City of Dreams will be a must-see integrated urban entertainment resort that will combine electrifying entertainment, stylish nightclubs, an amazing array of accommodation options, top-notch dining, world-class shopping as well as a spacious and contemporary casino.

“Our dreams are taking shape. In approximately one year, City of Dreams will begin to welcome visitors from all over the world,” said Lawrence Ho, Co-Chairman and CEO of MPEL at the topping out ceremony. “Macau is transforming from a gaming-focused destination into a leisure hot spot. City of Dreams will continue to drive this phenomenon and usher in a new era of gaming and entertainment in Macau.”

In addition to approximately 2,200 guest rooms and a wide range of restaurants and bars, City of Dreams will offer a kaleidoscope of entertainment options including stylish nightclubs, live music venues, free attractions and the spectacular Dragone show. The resort will also incorporate a 420,000-square-foot casino with over 550 gaming tables and 1,500 gaming machines.

One of the iconic landmarks of City of Dreams will be a free attraction that will provide visitors with a totally immersive experience, unlike anything they have seen in Asia or elsewhere in the world. Housed in a unique dome-shaped theatre, the production will combine high-definition video content, a customized music score, thousands of theatrical lights and a variety of sensory effects to create a spectacular 10-minute visual extravaganza that is sure to become a must-see for every visitor to Macau.

Renowned for spectacular and imaginative productions, Dragone will stage a permanent show at City of Dreams. Founder Franco Dragone will personally direct the breathtaking water-themed show, created specifically for City of Dreams, which is due to open in Macau in the second half of 2009.

A variety of musical performances by well-known regional acts, emerging artists and cover bands will be staged at a live concert venue that can accommodate up to 1,500 people.

The different styles of accommodation at City of Dreams will meet the diverse tastes of the wide spectrum of visitors the resort will attract from Asia and around the world. The options will include Crown Towers Cotai, Hard Rock Hotel, the Grand Hyatt’s twin towers and the apartment hotel, which will together provide over 2,200 guest rooms and suites. Each hotel will also offer its own individual spa and leisure facilities.

“We introduced the Crown brand into Macau in 2007 with the opening of Crown Macau, which has quickly become the property of choice for high-rolling VIP customers in Macau,” said Mr. James Packer, Executive Chairman of Crown Limited, and Co-Chairman and Director of MPEL. “We are very excited about extending the Crown brand in Macau, which is synonymous with a luxury six-star experience, through the opening of the Crown Towers Cotai at City of Dreams. City of Dreams is testament to our optimism about the future rapid development of the Macau market.”

City of Dreams will also feature a broad range of restaurants, noodle bars, cafes and lounges. These food and beverage venues will be located throughout the resort offering fine dining experiences as well as casual meals.

The resort will be home to some of the world’s most sought-after and acclaimed brands, with approximately 175,000 square feet of boutiques featuring high-end fashion labels as well as premium jewellery and watch brands.

Phase one of the City of Dreams resort will feature the casino, restaurants, retail boutiques, nightclubs, the iconic audio visual attraction, Crown Towers and Hard Rock Hotel. Phase one will be completed during the first half of 2009 with the date of the grand opening to be set early next year. The operation of the entire City of Dreams will require the support of 12,000 employees, which the company intends to recruit through a series of career fairs in Macau and throughout Asia starting in the summer of 2008.

With permission :: Melco PBL

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The Hong Kong-listed company said its net profit in the 12 months ended Dec. 31 was HK$2.69 billion (US$346 million; ?219 million), down from HK$2.84 billion in 2006.

Melco ? controlled by Lawrence Ho, son of Macau gaming magnate Stanley Ho said revenue rose 27 percent to HK$1.02 billion (US$131 million; ?83 million) from HK$801 million.

The company’s board proposed a final dividend of HK$0.01 (US$0.001; ?0.0008) per share, unchanged from a year earlier.

Melco booked a gain of HK$3.1 billion (US$398 million; ?252 million) from the listing of unit Melco PBL Entertainment Macau Ltd. (MPEL) in the U.S. in December 2006.

Melco PBL is one of six licensed casino operators in Macau, the only place in China where casino gambling is allowed.

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In December 2007, average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees in the Gaming Industry rose by 6.6% year-on-year to US$1,862. Average earnings for employees in positions that are directly related to betting services stood at US$1,867, up by 2.0% over December 2006. The average earnings for services and sales workers, including casino and slot machine attendants/hosts, security and surveillance workers, etc., increased by 10.9% to US$1,119.

At the end of December 2007, the Gaming Industry reported 3,411 vacant posts, a decrease of 2,220 from a year earlier. Of these vacancies, 1,685 were for hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, dealers, betting service operators, etc., while 994 vacancies were for services and sales workers.

In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 62.7% of the vacancies required no working experience; 94.8% required junior secondary or higher education. Besides Cantonese, other preferred language skills were Mandarin (75.5%) and English (50.7%).

Courtesy :: Macau Statistics and Census Service

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The latest report shows the openings of the Venetian Macau, MGM Grand Macau, Grand Lisboa and Crown Macau last year strengthened the island’s position as a world-class tourist destination.

Despite the slowdown in the number of residential sales transactions in 3Q2007, the overall residential market experienced significant growth in 2007 owing to rising personal incomes, falling interest rates and accelerating inflation. For the first eleven months of 2007, the number of residential transactions recorded a total of 19,946, which already surpassed the level of 2006’s total (17,175 units). The average residential transacted price edged up 21.2% Year-to-Year to an average of US$1,714.50 per sq m of usable area in 3Q2007. This was mainly attributable to the strong performance of the high-end residential sector. In the leasing perspective, the continual inflow of expatriates continued to drive rental upwards. There were a total of 85,207 non-resident workers in Macau as at the end of December 2007, up 27.6% since January 2007.

