MGM China to generate US$700m EBITDA
Fitch Ratings Inc projects a US$700 million EBITDA for MGM China Holdings Ltd in 2018, including its soon to be open MGM Cotai.
Macau.- MGM China Holdings Ltd is expected to generate about US$700 million in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) next year. According to a report by international finantial information agency Fitch Ratings Inc, the MGM Cotai will contribute with US$220 million of the total projection.
According to MGM Resorts International chairman James Murren, the US$3.34 billion MGM Cotai is scheduled to open during the last quarter of this year. The venue’s EBITDA, as reported by Fitch, will soften a 15 percent decline at MGM Macau, the company’s downtown venue. Despite its 25.3 increase during 1Q 2017 to US$143 million, the ratings agency expects a decrease for next year.
Fitch also expects MGM Resorts to achieve deleveraging “below 5.0 times gross leverage within the next 18 to 24 months, down from 5.6 times as of March 31, 2017”. The memo states that it “will come from EBITDA growth as National Harbor ramps up, MGM Cotai opens in late 2017, and the Las Vegas Strip remains strong.”
The agency announced that, for this year, the gross gaming revenue for Macau’s casino market is forecasted to be 12 percent, with “equal contribution from VIP and mass market revenues”.
