How Many Casino In Singapore – As the odds rise here at the casinos, their future looks like a big gamble.
SINGAPORE – Last month, George, a rap manager at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), was asked by his boss to stay after work.
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He had a bad feeling. Many colleagues who “left behind” in the last few days did not return to the office. He was right to be worried.
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“I was fired on the spot. I asked why. They could not explain. My performance last year was average and they were expecting better performance,” said a senior Singaporean who asked not to be identified.
“How could you do this to us?” We were the founding members of the group. At that time, our chairman told us that the group would not let the people down.
RWS, which employs 12,000 people, cut 400 casino jobs last month, citing problems facing the business. Rival Marina Bay Sands (MBS), which currently employs about 9,500 workers, has said layoffs are likely. But according to RWS, casino profits are falling.
Singapore’s glitzy casinos, described as the economic lifeblood a decade ago, are losing their charm. Their fortunes are fading — overall gaming revenue fell 16 percent last year — as China’s high rollers stop coming home due to a sluggish economy and corruption.
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And restrictions like Singapore’s gambler’s tax mean casinos can’t turn to locals to make up the shortfall, a key revenue stream for casinos elsewhere.
As the odds rise here at the casinos, their future looks like a big gamble. Will they find a new revenue model to sustain operations or will they slowly lose their winning streak, pressured by regulations and regional rivals?
Their fortunes are also linked to political mines. With the current bad news of layoffs and profit erosion, Singapore has reignited questions about whether it is right to end its long-standing ban on casinos and embrace gaming as an economic driver.
“The pressure on the government can be enormous, especially when it comes to proving that the decision to legalize casino games was justified,” said Eugene Tan, dean of law at Singapore Management University (SMU), who closely follows the gaming industry.
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It’s a tough call. Government agencies involved in business and tourism are confident that the two Integrated Resorts (IRs) – hotels, dining, entertainment, convention centers and casinos – will invest to help the local economy, but limit tourism opportunities. .
A spokesman for the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said today that IRs have created significant business and employment opportunities for local SMEs and Singaporeans. They also include world-class leisure, entertainment and dining options, MTI added.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) says the IRS is just one part of its diversified tourism strategy, which includes non-sporting attractions such as Gardens by the Bay, the National Gallery and the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix.
After years of rejecting casinos for fear of becoming a nation of gamblers and the potential misdemeanors and crimes that would follow, the city-state licensed not one, but two, gaming outlets in 2006. In a highly public debate, this shift in thinking was driven by pure economics. IRs are said to bring more tourists and create employment for 35,000 citizens.
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We cannot stand still. The whole region is on the move,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Parliament in April 2005.
“Our lack of interest in tourists is less of a problem. But if we become one of the many typical Asian cities in the backwaters, instead of being the universal hub of the region, then many good jobs will be lost and all Singaporeans will suffer. We cannot afford this,” he added.
“To become an international city, we need to do many things. A casino itself is not necessary for this dream. But IR is not just a casino. IR is an important idea that we should consider, which will help us to rebuild Singapore.”
But steps have been taken to protect Singaporeans from gambling, such as imposing a S$100 tax on citizens entering casinos and establishing agencies such as the Casino Regulatory Authority and the National Council on Problem Gambling.
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Once the government agrees to build IRs, a detailed bidding and project evaluation process follows. Mr Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands and Malaysian gaming giant Genting have each signed deals to build IR.
Las Vegas Sands, the world’s largest casino operator, invested about $8 billion to develop Adonic MBS. It has a 2,563-room hotel, a rooftop pool and restaurant, a 1.3 million square foot convention center, an expansive shopping mall, a museum, two theaters, several popular restaurants, and the world’s largest atrium casino. 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines.
Genting Singapore’s S$6.59 billion RWS project includes six hotels with over 1,500 rooms, Universal Studios Theme Park, Adventure Cove Water Park, S.E.A. Aquarium – one of the largest aquariums in the world, convention facilities, dining and retail outlets, and a 161,500 square foot casino.
In the year In 2010, the Singapore IRS started as an economic ball bells. They added vitality and dynamism to the economy. Tourists – from curiosity to compulsion – have flooded in, quickly making Singapore the world’s third-largest gambling destination by revenue, behind Macau and Las Vegas.
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But Lady Luck doesn’t like gaming duopoly lately. Earnings fell as the biggest whale, China’s high roller, moved away. They eliminated casinos in a crackdown on corruption under President Xi Jinping and China’s declining economy.
As Chinese high rollers make up the largest share of Singapore casino revenue, their absence has hit the bottom line. Singapore’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) fell by 16.5% from US$5.59 billion ($7.52 billion) in 2014 to US$4.8 billion in 2015.
Analysts expect revenue to decline further this year. The first quarter numbers show a 15 percent slide in GGR to US$1.1 billion – down from US$1.3 billion in the same quarter last year.
The figures are even worse for GGR VIP gamblers or high rollers – people with more than S $ 100, 000 casino. In the year It saw a steep decline of nearly 34 percent in 2015, according to two IRS.
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However, the fear was more on RWS. According to Mr Marvin Tang, an analyst at DBS Vickers Securities, its VIP GGR fell by 49 per cent in 2014, reducing its market share from the mid-50s to 40 per cent in 2014.
While the two IRs are still profitable, expansion plans have been hampered by strict regulations since development began.
In addition to being hit by China’s anti-corruption drive aimed at preventing officials from making money on the mainland, the Singapore government’s strict regulations are also affecting junket operators.
Unlike in Macau and other gaming destinations, middlemen who bring in VIPs are not allowed to make loans to gamblers in Singapore, putting casinos at risk of lending directly to their customers.
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Loans to Genting Singapore reached US$787.5 million in 2014. That’s more than double the $369 million in 2010. This is four times the average of Macau’s six largest casino operators, according to a Bloomberg report.
As a side effect, Singapore casinos have lost the main connections that these junket operators are known for in the gaming industry. Singapore has about 200 Macau has only three licensed junket operators – Hong Kong as a special administrative region and the only place in China where casinos are legal.
“Singapore taps into its domestic market as well as neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia. Without the presence of junket operators to help trade from China, it is essentially facing a fully mature gaming market,” said Mr. Ben Lee, Managing Partner at IGAmiX Management & Consulting.
Also, combined with a net exchange loss on VIP game business and investments, Genting led a record Singapore.
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In the year In 2015, it posted its lowest annual profit in five years. Profit fell 70 per cent last year to S$193 million. Its net profit fell worse in the first quarter of this year, falling 83 per cent year-on-year to S$10.8 million.
MBS did better. First-quarter profit fell 33.8 percent to US$274.9 million ($368 million), while net income fell 23.1 percent to US$603.7 million.
With regional rivals nipping at the heels of Singapore’s gaming industry, things could get even tougher.
Governments in the region have eased their stance on gaming over the past decade, while neighboring countries such as Cambodia, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines have invested in mega-sized IRs. More casinos will also open in mature markets such as Macau and Australia.
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In the year By 2020, a further 17 casinos will open in the Asia Pacific region from Macau – the world’s largest gambling destination.