Last month, the Hong Kong-born gambling magnate announced plans to tear down his flagship Lisboa casino and hotel and build his biggest and most opulent showcase yet, at a cost of HK$12 billion (US$1.54 billion). The 86-year-old also pushed through a long-delayed initial public offering for the company he controls, SJM Holdings Ltd., raising $494 million despite stock-market jitters.
SJM shares closed at HK$2.69 Friday, down 13% since trading began.
Since 2002, when this former Portuguese colony allowed others to break into Mr. Ho's longtime monopoly here, Las Vegas heavyweights such as Wynn Resorts Ltd., MGM Mirage and Las Vegas Sands Corp. have taken business from him as they pursue their own Asian growth strategies.
The combined gambling revenue for all Macau's casinos increased 80% to HK$80.6 billion between 2005 and 2007, making it bigger than Atlantic City and the Las Vegas Strip combined. But over the same period, revenue at SJM's operating subsidiary, Sociedade De Jogos de Macau S.A, fell to HK$32.1 billion from HK$33.4 billion, as business dropped off at its older, comparatively cramped casinos.
SJM owns 19 of Macau's 29 casinos and 29% of the market's gambling revenues. Las Vegas Sands, which owns two casinos, is close behind with 21%, according to a Citigroup assessment of data for the first half of this year.
SJM and Mr. Ho, its chairman, "seem to have been treading water," says David Green, who heads the gambling practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Macau.
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Source - Wall Street Journal
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