Macau casino concessionaire Melco Resorts has reported a loss of $251.94 million during the fourth quarter, a 57 percent yearly loss increase compared to the same quarter of 2021, as revenue from all of its Macau operations fell on a yearly basis. Overall casino revenues for the group were down 31.5 percent, to $267.46 million, contributing to a revenue decrease of 29.8 percent, at $337.08 million.
Macau operations
The largest drop was seen at the group’s City of Dreams property in Macau, which generated a negative adjusted EBITDA of $7.8 million for the quarter, while 4Q21 adjusted EBITDA was positive $49.7 million.
The group notes the decline is ‘primarily a result of softer performance in the mass market table games segment, as well as non-gaming operations’.
Revenues fell to $139.2 million, down 43 percent, at the property, as both VIP and mass took strong hits.
Rolling chip volume at City of Dreams was just $850.4 million in the quarter, compared to $3.12 billion in 4Q21.
Mass market table games drop fell markedly as well, to $292.2 million, compared to $690.9 million in 4Q21.
The group’s Altira Macau property also saw lackluster results, at $9 million in revenue (down 32 percent yearly, and negative adjusted EBITDA of $9.5 million (compared to negative $0.1 million in 4Q21). The mass market drop fell slightly, to $31.9 million, from $35.4 million.
The group’s Studio City property generated $43.4 million in revenue, half of that seen in 4Q21, contributing to negative adjusted EBITDA of $25.3 million, a 25-fold increase.
Rolling chip volumes also nearly-halved (on a yearly basis), to $251.4 million, with similar results seen in mass market table games drop – down to $113.5 million compared to $253.5 million in 4Q21.
Philippines operations
While Macau performed poorly, the group’s City of Dreams Manila property saw improvements, with revenues up to $95.2 million, a 13.4 percent yearly increase.
However, adjusted EBITDA was down slightly, to $23.6 million compared to $34.6 million a year prior.
Rolling chip volume rose significantly, topping $940.7 million, up 355 percent yearly, while mass market table games drop was $148.2 million (compared to 4113.2 million in 4Q21).
Gaming machine handle at the property was $1.02 billion, compared to $815.1 million in 4Q21.
Cyprus operations
The group’s Cyprus operations saw adjusted EBITDA double during the quarter, up to $10.5 million, despite revenue rising by only 28 percent – to $28.7 million.
Rolling chip volumes fell slightly, to $1.1 million from $1.3 million in 4Q21.
Mass market table games drop was up, to $38 million, from $30.5 million in the same quarter of 2021.
Meanwhile, gaming machine handle reached $392.4 million, up 19.4 percent yearly.
2023 results
For the whole of 2023, Melco saw a loss of $930.5 million, up 14.6 percent yearly, as revenue totaled $1.35 billion, down 32.8 percent yearly.
The group attributes the drop in revenues to ‘travel restrictions in Macau and mainland China related to COVID-19 […] as well as the government mandated temporary closure of our casinos in July which led to softer performance in the rolling chip and mass market table games segments as well as lower non-gaming revenues’.
Speaking about the future, the group’s Chairman and CEO, Lawrence Ho, noted that “we are encouraged by the increased visitation and volume that we have seen since the travel restrictions between mainland China and Macau were relaxed […] Our recent performance reinforces our believe in the return of pent-up demand and our view that Macau will continue to develop […]”
Speaking about the group’s other operations, the Chairman notes that “gaming volumes in the Philippines have reached close to pre-pandemic levels, and volumes in Cyprus have exceeded those we had seen pre-pandemic. We are optimistic about continued growth in the Philippines and Cyprus as international travel normalizes”.
New openings
The group’s Chairman says that Melco is now expecting to open its Phase 2 of Studio City “in the second quarter of 2023”. The opening will include “one of our hotel towers and the indoor water park”.
The second phase of opening “is expected to be in the third quarter”.
Regarding Cyprus, the group says it has received an extension on its opening deadline for the City of Dreams Mediterranean, until June 30th “and we continue to work with our contractors with a target to open within that timeframe”.
