Macau casino EBITDA to grow 2% in Q1, analysts say

EBITDA was impacted by an unfavourable hold, Citigroup says.

Macau.- Citigroup analysts George Choi and Ryan Cheung have noted that while Macau’s first-quarter GGR saw a sequential increase of approximately 5.9 per cent to MOP57.33bn (US$7.10bn), EBITDA was up just 2 per cent in quarter-on-quarter terms to US$2.02bn due to unfavourable hold rates.

They highlighted Wynn Macau for gaining 1.7 percentage points of GGR market share sequentially, reaching 15.1 per cent. MGM China also saw a 0.7-point increase in market share to 17 per cent, which analysts attributed to events such as the Bruno Mars concert at MGM Cotai in January. Citigroup said MGM’s early adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for gaming table operations has given it a technological advantage. 

Sands China experienced a two-point decline in market share to 23.4 per cent, while Galaxy Entertainment Group saw a decrease of 0.8 percentage points to 17.1 per cent, impacted by disruptions from renovation works at Galaxy Macau’s mass concourse before the Chinese New Year Golden Week.