Melco Resorts reports 16.4% revenue rise in Covid-hit 2021

This is a year-on-year rise of 16.4%, but a 64.9% decrease compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Much of the revenue came from casino operations at $1.67bn, up 14%. Revenue from rooms rose 45% to $157.5m, while food and beverage revenue increased by 33% to $97.6m. Entertainment, retail and other made up the remaining $80.9m, up 10.1%.

Operating costs and expenses fell by $78.6m year-on-year to $2.58bn. Casino costs added up to $1.32bn, rising by 2.2%. Depreciation and amortisation costs came to $499.7m, down 5.3%, while general and administrative costs rose slightly by 0.4% to $426.4m.

The remaining $342.7m came from an assortment of costs, including property charges, development costs and food and beverage expenses.

This left the operating loss at $577.4m, $363.1m less than in 2020.

Non-operating expenses, comprising of interest, financing and debt extinguishment costs, came to $390.3m. Other income was $14.2m and includes interest, foreign exchange gains and other sources of income.

This left the total loss before income tax at $953.5m, which was $503.9m less than the pre-tax loss recorded in 2020.

After income tax of $2.8m, the total net loss for 2021 was $956.4m, down $498.1m from the net loss of $1.45bn in 2020.

For Melco's fourth quarter ended 31 December 2021, revenue totalled $480.6m, a fall of 8.9% compared to Q4 2020 and 99.9% from the same period in 2019.. Much of this - $390.6m - came from casino revenue, a decrease of 11.3%. Rooms revenue accumulated $44.6m, up 7.9%, while food and beverage revenue fell slightly to $25.6m from $26.4m.

Operating expenses for the quarter came to $584.9m. Casino costs dropped by 21.2% to $286.2m. Depreciation and amortisation costs came to $124.1m, a fall of 2.6%, while general and administrative costs accounted for $100m of the total expenses- a rise of 1.8%.

Overall, this left the operating loss at $104.3m. This was a decrease of 28%.

After considering non-operating income at $3.6m and non-operating expenses at $86.5m, the total loss before income tax was $187.2m.

After income tax at $2.7m, the total net loss for the fourth quarter came to $189.9m- a fall of 19.1% year-on-year.

Lawrence Ho, CEO and chairman of Melco Resorts, attributed the company's fourth quarter performance to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Covid-related travel restrictions continued to impact our fourth quarter operating and financial performance," said Ho. “We are pleased to see Macau’s vaccination rate now at over 80% and, to play our part, Melco’s employee vaccination rate in Macau has reached 95%."

"We hope that increasing vaccination rates can facilitate an easing of travel restrictions within the Greater Bay Area."

In January, a bill that could overhaul Macau's gaming legislation passed its first reading in the Legislative Assembly.

The bill could see six ten-year concessions allowed to operate in the region, a rise from the three allowed currently. However it also includes the removal of sub-concessions, meaning the number of operators permitted would remain the same.

The bill would also bring in restrictions on offering gambling services.