Macau names post strong 2016 returns, MPEL exception

Jan 02, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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The year 2016 was one of ups and downs for Macau’s casino sector. A strong recovery by the industry in the last five months of the year helped push up share prices by as much as 66 percent in year-on-year terms.

The only Macau licensed casino operator that saw its stock price decline in full-year 2016 was Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd, also known by its Nasdaq stock ticker MPEL. Its shares ended 2016’s last trading session priced at US$15.90, down by more than 5 percent in year-on-year terms; the firm provided investors a one-year return rate of -1.04 percent during the period, according to Bloomberg data collated by GGRAsia.

In the opposite direction, Hong Kong-listed MGM China Holdings Ltd offered investors a one-year return of 68.88 percent. Its shares ended 2016 priced at HKD16.08 (US$2.07), up 66 percent in year-on-year terms.

The remaining four Macau licensed casino operators all posted strong share price growth in 2016, according to Bloomberg’s data: Wynn Macau Ltd provided investors a one-year return rate of 43.08 percent; Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd, 39.85 percent; Sands China Ltd, 36.79 percent; and SJM Holdings Ltd, 14.90 percent.

In the same period, the Hang Seng Index, Hong Kong’s main indicator for stock performance, rose by around 0.4 percent. That compared with a decline of more than 7 percent in 2015.

The positive stock performance of most Macau-based casino operators in 2016 was in stark contrast with what had happened in the previous year. In 2015, prices of shares in the city’s six gaming concessionaires dropped between 30 percent and almost 60 percent.

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