{"id":777044735,"date":"2026-07-10T07:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777044735"},"modified":"2026-07-10T10:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T13:25:08","slug":"macau-casino-ebitda-to-decline-7-in-q2-citi-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-casino-ebitda-to-decline-7-in-q2-citi-says","title":{"rendered":"Macau casino EBITDA down 7% in Q2, Citi says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Analysts describe the April-June period as the sector’s toughest quarter since the post-pandemic resumption of normal operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Macau.- Q2 Casino EBITDA in Macau is projected to be down 7 per cent <\/strong>year-on-year and 12 per cent quarter-on-quarter to around US$1.92bn, according to a research note from Citigroup<\/strong>. Analysts George Choi <\/strong>and Timothy Chau<\/strong> said the April-June quarter is likely to have been the industry’s most challenging since the post-pandemic resumption of normal operations in January 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decline is attributed to softer gaming activity during the FIFA Club World Cup<\/a> and unfavourable VIP hold rates that weighed on operators’ profitability. The analysts noted that the football tournament had temporarily diverted player spending away from Macau, while lower-than-normal luck in the VIP segment also pressured earnings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The margin is believed to have been down by 1.5 percentage points year-on-year to circa 25.8 per cent, amid a “lower-than-theoretical VIP hold,\u201d analysts wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among Macau’s six concessionaires, Citigroup expects Galaxy Entertainment, MGM China and Wynn Macau to post the strongest relative EBITDA performance during the quarter. Sands China is forecast to deliver broadly stable results, while Melco Resorts & Entertainment and SJM Holdings are expected to have faced greater earnings pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts expect an upcoming wave of concerts to stimulate casino visitation and gaming demand after the World Cup. They highlighted events such as The Music of Chan Fai Young: King of POP, featuring singers Eason Chan and Joey Yung, and Hins Cheung\u2019s UNPLUGGED2 concert as potential catalysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) reported that Macau\u2019s gross gaming revenue (GGR) was MOP18.52bn (US$2.8bn)<\/a> in June, down 12.1 per cent in year-on-year terms and 18.1 per cent compared to May<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/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> Macau gaming suspicious transaction reports rise 8.7% in H1 2026<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Analysts describe the April-June period as the sector’s toughest quarter since the post-pandemic resumption of normal operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":26451,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Macau's Q2 casino EBITDA is projected to decline 7% year-on-year and 12% quarter-on-quarter to US$1.92bn, marking the sector's most challenging period since January 2023. This downturn is attributed to reduced gaming activity during the FIFA Club World Cup and adverse VIP hold rates, impacting overall profitability and GGR. Analysts anticipate upcoming entertainment events will stimulate future demand.","focusai_entities":"Citigroup, George Choi, Timothy Chau, Galaxy Entertainment, MGM China, Wynn Macau, Sands China, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, SJM Holdings, Eason Chan, Joey Yung, Hins Cheung, Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), FIFA Club World Cup","focusai_location":"Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.75), operator_casino (0.98), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (0.99), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Macau Q3 Outlook?","query":"What specific operational adjustments are Macau's concessionaires implementing to mitigate the impact of adverse VIP hold rates and event-driven visitation fluctuations in Q3 and beyond?"},{"label":"VIP Segment Strategy?","query":"How are Macau operators recalibrating their VIP segment strategies, including junket partnerships and direct VIP programs, in response to persistent 'lower-than-theoretical hold' rates?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,163,24628,158],"tags":[25333,257],"class_list":["post-777044735","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-citi","tag-macau"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777044735","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=777044735"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777044735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777044759,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777044735\/revisions\/777044759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777044735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777044735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777044735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}