Macau casino operators to renew licences by year-end, analysts say
New legislation has come into force today, and Moody’s Investors Service Inc believes casinos will receive new direct licences by the end of the year.
Macau.- With Macau’s new gaming law entering force today (June 23), discussion is turning to the city’s anticipated casino licence retender. Moody’s Investors Service Inc believes the current concessionaires will all have new licences by the end of the year.
The current licences were to expire on June 26, but the government will sign off on six-month extensions today. That means new licences would need to be in place by the end of December. The new legislation allows up to six gaming concessions with a length of 10 years.
Analysts stated: “Failure to renew any existing concessions will pose a substantial risk to Macau’s government finances because of the significant amount of taxes and employment the industry generates.”
Moody’s analysts said they did not expect any significant changes on the industry. Analysts also referred to the new outbreak of Covid-19 cases in the city and said that the situation “again highlights the risks of a slow and uneven recovery in gross gaming revenue (GGR), which is credit negative to all operators in the gaming sector in Macau.”
According to Moody’s, Macau GGR will only reach 40 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and 80 per cent in 2023. Analysts expect a full recovery by 2024.
