Experts: Tender process and new awardees expected even before year-end

The gaming tender regulations released earlier this week hint that the awarding of new concessionaires will complete before the current gaming licenses expire on December 31.

Ben Lee, managing partner of IGamiX Management & Consulting, commented that “the fact that the authorities have rigidly adhered to the announced timeline indicates that we can likely expect the tendering process and new awardees will be completed by the end of this year.”

This statement echoes the expectations of analysts at JP Morgan Securities – that the gaming public tender could commence by mid-July.

The comparison given by the analysts, as cited in a report issued by GGRAsia, was with the 2001 situation, when the public tender for concessionaires opened seven days after the announcement of the regulations. 

According to the note, the public tender closed 42 days after the announcement of the regulations. Transposing that to today’s timeline, the brokerage firm suggested that the tender application process will conclude by mid to late August, with provisional winners possibly announced in “in late October [or] early November.” 

The brokerage firm noted that it still believes that “the six incumbent operators will be the next winners of concession [rights].”

The embattled sector is again in crisis as the city battles its biggest Covid-19 outbreak yet, with three rounds of mass testing this week. 

Several analysts have been expecting the sector to have “near-zero” revenue, and all six operators to record a negative EBITDA in the face of the upheaval. 

GGR in the second quarter was MOP8.5 million, which is a “meagre 12% of the pre-Covid level.”

Gaming expert Lee has noted that Macau could record its worst GGR this year – something that the sector did not predict as it hoped to undergo a summer recovery following revenue plunges in April due to outbreaks in neighboring cities.