MJC confident in pursuit of license renewal

Tuesday 23rd of May 2017

The Macau Jockey Club says it intends to pursue the government for a concession renewal of more than just two years, Macau TDM reports.

While Macau Jockey Club's ten-year concession expired in 2015, the government extended its lifeline to August 31 of this year.

Last year, it was reported that the racing operator was facing dissolution after posting a loss in the full-year 2015. The loss caused a violation of the Commercial Code of the MSAR, which does not allow for a company’s corporate capital to be lower than half of its original corporate capital at the time the company was set up.

The operator posted a 72.3 percent increase in its annual loss in 2015 to MOP 88.4 million (US$11.1 million), and the company saw a total of MOP 125 million in gross gaming revenues from horse-betting, a decline of 59 percent year-on-year.

MJC CEO Thomas Li said they are now in talks with officials regarding the details of the concession renewal, adding that the management at the Jockey Club was confident that it will get a license extension of more than two years.

Li said a renegotiation in its license was also needed to allow the operator to be more competitive.

"The regulations have not been amended for a long time such as those regarding mobile phones," said Li.

The CEO added they "would like that phones could be used, especially in some family-friendly areas, in order to allow kids to have fun and play around in those areas."

Racing License Concession Renewal