{"id":8682,"date":"2012-03-20T13:48:36","date_gmt":"2012-03-20T21:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=8682"},"modified":"2012-03-20T13:48:36","modified_gmt":"2012-03-20T21:48:36","slug":"adelson-minions-visit-encore-big-gaming-courts-wall-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/adelson-minions-visit-encore-big-gaming-courts-wall-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Adelson minions visit Encore: Big Gaming courts Wall Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"There will be Ice Capades in Hell before Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> sets foot in Encore<\/strong>, I should expect. However, with J.P. Morgan<\/strong> holding an investor conference at Wynncore<\/strong>, it would be poor form of Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> — currently the darling of Wall Street<\/strong> — not to send somebody<\/em>. Rob Goldstein<\/strong>, global gaming viceroy (right<\/em>), and CFO Kenneth Kay<\/strong> drew the short straws. Their bulletins to The Street included the message that Sands will continue to press for additional hotel towers in Singapore<\/strong> (unlikely as it seems the government will go for it). Marina Bay Sands<\/strong> is running at 90% capacity with ADRs in the $300+ range. Refinancing of the MBS debt will be at 3% interest — and why not? By my very rough measure, Marina Bay is in the 20%-25% ROI range, making it one of the smallest risks in gaming, probably the<\/em> smallest.<\/p>\n

Pounding Sands<\/strong>. Elsewhere in the Pacific Rim<\/strong>, Sands is “pounding the pavement” in South Korea<\/strong> and Japan<\/strong>. There may be a significant change of direction in Macao<\/strong>, where LVS is now talking about “more of a non-gaming focus” for hitherto-undeveloped Site 3<\/strong> on the Cotai Strip<\/strong>. As we’ve noted in the past, the Macanese government is trying to curb casino development in Cotai before it gobbles up the whole isthmus. Sands’ new trophy property, Cotai Central<\/strong> (they need to find a sexier name, for Pete’s sake) will open April 11 and is expected to be a huge mass-market draw. Despite what was euphemistically described as “junket re-engagement,” Sands China<\/strong>‘s bread and butter continues to be mass-market play, which execs described as exponentially (as much as 4X) more remunerative than VIP gambling.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ameristar Casinos<\/strong> had nothing to say we didn’t know already while Wyndham Worldwide<\/strong> proffered doublespeak from CEO Stephen Holmes<\/strong>. Neither “strategic initiatives across the platform” nor an expected gusher of free cash flow ($600 million-plus projected for 2012) spelled resumption of Wyndham’s comatose Desert Blue<\/strong> towers, behind The Rio<\/strong>. Which means Anthony Curtis<\/strong> will continue to have this pile of crap staring him in the face for another year. Moving right along …<\/p>\n

\"\"Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong> was outspoken and optimistic, although it did betray a note of anxiety regarding Ameristar’s Mojito Pointe<\/strong> takeover, saying it still had two years to make hay in the Lake Charles<\/strong> market. It called Ameristar’s upsizing of Mojito Pointe a “positive” and said\u00a0 Pinnacle “expects to work well with ASCA.” Interestingly, CEO Anthony Sanfilippo<\/strong> and CFO Carlos Ruizsanchez<\/strong> posited that their Baton Rouge<\/strong> casino (now slated for Labor Day opening) may be even nicer than L’Auberge du Lac<\/strong>, which is no small boast. They also argued that current revenues in “Red Stick” are deceptively low, since “players there go to New Orleans<\/strong> and Biloxi<\/strong>, given the lack of a nice property in the market<\/em>.” Wow! You almost never hear a gambling CEO come right out and describe the competition as crap. They’re probably right, though.<\/p>\n

On other fronts<\/strong>, Pinnacle “expects much greater clarity” by June on its legal standing in Ohio<\/strong>, where it hopes to open a Cincinnati<\/strong>-area racino. A favorable ruling would trigger a “phased expansion,” with Phase One completed by late-spring 2013. Sanfilippo isn’t on the hook for any additional contribution to Asian Coast Development<\/strong>‘s $4 billion casino megaresort in Vietnam<\/strong>, where Pinnacle has landed a second management contract.<\/p>\n

