Macau casino group MGM China reports best-ever June quarter as tourists return, winning odds improve
- Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation rose 40 per cent to HK$2.44 billion, a record-high for June quarter
The firm reported a 40 per cent jump in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) to HK$2.44 billion (US$312.2 million) in the three months to June 30, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange filing on Thursday. It surpassed market estimates by 9 per cent, based on consensus forecasts from analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
While Ebitda dropped slightly from the first quarter, the 31 per cent margin was surprisingly strong, JP Morgan said in a research note after the announcement. Ebitda was about 170 per cent of the pre-Covid levels and more than double what peers were doing, it added.
New York-listed MGM Resorts International owns 56 per cent of the shares in MGM China. Pansy Ho Chiu-king, chairperson of the Hong Kong-listed company, controls about 22.5 per cent of the Macau concessionaire.
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‘What else have we got?”: Macau questions role as casino hub after painful Covid downturn
Tourism in Macau has continued to mend after China scrapped its tough zero-Covid policy in late 2022. Tourist arrivals surged 44 per cent in the first six months of 2024, reaching about 82 per cent of the pre-pandemic levels. Casino revenues rose 42 per cent to about 114 billion patacas (US$14.1 billion), according to government statistics.
