GAMING | SJM announces Q3 results, revenue drops

SJM Holdings Ltd net income for the nine months of the year decreased by 4 pct year-on-year to HKD5,430 million. Considering only the third quarter (Q3), net income dropped by 16.4 pct to HKD1,528m.
The gaming operator announced the unaudited Q3 2014 results yesterday. SJM’s gaming revenue in Q3 decreased by 14.1 pct year-
on-year to HKD18,091m. From January to September it decreased by 1.6 pct to HKD62,203m considering the same period last year.
During Q3, the group’s VIP gaming revenue totalled HKD10,375m, a decrease of 23.6 pct from HK$13,575m in Q3 2013. Mass market gaming revenue stood at HK$7,359m, an increase of 3.1% from HK$7,141m, and slot machine (and tombola) revenue was HK$357m, an increase of 5.4% from HK$339m. SJM’s Q3 total income amounted to HK$18,254m, including hotel, catering and related services revenue of HK$163m.
Considering an average of three month-end counts, during the third quarter SJM operated an average of 564 VIP gaming tables (Q3 2013: 585), 1,190 mass market gaming tables (Q3 2013: 1,186) and 2,806 slot machines (Q3 2013: 3,348).
During Q3, the gaming revenue of SJM’s flagship Casino Grand Lisboa decreased by 11 pct from 2013 to HK$6,878 million. In the nine months preceding September 30 2014, Grand Lisboa’s gaming revenue decreased by 0.3% year-on-
year to HK$23,086m.
Speaking about the third quarter results, SJM’s CEO Ambrose So said: “In spite of well-publicized headwinds this year which have primarily affected the VIP segment of the Macau market, SJM has turned in a decent performance in the year-to-date period. In particular our mass market business has continued its growth and overall our EBITDA margin has been stable. SJM is well-capitalized and is moving ahead at full speed on construction of our Lisboa Palace project in Cotai, while we continue striving to optimize gaming table utilization at our existing properties.”