The Macau Metro Monitor, May 19th, 2010


CASINO ENTRY LEVIES AMOUNT TO $70M AsiaOne News, Strait Times

Casino entry levy collected by the two casino operators in Singapore have amounted to about $70 million as of May 10, said Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.  He also said that it would be premature to draw conclusions on casino patronage and its attendant social impact from the entry levy data as it is still early days. Furthermore, Minister of State for Manpower, Lee Yi Shyan said that the two IRs now employ some 16,000 workers, with local hires accounting for 70%.

MAY NUMBERS LIKELY OFF THE CHARTS Intelligence Macau

IM consultants walked the floors the last two nights in Macau and asked at the front desk of a few hotels. On Monday, several in the vicinity of StarWorld, including the VIP-dedicated 550-room hotel itself, were sold out.  Mass gaming floors, including those at Wynn and Grand Lisboa, were heaving.  Keep in mind this is a perfect month of the year: Golden Week starts it off, and there is no public holiday in June to wait for, unlike the situation last month, when some gamers held back from visiting in anticipation of Golden Week.  MOP17-18bn is not improbable.

PROPERTY: FEWER TRANSACTIONS, HIGHER PRICES macaubusiness.com

A total of 6,386 building units were bought and sold at MOP10.02 billion in the first quarter of 2010 according to Stamp Duty records, down by 3.1% and 5.6% respectively quarter-to-quarter.

The majority (3,884 units) were residential units amounting to MOP7.94 billion, down by 14.6% and 10% respectively over the previous quarter, of which 3,106 units were situated in the Macau Peninsula and 768 in Taipa.  The average transaction price of residential units rose by 4.7% quarter-to-quarter to MOP26,845 per square metre of usable area.

SJM TO LOWER CONVERSION PRICE OF BONDS TO HK$5.24 VS. HK$5.35 WSJ

SJM Holdings said Tuesday it will lower the conversion price for its HK$2 billion worth of convertible bonds to HK$5.24 per share from HK$5.35 per share, effective June 1.  The company said it decided to lower the conversion price after proposing a final dividend of HK$0.09 a share for the year ended December 2009, which will be subject to shareholders' approval on May 31.  In September, SJM said it would issue HK$2 billion worth of six-year convertible bonds, and was planning to use the proceeds to supplement its capital for developing its Macau operations, and for general working capital.  None of the bonds has been converted into shares, the company said..


CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR APRIL 2010
DSEC

The Composite CPI (103.68) for April 2010 increased by 2.56% YoY, attributable to the price increases of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Transport.  The Composite CPI for April 2010 increased by 0.65% MoM.