Macau: Galaxy to avoid “excessive” cost cutting

The chairman of the casino company says Galaxy will “not cut costs excessively” in order to maintain customer service capacity.

Macau.- Galaxy Entertainment Group will balance cash conservation with maintaining customer service capacity ready for a recovering in visitor numbers, chairman Lui Che Woo has said.

In a report to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Galaxy’s chairman said: “It is important to not cut costs excessively and therefore adversely impact our ability to deliver upon customer service standards when business returns.”

While the business has been heavily impacted by the pandemic, the Macau government has asked local employers, including the city’s six gaming licensees, to maintain local employment during the crisis.

The industry saw gross gaming revenue (GGR) contract by 81.6 percent year-on-year in the eight months to August 31.

Lui said: “At Galaxy Entertainment Group, we have tried to spread the [economic] impact of Covid-19 fairly across all team members as we prefer not to engage in redundancies”.

He said staff members had made “voluntary contributions” to the firm in order to face the crisis. That included the board waiving directorship fees, and management taking non-paid leave.

Galaxy Entertainment has reported cash and liquid investments amounting to HKD49.8 billion (US$6.4 billion) as of June 30, with net cash of HKD43.6 billion.