21 (-) Ted Chan
Co-COO, Gaming
Melco Crown Entertainment
Ted Chan is part of the ‘new wave’ of local executives brought into key positions at Melco Crown Entertainment’s (MPEL) Macau casino operations in the last 12 months. Mr Chan—still only 39—is a long-standing and trusted associate of Lawrence Ho, MPEL’s Co-Chairman and CEO and himself only in his mid-30s.
Mr Chan worked with Mr Ho first at Mocha—the slot clubs operation aimed at local Macau players and started by Melco but now part of the MPEL joint venture. He then took a role as CEO of an outside firm—albeit one that worked in close cooperation with MPEL. Amax Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong-listed business, played a key role in sustaining Crown Macau (now Altira), MPEL’s first Macau property. Crown Macau opened as a high roller-focused property in May 2007, but initially found the market tough to crack. Amax provided a pipeline of VIP players in exchange for receiving an industry-leading 1.35% rolling chip commission.
By November 2008, Mr Chan was back in the MPEL fold as President of Altira. Following the resignation of Greg Hawkins as President of MPEL’s flagship Cotai resort City of Dreams (CoD) in the summer of 2010, the company decided to make a radical shift in its management structure. Instead of simply replacing Mr Hawkins with a different executive under the same job title, MPEL decided to split the role between gaming and non-gaming operations, and make those two new roles strategic ones across the company, rather than venue-specific. Thus, Mr Chan became Co-COO, Gaming, for City of Dreams, Altira Macau and the Mocha Clubs slot venues. Nick Naples was appointed Co-COO, Operations, with responsibility for all non-gaming operations across the group.
MPEL has been an early adopter in Macau of marketing techniques already familiar to Western casino operators, such as data mining of the player database—a policy further developed under Ted Chan. The database is now past the 600,000 mark. Another simple but effective concept is MPEL’s ‘New Game Zone’ at CoD. Although not a new idea in the industry, it was reportedly groundbreaking for Macau, and needed lengthy negotiations with Macau’s gaming regulator, the DICJ, and industry suppliers before it could be implemented.
MPEL was also the first operator in Macau to offer floor-wide slot jackpots. Dragon’s Treasure Floorwide Jackpot, launched on 30th July 2010 at City of Dreams, starts at HK$3 million. The company plans to boost its jackpot appeal by linking the floor-wide jackpots at City of Dreams and Mocha Clubs (the slots at Altira are currently run as a Mocha venue).
Slot play is currently only a modest contributor to the Macau bottom line (in the second quarter of 2011, it was 4.3% of Macau gross revenue market-wide). But for MPEL, slots are a vastly more important component of the business. They accounted for just under 62% of the gross across Macau operations in 2Q 2011 (US$568.9 million out of US$984.3 million in gross casino revenues). Mr Chan’s detailed knowledge of slot operations from his Mocha days was probably an important factor in the decision to make him head of operations across the group, rather than in CoD alone.
Under Mr Chan’s watch, rolling chip volumes in the VIP segment appear to have increased at an above market-average rate across the group. Rolling chip volume for the second quarter of 2011 totalled US$19.3 billion, an increase of 59% from US$12.2 billion in the comparable period of 2010. Market-wide in Macau, VIP baccarat gross gaming revenue—another business indicator—grew by 50% in the same period.
22 (25) Nick Niglio
Executive Director and COO
Neptune Group
In a little over three years, Neptune Group has grown to be one of Macau’s biggest junket investors. It coordinates the marketing and accounting effort for nearly 200 VIP tables across ten venues in the biggest high roller live table market in the world by gross gaming revenue.
As Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Neptune Group since 2007, Nick Niglio has played a major role in that rapid growth. The company’s most recent project has been the launch of a new 12-table VIP facility at Galaxy Macau, Galaxy Entertainment Group’s new resort on Cotai. In addition, at the time this issue went to press, Mr Niglio informed IAG his company would be making “some surprise announcements of new venues over the next ninety days.”
Before the rapid growth of it VIP room business in Macau, Neptune Group was probably best known to the general public in the region as the operator of a casino cruise. That ship was recently sold to other Macau VIP operators.
A big factor in Neptune’s rise in land-based gaming appears to be the company’s success at making friends. Neptune isn’t necessarily the most aggressive at making commission deals with casinos, but it does seem to have considerable goodwill in the local industry and among players for fair and friendly dealing. That counts for a huge amount in the VIP sector and also ultimately pays off in terms of the bottom line. The company’s approach reflects Mr Niglio’s own personality and approach, and that of his operational management team.
