Borrowings by the Macau entities of the big four casino operators -- Las Vegas Sands, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, MGM Resorts, and Wynn Resorts -- so far this year have already exceeded the entire 2019’s levels, boosted by bond issues since early June amid a gradual market recovery.

These Macau gaming operators have borrowed a combined USD 6.47bn YTD in bonds and loans, up 2% from the volumes recorded by them for the whole of 2019. Also, this year is the first time since 2015 that all the four companies have raised debt in a calendar year.

The casino operators started tapping the bond market from 2 June this year and so far, USD 4.25bn in the aggregated principal of notes have been printed across five transactions.

• Sands       China, a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands, issued USD 1.5bn dual-tranche notes on 2 June
• MGM       China issued USD 500m notes on 11 June
• Wynn       Macau issued USD 750m notes on 12 June
• Melco Resorts & Entertainment-owned Studio City issued USD 1bn dual-tranche notes on 8 July
• Melco       Resorts Finance issued USD 500m notes on 14 July.

Macau in June suffered its largest monthly YoY fall in gaming revenue since January amid the COVID-19 crisis, with the numbers for the month declining 97% YoY, according to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau data.

Jason Huang-Jones APAC Data Manager Debtwire