We knew hold was favorable but didn’t know the mix was unfavorable – the downside of rolling junkets.
Galaxy’s results fell short of our estimates but was in-line with consensus. While Starworld and Galaxy Macau held higher than normal and we knew that going in, both properties held worse on the rolling junkets and than on the revenue share junkets. That hurts profitability. Unfortunately, junket hold mix is impossible to discern unless management tells you.
For Galaxy Macau, unfavorable mix negatively impacted results by HK$60MM. For Starworld, we believe that the impact was at least as high unless expenses rose. So until we get more information on Starworld, we think that if not for unfavorable mix, the Adjusted EBITDA number would have been between HK$1.9-2.0BN – still below our estimate but better than Street’s.
Detail:
Starworld reported revenues spot in-line with our estimate, but Adjusted EBITDA fell 14% short or HK$123MM from our estimate. Management stated that the mix of VIP hold was unfavorable in the quarter. We can only guess that the impact was around HK$100MM unless expenses and or promotional activity shot up sequentially.
- Gross gaming revenue was HK$16MM (0.3%) above our estimate while net gaming revenue was HK$34MM higher (1%)
- VIP gross win was in-line with our estimate
- Rebate/commission rate was 45% or 1.46%, slightly lower than what we had estimated
- Mass win was right in-line with our estimate. Drop was a bit light but hold was better.
- Slot win was HK$6MM lower than our estimate due to lower handle and a slightly lower win rate
- Reported hold of 3.2% was obviously higher than theoretical – however, everyone knew that going into the quarter (especially the HK analysts) and knowing that the mix was unfavorable makes analyzing the impact of normalized hold on the quarter moot.
- Implied fixed expenses came in HK$142MM higher than we estimated at HK$517MM vs. estimated fixed expenses of $330MM last quarter and $1,325MM in 2010. We can only guess that the majority of this increase is due to unfavorable hold mix.
Galaxy Macau reported revenue that was 2% below our estimate and EBITDA that was 18% lower. Adjusted for unfavorable mix, Adjusted property EBITDA would have been HK$1,030MM vs. our estimate of HK$1,188MM. The fixed operating expenses at the property were much higher than they appeared to be in 2Q11.
- Gross win was 3% lower than we estimated due to lower direct play levels. In the first quarter of operations, direct play was about 4% at GM. This quarter, there was less than 1% direct play at the property.
- The rebate/commission rate was 40.3% or 1.2% - lower than the all in rate we estimated (note that this doesn’t include comped non-gaming revenues)
- Mass revenues were in-line with our estimates although drop was lower and hold was better
- Slot revenues were 9% higher due to better handle
- Net non-gaming revenue was HK$39MM lower than we estimated
- Fixed expenses were HK$125MM higher than we estimated
Other stuff:
- City Clubs changed their reporting to just fee income so going forward, revenue and EBITDA will be the same. City Club EBITDA was HK$5.5MM lower than we estimated due to lower volume and low hold as we had noted.
- Construction materials EBITDA and revenue was a lot better than we expected. We have no special edge here.
