MGM to experience EBITDA growth in Macau

The casino operator could see the highest EBITDA growth in the Macau market in 2018, Morgan Stanley said.

Macau.- Morgan Stanley said that the under-construction MGM Cotai casino resort will reach adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$233 million in 2018. The casino is set to open during the fourth quarter of the year.

“MGM [China] could see the highest EBITDA growth among [Macau market] peers in 2018, and thus drive outperformance versus peers. We also expect MGM [China] to see the highest EBITDA growth among peers between 2017 and 2019,” said analysts Praveen Choudhary, Alex Poon and Thomas Allen said in a note on Sunday, as GGRAsia cited. The analysts expect MGM Cotai to generate EBITDA of US$395 million in 2019. “This translates into 35 percent and 22 percent overall EBITDA growth in 2018 and 2019, respectively,”

MGM Cotai is also expected to be focused on mass-market segment, with a 4.4 percent of the share in 2018 and 5.1 percent in 2019, based on 200 mass-market live gaming tables, said Morgan Stanley.

Moreover, Cotai’s developments will likely surpass the Macau’s downtown peninsula gaming zone, which would become the second casino hub in the territory, Senior Partner of US-based consultancy Global Market Advisors LLC (GMA), Andrew Klebanow said. Macau’s gambling market could probably change in a similar way as Las Vegas, when the Strip managed to become the main casino territory, leaving Downtown Las Vegas in second place.