Macau-based casino operators Wynn Macau Ltd and SJM Holdings Ltd will be removed from the MSCI Hong Kong Index at the end of this month. The announcement was made on Thursday by MSCI Inc, the entity that compiles the index.
No reason for the removal was provided. It was part of MSCI Inc’s semi-annual index review for its MSCI equity indexes.
The change will become effective as of the close of markets on November 30, said MSCI Inc. The firm is one of the world’s largest providers of financial market indices.
Wynn Macau Ltd operates two casinos in Macau: Wynn Macau on the peninsula and Wynn Palace in the Cotai district. The firm said on Tuesday its net loss for the third quarter grew by 54 percent from the previous quarter to just under US$179.9 million.
SJM Holdings runs Casino Grand Lisboa and the Lisboa casino hotel on Macau peninsula and opened its HKD39-billion (US$5-billion) Grand Lisboa Palace casino resort on Cotai on July 30. The firm produced adjusted third-quarter EBITDA that was negative by HKD460 million (US$59 million), narrower than a year earlier.
The MSCI Hong Kong Index “is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid-cap segments of the Hong Kong market,” according to MSCI Inc. It currently features 37 constituents and reportedly covers approximately 85 percent of the free float-adjusted market capitalisation of the Hong Kong equity universe.
After the removal of Wynn Macau and SJM Holdings, three Macau-based gaming operators will remain on the index: Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd, Sands China Ltd, and Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd.
Another local casino firm, MGM China Holdings Ltd, was removed from the index in November 2019.
