MGM China Holdings Ltd delivered a “solid beat” in its fourth-quarter results, being “by far the best in Macau” for its casino operations in terms of yearly and sequential gain in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), said a Friday note from banking group JP Morgan.
On Wednesday the parent MGM Resorts International had reported highlights of MGM China’s fourth-quarter performance, including that net revenue climbed 21.4 percent year-on-year, to just under US$1.24 billion, from its properties MGM Macau and MGM Cotai.
The Macau unit had adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation and rent (EBITDAR) of just under US$332.3 million for the reporting period, an increase of 30.5 percent from the same quarter a year earlier. Full-year adjusted EBITDAR was US$1.20 billion, a year-on-year rise of 10.7 percent.
A Friday memo from brokerage Jefferies by analysts Anne Ling and Jingjue Pei, said MGM China achieved “record fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 adjusted EBITDA, while maintaining its margin with market-share gain”.
In their Friday memo, JP Morgan analysts DS Kim, Selina Li and Lindsey Qian also commented on upbeat remarks by MGM China’s management, during the parent’s Thursday earnings call.
“Management sounded very confident about the upcoming lunar new year,” the analysts said, referring to a pending nine-day break for mainland China, starting on February 15, that marks Chinese New Year this time. The holiday is typically a major business season for Macau casinos.
Nonetheless, JP Morgan also mentioned what it said were some “key negatives” or “question marks” regarding MGM China’s business for the three months to December 31.
The institution stated: “MGM China’s corporate expenses jumped to US$29 million in the fourth quarter versus US$9 million a year ago,” based on MGM Resorts’ disclosures.
Both of the figures were “excluding licence fee,” said JP Morgan. That was understood to be a reference to branding-related fees that the Macau unit must pay the U.S.-based parent.
JP Morgan added: “Our understanding is that non‑recurring items – e.g., catch‑up accounting for concession‑related payments to Ms Pansy Ho and National Games sponsorship, among others – drove much of the step‑up here.”
Those were references to Pansy Ho Chiu King, chairperson of MGM China and managing director of MGM Grand Paradise Ltd, the entity that holds the Macau gaming concession for the group.
The second reference was to the city’s joint hosting in November of the 15th National Games of the People’s Republic of China. Aside from the six Macau casino concessionaires pledging funds to support the National Games, some also provided facilities to host certain sporting events.
Brokerage Jefferies observed in its Friday note on MGM China’s fourth quarter: “It reached market share of 16.5 percent … taking full-year market share to 16.1 percent, from 2024’s 15.8 percent, with MGM Cotai and MGM Macau at 10.1 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively.”
MGM Macau’s fourth-quarter revenue had been nearly HKD3.49 billion (US$445.3 million), up 4.1 percent year-on-year. MGM Cotai’s revenue for the three months to December 31 stood at nearly HKD6.14 billion, a 34.1-percent increase from a year earlier.
MGM China had said in a Friday press release, that for full-year 2025, it had “maintained adjusted EBITDA margin at 28.8 percent,” versus 28.9 percent in 2024, with a “mass-focused business and sustaining operational efficiency”.
