Vol. 7 • No. 23 • June 22, 2009, Featured Articles, ASIAN GAMING
Early Results Impressive for City of Dreams
Melco Crown’s City of Dreams in Macau claims a million visitors in less than one month, with other revenue reports also positive.
Low hold percentage one disappointment in early numbers
Less than one month after opening, Melco Crown Entertainment’s City of Dreams in Macau welcomes its one-millionth visitor. The couple was welcomed at the door by CEO Greg Hawkins, who gave them prizes worth HK$118,888, including a night's complimentary stay in the Rock Star Suite at Hard Rock Hotel, and a private shopping spree at the Boulevard, the property’s retail area.
By the end of the first month, COD had brought in 1.2 million people, an average of 41,000 per day. COD opened on June 1.
The company also reported impressive revenue results, as well, during the first month. The VIP market—the “rolling chips” tables—produced a volume of almost US$2 billion in the first month, with the last week of the month seeing almost three-quarter of a billion dollars crossing the gaming tables.
In the all-important mass market, more than $100 million was dropped at the tables, again with the last week surpassing the first by more than 12 percent. An average of 376 mass-market gaming tables
were in operation at City of Dreams in June. The property’s 1.320 gaming machines took in $81 million in June.
One problem for COD was the table hold percentage. In the VIP segment, the tables only held 0.8 percent, well below the casino’s target of 2.85 percent. The mass-market tables were within the property’s target range of 16 percent to 18 percent.
At Melco Crown’s first property, Altira Macau, the VIP tables dropped $2.76 billion in June, allaying fears that COD would cannibalize that property. The hold for that segment of the market was 2 percent.
With a normal table-game hold percentage, Melco Crown estimates that its share of the market in June would have been 15 percent. It offered no estimate for the actual market share, given the disappointing hold at COD.
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