Olympia said to be keen on Ananda Krishnan-linked Pan Malaysian Pools

Sourced from here:

But no formal offer has been made

PETALING JAYA: The board of Olympia Industries Bhd has clarified that the company has expressed interest to acquire all the equity shares inPan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd from Tanjong plc, a company which has been taken private by T. Ananda Krishnan.

The announcement yesterday came following reports that Olympia's group managing director Tan Sri Yap Yong Seong was interested in acquiring the gaming arm of Tanjong, which was valued at between RM2.3bil and RM2.5bil.

However, the company's directors said no formal offer has been made and that the company would make the necessary announcement should there be further developments.

The board of directors of Olympia wishes to clarify that the company is constantly seeking investment opportunities to complement its businesses, they said.

A Pan Malaysian Pools number-forecast outlet

Govt approves lower cash prizes for 4-Digit, odds return to lottery companies

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PETALING JAYA: Christmas cheer has come early for Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) this year in the form of approval from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for number-forecast operators (NFOs) to lower their cash prizes for the 4-Digit (4D) Big Games in Malaysia.

BToto, the leading NFO by virtue of its 40% market share in the country, had been betting on getting the Government's approval for a lower prize payout to ease the pressure on its profit margin.

This followed after the Government, in the middle of this year, decided to increase the pool betting duty by an additional two-percentage points to 8% with effect from June 1.

That decision was a dampener to NFOs' earnings capacity.

For instance, in its first quarter ended July 2010, BToto's net profit fell 36.4% to RM63.9mil from RM100.5mil in the corresponding quarter last year.

Berjaya Sports Toto is the most profitable business for its parent company Berjaya Corp.

‘Duta’ Yap joins fray for Tanjong’s gaming unit

Sourced from here.:

Gaming and property magnate Datuk Yap Yong Seong has joined the bidding for Tanjong Plc’s gaming business — valued at about RM2.5 billion — which is also being eyed by the Cheng family and businessmen aligned to the MCA.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Yap, better known as Duta Yap, has put in an attractive bid for Tanjong’s Pan Malaysia Pools Sdn Bhd, which is a numbers forecast operator (NFO) and also runs the Big Sweeps Lottery apart from the management of horse-breeding and related activities of the National Stud Farm.

“Duta Yap is in the game and his bid is pretty good,” an industry source told The Malaysian Insider.

The source also said that businessmen aligned to MCA’s Huaren Holdings Sdn Bhd are still working on a bid despite party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek denying The Malaysian Insider’s report on November 10, 2010.

Asia/Australia combined gambling revenue to equal U.S. by 2014

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A new report estimates that Asia and Australia's gambling industries, will account for nearly as much of the world market as the United States by 2014, the Australian Associated Press reports.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP report predicts the market that includes Macau, Malaysia(Genting), Singapore, South Korea and Australia, will generate US$62.9 billion by then.

Revenue for companies in those markets was US$21.8 billion in 2009.

In the United States, the 2009 gambling revenue was US$57.2 billion, including all commercial and American Indian casinos.

PricewaterhouseCoopers expects that to edge up to US$68.3 billion by 2014.

Gambling revenue is far lower than the amount people actually wager on table games, slot machines and other casino bets.

American Indian casinos had US$26.5 billion in revenue in 2009, and the report projects, that will grow 2.7 per cent annualy to US$30.3 billion in 2014.

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates commercial gambling in the United States will grow to $US38 billion in 2014 from $US30.7 billion last year.

That includes regional casinos outside Nevada and New Jersey growing 6.1 per cent per year and gambling revenue in Atlantic City dropping 3.2 per cent per year.

Gambling in Nevada is expected to grow 4.1 per cent annually and generate US$12.5 billion in 2014.

The modest outlook for the United States is dramatically outshone by projections for Macau, already the world's top single gambling market.

The report says gambling revenue in Macau will grow nearly 25 percent each of the next five years, to US$45.1 billion in 2014.

That number would beat commercial gambling in the United States.

Two of the world's top four gambling companies - Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts - already make most of their profit in Macau, and their gambling revenue in the enclave dwarfs their United States gambling revenue.

NFOs revise prize structure

Extracted from the Edge Daily:

Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd, Berjaya Assets Bhd’s subsidiary Natural Avenue Sdn Bhd and Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd’s  (MPHB) subsidiary Magnum Corporation Sdn Bhd have received the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) approval to reduce the prizes.

They said the prizes for their games would be reduced from RM200 per RM1 bet to RM180 per RM1 bet. The revised prize structure, which would take effect from Dec 15, would have a positive impact on their earnings, they said.

The Edge FinancialDaily reports on Wednesday the revised prize structure of two number forecast operators (NFOs), Magnum Corp and BToto, could see little positive impact on their earnings as savings go towards compensating for the increase in betting duty and potentially lower sales.

Also from Star Biz:

Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd and Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd said their respective units, Magnum and Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd, received approval from the Finance Ministry on Dec 3 to revise the special prizes for their 4 Digit Big Game from RM200 per RM1 bet to RM180 per RM1 bet.

In separate filings with Bursa Malaysia, both companies said the special prizes for the 4 Digit Big permutation would be revised proportionately.

The revised prize structure would have a positive impact on the earnings of Magnum and Berjaya Sports Toto for their respective fiscal years.

Berjaya Assets Bhd said in a Bursa Malaysia filing that its subsidiary,Natural Avenue Sdn Bhd, the sole and exclusive agent appointed by Sarawak Turf and Equestrian Club to operate the numbers forecast lotteries, had received the Finance Ministry's approval to revise the starter prizes for its 1+3 Digit Big Game from RM200 per RM1 bet to RM180 per RM1 bet.

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Notable absentees from the list of NFO operators that obtained approval for prize reduction are Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd, Lotteries Corporation (88) Sdn Bhd and Sandakan Turf Club.

Interest Schemes registered with Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (Companies Commission of Malaysia)

The list of interest schemes registered with the Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (Companies Commission of Malaysia) can be found in the link here. The list is current to 2009. It does not appear to have been updated for 2010 as yet.