“It’s truly a relationships business,” says Mr Niglio. He has extensive experience of relationship management from the US gaming sector, including a stint as Executive Vice President for Caesars World Marketing and Executive Vice President of Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In Macau and Hong Kong, Mr Niglio served as a gaming consultant for several large international concerns seeking to position themselves in Asian gaming markets.
23 (-) Gabriel Hunterton
Chief Operating Officer
StarWorld Hotel & Casino
Gabriel Hunterton joined Galaxy Entertainment Group (“GEG”) in December 2009 as Chief Operating Officer of StarWorld Hotel & Casino. His brief was to “develop and refine” the performance of the property from an already strong base, and to prepare it for the impact of the opening of Galaxy Macau.
The consensus in the industry is that he has met and even exceeded this objective. That wasn’t inevitable. Mr Hunterton had not only to maintain and build StarWorld’s share of the vital Macau VIP market in an increasingly competitive environment together with a great business development team, but he also had to develop some mass-market loyalty for the property as a holding position for the entire group. That was until the ‘cavalry’ arrived—in the form of the company’s integrated Cotai resort, Galaxy Macau, in May this year.
In terms of the fresh competition, between Mr Hunterton’s appointment in December 2009 and the end of the first quarter this year (i.e. prior to the opening of Galaxy Macau), the number of tables in the Macau market only grew by 1.7%. That was due to the government’s table cap. But table gross gaming revenue market-wide shot up 88% in that time—most of it driven by VIP baccarat. For a property to register improved performance under those circumstances might look like it merely benefited from, as one leading Macau gaming operator put it, “a rising tide that carries all boats”. But as any executive working for a company already strong in their segment will tell you, a lead is yours to lose. And VIP business in Macau’s casinos is strongly based on personal relationships. Like a healthily-functioning marriage, those relationships with the players, and also the junket investors, junket consolidators, agents and sub-agents that bring in the high rollers from mainland China and beyond, need to be nurtured and affirmed on a virtually daily basis.
Mr Hunterton quickly proved he had the necessary people skills and managerial experience to fit into GEG’s corporate culture and to keep the marriage between StarWorld and its players and junkets a happy one. If you speak to executives from the junkets, they consistently single out GEG for praise in terms of its support and fairness toward the junket trade. Not all the Macau operators have been as consistent in their approach to managing their relationships with the junkets as Mr Hunterton, his colleagues and his employers.
The contented state of that marriage showed in StarWorld’s results. In 1Q 2010, the first full quarter of Mr Hunterton’s tenure, property EBITDA increased 81% compared to 1Q 2009, to HK$369 million. There was an all-time record for VIP rolling chip volume of HK$102 billion, up 86% year-on-year compared to 1Q 2009. On an annualised basis, the return on investment for the property—which cost a modest (by current Cotai standards) HK$3.3billion (US$430 million) when it launched in October 2006—was 35%.
In 1Q 2011, StarWorld’s EBITDA reached HK$664 million, up 80% year-on-year—the 11th consecutive quarter of EBITDA growth. ROI was 69% during the quarter, calculated by total EBITDA for the previous 12 months divided by total investment including land cost. In 2Q this year, Mr Hunterton presided over a 12th consecutive quarter of EBITDA growth.
Mr Hunterton is a 14-year veteran of the gaming industry in Las Vegas and Macau. Prior to joining GEG he spent three years in senior operational and business development leadership roles with MGM Grand Macau.
After graduating from Yale University in the United States with a degree in economics, Mr Hunterton began his gaming career as a dealer at the Treasure Island Resort in Las Vegas. He quickly advanced to the position of director of slot operations at the neighbouring Mirage Hotel Casino and then progressed to a national marketing director role at the Bellagio Hotel Casino.
24 (31) Yasushi Shigeta
President and COO
Angel Group
In March this year, Yasushi Shigeta faced a test of his leadership. Japan’s Angel Group—Asia’s largest supplier of casino playing cards—wasn’t directly affected by the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident that hit the country. But Mr Shigeta did have to tackle the international perception that somehow industry in the whole of Japan had ground to a halt. That misleading impression was, if anything, reinforced when it was publicised that power rationing had been introduced in some parts of the country.
Fortunately, Mr Shigeta and his management team were able to move into action quickly. They reassured their many casino customers around the world, and in the high volume Asian region in particular, that the company was very much still in business and running smoothly. Those reassurances were timely. To give an idea of the high intensity of playing card usage in a baccarat-dominated market such as Macau, a casino operator with major properties in both Macau and Las Vegas said that its Macau casino goes through about as many decks in a month as its Vegas casino uses in an entire year.
