One of Macau’s “Big 6” casino operators, SJM Holdings, has appointed Paul Baker as president of its new Grand Lisboa Palace, now under construction along the city’s Cotai Strip. The resort is set to open next year.
According to reports, Baker assumed the role on October 1 after four years as the deputy chief operating officer of Resorts World Genting in Malaysia. Before that, the Harvard MBA and U.S. Army veteran was executive vice president of resort operations at Wynn Macau. Prior to that, he was vice president and assistant general manager of multiple properties at Caesars Entertainment Corp.
In his new role, Baker will be in charge of operations at the new IR as well as cash flow and optimization of the property’s EBITDA.
SJM Chief Executive Ambrose So recently said he expects the HK$36 billion (US$4.6 billion) Grand Lisboa Palace to open in the second half of 2019. However, as reported by CalvinAyre.com, Sanford Bernstein analysts say it will take longer. “Based on our research into the current phase of development, our view is that the Grand Lisboa Palace opening will more realistically be late 2019 and potentially spill over into early 2020,” the Bernstein team wrote. “More importantly, due to the high construction cost of the property and low return on investment in the first few years after opening, we foresee poor value creation for the Grand Lisboa Palace compared with other new Cotai properties.”
