Macau casino giant SJM Holdings held a groundbreaking ceremony last Thursday for its new resort on Cotai, with construction slated to begin in the next few weeks.
The resort is expected to be open in 2017 as the last of the six mega-casino hotels the city’s six concessionaires are building in the booming resort district, which occupies a swath of reclaimed land joining the neighboring islands of Taipa and Coloane.
The company also is expanding into lotteries outside of Macau and plans to invest up to US$50 million for control of a joint venture with lottery provider eGame Solutions Operation.
The Standard, an English-language newspaper in Hong Kong, reported the move, saying the joint venture will control companies that run lotteries in five countries. Which ones were not specified.
In Macau, SJM led the pack in gaming revenue in January, claiming 23 percent of the market, which totaled MOP28.7 billion (US$3.6 billion). SJM’s share was down 1 percent from December.
Sands China, Cotai’s dominant operator in terms of square footage, gaming space and hotel rooms, finished second with 22 percent, followed by its two Cotai competitors, Galaxy Entertainment Group, with 20 percent, up 2 percent over December, and Melco Crown Entertainment at a sequentially flat 14 percent.
MGM China Holdings had 11 percent, an increase of 1 percent. Wynn Macau was down 2 percentage points to 9 percent.
