Gaming | MGM announces ‘special bonus’

Mongolia plans to establish two newcasino resorts, according to the iGaming Post.  The country’s parliament may vote as early as this week on draft legislation to develop casino resorts. The political move comes while other locations, such as Japan, are also considering the legalization of gambling.  The two prospective Mongolian casino resorts are in the initial stages of planning. One of them is looking to be located at Khushigt International Airport, which is currently under construction. It would cater to Asian gamblers, in particular those from China.  “Russia, China and Japan are some of the biggest gamblers in the world. Japan and Russia already don’t need visas for Mongolia, and Chinese with official passports don’t either,” said a member of the government party responsible for the bill. The casino bill includes restrictions that would bar Mongolians from playing at the casinos, similar to countries like Vietnam, South Korea and Cambodia, where locals are not allowed to gamble.

A ‘special bonus’ to non-management team members at MGM Macau was announced yesterday. The bonus is equal to one month’s salary and will be paid out in July 2015.
This means that the total bonus received by non-management employees will be  equal to two months’ salary for 2014, since the bonus comes in addition to the annual discretionary one announced earlier in the month.
The gaming operator    launched its audited consolidated annual results yesterday.
According to a statement released yesterday, “last year produced a number of records for MGM China.” The company highlights that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, rose by 5% to HKD6.998 billion. Net profit increased by 7% to HKD5.707 billion.
“These results were achieved despite the many challenges confronting us in Macau, requiring us to constantly adapt and respond to the rapidly changing external environment,” MGM China stated.
MGM says it was the only local gaming concessionaire to register growth in the main floor business during the fourth quarter of 2014, a fact considered relevant “given the current market trends, which have seen revenue migration from the VIP to the mass segment.” MGM China says it has reallocated capacity such that over half of our tables are now allocated to the main floor.
Over the whole year of 2014, MGM’s VIP table wins decreased by 15%, and slot wins decreasedby 10% year on year. Hotel rooms at MGM Macau achieved a record high occupancy rate of 98.7% for 2014.
Grant Bowie, chief executive officer and executive director of MGM China said in the statement: “We are certainly not immune to the challenges confronting the Macau market, but we do believe we have robust and responsive strategies that will allow us create opportunities for future growth. We are keen to get our Cotai property opened as MGM China has the greatest potential for growth in the market with the addition of our second property in Cotai.”

26 on route to vegas

26 local managers at MGM Macau will be traveling to Las Vegas for a 10-day trip, to obtain operational cross-experience and insight into the business models of destination-style resorts. According to MGM, the trip “is the culmination of a 15-month management development program for high-potential local management employees within the company, who were selected to undergo intensive training to prepare them for their next career advancement.”

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