Ambrose So, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SJM Holdings, gave detailed information about the future plans of the company and the detention of Alan Ho.
He announced that SJM’s executives are currently waiting to see the final say of local authorities about the detention of Mr. Ho. Those who keep themselves informed know that Alan Ho was deterred after being involved in a prostitution racket.
During the celebrations for the Chinese New Year, Mr. So commented on the unpleasant situation and said that it was better to see what the outcome would be.
Apart from Mr. Ho’s case, the SJM Chairman also provided information about the latest ventures of the company as well as his standpoint about the complicated situation on the Asian gambling sector in general.
Mr. So put emphasis on the fact that despite the serious revenue-related issues, Macau has all chances of undergoing revitalization and becoming as attractive to players as it used to be. However, the issues concerning the government policies and the increased competition make the entire business environment quite uncertain.
The Chairman of the Board also shared that the Lisboa Palace project is going to be completed towards the end of 2017 as planned.
Angela Leong, the Managing Director of SJM, also said that she is convinced in the bright future of the gambling sector in Macau.
She pointed to the importance of the Cotai project and the future benefits it would bring about and added that everyone involved in the construction of the Lisboa Palace is dedicating a great amount of time and efforts for making it the most attractive gambling destination on a global scale.
As for the above-mentioned increased competition, it seems like SJM Holdings’ executives are getting concerned about the expansion of the gambling sector and that is why Ambrose So said that he and the other casino executives are totally against the idea that has been put forward recently.
According to the plan of Macau gambling officials, more companies are to become available on the market since there is a chance for obtaining licenses.
However, SJM executives do not consider the idea particularly beneficial to the local gambling sector.
When asked about the problematic revenues and the fact that February will be the eight month in a row when a rapid decline is to be reported, he said he is convinced that when the “adjustment period” is over, impressive revenues are to be announced.
According to him as well as a great number of market analysts, the revenues will slowly but surely increase from the second half of 2015 onwards.
