Gaming operator SJM Holdings Ltd. may soon increase the salaries of its workers. But the rate of the raise is still to be decided, the company’s chief executive officer Ambrose So Shu Fai said yesterday, adding the gaming operator is still looking into the matter. The move comes after Grand Lisboa’s cage cashiers held two demonstrations complaining that their wages only went up by MOP500 (US$62.5) since the property opened in February 2007, far below the increases enjoyed by their fellow croupiers. Asked about the potential impact on SJM Holdings business of the government’s plans to make the future Pac On ferry terminal, in Taipa, the city’s main maritime border crossing in the future, Mr So said “building one more terminal is necessary, but it should only be there to help divert the flow of visitors, and not replace the [peninsula] terminal.” Currently, SJM Holdings is mostly peninsula-focused, with only a couple of satellite casinos in Taipa. It has no presence whatsoever in Cotai, although the gaming operator has a land request to build a resort there pending. The future Pac On ferry terminal is expected to be finished in mid-2013 and will have a capacity for 15 million passengers per year. Meanwhile, SJM Holdings said today it would announce some unaudited key performance indicators for the third quarter of 2011 on November 7.
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