Melco results hit by Macau border closures

Heightened border restrictions at the mainland China-Macau border are blamed for a 48 per cent hit on the operating revenues of Melco Resorts & Entertainments.

The operator of casinos in Asia and Europe, in its second quarter, had revenues of US$296.1m, a major decrease on last year’s $566.4m. The regular closure of the Macau border was a bid by the authorities to fight the spread of the pandemic.

Melco had negative e adjusted property EBITDA of $13.8m, compared with $79.1m last year. The net loss in the quarter was $251.5m.

Melco has Studio City in Macau, City of Dreams in the Philippines and a major Cyprus operation (pictured). CEO Lawrence Ho has stated that while Macau had seen its problems, the business in the Philippines and Cyprus had improved.

In a separate statement, Studio City set out its own second quarter results, showing a loss of $1.9m compared with revenues of $31.2m last year.