Gaming | Saipan casino set for March opening amid investor fears

The USD600 million Imperial Pacific casino-hotel in Saipan is scheduled to open by the end of the month, though the company responsible for operating it, Best Sunshine International, has analysts and investors concerned over the accuracy of reported revenue from its temporary casino, which it claims measures in the billions.

Last year the company reported that it took in more than USD32 billion (about MOP256 billion) from high-rollers at just 16 VIP tables. Meanwhile, scores of casinos in Macau recorded a combined USD28 billion in gaming revenues (MOP223 billion) during the same year.

However, according to a Forbes article authored by Asian gaming writer Muhammad Cohen, the casino’s impressive VIP returns have spurned skepticism from industry analysts and former gaming regulators who suspect the figures might be manipulated to distort the company’s true market value.

According to Imperial Pacific reports, every month some 100 VIP visitors contribute an average of $27 million each to its revenue, while each of its 16 VIP tables generates a daily average of $5.6 million in bets. That figure is estimated to be four times greater than that recorded in Macau prior to the gaming slump.

However some research analysts are concerned that unpaid debts from players may add up to almost 90 percent of the resort’s VIP revenue, compared to the Asian average of just 14 percent, representing a substantial liability to the company.

There are also mounting concerns that, should the integrated resort not open at the end of this month as scheduled, regulators may consider revoking the company’s license to operate.

The integrated resort slated to open this month is valued at around $7 billion, or one-third of Cotai 2.0.

Imperial Pacific International Holdings, which owns the casino through its subsidiary Best Sunshine International, is majority-owned by Hong Kong billionaire Cui Lijie.

Rumors are circling that Best Sunshine CEO Mark Brown will be moving to chairman of the company, making way for its current chief operating officer, Kwong Yiu-ling, to take up the CEO’s post. Kwong has a history in Macau, having spent three decades with SJM holdings before working as an executive at the Altira Macau and as executive vice president of casino operations at MGM Macau.

Saipan is not much further away than Macau by air travel, for high-rollers based in either Beijing or Shanghai, but is significantly closer than other casino destinations in the region, like Singapore or Cambodia.