Kevin Sim has resigned from his position as Melco Crown Philippines’ chief operating officer last week.
In a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corporation said Sim stepped down from his position last Friday for “personal reasons.” The company said it will announce Sim’s replacement “at the appropriate time.”
Melco Crown Philippines, a unit of casino developer Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., operates the City of Dreams Manila casino resort in Manila.
Sim joined the firm in April 2013, from Genting Malaysia Berhad where he worked as the executive vice president for Genting Highlands Resort. During his time at Genting Malaysia, Sim was spearheaded the Business Intelligence Unit where data mining is used extensively to drive Genting’s customer relationship management initiatives.
Sim also worked as vice president of finance for Cambodian casino operator Naga Resorts.
It hasn’t been a good year for City of Dreams Manila. The integrated resort, which opened early this year, had to temporarily suspend about 100 workers as part of cost rationalization after its gaming business failed to ramp up.
Still, the casino is forecasting a stronger end to 2015, thanks to gaming revenues from the VIP segment. Back in August, Belle Corp. Vice Chair Willy Ocier said, “the second half of 2015 will be strong. COD just started VIP operations in July 2015.”
For the third quarter of 2015, City of Dreams Manila reported a revenue of $91.7 million, up from Q2’s $75 million. The integrated casino’s earnings also doubled to $24.4 million, while VIP turnover more than doubled to $1.2 billion. Mass table drop was flat at $117 million and gaming machine handle was up slightly at $508 million, but the casino’s non-gaming revenue dropped to $26.4 million.
City of Dreams Manila is the second integrated casino resort to open at Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (Pagcor) Entertainment City, following Bloomberry Resort Corp’s Solaire Resort and Casino. Two more resorts are scheduled to open in the 120-hectare development in the next few years: Universal Entertainment’s Manila Bay Resorts in the latter part of 2016, and Genting Group’s Resorts World Bayshore in 2018.