The experience of the earthquake and accompanying disasters was a reminder of the importance of contingency plans for all businesses in Japan—a country that is in an unsettled neighbourhood, geologically speaking.
“We have a strict policy of risk management. But we would also like to express our many thanks to everyone for the outpouring of concern and encouragement regarding the disaster. ANGEL will continue to strive to meet our customers’ expectations,” Mr Shigeta told Inside Asian Gaming shortly after the traumatic events.
ANGEL as a company is 60 years old. For 50 of those years, it has been making card-related products, including novelty and collectors’ items as well as professional casino cards. The firm says it has a three-pronged approach to its business: to deliver quality, good service and —in the case of casino products—security.
Under Mr Shigeta’s stewardship, Angel Group has maintained and built on its precious reputation for quality control in the manufacturing of its gaming products. Angel Playing Cards are acknowledged in the Asian gaming industry for having the lowest failure rate of any product in that category.
Angel is dominant in the key Asian jurisdiction of Macau, where the company is estimated to have 90% of the market. One Macau operator reports that Angel’s pre-shuffled product has an error free record of over 99.9%. That reliability has translated into sales. Regionally, ANGEL says it has an 80% share of the Asian and Australian casino market and has risen to become the biggest supplier of playing cards for casinos in the world.
Mr Shigeta’s professional background in management consultancy—he entered the sector after graduating with a degree in Information Science from Kyoto University in 1990—probably helped him keep an overview on quality-related issues when he joined Angel three years later. He worked his way up from middle management to become a director of Angel Group in 1995, finally being appointed to the top job in 2005.
25 (-) Frank MacFadden
President, Joint Ventures and Business Developments
Sociedade de Jogos De Macau S.A.
“He asked me.” That’s what Frank McFadden has said to journalists when they query why this Irish former professional rugby player—with a passing resemblance to current England rugby centre and royal spouse Mike Tindall—decided to go and work for the ‘King of Gambling’, Stanley Ho.
Mr McFadden, President, Joint Ventures and Business Developments, for Sociedade de Jogos de Macau S.A., added some telling detail in one interview. “He [Dr Ho] realised that SJM needed to change”.
“I liked the challenge of taking this company from where it was going—which was a position of some suffering in relation to the liberalisation of the market—and making it a competitor, someone to be feared.”
Mr McFadden is diplomatic enough not to take too much of the credit for helping to make SJM “someone to be feared”. He is and will always be to some extent an outsider in what is arguably the most ‘Chinese’ of all the Macau gaming operators. In the former Soviet Russia, ‘Kremlinologist’ was a term coined to describe analysts occupied with guessing what was happening inside the Russian government. ‘SJMolgist’ might be used to describe those non-Chinese trying to guess what goes on in SJM.
But Mr McFadden is still there after nearly five years, so he must be doing something right. And nearly a decade after Macau market liberalisation, SJM remains the largest operator by gross gaming revenue (GGR). Sceptics like to point out that because there are so many ‘satellite’ properties—casinos using an SJM licence but owned by a third party—the SJM revenue figures are misleading. That’s because the company doesn’t get the same cut as from its directly managed venues (often having to pay for dealing staff and other overheads, although that business model has been changing in recent years). Yet the company has maintained its market lead on GGR while its capital spending has been only a fraction of what LVS shelled out. Grand Lisboa and Casino Oceanus, the two SJM ‘core’ properties opened since 2007, cost in total well under US$1 billion. The Venetian Macao alone will have cost LVS US$2.4 billion once it’s paid for.
Mr McFadden’s most important job in the next few years is likely to be assisting in the planning and execution of an expected SJM project on Cotai. In marketing terms, SJM simply cannot afford to stay away from Macau’s new mass-market gaming hub. The SJM business model post-liberalisation has been to have good market coverage all over the territory. So if you lose a customer out of one door in one casino, there’s always a chance that you will catch him or her in the SJM net a little further down the street. And as the infrastructure builds up on the Chinese side of the Lotus Bridge Gate into Macau—the border crossing serving Cotai—then the number of visitors using Cotai as their first and perhaps only stop is likely to increase dramatically.
