MGM National Harbor helped offset sluggishness in same-store results in the second quarter for MGM Resorts International and led the gaming giant to a 16.3 percent increase in revenue over the same period last year.
The new Maryland casino contributed nearly $178 million to the three months ending June 30, which combined with a full contribution from Atlantic City’s market-leading Borgata (versus 50 percent in Q2 2016) to boost total revenue to $2.64 billion.
In all, domestic revenue was up 22 percent, but fell 1 percent on a same-store basis, which the company attributed in part to poor hold at its table games.
Operating income fell more than one-third to $501 million and net income by more than half to $210 million, but these were skewed by one-off items that the enhanced the accounting for the same period last year.
Chairman and CEO James Murren warned of more of the same on a like-for-like basis in the third quarter as a result of gamblers scoring big on the Las Vegas Strip. But he said he expects a nice bump for Vegas in August from the much-anticipated prizefight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, which he suggested “could be the second biggest fight of all time”.
In Macau, MGM China’s revenue was down 1 percent to US$449 million while operating income dropped 16 percent to $43 million. VIP revenue was up 1 percent, but mass market tables were down 2 percent.
The company’s new MGM Cotai resort is on schedule to open “in a couple of months,” Murren said. MGM China CEO Grant Bowie acknowledged the new resort will need to “tap into new customers to us who may already be in Cotai” and said the company plans to launch promotional roadshows for China’s leisure and tour and travel markets in September.
