Macau’s key casino player records profit nosedive

Holdings has not been unaffected by the casino market struggles in Macau, posting a 39% year-on-year decrease in profit to HK$1.1bn (£108.7m) for the six months ended 30 June.

The operator owns 17 of the 36 casinos in the former Portuguese colony, where it used to have a monopoly before the market was opened up to foreign operators in 2001, two years after China resumed control of the region.

SJM plans to open its Grand Lisboa Palace casino in the second half of 2017.

Macau’s casino gross revenue has declined year-on-year in each of the last 26 months and the total for the first six months of 2016 was 126.56bn patacas (£12.14bn), down 11%.

SJM’s gaming revenue for the period fell 21% to HK$20.88bn and total group revenue was HK$21.13bn, also dipping by 21%.

The gaming revenue total gave SJM a 20% share of the market, while SJM’s mass market table gaming revenue of HK$10.18bn equated to a 23% market share and VIP gaming revenue of HK$10.17bn gave it an 18% share of that market.

Adjusted EBITDA descended by just over a quarter to HK$1.63bn and earnings per share went down 39% to HK19.4 cents on both a basic and diluted basis.