Mr McFadden has the benefit of insights into how LVS and the other Western operators might react to any SJM push into the Cotai market. Between November 2004 and November 2006, he was Chief Operating Officer for Las Vegas Sands’ Macau unit, Venetian Macau Ltd. In that role he oversaw the ramping up of business at the newly-opened Sands Macao—the territory’s first mass-market casino. Thanks to supportive policies from China’s central government; the pent up enthusiasm of mainland China’s gamblers; and the guidance of Mr McFadden, the US$265 million Sands Macao broke even within a year of its May 2004 opening. He was also at the helm of the Macau operation for most of The Venetian Macao’s construction. Before that he was Chief Executive Officer of Casinos Austria International Ltd, from June 2000 to 2004.
“Dr Ho’s vision has been to show that Chinese companies can compete with multinationals at the highest level,” says Mr McFadden. It seems a patriotic Irishman could help Dr Ho realize that dream in retirement.
26 (26) David Punter
General Manager Asia Pacific
Aristocrat Technologies
If Aristocrat’s David Punter had a dollar for every time he’s been asked whether the company can maintain its leading market share in slot sales for Macau, he would have a jackpot-sized pay day of his own.
Such a theoretical question can only produce a theoretical answer. All that matters in the end is what the sales figures and company balance sheets say. On that basis, and on recent performance, the answer is an emphatic ‘Yes’. Aristocrat was again the leading slot supplier on the floor for the opening of Galaxy Macau in May. It has also recently produced market innovations such as the tailor-made ‘Tree of Prosperity’ link at Wynn Macau in cooperation with the casino management. The slot installation—based on the consistently successful 50 Dragons platform—is located at the casino entrance nearest to Wynn’s spectacular illuminated ‘Tree of Prosperity’ exhibit—a case of technology imitating art imitating life. The tree display is extremely popular with Chinese tourists because of its cultural symbolism and its dazzling display. It provides a powerful marketing tool for Aristocrat’s gaming product a short walk away.
The combination of consistently good game mathematics, market-appropriate innovation and willingness to work closely with operators, have all contributed to Aristocrat’s continuing dominance in Macau and strong showing in other key markets such as Singapore. Aristocrat’s Viridian WideScreen (WS) cabinet was launched in Asia recently with brand new games and concepts featured on its 22-inch display, including two games with strong Asian-themes—Dragon Emperor, and the soon to be released 5 Dragons Legends. Dragon Emperor utilises the new Aristocrat game concept Remix™. The Remix free games feature—when triggered—gives the player a random shuffling of reels or symbols, so he or she has an increased opportunity for different combinations and four-of-a-kind and five-of-a-kind pay outs, adding a new level of excitement in game play. According to Mr Punter, “5 Dragons Legends is the culmination of perpetual engagement with the Asian gaming market, and brand extension of one of Asia’s most successful standalone gaming products. The 5 Dragons Legends package will offer Asian players more volatility, which we know they love so much and operators tell us they are constantly looking for in our gaming products.” In addition Mr Punter says that when players trigger the free games in 5 Dragons Deluxe, they will have the opportunity to select two new free game feature options. The choices are either six free games with up to a x40 multiplier, or a Mystery Choice, which randomly picks both free games and multiplier. “We are extremely confident that 5 Dragons Legends will be our next success story in the Asian gaming market,” states Mr Punter.
David Punter has played an important role both in ensuring that Aristocrat listens to its regional customers and responds accordingly and in helping to ‘talent spot’ Aristocrat product designed in other markets that will work well in Asian markets. He’s also been at the forefront of the company’s thinking on making most effective use of the smartphone apps and social networking technology revolution in Asia.
Mr Punter says a core strength of Aristocrat is getting its people to understand as much as they can about games, how they work and how to adapt products for players and markets—what he describes as an “holistic view” of the industry. Mr Punter has continued that tradition in developing his own team, providing a platform for continued success in Asia.
27 (28) Ken Jolly
Vice President – Asia
Shuffle Master
Shuffle Master appointed Ken Jolly as Vice President for Asia at the turn of the year. Previously, Mr Jolly had been working in a consultancy role on the company’s regional sales.
Soon after the permanent post was announced, Adrian Halpenny, President of Australia for Shuffle Master, described Mr Jolly as having “a wealth of knowledge on the Asian markets” and being “forward thinking about what the market needs”. Mr Halpenny might also have added that as a result of those qualities, he’s also one of the most successful salespeople in the regional gaming industry. Mr Jolly has gained that track record through listening very carefully to customer needs, then not only giving it to them, but also pointing out how to make the product work even better in their property.
