MGM Resorts President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle had nothing but good news last week about the company’s Macau performance.
In a fourth-quarter 2022 earnings call on February 9, he told analysts that business has surged in Macau since borders reopened in early January, and mass gaming volumes had bounced back to 2019 levels.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, Hornbuckle said the company reached record market share in Macau in January, due in part to the addition of 198 new gaming tables under the 10-year concession that began January 1.
“We are experiencing a rebound in 2023 as our guests are returning in force, just as they did in Las Vegas when restrictions were lifted there,” Hornbuckle said. “In fact, quarter to date we are excited to report that MGM China’s combined properties are the highest-earning businesses within our company.
“We see these early results as validation of our confidence in the Macau market’s recovery and the long-term viability upon which our retendering commitments were built.”
Borders reopened January 8 as China relaxed its longstanding zero-Covid policy. As Hornbuckle said, the industry rebound “was pretty much instant. We peaked during Chinese New Year, making a little over US$5 million per day, achieved 16 percent market share and our mass piece of volumes were 100 percent of 2019 levels.
“We’re only talking 30 days here but from where we came from, and having activated between 150 and 200 new tables, we are very excited by what’s happened in that first 30 days.”
MGM China President and COO Hubert Wang noted that January’s market share was the highest in the company’s history, with both daily mass GGR and direct VIP volumes exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
“It is also very promising to see January run rate has extended into the first week of February,” Wang said, “so we are very confident in the sustainable recovery of the Macau market and beyond.”
