The analyst group appears to have determined that the casino resort will be able to grow strongly in VIP games within the next two years.
In a note published today, industry analyst Grant Govtsen said the forecast for Tigre de Cristal is for a monthly VIP volume of HK$2 billion. That’s slightly above $257 million in the second half of the year.VIP rolling chip volume is expected to increase by about 19% year-on-year to HK$2.4 billion, with an estimated HK$2.8 billion .
According to Govtsen, the amount is largely in line with what was seen in other jurisdictions as the VIP program began. The analyst noted that the VIP game forecast for casinos is about 1% of the size of the Macau market, which is 0.6% in the second half of this year.
Tigred Crystal is considered a VIP-centric casino, even though the venue’s mass market business covers almost all of its real estate operating expenses. The property’s public game table trading volume is expected to grow from 8% to 9% next year, according to forecasts.
G1 Entertainment LLC holds a gaming license for the casino, while Summit Accent holds a full stake in the G1 company. In today’s memo, Gerberchen forecast Summit Accent to post mid-teens EBITDA over the next two years with growth after the completion of Phase 2 of Tigred Crystal.
The second phase of construction of the casino resort will cover an area of 100,000 square meters, and construction will begin in the second half of next year. This phase will include more hotel rooms, shopping areas, restaurants and meeting spaces. The cost of this step is estimated at about $500 million.
Stage 2 is known to represent a new resort, not an existing casino expansion, and games alone will include 100 VIP gaming tables, slot machines, 500 electronic games, and 70 large-capacity tables.