That ability comes from more than 32 years of experience in the business—17 of them in international markets. Previously, Mr Jolly played a key role in establishing Aristocrat Technologies as the biggest supplier in the Macau and Asian slots markets. He was Aristocrat’s General Manager Asia Pacific from 2003 to July 2009. He also had a stint as Executive Vice President & General Manager for Aruze, assisting the company in building up its market presence and market share in the region almost from a standing start.
Mr Jolly is now using all that experience to help Shuffle Master build on its existing strong reputation, while also shifting market perceptions about what the company actually does and is capable of. Shuffle Master’s live gaming table products, such as Shufflers, Shoes and Chippers, are industry-leading products known for their levels of accuracy and security. It’s testament to Mr Jolly’s skills that he has an understanding of Shuffle Master’s entire suite of products, which cover both electronic, an area he has previous experience with, and also live gaming. The next stage of the company’s development is to reposition itself in Asia and globally as a supplier of floor-wide suites of products, rather than as a niche supplier, and thereby drive not just one-off sales but also recurring revenues—something Mr Jolly has a proven past record of achievement in.
Earlier this year in Macau, Mr Jolly spearheaded an action-packed launch function for Shuffle Master’s Equinox slot cabinet in Asia. The Equinox is a versatile platform that can run as either a slot or multi-terminal station for an electronic table game.
Mr Jolly’s deep knowledge of the operational needs of his casino customers through a global career which has seen him in management roles in Europe, the US, New Zealand and Australia, combined with an understanding of his own suites of products and the company business model, gives him a strong platform to help his company to greater success in the region.
28 (19) Kelvin Tan
Senior Vice-President, International Marketing
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd
Kelvin Tan is regarded as one of Macau’s best marketing and relationship builders in the crucial VIP baccarat segment. Marketwide, high-limit baccarat accounted for 75% of the casino gross in the second quarter of this year. Mr Tan’s efforts on behalf of his current employer played a major role in helping Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL) finally overtake Wynn Macau last year to take third place in the gross revenue league table. Since then, MPEL has consolidated its hold in the market and maintained that spot.
MPEL’s competitor, Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS), first recruited Mr Tan in 2005 as Vice President of Business Development at its local unit, Venetian Macau Ltd. He led the first business development team charged with expanding the premium (i.e., directly recruited by the casino) trade and also the overseas player junket businesses for Sands Macao. During his time with LVS, Mr Tan was also part of the bid team that helped the company secure its Singapore casino licence.
Kelvin Tan joined MPEL in January 2009. There he is responsible for the company’s entire International Marketing business, which includes overseeing the VIP Services operations, managing an International Marketing network with five branches, and managing more than 50 junkets operating at both City of Dreams (COD) and Altira Macau.
Mr Tan spent the earlier years of his gaming career in the Philippines and has worked for companies including Genting International Inc. and Waterfront Properties Inc. Before arriving in Macau, he founded and ran a consultancy offering strategic planning, feasibility studies, valuations and junket development programs for casinos across Asia.
He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and an MBA in Finance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the United States. He is also a graduate of the Executive Development Program of the University of Nevada, Reno.
29 (29) Lam Iao
Founder & CEO
Laxino Technology Ltd
Lam Iao has been busy over the past twelve months expanding the scope of Laxino Technology, his Macau-based gaming-focused IT solutions company.
Laxino offers full technical support for online game operators: software development and customisation, hardware setup, infrastructure design and system integration. The company also provides IT services to land-based operators, and serves as a slot machine distributor and business operations consultancy.
One of the major factors behind Lam Iao’s decision to Laxino Technology Ltd in June of 2008 was a desire to enable aspiring local software developers to pursue their vocation in his hometown, Macau, where careers opportunities in Information Technology are seriously lacking. Mr Iao’s company has gone on to create opportunities for both land-based and online casinos, a budding South Korean slot manufacturer, as well as non-gaming enterprises.
Over the past year, the company’s game development division launched two new peer-to-peer games, Cow Cow and Texas Hold ‘em, to further expand its game library, which includes a variety of P2P and e-games, including online slots, blackjack, video poker and Texas Hold ‘em, as well as a range of ‘mini games’ such as Fa Fa Fa, Fish-Prawn Crab and Lucky Dice. Laxino’s revenues from online products surged 230% over the past year, in tandem with the revenue increase of the operators using Laxino-developed games, and reconfirming the wisdom of Laxino’s decision to make products targeting Asian players. Mr Iao observes that because most other gaming software development companies active in Asia are based in Europe, Laxino is well positioned to offer Asian customers more responsive service and support, and has a unique sensitivity to local tastes and needs.
