Good morning. Macau’s six operators have all now reported their 3Q21 earnings, revealing the impact of the latest Covid outbreaks in August and September. In this week’s Face-to-Face, Morningstar analyst Jennifer Song tells us that although not pretty, the results weren’t quite as bad as had been anticipated and she still expects strong pent-up demand when travel restrictions are finally lifted.
What you need to know
- Hong Kong travellersย will be able to cross into Mainland China without quarantine from the first week of December, earlier than initially expected, the South China Morning Post reports.
- Playtech, has confirmed that it has a potential third suitor after JKO Play asked the company for due diligence information to assess the terms of a takeover offer.
- Sportradarย announced 3Q21 revenue, beating analysts expectations, with strong growth across all geographies and business segments.
- Fitch Ratingsย expects Aristocrat to fully recover its legacy gaming revenues to pre-pandemic levels by 2022, aided by its robust gaming business in North America.ย
- Crown Resortsย has received a renewed takeover offer from U.S. private equity firm Blackstone, which is looking to acquire all shares in Crown at a price of A$12.50 cash per share.
On the radar
- IPIย inventory accurate and assets in good shape, receiver says
- Grand Lisboa Palaceโsย Karl Lagerfeld Hotel taking bookings, to open Dec. 3
- Macau 3Q21ย non-gaming visitor spend up 374%, majority on shopping
- Century Entertainment warnsย interim loss to expandย to US$2.7m
- Banning gamblingย in Kedah will only force the industry to go underground
What the papers say
- Macauโs casino industries haveย heightened inequalities,ย led to rising crime.
- Macauโs economyย toย recoverย in Nov & Dec on opening of large scale events.
- Crownโs newย compliance chiefย out of the loop in Perth casino AML decision.
- Ho Chi Minh city again ordersย closures of bars/spasย amidst virus spike.
- Four companies sign MOU to help to turn Sihanoukville intoย fintech hub.

AGB Intelligence
FACE TO FACE

Operators confident of pent-up demand when restrictions lift
Macau’s six operators have just finalized another earnings round, with the figures badly affected by Covid travel restrictions in 3Q21. Despite predictions that the quarter would be a washout, Morningstar analyst Jennifer Songย tells us they weren’t as bad as she had expected. In this week’s Face-to-Face interview she tells us about the highlights from the results and discusses the tone of senior management on the accompanying analyst conference calls and expresses confidence there is still significant pent-up demand.
Industry Updates
- NBA and Sportradar announcedย long-term partnership.
- Playโn GOย releases adds new game to Rich Wilde series.
- SBC Summit NAย releases huge speaker line up.
- The jewel of Ezugiย now launched โ exclusive Blackjack Salon Privรฉ.
- Limelightย launches new solution in $4.4 billion web CDN and security market.

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