THE MACAU METRO MONITOR

10/09/09 08:20AM EDT

GOLDEN TIMES IN MACAU destination-macau.com

The “Golden Week” that began with the celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China had seen “okay” traffic through Macau’s casinos until last Sunday when, according to DM, it seemed as though “the entire population of China…stormed the Gongbei border crossing into Macau”.   DM says that the Lisboa and the Venetian were particularly full and media were suggesting that revenues could be up as much as 40% on Golden Week last year.  While it will be a tall order to top the 53% year-over-year growth of September, October looks to be off to a very strong start.

WYNN STARTS WITH A BANG destination-macau.com

WYNN MACAU ENDS DAY UP 6% scmp.com

Wynn Macau was expected my many to fall on its debut, seen as expensive and as having all the upside priced in.  Today, its first day of trading, it closed at HK$10.78 (up 6%).  This is good news, of course, for Wynn Resorts but also for Las Vegas Sands.  Wynn’s rival is planning to list the Venetian Macau Limited's operations in Hong Kong in the near future.  LVS has a more pressing need for cash than Wynn; debt covenant pressure and the restarting of Lots 5&6 mean that LVS needs a successful Hong Kong IPO.

OCEANUS VS SANDS: ODDS, ANYONE? destination-macau.com

Oceanus is on track for a December 18th opening, although the date hasn't been finalized. Oceanus is directly opposite Sands and will have roughly the same number of gaming tables (300-350), but has the advantage of being connected by footbridge to the ferry terminal.  Frank McFadden will be in charge of Oceanus.  He has an impressive track record, having worked with Sands Macao from it’s opening until 2006 when he began working for Stanley Ho, starting at the Grand Lisboa.  Sands is now ran by Pete Wu, another impressive operator who has revitalized the property since he came on board.  The fact that Oceanus has a footbridge connection to the ferry terminal is undoubtedly an advantage for Oceanus, but Sands has 300 hotel rooms to Oceanus’ zero.  DM says that the Sands vs Oceanus battle will be one to watch. 



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