Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited booked slight increases in operating revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in the three months to 31 March 2019, buoyed by strong growth at flagship City of Dreams Macau and a solid performance in Manila.
Total operating revenues in 1Q19 were US$1.36 billion, a year-on-year increase of around 4%, with Melco pointing to a better performance in the mass market table games segment and higher non-gaming revenue as a result of the opening of Morpheus in June 2018.
Operating income was US$188 million, down 15%, but Adjusted property EBITDA grew by 1% year-on-year to US$406.8 million.
Operating revenues at City of Dreams Macau rose 11.4% to US$713.3 million in 1Q19, with Adjusted EBITDA up from US$208 million to US$228.6 million.
Rolling chip volume was slightly down from US$11.1 billion in 1Q18 to US$10.2 billion this time around but the segment was aided by a higher win rate of 3.4% compared with 3.0% in the prior year period.
Mass table drop increased 11.4% to US$1.32 billion, slightly offset by a small drop in win rate from 32.1% to 31.5%. while slot handle fell from US$1.00 billion to US$980.4 million.
It was a tough quarter for Studio City, where operating revenues fell 10.3% to US$330.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA by 12.4% to US$96.4 million.
“Affected by the Macau market-wide VIP weakness, and by increasing competition in and around Cotai, Studio City’s rolling chip volume totaled US$2.7 billion in 1Q19 versus US$6.6 billion in the first quarter of 2018,” Melco said in its results announcement.
Mass market table drop increased by 3.2% to US$851.4 million while slot handle was slightly down to US$560.6 million.
City of Dreams Manila held steady year-on-year with operating revenues of US$142.4 million compared to US$142.2 million in 1Q18 and Adjusted EBITDA of US$60.5 million, up from US$58.8 million 12 months earlier.
Rolling chip volume fell from US$2.8 billion to US$2.3 billion but win rate was improved at 3.2%.
Mass market table games drop decreased by 2.1% to US$184.3 million although slot machine handle enjoyed a 10.6% increase to US$907.5 million.
Altira Macau and Mocha Clubs also enjoyed slight year-on-year increases.
