Shares of Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) have been on a rollercoaster ride since January. First up about 36% to $16 in mid-February, now they have slid down almost 17% to a little over $13. It seems the market is having a hard time figuring out what to do with it.
Its previous money-spinning City of Dreams casino in Macau is still adjusting to the low number of high roller players and falling revenues. Crown's Australian casinos haven't picked up in business too strongly, either.
Yet sometimes that's the time to start following a stock. Buying Crown shares in this time of uncertainty may be a sound move. Here's why.
Long-term growth plan
The proposed development of two major integrated resorts in Sydney and Brisbane may seem slow over the next four years, but progress is being made. The Crown Sydney hotel development is moving along to the next stage of documentation.
Crown and construction contractor Lend Lease Group (ASX: LLC) are pushing to keep the project on schedule to open with VIP gaming in 2019. This could become the premier gaming and tourist destination for Sydney and draw in many visitors annually.
This year the Queensland state government plans to announce which casino operator will be allowed to develop a new integrated resort in the Brisbane CBD. Echo Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: EGP), which operates the existing Treasury Casino in Brisbane, is in the running with Crown. If Crown is successful, it will have opened in two major cities where it had no business before. The growth potential is big.
Two new gaming venues opening this year
In calendar year 2015, two new venues – one in Manila and Crown's second in Macau- will have opened. The recently opened City of Dreams Manila will be a new casino destination that can attract Japanese and Korean visitors who would regularly travel to Macau. In addition, some of the VIP players who don't visit Macau after the Chinese government's crackdown may see Manila as an alternative.
Crown's joint venture company Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd will be opening the new Studio City gaming venue soon, which has Hollywood-styled entertainment geared to mass market players and tourists. Macau tourism is projected to have record levels of visitors this year, so if more of them can be attracted to Studio City, it will help offset the loss of the VIP players over time.
