The Grand Emperor Hotel Macau Suspends Satellite Casino Operations

The Grand Empire Hotel, a so-called “satellite” casino hotel in downtown Macau, will suspend game operations on the 26th. It “holds” the hotel business, Hong Kong-listed Empire Entertainment Hotels Ltd said in a file on Friday night. The casino will operate under a service contract with Macau casino operator SJM Holdings, with the current deal set to expire on that date. The Grand Empower Hotel opened in 2006 as a casino hotel, and was started by Albert Young Southing, founder of Empower International Holdings Ltd and long – time business partner of former Macau gaming monopolist Stanley Ho Hung Sun.

The decision to suspend casino operations at the Grand Emperor Hotel was also due to “dark prospects in the high-end gaming sector” and “difficult business operating conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years,” which resulted in segment losses for the group for both the year ended March 31, 2021 and the six months ended September 30, 2021.” The company, which operates non-game-in-hotel Macau in the Macau Taipa region, posted a loss of HK$84 million ($10.7 million) in the six months to Sept. 30, according to interim results submitted on Dec. 10. Nevertheless, those interim losses narrowed from HK$141.8 million in the mid-2020 period. 파친코

The Grand Emperor Hotel has a casino facility with 311 rooms and 67 mass market gaming tables, 180 slot machines and 10 tables as of September 30, 2021. Start your gaming business in 1 hour During that period, revenue from Mass Table actually increased 191.9% year-on-year to HK$108.6 million, accounting for 72.5% of total gaming revenue. Revenue for VIP rooms rose 426.7% to HK$31.6 million. Slot sales rose 20.3% year-on-year to HK$9.5 million.

The group, which also has a non-game business in Hong Kong, had a total of 869 employees as of Sept. 30. The company said it had decided to suspend Macao games operations for the best benefit of the company and shareholders, but was nonetheless maintaining a “strong and stable” financial position with a bank balance and HK$940 million in cash as of Sept. 30. “Considering Hong Kong’s and Macau’s strategic locations in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao metropolitan area, the board is positive for the hospitality sector’s outlook in the long run after easing pandemic measures,” the company said.

Late last month, Chinese-language media Macau Daily News reported that seven Macau satellite casinos (almost 40% of properties currently operating in the domestic market) are likely to withdraw from the sector by the middle of this year, citing unidentified sources. Macau satellites are places controlled by independent investors, but they must use game licenses from existing casino operators.

As mentioned in Macau’s game law amendment, the new regulatory requirement for satellite casino operators in Macau says satellites will still be allowed to operate in the domestic market. But they will each be given a three-year grace period to link ownership of game facilities to six concessionary rich people who can serve the Macau market within the next 10 years. The bill is currently under consideration, and the final draft is likely to be voted on in the Legislative Council in June.

The VIP gambling deal in Macau has seen its business decline in recent years. The trend accelerated in November when Alvin Chowchukwa was detained for encouraging cross-border gambling to mainland Chinese customers and his Chowchuk and brand Suncity Group’s businesses were shut down, accelerating in the junket management sector, not home care. In January this year’s VIP deal, Lebo Chan Wonglin, the boss of Junket brand Takchun, was arrested on a three-shot charge.