for early access to the latest igaming videos!
and get the latest igaming news first!
MGM Resorts found itself in the spotlight earlier than planned after its latest set of numbers went out ahead of schedule. A week before the company was supposed to share its fourth quarter and full year results, it confirmed that the figures had been released by mistake while publishing financial information for its online arm, BetMGM.
Even though the timing caught attention, the data itself painted a bright picture for the group, especially in Macau. The preliminary filing showed that MGM China’s revenue climbed by more than a fifth compared with the same period a year earlier, reaching a little over $1 billion in the fourth quarter. When lined up against the third quarter, that figure was also higher by more than a tenth.
Record Showing for MGM China
The early results suggested that MGM China delivered yet another record performance. The Adjusted EBITDAR for the Macau operation also reached over $300 million for the quarter, a sharp increase of more than 30 percent from the previous year. This sharp increase in earnings, together with the revenue growth, indicated that the company was not only generating more revenue but also operating in such a way as to help increase profit-type metrics.
For a company that has already been leaning on Macau as a key driver in past quarters, this latest set of numbers added to that story. The steady rise in revenue and the strong improvement in adjusted EBITDAR showed how important MGM China has become in the broader mix of MGM Resorts’ global operations.
Group Revenues and Profit on the Rise
The preliminary filing did not just focus on Macau. Across the entire group, MGM Resorts’ revenues for the quarter moved up by more than a sixth compared with the same period the year before, landing at roughly $2 and a half billion. Net income also saw a sharp increase, growing by more than four-fifths to just under $300 million.
These gains showed that the positive trend was not limited to a single market. Although MGM China contributed largely to the figures, the overall figures seemed to indicate that other parts of the company were also contributing to help increase both revenue and profit for the latest quarter.
Company Response and Next Steps
Realizing that the figures had already gone out ahead of time, MGM Resorts took steps to address the issue through an official filing. The company explained that the financial data had been inadvertently posted and that the figures were still undergoing the usual closing procedures. The company has also clarified that the numbers had not yet been reviewed and verified by its independent audit firm, and that the numbers should not be considered formally filed under the applicable securities law.
In order to keep its reporting schedule consistent with what had already transpired, MGM Resorts has announced that it would move up the release of its full financial results. Instead of waiting for the original date, the company plans to publish the official fourth quarter and full year numbers the following morning in Asia. This adjustment should give investors and analysts a complete and finalized view of the numbers soon after the accidental posting.
Market Reaction and Analyst View
Even with all the warnings about the figures being preliminary, the market did not ignore them. In a note to investors, Seaport Research Partners analyst Vitaly Umansky said he could not fully confirm the accuracy of the numbers, but he pointed out that they appeared in the company’s public press release and that the stock price had already reacted.
He also observed that, based on this early information, MGM appeared to have beaten expectations both in Macau and in Las Vegas. The Macau revenue result, in particular, was said to be ahead of Seaport’s own forecast by a small margin and above wider consensus estimates by a larger gap. While he noted that there was still no firm detail on what exactly drove these stronger outcomes, he suggested that higher-than-usual win rates in Macau, and likely in Las Vegas as well, may have played a role in lifting the quarter’s performance.
Source: Inside Asian Gaming (IAG)
