Supplier News
Saipan – Temporary casino brings in $513m in six months for Imperial Pacific
By Phil - 24 August 2016
Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific has reported huge growth in both revenue and profit for the six months to end-June, having opened a temporary casino in July last year and then adding VIP tables by November.
The group’s revenue hit HK$3.98bn (US$513m) with VIP tables accounting for HK$3.82bn and mass tables for HK$122.2m. Slots and terminals generated HK$26.8m.
Cai Lingli Executive Director of Imperial Pacific said: “The turnaround from loss to profit is mainly attributable to the gaming profit generated by the Temporary Casino which launched its grand opening on 27 November 2015. As casino operations on the Island of Saipan is relatively new, an extensive portion of our VIP casino customers is sourced through the company’s own marketing avenues. Such highspending VIP players generally receive commission and allowances based on a percentage of the rolling chip turnover. Our VIP customers primarily consist of cash players and credit players. Geographically, most of our direct VIP patrons are from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea and Saipan.
“We continue to strive to improve our VIP business volume by maximising productivity from our Temporary Casino. Our efforts to grow the VIP business will continue to center around enhancing the gaming experience of our customers,” he added. “We will continue to re-examine our mass gaming areas to maximise table utilisation, to expand or refurbish our gaming areas, to innovate our gaming products and to invest in technologies and analytical capability to enhance table productivity and customer retention. We will also re-examine the mix of our slot machines and ETG games in operation to maximise our casino profitability. We will also aim to develop technologies to enhance our analytical capability to help us deliver much more personal and precision marketing efforts.”
Imperial is currently building the $550m Imperial Pacific Resort perched on the water front of downtown Garapan, Saipan, with approximately 350 suites is designed by Steelman Partners. The casino is due to open in time for Chinese New Year in 2017. The company believes that both rolling chip volume and profits could double when the new casino is fully operational.
Mr. Lingli said: “Construction of the town hotel, the Imperial Pacific Resort in Garapan, Saipan, has been progressing smoothly. An additional US$83m has been invested in design and construction of this super luxurious resort which has brought the total investment to US$143m by the end of first half of 2016. Topping out of the four storey podium that will eventually encase the casino was finished by end of July 2016 and it is estimated that the same would be accomplished for the fourteen storey hotel tower by the end of October 2016. The Board aims to commence opening of the Imperial Pacific Resort by 2017 Chinese New Year with the opening of the hotel tower by the end of March 2017. By the time it is finished, the hotel resort will boast nine restaurants with a total of seventeen Michelin Stars in addition to the 200 to 300 gaming tables and 300 to 400 slot machines which will substantially increase the Group’s gaming capacity from its current level of 48 gaming tables and 144 slot machines at the temporary facility.
“In addition to the Imperial Pacific Resort, the Group has already witnessed the opening of the Kensington Hotel Saipan, one of the three hotels on the Island of Saipan owned by South Korea’s E-Land Group in July 2016. With 313 rooms, the Kensington is the only five star hotel in Saipan which certainly will become a game changer to Saipan where the supply of hotel room has been a serious bottle-neck for the growth of tourist arrivals,” he added. “It is estimated that by the time the Imperial Pacific Resort opens, new supply of rated hotel rooms will increase by 32 per cent. With the significant increase of hotel rooms, airlines are also expanding to Saipan in an unprecedented fashion. Commenced on 6 July 2016, Hong Kong Airlines, an internationally acclaimed full-service airline, operates twice-weekly direct flights between Hong Kong and Saipan International Airport. Airbus A333 aircraft with 292 seats, including 32 business class seats have been deployed on the route. The MVA, Mariana’s Visitors Authority expects that tourist arrivals will double from the current level of 500,000 to over a million in the 2020’s.”
Once the new resort is fully open in 2020, it aims to have 1,600 tables, half of which will be dedicated to VIP gaming, and 3,000 slots along with 12,000 rooms.
