The net income attributable to Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited for the fourth quarter of 2019 fell 46.2 percent year-on-year to US$68.1 million, the gaming operator announced in a statement yesterday.
The company's net income in the fourth quarter of 2018 amounted to US$126.6 million, according to the statement.
"Total operating revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019 were US$1.45 billion, representing an increase of approximately 3 percent from US$1.41 billion for the comparable period in 2018," the statement said. The statement "primarily" attributed the increase in total operating revenues "to better performance in the mass market table games segment."
The statement noted that in connection with the company's acquisition of a 75 percent interest in ICR Cyprus Holdings Limited from its parent company, Melco International Development Limited on July 31, 2019, all periods presented in the statement "have been restated to include the assets and liabilities and financial results of ICR Cyprus group in accordance with applicable accounting standards."
"During the fourth quarter of 2019, despite macro headwinds and the events in Hong Kong, mass gaming operations at all of Melco's integrated resorts have remained robust, which drove group-wide mass table games revenue to expand approximately 12 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$850 million," the statement quoted Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, the company's chairman and CEO, as saying.
Ho pointed out that "adjusted property EBITDA for the fiscal year 2019 has also expanded 14 percent year-on-year to reach an all-time-record-high of US$1.689 million."
Ho stressed that his company "continues to prioritise sustainability in its operations", saying that construction of the further expansion of Studio City in Cotai is progressing.
'Yokohama First'
"Melco remains committed to managing its balance sheet in a prudent manner," Ho said. He also said that "Japan continues to be a core focus for us," based on the company's "Yokohama First" policy announced in September last year.
The company's net income for the whole of last year rose 9.66 percent to US$373 million, according to the statement.
