SJM Holdings sees profit drop 81% as VIP gamblers still avoid the old gambling paradise of high rollers. The Macau-based casino operator reported a sharp drop in net profit in the third quarter of this year to HK$285 million, or about $36.8 million.
However, this reduction includes impairment losses "for investments available for sale" worth HK$250 million. Without this impairment loss, profits would have "simply" decreased by 65% y-o-y, SJM Holdings reported.
According to information provided by the company, SJM's gaming revenue fell 38% to HK$11.2 billion ($1.45 billion) in the three months to September 30, while revenue also fell 49.5% to HK$884 million during the same period.
The main reason for this catastrophic figure is the refusal of VIP gamblers to return to Macao, which can be easily confirmed by a report showing that VIP gaming revenue for all SJM operations fell 47.5% to HK$5.4 billion.
As a result, SJM's table mix has also changed, with only 458 VIP-only tables currently down 106 from last year. On the other hand, mass market tables increased by 73 to 1,263.
In addition, SJM saw its share fall 1.2 points to 21.3%, with sales of its flagship Casino Lisboa plunging about 49%.
Nevertheless, SJM Holdings is still working on a new casino resort, Lisboa Palace, scheduled to open in late 2017, with a total estimated project cost of about HK$30 billion. 온라인카지노사이트
SJM Holdings is not the only gaming operator in Macau that is struggling. A recent report on Macau casino revenue showed gaming revenue fell for the 17th straight month in October.