Macau casino concessionaire SJM Holdings announced today in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange the company’s unaudited consolidated interim results for the first half of 2022, posting a loss attributable to the owners of the company nearly twice as much that in the same period in 2021.

Key Performance Metrics

For the first six months ended June 30, 2022, SMJ Holdings posted revenue of HK$4.13 billion ($526 million), down 21% on the HK$5.22 billion ($665 million) the casino resort operator in Macau posted in the previous comparable period.

Net gaming revenue declined by, even more, 25%, to HK$3.8 billion ($484 million) as compared to HK$5.1 billion ($649 million) for the first six months of 2021.

“Working hand in hand with the community, we are doing our utmost to support the Macau Government’s efforts to fight COVID-19 while at the same time remaining loyal to our dedicated staff,” said Dr. Ambrose So, vice chairman and chief executive officer at SJM Holdings, outlining the company’s focus in the upcoming tender process for the new Macau gaming concessions and its aspirations to continue its presence in Macau “for many years to come.”

First-half 2022 Adjusted EBITDA was affected the most falling by 131% to negative HK$1.2 billion ($153 million) from negative HK$510 million ($65 million) accounted for in the first half of the year before, leading to the bottom line result of loss attributable to SJM Holdings’ owners of HK2.76 billion ($354 million), nearly twice as much than the loss in the first half of 2021 of HK$1.47 ($187 million).

Diluted per share of capital, the first half loss was HK$0.485, up 88% when compared to the loss per share of HK$0.258 in the first six months of 2021.

Cash Reserves and Debt

As of June 30, 2022, SJM Holdings had cash and cash equivalents of HK$2.41 billion ($307 million), including bank balances, short-term bank deposits and pledged bank deposits. Recently, the casino resort operator was singled out for having insufficient cash reserves and decreasing refinancing capabilities by JP Morgan analysts.

SJM Holdings completed a refinancing of its syndicated banking facilities on June 20, 2022, consisting of a HK$9 billion ($1.14 billion) term loan and a HK$10 billion ($1.27 billion) revolving credit and ended the first half with a HK$26 billion ($3.3 billion) debt.