kong.
People familiar with matter told Dow Jones Newswires earlier
that BNP Paribas (BNP.FR), Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, J.P.
Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS) are the
bankers on the deal, which seeks to raise about US$500 million.
The listing would follow last year's Hong Kong listings of Wynn
Resorts Ltd.'s (WYNN) Wynn Macau Ltd. (1128.HK) and Las Vegas Sands
Corp.'s (LVS) Sands China Ltd. (1928.HK).
The three other casino operators in Macau, the only city in
China where gambling is legal, are SJM Holdings Ltd. (0880.HK),
Galaxy Entertainment Ltd. (0027.HK) and Melco Crown Entertainment
Ltd. (MPEL).
-By Kate O'Keeffe, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002;
kathryn.okeeffe@dowjones.com