MGM Resorts posts lower than expected loss in 21Q1

U.S. casino operator MGM Resorts posted a smaller than expected loss in the first quarter of 2021, with its U.S. regional properties and its Macau operations helping to prop up the company’s lower results in Las Vegas.  Group-wide revenue for the quarter fell 27 percent to $1.65 billion, performing better than analyst expectations. Revenue in Las Vegas fell 52 percent.  “While the prior-year quarter was negatively affected by property closures for a portion of the quarter, the current quarter was negatively affected by midweek property and hotel closures, lower business volume, and travel activity, and ongoing operational restrictions due to the pandemic primarily at its Las Vegas Strip Resorts,” said the company.  Net loss attributable to MGM Resorts of $332 million compared to net income attributable to MGM Resorts of $807 million in the prior-year quarter. In Macau, MGM China posted a 9 percent increase in net revenues in the first quarter, reaching $296 million, which executives describe as having outperformed the broader Macau market’s gradual pace of recovery. The Macau operator was also able to register a profit of $4.78 million.  MGM said that the prior-year quarter was more negatively affected by property closures and more significantly impacted by travel restrictions to Macau.  The company also recorded adjusted property EBITDAR of $5 million compared to a loss of $22 million in the prior-year quarter.