Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) had a loss of 2,760 million Hong Kong dollars (342.4 million euros) in the second quarter of the year, the company announced on Monday.
Compared to the same period in 2021, the Macau casino operator almost doubled losses between April and Junea quarter in which gaming revenue in the city fell by two-thirds.
Macao’s economy, highly dependent on casinos and Chinese tourism, suffered a significant reduction in visitors, a situation aggravated by an outbreak of Covid-19, detected on June 18, which even led the authorities to decree a partial confinement, which determined the closure of the casinos for almost two weeks.
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SJM, founded by the late gaming tycoon Stanley Ho and which operates 23 of the 42 casinos in Macau, had already loss of 1.28 billion Hong Kong dollars (155 million euros) in the first quarter of the year, 4.1 million Hong Kong dollars (500 million euros) in 2021 and 3,000 million Hong Kong dollars (360 million euros) in 2020.
Balances that contrast with the profits recorded in the year prior to the 2019 pandemic, when the operator presented profits of 3.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (390 million euros).
Gambling revenue in Macau lost 95.3% in annual terms in July, to 398 million patacas (48 million euros), the worst result since 2003.
Revenue collected by casinos in July fell to the lowest level since the Census and Statistics Bureau began collecting monthly data in January 2003, at a time when the city had only one gaming operator.
According to figures from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Directorate (DICJ), in the first seven months of 2022, casinos raised MOP26.7 billion (3,200 million euros), 53.6% less than in the same period of the previous year.
Macau, the gaming capital of the world, is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.
Three concessionaires operate in the territory: Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, Galaxy, Wynn, and three sub-concessionaires, MGM, Venetian and Melco.
Companies accumulate unprecedented losses since 2020 and the Government has been forced to use the extraordinary reserve to respond to the crisisespecially since about 80% of government revenue comes from gaming taxes.
Sands China, the listed company that owns Venetian, also announced a loss of 422 million dollars (414 million euros) in the second quarter of the year, more than double the losses registered in the same period of 2021.
On Friday, the Government of Macao launched a public tender for six licenses to operate casino games, with a maximum term of ten years.
Each of the competitors must pay a deposit of at least 10 million patacas (1.22 million euros).
Source: Observadora
