{"id":777036632,"date":"2026-01-09T08:35:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777036632"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:33:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:33:49","slug":"macau-casino-operators-faced-cost-headwinds-in-q4-says-citi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-casino-operators-faced-cost-headwinds-in-q4-says-citi","title":{"rendered":"Macau casino operators faced cost headwinds in Q4, says Citi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Analysts said increased operating expenses muted gains for Macau\u2019s gaming concessionaires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Macau.- Analysts at Citigroup <\/strong>have said that operating leverage in Macau\u2019s casino industry in the fourth quarter of 2025 was less pronounced than expected due to costs tied to hosting the NBA China Games<\/strong>, supporting the 15th National Games<\/strong> and expenses from the closure of satellite casinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent research note, Citi forecast that the industry\u2019s EBITDA for Q4 likely rose around 13 per cent year-on-year to US$2.25bn driven by continued gross gaming revenue (GGR) growth. However rises in operating costs offset some of the anticipated leverage benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts George Choi <\/strong>and Timothy Chau<\/strong> wrote: \u201cIf it were not for the incremental operating expenses from the NBA China Games and the 15th National Games, plus the costs related to SJM\u2019s satellite casino closure, operating leverage for the industry in the fourth quarter would have been much greater.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citi expects Galaxy Entertainment, MGM China and Sands China forecast to have gained market share in Q4, while SJM may have lost ground due to its satellite closures<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts at\u00a0Citigroup\u00a0<\/strong>have predicted that Macau\u2019s gross gaming revenue (GGR) could grow\u00a06 per cent this year<\/a> to MOP263.5bn (US$33bn)<\/strong>, which would be about 90 per cent of the 2019 total. It predicts that EBITDA will grow by 10 per cent and that EBITDA margins will remain flat at circa 29 per cent.
<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Seaport predicts strong Q1 for Macau gaming revenue<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Analysts said increased operating expenses muted gains for Macau\u2019s gaming concessionaires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":777036635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Analysts from Citigroup indicate that Macau's casino industry experienced muted operating leverage in Q4 2025, despite GGR growth, due to significant operating expenses from events like the NBA China Games, the 15th National Games, and satellite casino closures. While Q4 EBITDA is projected to rise 13% year-on-year, these costs offset anticipated benefits, leading to market share shifts among concessionaires. Citi forecasts 2025 GGR growth of 6% to US$33bn, with EBITDA growing 10% and margins remaining flat at 29%.","focusai_entities":"Citigroup, Citi, George Choi, Timothy Chau, Galaxy Entertainment, MGM China, Sands China, SJM","focusai_location":"Macau, China","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.7), operator_casino (1.0), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Macau OpEx Impact","query":"How do the identified incremental operating expenses from non-gaming events and satellite casino closures specifically alter the long-term operating leverage model for Macau's concessionaires, and what mitigation strategies are being considered?"},{"label":"Market Share Shifts","query":"Beyond Q4 2025, what are the projected market share trajectories for Galaxy Entertainment, MGM China, Sands China, and SJM, considering ongoing operational adjustments and potential new market entrants or regulatory changes?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,163,24628,158],"tags":[29,23908,23906],"class_list":["post-777036632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-finance-news","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-slider-home","tag-casino","tag-gaming-regulation","tag-macau-casinos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777036632","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\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777036632"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777036632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777036648,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777036632\/revisions\/777036648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777036635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777036632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777036632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777036632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}