In a Monday note while previewing the 2Q20 results season, Morgan Stanley’s Praveen Choudhary and Gareth Leung outlined expected EBITDA losses of around US$1.04 billion between the six concessionaires, including US$286 million by Sands China and US$205 million by Melco Resorts & Entertainment.

However, Morgan Stanley revealed that more notable than their respective losses, the worst the industry has ever experienced due to COVID-19, will be which companies more effectively controlled their operating expenses.

“[These results] could provide a glimpse into who managed to reduce the most in [fixed costs] and what proportion of this cut is sustainable. While Q2 numbers may not provide when the travel restrictions will be lifted or how big 2021 could be, it can answer two questions: one, who controlled costs the most, and two, who lost the least as a percentage of Enterprise Value,” Morgan Stanley said in a statement.

The analysts said daily operating expenses of the six concessionaires appear to have fallen by a combined 21% year-on-year to around US$15 million, but that EBITDA losses are expected to come in at around US$1 billion on “negative operating expenses” with some revenue from non-gaming and malls.

In a stark contrast, Macau’s operators recorded an EBITDA gain of US$2.4 billion in Q2 2019.