In Macau and a senior executive with prominent casino operator Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited has reportedly detailed that the mass-market gaming sector is taking longer to recover when compared with the VIP and premium-mass segments.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the revelation from the Nasdaq-listed firm’s Chief Operating Officer, David Sisk, came as casinos across the former Portuguese enclave are ramping up in preparation from Saturday for the Labour Day public holiday. The source explained that this five-day celebration is widely expected to see local gambling businesses post their biggest daily numbers since the initiation last year of a two-week shutdown at the hands of the coronavirus pandemic.

Inverse increase:

Sisk reportedly used a conference call with investors to divulge that his firm’s mass-market clientele ‘do not seem to be playing quite as strongly as they have in the past’ and that this may be a result of ‘a different customer coming in right now.’ He purportedly went on to suggest that his company had not lost any share of Macau’s premium-mass sector and that receipts from this segment had ‘grown a little bit’ as some VIP players ‘switched over from the junkets.’

Arrears ability:

Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited is responsible for the City of Dreams Macau, Studio City Macau and Altira Macau venues and its Chief Financial Officer, Geoff Davis, reportedly told investors that the company’s first-quarter daily operating expenses had risen by approximately 10% to ‘about $2.1 million’ as a result of returning business. He furthermore purportedly disclosed that the firm’s debt provision had decreased by around $6 million since the fourth quarter of last year to currently stand in the region of $17 million.

Frustrating financials:

In related news and GGRAsia used a second report to reveal that Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited posted a net first-quarter loss of $232.9 million as its associated operating revenues declined by 1.7% quarter-on-quarter and 36% year-on-year to $518.9 million. But the source clarified that this former figure is better than the firm’s $364 million deficit for the same three-month period in 2020 although worse than its $199.7 million fourth-quarter shortfall.

Loaded liabilities:

Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited also operates gambling-friendly venues in Cyprus and the Philippines and reportedly recorded positive first-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization despite the associated individual property metric falling 60% year-on-year to $30.1 million. The company purportedly revealed that this decrease had come at the hands of a $28.8 million loss connected to bad debt, which was up from $23 million in the previous quarter.

Continuing consequences:

Lawrence Ho Yau Lung serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Melco Resorts and Entertainment and he reportedly told investors that his firm had ‘experienced a moderate recovery in business levels’ over the course of the first quarter although the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its associated travel restrictions have continued ‘to have a significant negative impact.’