There were 27 million visitors by the end of last year, which was a year-on-year growth rate of 22.8 per cent. The rising number of visitors as well as increased spending by residents drove retail sales up 33.2 per cent last year and there was a 9.4 per cent year-on-year growth for private consumption expenditure in last year’s third quarter.

The report said sustained low interest rates of about 3 per cent and accelerating inflation, together with strong economic fundamentals, would help trigger stronger demand for residential properties.

“In addition, the proposed plan of the first home buyers loan scheme will add extra impetus to the sales market,” the report said.

And on the all-important hotel sector, the report showed that average hotel occupancy rate was 83 per cent, despite the number of hotel rooms expanding by 24.4 per cent year-on-year to more than 16,000 to the end of December.

“The continuous arrival of new resorts and ongoing development of meetings, incentive tours, conventions and exhibitions industries remain the key factors for a positive outlook.”

Hotel projects in the pipeline include the first stage of Ponte 16, which started operations last month, with 420 rooms in the 20-storey hotel and a 25,000 square metre casino.

There are also four hotel-casino developments scheduled to open this year: the Four Seasons, Sheraton Macau, Shangri-La and the Traders.

“Macau enjoyed almost 30 per cent growth in 2007 as a gaming and entertainment hub,” the Colliers report said. “Gaming revenue increased by 45.7 per cent year on year to more than 24.9 million pataca [$3.43 million] in the fourth quarter 2007, fetching a total of 83.8 billion pataca in 2007.”

Thanks to all that cash rolling in, the average residential price edged up over 20 per cent, with almost 20,000 transactions. Colliers said the residential projects coming on line included Harbour Mile by Sun Tak Property comprising seven towers - five for residential, one for office and retail and one for serviced apartments - due for completion by 2010.

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City of Dreams Complex

According to the Daily Telegraph, Crown Macau owned by Melco PBL Entertainment, James Packer’s first casino foray in the city had a rocky start after its opening in May last year.

But its fortunes have been given a major boost as a result of a strategic deal late last year with a Hong Kong-listed junkets operator, A-Max, and the decision to refocus the casino entirely on the VIP market.

The aggressive deal with A-Max, which involves higher than industry average total commissions of up to 1.35 per cent, has helped bring VIP gamblers to the upmarket casino, taking market share off more experienced operators, such as Macau veteran Stanley Ho and new players Galaxy and the Macau Sands.

“Thanks to A-Max’s junkets, Melco PBL’s market share improved substantially from 5.7 per cent in November to 18.1 per cent in February, making Crown Macau the busiest casino in the world in terms of betting volume,” Credit Suisse’s Hong Kong-based gambling analyst, Gabriel Chan, says in a bullish new report on the company.

“If we focus on market share in the high-roller segment alone, the improvement was even more astonishing with market share increasing from 6.6 per cent in November to 24.8 per cent in February.”

“A-Max junkets generated about $US5.3 billion ($5.8 billion) in rolling chip turnover in February, up about 5 per cent month on month,” he said.

“In our view, there is room for further growth.

“We expect A-Max’s junkets to generate on average $US6.3 billion rolling chip turnover per month in 2008.” Packer’s Crown now has a 37.9 per cent stake in the company, which listed on the US Nasdaq market in late 2006, alongside the Hong Kong-based Melco, operated by Stanley Ho’s son Lawrence Ho.

Macau observers say the aggressive deal struck with A-Max has seen the junket operator bring in substantial new volumes of high-rollers to Crown Macau, which has been difficult for its rivals to match.

“There has been a dramatic shift in the market since December,” one Macau veteran said last week.

“Stanley Ho’s junket operators have been struggling. Galaxy has been losing market share as well.

“It has not been easy for them to find the consolidators who can bring in the same horsepower as A-Max.”

Under the deal, A-Max, a consolidator of junket operators, receives a total commission rate of between 1.2 per cent and 1.35 per cent from Crown.

A-Max in turn pays its junket operators up to 1.2 per cent.

In the past, Macau casino operators would only pay around 1.1 or 1.2 per cent in total to junket operators to bring in high-rolling gamblers to their premises.

Observers say the financial viability of the Crown Macau deal with A-Max, which involves a potentially higher total commission structure, is dependent on A-Max being able to deliver high volumes, which has so far been the case.

Macau gaming turnover continues to increase, with total monthly revenues twice the level of the Las Vegas strip in recent months.

Unlike last year, which saw a flood of new casino openings in Macau, 2008 is not expected to see any substantial new supply come on to the market, giving the existing operators a chance to consolidate their positions.

The past few months have also seen Crown enjoy an increase in its “hold rate”, or house percentage retained, which has also helped the success of its operations. “Crown’s hold rate was terrible,” said one observer.

“It used to be around 2.2 per cent on baccarat, but now it is 2.7 per cent.”

Crown’s success has put pressure on its rivals to increase the commissions paid to junket operators. As Chan notes in his report, the junket operators now have more bargaining power in Macau than the casino operators.

Chan says that Galaxy’s market share has dropped from 14.9 per cent in November to only 10.3 per cent in February.

“Galaxy has extended credits to select junket operators and raised its commission rate to 1.25 per cent, even higher than the 1.2 per cent A-Max is paying junket operators,” he notes.

The new competition from Crown has also prompted Sheldon Adelson’s massive Venetian, which opened in mid-2007, to revise its commission structure, a move which has helped to boost its market share by 2 percentage points to 12 per cent in February. The Venetian’s commission rate is now 1.26 per cent.

Chan predicts that Melco PBL’s earnings before interest, tax and depreciation could reach as high as $US280 million in 2008. “With a total construction cost of about $US570 million, we estimate Crown’s payback period to be only about two years,” he says.

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