The Macau Jockey Club (MJC) has reported accumulated losses of MOP$1.9 billion (US$235 million) through 2021, according to information published in the Official Gazette.
The figure is calculated as the total amount of losses since the company’s incorporation, with annual profit and loss details not included in the published balance sheet. Instead, MJC said it recorded a slight decline in horse racing revenue last year to MOP$47 million (US$5.8 million), with another MOP$10 million (US$1.2 million) for the first quarter of 2022.
It also revealed significant progress on work to upgrade the facilities at MJC as per the 24-year concession extension it signed with the Macao SAR Government in February 2018, including renovating its swimming pool for horses, their stables and completing upgrades to the first to fifth floors of the main racing building. Improvements to the racetrack and MJC’s computer system are also ongoing.
MJC had in 2018 pledged to invest MOP$1.5 billion (US$186 million) to upgrade facilities, including hotels and restaurants, in return for the 24-year extension through 31 August 2042 – a massive jump on the six-month extension it had previously been granted in August 2017 and the two-year extension it was granted in September 2015.
It had been hoped that the lengthy concession would help the MJC improve its dire financial position, with Macau Horse Racing Co – the entity that holds the concession – having booked a loss every single year since 2005, reaching accumulated losses of MOP$4.1 billion (US$507 million) by 2016.