Galaxy Entertainment Group, one of the six gambling operators that run casinos in Macau, posted its financial results for this year’s second quarter and first half ended June 30. Revenue for the second quarter amounted to HK$11.7 billion, down 36% year-on-year.
Revenue for the first half of the year dropped 34% year-on-year to HK$25.4 billion. The Group said that it “played unlucky” in its gambling operations and attributed the relatively poor financial performance to this. The ongoing anti-corruption campaign, which was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping and resulted in a great number of Mainland China high rollers withdrawing from Macau, also affected Galaxy Entertainment’s results.
EBITDA for the second quarter of the year decreased 46% to reach HK$1.9 billion. Half-year adjusted EBITDA amounted to HK$4.2 billion, down 43% as compared to the same period a year ago.
Net profit attributable to shareholders for the six months ended June 30 was HK$2 billion. It decreased 66% year-on-year. The company pointed out that playing unlucky in its gaming operations resulted in reduced profitability by HK$335 million in the second quarter of the year and HK$265 million in its first half.
Currently, Galaxy Entertainment operates three venues in Macau, which is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. These are Galaxy Macau, which successfully launched its expansion on May 27, StarWorld Macau, and Broadway Macau, which, too, opened doors on May 27.
Galaxy Macau posted revenue of HK$17.2 billion for the first half of the year, down 31%. Adjusted EBITDA for the reviewed period dropped 41% year-on-year to reach HK$3.2 billion. The considerable decrease was attributed to “opening costs and bad luck.”
Galaxy Entertainment described StarWorld’s performance as respectable given the current market conditions. Revenue for the six months ended June 30 totaled HK$7.1 billion, down 42% year-on-year. Adjusted EBITDA for the same period dropped 42% to HK$1.1 billion.
Broadway Macau, which, as mentioned above, opened doors on May 27, generated revenue of HK$64 million for the first 35 days of its operation. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to HK$(2) million. The company noted that it will keep on ramping up operations and the remaining facilities that are to be part of the complex will be launched in the months to come.
Galaxy Entertainment also announced that it will start investigating potential sites for its Cotai Phases 3 and 4 towards the end of 2015 or early in 2016.
