“Macau’s gaming market will improve in the medium term” – MGM CFO

Jonathan Halkyard, CFO of MGM Resorts International, spoke about the future of Macau’s gaming market in an online session at the Morgan Stanley Global Retail and Consumer Conference.

Macau.- Jonathan Halkyard, MGM’s chief financial officer, has said that Macau’s gaming market will improve in the medium term. However, speaking in online session at the Morgan Stanley Global Retail and Consumer Conference, he said that Macau’s gaming market performance will be irregular over the next six or twelve months.

He said: “I think it’s going to improve, but it’s unknowable at this point how quickly that will improve.”

Referring to the third-quarter earnings of the six operators in the Macau market, the CFO said: “This is a market that has been impaired by the travel restrictions into it, and that’s going to last for a while.”

As for the two MGM venues in Macau, he said: “We’ve got two big businesses there we’re committed to, we have a great management team. It’s just going to be a tough road for a while.”

Halkyard was also asked about Macau’s casino licences renewal and the review of the city’s gaming laws. He said: “I don’t know if we will make it by next June. But we feel like our company is in a very good position for concession retendering. We’re taking the process very seriously of course, but we’re very optimistic about it.”

The Macau government has previously stated that the current casino licences will expire in June 2022 and that a new open tender process will be carried out, but Macau’s gaming law will be revised before then. 

Halkyard also referred to the arrest of Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, CEO of Suncity Group, in Macau and how the news could impact the junket industry and MGM’s businesses. He noted that MGM‘s business is oriented towards the mass and VIP “which has much better margins than the junket business.”