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SCMP Reporter

Galaxy Entertainment Group, the Macau casino operator controlled by the family of property and construction tycoon Lui Che-woo, said pre-tax earnings rose to HK$1.1 billion in the first nine months, already 150 per cent more than last year's full-year results.
Galaxy's flagship StarWorld casino hotel, which opened in October last year, drove the increase. Group sales surged 105 per cent over the whole of last year to HK$9.57 billion in the nine months to September.
StarWorld's third-quarter results were  dragged down by rising costs and fresh competition from Las Vegas Sands Corp's newly opened US$2.4 billion Venetian Macao and Melco PBL Entertainment's US$583.6 million Crown Macau, which opened fully in July.
Galaxy said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) at the HK$3 billion, 500-room property fell 19.6 per cent to HK$294 million in the three months to September, down from HK$366 million the previous quarter.
Resort-wide revenues slipped 5 per cent to HK$2.09 billion, from HK$2.2 billion in the second quarter.
StarWorld accounted for 79 per cent of the group's HK$372 million in third-quarter ebitda and 65 per cent of turnover. The company's four franchised 'city club' casinos added HK$34 million in profit for the quarter on total gaming revenue of HK$1.6 billion. Galaxy's legacy construction materials unit, the group's core business prior to the 2005 acquisition of a Macau gaming licence, added HK$152 million ebitda on sales of HK$1.1 billion.
Despite keen competition in the segment, high-stakes play at StarWorld continued its uptrend. Sales of VIP gaming chips at the casino rose to a record HK$57.6 billion during the period, up 8 per cent from the second quarter and 46 per cent from the first quarter.
Galaxy has been rapidly adding VIP table capacity during its first year of business, with 55 tables at the end of September compared  with 38 in March. The company said yesterday it planned to raise the number of VIP tables to 70 by the end of the year.
StarWorld reduced mass-market gaming tables to 137 in September from 167 in March after a re-configuration of its second-floor casino area to include more slot machines and electronic games.
Despite this, the mass market table games 'drop' - a proxy measurement for wagering volumes - held steady at HK$2.4 billion. Net winnings fell to HK$356 million from HK$414 million in the second quarter as players won a higher percentage of bets during the period.



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Galaxy Entertainment Group

Galaxy pre-tax earnings surge on StarWorld high-stakes strategy