These figures helped to achieve total net revenue of $1,095m with a similar increase of 7.1% year-on-year.
The largest reported increase during the period was in slot machine revenue which grew 14.6% year-on-year to $37.4m, while mass market gross gaming revenue also grew during the period, rising 9.5% year-on-year to $731m from a Q1 2017 figure of $667m.
Indeed, it was the successes in mass market gross gaming that was attributed to the company’s net profits soaring by 25.8%.
The high revenue helped the company’s EBITDA strengthen by 17% to $125.7m from $107.4m in 2017. The adjusted EBITDA margin also grew albeit slightly by 1% now standing at 11.5%.
The only declining sector for SJM was their VIP gross gaming revenue which fell 1.1% from $628.8m last year to $621.8m in 2018.
Macau’s Gaming and Inspection Bureau recently released its own revenue figures which showed year-on-year growth of 27.6% for the month of April marking the 21st consecutive month of revenue growth. This huge increase of revenue has filtered through to most of the regions operators including SJM.
The Grand Lisboa Hotel, SJM’s flagship integrated resort in Macau, enjoyed an average occupancy rate of 97.2% during Q1 2018 compared to 93.5% in Q1 2017 as Macau continues to draw in more tourists.
Commenting on the first quarter results Ambrose So, Chief Executive Officer of SJM Holdings Limited, said: “We are very pleased that our efforts to strengthen mass market and VIP businesses combined with cost controls have resulted in material increases in SJM’s EBITDA and Net Profit during the first quarter. We strive to continue enhancing our business on Macau Peninsula whilst we complete construction of the Grand Lisboa Palace on Cotai.”