{"id":777018175,"date":"2024-08-15T09:29:16","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T12:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777018175"},"modified":"2026-04-22T07:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T10:07:17","slug":"melco-ceo-plays-down-concerns-about-macau-measure-on-illegal-money-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/melco-ceo-plays-down-concerns-about-macau-measure-on-illegal-money-exchange","title":{"rendered":"Melco CEO plays down concerns about Macau measure on illegal money exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lawrence Ho said the measure could have a small impact in terms of liquidity for players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Macau.- Lawrence Ho<\/strong>, the chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts & Entertainment<\/strong>, has addressed concerns about an amendment\u00a0tackling illegal money exchange<\/a>\u00a0in Macau\u2019s proposed\u00a0Law on Combating Illegal Gambling Crimes<\/a>. During a Q2 earnings call, Ho downplayed the impact and said the gaming industry is rebounding<\/strong> after a temporary slowdown earlier in the summer due to the delayed start of Chinese school holidays and Euro 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Ho admitted the proposed legislation would <\/strong>have “a bit of an impact in terms of liquidity to players.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the amendments, unauthorised money changers could face sentences ranging from one month to five years in prison. They could also be banned from casinos for between two and 10 years. The proposed provision also covers hotels and performance venues that are ancillary to an integrated resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melco Resorts posts revenue of US$1.16bn for Q2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Melco reported operating revenue of US$1.16bn<\/strong> for the second quarter of the year, up 22 per cent in year-on-year terms<\/a>. The increase was attributed to improved performance in the mass market segment and non-gaming operations driven by the recovery in inbound tourism to Macau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company posted operating income of US$123.7m<\/strong>, compared to US$64.3m in the second quarter of 2023. The group\u2019s adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was US$302.8m compared with US$267.3m in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawrence Ho said: \u201cOur strategic initiatives to expand revenue and profitability, and drive growth continued to evolve in the second quarter of 2024. We are investing in people and incorporating enhancements to our properties to provide the best premium experience available in Macau to our patrons. We\u2019ve seen growth in GGR quarter-to-quarter and year-over-year, and our teams are focused on driving continued expansion of our market position.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawrence Ho said the measure could have a small impact in terms of liquidity for players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":19449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Melco Resorts & Entertainment CEO Lawrence Ho addressed Macau's proposed Law on Combating Illegal Gambling Crimes, specifically amendments targeting unauthorized money exchange, acknowledging a potential impact on player liquidity. Concurrently, Melco reported robust Q2 2024 financial results, with operating revenue up 22% year-on-year to US$1.16bn, driven by mass market recovery and non-gaming operations in Macau. Ho highlighted strategic investments and sustained GGR growth.","focusai_entities":"Lawrence Ho, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, Melco","focusai_location":"Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Player Liquidity Impact","query":"What specific operational adjustments are Melco Resorts & Entertainment implementing to mitigate the anticipated impact on player liquidity from Macau's new illegal money exchange legislation?"},{"label":"Mass Market Growth Drivers","query":"Beyond inbound tourism, what specific strategic initiatives and capital allocations are driving Melco's sustained GGR growth in the mass market segment, and what is the projected long-term yield from these investments?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16338],"tags":[23970],"class_list":["post-777018175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-melco-resorts-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777018175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777018175"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777018175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777018190,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777018175\/revisions\/777018190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777018175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777018175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777018175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}