Boyd Gaming<\/strong> bitched and moaned about big, bad Station Casinos<\/strong> and an irrational (Boyd’s characterization) promotional environment, blamed for diluting recent surges in revenue. Wrote Morgan analysts, “one of [Boyd’s] larger competitors continues to be aggressive on this front<\/em>.” Oh, life is so unfair!<\/p>\n

\"\"Actual revenue growth, per Boyd, is 2%, tops, the rest being “bought.” CFO Josh Hirshberg<\/strong> also noted “headwinds” that include high unemployment, although the Vegas locals market continues to regain strength. Hirshberg’s tone improved when Boyd discussed non-Vegas markets, where growth is said to be low but stable, with a renascence in Dixie and the Midwest. However, deferred maintenance ($15 million worth) is mounting and cost-cutting is still taking place at IP Biloxi<\/strong>, where the company hopes to save another $5 million.<\/p>\n

Boyd waxed sanguine about Atlantic City<\/strong>, saying it expects $2.4 billion Revel<\/strong> to grow the market and said any changes at Borgata would be of a “reactionary” nature. Hirshberg also touted Boyd’s Bwin<\/strong> online partnership and even channeled Gary Loveman<\/strong> for a moment, saying federal legalization of online poker would happen, “even if we see movement in individual states in the near term.” (Isn’t that called closing the barn door after the horse has bolted?)<\/p>\n

\"\"The petroleum business can’t be doing that badly, since Penn National Gaming<\/strong> observed that “markets where the oil industry has a significant presence saw outsized [gambling revenue] gains in 2011<\/em>.” Guess those high gas prices are good for somebody<\/em>. CFO William Clifford<\/strong> credited “mild weather, lower utility bills, a more upbeat consumer, and lower unemployment” with getting Penn off to a robust start in 2012. Clifford expects the performance of its Ohio casinos to be comparable to that of its flagship property in Pennsylvania<\/strong>. Actually, Hollywood Toledo<\/strong> is projected to outgross its Columbus<\/strong> counterpart, because it’s in a market that’s become habituated to casino gambling, thanks to nearby Detroit<\/strong>. As for its new Kansas<\/strong> racino, Penn actually feared greater<\/em> cannibalization of its Argosy<\/em> riverboat in Kansas City<\/strong> than the 8% decline S&G<\/em> reported yesterday. Comp wars are not expected.<\/p>\n

\"\"Clifford had a somewhat contradictory dispatch from M Resort<\/strong> (right<\/em>), which “continues to ramp” (a wonderfully vapid Wall Street phrase) but it “hasn’t seen any real increase” in locals play. So it’s doing better … but still doing basically the same? Sounds like “ramp” is a nice term for “cost cutting.” On the East Coast, Penn expects no Massachusetts<\/strong> licenses to be awarded until 2013 but continues to fret itself silly about the impact of Cordish Gaming<\/strong>‘s Arundel Mills<\/strong> casino on Penn’s own Charlestown<\/strong> racino. Guess that Perryville<\/strong> slot parlor really was a bust after all.<\/p>\n

While I’m certain we’ll hear from MGM Resorts International<\/strong> and Wynn Resorts<\/strong> before the week is out, I wonder if Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> will deign to put in an appearance, now that it’s (albeit in a tiny way) publicly traded again?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There will be Ice Capades in Hell before Sheldon Adelson sets foot in Encore, I should expect. However, with J.P. Morgan holding an investor conference at Wynncore, it would be poor form of Las Vegas Sands — currently the darling … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[40,23,60,70,28,44,14,7,22,37,45,84,63,62,53,72,112,11,35,39,71,69,95,30,111,25,12,108,57,32,9,19,38,139],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8684,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8682\/revisions\/8684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}