Macau gaming operator SJM Holdings reported a net loss of HK$1.41 billion (US$181.9 million) in the first half of the year. The loss translates to a decline of 184 percent from the profit of HK$1.67 billion posted in the first half of 2019.
Net revenue for the period was down 74.4 percent to HK$4.37 billion ($560 million), most of it, HK$4.27 billion, from gaming. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 147.3 percent to HK$984 million ($126.9 million).
The Hong Kong-listed company acknowledged the results “were severely impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak, which led to the closure of Macau casinos for 15 days in February, as well as ongoing restrictions on entry from (mainland China), Hong Kong and other locations, curtailment of transportation channels and quarantine requirements.”
Mass-market table gaming revenue declined 73.5 percent, but its share of total table win rose year on year from 60.7 percent to 67.2 percent.
VIP revenue was down 81.6 percent, falling to 28 percent of the group’s total win from 36.5 percent in the first half of 2019.
As of June 30, SJM was running 192 VIP tables, including those at its 15 venues leased to third-party operators, compared to 275 at the end of last year. As they are in the rest of the city’s casinos, the tables are operated in private rooms under contract with outside promoters, known as junkets. The company employed 14 of them as of the end of June.
Tables on the main gaming floors numbered 851 at the end of June, down from 1,511 as of December 31.
Slot machine numbers also were cut significantly in the first half, from 2,439 at the start of the year to 1,084. Revenue was down 59.2 percent to HKD235 million, but year on year it was up as a percentage of total gaming revenue from 2.8 percent to 4.8 percent.
