SJM reports 27-fold rise in Q1 adjusted EBITDA at $111 million

SJM Holdings has reported a more than 27 times surge in adjusted EBITDA to HKD864 million ($111 million) for the first quarter of 2024 from HKD31 million in the same period last year. The gaming operator also saw a 74.5% increase in net gaming revenue, reaching HKD6.46 billion ($830 million).

The adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter showed notable improvement, increasing from 0.8% in Q1 2023 to 12.5% in Q1 2024. The company also reduced its net loss to HKD74 million ($9.5 million) for the January-March period, a substantial improvement from a loss of HKD869 million in the first quarter of 2023.

Grand Lisboa reported gross revenue of HKD1.96 billion for Q1, while its Cotai property, Grand Lisboa Palace, posted HKD1.4 billion. The average occupancy rate for Grand Lisboa Palace rose to 92.6%, up from 83.7% last year, and Grand Lisboa's rate increased by 13 percentage points to 98.3%.

SJM’s "hotel, catering, retail and leasing operations" segment experienced revenue growth of 54% compared to the first quarter of 2023. The company's satellite casinos generated a combined revenue of HKD2.6 billion, marking a 54.7% increase, while the adjusted property EBITDA loss for these casinos narrowed by 50.5% to HKD52 million.

The market share in terms of gross gaming revenues for Grand Lisboa Palace Resort Macau stood at 2%, and 3.4% for Grand Lisboa Macau, indicating year-on-year gains of 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively. Notably, the Non-Rolling Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) for self-promoted casinos reached 134% of Q1 2019 levels.

SJM attributed these robust results to its continuous efforts in enhancing its Non-Rolling market segments and the initial promising outcomes from the "One Platform" initiative launched in late December 2023. This new centralized operating and service platform aims to manage operating costs more effectively and improve cross-property synergies, noted the company.

Daisy Ho, Chairman of SJM Holdings and Managing Director of SJM Resorts, said: “The quarter was characterized by strong performance across all our self-promoted properties, in both gaming and non-gaming sectors. We have a full calendar of large-scale international events in the pipeline, designed to amplify SJM and the Lisboa brand’s visibility on the global stage.”

As of March 2024, SJM held HKD4.95 billion ($633.6 million) in cash, bank balances, and deposits, with debt standing at HKD28.49 billion.