Macau concession talks reportedly stall on Covid, stocks continue fall

As the number of Covid infections rise in Mainland China, negotiations on Macau concession renewal have reportedly come to a standstill. At the same time, casino stocks have plunged following the National Day Golden Week.

Zero-Covid policy repercussions following National Day Golden Week

Negotiations between the Macau government and the seven companies bidding for a gaming concession have stalled due to a lack of insight over the lifting of Covid travel restrictions, according to a report by TDM Radio.?

The resulting uncertainty has led to both sides being unable to share more concrete plans with one another. To further stir the pot, a second point of disagreement is the adequacy of allotted facilities for gaming purposes. While the government feels the concessionaires have enough land plots for the next ten years, the latter have a different opinion. They are in fact considering repurposing some of the sites already in use for different uses.

This regulatory fallout has partially come as a result of the influx of tourists visiting the Golden Week celebrations. Recent Covid restrictions have been imposed by the SAR government for cross-border travellers after rising infections following the celebrations. Zhuhai has suffered district lockdowns resulting from its zero-Covid policy. The amount of Covid cases reported by China since Monday totalled 2,000.

Trading platform eToro has reported a plunge in China-linked casino trades. Hong Kong-listed Wynn Macau and Sands China followed fell 4.8% and 3.8% respectively on Wednesday. Galaxy Entertainment fell 2.7 percent, while SJM Holdings dropped 4.4 percent. MGM China was less affected, dropping 0.9 percent..

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