Macau gaming concessionaire SJM Holdings announced it had lost about 7.8 billion Hong Kong dollars (929 million euros) last year, with losses increasing by 88.2 percent.
Sociedade de Jogos de Macau Holdings Ltd, founded by the late tycoon Stanley Ho, stressed that this figure includes an accounting loss of 1.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (143 million euros) due to the renovation of the Jai Alai hotel-casino, according to a statement, sent on Monday to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Last year, the six casino gaming operators in Macau posted losses of 4.1 billion euros, or 17.5 percent more than the previous year.
Since 2020, the concessionaires – MGM, Galaxy, Venetian (Sands), Melco, Wynn and SJM – have accumulated losses of €12.7 billion due to strict pandemic prevention and containment measures, the so-called ‘zero covid’ policy, which ended in mid-December.
Casino operators in the territory recorded losses of €3.5 billion in 2021 and €5.09 billion in 2020 – a record figure, according to calculations made by Lusa.
The company that suffered the biggest loss last year was Sands China, which announced on 26 January a loss of US$1.58 billion (1.5 billion euros), an increase of 56.4 percent.
Still, the chief executive of Sands China, Robert G. Goldstein, said in a question and answer session with investors that the company recorded profits in the Lunar New Year period, between 21 and 27 January, after three consecutive years of losses.
Also Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd, led by Lawrence Ho, son of Stanley Ho, announced on March 1 a loss of 930 million US dollars (869 million euros) during 2022, up 14.6 per cent.
A week earlier, concessionaire Galaxy Entertainment had announced a loss of 3.3 billion Hong Kong dollars (399 million euros) last year, up 140%.
Gaming operator Wynn Macau announced on February 9 a loss of 235 million US dollars (220 million euros) in 2022, up 13.3%.
On the same day, MGM China indicated a loss of 203 million US dollars (190 million euros), the lowest among all casino companies in the Chinese special administrative region.
Despite the losses, the six companies competed and obtained a concession contract for the next ten years, effective from January 1, having promised the government an investment of over 110 billion patacas (12.8 billion euros).
With the end of restrictions, gaming revenue in Macau reached 21.9 billion patacas (€2.5 billion) in the first two months of 2022, up 55.3% from the same period in 2021, and the best start in the last three years.
