MGM Resorts President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle says he is not certain the Macau government has enough time to proceed with re-tendering of Macau gaming licenses by June 2022 given the complicated nature of the issue.
Speaking during MGM’s 3Q21 earnings call on Thursday morning (Asia time). Hornbuckle confirmed that the company had recently submitted its submission to the Macao SAR Government in response to proposed amendments to the city’s gaming law, which is seen as a crucial first step ahead of the re-tendering process.
The government itself has given no clarity around the exact timing for re-tendering with the current licenses of Macau’s six concessionaires all expiring on 26 June 2022, although it was quick to push ahead with its gaming law revisions following September’s Legislative Assembly elections. A summary report from the recent public consultation process is due by mid-March.
“We had an opportunity to brief the government on our submission and they will now continue their public consultation process,” Hornbuckle said.
“That’s up to their discretion when they end that and form some of their own opinions, so whether or not this all gets done in time for June we don’t know yet because there are some steps they still have to go through publicly.
“I feel good about what was said, I feel good about the fact we had an opportunity to air some of our concerns and that they were heard and listened to.
“I think it’s relative given the environment and what’s at stake that it’s been progressive. We’ve been [operating in Macau] for 20 years and they’ve been fair to us to date, as we have been to them. I think we’ve been good to the community and vice versa so hopefully we continue on.
“But whether this gets done by June I just don’t know. There are some complications around the issue and so it’s hard to tell.”
Hornbuckle, meanwhile, expressed confidence in the short-term prospects of MGM’s Macau subsidiary, MGM China.
The company reported lower revenues in 3Q21 than in the June quarter following recent border restrictions with mainland China, but Hornbuckle noted that the past two weeks has seen MGM China “go from losing money to making a little bit of money again. We’ve shifted back into the black and as long as we don’t hit another instance [of COVID-19] we will stay there and grow from that.
MGM China President Hubert Wang also said recent signs were promising.
“We have seen the key indictors on the business side going back to the early part of September, in some cases even stronger going back to July depending on which segment you’re looking at and what indicators you’re looking at,” he said.
“It’s on the rise. We anticipate that in mid-November we will get back to July level assuming everything remains calm in Macau and there are no serious outbreaks.”
