The gaming operator MGM China had closed 2023 with a record profit of 864.2 million euros, after three consecutive years of losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Macau gaming operator, MGM China, announced this Thursday “record results” for the first quarter of 2024, with a year-on-year increase in profits of 77.3%.
The company posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and restructuring or leasing costs (EBITDAR) of HK$2.5 billion (€299 million) between January and March.
According to a statement sent to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the result for the first quarter of 2024 also represents an increase of 54.7% compared to the same period in 2019, before the start of the pandemic.
MGM China had closed 2023 with a record profit of 7.24 billion Hong Kong dollars (864.2 million euros), after three consecutive years of losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The two hotel-casinos operated by the company in the Chinese special region recorded revenue of 8.26 billion Hong Kong dollars (985.5 million euros), 70.6% more than in the first quarter of 2023 and more than 43.4% than in 2019.
MGM China’s parent company, US-based MGM Resorts International, said results benefited from the “lifting of travel and entry restrictions.” [em Macau] due to Covid-19.”
Macau, which like China followed the ‘zero Covid’ policy, reopened its borders to all foreigners, including tourists, on January 8, 2023, after almost three years of strict restrictions.
Six gaming licensees, MGM, Galaxy, Venetian, Melco, Wynn and SJM, operate in Macau, the only place in China where casino gaming is legal, currently under 10-year licenses that came into effect on January 1, 2023. .
The region’s casinos began 2024 with total revenues of 57.3 billion patacas (6.67 billion euros), an increase of 65.5% compared to the first quarter of last year and 75.3% of those registered in the same period from the previous year in 2019.
The MGM Macau and MGM Cotai casinos recorded revenue of HK$7.43 billion (€886.7 million) in the mass market, while the VIP baccarat game reached HK$1.5 billion (€178.8 million). millions of euros).
High stakes, which accounted for 46.2% of Macau casino revenue in 2019, were hit by the arrest of the leader of the world’s largest VIP betting company in November 2021.
Former Suncity CEO Alvin Chau Cheok Wa was sentenced in January 2023 to 18 years in prison for illicit gambling and exploitation of secret societies, in a case in which the number of gambling promoter licenses granted decreased from 85 to 18 in Macau.
Source: Observadora
