Macau operators already profitable again, says JP Morgan

Tuesday, January 17, 2023 3:13 PM
  • Ben Blaschke, Inside Asian Gaming

Macau’s six gaming concessionaires are already printing a profit again following the recent dumping of border restrictions, with mass gaming revenue now back to 50% of pre-COVID levels according to investment bank JP Morgan.

In his weekly GGR update, JP Morgan analyst DS Kim said gaming revenues for the first 15 days of January were estimated at MOP$4.3 billion (US$535 million) or between MOP$285 million and MOP$290 million (US$35 million to US$36 million) per day – suggesting GGR over the past seven days had improved to MOP$310 million (US$38.5 million) per day as visitation increases.

“What does this print tell us? Stripping out largely lifeless VIP segments, the print implies mass/slot GGR run-rate has recovered to over 50% of pre-Covid levels, hitting well over EBITDA break-even levels (mid-30%s recovery in mass) and reaching an important milestone of FCF (free cash flow) breakdown (mid- 50%s of recovery in mass) for the industry,” Kim said.