Macau casino operators property EBITDA down 97% for Q3

Deutsche Bank has revealed property EBITDA was down 97 per cent when compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Macau.- Deutsche Bank has said Macau’s casino operators economic status declined during the third quarter when compared to the previous period, when EBITDA was down 83 per cent from the 2019 levels.

It said that Las Vegas Sands, Galaxy Entertainment and Melco Resorts all gained in their EBITDA market share during the third quarter to the detriment of SJM Holdings and Wynn Resorts. 

As regards gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Macau, Las Vegas Sands and Galaxy Entertainment Group continued leading the market share over Melco Resorts & Entertainment, Wynn Macau and SHM Holdings.

After the main casino operators shared their financial results, Deutsche Bank noted the companies were affected by the recent outbreak of Covid-19 cases during the October Golden Week.

Macau’s GGR for October was the lowest monthly GGR figure of 2021, below even August when the city recorded GGR of MOP$4.44bn (US$554.5m).

Lawrence Ho, Melco’s chairman and CEO, said: “Continued travel restrictions and quarantine measures in Macau and the region negatively impacted our third quarter operating and financial performance. 

“To preserve our cash and liquidity, we continue to enforce strong cost control discipline in respect to both operating expenses and capital expenditures.”

According to Deutsche Bank, industry margins in the latest quarter contracted by 2,570 basis points when compared to pre-pandemic levels while overall revenue was down 70 per cent. 

As regards VIP results, the figure was down 83 per cent when compared to 2019 levels but up 122 per cent year-on-year. Mass-market results were also down 68 per cent from pre-pandemic levels but up 394 per cent when compared to the last year.