Macau Finally Draws a Winning Hand


澳门赌场运营商获续牌，以及中国有望重新开放，这些因素开始提振澳门博彩股。


在中国政府于11月初对防疫政策进行微调后，澳门股票一直是涨幅最大的股票之一。

到目前为止，新冠疫情给澳门发的牌基本上是没有最差只有更差。但是，最近的洗牌终于给这个博彩中心发了些好牌。 6park.com
So far, the pandemic has mainly dealt Macau bad hands and really bad hands. But the latest shuffle of the deck has finally given the gambling hub some strong cards. 6park.com
  
在过去的周末，澳门政府给予该市六家现有赌场运营商博彩经营牌照临时判给，让这些运营商得以在未来10年内继续经营其业务。马来西亚云顶集团(Genting Group)的一家关联公司在9月意外加入了这场牌照竞标，但该公司在最后一刻出手的策略最终失败。虽然云顶集团中标的希望一直不大，但这六家现有赌场运营商如今还是松了一口气。 6park.com
Over the weekend, the Macau government granted the city’s six incumbent casino operators provisional licenses that would allow them to keep running their businesses for the next 10 years. An affiliate of Malaysia’s Genting Group unexpectedly joined the bidding for licenses in September but its last-minute gambit lost out eventually. Genting Group was always a long shot but the incumbents will breathe a sigh of relief now. 6park.com
  
赌场运营商的股价本周大幅上涨：永利澳门有限公司(Wynn Macau Ltd., 1128.HK, 简称﹕永利澳门)飙升了24%，金沙中国有限公司(Sands China Ltd., 1928.HK)大涨13%。 6park.com
Shares of casino operators jumped this week: Wynn Macau Ltd. has gained 24%, while Sands China Ltd. is up 13%. 6park.com
  
然而，接下来的事情仍然不在它们的控制范围之内，它们明年的命运主要取决于中国政府怎样调整其严格但饱受诟病的新冠防疫政策。澳门股本月涨幅居前，此前中国在11月初对防疫政策进行了微调，这让人们燃起希望，认为中国可能终于要解除严格的动态清零政策了。与新冠疫情暴发之前的水平相比，澳门公司的股价仍然低得多。 6park.com
Still, what comes next remains out of their control—their fortunes over the next year depend mostly on what Beijing decides to do about its strict but unpopular Covid-19 restrictions. Macau stocks have been among the biggest gainers this month after China fine-tuned its pandemic policies in early November, sparking hopes that it might finally walk away from its strict zero-Covid regime. Macau shares remain much lower, however, compared with prepandemic levels. 6park.com
  
从本月开始，中国游客又可以通过在线签注前往澳门，这应该会为他们去澳门旅行提供便利。但中国新增本土新冠感染者激增，尤其是在与澳门临近的广东省，加上全国各地采取封控措施，导致11月份到目前为止游客人数仅略有增加。2022年前10个月，澳门的博彩收入较2019年同期下降了85%，访客人数的下降幅度也差不多。 6park.com
Chinese visitors are once again allowed to go to Macau by getting online visas starting this month, which should make their travel easier. But surging Covid-19 cases in China— especially in the neighboring Guangdong province—and lockdowns across the country have translated to only a mild pickup in visitors in November so far. Macau’s gambling revenue in the first 10 months of 2022 is down 85% from the same period in 2019, while visitor arrivals have dropped by a similar percentage. 6park.com
  
中国防疫政策造成的经济和财政损失，以及现在引发的社会骚乱，或许最终会迫使中国政府改弦更张，不过这将需要多少时日还不确定。但对澳门博彩公司来说，最终的重新开放将如同久旱逢甘雨。过去几年，这些公司不得不烧钱、举债以维持基本空荡荡的赌场的运营。 6park.com
The economic and fiscal toll of China’s pandemic-control policies, as well as the social unrest it has now caused, might finally force Beijing to pivot away—though how long that will take is uncertain. But an eventual reopening will be a big jackpot for Macau gambling companies, which have had to burn cash and load up debt over the past couple of years to maintain largely empty casinos. 6park.com
  
考虑到所有这些债务带来的额外利息支出，无论发生什么情况，这些公司的盈利都可能需要一段时间才能恢复疫情前水平。不过，当中国解除动态清零政策的路线图变得更加清晰，一些财务实力更强的公司将值得投资者关注，如金沙中国和银河娱乐集团有限公司(Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., 0027.HK, 简称：银河娱乐)。 6park.com
Earnings will probably take a while to return to prepandemic levels whatever happens, given the additional interest expense from all that debt, but some financially stronger players such as Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. will be worth a look for investors when China’s road map out of zero-Covid becomes clearer. 6park.com
  
但与此同时，中国经济放缓将影响博彩玩家的消费。而且，考虑到中国对非法资本外流的打击，大赌客可能不会大量回归。 6park.com
Meanwhile, however, China’s economic slowdown will hurt spending from gamblers. And high rollers might not return in substantial numbers given China’s crackdown on illicit capital outflows. 6park.com
  
不过，澳门股票的市盈率仍然很低。根据高盛集团(Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)的数据，这类股票目前的企业价值与2019年利息﹑税项﹑折旧﹑摊销前收益之比仅为八倍。 6park.com
Still, Macau shares are trading at deep discount: Their current enterprise value is only eight times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in 2019, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. 6park.com
  
澳门股票已经低迷了许久。现在可能终于到了投资者重新下注的时候了。 6park.com
Macau’s losing streak has lasted a long time. It might finally be time for investors to start placing bets again. 6park.com