Macau Casino Stocks In Worrying Because Of Omicron

Casino stocks in Macau took a concerning nosedive on Tuesday amidst fears of increased regulatory risk and the aggressive global proliferation of the Omicron COVID variant.

Several heavyweights suffered substantial tumbles. Wynn Macau and MGM China were the worst affected, with both succumbing to share price reductions of circa 9%. Sands China saw a 7% decline, whilst Galaxy Entertainment and SJM Holdings delivered similarly disappointing results at -4.2%. Although Melco Resorts and Entertainment held firm in the American market, their Hong Kong listed arm (Melco International Development) dropped 7.9 percentage points.

Three of the aforementioned players (Sands China, SJM Holdings & MGM China) have been subjected to increased regulatory risk in recent times, with Fitch Ratings declaring that each firm should be prepared for more scrutiny in their operational processes.

Although Fitch Ratings have declared that its unlikely that closer monitoring would currently lead to major ramifications i.e. restricting license access to new gaming concessions, its clear that the businesses’ place on the Watch Negative list will serve to undermine confidence in cash flow and future prosperity.

In addition, Chinese fears continue to grow as the Omicron variant begins to rip through the world’s population. The new threat arrived on Chinese shores via the port city of Tianjin on Monday, as an infected foreign traveller entered the country. More concerningly for Macau’s gambling stakeholders, a second case was reported yesterday in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.

Guangdong provides a steady stream of visitors to the autonomous region, accounting for 35% of its inbound travel. If restrictions were to be imposed in the locality, darker days may yet loom for Macau.