Yet Mr Iao also has his sights on expanding further abroad. Laxino is in the process of obtaining GLI certification for all its products in preparation for a foray into the European market. The company has also partnered with a Canadian company in preparation for the launch of a new project on a social networking platform.
On the land-based front, Laxino stands ready to provide end-to-end IT solutions for casino properties as well as non-gaming companies. Among the company’s projects in Macau are the implementation of the entire IT infrastructure for a five-star hotel and casino, including establishing the property’s internal IT department, installing an integrated casino management system and property management system and offering advice on how to streamline the property’s business operational processes to match local regulatory requirements.
Laxino also recently formed partnerships with local systems integration companies in order to expand its IT offerings to nongaming institutions, such as the government, schools, hospitals, etc.
Laxino’s partnership with South Korean slot manufacturer HYDAKO is also paying dividends. The games, which combine HYDAKO’s rich graphics and sleek hardware designs with Laxino’s robust game mathematics, product management, marketing and technical support, have been turning heads on the newly opened Galaxy Macau slot floor. According to Mr Iao, “the debut at Galaxy Macau [on 15th May] was the fruition of two years of our product development and management partnership with HYDAKO.” With the games performing strongly on the Galaxy Macau floor, Mr Iao eyes rapid sales expansion for HYDAKO in Macau and the rest of the region.
Mr Iao graduated from the University of Texas with a masters degree in computer science and mathematics, then went on to work on both the equipment supplier and casino operator sides of the gaming industry, first in the US for leading slot machine manufacturer Atronic, then returning to Macau to work at Wynn Resorts and MGM Macau. He has also shared his knowledge in both IT and gaming management as a lecturer at the University of Texas and the University of Macau.
30 (30) Cath Burns
Managing Director and Vice President Asia Pacific
Bally Technologies
Cath Burns is widely considered one of the outstanding executives in Asian gaming. She is recognised in particular for her leadership and performance in building Bally’s market share in slots and systems in Macau from what amounted to a standing start.
Ms Burns has also shown another key attribute of quality leadership—the ability to create a strong local team capable of executing her plans and developing the regional business via their individual insights and initiatives. That has given her the time and space to play a key role in Bally’s re-entry last year in Australia and New Zealand, knowing that the core business in the rest of the region is fully supported.
Recruiting and just as importantly retaining staff to work out of the company’s regional base in Macau has been a challenge, given the squeeze in the Macau labour market and the limit on the number of work permits issued to non-residents.
“The initial headcount was three employees; now we are proud to say that we have a team composed of 82,” Ms Burns revealed to IAG recently. Since first landing in Macau, Bally Technologies has also expanded to numerous countries in the Asia-Pacific region including South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia.
Ms Burns has been at the helm of Bally Macau since its inauguration in 2006, guiding the company’s sales growth in both the games and systems sector in the region. Under her leadership, the company is aiming to secure 20% of the total slot machine orders for Sands China’s latest extension to its Cotai operation. The site was known for many years as parcels 5 and 6, but was recently branded ‘Sands Cotai Central’ and may have a first phase opening in the spring of 2012, according to Sands China.
“From our performance base, 20% [of total orders] is pretty much what we deserve of that slot floor,” stated Ms Burns recently. The company is also in talks with Wynn Macau, SJM Holdings and MGM China Holdings about additional large-scale orders for its slot machines and other products.
Bally’s systems business in particular has expanded under Ms Burns’ watch. The company has installed its systems products across Macau, in some cases displacing other suppliers. One of its biggest single systems customers recently has been SJM, with directly managed properties such as Grand Lisboa and satellite properties such as L’Arc opting for Bally products. The company has also had sales success with systems installations at Galaxy Entertainment Group’s StarWorld Hotel & Casino and more recently the new Galaxy Macau on Cotai.
Bally Technologies’ regional expansion is also on track Down Under. The company won a contract to supply SkyCity with systems for the latter’s flagship property in Auckland, New Zealand—Bally’s first systems sale in the Australia-New Zealand market.
“On the games side, after two years of planning, we have completed our re-entry into the Australian market with the opening of our Sydney sales office and game-development studio,” Ms Burns told IAG.
A key attribute of successful people is that they are always looking forward to their next goal, rather than looking back at their past ones. By that token, Bally can look forward to further good news in Asia Pacific and beyond in 2012 with Cath Burns at the helm.
“At the end of the day, we’re here for the customers and the shareholders,” she says.
