Playboy (PLA) discusses casino opportunities in Shanghai (quotes from conf call)

Below are some comments from Playboy Enterprises (ticker: PLA) from its May 5, 2005 conference call with investors.

… I believe is there are a handful of large urban markets that have…legalized gaming in regulated environments that would be very attractive to our company to do multifaceted Playboy-branded entertainment centers with local partners that would encompass gaming and club and retail and show, and Las Vegas was the first of those.

Now, Shanghai we all understand does not allow gaming, but the extraordinary significance of the Chinese market. …explosive growth there in our branded consumer products, the club market as it exists in Shanghai, and the availability of really strong participators with the financing and operating capability convinced me that I would make an exception for Shanghai.

But the other markets we would look at… are the markets that do allow gaming in Asia and Europe and potentially elsewhere in the U.S. …What we have said is that…a full year of contribution from just Shanghai and Las Vegas is going to equal $5 million in licensing royalties at an 80% margin, so obviously we think that the potential value creation with no capital investment for the company is significant

(Quotes are from the CCBN StreetEvents transcript.)