SJM to deliver employee bonuses

Gaming operator SJM Resorts SA is set to deliver another bonus for its employees as part of the casino industry’s customary annual stipend.

Dubbed as the “living subsidy,” the bonus will amount to one and a half to two months’ salary, and will be delivered in July.

“The summer allowance is payable in patacas […] and is payable to employees [who have been] employed before June 26,” the memo to the employees read.

Terms and conditions for eligible employees were not listed in the note.

Ever since the pandemic began, the city’s casino workers have endured significant financial hardship, with many being laid off or furloughed. The bonus is considered a life-saver to struggling casino staff during the crisis, particularly amid the current outbreak, which has led to a halt in tourism.

Before the peak of the pandemic in 2020, casino workers received bonuses twice yearly, as summer and winter bonuses. Each was equivalent to about a month’s salary. These were traditionally handed out in the July-August period and before Chinese New Year, respectively.

Recently, Fitch Ratings downgraded SJM’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating and its senior unsecured rating to BB- from BB. 

According to the firm, the downgrade reflects its “reduced confidence in the recovery of Macau’s gaming industry as a result of the government’s strict Covid-19 pandemic-related policies, continued weakness in tourism and the delayed ramp up of the newly developed Grand Lisboa Palace.” LV