Iao Kun rolling chip turnover plunges 49 pct in March

The Iao Kun Group Holding Company Limited’s unaudited rolling chip turnover for the month of March in the company’s VIP rooms in Macau amounted to US$390 million (MOP3.1 billion), down 49 per cent year-on-year from the US$760 million of March 2015, according to a Tuesday statement issued by the company. Iao Kun said that the win rate for March was 4.83 per cent.
For the first three months of 2016, the rolling chip turnover was US$1.2 billion, a drop of 45 per cent year-on-year, compared to US$2.2 billion for the first three month of 2015. Rolling Chip Turnover represents the aggregate amount of non-negotiable chips VIP players purchase and is used by casinos to register the volume of VIP business transacted, with bets wagered with ‘non-negotiable chips’ and winning bets paid out in ‘cash’ chips.
The group, which operates through its subsidiaries and related promotion entities acting as VIP room gaming promoters and a collaborator, promotes five high-roller facilities in Macau casinos; namely, StarWorld Hotel & Casino and the Galaxy Macau Resort in Cotai, each of which is operated by Galaxy Casino, S.A. In addition, it has VIP gaming rooms in Sands Cotai Central, City of Dreams Macau and Le Royal Arc Casino.
The MSAR Government announced earlier this month that accumulated casino gross gaming revenue for the first quarter of 2016 in Macau was nearly MOP56.18 billion (US$7.03 billion), a 13.3 per cent decline year-on-year.
In March, Iao Kun chairman Lam Man Pou stated in the company’s annual results report that the firm does not expect high-roller turnover in Macau to rebound during 2016.