SJM's First Half Without Satellite Casinos: Revenue Down 21%, Adjusted EBITDA Up 3%, Market Share 9.8%

SJM Holdings' 2026 interim report shows what Macau's end of satellite casinos did to Macau's longest-established operator: less revenue and a smaller share of the market, but a better margin and more gaming revenue in the casinos it now runs itself. The loss still widened, debt rose to HK$30.2 billion, and management says the job now is productivity.

• SJM Holdings reported total net revenue of HK$11.59 billion (approximately $1.49 billion) for the six months to 30 June 2026, down 20.8% from HK$14.64 billion, in its interim report published on 28 September
• Adjusted EBITDA rose 3.3% to HK$1.70 billion and the margin widened to 14.7% from 11.2%, while the loss attributable to shareholders grew to HK$295 million from HK$182 million
• SJM's share of Macau's gross gaming revenue fell to 9.8% from 12.9% a year earlier, and its share of mass-market table revenue to 12.3% from 16.1%, after it lost nine satellite casinos that contributed HK$5.65 billion of GGR in the first half of 2025
• Grand Lisboa Palace grew GGR 12.9% to HK$3.32 billion, but its adjusted property EBITDA fell 73.2% to HK$22 million
• Debt stood at HK$30.22 billion at 30 June, against HK$27.26 billion a year earlier, and management says its focus has shifted to "optimising asset productivity" and a group-wide cost programme

The First Half Without the Satellites

SJM Holdings' interim report, filed with the Hong Kong exchange on 28 September after the group announced its results on 25 August, is the first set of half-year figures since the satellite casinos that once carried a large part of its business left its books. As at 30 June 2025, SJM operated nine satellite casinos. It had none during the first half of 2026: "On 30 December 2025, Casino L'Arc Macau became one of the self-promoted casinos under SJM, while the other eight satellite casinos ceased operations during 2025," the report says. The closures followed the 2022 revision of Macau's gaming law, which gave satellite casinos until the end of 2025 to operate from premises owned by a concessionaire.

The revenue line shows the loss. Total net revenue fell 20.8% to HK$11,590 million and net gaming revenue fell 22.5% to HK$10,560 million. Gross gaming revenue fell 18.5% to HK$12,084 million (approximately $1.55 billion), with non-rolling GGR, which covers mass-market play, down 21.8% and electronic gaming down 29.1%, while rolling GGR rose 32.9% to HK$1,461 million. Commissions and incentives rose 27.8% to HK$1,524 million, a trend visible across the market.

SJM had a 9.8% share of Macau's GGR, including 12.3% of mass-market table GGR and 4.2% of VIP GGR. A year earlier, according to its 2025 interim results, the figures were 12.9%, 16.1% and 3.7%.

More Gaming Revenue in the Casinos It Runs Itself

The satellites' revenue did not come with much profit. In the first half of 2025 they produced HK$5,647 million of GGR and HK$153 million of adjusted property EBITDA, according to the 2025 comparatives. Without them, group adjusted EBITDA rose 3.3% to HK$1,701 million (approximately $218 million), and the margin rose 3.5 percentage points to 14.7%. Excluding the satellites, SJM's own casinos generated HK$12,084 million of GGR against HK$9,174 million a year earlier, an increase of about 32% on iGaming Times' arithmetic from the report's figures.

The gains went mostly to the Peninsula. GGR at the other properties, a group that includes Casino Lisboa, Casino Oceanus at Jai Alai and the L'Arc casino acquired in December 2025, rose 85.7% to HK$4,931 million, with adjusted property EBITDA up 44.2% to HK$939 million. Grand Lisboa's GGR rose 7.1% to HK$3,838 million, with property EBITDA flat at HK$860 million. Grand Lisboa Palace in Cotai, the subject of a year of underperformance, raised GGR 12.9% to HK$3,315 million, but its adjusted property EBITDA fell to HK$22 million from HK$82 million, and hotel occupancy dropped to 92.9% from 98.1%.

The loss attributable to shareholders widened to HK$295 million (approximately $38 million) from HK$182 million, and SJM declared no interim dividend.

Debt and the Outlook

SJM had HK$3,486 million of cash, bank balances and deposits and HK$30,217 million (approximately $3.87 billion) of debt at 30 June, compared with HK$3,335 million and HK$27,257 million a year earlier. Bank loans rose to HK$18,347 million from HK$16,222 million at the end of 2025. In January a subsidiary issued US$540 million of 6.50% senior notes due 2031, used to refinance syndicated bank loans, and the notes that fell due in 2026 were no longer outstanding at 30 June. Of its syndicated revolving credit of HK$11.5 billion, HK$2.35 billion was available at 30 June. The gearing ratio rose to 56.2% from 54.4% at the end of 2025, and 63.7% of borrowings mature in one to two years, with a further 15.6% due within a year. A HK$1,906 million convertible bond held by the controlling shareholder, STDM, falls due on 22 June 2027.

Management says the transition is complete. "Following the successful completion of the transition to a direct management model, management's focus has shifted towards optimising asset productivity, strengthening the premium customer proposition and further enhancing the Group's overall competitiveness and operational resilience," the report says. It cites the second phase of the Crystal Palace gaming area at Hotel Lisboa, opened on 10 August, new gaming areas at Grand Lisboa Palace using tables redeployed from the satellites, and "a comprehensive cost management and operational efficiency programme". Headcount was about 19,400 at 30 June, against about 20,300 a year earlier, according to the two interim reports.

The Margin Improved Because the Satellites Were Low-Margin Revenue

The headline numbers point in opposite directions for a simple reason. The satellites were revenue SJM booked but largely passed on: nine casinos produced HK$5.65 billion of GGR and HK$153 million of property EBITDA in the first half of 2025, a margin of under 3%. Losing them cut revenue sharply and market share by three points, but it barely touched earnings, and the tables SJM redeployed into its own casinos lifted their gaming revenue by about a third. The widening net loss reflects the costs that did not leave with the revenue, including satellite staff that, according to Inside Asian Gaming, SJM was required to retain. A fall of about 900 staff, or 4%, since June 2025 is the first sign of that cost base adjusting.

Grand Lisboa Palace Is Still the Weak Link

The redeployment was meant to make the Cotai resort pay. It has added gaming revenue, but HK$22 million of property EBITDA on nearly HK$3.94 billion of revenue suggests the extra volume is being bought at close to its cost, possibly through the commissions and incentives needed to win premium players in a crowded Cotai market. SJM says it is reconfiguring floors for premium mass and rolling play there. Until that shows up in property EBITDA, the Peninsula casinos will be carrying the group.

The Balance Sheet Leaves Less Room Than the Margin Suggests

A margin of 14.7% is progress, but it sits on HK$30.2 billion of debt, rising gearing, most borrowings due within two years and a convertible bond due to the parent next June. The 2031 notes bought time at a 6.50% coupon. With banks cutting their forecasts for Macau's September, SJM's productivity programme has to deliver earnings growth, not only a better ratio, before the next refinancing round arrives.

The end of the satellites has made SJM a smaller but more profitable business on paper. The second half will show whether it can make Grand Lisboa Palace earn enough to carry the debt the transition has left behind.