The investment industry is openly discussing the possibility of Galaxy Entertainment Group opening the second phase of Galaxy Macao in time for the 2015 Chinese Spring Festival (春節 and Chinese New Year). Officially, GEG said it is still looking forward to opening "mid-2015."
When CNY 2015 launches, GEG will be able to secure a table quota under the Macau government's table cap ahead of rival Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. The company said in its latest earnings call today that it expects the "mid-2015" opening of its majority shareholder Studio City Project.
If a CNY opening is possible in the second phase of Galaxy Macau, it raises the question of how many tables the property will have when it launches.
In December 2012, Galaxy said it hoped to have 500 tables in the second phase of Galaxy Macao. However, since then, issues with table caps and the city's labor shortage (only Macau permanent residents can be table dealers) have made the table quota issue more politically sensitive. In comments from other senior executives, GEG said it aspires to operate at least 1,000 tables in every new phase of Galaxy Macao between 2015 and 2018.
In June 2013, the casino operator said it had increased its capital budget for the second phase of Galaxy Macau by about 23% to HK$19.6 billion (US$2.5 billion), citing local inflation in materials and construction labor costs.
This, combined with presenting suboptimal table numbers at the start of the second phase of Galaxy Macau, could put some downward pressure on the project's capital gains. However, with gaming grosses up 19% year-over-year in 2013 and GEG holding a net cash final balance of almost HK$9.03 billion as of Dec. 31, 2013, the company is arguably open to moving, according to its annual earnings report.
GEG Vice Chairman Francis Louis Yutong told the Chinese-language Macau Daily News last month that it will reopen the GEG licensed Grand Waldo next to Galaxy Macao "early next year." The Galaxy confirmed in July last year that it plans to buy the casino property from Hong Kong-listed Get Nice Holdings to refurbish it.
However, GEG has so far not specified whether the revamped Grand Waldo has gaming capabilities. At the time of its closure in June, the venue had 45 live dealer tables. GGRAsia understands from sources that these tables were quickly relocated to the rest of GEG's operations. Even tables that can be recovered from current operations will not be enough to fill the second phase of Galaxy Macau.
However, if the new-look Grand Waldo is for non-gaming people, GEG will have the advantage of making a statement in support of the Macau government's push for diversification from gaming, both in tourism and in the general economy. Also, this could make it easier politically for the government to announce the second phase of Galaxy Macau, which has a new table quota.
Other indicators point to the possibility of the second phase of Galaxy Macau opening sooner than officially advertised.
BY: 안전한 카지노사이트